Animals, including a bee, snake, eagle, and fish, all take a knee in PETA's animated Colin Kapernick-inspired ad created for the Super Bowl airwaves. The controversial commercial, which has voices gently humming the "Star Spangled Banner," calls for an end to "speciesism." But, the animal rights organization is reporting that it was blocked by the NFL and won't be showing on TV this Sunday, or ever.

The National Football League (NFL) apparently found our new Colin Kaepernick–inspired ad—with its message of inclusion and respect—too daring and pressured FOX to snub our commercial.

In 2016, Kaepernick put a national spotlight on the racial inequality that plagues the U.S.—and we applaud him for doing so with the simple yet powerful and peaceful act of taking a knee.

PETA worked with a talented group of advertisers and artists who came up with the idea for our beautiful ad. Positively acknowledged by Kaepernick himself, this project pays homage to all movements that remind us to open our hearts and minds and reject all forms of injustice, including sexism, ableism, racism, ageism, homophobia, and speciesism.

THIS is the PETA #SuperBowl ad the @NFL apparently didn’t want you to see and pressured @FOXSports to snub.

It envisions a world where respect is the right of every being and pays homage to Kaepernick and movements rejecting injustice. https://t.co/kD1osnKhuX #EndSpeciesism pic.twitter.com/clXzU79aZV

— PETA (@peta) January 31, 2020

screengrab via PETA/YouTube Read the rest

The upcoming documentary ALL MAN: The International Male Story promises to go behind the spandexed bulges of the most flamboyant mail-order fashion catalog for men ever to exist to expose its "impact on fashion, sexuality and masculinity in America." The filmmakers report that in its heyday, the International Male catalog reached three million mailboxes every three months! Watch the film's new teaser trailer. Read the rest

Radiohead's "Creep" made dummy thicc by Google predicting the lyrics.

(Nag on the Lake)

screengrab via Billy Cobb/YouTube Read the rest

Salvador Dalí and Walt Disney were friends. They met at a party in 1944 and soon began collaborating on a surreal animated short together. Destino didn't get finished in their lifetimes but was ordered to completion in 1999 by Walt's nephew Roy, who discovered it in the vaults. This hour-and-twenty-minute documentary tells its story.

Now, for fun, watch the Pink Floyd version of Destino:

(RED)

screengrab via Destino/YouTube Read the rest

Now in its second year, a UC Berkeley basic life skills class has become so popular that it's had to turn 200 wannabe adults away. The eight-week pass/no pass course teaches young people how to be more responsible and grown-up, ie. how to "adult." They learn how to budget for food, do taxes, manage relationships, and more.

KTVU:

Other areas include fitness, nutrition and mental health.

"Self-care, self-love and sleep," [instructor Belle] Lau continued.

Many students admit they struggle making the transition to self-reliance in college.

"It's harder to budget when you're not living at home because you have a lot more expenses," said Lauren Frailey, 19, an economics major.

"I'm excited to learn how to manage my time better and that will definitely help me manage my stress as well."

The class was launched by Lau and a fellow biology major Jenny Zhou.

Now juniors, when they arrived at U.C. Berkeley from out-of-state, they felt lost without family nearby to rely on.

"We can only call them on the phone if we need help, but that only goes so far," said Lau.

(Image: Eli Christman , CC-BY, unmodified) Read the rest

On April 24, the "live documentary experience" Beastie Boys Story will premiere on Apple TV+. Spike Jonze directs the doc which is based on Mike D and Ad Rock's 2019 memoir and eponymous stage production, according to Consequence of Sound. The first trailer was just released.

Beastie Boys blog (Jan. 25):

“This is the eighth time I’ve rewritten this thing, the filmmakers kept telling me I was doing it wrong but I’m really feeling this one. Here’s what the film is: Mike Diamond and Adam Horovitz of Beastie Boys tell you an intimate, personal story of their band, and their 40 years of friendship together. From the 1980s New York City punk scene, to Fight For Your Right (to Party) and becoming the first hip-hop artists to make a #1 record (Licensed to Ill), through their evolution, which took them to Sabotage, Intergalactic and beyond. Created with their old friend, their former grandfather and collaborator, filmmaker Spike Jonze, the film seamlessly mixes a live stage show and documentary to create a new format, a live documentary. Does that make sense? It’ll make more sense when you see the trailer that the filmmakers haven’t finished editing yet, despite constant badgering. But anyways, I’m not mad. In this film that was shot at Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, Mike D and Adrock discuss their evolution as musicians, artists and people, and a whole bunch of other crazy sh!t. Their co-conspirator, musician, activist, inventor, discredited astrophysics professor and my favorite Beastie Boy, Adam Yauch, couldn’t be there that night because he passed away in 2012.

"We thought she was sick, turns out she's just a jerk." That's how the Mitchell County Animal Rescue began the brutally honest adoption announcement for an unsavory cat in their care named Perdita.

The Spruce Pine, North Carolina organization continues:

Meet Perdita, not for the faint of heart. LIKES: staring into your soul until you feel as if you may never be cheerful again; the song Cat Scratch Fever, the movie Pet Cemetery (Church is her hero), jump scares (her specialty), lurking in dark corners, being queen of her domicile, fooling shelter staff into thinking she's sick (vet agrees...she's just a jerk) DISLIKES: the color pink, kittens (yuk they are so chipper), dogs, children, the Dixie Chicks, Disney movies, Christmas and last but NOT least...HUGS. She's single and ready to be socially awkward with a socially awkward human who understands personal space. FREE ADOPTION ;) If interested please go to www.mitchellcountyanimalrescue.org to fill out an application

The News & Observer:

Shelter Director Amber Lowery says 4-year-old Perdita came to the shelter on Christmas Eve like the Grinch and quickly asserted dominance...

“I’m looking at her right now, and she’s rolling around in her little bed, looking all sweet and cute, but the minute you try to rub her, she slaps you. We thought she was in pain and took her to the vet and he said: ‘No, this cat is just a jerk’.”

Since then, the shelter has had to warn visitors that Perdita’s shy, kitten-like attempts to draw passersby to her cage are, in fact, a ruse that will end badly.

"What Color is Your Name?" is a website that associates your name, or any name, with blocks of colors. The project's creator, Bernadette Sheridan, has grapheme–color synaesthesia, which means her brain perceives numerals and letters as very specific colors.

She explains:

...I am terrible at remembering names. I hear the name, but my mind is distracted. In my head, I am calculating the number of letters in the name, and visualizing the colors of each letter. Your name may be Emily, but to me, you’re a bright, happy swath of five letters with an “E” and an “I". When I meet you again later, I may think your name is Emily or Jille or Ellie. Five letters, with an “I” and an “e.”

Sheridan also offers, at a reasonable price, your name-color portraits as prints.

(Coudal Partners)

screengrab via "What Color is Your Name?"

Read the rest

YouTuber and dad Matt MacMillan picked an unusual way to cover AC/DC's "Thunderstruck." He spent a year recording his baby son's cooing, sneezing, and other random noises and pieced it together to make the song. He writes, "It took forever."

And when you see HOW he arranged it all, you'll see why it took so long — it's really quite a feat!

If you're not familiar with the original song (I wasn't), here it is for comparison:

(Geekologie) Read the rest

For when you have no fucks to give, give (these surprisingly well executed) Zero Fucks Given coins.

This crazy world is filled with dumb-asses and assholes, and we believe we are greatly outnumbered by them, so we invented/created Zero Fucks Coins as a way to arm the citizens of earth with a way offend and defend themselves from these jackasses. If a picture is worth 1,000 words, then handing out one of these coins is surely worth zero fucks.

There are plenty of coins to choose from: "Rat's Ass" ($5.99), "Flying Fuck" ($5.99), "My Two Cents," ($5.99) and MORE!

(TIWIB) Read the rest

YouTube pranksters are taking credit for interrupting the Snookers Masters Finals with loud farting noises. The group, Trollstation, claims it wasn't a whoopee cushion making the sounds of flatulence but a "fart box" they planted in the arena earlier in the week.

The Guardian:

Stuart Bingham won the Masters 10-8 but one of the biggest days in the snooker calendar was briefly disrupted by an electronic “whoopee cushion” in the crowd...

...the perpetrator, who was quickly removed from the venue – but not before a number of fart noises had caused much mirth inside Alexandra Palace.

"I think it could be someone with a whoopee cushion," Dennis Taylor said on the BBC’s commentary. “Not very funny at all.”

View this post on Instagram

“ Not very funny “ - he said.. whilst the entire audience was cracking up 😂😂😂 @endrit @bmwjarvo

A post shared by Trollstation 🇦🇱🇽🇰🇬🇧 (@trollstation) on Jan 19, 2020 at 8:20am PST

View this post on Instagram

Full video out now link in @trollstation bio @bmwjarvo 😂

A post shared by Trollstation 🇦🇱🇽🇰🇬🇧 (@trollstation) on Jan 19, 2020 at 1:21pm PST

screengrab via BBC Read the rest

Twenty-five years ago, three grand could buy you a sweet desktop computer, complete with 8MB (not GB) of RAM.

In 2017, Gilbert Arciniega posted this home movie from June 1995 of his family opening that $3,000 computer, with the caption:

This is a computer my brother decided to buy back in 1995. As he had always wanted one. VERY EXPENSIVE back in this day! It was a Compaq Presario CDS. He went to Good Guys to buy it. I think it had 75 mhz and 8 mb ram. And a CD rom drive. I do remember he said he paid about $250 for the printer! And $500 for the monitor.

Talk about a time capsule!

(Digg)

screenshot via Gilbert Arciniega/YouTube Read the rest

Using sheer brute force, a Disneyland guest successfully removed Excalibur, the "sword in the stone," from its anvil in front of the King Arthur Carrousel. It was first reported that the sword was removed as part of a planned refurbishment but then a guest stepped up to share what really happened.

WDW News Today:

The sword is not removed for refurbishment. My friend Sam broke it last week on the 8th when we went to Disneyland. He literally ripped it out. The staff said that it was really old and that’s why he was able to do so. It was his first time at Disney and he’s a pretty buff dude, I told him if he pulled it out he’d win a prize and he just used brute force I guess lol. It was broken and jagged. The staff said they taped it off so no one would stick their fingers in and cut it on the broken piece left inside.

Unfortunately, the poor fellow didn't become King, as legend dictates. And a brand new sword has already been placed in its (freshly polished) anvil in its central Fantasyland spot. See photos of it at WDW News Today.

screengrab via Disney's Sword in the Stone Read the rest

I'm absolutely charmed by Fred & Friends' Pick-its, clever little picket signs made for boozy beverages.

Unite with your fellow party-goers to take on the establishment and CHOOSE BOOZE! PICK ITS will mix it up and make a statement with 12 clever sayings fit for any picket line. This set of 24 cocktail picks is perfect for your next martini march or spritzer sit in.

A pack of 24 (12 different sayings) is available for just $5.

(RED) Read the rest

This Hooghuys organ is over 100 years old but that didn't stop self-proclaimed Hustler Alexey Rom from making it play pop music. To get this 1914 fairground organ to pump out ABBA's "Dancing Queen," Rom had to create a custom player scroll which is no easy feat!

His first viral organ hit was playing Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" (8.7M views and counting!) on a 1905 Marenghi organ. This is how he describes making that happen:

The arrangement was made in Ableton Live using MIDI and was then punched into the cardboard book using an automated punch.

I can only assume the process to make the scroll was similar for this organ.

You may remember this is the same guy who played Boney M's disco hit "Rasputin" on a 1905 Marenghi organ.

(The Awesomer) Read the rest

Get ready to go directly to gross-out because a Garbage Pails Kids-themed Monopoly game is on its way! 2020 marks the 35th anniversary of the delightfully disgusting trading cards that parody the Cabbage Patch Kids dolls. According to Bloody Disgusting, Topps has "all sorts of plans in motion for the big celebration," starting with this $39.95 board game.

Relive the totally awesome 80’s with the MONOPOLY®: Garbage Pail Kids game! This game has the classic sticker artwork and new custom illustrations for a new generation of fans. Comes with 6 custom tokens.

Hey, while we're talking about Garbage Pail Kids, do watch the 2016 documentary 30 Years of Garbage: The Garbage Pail Kids Story.

image via ACD Distribution Read the rest

Watching the Big Bear Bald Eagle Cam is really quite a thrill!

It's pointed at a nest near Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino National Forest (Southern California) occupied by Jackie and Shadow, a bald eagle couple waiting for their two eaglets to arrive. One of their eggs was laid on January 8 and the other just on Saturday. Jackie sits on the eggs the most, typical for paired eagles because the females are bigger and heavier. They simply provide more warmth and protection. But Shadow is doing his share, feeding Jackie, fluffing the nest, and, as in the past years, sitting on the eggs for stints in the daytime hours when it's not as cold. The incubation period for eagle eggs is 35 days, so the first eaglet is expected to hatch around Valentine's Day. My friend Heather was the one who showed me the cam and told me to gird my loins because (spoiler alert!) for the last two years, "the second / smaller chick always dies." Arggggghhhhh!

Here's a peek at the mother's first peek. You can always tune in to the live webcam here, thanks to the Friends of the Big Bear Valley: https://t.co/CxVUU6yVf9 pic.twitter.com/SanBnsi6i7

— San Bernardino National Forest (@SanBernardinoNF) January 12, 2020

The Friends of the Big Bear Valley are doing a bang-up job on Facebook of narrating the day-to-day activities of these majestic raptors.

screengrab via Big Bear Bald Eagle Cam Read the rest