When Hawai'i-born Kamaka Dias joined the Peace Corps, he completely shaved his head and facial hair off. Then, during his two years serving in Madagascar, he just let it all grow out. No trims, no shaves, nothing. He's home now and has put together this fun and clever video showing his hair growing back in over those two years abroad.

He writes:

1. I didn't touch my hair or facial hair at all for 2 years after I shaved it all off. Saved a lot on shaving cream and haircuts! 2. This was filmed in Madagascar; the fourth largest island in the world with some of the kindest people you'll ever meet. 3. Some highlights of my service: I taught English to about 500 middle and high schoolers during my two years and raised $3,000 to buy 11 computers for my community among other things. Also cooked a lot of pancakes and pooped in a hole. 4. Most of the shots were taken during the school breaks and weekends proving that it is possible to work hard and play even harder ;p ...

(Likecool) Read the rest

Ooh, this is awesome. Activists have made a free font called Gerry that is made from the shapes of gerrymandered congressional districts. They encourage you to use it to write your representative.

It's here. GERRY. A font created by your congressional districts. Log on to https://t.co/WkuVp7oDpu and use the font to tell congress how happy you are that your vote doesn't matter. pic.twitter.com/j9U5W7qmTz

— Gerry (@UglyGerry) July 23, 2019

The Next Web:

The font’s creators, Ben Doessel and James Lee, made it to raise awareness and provide a method for disenfranchised voters to protest partisan gerrymandering. The duo, in a press release provided to the media, stated:

"After seeing how janky our Illinois 4th district had become, we became interested in this issue. We noticed our district’s vague, but shaky U-shape, then after seeing other letters on the map, the idea hit us, let’s create a typeface so our districts can become digital graffiti that voters and politicians can’t ignore."

For those unfamiliar with gerrymandering, it’s the process by which US voting districts use increasingly nonsensical borders to disenfranchise voters and limit who they can vote for by party lines instead of geography.

(The Week)

Thanks, Veek!

screenshot via UglyGerry.com Read the rest

So, for National Mustard Day (August 3), French's thought to make mustard-flavored ice cream. They're selling their horrible concoction for a limited time on both coasts:

To celebrate National Mustard Day on the West Coast, Coolhaus’s location in Culver City, CA will have the ice cream available on August 2-4 and August 9-11. On the East Coast, New Yorkers can look for the French’s Mustard Ice Cream truck on August 1 and 2, before making its way out to the Hamptons on August 3...

August 2 Madison Square Park Brooklyn Heights (DUMBO)

August 3 Main Street Hamptons East Hampton Main Beach on Ocean Ave.

Or, you can make your own. Because, why not? French's leads the way:

Read the rest

Earlier this week, I bought tickets to see a concert in September (Gogol Bordello!) and wanted to see the view from our seats. I discovered that the venue, San Francisco's legendary Warfield, has a terrific 360-degree virtual tour of the entire theater, backstage and all. It's a bit of a rabbit hole but totally worth a look. Not only can you see the view of the stage from anywhere in the theater but you can also visit its green room (spacious), "Jerry's Room" (Jerry Garcia's "second home"), and this Autograph Room. The theater calls it a "hidden gem" and it sure is! Zoom in closely to the walls (and ceiling) to try and spot the Sharpie-d art and autographs of famous people you know. I was able to find both Penn and Teller's and Beck's fairly easily.

(The seats I nabbed have a fantastic view, by the way.)

screenshot via The Warfield Read the rest

In 1955, Disneyland opened. In early 1956, Sherman W. Carter, Jr. took his family to the park and shot this home movie. The video was just uploaded to YouTube on July 1 by a family friend.

Disney Parks Blog:

The first part takes place in Frontierland, one of areas of Disneyland that has changed the most over the years. And yet there are many familiar sights as well. The park looks almost unrecognizable with so many of the trees and foliage still essentially saplings. Today it’s a veritable forest in the middle of Anaheim.

Be sure to pause the video at 0:21 where you can see three Jungle Cruise boats docked in Fowler’s Harbor, currently home to the Harbour Galley restaurant. I knew the water systems for the Rivers of America and Jungle Cruise were connected, but were you ever able to sail from one to the other in the past? We later see The Jungle Cruise with no water in the moat, so this likely just temporary storage.

Some other fun highlights to keep an eye out for; watch at 1:05 for a glimpse of the old gun fight skit atop the Golden Horseshoe Saloon. Then right after that, the Jungle Cruise with no water in the moat. Just a few wonderful shots of Tomorrowland right at the end too.

TIL: There are folks not familiar with Lynyrd Skynyrd's concert-closing song "Free Bird." It seems nearly unimaginable for someone who grew up hearing the Southern rock band's signature 14-minute-long power ballad. (I mean, doesn't everyone know that you jokingly request bands to play it by yelling "Free Bird!"?)

Enter YouTuber No Life Shaq. He claims he's heard the band's name before but has never heard the song. Watch this video of him listening to (and amusingly analyzing) it for the first time. I think he likes it, especially that guitar solo!

(Soap Plant WACKO) Read the rest

Discovery Channel's 2019 Shark Week is upon us and what better way to ring in this annual television event than by turning your bath water into a scene reminiscent of a recent shark attack. Etsy shop BareBumShop makes and sells shark-head-shaped bath bombs ($5.99 each) that "bleed" red as they dissolve in water.

Watch (the accompanying "Baby Shark" music is a nice touch):

View this post on Instagram

#babyshark #daddyshark #jaws #shark #bathbomb #etsy #etsyshop #etsyseller #onlineshopping

A post shared by Jamie Main (@barebumessentials) on Jan 3, 2019 at 5:16pm PST

(Apartment Therapy) Read the rest

Last weekend, long-distance runner Lenny Maughan ran 28.93 miles through the hilly streets of San Francisco to complete this mapped portrait of Frida Kahlo. Visible through the Strava fitness app, his "Frida Run" took him six hours and eight minutes to finish and was carefully planned out before he left his house. This isn't his first specially-mapped run, he's added over 30 pieces to his "Running Art" project in the past three years (some of those are visible here).

SFGate:

He describes the process of planning a piece as pretty analog. He prints out a paper map and highlights his route. He usually goes through several different iterations of the map before he sets off on a run. While he's on the road, he must be very careful to follow it – if he makes a wrong turn it has the potential to ruin the whole piece.

"You can't see the lines drawn until after you finish your run, so it's such a joyful feeling when you put in all of that work and you finally finish and get to see what you envisioned at the end," recounts Maughan...

"San Francisco is my canvas. I use the streets as framework for what I want to do, find shapes, and make it work. Kind of like how little kids look up at the clouds."

image via Lenny Maughan/Strava

(RED) Read the rest

Textile artist Tessa Perlow has designed a stitched floral collection of temporary tattoos for Tattly that's really cool. Like their popular permanent counterpart, they make your skin look like it has been embroidered. A set of eight is $15 (some sold individually).

Tattly's founder, Tina Roth Eisenberg of the blog swissmiss writes:

In case you’re not familiar with Tattly: It’s a high-end temporary tattoo company I started 8 years ago. The designs last 2-5 days and are printed with vegetable based ink, here in the USA. We license art from professional artists and they get a generous cut of every single sale.

Read the rest

In the Dept. of It's About Time: Attendees to San Francisco's upcoming Outside Lands festival will not be allowed to wear Native American headdresses anymore. The festival banned the headwear and included it in a long list of other no-nos such as fireworks, totems, and selfie sticks.

In a statement, organizers of the three-day event explain why this form of cultural appropriation will no longer stand. KPIX:

Out of respect for Native American heritage and culture, we do not allow headdresses at Outside Lands. We are committed to creating a safe, respectful and inclusive environment for all.

SFist:

Controversies about white people wearing Native American headgear at music festivals dates back at least five years, when the Bass Coast Festival chose to ban such headdresses out of respect for the fact that the festival was occurring on tribal lands. But the blog Native Appropriations has been calling out festival-goers since 2010. In 2017, one young woman who was called out on Instagram by Native Appropriations for her Coachella headdress issued a public apology that was picked up by Teen Vogue.

image via Chris Beckett/CC Read the rest

I scream, you scream, we all scream when babies eat ice cream off their own foot!

I don't have any information on who this little person is but if you talk to them, tell'em I approve.

(Rock 95)

Thanks, Andy! Read the rest

If you know Oakland, you know about the big, free-form sculpture that lives on the shores of Lake Merritt in Oakland. You probably also know that it's been behind a chain-link fence in disrepair for several years. But for a long time, it was not just a piece of art to appreciate but a usable play structure for children to climb in and on. Now, a local group of its fans have ensured the now-iconic "Monster" will live on.

In 1968, for their "Dance to the Music" album, Sly & the Family Stone posed on the "Monster."

The "Mid-Century Monster," as it's now called, was created in 1952. Oakland Parks Superintendent William Penn Mott, Jr., who had founded Children's Fairyland just two years earlier, asked local art professor Bob Winston to create the 40-foot, chartreuse sculpture.

The "Monster" in the 1950s, photo via Martha Ellen Wright

Many years later, however, the "Monster" fell into such disrepair that the city fenced it off and forgot about it. In 2015, an effort was launched by Lake Merritt's Mid-Century Monster Fan Club, led by Kyle Milligan and Susan Casentini, to bring it back to its former glory.

This is what the sculpture looked like just four years ago — blanched, broken, and behind a fence. image via Lake Merritt's Mid-Century Monster Fan Club

Earlier this year, the restoration was complete, and on Sunday, July 28, from 11 to 3 the club will be hosting a free party to celebrate at the site. The public is invited. Read the rest

Bangkok's family-run Wattana Panich restaurant has been cooking the same pot of beef noodle soup for a very long time. Forty-five years, to be exact.

Every day they simmer the stew -- locally called "neua tune" -- in that big pot, and every night they drain its broth to use in the next day's soup. You'll notice that the pot is encompassed by a dark residue, that's hardened soup that's been accumulating since the early seventies!

Great Big Story shares the tale of the 45-year-old broth:

"Fresh meat like raw sliced beef, tripe and other organs is added daily.... It’s an ancient cooking method that gives the soup a unique flavor and aroma."

(Nag on the Lake, Neatorama) Read the rest

Novelty plates marked "mom jeans" "favorite jeans," and "skinny jeans" have been yanked off of Macy's store shelves after people criticized the company for being fat-shaming jerks. Ok, maybe Macy's wasn't called that exactly but critics did claim these controversial "portion-control" plates carry a body-shaming message for women.

People:

Alie Ward, a writer and podcast host, ignited the conversation after she tagged Macy’s in a tweet on Sunday. “How can I get these plates from @Macys banned in all 50 states,” she wrote beside a photo she took of the dishes in a display at the Macy’s flagship store in New York City...

Within hours, Macy’s had reached out to Ward on Twitter, letting her know that they would be pulling the product as soon as possible. “Hi, Alie — we appreciate you sharing this with us and agree that we missed the mark on this product,” Macy’s wrote. “It will be removed from all STORY at Macy’s locations.”

STORY at Macy’s is a brick-and-mortar retail initiative in which small businesses are given space in-store to sell their products that follow a certain theme. The plates, created by a company called Pourtions, were for sale in STORY at Macy’s. They were never available online on the Macy’s website.

Hi, Alie — we appreciate you sharing this with us and agree that we missed the mark on this product. It will be removed from all STORY at Macy's locations.

— Macy's (@Macys) July 22, 2019

The plates are still available at the Pourtions website. Read the rest

There's a new wine-and-cheese pairing in town. But it's not real cheese, it's one with Cheez-It snack crackers. Yep, for a limited time, Cheez-It and red-blended House Wine are being sold together in the same packaging, a box.

PRNewswire:

Summer is full of moments to grab a glass of wine and your favorite cheesy snack. Beginning July 25, you can purchase a limited-edition House Wine & Cheez-It box at OriginalHouseWine.com for $25, while supplies last. If you miss the chance to purchase a box, you can still enjoy mixing and matching Cheez-It and House Wine pairings on your own all summer long.

(AdWeek) Read the rest

Finally, an invention worth its weight in gold. The CrunchCup is a to-go cup for your cereal and milk.

It's comprised of two cups; one for the cereal and the other for the milk. Each cup has it's own hole so that the cereal and milk don't meet until they hit your mouth.

Pre-order it now for $25. (It reminds me a little of those "magic" milk bottles for dolls.)

Watch and learn:

(Geekologie) Read the rest

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it cross it.

Watch as first-time riders, Tyler and Ariel, get bucked off by an uncooperative horse.

(Digg) Read the rest