Month: September 2019

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Good Vibrations by The Beac…

Good Vibrations by The Beach Boys was one of the most expensive songs in history. “The cost of recording was phenomenal: between $50,000 and $75,000.” It had used up 90 hours of tape from 17 separate recording dates with LA’s top sessioneer’s for the 3min 36secs song.

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Are Ceramic Dental Implants Better than Titanium Ones?

Losing a tooth is a normal part of life. However, it has detrimental effects when you don’t do anything about it. For one, having a full set of teeth can help avoid several issues such as obesity and depression. It also affects your physical appearance. The stress on the remaining teeth is doubled and becomes […]

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No, Your Halloween Decorations Can’t Include Real Human Skulls

If you’re really into decorating for Halloween (or you’re super into actual witchcraft), you might think it would be cool to include some real human remains – like a skull, maybe – in your creepy decor.

Author and mortician Caitlin Doughty explains why that’s not a very good (or very legal) idea in her book, Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?: Big Questions From Tiny Mortals About Death.

Image Credit: Amazon

First of all, let’s talk about what it would take to get that skull into a state that would be palatable enough to display. You’d need to first separate it from a body, and then make sure that every last bit of flesh was removed (otherwise, the smell is going to be horrible enough you definitely don’t want to live with it) – both of which aren’t services offered by many (almost any) funeral homes.

Museums and forensic labs often employ dermestid beetles to clear skin – they “delicately eat the dead flesh off a skeleton without destroying the bones” – but your average funeral home doesn’t have a need to keep them on hand.

Horrifying.

Ok, even if you could find a gang of beetles or a funeral director willing to help in that arena, you’d still need to tackle the problem of legality.

In most states, there are laws that prevent people from abusing a corpse. Though what constitutes abuse varies from place to place, in general, funeral directors and other people who handle bodies err on the side of caution.

“The laws about buying or selling human remains also vary by state, and are vague, confusing, and enforced at random,” advises Doughty.

Funeral homes are also required to submit a burial-and-transmit permit for each body they handle, with boxes for the usual options of burial, cremation, or donation to science.

“There is no ‘cut off the head, de-flesh it, preserve the skull, and then cremate the rest of the body’ option,” jokes Doughty. “Nothing even close.”

So, even if your beloved grandmother would have been tickled at the thought of watching over your family for generations to come, you probably won’t be able to put her skull on the mantle.

But if you’re looking for just any headless dead person, Doughty kind of shrugs.

“There are ways of procuring a stranger’s skull online if you are willing to engage in some suspect internet commerce.”

If those words are music to your ears, I guess have at it.

And Happy Halloween!

Just hopefully not in jail.

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A New Heinz Bottle Shows You the Best Way to Pour Ketchup

A heap of ketchup in a puddle next to a hot serving of fries is about as close to heaven as you can get. But why is it so hard to get the stuff to come out of the bottle?

Photo Credit: Flickr

This is the question ketchup lovers have been asking for about 150 years.

Folks, we may finally have the answer—and from Canada, no less.

Thank you, neighbor. We owe you one.

This issue is the angle of the bottle. To illustrate the solution to consumers, Heinz Canada and creative group Rethink Canada distributed Heinz Ketchup bottles with oddly placed labels. When consumers turned the bottle so the label was right side up, the bottle aligned with the perfect angle at which to pour the tangy condiment.

Watch the video below for a demonstration:

Brian Neumann, senior brand manager at Kraft Heinz Canada, told AdAge Magazine:

This year, we have focused our marketing on reinforcing the emotional connection fans have with the brand in clever and ownable ways. We’re always thinking of fun, cheeky ways we can highlight the iconic and timeless nature of the product to give our consumers a smile.

Fun and cheeky is the perfect description of their effort to show us the best way to get to Heinz’s tomatoey goodness – and it’s also what we in the south think of our northerly neighbors.

Now, for the bad news. The helpful bottles are in limited production…i.e. only for Toronto.

Photo Credit: Pexels

But one of the foodie nerds at Food & Wine hacked that. Go run and get your protractor (I think I mentioned “nerd.”) and tip your bottle somewhere between a 35 and 45 degree angle. Make sure to verify the measurement because that is the sweet-ketchup-spot for optimum pouring performance.

Here is my hack on their hack: Paint the protractor red, write your name on it and decorate with stickers. Fasten the loop piece of Velcro on one side of the protractor and the hook piece inside your cabinet door. Hang your customized protractor inside the cabinet. Your very own scientific ketchup pouring angle indicator will be ready whenever you need it.

As they say in some parts of Canada, “Voila!”

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A Utah Ghost Town Is Welcoming Artists for a Month-Long Residency

Do you feel like you need a new direction in life?

Okay, what if you moved to a ghost town in Utah for a month to make art?!

Yes, that’s a real possibility.

The town of Cisco has been uninhabited for decades except for one resident: Eileen Muza. A visual artist, she’s lived in the town alone since 2015. Now, with the help of her sisters Renée and Margaret, Eileen is starting a residency for artists. Her goal is to preserve the character of Cisco while also bringing more creative people to the area.

“I find this to be a good spot for an artist residency is because it is so unique,” Eileen told Atlas Obscura. “All eras of history are represented here in different states of decay. Many people might come through and just see a garbage dump, but I see layers and layers of human life.”

Photo Credit: YouTube

Home of the Brave is a three- to five-week nonprofit residency. Only one artist will attend at a time, twice a year. The workspace is at least an hour away from any other towns.

“It’s a really good place for solitude,” Eileen said. “It would provide a unique opportunity for someone who is not used to rural living.”

Photo Credit: YouTube

As a ghost town, Cisco is a truly special place. There are approximately 100 abandoned buildings, only seven of which are fully intact. One of them is Eileen’s log cabin.

“When I first came through Cisco I could not believe all the things left behind and even had trouble believing it was a ghost town at all,” Eileen said.

Artist residents will live in a rehabilitated Winnebago Brave camper at the heart of Cisco. The isolation of the workspace does have some downsides — for example, there’s no running water in the town, so artists will have to drive 40 minutes away to shower at the community center (or maybe there’s a well you can pump from?). There is, however, electricity and Wi-Fi provided.

On the plus side, you can enjoy complete solitude in the high desert of Utah. Surely, there’s no place like it!

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Civil War Cannonballs Were Uncovered on South Carolina Beaches Because of Hurricane Dorian

Hurricane Dorian was huge and powerful, leaving death and destruction throughout the Bahamas before moving to brush the southeastern coast of the United States.

There, it brought carnage and left floodwaters and debris, but it also uncovered something pretty special: two Civil War cannonballs that experts are saying are well over 150 years old.

Aaron Lattin and his girlfriend Alba stumbled on the find when they were walking on Folly Beach (near Charleston) on September 6th. They first thought the objects were rocks, but soon realized they’d found something pretty cool and very historical.

In 2016, Hurricane Matthew uncovered 16 similar cannonballs around the same area; it’s not unusual, since Folly Island was used as a Union base during the war. More than a few items left from their artillery battery can be stumbled upon up and down the shoreline.

Like unexploded WWII bombs uncovered in Britain, old cannonballs need to be treated with caution. In this case, police and bomb disposal technicians were called to the most recent scene to ensure the cannonballs were no longer a danger.

Mother Nature taketh away, but sometimes she gives, too. And for lovers of history everywhere, we’ll take what we can get.

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Alan Rickman’s Personal Letters Reveal He Had Some Mixed Feelings About Playing Snape

Moviegoers, co-workers, directors, and everyone enjoyed the time they spent working with Alan Rickman, watching him, or just being around him. But just because he was so well-liked doesn’t mean he had a complex personal life. Actors are emotional beings, and Rickman was no different.

Thanks to some of his personal letters coming up for auction, we’ve gotten a glimpse into his complicated feelings about playing one of his most well-known roles.

 

The collection of letters, which are part of an auction at the ABA Rare Book Fair, seem to indicate the actor struggled with how the film franchise’s directors were handling his character, beginning as early as A Chamber of Secrets, the second installment in the Harry Potter franchise.

One letter from producer David Heyman told Rickman “Thank you for making HP2 a success. I know, at times, you are frustrated but please know that you are an integral part of the films. And you are brilliant.”

Later, after filming Half-Blood Prince (the sixth film), Rickman wrote a note, titled “Inside Snape’s Head,” that seemed to indicate he was unhappy with choices made by director David Yates.

“It’s as if David Yates has decided that this is not important in the scheme of things i.e. teen audience appeal.”

He’s clearly frustrated, but about what, exactly, we may never know.

The collection does include happy notes, as well, like one from author J.K. Rowling thanking Rickman for “doing justice to my most complex character,” and one from Daniel Radcliffe, who idolized Rickman (rightfully so).

“To Alan, Thank you for all of my presents, I can’t wait to read Catcher in the Rye.”

The entire collection includes 35 boxes of diaries, photos, scripts, and other personal effects like notes from Prince Charles, Tony Blair, and Bill Clinton.

If you want to bid on it, you’d better have deep pockets – they’re expecting the whole thing to go for over $1.2 million.

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Are You Always Running Late? Here Are 8 Ways to Be on Time.

If you are ALWAYS late, then you may only vaguely know how much you’re annoying your friends, family, co-workers and bosses.

Sometimes lateness is truly out of your control, but when it starts to be a habit, it’s clear you need some strategies.

Scroll through this list of 8 tools that will get you on the road and showing up on time.

1. Never explain why you’re late.

Only apologize for the trouble your lateness caused. Soon, you’ll begin to see how many excuses you were throwing out for your constant tardiness, which can make you more aware.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

2. Think about how someone constantly being late affects you.

Late people are irritating, and that’s how people see you.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

3. Give yourself the grace of being somewhere first by at least 5 minutes.

That few minutes is a gift to give yourself. Check your email or social media on your phone with your newfound free time – or just get yourself ready for whatever it is you need to do.

Photo Credit: Pexels

4. Wake up an hour early and get a jump on your morning routine.

You’ll get to work on time and you’ll have already crossed off a few things on your to do list.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

5. Set different named alarms to prompt you through your morning routine.

That way, you’re not lingering over your breakfast or in the shower longer than you wanted.

Photo Credit: Needpix

6. Use music to get out the door on time.

Make a playlist with a song for stretching, a few songs for breakfast, some for showering and dressing and then a final energetic tune to get you on the road.

Photo Credit: Pexels

7. Add a few minutes to travel time to account for last minute searches for keys, sunglasses or your other shoe.

You’ll be grateful too for a few extra minutes to find a parking spot or wait for the train.

Photo Credit: Flickr

8. Pack your stuff up in the evening and have it ready by the door.

If you have everything ready to go the night before, then you won’t waste precious minutes searching for it.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

All of these steps are totally easy. Incorporate some of them and you’ll find life a little less hectic and a lot more productive.

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18 Funny Tweets That Might Make You Smile

Summer is almost over, so it’s time to round up the best tweets from the past season so we can make room for the autumn humor coming your way.

We think these 20 tweets definitely come out on the top of the pile!

18. There is nothing more real than this tweet.

17. And that’s what’s known as nailing it, my friends.

16. Girl you don’t want to miss that photo op.

15. This is honestly the best possible Uber experience.

14. Just laugh you don’t have to understand why.

13. I said what I said!

12. Why are you like this?

11. YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG WHAT’S THE SAFE WORD.

10. Why is this so real though?

9. Thank goodness for food delivery amirite?

8. It’s all a scam!

7. I want to see the results though.

6. Honestly one of the most refreshing things about this generation.

5. I mean at least he still feels like wagging his tail.

4. They survive by inviting a woman with a purse to come along.

3. One of the things I’m most looking forward to about parenting.

2. A picture is worth a thousand words.

1. Give me a minute, I’m dying.

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for this heat to break and to order my coffee hot!

Did you have a favorite tweet from the summer? Share it in the comments!

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Should You Order Wine by the Glass?

You may only want one glass of wine, but are you getting ripped off when you order it at a bar or restaurant? After all, buying in bulk seems like a smarter idea. We certainly save money when we buy our oatmeal and cashews out of bins.

But is that how it works with restaurant wine?

Well, let’s start by looking at how restaurants price wine.

Photo Credit: Needpix

If you are worried about the mark-up on wine, then rest assured: the mark-up is huge, whether wine is priced by the glass or the bottle. A bottle of wine is probably priced at four to five times higher than its wholesale cost. The restaurant, after all, needs to make a profit.

Guess what? The food is marked up too.

Now, that’s settled. So, let’s look at the by-the-glass pricing specifically.

Photo Credit: Pexels

A restaurant can get four glasses of wine per bottle, but they might try to squeeze five. If they decide to split a mid-priced bottle, say $40, into five glasses, they are looking at charging customers $8 for each glass.

That sounds a little cheap, though. Customers may get turned off by what they think is a low quality glass of wine. They may even think the food must be low quality. So, if the restaurant charges $10 for each glass just to make it more attractive and in line with the rest of the menu, then that $40 bottle now brings in $50.

And that same bottle probably cost them about $10 wholesale. Definitely a big mark-up.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Restaurants may also employ the opposite technique, though, on a pricy bottle. Maybe they got a great deal from an obscure winery or region, or they want to serve something fancy for holiday time. So they take a wine normally priced high and serve it by the glass at less than optimal price to encourage orders. It’s market research for them. Something to think about…

Also, don’t worry about the freshness if you’re at a decent place that seems to turn their bottles frequently. A good server won’t bring you a glass of stale wine, and if it does happen, then politely send it back. This is pretty much the only good reason to send back wine, by the way.

At any rate, the whole reason for paying a bunch of money to eat at a restaurant is to enjoy the entire experience. Otherwise, you’d cook at home and drink out of a box. Order what you like, whether it’s a glass or a bottle, and don’t worry about the rest.

As long as it’s not too expensive, anyway.

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