Pinkpackrat@Play

Why Models Look Younger and Prettier Than You Do

2012-01-14T10:35:00.002-05:00

OMG I love this video. No more looking at pictures of models in Vogue and feeling inadequate. No more thinking that a woman can never be too rich or too thin and especially-- no more worrying about getting old.

The product is not real, but the biting, social comment on Western standards of beauty and the shallowness of our culture is right on the money.

Jesse Rosten is brilliant. This video just says it all. You have to watch it.

Fotoshop by Adobé from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

And now for the Behind the Scenes version that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that reality is even more fun than illusion. Tah Dah! You absolutely have to watch this one too.

BTS Fotoshop from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

Social Media Christmas

2011-12-26T05:48:00.001-05:00

the Ghost of Christmas Future

Merry Christmas Everybody

2011-12-23T07:50:00.003-05:00

Thanks, everybody, for taking the time throughout the year to stop by and read the odd outpourings of my packratish mind. It is always great to see you and I love that you all keep stopping by.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours. May the coming year bring us all peace,prosperity, and the capacity to at least try and understand each other.

photo source: andrewb172/photobucket -- thanks.

Weird Hand Crafted Christmas Tree Ornaments

2011-12-16T07:07:00.001-05:00

Looking for some unique and " different" ornaments for your tree? If the ordinary Christmas stuff is starting to send you into a diabetic coma, the antidote is right here. Etsy is the place to go for jaw droppingly weird, kid-frightening, zombie loving, out of the ordinary, hand crafted goodies for your holiday tree.

Monster for your tree? Sculpted in clay and hand-painted in blue and white, with reflective silver accents. Tusk is heavy-grade paper. Lots of monsters to choose from at Relics Imaginary on Etsy

Nothing says festive like a flesh-eating zombie chasing a little elf. This four inch high ornament fashioned from strong plate steel can be yours over at Zombie Explosion plus it's made in the USA.

Anybody for a tree decorated with " bizarre alien fetus" ornaments? You can find a set of 14 over at Beth Robinson's Strange Dolls Etsy shop. What a Christmas gift for your worst enemy at the office eh?

Three funny hand painted polymer clay monster faces add a carnival atmosphere to your tree. These three little guys are odd, but really quite lovable I think. Check them out over at Bambolanera on Etsy

Who wouldn't love a severed kewpie doll head, complete with fork, holding up a lovely, handcrafted christmas globe. It's a conversation starter for sure. You can find this one and more humerous and sardonic tree ornaments and other goodies to delight and confound at aimee's place on Etsy.

How about Michael Jackson on your tree? The kids will love him ( cough ) oh never mind, this is an imaginative, eco friendly felt ornament, hand done by Eco-Weird. There's even a squeeker inside.

OK that's the best of the best for the moment, but I'm keeping my eyes open. Have a great day and don't let the zombies get you down. Put them on your tree.

Icelandic Summer in Time Lapse Photography

2011-12-06T06:56:00.001-05:00

There is something indescribable about the light in Iceland. There is something equally indescribable about the energy and vibrancy of the landscape--especially in summer when the sun shines 24 hours a day. This time lapse video comes as close as anything I've ever seen to capturing the essence of the midnight sun in Iceland. It was made in July of 2011 by cinematographer Joe Capra .

Enjoy... and for a look at the original post where I found this amazing video, plus a video of the out-takes. Go here.

Manhattan in 1920 Through the Eyes of Charles Sheeler

2011-11-30T05:44:00.001-05:00

Charles Sheeler

I was totally mesmerized by this video. A friend sent it to me. I had no idea when I started to watch that it was not just a video, but a wonderful time machine that could transport me back to the Manhattan of 1920 with all its vibrant optimism and self confidence. You can virtually see industrial progress unfolding in every frame as everyday people go about their everyday, 1920 New York lives.

It's a silent film, with rather poetic titles scattered through the footage that add to the beauty of the piece. It is a real artistic gem-- the only film ever made by American painter and photographer Charles Sheeler, who is better known for his pioneering architectural photographs and masterful precisionist paintings. It was done in collaboration with his photographer and filmaker friend, Paul Strand, a major 20th century force in getting photography recognized as an art form. NO wonder it is such a work of genius.

BUY ON iTUNES: http://itun.es/iBY9KW.

Soundtrack by The Cinematic Orchestra for Charles Sheeler and Paul Strand's 1921 short film 'Manhatta', released on Motion Audio Records.

Soundtrack & Film available digitally now from the Ninjashop and iTunes.

Ninjashop http://bit.ly/or0cru
iTunes http://itun.es/iBY9KW

It's An Angry Bird Christmas

2011-11-26T07:25:00.001-05:00

The Ultimate Angry Birds Christmas Tree

Wouldn't an Angry Birds Christmas tree decorated with hand crafted ornaments from Etsy sellers just be the best? Here you go. You can buy the bird and pig ornaments for $6.00 each or get enough to decorate a whole tree. They are hand painted and so cool. Here's where I found them on Etsy.

Or, if you prefer soimething a bit more folksy, here's a set of seven angry wood ornaments for $65.00 . All the birds and all the green pigs too.... what more could a Christmas tree need? Also on Etxy

Then there are a group of three needle-felted angry birds for your tree. Find them on Etsy for $10. each or all three for $30.00

So far, nobody seems to have come up with an Angry Birds tree topper. I looked. I really did. Oh well, I guess I can make do with Yoda. Deck the Halls, y'all.

A Maxine Thanksgiving Moment

2011-11-23T09:55:00.001-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving everybody. Have a tranquil and serene day and don't let the turkeys get you down.

H/T to The Essence of Home for the great Maxine cartoon moment.

The Lighter Side of OWS and a Dog Named Frenchie

2011-11-09T10:18:00.002-05:00

Frenchie is a stylishly dressed French bull dog who may or may not be part of the 1%, but who clearly stands with the 99%. downtown at the Occupy Wall Street camp.

His conversation with a police horse has gone viral in the past few days. No wonder. It lightens the load a lot. Go Frenchie !

Down on The Content Farm

2011-11-03T21:09:00.003-04:00

One picture is worth a million " content farm" words, which is why Google needed Panda update in the first place. It seems to be doing the trick. Is there a bit less drivel online these days, or is it just my imagination?

Texting At Your Own Wedding

2011-11-01T15:39:00.000-04:00

I love smart phones, but I admit I am a real stick in the mud when it comes to people talking and texting in restaurants and at social gatherings. It strikes me as really rude. But texting while waiting for your father to walk you down the aisle at your own wedding? That is just over the top.

I wonder if the newlyweds caught in this video will be texting each other from opposite sides of the nuptual bed on their honeymoon.. The possibilities here are just too funny. Where is SNL when you need them. The video below was shot by a professional wedding photographer who posted it on YouTube and had this to say about it.

"This is part of a wedding video I shot in August 2008 at the Mission Beach Women's Club in San Diego, CA. It was otherwise perfectly normal except for this one funny clip of the bride TEXTING just after her dad walked her down the isle! At one point, I noticed her doing it through my lens and I had to pull away form the camera to make certain I was seeing what I thought I was seeing. The minister was busy reading his opening comments and her back was to everyone in attendance. I was the only one to see her. Her dad glanced over at her and then saw me doing a double take and began to laugh out loud! You can see him doing it in the clip. Totally funny!"

I think it is totally funny too. Don't you?

update on November3,2011-- the video has been made private. I guess too many YouTube views made the bride nervous. Sorry, you can't view it, but it was funny:-)

Slightly Creepy Vintage Halloween Kids

2011-10-31T08:40:00.001-04:00

Check out these old snapshots of kids in Halloween costumes. I love the vintage feel of the photos with their home made costumes and non standard celebrations. Clearly, Halloween was less commercial and more about dressing up back in the day-- but it was somehow a little creepier too. Don't you agree?

Little Red Riding Hood mwaaa-ha-ha-ha

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Depression-Era Kids in Home-made Masks

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Madame Butterfly in 1921 Looking Pretty Grin

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Something Ominous about This Little Girl, Isn't There?

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Is This a Costume Party or a Bank Heist?

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A Spooky Little Jester of Uncertain Age

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And Finally, From the Kids and Grownups

At A 1919 Halloween Party

Happy Halloween

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The Animation of Billy Collins

2011-10-13T07:18:00.000-04:00

Billy Collins is such an accessible poet--even for people who are not big on poetry. He is as quintessentially American as say, Walt Whitman but more contemporary. He writes about the ordinary everyday fabric of American life and leads the reader with humor and grace to moments of profound insight.

I love YouTube too and I love that a number of Billy Collin's poems have been animated and can be accessed there. Here's a sample. Want more? Here it is.

The Country

I wondered about you
when you told me never to leave
a box of wooden, strike-anywhere matches
lying around the house because the mice

might get into them and start a fire.

But your face was absolutely straight
when you twisted the lid down on the round tin
where the matches, you said, are always stowed.

Who could sleep that night?

Who could whisk away the thought
of the one unlikely mouse
padding along a cold water pipe

behind the floral wallpaper
gripping a single wooden match
between the needles of his teeth?

Who could not see him rounding a corner,

the blue tip scratching against a rough-hewn beam,
the sudden flare, and the creature
for one bright, shining moment

suddenly thrust ahead of his time—

now a fire-starter, now a torch-bearer
in a forgotten ritual, little brown druid
illuminating some ancient night.

Who could fail to notice,

lit up in the blazing insulation,
the tiny looks of wonderment on the faces
of his fellow mice, one-time inhabitants
of what once was your house in the country?

The World's Oldest Car Runs on Steam Not Gas

2011-10-11T13:45:00.000-04:00

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The little beauty above, manufactured in France in 1885, just sold last friday at auction in Hershey Pennsylvania for over 4 million dollars. Not bad for a car that runs on wood chips to generate steam and whose top speed is an earth shattering 38 MPH. The price fetched, was indeed, almost double what the auction house had estimated. NO idea who bought it, but assume it was a well heeled collector or a museum.

I find it fascinating that this car predates Henry Ford's first efforts by more than a decade. Even more interesting is that in the early days of the automobile, it was not clear that the internal combustion engine, was going to win out over steam or electricity. It was Henry Ford who made the difference by providing an affordable car with his Model T and the invention of the assembly line. He was kind of the Bill Gates rather than the Steve Jobs of his day.

One wonders what would have happened had market conditions favored steam or electricity at the beginning of the automobile age. How many of today's problems could we have avoided ?

We'll never know. But isn't it interesting that the world's oldest running automobile runs on steam not gas and is worth $4.6 million in today's market?

Flying Over Planet Earth

2011-09-18T07:31:00.000-04:00

This video seems like a dream to me--one of those dreams of flying. It is awe inspiring and amazing..... so amazing that on this Sunday morning, I wanted to share it because somehow it seems like a prayer.

Have a look

How to Buffalo a Buffalo or The Nightmare of English Grammar

2011-09-14T06:34:00.000-04:00

It's a noun. It's a verb. It's an adjective. It's a buffalo. The plural of buffalo is--- you guessed it-- BUFFALO and if you are a language afficionado who has not seen the video below that explains it all, you are in for a treat.

Makes me wonder how anybody ever learns English, and makes me grateful to be a native speaker of the language that seems simple but is really ooooooh sooooooo complicated. The grammar is insane. I mean, if you have one mouse and two mice, why not one blouse and two blice? But, as we all know, the plural of blouse is blouses. What's a foreigner to do?

Famously, Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo is a grammatically valid English sentence. Check out the details on Wikipedia if you don't believe me. And my hat is off to all the people all over the world who are not buffaloed by the grammatical intricacies of English.

What a language :-)

Madonna And Hydrangeas

2011-09-07T07:14:00.000-04:00

So, the big news on CNN this morning is that a fan at the Venice film festival presented Madonna with a Hydrangea and Madanna said thank you and then an open mic caught her remark that she loathes hydrangeas. This is news? Who cares? Evidently, the internet does. The video below has gone viral and the internet pundit crowd is clucking away.

Get a grip, folks. This is just plain silly.

The All American Spaghetti Fork Demonstrated By Its Inventor

2011-08-22T13:24:00.001-04:00

I do not know why this video cracks me up so much but I think it has something to do with the American entrepreneurial spirit and just how far some folks can take it. I also don't quite know what to make of the original spaghetti fork demonstrated in the video, but I do kind of like it. I am wondering what a couple of ten year olds would do with it or how it would go over in my neighborhood Itallian restaurant-- but never mind. It's a fun and novel idea.

As for me, I'm not much into plates heaped with pasta in the first place ( will you look at the size of that helping? It's enough to feed a family of four and its sitting on ONE plate)-- But I am all for American inventiveness, and Bob Balow, the guy who invented this spaghetti fork, seems like a nice guy. Though I'm probably not going to become one of his customers, I wish him well.

So, go have a look at his video demo and either have a chuckle, place an order, or both. You can order stainless steel or gold plated forks for youself or as gifts by going toRCB Products-- the home of the original pasta fork.

Bon appetit, y'all

We All Need A Friend To Help Now and Then

2011-08-19T08:15:00.002-04:00

Have a great week-end everybody. Aren't friends wonderful?

Happiness and Your Brain Pathways

2011-08-14T06:01:00.002-04:00

Happiness, it turns out, is an actual neurological process. It's a mix of forgiveness ( of self and others) and positive thinking and it turns out that all that stuff about counting your blessings is right on the money-- which is why prayer and meditation really work no matter what your religious tradition is.

The habit of happiness or unhappiness is written in your brain-- laid down in neurological pathways and embellished by experience and memory. This past week had me feeling pretty depressed, between London in flames, the stock market in the toilet, and Somalia starving. Watching the talking heads on TV talk about it all put me in a worse and worse mood.

Then, I turned off the TV and watched this video. After watching it I took a long walk and made a mental list of all the things in life I have to be grateful for. I stopped thinking about the things I am afraid of in the future or regretting the past-- I just focused on the little and big things I've been lucky about so far in life. It made me feel a lot better. It really did..... watching cable news does not do good things for your happiness level . Walking in nature and counting your blessings does.

Here's the video-- watch it and give it a try. You'll feel better. I promise.

The iPhone4 Case That Literally " Gives You A Hand"

2011-08-06T07:06:00.003-04:00

Here's something for all of you who have always wanted to hold hands with your iPhone. Haven't you all just been dreaming of the day?..... no????? oh, well.

It's pretty creepy, I know, but then so are some iPhone users-- and there are practical advantages..... Just think how much less likely you'll be to drop your phone if you are holding it by a lifelike silicone replica of a child's hand..... and talk about getting attention-- wow. Hey it can hold your pen and glasses too. Talk about a phone that "comes in handy" ( sorry, couldn't resist)

Not convinced? Think of it as the perfect birthday gift for your ex, or a great Christmas present for the office Secret Santa thing this year. Or how about for that special someone at Halloween? Who could resist a lifelike, severed, silicone hand hmmmmmmmm? Those folks at Dokkiri are pure genius. What will they think of next? Ewwwwwwwww.

Now, I know you want to know where to get yours ( yeah you do). Well, the bad news is they won't be available till mid-September, but, the good news is you can pre-order now. The cost? about $US65.00. The attention getting, ick factor? Priceless!!!

H/T Dangerous Minds

Mariachis At The Mystic Aquarium

2011-08-04T13:33:00.006-04:00

Who says the Beluga whale at the Mystic Aquarium ( where this Mariachi trio was playing a wedding gig) does not like Mexican music.? I just came across this video and I am absolutely fascinated by it. Wondering if the whale is grooving to the vibrations that carry through the water via the glass on the cage or the sound of the music or the visual or what. Clearly, he's having a good time whatever he's into.

Check out the inter- species communication here. It is just awesome.

How Do I Love Thee?

2011-07-30T05:02:00.004-04:00

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XLIII. "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways..."
by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

Terry Border has a wonderful whimsical way of using ordinary objects to make art. His comments on the human condition are sharp and universal. I love his work. If you want to see more, go check out his website, Bent Objects . It'll make you smile, I promise.

Hot Tips from Cool Animals on Beating the Heatwave

2011-07-23T14:10:00.006-04:00

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1. Never pass up a chance for a drink or a swim. Hydration is important

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2.If you work outdoors, stay in the shade and don't forget to drink plenty of water

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3. A cool dip in the river helps. Great for the kids too. Keeps them happy and cool

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4.Nothing like hanging out on the beach on a hot day --running into the ocean then rolling in the sand.

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5. Don't get out of the water unless you absolutely have to and don't move too much

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6. Stay inside and chill, in air conditioning if possible. Keep popsicles nearby

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7. It can't go on forever. The heatwave WILL end and you will be cool again. Be patient and stay cool.

Have A Grand and Glorious Fourth of July America

2011-07-04T11:26:00.000-04:00