Fun Stuff

Make your own Girl Scout Cookies

/ Shane / 2 Comments

No more paying protection money to the Girl Scout mafia! No more waiting through the off season, dying for more. Now we have a second source! We can make our own.

Thin mints, Tagalongs, and (my personal favorite favorite) Samoas. Mmmmm homemade Samoas ::drool::.

I have to say, these look way better than the ones you can buy. Also, the recipe tells you how to make replicates of the Girl Scout version, but you wouldn’t have to go so far. For example, in the Samoa recipe, you don’t *need* to have the hole in the middle. If you used regular, non-homemade shortbread cookies with no holes in the middle, and you melted down caramel instead of making homemade, then these really wouldn’t be that difficult to make. I’m sure the 100% homemade version is better, but any version would be pretty darn delicious.

So, who’s going to make me some?

Link via Sara

Why do we keep discovering these things?

/ Shane / 2 Comments

We’ve been on this Earth for a while. We have the Internet and cameras and cell phones and airplanes and all other sorts of things for connecting with people. We’ve explored every nook and cranny, from the depth of the ocean to the highest mountain, right? Right??

Then why do I keep hearing about these crazy creatures that we’ve just discovered? Shouldn’t we know them all by now? Giant carnivorous plants, horrible parasites that replace your tongue, a fungus that makes zombie ants, a wasp that lobotomizes a cockroach to make it a docile, living, larva carrier, and a plant that lives by eating excrement.

And now this:

That monster is just over 2 1/2 feet long. That’s big enough to eat your face, believe me. It was found clinging to an ocean explorer, which had been down at a depth of about 8,500 feet.

Don’t let anybody tell you there aren’t monsters left on this Earth.

Horrifying nightmare via Sara

ThinkGeek: throwing money away, every April fools’

/ Shane / 6 Comments

Every April Fools’ day, Think Geek, puts up a host of new products. Of course, these products aren’t available for order, just as a joke. However, they fool me with this every year. Why? Because the products are so ridiculously simple, and so ridiculously desirable, there’s no reason NOT to make them. For the most part, there are no technical barriers to creating these products, and yet there is a demand. Why make it a joke? Why not just sell the products? (Note that it has happened in the past, that they did end up making a product, since the demand was so high).

So here are some of the products that you CAN’T BUY, but you should be able to!

First up is a lovable plush toy that any child would love (come on Rachael, even you have to admit it is adorable!).

It’s not just a stuffed animal, it’s also a puppet. It even says, “I’m bacon!” when you squeeze it. And who doesn’t love the tag line, “You’ve got a friend in me(at)!” The sooner you encourage the consumption of bacon, the better the lives of the children will be. Please, think of the children!

Product #2 is really for all the Lost fans out there. Now, instead of just dreaming of Desmond, you can wake up like Desmond, with a Dharma alarm clock.

Once the alarm begins, punch in “the numbers” on the keypad or suffer the consequences! No simple snooze button on this one, you have to type in the complicated numbers and hit enter. And if preventing the end of the world isn’t enough motivation to get out of bed in the morning, then I can’t help you. (And, if you are a true Lost fan, I would recommend watching the short video showing the clock in action!)

Finally, the third product is both interesting and frightening, at the same time. The “Tell Me Your Secrets” Bear.

Kind of reminds me of the Robot Chicken intro.

So, let me allow Think Geek to explain this one:

When hugged, he’ll profess his love for your child, and stress that friends always share their secrets. He’ll ask, “Do you have a secret, best friend? You can tell me anything.” When the bear completes a trigger phrase, the audio and video turns on, recording your child’s secrets, which are then wirelessly transmitted to you via email.

Now even the most despicable, spying, hovering parent has a friend they can turn to!

Okay, maybe that last one is pushing the bounds of believability, but the other two are totally doable.

By the way, if you actually want to buy any of these products, you can go to their website and click to show interest…I’m guessing that at least some of them will show up as real products before too long.

Prepare to have your mind blown

/ Shane / 3 Comments

You know how in the future we will all have little nanobots that do our bidding, like flying around in our bloodstream and repairing our body? Oh, you thought that was just science fiction stuff? Well, what would you say if I showed you a video of scientists using a computer to mind control 5,000 bacteria into building them a pyramid?

The future is now*!

*Now being like 20 or 30 years from now, when they can do more than build pyramids with their little bacterial slaves. But you have to admit, it’s a step in the right** direction!

**Assuming you think mind controlling bacteria to do your bidding is, in fact, the right direction, and not some horrible disaster movie waiting to happen.

The Gateway to Hell

/ Shane / 3 Comments

It turns out, there is a door to hell, right here on planet Earth. Specifically, in Turkmenistan.

Seriously, that picture does not fully represent how hellish the thing is, although it does give you a sense of the size of it. I urge you to take a look at this quick video (34 seconds):

The saddest thing about this place is that it is actually man-made. It turns out that geologists discovered the crater about 35 years ago. It was full of natural gas, so, naturally, they lit it on fire. (Were these geologists or teenage boys?) Nobody expected the gas deposit to be more or less unlimited, and it has burned ever since.

Am I crazy that I kind of want to see it, even though it looks so nightmarish? It doesn’t seem like something you’d soon forget.

Link via Sara.