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• My mom likes to talk about the “good ole days.” But were they always so good? Here are 10 Creepy Old Ads to make you think twice before hopping into that time machine. (Thanks Janice from Atlanta)
• Who was the Mona Lisa named after? Madd Zapper (are you a Zappa cousin?) sent in an article on this intriguing discovery.
• Breann from Bloomington, Illinois, sent in this vintage link for Viking Kittens. If you haven’t seen it before, give it a look. I can no longer hear the song without seeing bobble-headed kitties valiantly crossing a lake.
Our friends at YesButNoButYes have put together their Top Ten Trends for 2007. It really was a year for ugly fish, I’ll give them that.
• Brett Favre may soon lead the Packers to the Super Bowl, but did you know he was originally drafted by the Falcons? I happened to catch a guy wearing his Falcons jersey last week, and I wept openly. If you’ve spotted a ridiculous jersey, snap a pic and send it to BadJerseyBlog@gmail.com. Our own Ethan Trex runs a website called Straight Cash, Homey that aims to become the internet’s #1 resource for pictures of people in Ryan Leaf-esque jerseys.
• This link on Ads vs Reality made me consider bringing my lunch from home. We know that advertisers use all kinds of tricks to make fast food look delicious, but imagine their campaigns if they stuck to the real thing. (Thanks Suzie from South of Boston for the link)
• Parody songs are a genre I typically avoid, but this Harry Potter tribute song to the tune of “Hey Delilah” made me chuckle. Reader Erin says she most identified with the lyric, “Ohh what you do to me / even though I’m 33…”
• Say whoa unto us, the television fan, for what cometh. With the ongoing writers strike, be prepared to be inundated by reality shows. Some will be good, some will be bad, and some will be about…Webster?
• Flossy reader Patrick from Elberton, Georgia, is mighty talented – and legally blind! He made the above origami peacock, which I think could rival some of the paper art made by Physicist Robert Lang. The best I can make is a fortune teller, and some eight-year-olds have told me “it’s not all that.” Patrick also sent in this incredible video on sand art. The obvious question for Patrick — how are you reading mentalfloss.com?
• Imagine a website where someone does a live performance of a Garfield strip, shows the strip, and then continues on to Garfield/Jim Davis-related fan abstraction pieces … in all of its ridiculous, hilarious glory, it lives! (This one came from my co-worker Kevin, who keeps me very entertained.)
• Wikipedia offers a list of U.S. College and University Endowments (only those over $1 billion need apply). Harvard wins with $34.9 billion. Emory, my alma mater, comes in with a paltry (ha) $5. What do schools do with these war-chests? Some are finally going to start spending.
• Are you looking for new ways of self-promotion? Or perhaps you have trouble keeping your fan base aware of your latest trends? Here’s an idea: Daniel Felton puts out an Annual Report. On himself. (Via NoahBrier.com)
When Gilbert Arenas scores, he screams “Hibachi!” When Jack from Will & Grace gets excited he sometimes exclaims, “Sarah Jessica Parker!” What did an ESPN announcer cry out when Kevin Garnett scored on a dunk? Find out here, and see some other suggestions for the spontaneous invoking of names.
• And finally, this shirt is not new, but it is hilarious…
Let’s end with a question: What’s the greatest – and by greatest, I mean cheesiest – shirt you own?
I want to thank everyone who sent in links – keep ‘em coming! You can reach me at flossylinks@gmail.com. (Feel free to send photos of your cheesy shirts, too.) Looking forward to hearing from you!
Comments (19)
Comment
There is a difference between legally blind and blind. I have very limited vision directly in front of me. I have no peripheral vision.
Also have a good magnification utility on my computer does wonders.
posted by Patrick B on 1-19-2008 at 2:38 am
my greatest shirt is probably my “don’t hassel the hoff” shirt. it’s pretty fantastic.
posted by Heather on 1-19-2008 at 9:34 am
We have an Ignot and Err shirt from Aqua Teen Hunger Force…one is green w/ the blue pixel face, the other is bright pink…they’re cool…
those creepy ads are really creepy…ick…
posted by donner on 1-19-2008 at 10:52 am
Ditto what Patrick said. I teach students who are visually impaired, and most are not totally blind. In fact, out of dozens of students that I have taught, only three were totally blind. To be legally blind, one needs to have vision less than 20/200 in the worse eye, with correction. (You can be between 20/70-20/200 and you can qualify as “low vision”, at least in Michigan). You can also qualify by having a visual field of less than 20 degrees.
Okay, that is probably way more than anyone wanted to know on the subject!! :)
Patti
PS: That origami was cool!
posted by TeacherPatti on 1-19-2008 at 11:12 am
I have a few cool shirts. One is a christmas shirt, it’s black with a black and white picture of Ralphie and blood red words reading “You’ll shoot your eye out!”
Another says “I’m only wearing black until they come up with something darker.”
I used to have one with a picture of Courius George snuffing ether.
And many other cool tshirts
posted by sneezy on 1-19-2008 at 11:30 am
Best t-shirt:
“What if the Hokey Pokey is what it’s all about?”
posted by Carole on 1-19-2008 at 12:19 pm
I have a t-shirt (with matching bumpersticker on my car) that says “Republicans for Voldemort”.
I’m still chuckling over those horrifying ads. I want a poster of the pig cutting himself to go in my horror poster collection. So Creepy!
posted by Jen on 1-19-2008 at 12:58 pm
My goofiest shirt is one that I made that says “‘Cause I’m the lifeguard, that’s why!” I wear it at the camp/ymca when I work.
posted by Amy on 1-19-2008 at 2:01 pm
my best t-shirt slogan: “This is in Spanish when you’re not looking”.
posted by marianne on 1-19-2008 at 4:33 pm
I own the original cheezy t-shirt -
“I’m with Stupid —->”
a classic that will never get old
:)
posted by Clotho on 1-19-2008 at 5:55 pm
I had a tshirt that said “I dig scrawny pale guys”. It was pretty awesome.
posted by Sara on 1-20-2008 at 7:36 am
I found this shirt at WalMart and used it for my redneck comedy act. It reads,”The back view is even better” on the front and “The front view is even better,” on the back.
posted by Bethi on 1-20-2008 at 9:50 am
The coolest shirt I ever wore said in very small letters “Underneath my clothes” and then in large letters “I’m completely naked”
posted by Melissa on 1-20-2008 at 10:02 am
As I’m reading this I am in fact wearing my cheesiest shirt. It’s a rugby type long sleeved shirt with the Gryffindor seal on it. It’s reserved for pajama wearing, not public viewing.
posted by Tricia on 1-20-2008 at 11:26 am
In the ultimate realm of cheesy shirts, I own the growly-bear-face babydoll T from the webcomic Questionable Content. That’s right. I’m a nerd. I also have a shirt that says “Life is short, buy the shoes.”
(also, it’s kind of awkward to click on some of the weekend links and find them blocked from work for ‘adult content’ :X)
posted by Ashley on 1-21-2008 at 9:07 am
My cheesiest t-shirt is yellow and reads: “This shirt says bananas”
Runner-up is my “Relish today, ketchup tomorrow” t-shirt.
posted by Heather on 1-21-2008 at 9:10 am
Oh those ads from yesterday. Spank me honey, I bought the wrong coffee!
posted by beth on 1-21-2008 at 2:13 pm
I saw those ads on FARK a while ago, but it’s still just as disturbing (and funny)now as it ever was.
I own a pretty funny shirt, a simple black one with white lettering. It says, “Genius by birth, slacker by nature”. The greatest truth ever spoken.
posted by Kevin on 1-21-2008 at 7:44 pm
My sister had a shirt that said “Looking is free, touching costs”
She wore it to an amusement park. We had to buy her a new shirt. She got tired of guys asking for a price list.
posted by Patrick B on 1-22-2008 at 8:06 am