Today, Clint Eastwood turns 81. We’re celebrating with clips from some of his best work on the silver screen—from spaghetti westerns to dark dramas and everything in between. Eastwood has won four Academy Awards and one honorary Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, which is given at the yearly Oscar ceremony. In short: the guy’s a living legend, so settle back with some popcorn and enjoy the look back at his career. And if we left off your favorite clip—and let’s face it, Eastwood’s had 66 acting roles on TV and in movies, so we’ve skipped a bunch—please leave a link in the comments.

Revenge of the Creature

Eastwood appeared in an uncredited role in this film in 1955. See it here, through the lens of Mystery Science Theatre 3000

A Fistful of Dollars

This 1964 spaghetti western was one of the first of the genre to be released in America. Eastwood was not the first person director Sergio Leone wanted for the role. Initially, he’d hoped Henry Fonda or Charles Bronson could pay “The Man With No Name.” (more…)

It’s an all-new 5-day trivia hunt!

Co-puzzle Master Josh Halbur and I are happy to bring you the next How Did You Know? sponsored by our friends over at neatorama.com.

Here’s how it works: Starting today, and every day the rest of this week, we’ll be presenting two challenges at noon ET. They’ll be very similar to the kinds of puzzles you’ve come to expect from me and Josh, and, yes, they will feed into the Day 5 puzzle, as normal. Each evening, at 8pm ET, we’ll be putting up a third challenge loosely based on the day’s previous two challenges. You won’t need to solve the first two to solve the third, but knowing the day’s theme might help you be the first to crack Level 3. Also: note that you’ll have to solve Level 3–the bonus–to compete on Day 5

>> Prizes! Each day, one person will win one item from the neatoshop worth $25 or less. Shipping is on the house but the item you pick must be in stock. Oh, and no credit if you don’t use up the full $25. To be eligible for the prize, you need to leave the correct answer to Level 3 on the correct neatorama page before 10pm ET. You also need to tell us in that comment what you want if you’re selected at random.

>> So what’s in it for the person/team who finishes first with all the correct answers? Bragging rights, as always, with your photo/bio posted on our site. But also the chance to win the Day 5 neatorama prize, and, as has been tradition here for the last 28 months of HDYK?, your pick of any one of the amazing t-shirts from our store.

As always, if you’re not a Fan of our Facebook page, be sure to add us so we can keep you updated, and you can get in on some additional nifty clues throughout the week. If you’re new to our five-day hunt, you can read up on our new Rules page here. Oh, and the previous days’ challenges can be found here if you missed it. Okay, ready to get your Hunt on? Click on through.

People go to zoos to see the animals from exotic locales we couldn’t get to on our own. But some of these animals can’t be seen anywhere except zoos. These are the animals that are extinct in the wild, dependent on the keepers and zoo breeding programs for their very survival. Here are a few animals that you can only find in zoos, and two that have been re-released into the wild.

1. New Guinea Singing Dog

While scientists argue about this adorable canid’s taxonomic status, some even classifying them with domestic dogs, they do have a distinct genetic code and are unique from all other existing canines.

The first of these dogs to be studied was taken from New Guinea in 1897, but because they were largely considered feral dogs, not a special breed or species, little research was performed on the animals until much later. This delayed any protection of the dogs in the wild, although their numbers drastically declined in the twentieth century until there were no more left. There have not been any sightings of the animals in the wild since 1970. There are a number of the dogs in captivity in zoos around the world but, unfortunately, they have been largely inbred from a small genetic pool so it is unclear if the population can ever be restored.

[Image courtesy of whatadqr's Flickr stream.]

2. Pinta Island Tortoise

(more…)

Filmmaker Tyler Culler wandered the streets of New York with a camera, asking passersby what they were listening to on their headphones. Many answered — and many of the answers are surprising. Enjoy this little slice of New York life:

After the jump, the track list from Cullen’s YouTube post.

(more…)

And more!

As a child, I loved few things as much as I loved Mad Magazine. My brother and I would get really giddy when a new issue was out as we anticipated the incredibly juvenile – and often brilliant – satire that awaited us inside. Of course we didn’t refer to the magazine as satire. Or subversive. We didn’t know what those things meant. We just knew that we loved the hilarious send-ups of pop culture, politics and daily minutiae packed into each issue.

I loved seeing Alfred E. Neuman’s grinning mug on the cover, and checking out the mutually destructive antics of Spy vs. Spy. But my favorite part of the magazine was the fold-in found on the last page of each issue, which featured an illustration that when folded inward would take on a radically different meaning. If you have never seen a Mad Magazine fold-in, this article New York Times article from last year has an interactive sample of the hundreds of them that have appeared since the feature debuted in 1964.

The fold-in itself was the creation of legendary Mad Magazine cartoonist Al Jaffee. In this exclusive interview created by UCB Comedy, Jaffee talks about creating the fold-in and his philosophy on comedy:

THXTHXTHX is a charming blog made up entirely of handwritten thank-you notes, addressed not to people but to objects and ideas and gestures and everyday things that the blog’s founder, Leah, is thankful for. In an online landscape dominated by cynicism and sarcasm, it’s like a breath of fresh air — and it’s often charming and funny and disarmingly true, as well.

Having lived in my current place for going on five years (a personal record), I can relate to this one:

I like this one, too. Simple and thought-provoking.

(more…)

In July of 1987 — 70 weeks before the election — seven Democratic candidates appeared together for the first big primary debate. The field had some names you’ll certainly know. But at the time, after generally uninspiring performances, they were dubbed the ‘Seven Dwarfs.’ How many so-called Dwarfs can you recall? (Last names will suffice.)

Take the Quiz: Name the ‘Seven Dwarfs’ of 1988

According to Grandpa, any wild mammal that invades your home or garden is a rodent, often lovingly referred to as a “varmint.” This turns out to be not quite so. We know that mice, rats, and hamsters are rodents, but other animals that resemble mice or rats may or may not belong to the order Rodentia.

MOLES

Image by Flickr user HocusFocusClick.

Moles are not rodents. Most moles belong to the order Soricomorpha. They eat insects and earthworms. However, there are several species called mole rats which are blind rodents of the genus Spalax. Mole rats were so named because they live underground like moles, but are not related to them.

PORCUPINES

Image by Flickr user ice.bluess.

A porcupine is a rodent. There are a couple of dozen species of porcupine belonging to two families. What they have in common are the quills they use to hide or defend themselves. Folklore says that they can shoot these quills at will, but that isn’t so. However, the quills do detach from the porcupine easily, so a dog that messes with a “quill pig” may come home with its face embedded. Porcupines are herbivores like other rodents.

HEDGEHOGS

(more…)

We tend to think of caterpillars as cute, innocent little bugs who are, at worst, garden pests. But not all future moths and butterflies are so defenseless. Some have stinging or itching spines that can leave you irritated for weeks after contact.

The Ark In Space has a great piece on the different varieties of stinging caterpillars in the United States. If you live in the states, the article could help protect you against any potentially painful encounters with the little bugs. If you don’t live in the U.S., the article still might be worth your while just for the fantastic pictures.