North Korea moviegate cartoon du jour

via You Had One Job

Do you want to see a photo of a REALLY pissed off cat? Of course you do.

Via @ComradeArthur, this from the Daily Mail:

This is the moment a stray cat was pulled out of its hideaway by firemen - after wedging itself in the engine of a car.

The startled animal looked far from amused after being removed from the engine block of a car in the city of Van in eastern Turkey.

Friday links

Supercut of the Phrase ‘We’re Not so Different, You and I’ in Movies.

The Winners of the 2014 National Geographic Photo Contest.

The Strangest And Most Beautiful Calculators Ever Created.

These awkward Christmas photos are a hoot.

The Origin of the TV Dinner. Vaguely related, Can You Tell The Difference Between School Lunch Prison Food?

Beneath London, There's A Revolting Battle To Keep The Sewers Free Of 'Fatbergs'.

ICYMI, Thursday's links are here, and include weird Nativity sets, armpit hair extensions, Star Wars Christmas cards, and why dark winter days bum you out.

Friendship: Tortoise Flips Over Friend That’s Stuck Upside Down

Yea!

via Twisted Sifter

Thursday links

Weird nativity sets.

Fashion Trend for Women: Armpit Hair Extensions.

15 Harsh Things Critics Said About 'The Nutcracker' After Its 1892 Premiere and 15 Fun Facts About Fruitcake.

These Are The Star Wars Christmas Cards You’re Looking For.

Why does peanut butter stick to the roof of your mouth?

The Science Behind Why Dark Winter Days Bum People Out.

ICYMI, Monday's links are here, and include lots of ugly Christmas sweaters (and DIY instructions), Festivus before Seinfeld, and how NORAD's Santa tracker works.

These Are The Star Wars Christmas Cards You’re Looking For

For Star Wars fans - these are sold on Etsy (as are (shameless plug) my daughter's crocheted Roman and Barbarian helmets!):

Sold at Etsy, via Mary Sue.

Supercut of the Phrase ‘We’re Not so Different, You and I’ in Movies

It appears to mostly be bad guys who think that everyone else is like them, doesn't it? These compilations frequently remind me of movies I want to see again (or make some family member see), so the full list of films is available below for easy reference.

Source films, in order of appearance:

Austin Powers
Capote
Scary Movie 3
The Outrage
Mulholland Falls
Beerfest
The Net
Behind Enemy Lines 2: Axis of Evil
Ivanhoe
Descent
Raiders of the Lost Ark
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Fast & Furious 4
Spider-Man
Austin Powers in Goldmember
Gladiator
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows pt. 1
The Ballad of Jack and Rose
Falling Down

via Slackatory

Alpha males with higher levels of testosterone like spicier food, French report claims

Manliness story du jour:

Scientists at the highly-respected University of Grenoble have published a report suggesting that regular consumption of chili peppers may raise levels of the hormone, which is believed to make men more adventurous, enterprising and sexually active.

This guy needs to eat a LOT of those peppers.

Laurent Begue, one of the authors of the study, said: "These results are in line with a lot of research showing a link between testosterone and financial, sexual and behavioral risk-taking."

Their testosterone levels were measured from saliva samples and they were presented with a plate of mashed potatoes and invited to add chili sauce to taste. Those who added the most hot sauce had the highest testosterone.

The hormone drives men to seek thrills and new sensations, leading them to frequent "more stimulating social groups and take more risks," according to Professor Begue.

"In this case, it applies to risk-taking in taste," he said. "It is also possible that the regular consumption of spicy food contributes to increasing testosterone levels, although so far this has only been demonstrated on rodents."

Unlike their British counterparts, relatively few have acquired a taste for hot curries. Many see chili as an assault on their taste buds that hinders enjoyment of the subtler, more delicate flavours of classic French cuisine.

They may now start to view spice as a virility test and attempt to prove their manliness by consuming eye-wateringly hot food.

Previous manly posts:

How To Gird Up Your Loins (An Illustrated Guide).

Dave Barry's Manliness Manifesto is a hoot.

The Tactical Order of Dressing: An Illustrated Guide (as taught to military and emergency personnel).

Because it's important to always be battle-ready: How to Poop Like a Samurai.

The manliness test - how manly are you? I took it, and I'm a mewling kitten. But I'm an old, overweight female, so presumably you'll do better.

The Boy Scouts of America: Then and Now — A Comparison of the 1911 and Modern Handbooks and Merit Badges.

More at The Telegraph.

Check out these rather extraordinary optical illusions

Glasses For Color-Blind People

There's a lot of color-blindness in my immediate family - my (late) father, both of my sons, and one grandson. There's been talk of corrective lenses for years, but this is the closest I've seen to something commercially available.

Special glasses for color-blind people, "effectively provide high color contrast, producing an image in which the primary colors of red, blue, and green 'pop' and are perceived correctly by the wearer."

The company website explains how the technology works - if you're interested in the details, read the whole thing.

via Geekpress

Monday links

Lots of ugly Christmas sweaters, instructions for making your own, plus ugly Christmas sweater suits!

The Twelve Beards Of Christmas - decorating ideas.

In the Christmas In Other Cultures category, here's a Klingon Christmas Carol. Also, Sweden's bizarre tradition of watching Donald Duck (Kalle Anka) cartoons on Christmas Eve and why Japan is Obsessed with Kentucky Fried Chicken on Christmas.

Before Seinfeld: The Origins of Festivus, plus my favorite Festivus song.

Some Excellent Animated Christmas Lights Displays.

How NORAD's Santa tracker works.

ICYMI, Friday's links are here and include fetching-challenged dogs, a gallery of animals trying to stay warm, some history and science of poinsettias and mistletoe, and a set of funny warming labels.

Christmas gift suggestion: "the gold standard of genital grease burn protection"

Like to cook bacon in your birthday suit? The makers of a new product insist you need protection in that sensitive area.

Behold, the Naked Bacon Cooking Armor.

...he hopes the groin protector will also inspire those who do their sizzling with clothes on to take them off.

"We’re just opening the door," he said. "With any luck you step through it because happiness is waiting on the other side."

Esch and co-founder Dave Lefkow assure that the product is real. It has a real price tag, too: $14.99 plus shipping and handling.

But the two, who also developed Baconlube, thankfully treat the Naked Bacon Cooking Armor like a novelty. (Otherwise, we'd be worried.)

More at HuffPo. 

T'was the Night Before Kwanzza, and more of Kathy Shaidle's anti-Kwanzaa collection

From one of my favorite bloggers, Kathy Shaidle, who's been onto the Kwanzaa scam from the beginning:

Kwanzaa: fact-free fake holiday invented by convicted felon/university prof

“Kwanzaa: My Part in its Downfall” 

“Kwanzaa: violent 60s radical invented fake holiday”

My personal favorite is "Twas the Night Before Kwanzaa":

Ron Karenga enters courtroom where he was found guilty on four
counts. On September 17, 1971, Karenga was sentenced to
one to ten years in prison on counts of
felonious assault and false imprisonment.

'Twas the night before Kwanzaa
And all through the 'hood,
Maulana Karenga was up to no good.

He'd tortured a woman and spent time in jail.
He needed a new scam that just wouldn't fail.
("So what if I stuck some chick's toe in a vice?
Nobody said revolution was nice!")

The Sixties were over. Now what would he do?
Why, he went back to school -- so that's "Dr." to you!
He once ordered shootouts at UCLA
Now he teaches Black Studies just miles away.

Then to top it all off, the good Doctor's new plan
Was to get rid of Christmas and piss off The Man.

Karenga invented a fake holiday.
He called the thing Kwanza. "Hey, what's that you say?

"You don't get what's 'black' about Maoist baloney?
You say that my festival's totally phony?

"Who cares if corn isn't an African crop?
Who cares if our harvest's a month or two off?
Who cares if Swahili's not our mother tongue?
A lie for The Cause never hurt anyone!

"Umoja! Ujima! Kujichagulia, too!
Collectivist crap never sounded so cool!
Those guilty white liberals -- easy to fool.
Your kids will now celebrate Kwanzaa in school!"

And we heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight:
"Happy Kwanzaa to all, except if you're white!"