Quiddity

The Demon Cat of Capitol Hill

George W. Bush isn't the only thing scary at Washington.  Here's a small collection of ghost legends at the U.S. Capitol. 

Berard says the most famous Capitol apparition is the "Demon Cat," thought to date back to the early days when cats roamed the building to keep the rat population down. The cat, said to appear at times of national crisis, grows to enormous size before suddenly vanishing. Legend has it that one guard fired his gun at it, and another was so frightened he suffered a fatal heart attack.

The 10 Most Baffling and Horrible Pieces of E.T. Merchandise (Other than the Atari Game)

Here's a weird collection of odd E.T. merchandise from the 80's.   Who was the genius behind the E.T. Finger Light?  Yikes!

Link via pop candy.   

A Young Mad Scientist's First Alphabet Blocks

        

I know what I want for Christmas!  Too bad I can't use them in my classroom.  I don't think the parents would like that very much.

A complete list of the images represented by the letters is as follows:
A - Appendages
B - Bioengineering
C - Caffeine
D - Dirigible
E - Experiment
F - Freeze ray
G - Goggles
H - Henchmen
I - Invention
J - Jargon
K - Potassium
L - Laser
M - Maniacal
N - Nanotechnology
O - Organs
P - Peasants (with Pitchforks)
Q - Quantum physics
R - Robot
S - Self-experimentation
T - Tentacles
U - Underground Lair
V - Virus
W - Wrench
X - X-Ray
Y - You, the Mad Scientist of Tomorrow
Z - Zombies

Link via coudal partners.

How to make Star Wars costumes for your dogs

How to make Star Wars costumes for your dogs using stuff you probably already have lying around the house (um, if you're the crafty type, that is).

Link via web goddess.

Transplanted cornea in use for record 123 years

Bernt Aune's transplanted cornea has been in use for a record 123 years.  Freaky.

He had a cornea transplanted into his right eye in 1958 from the body of an elderly man who was born in June 1885. The operation was carried out at Namsos Hospital, mid-Norway.

"I wouldn't be surprised if this is the oldest living organ in the world," eye doctor Hasan Hasanain at Namsos hospital told the Norwegian daily Verdens Gang.

Link via shanmonster.

Anatomical Drawings of Japanese Film Monsters

 

I've always wondered what Godzilla would look like on the inside.  Interesting.

This anatomical sketch of Godzilla reveals a relatively small brain, giant lungs that allow underwater breathing, leg muscles that can support 20,000 tons of body weight, and a “uranium sack” and “nuclear reaction sack” that produce radioactive fire-breath and energize the body.

Pray for me

I'm taking my kindergartners on our very first field trip tomorrow.  Gulp.

Fall Color Wheel

 

It's a color wheel made out of fall leaves!  Neat! 

Link via scribal terror.

Does TV influence the color of your dreams?

According to a new study, children exposed to black and white TV are more likely to dream in greyscale throughout their lives.  Weird.  I can't remember ever having monochrome dreams.

Only 4.4% of the under-25s' dreams were black and white. The over-55s who'd had access to colour TV and film during their childhood also reported a very low proportion of just 7.3%.

But the over-55s who had only had access to black-and-white media reported dreaming in black and white roughly a quarter of the time.

Eminem vs. the Tardis

Eminem vs. the Tardis. It sounds stupid, but it's actually pretty clever.

Link via shanmonster.

24 tales of Ghost Towns & Abandoned Cities

Here are 24 tales of ghost towns and abandoned cities.  There's pictures!

Link via neatorama.