Jenny's Noodle

Photo credit: Sydney-City

At Sydney Harbour's Rocks Aroma Festival last Sunday, a team of twelve had plenty of caffeine to keep them energized as they broke a new world record. Thousands of visitors sipped coffee, tea and hot chocolates while watching the assembly of the world's largest coffee mosaic—a portrait of Marilyn Monroe. The project took four hours, 5,200 cups, 180 gallons of milk and 206 gallons of coffee.

I remember losing my doll Polly when I was a kid; fortunately I had just left her at the local drugstore and we were quickly reunited a few hours later.

But right now there's a child out there who isn't so lucky. Some little girl or boy's favorite threadbare stuffed teddy bear was mistakenly left at a seaside cafe in England. Liz Everett, owner of the Meare Shop and Tearoom, found the bear and is determined to locate its owner.

With Facebook recently reaching 500 million members, Everett is using the powerful social media platform to get the word out about the plush friend, who explains:

"I've lost my family.

We were having a lovely day by the seaside in Thorpeness, Suffolk, on Sunday 18th July. Then they left me behind.

If I belong to you, or you know my owner, please get in touch. I'm sure the person that owns me is very upset.

Please share this page and spread the word."

If you have any information about the owner of this cuddly bear, please visit the Facebook page I'm lost. Help me find my family

[via Mail Online]

Image credit: Fudge That Sugar

Colorado-based artist Jason Baalman has created a cheesy portrait of Rachael Ray. Over fifty bags and more than 2,000 individual puffs of Natural White Cheddar, Flaming Hot Crunchy and regular Crunchy Cheetos were used.

See the amazing construction process in this time-lapse video:


Watch the segment from the Rachael Ray Show here

[via Eater]

Image credit: Bite.ca

The past few years of my life have been collected into this scrapbook of a board game called Social Media Monopoly. But the game never ends for me.

More about Social Media Monopoly plus apropos playing cards here

Image via makeuseof.com

Not since the Craiglist roommate ad has there been such a display of sagacity. Thanks Chris.

[via BestWeekEver]

Snickers® Bar Chunks and Cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory. Photo credit: askville.amazon.com

July 30 is National Cheesecake Day!
To celebrate, The Cheesecake Factory is offering any slice of cheesecake for half price. Since my most favorite kind of cheesecake is the Snickers Bar Chunks Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory: "Our Original Cheesecake Baked with lots of Chunks of delicious Snickers® Bar. Topped with Caramel, Chocolate, and even more Snickers, with a Chocolate Crust and Finished with Whipped Cream...," I should be overjoyed today. But I'M NOT! Why??

BECAUSE THERE IS NO CHEESECAKE FACTORY IN MICHIGAN!!

The closest location is hours away at some mall in Ohio. And even more baffling, is that according to the company's website:

In 1949, Evelyn Overton baked one of her New York-style cheesecakes for the employer of her husband, Oscar. The employer requested additional cakes to give as gifts. She rolled the idea into a small-scale bakery operated first from a shop and then from the finished basement of the family's Detroit home. She continued to run the enterprise there for more than 20 years.

Did you catch that folks? The Cheesecake Factory originated in Detroit! Sigh.

How did the NBC peacock grow its colorful plumage? This cute 34-second short animation—a collaboration between Director Nathan Love and NBC Artworks—provides one possible explanation. The spot was inspired by the infamous Spumco promos, as well as vintage NBC logos. According to Creative Director Joe Burrascano, "The brief was to create a stand-alone logo animation for NBC. The only guidelines were to make it our own, and of course, for it to be 'the best logo ever.'"

Photo credit: auction.woman.excite.co.jp

The Japanese have put a modern spin on one of my favorite toys—the Easy Bake Oven—and it's completely adorable! The latest craze in Japan is miniature non-edible food, created with teeny utensils and using a substance called konapun. Described as a "highly sophisticated Play-Doh," konapun is made from a seaweed extract called sodium alginate. And although you can't eat konapun, it is perishable so you only have a limited time in which to admire your creations. 

"RRcherrypie" has filmed a series of videos showing the magic of konapun, and once you visit her YouTube channel, you'll find yourself watching every one. From making spaghetti and hamburgers, to cakes, sushi, and doughnuts, she demonstrates it all. She also notes that there is no heat involved in the "cooking" process, rather it's just powder and water.

When will this toy arrive in the United States?!


[via Bon Appetit]

Photo credit: Buzzfeed

I'm not sure which is more unbelievable—that the BBC wrote the words "skank ho" in a job rejection letter, or that the job applicant actually thought they'd be hired after saying it!

"Eh...what's up, Doc?" Everyone's favorite "wascally wabbit" Bugs Bunny turns 70 today!
On July 27, 1940, Bugs Bunny made his "official" debut in the Warner Bros. animated short film, A Wild Hare. Although there were incarnations of Bugs prior to the 1940 cartoon, A Wild Hare is considered the first appearance of both Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny in their fully developed forms. It is also the first cartoon in which Mel Blanc used a recognizable version of the voice that would eventually become the standard for the character. So how would Bugs Bunny choose to celebrate this momentous occasion? I'm thinking carrot cake!

Photo credit: Make

Not only am I jealous of anyone who gets to order colorful binder clips at their office (I only have black), I'm enamored with what Yang Enqi was able to create with them. If, like me, you have the urge to attempt this awesome project, here are the instructions: "Using one handle, five clips of one color are linked cyclically into a pentagon. Using the other handle, twelve of these pentagons assemble like a dodecahedron to make the sphere." Now get to work!

Image credit: USPS

On July 26, 1775, Congress established the United States Post Office and named Benjamin Franklin as the first U.S. postmaster general. Members of the Second Continental Congress met in Pennsylvania and agreed "...that a Postmaster General be appointed for the United States, who shall hold his office at Philadelphia, and shall be allowed a salary of 1,000 dollars per annum..."

I wonder what Franklin would think of email?

And now, ladies and gentlemen, for your listening enjoyment—The Marvelettes with their 1961 Motown hit, Please Mr. Postman:


[Source: About.com]

Photo credit: Wikipedia

There is a small English hamlet in the village of Bere Regis, Dorset, and the residents aren't happy. You see, the entry sign that welcomes visitors to the town keeps disappearing; at least it did until recently. Yes, the people of Shitterton have all chipped in and bought a more permanent placemarker, one which they hope will deter vandals. You read that correctly; there exists a place in England called Shitterton where a 3,000 pound stone now welcomes you.

According to one researcher, the name Shitterton was probably derived from a river called Shiter, or "a brook used as a privy (outhouse)." Another source traces the name back at least 924 years to the Doomesday Book:

"Then, the settlement was recorded in Norman French as Scatera or Scetra. That translates to 'a place on a sewer or midden.' The word is based on the Greek skor, or skatos, meaning dung, and as such shares the same root as the noun scatology, defined in the Oxford Compact English Dictionary as 'a morbid interest in excrement.' The Old English scite–again meaning dung–was transformed into the Middle English schītte, and hence to its modern form."

Disappearing signs aside, imagine living in Shitterton and having to call for a pizza delivery or fill out a job application—you'd be the butt of countless jokes. That would really stink.

[via Telegraph]

Designed by Mike Jacobsen | Buy it here ($14.95)

Sundays have always been sort of depressing, realizing the weekend is almost over and tomorrow begins another long week of school or work. But this Sunday is one to celebrate—July 25 is National Hot Fudge Sundae Day!

The month of July seems to be full of ice cream holidays: it's National Ice Cream Month, and the third Sunday is National Ice Cream Day. This is probably because the summer heat isn't conducive to much more exertion than lifting a spoon to the mouth.

So get out your scooper, choose your favorite ice cream flavor, grab a brownie (if you have one), the hot fudge, chopped nuts, some whipped cream and a cherry—this sundae Sunday will be one to enjoy!









Photo credit: Picture Depot

Here's the answer to last week's NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 18):

Answer: Tiger

If you read Jenny's Noodle on July 22 - Spoonerism Day or even remember back to the June 6 NPR Sunday Puzzle, you're all ready to tackle this week's challenge...

NPR Sunday Puzzle for July 25: This is a two-week creative challenge. Come up with a riddle that starts off with "What's the difference between" and involves a spoonerism. A spoonerism is when consonant sounds are interchanged. For example, "What's the difference between an ornithologist and a loser in a spelling bee?" The answer: "One is a bird watcher, and the other is a word botcher."

Submit your answer to NPR for a chance to be on next week's broadcast and be sure to visit Jenny's Noodle next Sunday to see the correct answer!

Photo credit: Liz Steger/Gothamist

Frankly, not many of us would spend $69 for a hot dog. But on Friday, Manhattan tourist Trudy Tant did just that.

Famous New York restaurant/ice cream shop Serendipity 3 decided to celebrate National Hot Dog Day on July 23 by cooking up a record-winning footlong. The most expensive "Haute Dog" was a 12-inch, pure beef hot dog, grilled in white truffle oil, placed in a salted pretzel bread bun toasted with white truffle butter, topped with medallions of duck foie gras with black truffles with side condiments of black truffle Dijon mustard, caramelized Vidalia onions and heirloom tomato ketchup. If this sounds appetizing (not), you too can order your own; the restaurant just asks for 24 hours notice. Serendipity 3 also holds Guinness World Records for the most expensive ice cream sundae ($1,000) and the largest hot chocolate (4 gallons).

"It is good to cultivate tradition in art, but at the same time...the tradition must be that of the art of your ancestors and one must wish to conserve life by helping forward its organic evolution."
—Alphonse Mucha (July 24, 1860 – July 14, 1939)

Today's Google doodle celebrates the 150th birthday of Czech painter and decorative artist, Alphonse Maria Mucha. Known as the father of Art Deco, Mucha developed a distinct style of painting women which was reproduced on numerous illustrations, advertisements, furniture, costumes and jewelry.

The artist was relatively unknown until he moved to Paris, when—during Christmas of 1894—he was commissioned to create a poster for one of the greatest actresses at the time, Sarah Bernhardt. 'Le style Mucha,' as Art Nouveau was known in its earliest days, was born. Mucha returned to Czechoslovakia in 1910, where he dedicated the remainder of his life to the production of the Slav Epic, a series of 20 paintings depicting the history of his people.

Learn more about the artist at the Mucha Museum website

Image credit: Medical Billing and Coding

Image credit: Threadless

Minor typos or grammatical errors in a document, blog, article, what have you, can be overlooked (unless you're as compulsive as I am). Everyone makes mistakes. However, a plethora of misspelled words, improper grammar and punctuation errors can instantly disqualify your intelligence in the mind of your reader.

Problogger has published a helpful list, 10 Common Spelling Mistakes That Haunt Bloggers, to raise awareness of this epidemic. The frequently disrespected words are as follows:


These words are misused quite often, especially on the internet. Can you think of any other serious offenders? If so, please help spread the word (see that? see what I did there?) by posting your observations below.

One more thing, while I still have your attention... Grammar is defined as "the study of the way the sentences of a language are constructed." Aren't the above examples really indicative of improper grammar, rather than incorrect spelling? The words are spelled correctly, they're just not being used as such in sentences. Share your thoughts on this in the comment section.

And that concludes today's English lesson. Class dismissed.

Photo via: Ads of the World

Photo credit: Cikimedia Wommons Wikimedia Commons

July 22 is Spoonerism Day! Your excuse to speak bass ackwards!

A spoonerism is "an error in speech or deliberate play on words in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched." The term was named after the Reverend William Archibald Spooner (July 22, 1844 – August 29, 1930), a warden of New College, Oxford, who was notoriously prone to this tendency.

So go ahead and invert your words all day—drive everyone nucking futs!

ONE WORLD. 24 HOURS. 6 BILLION PERSPECTIVES.

What are your plans for Saturday? Whatever you're doing, wherever you're going, be sure to bring your video camera along. Film a bit of your day on July 24, then upload it to the Life In a Day YouTube channel. The most compelling and distinctive footage from that 24 hours will be edited into a documentary film, a sort of human time capsule, being produced by Ridley Scott and directed by Kevin Macdonald.

The completed film will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2011.

The Babelgum gang has done it again, this time with four little girls reenacting The Real Housewives of New Jersey.

You know you want to watch this, if only to see whether the producers actually force a child to say "prostitution whore." I won't spoil it for you. 

And seriously, how spot on is the mini-Caroline Manzo?! Adorable!

When neon fails, in the most unfortunate ways...

Oooooh, trippy.

If they can't even fix their sign, can you really trust them to fix you?

"You can do it. We can help." Yeah, apparently!

Another reason to join Netflix.

The left one, or the right one?

Please pass the ACTIVIAAAAA!

Compelling reason to turn vegetarian.

See all 42 unfortunately burned out signs at Buzzfeed

Photo credit: Pixar Planet

[via MyModernMet]

It's finally lunchtime, and all you want to do is sit on the bench outside and enjoy your food. Maybe quietly read a magazine or solve a crossword puzzle (if you're me). But you definitely don't want to make small talk with the weirdy guy who just asked if he could sit here, right next to you.

German designer Fabian Brunsing has the answer—the Pay and Sit Private Bench. Put 65 cents in the coin slot and you will have the peaceful lunch you deserve. Just make sure to stand up when you hear the alarm. Or ouch.


[via Neatorama]

Stewie Griffin as Steve Jobs. Image credit: 9gag

Photo credit: Photofurl.com

July is National Ice Cream Month, and today (the third Sunday of the month) is National Ice Cream Day!

Both observances were officially designated in 1984 by Ronald Reagan. He recognized the popularity of ice cream in the United States (90% of the nation's population consumes ice cream) and stated that these two events should be observed with "appropriate ceremonies and activities."

According to the International Dairy Foods Association, America's top five favorite individual flavors are vanilla, chocolate, cookies 'n cream, strawberry, and chocolate chip mint (that's mine!). Vanilla continues to be America's flavor of choice in ice cream and novelties, perhaps because it's the most versatile.

Despite it's popularity, starting today when you visit Baskin-Robbins you will no longer be able to order French Vanilla. The company is retiring the flavor to what they call the Deep Freeze, along with 4 others—Caramel Praline Cheesecake, Campfire S'mores, Apple Pie a La Mode and Superfudge Truffle. CNN reports that the company famous for having 31 flavors will replace the old flavors with new ones to celebrate National Ice Cream Day and Baskin-Robbin's 65th anniversary.

What's your favorite ice cream flavor and what does it say about you? Find out here

Photo credit: WildAmmo.com

Here's the answer to last week's NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 11):

Answer: Space Needle

NPR Sunday Puzzle for July 18: Complete this analogy: "Banjo" is to "ferns" as "pecan" is to _______.

Submit your answer to NPR for a chance to be on next week's broadcast and be sure to visit Jenny's Noodle next Sunday to see the correct answer!

35MM is a short film, created by Pascal Monaco, which takes the viewer on a visually stunning, two-minute journey through the history of cinema. The film incorporates thirty-five popular movies, all represented using minimalist animation.

I've re-played the video multiple times and still haven't identified all 35 films. Can you?


[via Format Mag]

Photo credit: Jeff Nishinaka

And you thought the ability to fold paper airplanes meant you had skills.

Los Angeles-based artist Jeff Nishinaka creates exquisite sculptures in the most basic medium—white paper. "I wanted to manipulate paper in the least invasive way, to keep the integrity and feel of it," the artist has explained. "Paper to me is a living, breathing thing that has a life of its own."

View more of Nishinaka's portfolio here

[via Cool Hunter]

The Mirrorcube Room. Photo credit: NewsComAu

Interior view of a Treehotel room. Photo credit: Telegraph

"Why not create a comfortable, well designed hotel which allows visitors to live in harmony with nature amongst the trees?"

So goes the philosophy of the Treehotel, opening in Sweden this weekend.

Located in the Swedish village of Harads, just south of the Arctic Circle, the hotel currently offers a choice of four rooms—Cabin, Blue Cone, Nest and Mirrorcube. Each room measures 160 to 320 square feet and each is suspended anywhere from 13 to 20 feet above the ground.

The hotel plans to have 24 rooms, each designed by a different architect; the UFO and A Room With a View are already under construction. The rooms were all built from wood and glass and feature an electric floor heating system, a state-of-the-art eco-friendly incineration toilet and a water-efficient hand basin.

Treehotel costs $400-600 per night, but if that price is too steep, you could always climb into the neighbor kid's treehouse and fall asleep for free.

The Cabin Room. Photo credit: Planet Green

The Cone Room. Photo credit: Planet Green

The Bird's Nest Photo credit: Planet Green

Ready, Set, Bag! is a documentary about the world of competitive grocery bagging—there is one?! The film follows eight state checkout champions to the annual National Grocers Association's Best Bagger Competition in Las Vegas. The event tests grocery store baggers on structure, weight, and speed. And they're not only ones who take the competition very, very seriously.

The film opens in theaters on August 6, 2010.

Before you "bag" on it, watch the trailer...


[via Eater]