Jenny's Noodle

OMG, have you heard the news!? It's unbelievable! Okay, so apparently, on Friday, Kate Middleton will marry Prince William at Westminster Abbey. Seriously! It's true! Who knew!?

Here's yet one more story about the Royal Wedding [insert groan/vom noises]. Actually this clip is sort of interesting with its fun facts and statistics. Watch:

"On July 24, 2010, thousands of people around the world uploaded videos of their lives to YouTube to take part in Life in a Day, a historic cinematic experiment to create a documentary film about a single day on earth."

On July 24, 2011 — one year later — the full movie will premier at a theater near you. Until then, here's the trailer:

If you've ever wondered how they get the sand "stainless steel nanoballs" inside of an hourglass, take the time to watch this:

(via Kottke)

Scott Weaver likes toothpicks. A lot. He likes them more than Rain Man does. He likes them more than a guy who just ate corn on the cob and now has stringy bits lodged in between his teeth. Just watch:

From the artist's website:

"Rolling through the bay is an abstract toothpick sculpture of San Francisco. It has about 100,000 of toothpicks. The amazing part, is that is has four ping pong ball paths that roll through different landmarks of San Francisco. I have spent about 3,000 hours on it over a period of 34 years and the only glue I use is Elmer’s."

This amazing kinetic sculpture is currently on display at The Tinkering Studio at the Exploratorium in San Francisco.

Here's the solution to last week's NPR Sunday Puzzle (April 17):

Answer: racetrack — 1 x (r, a, c) → racket

NPR Sunday Puzzle for April 24: Think of a familiar three-word phrase in the form "___ and ___". If you remove the "and" and put the second word in front of the first word, you get a compound word naming a place of power. Hint: The compound word has nine letters. What is the three-word phrase, and what place of power is this?

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!

SYMMETRY: Exact correspondence of form and constituent configuration on opposite sides of a dividing line or plane or about a center or an axis; A relationship of characteristic correspondence, equivalence, or identity among constituents of an entity or between different entities: the narrative symmetry of the novel; Beauty as a result of balance or harmonious arrangement.

Those of us with OCD-like tendencies appreciate the beauty of this video.

(via Everynone)

Easter Peeps Show. Photo credit: buckofive/Flickr

Nothing says Easter like marshmallow Peeps! I can't be the only one who finds it irresistible to squeeze the package of cute little treats when I see them in the grocery store this time of year.

In 1953, candy maker Sam Born, and his company Just Born, took over production of Peeps. But before then, the candies were all handmade — it took 30 hours just to make one chick! Today, the Peeps factory operates 24 hours a day, 5 days per week and produces more than 2 billion Peeps per year — that's enough to circle the earth twice!

CNNMoney reports on the history of Peeps:
> Hungry for more Peeps? See who won this year's Peeps Show V Diorama Contest

"Richie Benjamin receives a mysterious gift, and quickly finds himself thrust into a world of sex, violence and real estate as he struggles to build an empire."

Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Just watch:

> Also see: The Digital Story of the Nativity [Video]

Image credit: someecards.com

Happy week of Tam Tams and charoset!

It's really too bad that matzah pizza just doesn't do it for me.

> From traditional to contemporary, check out these Passover recipes

It's Sunday. Time to take a few minutes to just sit back...relax...and enjoy...

From filmmaker Terje Sorgjerd:

"This was filmed between 4th and 11th April 2011. I had the pleasure of visiting El Teide. Spain´s highest mountain @(3715m) is one of the best places in the world to photograph the stars and is also the location of Teide Observatories, considered to be one of the world´s best observatories."

(via NPR)

Here's the solution to last week's NPR Sunday Puzzle (April 10):

Answer: angstroms → tons, grams

NPR Sunday Puzzle for April 17: Think of a nine-letter word naming a venue for certain sports. Three letters in the word are repeated. Remove all the repetitions, and the remaining six letters can be rearranged to name a piece of sports equipment. What are these two words?

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 credits: Deb Lindsey/The Washington Post

Winners have been chosen in the fifth annual Washington Post Peeps Show.

The 2011 Peeps Diorama Contest winner is... "Chilean CoPeepapo mine rescue" (above).

Personally, my favorite entry is "Vincent Van Peep's Starry Night" (below).

> See more photos of the winning entry and 35 runners-up: Peeps Show V Slideshow

There has been so much ridiculous merch created to commemorate the upcoming royal wedding, but here is one of my favorite items, courtesy of Papa John's.

Photo credit: NTI / Landov

And a dozen freshly-baked muffins. He probably just forgot to mention those.

According to the the Official Google Blog:

We sometimes tell small stories with Google’s logo, but for Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin’s 122nd birthday tomorrow, April 16, the Doodle team created something extra fun. For the next 36 hours the Google homepage will pay homage to Charlie Chaplin’s creative legacy with our first-ever live action video doodle.

CollegeHumor has churned out a series of hilarious ice cream flavors, all based upon a hypothetical argument between Ben & Jerry...

> See all of the humorous flavors at CollegeHumor

Cut the carrots at a right angle. Chop the celery into an equilateral triangle. Measuring every recipe ingredient with meticulous mathematical certainty is easy if you've got an OCD Chef Cutting Board (that's OCD meaning "obsessive chopping + dicing").

"Our OCD Chef Cutting Board, a 9" x 12" cutting board made of strong, long-wearing beechwood, spells out the most precise measurements in exacting detail."

OCD Chef Cutting Board ($24.99) | Buy it here

(via PCWorld)

Triple Word Score! April 13 is National Scrabble Day!

Today celebrates the birthday of Scrabble inventor, Alfred Butts (what a name!), born on April 13, 1899. After losing his job as an architect during the Depression, Butts created the popular word game in 1938.

According to Wikipedia:

Butts decided to create a game that utilized both chance and skill by combining elements of anagrams and crossword puzzles, a popular pastime of the 1920s. Players would draw seven lettered tiles from a pool and then attempt to form words from their seven letters.

A key to the game was Butts' analysis of the English language. Butts studied the front page of The New York Times to calculate how frequently each letter of the alphabet was used. He then used each letter's frequency to determine how many of each letter he would include in the game. He included only four "S" tiles so that the ability to make words plural would not make the game too easy.

If you ask most people, he could've done without so many Qs and Zs.

> Test your skills, play Scrabble online
> From the National Scrabble Association, Cool Words to Know
> Buy the game of Scrabble

Photo credit: Obol

How do you keep cereal and cookies from getting soggy in milk, stop crackers from sinking right to the bottom of soup and prevent chips from drowning in dip? One amazing culinary invention is the answer for those of us who enjoy—in the words of LL Cool J—"a military meal."

"Obol® is The Original Crispy Bowl® that solves the problem of soggy cereal. With the unique Swoop n Scoop®, the Obol makes every bite as crispy as the first bite. The Spiral Slide design makes it possible to enjoy your cereal until the last bite. You can set the Obol down to write an email or answer the phone knowing your cereal will never get soggy. The easy to hold, textured non-slip grip and rim makes it easy to eat anywhere."

Watch how it works:


Obol ($19) | Buy it here

(via Incredible Things)

Image credit: The Grilled Cheese Invitational

April 12 is National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day!

Bread, butter, cheese — does it get any better? It might. I just read about a grilled mac & cheese sandwich! Next time I'm in Cincinnati...

> Get inspired to make your own: Grilled Cheese Sandwich recipes

Barbie has been a lot of things over the years, but this summer she's becoming an art aficionado. Toy maker Mattel is releasing a new series of dolls based on iconic works of art by Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent Van Gogh, and Gustav Klimt.
(via If It’s Hip, It’s Here)

A little office humor to ward off "a bad case of the Mondays."

(via FAILBlog)

Photo credit: Mattel

Ad agency Ogilvy & Mather is making the popular kid's toy, Hot Wheels, larger than life. An innovative billboard shaped like the giant loop of a Hot Wheels race track was recently erected on an overpass in Bogota, Columbia.

(via TIME)

Here's the solution to last week's NPR Sunday Puzzle (April 3):

Answer: Adam Bede (by George Eliot)

NPR Sunday Puzzle for April 10: Name a unit of length in the plural form. Rearrange the letters to spell two units of weight, also in the plural form. What units are these?

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: Ross Thomas and Elizabeth Farrell/imgur

Students at the University of Virginia have recreated Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night using 8,000 beer bottle caps (click photo to view larger).

Amazing that college kids were able to gather enough materials to construct the 7' x 9' piece. Oh, right.

(via The Awesomer)

Photo credit: Meringue Bake Shop/Flickr

PushCakes are layers of cake, buttercream and other goodies such as curds, creams, nuts, candies and more.

Push Ups, good.

Cupcakes, good.

PushCakes, possibly one of the most delicious inventions ever. (PLEASE ship these to me!)

> Available at Meringue Bake Shop in Anaheim, CA

(via cakespy)

This ad for FitVibe Fitness Center is so creative it almost convinces me to buy a gym membership.

I said almost.

(via 22 Words)

Photo credit: Adzookie

Can you pay your bills? Can you pay your telephone bills? Can you pay your automo-bills? Having trouble making your house payments? Mobile advertising company Adzookie wants to turn your home into a billboard; in exchange, they'll pay your monthly mortgage.

According to the company's criteria:

You must own your home. It cannot be rented or leased. We'll paint the entire outside of the house, minus the roof, the windows and any awnings. Painting will take approximately 3 - 5 days. Your house must remain painted for at least three months and may be extended up to a year. If, for any reason, you decide to cancel after three months or if we cancel the agreement with you, we'll repaint your house back to the original colors.

Adzookie claims to have more than 1,000 applicants since launching the offer on Tuesday. Is this a deal you could live with?

(via CNN)

Photo credit: @avecvoix via twitpic

As seen on the window of a soon to be closed Borders store in Chicago.

(via The Consumerist)

Photo credit: Reuters/Cary Whittier

Be on the lookout for the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man ginormous yellow teddy bear if you're traveling to NYC during the next month.

ArtDaily reports:

A 23-foot high, bronze teddy bear slumped under a black bedside lamp will be on display for five months in midtown Manhattan [in the plaza of the Seagrams Building on Park Avenue] from next week and be a highlight of the [Christie's] Post-War Contemporary sale on May 11.

The 35,000 pound sculpture, Untitled (Lamp/Bear), is the work of New York-based Swiss artist Urs Fischer.

Winnie-the-Pooh's long lost cousin will have button-shaped eyes, each one wider than a typical coffee table, and the 5-foot-wide lamp he's propped up against will light up at night.

Christie's expects the sculpture to fetch more than $10 million at auction — for those of you interested in sprucing up your giant lawn ornament collection this spring season.

April 3, 2011: Google doodle celebrates 119th anniversary of the ice cream sundae.

You're in for a treat today! Google's doodle is reminding us to celebrate the 119th anniversary of the first historically documented ice cream sundae. The delicious concoction was originally served up on Sunday, April 3, 1892.

By definition, an ice cream sundae "consists of vanilla ice cream topped with a flavored sauce or syrup, whipped cream, and a maraschino cherry." My definition would further add caramel sauce, brownie pieces and chopped nuts. What are your favorite ice cream sundae toppings?

Here's the solution to last week's NPR Sunday Puzzle (March 27):

Answer: Tarantino (as in Quentin Tarantino) → tarnation

NPR Sunday Puzzle for April 3: Assign every letter of the alphabet a numerical value: A=1, B=2, C=3 and so forth. Think of a classic work of literature that has eight letters in its title. When the letters are given a numerical value, they add up to 35. What's the title? Clue: The title has two words.

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!

> See more of these funny comparisons at Pleated Jeans

Happy April Fools Day!

Every year on this tricksy day, the interwebs try to prank users and we fall for them — or not at all. But they're still amusing — for just a few seconds.

Google notoriously tries to outdo itself by launching various phony technological advancements on this silly holiday. Gmail Motion is one of this year's most notable Google ploys.

Take a look:



> See many more April Fools Day 2011 web hoaxes over at TechCrunch