Jenny's Noodle

So you want to start a blog or build your own website, but don't have a clue as to what you're doing? You could go the route of teaching yourself - like I did - or learn the proper techniques from the pros. Choose the latter way, trust me.

A new video series called Don't Fear the Internet presents simple, easy to follow video lessons on everything from CSS to HTML. In Episode 4 (above), you'll learn how to build a web page from scratch by using a good text editor.

Where was this when I needed it?!

(via Laughing Squid)

Here's the solution to last week's NPR Sunday Puzzle (August 21):

Answer: HARBOR SEAL ( — H, S) → ARBOREAL

NPR Sunday Puzzle for August 28:
Rearrange the twelve letters of the words "AIR CUSHIONED" to name a person in the media, first and last names.

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!

Lisa Frank	UCBcomedy.com
Watch more comedy videos from the twisted minds of the UCB Theatre at UCBcomedy.com

For those of us who decorated our Trapper Keepers with rainbow-colored unicorns and hot pink penguins...you will believe.

In this compelling biopic, artist Lisa Frank makes the school supply world safe for teddy bears with top hats.

(via UCB) 

(via THD)

(via The Oatmeal)

As far as practical inventions go, Bob Balow's Original Spaghetti-Pasta-Noodle Fork is a definite winner. Now I just have to decide whether I want stainless steel or gold-plated...

> Buy the Original Pasta Fork here

(via TDW)

One hundred years ago today, the world's most famous painting disappeared from the walls of the Louvre — Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa was stolen from the Paris museum on August 21, 1911. And do you believe it took 28 hours for anyone to realize it was missing?

One of the first suspects questioned in the heist was none other than Pablo Picasso! The artist's friend/poet Guillaume Apollinaire accused Picasso of the theft, but both men were later exonerated.

The thief turned out to be an Italian handyman named Vincenzo Peruggia, who wanted to return the painting to his native country. Two years after the crime, Peruggia showed up in Florence, handed the artwork over to the Uffizi and was surprised to find himself under arrest.

Today, the Mona Lisa is visited by millions every year and has become the subject of many variations.

Here's the solution to last week's NPR Sunday Puzzle (August 14):

Answer: DACHSHUND ( — D x 2) → OXEN

NPR Sunday Puzzle for August 21:
Take the name of an aquatic animal, in two words, six letters in the first word and four letters in the second. Remove the first letter of each word, the remaining eight letters in order, will spell a word that might describe an animal that is not aquatic.

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!

Credit: Grant Snider

> More: Incidental Comics by Grant Snider

(via Neatorama)

From left: Snickers, Reese's Peanut Butter cups, Baby Ruth. Credit: Scandybars

What does the inside of your favorite candy bar look like?

"Like a blog in a candy store," the Scandybars Tumblr, is on a mission to photograph cross section views of various candies. And the results are delicious!

Note: It's nearly impossible to not click through each page of Scandybars. And it is impossible to not crave chocolate during the process. You've been warned.

It's Friday. Shall we dance?

> See the full list of 100 Greatest Dance Scenes in Movies

(via Buzzfeed)

PBS Arts presents Off Book, an original web series that expands the definition of art. The latest installment examines Visual Culture Online — Strutting Leo, rage comics, quirky cats, etc.

For decades now, people have joined together online to communicate and collaborate around interesting imagery. In recent years, the pace and intensity of this activity has reached a fever pitch. With countless communities engaging in a constant exchange, building on each others' work, and producing a prodigious flow of material, we may be experiencing the early stages of a new type of artistic and cultural collaboration. In this episode of Off Book, we'll speak with a number of Internet experts and artists who'll give us an introductory look into this intriguing new world.

Also includes an informative how-to guide on creating a meme — like this one, y'all.

> More: Watch other episodes of Off Book

Produced by ENESS, this collaborative stop-motion sculpture consists of twenty-one large triangles arranged throughout Federation Square in Melbourne.

MÖBIUS is a sculpture that can be configured into many cyclical patterns and behave as though it is eating itself, whilst sinking into the ground. The result is an optical illusion and a time-lapse of people interacting with the sculpture and moving through Melbourne's landmark location throughout the day.

> More: Watch the Making of MÖBIUS

Chopping onions = tears. But not if the proper technique is used. Watch this lovely video from Jensen Hande Studios and voila — no more tears!

(via Kottke)

Jenny's Noodle is in the running to be Detroit's MVB! 

After much deliberation and careful consideration of many nominees, CBS Detroit has narrowed the field of Finalists down for this year’s Most Valuable Blogger. Jenny's Noodle made the cut!

You can vote once per day now through September 9.

VOTE FOR JENNY'S NOODLE  

Thank you!!

Unimpressed by the 2012 Presidential candidates?

A savior has entered the race — Butter Cow!

The Campaign Platform for a "Butter" tomorrow:


Well, there you have it. Now spread the word.

How short is the world's shortest recipe?

In the new book, Tweet Pie: The Word's Shortest Recipe book, each recipe (or twecipe) is ultra-abbreviated into 140 characters — the allotted space for a Twitter posting (tweet).

Crowdsourced entirely from the Twitter community, the book contains 50 different recipes for everything from appetizers to desserts.

International twecipe expert @tinyrecipes Craig Dugas helped to select the final entries.

Sample twecipes include:

A glossary of Twitter abbreviations is in the back of the book to help readers decipher the shortened instructions.

Funded by Belling, the British cooker manufacturer, all proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to FoodCycle.

> Buy the book here

> Follow @JennysNoodle on Twitter 

(via Bites)

Here's the solution to last week's NPR Sunday Puzzle (August 7):

Answer: EAT AT → ATE AT

NPR Sunday Puzzle for August 14:
Name a breed of dog that starts and ends with the same letter of the alphabet. Drop that letter at both ends, and if you have the right dog, the remaining letters phonetically will name some animals. What's the dog and what are the animals?

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!

You're gonna want to paws and watch this. #LOLCATS

(via The Feed)

Slice Harvester — the fanatical pizza connoisseurs/my new heroes? — created this Google map pinpointing all of the pizza places in Manhattan. Awesome.

(via Doobybrain)

What's the highest price you've ever paid for a pair of flip-flops? $20? $30? Chipkos, the eco-friendly sandal company, hopes someone will spend $18,000!

The world's most expensive "unconventionally square" one-of-a-kind collector's pair of flip-flops was hand-painted by contemporary American artist David Palmer. Proceeds from the sale will go toward protecting 100,000 square feet of endangered rain forest land in Costa Rica.

> Buy them here

Smile! It may be Monday [insert groan/profanity/yawn], but August 8 is Happiness Happens Day!

In 1999, the Secret Society of Happiness — it's real, I did not make that one up — declared August 8 as Admit You're Happy Day (now Happiness Happens Day).

Thanks to an overwhelming response of not-so-secretly-happy people from around the world, in 2000, the celebration was expanded to include the entire month of August.

There are three purposes of Happiness Happens Day/Month:

So if you're happy and you know it... you know what to do.

Measuring 13 feet high by 98 feet wide, "Die Badende" ("The Bather") is soaking in what may be the world's largest bathtub. The giant sculpture was installed this week in Hamburg, Germany's Alster Lake.

"Die Badende will become a landmark of the city for the short time she's with us," explained the sculpture's creator Oliver Voss. "Hamburg and the water belong together. People live by, and off, the water. My team and I wanted to demonstrate this relationship in a fun and entertaining way. We also hope she will encourage more people to rediscover and experience our city by the water – after all, if the Inner Alster is the living room of Hamburg, of course someone should make themselves comfortable in it!"

Truthfully, this "lady of the lake" immediately reminded me of not exactly a "lady," but this person. Am I right, or am I right?!

(via PR Newswire)

Here's the solution to last week's NPR Sunday Puzzle (July 31):

Answer: JOHN DEERE and DEAR JOHN

NPR Sunday Puzzle for August 7:
Take a common two-word phrase that's the present tense of a verb. Move the last two letters to the front without making any other change, and you'll get a new two-word phrase that is the verb's past tense. What phrases 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!

What is the debt ceiling and how will it affect me? Who cares! Honestly, I'm beyond tired of hearing about it. Or at least I thought I was, until I saw this bit from Late Night.

(via BWE)

Remember when MTV used to play music videos? Remember when The Real World was a watchable program? Remember when Jersey Shore actually took place at the Jersey Shore? Ah, those were the days.

Happy 30th Birthday MTV!

(via CBS)

If you enjoy Business Cat, you'll certainly like Chemistry Cat.

> Many more examples at Know Your Meme