Humor

Shane Claiborne 10-01-2012

I started my Tennessee sabbatical with a story about three peace activists who recently shut down the Y12 bomb plant here in Oak Ridge with a stunning protest, armed only with a bible and flowers

I figure I’ll end my sabbatical with another great story of East Tennessee mischief.

This is the story of one of my favorite flash-mob actions, which happened right here in Knoxville. And this year marks its five-year anniversary.

It all happened on May 26, 2007. 

Word had begun to spread that a group of white supremacists — including members of the KKK — were converging here in Knoxville, Tenn., for a rally in a park downtown. It was on the news and in the papers.

Many locals were pretty upset by the public display of racism and hatred. Even though many of the folks connected to the hate-group were coming from other states, they had obtained a permit to gather and publicly proclaim their hate-filled message of White Power.

 But they had no idea what was coming.

A group of locals had decided neither to cower away in fear nor to fight fire with fire....Instead they decided to meet hatred with humor.

Brandon Hook 9-28-2012
Courtesy of Aether Journal

Aerial photo of Iceland. Courtesy of Aether Journal

Apparently even Tim Cook doesn't use the new maps app on iPhone 5. Shocker.

Also, some Grandmas meet Star Wars, Algae gets fed by an opera singer, someone took some sweet Iceland photos, and some Portland people have created a cologne that can make hipsters with beards smell like campfires! These links are awesome.

Brandon Hook 9-27-2012
Director Wes Anderson

Director Wes Anderson's new film will be "The Grand Budapest Hotel."

The world's most dangerous hiking trail, some underwater streets, skyscrapers cleaning our air, and having a cold brewski with President Obama. And then 2,601 people collaborated on a song. Today's links of awesomeness are pretty awesome.

Cathleen Falsani 9-27-2012

"High nigh br-eye-n, K-eye"? Come again? Rend Collective and Bart Millard (of the band MercyMe) give us a lesson in how to speak Northern Irish.

http://youtu.be/-S9R6CspOvs

Brandon Hook 9-20-2012

A cat runs for mayor and may or may not try out a new electric skateboard or a bike made out of cardboard. Some of the Pixar staff could've used some free coffee courtesy of GOOD when they studied for their graduate-level final exam in ichthyology for Finding Nemo. Oh, and the second trailer for The Hobbit came out too.

 

Brandon Hook 9-17-2012
Hipster alert!

Hipster alert!

Want to make a tattoo for Justin Vernon? Now you can! The Bon Iver singer-songwriter is holding a contest for fans to design a tattoo. The ink will go on his left forearm and has to be inspired by the early '90s TV series Northern Exposure. Check out some of the finalists. [via Paste]

Warner Bros. released character photos from The Hobbit! Check out the photos here. [Via Paste]

Bubbles are cool. Especially when they're in droplets of water hovering in outer spaceCheck. It. Out. [via Laughing Squid]

Hungry? Need a good laugh? Like Cheetos or Takis? If you answered yes to any of those questions, you're going to like this music video.

Scientists at Argonne National Laboratory have discovered a way to use sound waves to levitate individual droplets of solutions containing different pharmaceuticals. Trippy. 

 

the Web Editors 9-06-2012

From Huffington Post:

Chuck Norris has offered a dire warning to America, claiming that U.S. citizens face "1,000 years of darkness" if President Obama is reelected for a second term in November.

In a two-minute video posted on his official YouTube channel, which also includes work-out tutorials and promotional appearances for "The Expendables 2," Norris and his wife Gena warn of a "growing concern" that the America we know can be lost forever if Obama is reelected.

“If we look to history, our great country and freedom are under attack,” Norris says. “We’re at a tipping point and, quite possibly, our country as we know it may be lost forever if we don’t change the course in which our country is headed.”

Gena then cites the statistic that in 2008 more than 30 million Evangelical Christians stayed home on Voting Day and Obama won.

http://youtu.be/7ud3pK5Wa90

 

Christian Piatt 9-05-2012
Bromosapien hat. Image via Zazzle.com.

Bromosapien hat. Image via Zazzle.com.

A few examples of how clueless I am about male identity, and how mixed-up the gender roles are becoming, just in my own family:

I’ve never killed anything, at least on purpose. The only time I ever shot a gun was when my dad took me to the range and handed over his Ruger for a few rounds. I hated it. The noise was deafening, and the recoil scared the shit out of me.

I own a pathetic amount of tools for a man in his late thirties who has owned two homes. By my age, my dad and grandparents had staked their claim on the garage as exclusively male territory by covering every wall and bit of floor space with table saws, drills, vices and every wrench – standard and metric – anyone could ever need. I have more guitars than screwdrivers, and it was only a few years ago that I finally got straight in my head what the difference between channel locks and regular pliers is.

I like potpourri; my wife digs the nickel defense.

I changed more diapers in the first month of my son’s life than my dad ever did on me. I take care of the kids when Amy goes to meetings in the evenings, and I work from home every day.

I cry every time I watch Extreme Home Makeover. Amy records every episode of Real Sports on HBO. Oh, and I always cry when I watch that, too.

Damn you, Bryant Gumbel.

the Web Editors 9-04-2012

Don't make me stop this beat. I'll do it. I'll pull this beat right over...

 

Joshua Witchger 8-17-2012

Today is my last run of "Links of Awesomeness." And rather than ending with a mediocre list of new links, I went through the archives to compile some of my favorites from this year. Enjoy the links and expect a fresh new batch from the next intern in early September.

Joshua Witchger 8-17-2012
Maddie the Coonhound is featured in out "Best of Links"

Maddie the Coonhound is featured in out "Best of Links"

Today is my last run of "Links of Awesomeness." And rather than ending with a mediocre list of new links, I went through the archives to compile some of my favorites from this year. Enjoy the links and expect a fresh new batch from the next intern in early September.

Joshua Witchger 8-17-2012

Today, Gawker answers that question by extensively evaluating the candidates in sports, fashion, education, bro-pinions, and, most importantly, beer. Which one’s got the best bro traits? Our current beer-loving commander-in-chief? Right-hand man and University of Delaware graduate, Bro Biden? Or might the title go to the skinny-jean wearing, M.B.A. Mitt Romney? Or the young, newly chosen running-mate who loves Rage Against the Machine?

CLICK HERE TO SEE WHO IS THE BIGGEST BRO IN THE 2012 PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Joshua Witchger 8-10-2012

U.S. gymnast McKyala Moroney is not impressed with much in this new Tumblr page --- four sisters recreate childhood photos --- designer public toilets in New Zealand --- remembering author and journalist David Rakoff --- vintage photos of bulldogs wearing human clothing in the early 1900s. See these and more in today's Links of Awesomeness...

Joshua Witchger 8-09-2012

Usain Bolt vs. a cheetah --- Beck plans to release new album entirely in sheet music --- Longform launches debut podcast --- Shark Week finds rival with "animals that act like sharks week" --- fascinating infographics on Olympic bodies. See these and more in today's Links of Awesomeness...
 

Joshua Witchger 8-08-2012

Album covers recreated with socks --- internet-themed child onesies --- first look at New Yorker rejected story by F. Scott Fitzgerald --- lulling an ill pet to sleep in Lake Superior --- green screen cooking show with David Cross. See these and more in today's Links of Awesomeness...

Joshua Witchger 8-07-2012

Peter Jackson releases a second trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey --- feminist Ryan Gosling to become coffee table book --- animals forming their own bands --- Conan O'Brien's "Clueless Gamer" --- Sesame Street minimalist art --- Stephen Colbert's music performance festival Setphest Colbchella. See these and more in today's Links of Awesomeness...

the Web Editors 8-03-2012

God bless our media!

Inside the blog, see how Team Coco managed to get dozens of broadcast news anchors to say the same thing ... over, and over, and over again.

"We've gotta get an envelope!" ~ Andy Richter

Joshua Witchger 8-01-2012

A 14-year-old kid meets John Lennon and interviews him in I Met the Walrus --- creative ways to re-purpose labyrinths and skeeball machines --- P is for Pixar --- indie rock music's Trade Deadline Day. See these and more in today's Links of Awesomeness...

the Web Editors 8-01-2012

From Huffington Post:

A Westboro Baptist Church protest was overshadowed last Friday when demonstrators dressed as zombies gathered at a DuPont, Wash. military base to counter the radical group's efforts.

After members of the controversial Kansas-based church announced plans to picket Joint Base Lewis-McChord, a military base south of Seattle, 27-year-old Melissa Neace decided to organize a counter-protest, launching a Facebook group titled "Zombie'ing Westboro Baptist Church AWAY from Fort Lewis!"

"We wanted to turn something negative around, into something people could laugh at and poke fun at," Neace told the News Tribune. "It was the easiest way to divert attention from something so hateful."

About 300 counter-protesters showed up in varying degrees of zombie garb, far outnumbering the picketers from Westboro. According to KIRO in Seattle, just eight protesters from the controversial group showed up.

"I think that their message is very hateful, and Jesus was not a hateful person. He loved everybody," one of the counter-protesters told KIRO.

Watch video of Zombies vs Haters inside the blog ...

 
Ed Spivey Jr. 8-01-2012

(Jason Winter / Shutterstock)

THE TAR SANDS in Alberta, Canada, have been in the news a lot lately, since they appear to be a promising source of energy for the United States, a nation hungry for a fuel derived by despoiling pristine forests, fouling fresh water sources, and enriching oil executives. (Nobody said capitalism would be pretty. Cute and cuddly, perhaps, but not pretty.)

Actually, I’m not familiar with this new type of energy source. Is it the tar we want, or the sand? Probably not the tar, since it’s too sticky and is mainly used as a preservative for saber-toothed tiger skeletons in California, something I learned in an eighth grade history book with lots of pictures. (I like pictures.)

So it must be the sand, which one day our cars will run on, to which I must add: Are our scientists brilliant, or what?!

Unfortunately, extracting this energy source domestically could be a direct threat to our beaches, the nation’s principal source of sand. Which is why I plan to Occupy the Beach of My Choosing later this summer, and stand in powerful protest—or, after a heavy picnic lunch, lie on a blanket in powerful protest—against exploiting this valuable resource.

Come to think of it, Saudi Arabia has lots of sand. So maybe we can get it from them.