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Live out your bomb squad dreams

October 16, 2021 matt Comments 0 Comment

We all know the trope: the hero has to defuse a bomb while sweating out the timer. As I kid I fondly remember the season 1 episode of MacGyver called “Countdown” where he defuses a bomb on a ship.

Now you can have your chance. Puzzle expert Andy Gilker spent hundreds of hours creating this challenging bomb defuse style puzzle that you and your friends try to defuse. It’s a pretty awesome idea but with an estimated 90 minute solve time – the price is a little explosive at $1100.

No word yet on what would happen if you tried to take it on an airplane…

Fat Dogs’ Metal Song

October 16, 2021 matt Comments 0 Comment

Well, that was….wow.

Most unusual places to stay

October 2, 2021 matt Comments 0 Comment

Want to stay at some truly unique places around the world? How about an abandoned island fort off the coast of England, underwater rooms in the middle of a lake, drawbridge towers in Amsterdam, an oil rig turned into a dive center, an ice hotel, a harbor crane, a palace in Morocco, or over river bungalows in southeast Asia?

Go Unusual offers really unique stays and experiences all over the world.

https://www.unusualhotelsoftheworld.com/home

Unsettling fractal

September 27, 2021 matt Comments 0 Comment

Motion designer Chris Lavelle created this short fractal animation Creation 1. It has a disturbing quality, especially for those who suffer from trypophobia

Though, personally, I think it looks more like a close-up of the iris of the average human eye…

Hydroforming

September 25, 2021 matt Comments 0 Comment

One way of making curved and round surfaces out of steel is to use hydroforming. By welding different shapes completely closed and filling them up with high pressure water – the incompressibility of water pushes on all the surfaces to bend them in unique ways.

But if water isn’t cool enough, one can always try explosives…

Infamous vending machines of Akihabara

September 18, 2021 matt Comments 0 Comment

I come to these vending machines every time I get to Tokyo and buy at least one thing from them.

In the past, I have gotten a written story (in Japanese and I still need help translating it), a wind up giant stag beetle, and numerous other trinkets I keep on my desk to remind me of better days of travel.

Here’s are two pretty good write-ups on what to experience if you decide to go yourself. But do be aware of the uncharacteristic graphic warning signs posted there.

If these items aren’t your fare, maybe find some of the exclusive vending machines that sell one of a kind and delicious, products.

Favorite Scary Stories for Fall

September 18, 2021 matt Comments 1 comment

One of my favorite pastimes is reading and listening to classic spooky stories. There’s no better time for curling up with a spooky story than a cold, fall evening in front of the fire.

Here’s a collection of my all-time favorite scary stories:

The Red Room by H.G.Wells – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVMRzj0Ig3k
A Haunted Island by Algernon Blackwood – https://youtu.be/QYAmh5O3ZLA
The Tower – Marghanita Laski – https://youtu.be/yfa1CWrQIvY
The Haunted and the Haunters | A Ghost Story by Edward Bulwer-Lytton – https://youtu.be/rPK0mBHrg4M
Christmas Eve on a Haunted Hulk | A Ghost Story by Frank Cowper – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO6gN-TRvHM
The Empty House – Algernon Blackwood – https://youtu.be/BWe56aS3M7I
Dark Mummery by Thorp McClusky – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwvBmVIQmOk
The Open Window by Saki – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4DbVvyukPE
The House Among the Laurels – by William Hope Hodgson – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JERNNsH-nSs
The Whistling Room – by William Hope Hodgson – https://youtu.be/3n4YwKQ0i9k
The Ash Tree – by M R James – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0VI8GAo4PI
Number 13 – by M R James – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy9oDiA2xDo
Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad – by M R James – https://youtu.be/HaD9r4Rnn0Y

Plays/Dramatizations

The Ghost Train – A really excellent and fun ghost story that turns out to be something completely different. Best version of this story I have encountered. https://youtu.be/vS_fq9ii4Po (Pro-tip: avoid the movie version like the plague)
House on the Borderland – by William Hope Hodgson – https://youtu.be/PfGWnjX9CBE
The Thing on the Fourble Board – Radio Play – https://youtu.be/g_EtWrWvllA

Good general scary classics channels on YouTube: