Officially Pronounced Dead?

Sir Paul McCarthy is one of the two surviving members of the Beatles, the greatest rock and roll band of all time. Or is he? The folks over at Officially Pronounced Dead? think that he might have died in the late sixties and that the Paul McCarthy we know today is a body double who has been faking it for forty years. They say they've got proof to, from hints in Beatles album covers to backmasked lyrics. Their arguments have to be seen to be believed, or not believed as the case will probably be. Check it out.

The Principality of Sealand

The Principality of Sealand is a small nation located on a derelict sea fort of the coast of Great Britain. Maybe. It depends on who you ask. If you ask the folks on Sealand they will tell you that they are a sovereign nation, and that England has even implicitly recognized their sovereignty in the past. If you ask every other nation on Earth they'll tell you that those guys are crazy. Sealand is the most well known micronation, a small entity that claims to be a nation but that is generally not recognized as such. Sealand arguably has a better claim to sovereignty than most micronations but I doubt they'll be getting a seat in the UN any time soon.

Anyway that link up there is their official site. It's got info on Sealand's history and buy stuff. They sell coins, stamps, and even titles of nobility. The perfect birthday present for the royalty in your life. Check it out.

The Human Marvels

The Human Marvels is a website chronicling side show freaks, people with unusual skills or deformities who made their livings in circuses and sideshows in the earlier part of last century. Their stories are often tragic but never boring. It's certainly something to check out.

CelebriDucks

CelebriDucks is a website that sells rubber ducks of the kind you may have played with as a child made to look like various celebrities. They've got all sorts of celebrities. If you've ever wanted to see a rubber duck shaped like Betty Boop or the pope, this is the place. You can even purchase them, although some are out of stock. Check it out.

Atlas Obscura

Atlas Obscura is a website detailing all of the weird and wonderful places to be found across the world. From abandoned Incan ruins to a cemetery for sports mascots it's got it all. You can ever search it by category or location. I learned that my state has a 3/4 scale model of the white house, a massive time capsule set to be opened in thousands of years, and a strange monument built by a mysterious benefactor. Check out what's weird in your neck of the woods.

Strange Maps

Strange Maps is a website dedicated to showing you the strangest and most interesting maps they can find. There's a map of what the world would look like if the planet stopped spinning, a map of Libyan dictator Muammar Gadaffi's plan to carve up Switzerland's land among it's neighbors, a map of the United States made entirely out of pumpkin peels, a map of heaven, and much much more. You'd never have thought there were so many cool maps, but there you are.

Check it out.

Face of the Future

Face of the Future is a website that allows you to take pictures of faces and morph them in various way. It's easier to show than tell, let me show you a few ones I did.

You can take a picture with a face in it



















And change its race


















Or its age

















Or even do weirder things




































As you can see the quality of the output varies depending on whose picture you use and which transformation you select. Some of these came out great, but I couldn't get a single pic of female Bush that didn't look horrible. So play around with it, see what you can do. It's a fun thing. The site uses Java and the app can take a few minutes to load. Give it time. Check it out.

GIANTmicrobes

Have you ever wanted to cuddle up to a soft plush ebola virus? Neither have I, but somebody must, because GIANTmicrobes sells them. In fact, you can get everything from the common cold to flesh eating bacteria in plush, squeezable form! They are all modeled after the real form of said pathogen, as seen in a microscope. If you or one of your loved ones feels the need to own a cuddly white blood cell, this is the site for you.

The Museum of Unworkable Decives

For thousands of years humans have dreamed of creating a perpetual motion machine, a machine that could do useful work while functioning without any sort of input forever. Science says that this is impossible, but that hasn't stopped people from trying. The Museum of Unworkable Devices has extensive information on perpetual motion machines past and present, as well as detailed scientific explanations on why they won't work. It also has some optical illusions, and a few drawings by Escher and the like. Check it out.

Acme Klein Bottles

Have you ever wanted to own a bottle with a one sided surface and zero volume? Than a Klein Bottle is what you're looking for! Made by joining the two edges of a Mobius strip together, a Klein Bottle is a four dimensional, one sided, non-orientable, zero volume surface with no inside and no outside. Unfortunately, a true Klein bottle could only exist in four dimensional space. But the good folks over at Acme Klein Bottle have the next best thing; a three dimensional emulation of a real Klein bottle. And they're for sale! That's right, starting at $35 you can purchase your very own Klein Bottle, and even a Klein Bottle hat! If you're like me and don't have any money, you can at least ogle the wares. They've also got cartoons, haiku, and limericks related to their fine product. Check it out.