I traveled to the Creature Shop for an exclusive look at what’s under the fur. Here’s what the mentors from Syfy’s Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Challenge had to say about their creations.

Welcome to Jim Henson's Creature Shop, where all your dreams (and nightmares) come to life.

I was thrilled at the opportunity to see Fraggles, but terrified I might run into one of the Skeksis from The Dark Crystal. BOTH OF THESE THINGS HAPPENED.

Dale Berman/Syfy

My tour guides were Julie Zobel, Peter Brooke, and John Criswell.

This trio also serves as mentors on Syfy's reality series Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge. And with good reason! Zobel (left) is the lead fabricator and has worked on projects like Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, and Dr. Dolittle. Brooke (middle) is the Creature Shop creative supervisor, and his credits include Where the Wild Things Are, The Flintstones, and Dinosaurs. Criswell (right) is the mechanical engineer, and has put his skills to work on Critters, Pushing Daisies, and The Hangover, among others.

Dale Berman/Syfy

This one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater is pretty much fully animatronic.

"This is not a hand puppet," Criswell explained. "He’s a combination of a cable-controlled mechanism and a servo cable-controlled mechanism." His name is Scoots, and he was created as promotion for the Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge series.

Louis Peitzman/BuzzFeed

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A dog in a hat and wig, whose name is Lupita and who looks fearful for its life, sits atop a handmade palanquin of sorts, decorated in other hats and garb. Lupita was a contestant in today's Fiesta Pooch parade in San Antonio, to her dismay. Via Eric Gay/AP

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President Barack Obama briefly plays soccer with Honda‘s humanoid robot ASIMO during his recent trip to Japan.

ASIMO, which is an acronym for Advanced Step in Innovative MObility, was designed as an assistant to those who lack full mobility and regularly appears in demonstrations around the world.

via The Wall Street Journal Japan Real Time

A new trailer for the upcoming Mad Max video game has just been released and we have the video below to prove it. Developed by Avalanche Studios and Warner Bros. Interactive, the new trailer, entitled “Magnum Opus,” demonstrates just how important vehicles are when you live in the Wasteland; they are more than just a way to get around. Vehicles are a way to fight and to survive. If you haven’t already heard of the game, players will play as Mad Max as he tries to make his way to the storied “Plains of Silence,” which means he must make his way past and fight plenty of deadly marauders. Mad Max is expected to hit stores on all consoles and for the PC sometime in 2015.


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Post tags: Mad Max, Mad Max Game

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The Internet is full of “easy” DIY projects that are actually designed and created by professionals. See what happens when average people attempt projects that actually involve a little more handy work than a mason jar craft.

Via homemade-modern.com

Wood + Iron Table by HomeMade Modern

Despite the size and cost, this is one of our most popular projects. That makes sense because if you're going to take the time to make something, it might as well be something that would otherwise cost a lot of money. A similar table from Restoration Hardware or Crate & Barrel could easily cost more than $1,000.

Click here to See the Video

homemade-modern.com / Via homemade-modern.com

Wood + Iron Table by Real People

Wood + Iron Tables by Bob W. (left) and Kristen R. (right)
This project consistently turns out great. The more warped and nicked the wood, the more rustic and industrial the table looks. A table like this is perfect for someone with limited wood-working skills because it's supposed to look rough.

Result: The user-submitted tables look just as good as the original. In both cases the users were able to change the size of the table to better fit their homes. Good looks, easy construction and a customizable size is what makes this project popular.

ryobitools.com / Via ryobitools.com

Bucket Stool by HomeMade Modern

We've seen this project built by people on 4 different continents. It's quick and simple but doesn’t always come out perfect. Common issues people have are the concrete sticking to the bucket, using too much water and the having uneven legs. Thankfully, concrete is cheap and if it doesn’t work the first time, clean the bucket and try again.

Click here to See the Video

homemade-modern.com / Via homemade-modern.com

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Probably not.

Is this documented proof of a ghost running through a soccer stadium and possibly affecting the outcome of the game?

youtube.com

Probably not.

Via peru.com

Here is a video in Spanish with X-Files music playing in the background. Is it a ghost, the announcers ask, hauntingly?

youtube.com

Unfortunately, it's a boring human. Here is the full Spanish version where they explain it's a guy who snuck into the stadium running from police.

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Be careful around the new Nike Fingertrap Max “Camo.” As soon as you slip them on, you’re going to be hooked whether you like it or not. Taking the upper from the Nike Free Trainer 5.0 and integrating it with the Air Max cushioning system, the Nike Fingertrap Max presents an interesting new hybrid option for your lifestyle or running needs. In addition to the woven design, the new style coats the entire upper with a modern digital woodland camo print that is contrasted with black on the Swoosh, laces, inner liner, and the visible Air unit. Khaki takes care of the midsole to complete the look. Continue after the jump for more images of the new model and head to Oneness to cop if you dare.

ONENESS
431 Jersey Street | Map
Lexington, KY 40508
TEL #: 859-276-2316

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Post tags: Nike, Nike Sportswear, ONENESS

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Oklahoma City's News9 reporter Kelly Ogle uploaded a picture of this giant air bag protecting his neighbor's car from a potential hailstorm. It's called a Hail Protector and I want one even though I don't have a car.

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Kuma Films, the two-man production that recently explored pen spinning and contact juggling, takes a look at the art of fingerboarding (see previous posts) with “Fingerboarding in Taiwan.” The wordless short highlights a handful of folks who have taken riding on a miniature skateboard with their hands to impressive levels. The fingerboarders here mimic skateboard tricks like kickflips and nosegrinds on small railing and stair replicas, acts that are especially impressive when the video is slowed down to highlight their intricacies.

Welcome back to YouTube Jokes Mistaken For Ways Teens Actually Get High. Earlier this month, teens were reportedly smoking coffee for the caffeine buzz (false). Now they're getting a different kind of buzz by "Beezin," rubbing Burt's Bees-brand lip balm on their eyelids (also probably false).

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Take a little bit of Eames and mix it with a handful of harlequin and you’ve got yourself a “Tiles” chair! This innovative design is the fruit of rethinking fabric furniture. Each section is hinged together by a strong fabric as part of its construction. The unique structure gives the chair slight flexibility, allowing it to form gently to the user’s back. Functional and beautiful! Look closer to see if you can spy a hidden Escher-style illusion —>

Designer: Jonas Søndergaard Nielsen

-
Yanko Design
Timeless Designs - Explore wonderful concepts from around the world!
Shop CKIE - We are more than just concepts. See what's hot at the CKIE store by Yanko Design!
(I’ve never wanted to sit in a chair so badly… was originally posted on Yanko Design)

Related posts:

1. Always Wanted a CNC Machine
2. Egg Peeling Skills Wanted
3. Top Ten Robots That You Never Knew You Wanted

Previously uncatalogued digital artwork by artist Andy Warhol have been discovered on Amiga computer floppy disks from 1985 thanks to an extraction project undertaken by the Carnegie Mellon University Computer Club, the Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry, and the Hillman Photography Initiative at the Carnegie Museum of Art after an inquiry by artist Cory Arcangel about whether there might be some works stored on obsolete computer disks after seeing a YouTube clip of Warhol promoting the Amiga 1000 in 1985.

A press release on the findings is available on The Andy Warhol Museum’s website.

images via The Andy Warhol Museum

via Creative Review

Aptly titled Tired Skateboards, the latest venture from Dutch contemporary artist Parra is not taking itself so seriously. This new company is not aimed at professional skateboarders and those at the forefront of the global sports, but for those who used to be good on their board. As their promotional video demonstrates, the company embraces those of us skaters who cannot even land a kickflip at will. The tongue-in-cheek mentality parallels with his humorous illustrations, and these boards come in various shapes including cruisers and vintage styled shapes. Look out for their items at Big Time Distribution online shop.

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Post tags: Parra, Tired Skateboards

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Artist Andres Amador created “Mussels II,” a gorgeous large scale sand art installation at Ocean Beach in San Francisco last Saturday. The temporary installation was created by Amador and an assistant in just two hours. For more of Amador’s sand art, see our previous post.

photos by Fabien Bouchard

via UFUNK

As 19-year-old Dallas Archer was being booked into the Kingsport, Tenn. jail on Monday, corrections officers allegedly discovered something unusual hidden in her vagina: a loaded revolver.

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It is not a question of if a killer asteroid will strike our planet, devastating at the very least a city, and at most the entire race. It is just a question of how soon. The current consensus: it won't be too long now.

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Designer Ruan Hao in partnership with Lycs Architecture has created the CATable, a wonderful piece of furniture to please the hardest of working humans and the most curious of cats alike. The idea for the CATable, a desk whose sleek modern designs hide a bevy of hidey-holes to keep kitty amused, came from personal experience (translated from Chinese).

People who live with cats always has those kind of experiences?
1. Putting away the cat from your lap top was like a sentimental ritual of temporary farewell.
2. A proper sized hole could be so irresistible to cats. Their curiosity would be greatly satisfied through repetitively exploring the unknown path behind the hole.
The design of CATable was a fusion of those experiences, as well a locus where the interaction occurs.It is a table for us, and a paradise for cats.

images via Lycs Architecture

via Freshome, My Modern Met

North Liberty High School students Tyler Richards and Jonathan Thompson have used a 3D printer to create a ketchup bottle cap that solves the problem of the first squirt from the bottle always being a watery mess. The design of the cap, created by the students as part of Project Lead The Way, is based on the Pythagorean cup and forces the ketchup to travel up a tube that sits well below the cap which keeps the water separate from the rest.

via PSFK

A coiled cable can be easier to manage than a long cord that gets tangled up. If that's what you want with your USB cable, then Instructables user pizzidave has a quick way to do that with just a pencil, tape and a blow dryer.

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Scientists at the University of Central Florida and the University of Arizona are trying to develop a system of lasers that they claim would theoretically be able to trigger rain and lightning in clouds, effectively "controlling" the weather.

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Rocki is a small adapter that turns old speakers into a wireless sound system that you can control with a smartphone, tablet or computer. Plug the device into the speaker auxiliary input via 3.5mm or RCA, connect the Rocki and smart device to your home WiFi network and you can start streaming your music. The device, which was created thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign, is available for purchase now through the Rocki site.

image via Rocki

via GearCulture, The Awesomer

It’s getting hotter by the day and as the temperatures soar don’t you wish you were back to shoveling snow. Ah, yes grass is always greener on the other side! Inspired by the ice cream scoop, we have here the Showvel – a snow shovel that scoops snow into balls. Making snowman gets easier and more fun; winter please come soon!

Designers: Arah Ko, Jungsun Park & Hyejin Kim

-
Yanko Design
Timeless Designs - Explore wonderful concepts from around the world!
Shop CKIE - We are more than just concepts. See what's hot at the CKIE store by Yanko Design!
(Snow Cone + Shovel was originally posted on Yanko Design)

Related posts:

1. Beasty Beauty In The Snow
2. Are We Having A Road Cone For Breakfast?
3. Pine Cone Pendant Lamp

Multiple record-holding British juggler Alex Barron managed to juggle 13 balls at once. The whole feat is quite brief — lasting all of four seconds — but Barron racks up 15 catches of 13 balls in the video.

I am working on 14 but it may be a while.

via The Awesomer

Aaron Sorkin's Steve Jobs biopic steered right into the rocks last week when Social Network director David Fincher dropped the project because Sony reportedly wouldn't meet his demands for a $10 million paycheck. Fincher's first (and only) choice to play the Apple founder was Christian Bale —so who's going to fill that Jobs-shaped hole?

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Starting today, all of Apple's retail stores will accept any of the company's ageing products for recycling—and, if it looks resaleable, you might even get some store credit, too.

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Step 1: Catch a boot to the head while trying to take a selfie with a passing train. Step 2: ??? Step 3: Profit!

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After a releasing hints through its Facebook page, Haagen-Dazs Japan has announced the launch of their SpoonVege “Tomato Cherry” and “Carrot Orange” ice cream flavors. The flavors will be released in Japan on May 12th, 2014 in 110 milliliter cartons. As part of the campaign, the Japanese wing of the US-based ice cream will be giving away 100 cartons of the flavors via its Facebook page. The full list of ingredients for both flavors can be found on the official press release.

image by Haagen-Dazs Japan via RocketNews24

via Haagen-Dazs Japan, RocketNews24

Meet Pancho the chihuahua. As you can see in the above video, Pancho is pretty good at yoga. Cobra pose, downward dog, various stretches: this little guy can do it all.

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