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Venn Diagram of Emotions

Saudi cleric issues fatwa on snowmen:

So Much for Olaf.

Asked on a religious website if it was permissible for fathers to build snowmen for their children after a snowstorm in the country’s north, Sheikh Mohammed Saleh al-Munajjid replied: “It is not permitted to make a statue out of snow, even by way of play and fun.”

Quoting from Muslim scholars, Munajjid argued that to build a snowman was to create an image of a human being, an action considered sinful under the kingdom’s strict interpretation of Sunni Islam. “God has given people space to make whatever they want which does not have a soul, including trees, ships, fruits, buildings and so on,” he wrote in his ruling.

18th-century Japanese print of children building a snow lion.

According to The Next Web, Emoji support has landed in the latest developer builds of Chrome for OS X, meaning that emoji can be seen on websites and be entered into text fields for the first time without issues. ... Users on Safari on OS X could already see emoji on the Web without issue, since Apple built that in. The bug in Chrome was fixed on December 11, which went into testing on Chrome’s Canary track recently. From there, we can expect it to move to the consumer version of Chrome in coming weeks.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Back in 2014 (oh so long ago!), The BBC published a piece on Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, which houses heaps and heaps of abandoned aircraft:

If you find yourself driving down South Kolb Road in the Arizona city of Tucson, you’ll find the houses give way to a much more unusual view; rows of military aircraft, still and silent, spread out under the baking desert sun. On and on, everything from enormous cargo lifters to lumbering bombers, Hercules freighters and the F-14 Tomcat fighters made famous in Top Gun.

This is Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, run by the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (309 AMARG). It’s home to some 4,400 aircraft, arranged over nearly 2,600 acres (10.5 sq km). Some look like they were parked only a few hours ago, others are swathed in protective coverings to keep out the sand and dust. Inside the facilities’ hangars, other planes have been reduced to crates of spare parts, waiting to be sent out to other bases in the US or across the world to help other aircraft take to the air again. To those who work here, Davis-Monthan is known by a far less prosaic name, one more in keeping with the Wild West folklore from Arizona’s earlier days. They call it The Boneyard.

Read more.

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We don't appreciate often enough the fact that Gerald Green has carved out an NBA career despite an awkward deformity on his shooting hand.

The Suns made these foam hands for Gerald Green, presumably to give to fans at an upcoming game:

Always fun when a crazy idea you threw out in a meeting becomes reality. pic.twitter.com/4sez9gJXWZ

— Espo (@Espo) January 12, 2015

If you're not familiar with Green's story, your first thought was probably: Ewwwww, did they make a foam hand in the shape of The Shocker? Why would an NBA team make a giveaway celebrating a sex act?

But that's not what happened here. You see, Green is missing part of his ring finger on his right hand:

Photo credit: Mark J. Reblas, USA Today Sports

Photo credit: Christian Petersen, Getty Images

The missing digit stems from a childhood accident, when he tried dunking on a makeshift hoop attached to a doorway. A ring on his finger got caught on a nail, and much of the finger had to be amputated. The gruesome details of the incident are in this New York Daily News story from 2012.

As Green told the Daily News, the finger became a source of shame:

"I used to always hide my hand, I still do. I don't really like talking about it...

"Sometimes I still hide it and not even realize that I'm doing it. Just out of habit. You've been doing something for so long, you're constantly hiding it. And then you're in the room by yourself, and you're realizing what you're doing."

Green can't palm a ball with his right hand, and although the ring finger isn't majorly important in basketball, one can imagine how losing a finger on a shooting hand could derail somebody's hoops career.

For a while, it looked like Green's career would be an NBA footnote. The explosive leaper won the 2007 Slam Dunk contest and famously blew out a candle on a cupcake on the rim during the 2008 contest, but he didn't seem capable of contributing positively in non-dunk contest settings. A first round pick in the 2005 draft, he played for four teams in his first four years and then dropped out of the league. He played for a few teams in Russia and in China, and spent some time in the D-League

In Phoenix, it looks like Green has found a way to harness his freakish athletic ability in a way that helps a good team win basketball games. He averaged a career-high 15.8 points last year, with breakout 41- and 36-point games, and is putting in 14.0 per game this year for a Suns team that looks like it should make the playoffs in the packed Western Conference. The kid who once hid his hand now holds it up after hitting threes:

Photo credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

And now a stadium full of fans can hoist their missing ring fingers right back at him.

Oh, and he's still dunking, too:

Jeni’s ice cream has come out with a Hot Toddy sorbet that employs real Maker’s Mark. (We tried it, and can attest that it couldn’t be more disconcerting to tuck into a super-cold version of an always-served-hot cocktail…in the best of ways.)

He really is, though!

Seahawks RB Marshawn Lynch has already been fined $100,000 for not talking to the media this season. Thankfully, he's continuing to turn his postgame media sessions into an art form. First it was "Thanks for asking." Now he's thankful.

And we're thankful for Marshawn Lynch.

WTVD-TV

Five injured in shooting during private party hosted by Chris Brown in California WTVD-TV Chris Brown accepts the award for best R&B album for "F.A.M.E." during the 54th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 12, 2012 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles). KGO. Sunday, January 11, 2015 10:29PM. SAN JOSE, Calif. --. San Jose police say ... and more »

We're not worthy, Damian Lillard. When you're not sinking ludicrous buzzer beaters you're doing stuff like this.

Today’s cake might blow your mind. Not only because it comes from the mind of a 20-year-old, Glazed and Confused blogger Graham Blackall, but also because it’s a Chicken and Waffles Cake. That’s fried chicken, and waffles, in a cake.  New Orleans-based Blackall dreams up many drool-worthy dessert recipes for Glazed and Confused, including Coffee and Beignet Ice Cream Sandwiches and Peanut Butter Cup Pots de Creme. And despite his young age, his work can already been seen in Food & Wine magazine, Thrillist, and The Huffington Post.

Coffee and beignet ice cream sandwiches

The Cowboys season ended with the refs (correctly) overturning an incredible Dez Bryant fourth-down catch.

This is was Calvin Johnson Rule, which the Lions were helpful enough to point out.

Sorry @dallascowboys. We know the feeling: http://t.co/CfC95Nj3Q6. #CompletingTheProcess pic.twitter.com/7xuEA9FH49

— Detroit Lions (@Lions) January 11, 2015

Hm: A season-ending controversial call.

Sound familiar? It did to pretty much the entire Lions roster, who all hopped on Twitter after the game to express their glee because we live in an amazing future where this is possible.

"@CMartin_Xi Wow!!!! That's karma tho "!!!!!!!

— Julian Stanford (@Mr_NxtLvl) January 11, 2015

KARMA

— George Johnson (@GeoJohns92) January 11, 2015

They shouldn't be the ones playing anyway!...

— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) January 11, 2015

Once again the refs are going to be the talk of the game. It's getting out of hand #sameshitdiffweek

— theo riddick (@Riddick6) January 11, 2015

It's Funny how life works... Haha

— Cornelius Lucas (@larry_lovestein) January 11, 2015

Poetic Justice. Sorry Cowboys fans, but this is hilarious.

— Corey Hilliard (@slabzilla78) January 11, 2015

Karma Always Comes Back Around.. But

— Eric Ebron (@Ebron85) January 11, 2015

Karma always comes back around. Funny how one crucial changed call affected this game as well.

— TJ Jones (@IamTJJones13) January 11, 2015

Basically, a whole bunch of retweeting Kermit Sipping Tea.

@Ebron85 pic.twitter.com/NCbe50TNNT

— Ahmad A. Ballout (@Ball_Out20) January 11, 2015

@Ebron85 pic.twitter.com/VZwh2dQsPA

— Jireh (@JlREH) January 11, 2015

"@Ebron85: Karma Always Comes Back Around.. But " pic.twitter.com/3lkcnbQbbo

— tarik (@turfeTD) January 11, 2015

The Packers will meet the Seahawks in the NFC Championship game. But that's none of our business.

When he's done here Manning should go to the Middle East. They could use a few overthrows.

— Rick Reilly (@ReillyRick) January 11, 2015

Ha! That's a really great joke, Rick. Thanks for that joke, Rick. How do you think up such hilarious quips, Rick?

That was a really good tweet. Super solid, and absolutely not like a joke we read five minutes earlier.

Mannings so good at overthrows maybe we shoud send him to pay a visit 2 ISIS

— PFTCommenter (@PFTCommenter) January 11, 2015

Maybe it's all a coincidence. After all, Reilly has had that "insert highly volatile country with overthrows" tweet structure down pat.

Tom Brady has more overthrows today than Somalia.

— Rick Reilly (@ReillyRick) January 19, 2014

shining-latios:

He sure is.

pangeachasmata:

unexplained-events:

Cat

Cougar breaks into man’s house and….destroys his blinds.

all cats is the same

the-unstoppable-juggernaut:

rnusicality:

fun statistics for adults!
“when I was a kid, I had no help with college tuition, I was hardworking and paid it all myself”
-Annual tuition for Yale, 1970: $2,550
-Annual tuition for Yale, 2014: $45,800
-Minimum Wage, 1970: $1.45
-Minimum Wage, 2014: $7.25
-Daily hours at minimum wage needed to pay for tuition in 1970: 4.8
-Daily hours at minimum wage needed to pay for tuition in 2014: 17.3

Today, decades after that near-death experience, cider is making a huge comeback. And yes, a billion dollars could be in range.

deathraylasercrazy:

So this happened, as some of you may have seen

And then this happened

So then THIS happened and I’m so so happy XD

Jon Rosenberg, I fully support/endorse your future work.  you had me at ‘fuck gamer gate’.

Dartmouth College has charged 64 students accused of cheating in a sports ethics class with violating the Ivy League school's honor code.

image via Wikimedia Commons

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the legendary basketball player and dedicated Sherlock Holmes fan, is writing a book about about Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock’s older, brainier and less motivated brother. Mycroft Holmes will be published in the fall of 2015 by Titan Books, who released a statement to The New York Times Arts Beat explaining how the book came about.

Mr. Abdul-Jabbar, a 19-time N.B.A. All-Star, began reading Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories more than 40 years ago, during his rookie season. “I was fascinated by Holmes’s ability to see clues where other people saw nothing,” he said in a statement released by his publisher. “Mycroft Holmes” was written with the screenwriter and producer Anna Waterhouse. Mr. Abdul-Jabbar later read “Enter the Lion: A Posthumous Memoir of Mycroft Holmes,” a 1979 novel that was written by Michael P. Hodel and Sean M. Wright, and features Sherlock’s older brother. He was taken with the character, who appears in several of Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories and works for the British government.

image via The New York Times Arts Beat

via The New York Times Arts Beat

vgjunk:

Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon R, Super Famicom.

(Bandai - 1993)

kitten geometry

After taking on the legacy mantle of Power Girl in her very first appearance over six months ago, new DC Comics character Tanya Spears is finally getting the chance to join the Teen Titans in their latest story arc, and we can’t wait to see what she’s got.

A bit of background on the character: Tanya was first introduced in World’s Finest #23 as a super intelligent 17 year old scientist who helped Power Girl Karen Starr and Huntress Helena Wayne return to their home on Earth-2. After their departure, she discovered that she’d developed powers of super strength and flight similar to Power Girl’s, and in Worlds Finest #26 she was also bequeathed the name “Power Girl” by Starr’s attorney. So, basically, she’s the new Power Girl for Prime Earth.

Now DC’s looking to ramp up interest in the character by promoting her throughout the most recently printed issues via this flashy splash page (though Eddie Berganza incorrectly lists her age as “16″ for some reason):

Her costume here almost exactly similar to the one she wore in World’s Finest: Future’s End, although there’s a major element missing: the iconic and oft-criticized “boob window” that was once Power Girl’s Karen Starr’s trademark. This design still isn’t perfect without the window, of course (here we still see the stereotypical perfectly-outlined-bellybutton-and-cleavage that so many female superheroes have for some reason), and I do sort of wish she were getting her own series—after all, that’s part of the reason it was so easy to get quickly invested in Ms Marvel, who’s also a teenage WOC legacy character. But it’s still very refreshing to see DC Comics working to create some new positive and diverse representation, especially in the form of a bad ass super-smart, awesomely cosplayable girl like Tanya. Seriously, tell me you wouldn’t wear that jacket.

Power Girl officially joins the Teen Titans in their sixth issue (though you probably caught her in #5, and on the Kenneth Rocafort-drawn cover), which will hit comic book shops on January 21st. We’re pretty excited, how about you?

(via Hitfix)

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