Strange Inventions From the Past

 

Here is an ice mask from 1947 used to cure hangovers. Looks kind of pleasant

 

This fancy baby carriage from 1931 might not be so stylish but you can go for a stroll without worrying about gas attacks!

A single wheeled motorcycle from 1931 kind of looks like that one thing from South Park…

 

Protect your face from snow storms in 1939!

 

Protect your cigarette from the rain with this handy device. (1939)

Is this brilliant or is it just me? You wear these and can read laying down, I need some for my laptop. (1936)

 

This gun takes a picture when it is fired from 1938.

 

To the writers.

Here are some tools for any writers out there. They are helpful for any kind of creative writing. Hope they are useful to someone out there!

 

Forgetting for an instant.

Cancer patients agreed to be given a makeover. What they didn’t know was what kind of makeover. They were surprised and had their picture captured the moment they could see their new funny look. For a moment they got to forget about their cancer and have a good laugh from being surprised.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMWU8dEKwXw#t=198

Watch the video! It’s very heartfelt.

Advertising. Part 2

Acing the interview

These days, a degree doesn’t seem to be worth much until you land a job. And that means job interviews. Plenty of job interviews. This is going to be me soon and I am hoping I get it right. There are lots of tips online and from people but personally I think it’s all about just getting out there and trying.

But it doesn’t hurt to learn the mistakes that can be made.

I found some helpful diagrams that point out the mistakes and offer hints on getting the job.

Gluten Free Brownies

There are a couple people in my family that can’t have gluten which is just the worst. But I’ve been looking into it and realizing that it really isn’t that good for you. The holidays can be hard for my family members but I am going to make these gluten free brownies so everyone can enjoy them!

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, diced into 1 Tbsp pieces, plus more for baking dish
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl whisk together cornstarch, cocoa powder and salt, set aside. Add chocolate chips to a microwave safe bowl, top with butter and heat mixture in microwave on HIGH power in 20 second intervals, stirring after each interval until melted and smooth. Stir in sugar, then mix vanilla and eggs one at a time, mixing until combined after each addition. Add dry mixture and stir until well blended and smooth, then mix in pecans. Pour batter into a well buttered 8 by 8-inch baking dish (you can also line the baking dish with parchment if desired, then pour batter over parchment) and spread into an even layer. Bake in preheated oven until toothpick inserted into center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 35 – 38 minutes. Allow to cool completely then cut into squares (I found mine cut cleaner after freezing for about 45 minutes – after cooling, if you can waiting any longer).

Cinnamon Roll Mug Cake

 

 

Cinnamon Roll Mug Cake (made in 3 minutes!)

Yield: 1 Mug Cake

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp applesauce

• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil

• 1 Tbsp buttermilk

• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

• 1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour

• 2 1/2 Tbsp packed light-brown sugar

• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1 dash ground nutmeg (optional)

• 1/4 tsp baking powder

• 1/8 tsp (scant) salt

• 1 Recipe Cream Cheese Icing, recipe follows

Cream Cheese Icing

• 1 Tbsp Cream Cheese or Neufchatel Cheese, softened
• 2 Tbsp powdered sugar
• 1 tsp milk

 

Directions

• Prepare Cream Cheese Icing according to directions listed, set aside. Combine all ingredients (minus Cream Cheese Icing) in a mug then whisk together with a fork until combine and nearly smooth. Microwave mixture on high power for 1 minute then check cake for doneness. If it is not fully cooked microwave for an additional 15 seconds. Serve warm topped with Cream Cheese Icing.

Cream Cheese Icing

• Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk with a fork until smooth.

Before Photoshop

Currently, I am teaching myself Photoshop because it’s a very valuable tool for the field I want to go into. I found an interesting collection of pictures from one of my favorite websites Imgur.com which is kind of like Reddit.

The following are movie posters created by an artist named Drew Struzan. Before technology was as it is today, creating movie posters was done by some really talented artists from around the world. I feel all of these are far more interesting than the movie posters we see today which seem to always just be pictures of the main actor from the film.

This is a rare concept piece from Struzan that was not used but looks awesome.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

(Great movie by the way)

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

The Great Muppet Caper

Back to the Future Trilogy

The Goonies

Ladyhawke

Duck Tales: The Movie – Treasure of the Lost Lamp

 

 

Hook

I looks so much like a photo!

 

Hocus Pocus

GREAT MOVIE!

 

Star Wars

 

Harry Potter

This poster was unused, and switched to a different poster.

 

 

Star Wars: Episode 1

The poster is much better than the movie. 😦

 

 

Hellboy

 

 

Zathura

 

This was the one similar to Jumanji.

 

 

Shawshank Redemption

 

 

 

Anyone can appreciate these posters. I really hope he continues to work because they are simply amazing.

Staying Informed

As of right now the government is shutting down and I’ve realized a lot of my friends don’t really know this. It’s important to keep up to date on what’s going on with our countries politics. Since I don’t want to show a ton of bias in this blog, I’m going to pick a lighter topic that is kind of really funny and horribly depressing.

The topic is about the weird things our government spends money on.

• The federal government spend $3 million on studying video games such as World of Warcraft.
• The Department of Health and Human Services plans to spend $500 million on a program that will, among other things, seek to solve the problem of 5-year-old children that “can’t sit still” in a kindergarten classroom.
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture once gave researchers at the University of New Hampshire $700,000 to study methane gas emissions from dairy cows. (AKA cow farts)
• China lends us more money than any other foreign nation, but that didn’t stop our government from spending 17.8 million dollars on social and environmental programs for China.
• The federal government spends 25 billion dollars a year maintaining federal buildings that are either unused or totally vacant.
• The feds once gave Alaska Airlines $500,000 “to paint a Chinook salmon” on the side of a Boeing 737.
•  The U.S. government once spent 2.6 million dollars to train Chinese prostitutes to drink responsibly.
• According to the Washington Post, the U.S. government is going to leave 7 billion dollars worth of military equipment behind in Afghanistan.
• Amazingly, U.S. taxpayers spend more than 1.4 billion dollars a year on the Obamas.  Meanwhile, British taxpayers only spend about 58 million dollars on the entire royal family.
• Over the past 15 years, a total of approximately $5.25 million has been spent on hair care services for the U.S. Senate.
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture has spent $300,000 to encourage Americans to eat caviar.
• The federal government has spent $175,587 “to determine if cocaine makes Japanese quail engage in sexually risky behavior”

Hopefully you found this slightly funny not just really upsetting. America!

Links:

http://www.infowars.com/30-stupid-things-the-government-is-spending-money-on/

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/the-waste-list-66-crazy-ways-that-the-u-s-government-is-wasting-your-hard-earned-money

5 Clever Uses

Here are five clever uses for an ice cube tray.

I love iced coffee but without an espresso maker, it is difficult to have iced coffee without it getting watered down. And who wants their coffee watered down??

This also works for smoothies. Freeze juice in ice cube trays and throw them in your blender with other fruit.

If you have a sweet tooth, putting leftover cookie dough in a tray can make it easy to only have a few at a time. Just grab them one or two out and throw them in the oven.

Freeze lemon and vinegar to toss in your garbage disposal to help get that clean smell.

I have so many of these little trinkets. Putting them all in spots in the ice tray can really spruce up a drunk drawer.