Elongated Pennies. Pressed pennies, flattened pennies, squished pennies, smashed pennies, whatever you call them, they are an exciting, kid-enticing presence at any tourist attraction, amusement park, or museum. For two quarters and a penny (pre-1982 preferred by the serious buffs) you can legally flatten the lowest of our nation's currency (and sometimes Canada's) into a souvenir disk that's embossed with a picturesque reminder of your trip. But these pennies don't live and die by the child's pants pocket, pressed penny collecting is serious business. Heck, there's even a museum devoted to the hobby, as well as a thriving collecting scene. So next time you pass by one of these cool machines, pause, elbow the penniless kids out of the way, and get yourself a neat little trinket of remembrance.
posted to MetaFilter by lychee at 4:42 PM on June 12, 2006 (52 comments)

Beyond boxers or briefs: Undergarments vary much more than the current styles we find in the nearest haberdashery department or at Victoria's Secret. Mormons have the temple garment. Suffragettes invented bloomers, the next bold step after pantaloons. But throughout modern Western history, women tended to wear dress-like undergarments, (with or without accompanying drawers) though both 19th century men and women wore the union suit, an earlier type of long-johns.

Of course, there's always the earliest of them all, the loincloth, worn by the ancient Egyptians and Tarzan. Similar is the malo worn by some Pacific Islanders, the Japanese fundoshi (warning: excess of manflesh), and the more elaborate Indian dhoti, the male companion to the sari.

And we mustn't forget the bra! Though not a lower-body garment, it has had a long--if tumultuous--history worthy of quick mention.
posted to MetaFilter by lychee at 3:42 AM on January 30, 2005 (9 comments)

Fantastical paintings from Chinese artist Fang He. I think I like Subway Underpass Bird best for its vague sense of creepiness, though Chinese Pavilion No. 1 appeals to my love of old time sci-fi illustrations. Check out similarly whimsical Zhang Gong's cute phallic creatures (NSFW), or peruse the large collection of artists at Courtyard-Gallery. (Related Chinese art posts here and here.)
posted to MetaFilter by lychee at 1:26 AM on July 28, 2004 (6 comments)

Things that go moo in the night. We've all heard of the possessed Raggedy Anne doll, the eBay haunted painting, and the talking mongoose. But what about the rest, the dancing cows, the evil muppets, and the Kermit-like, child-molesting frogs? Ludicrous enough to be true?
posted to MetaFilter by lychee at 11:18 PM on May 16, 2004 (15 comments)

Before Enron Houston, Texas had been the locus of a stock scandal of a slightly different sort. Growing up in Houston in the 80s and 90s, I never associated the word "Sharpstown" with anything but a mall, but the area underwent a development mired in scandal.

In the late 1960s Frank W. Sharp, a Houston businessman, negotiated a deal with a few Texas House Democrats; they would help pass a piece of legislation, and in turn, he would ensure that they would make a profit from his company's stock. In 1971, the dealings came to light. Most of the public officials connected with the scandal were run out of office, but somehow one man beat the resulting karma, even it was a a few decades later. But some good did come out of this, as the Texas Open Records Act was expanded in the aftermath of the scandal.
posted to MetaFilter by lychee at 12:05 AM on May 15, 2004 (3 comments)

Cuter than a fangtooth. Beautiful images of bioluminescent sea creatures. Learn the difference between fluorescence, phosphorescence, and bioluminescence, as well as the science behind the amazing chemical reaction. (I like the floppy-eared one the best--okay, the plastic bag looking one is nifty too.)
posted to MetaFilter by lychee at 11:01 PM on May 12, 2004 (4 comments)

Digimorph, headed by University of Texas professor Timothy Rowe, is a collection of 2D and 3D cross-sectional images of everything from dinosaur skulls to fertilized emu eggs. Using an advanced X-ray Computed Tomographic scanner, researchers are able to capture minute details of a subject's internal structure. DigiMorph provides data on almost 300 species in the form of Quicktime animations, 3D movies, and stereolithography files which can be used (with the proper tools) to create your own 3D specimen.

If you've ever wondered exactly what's up with the stimulating hummingbird or the confounding platypus, now's the perfect time to take a more in-depth look.
posted to MetaFilter by lychee at 10:45 PM on July 28, 2003 (4 comments)