Breakfast Links: Grades, Baffling Toys & Ball Pool
For Monday! For Art!
Ok… in the realm of the ridiculous, check it. Some study was made that showed that kids who’s names start with C or D tend to do worse in school than other kids. You know because somehow, having that initial makes them feel like losers who can only get a C or D grade in school (via). You know I love scientists, but that’s literally the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Why don’t kids with the names that begin with E or F do even worse or the kids with A’s better? Sigh. I’m naming my kid “Awesome At All.” On the other hand, it may be that I’m just bitter since my name does, in fact, start with an F.
Those of us who are name impaired, probably will not find the toys on this page of the 25 most baffling toys odd in any way. Two pages of really odd toys. I mean you know it’s gotta be good when it starts out with #25 being a cross wielding God-Jesus robot all the way to the #1 toy.. that’s right.. “Cock Bloc Super” building blocks. Frustrating!
And growing up, as I did, with such a severe name handicap, I find nothing more awesome than a ball pool. Man, remember good ol’ Chuck e’ Cheese? Well, Mr. The Man from XKCD has gone and built himself one in the comfort of his own home. In place of a couch he’s sectioned off a corner of the room and poured in the fantastic for him and his friends to recline in style. If that doesn’t make you jealous I don’t know what will. He already has plans to expand that bad boy.
UPDATE: Remember when researchers found that the best predictor of stock prices was butter production in Bangladesh? Money quote, “Coincidence? Well, yes.” I’m just saying.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:44 am
I wouldn’t mind having the gun that fires teddy bears.
November 19th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
That is a particularly good form of gun to fire. One of the few selections that I think doesn’t deserve to be in a baffling list, but should be in an awesome list.
November 19th, 2007 at 7:52 pm
First of all, What was wrong with that fish dissecting toy? I actually thought that was cool.
I always wanted a plastic ball room! I went to Sesame Place when I was little and they had a HUGE one with a vinyl mountain in the middle called Cookie Mountain ( http://www.sesameplace.com/sesame/pa/attractions_da_cm.aspx ) Now it looks like they took all the plastic balls out, probably for health reasons!
November 20th, 2007 at 9:22 am
Yeah, that’s gross. Funnily, in that XKCD piece he talks about the main impediment to going bigger is figuring out how to scale the washing process up. Nasty!
December 11th, 2007 at 7:46 am
[...] noctilucent clouds are coming on faster, lower and brighter than ever before and scientists (my favourite, you know) are baffled - they figure it’s telling them something about our atmosphere they [...]
June 11th, 2008 at 7:22 am
[...] a scale slightly larger than the last time I talked about ball pools, LA is turning three of their exposed rerservoirs into giant ball pools! Although, sadly, I suspect [...]