The Rabbit Hole
Educational shorts from the 1940s & 1950s are best known for being hilariously skewed portrayals of an unrealistic, ideal way of life.
Even though they’re funny on their own, the hilarious commentary by the folks at Mystery Science Theater 3000 takes the laughter to a whole new level.
Take some time to watch five choice clips.
This short focuses on the importance of good posture set in a class room where a teacher obsessively instructs four students on the importance of standing up straight for health and overall well being.
Here, young Tommy realizes that the house isn’t cleaned and maintained by magic but instead by his mother and father, by sneaking out of bed and spying on his parents. In the end, he learns to be a part of the “family team” and not be such a lazy, ungrateful child.
This short features a bizarrely unrealistic portrayal of a “happy” family who sets aside their opinions, emotions, and real selves for a “date” with the family. Note the strange relationship between Brother and Junior.
Part of the famous “Health Education Series” this short begins by brutally tearing down the appearance of an unkempt woman (horridly uneven socks, untucked blouse, and un-styled hair–what was she thinking?) and continues detailing an obsessive hygiene routine.
This how-to video teaches everything you need to know to be a fully competent public speaker who is “heard, understood, and pleasing.”
Winter kind of sucks. Everything is cold and dark and kind of depressing. In light of current events, pretty much everything seems gloomy. So look at some adorable animal pictures and I dare you not to smile and feel some warm fuzzies. I dare you.
What, I was sleeping…I swear!
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…just cuddle up to me.
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Mwah!
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But your nose is good for itches!
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Are you sure I’m not adopted?
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The holiday season is a season for giving, but thanks to the recession, the majority of people are looking for ways to cut back. Luckily there are a few sites available where you can benefit charities with just a few seconds of your time and a few clicks of your mouse.
With two clicks a day at Poverty Fighters, sponsors donate 25 cents in loan credit to those in need. These microcredit loans help poor people open businesses or improve and grow current business ventures.
In their click2donate section, Care2 features 10 causes you can click to support including stopping global warming, preserving the rain forest, saving baby seals, saving ocean animals, saving big cats, saving primates, helping children in need, helping homeless pets, stopping violence against women, and preventing breast cancer.
This network of sites features six different causes to benefit. You can click to give food to rescued animals, save the rain forest, fund literacy, provide children with healthcare, give free mammograms to women in need, and give food to the hungry. Each cause has it’s own shop where you can also purchase items, but it’s simple to visit everyday and just take the time to click and make a difference.
Probably the most popular, and most enjoyable of these click-to-give sites is Free Rice . Instead of just clicking a button, here you click to answer questions that challenge your knowledge of language, arts, chemistry, geography, and math. It features the fun of challenging yourself and the benefit of learning something new, while providing free rice to people in need with each correct answer.
I obviously cannot provide a comprehensive list of all the click-to-give sites available with just five sites, but oneclickatatime.org has a complete directory of click to give sites worldwide. They’re divided into categories so you can easily find your favorite charity. Plus it’s a snap to bookmark this one page and visit it daily to access all the click-to-donate sites.
See also…
5 Sites Featuring Affordable Holiday Gifts That Give Back
The holiday shopping season officially started last friday, and gift shopping is on everyone’s mind. With the poor economy, most people are looking to cut back on holiday spending this year. There are many affordable gift options available, but in these shaky modern times it’s good to not only give to those you love but also give a little back to others in need. Luckily there’s an abundance of websites available where your purchases benefit non-profit organizations, individuals, and even animals across the world. Here’s five websites where you can find affordable and meaningful gifts for everyone on your list.
Better World Books began with a single book drive started by three college friends and has grown into worldwide bookseller. What makes this site different is their partnership with non-profits like Books for Africa, Room to Read, and National Center for Family Literacy. Through those partnerships, they’ve made a huge impact, raising money for literacy and education through their book sales and also helping the environment.Have some extra books around? You can also help by donating your books.
As a bonus, check out this video about the history and impact of Better World Books.
New Mexico Creates is a store that features unique items by New Mexico artisans. The Museum of New Mexico Foundation Shops in four museums in New Mexico and their online store, and the purchases benefit the Museum of New Mexico and the artists who create the items.
The Animal Rescue Site sells various items and the proceeds help feed and care for the millions of unwanted animals in shelters in the US. Many of the products feature their purple paw print logos on clothing, jewelry, and even gifts for your pets. You can also select Gifts that Give More to give money for a specific purpose like caring for two rescued rabbits or feeding a US Family for five weeks–there’s over 125 ways you can help.
The organization One Laptop Per Child has launched a campaign called Give One, Get One where if you donate one to a child in a developing nation, you can also can purchase a XO laptop for yourself (or as a gift for a love one). The cost is $199 for the donated laptop and $399 for the pair
. That price is unbeatable when it comes to a laptop, and this would make the perfect gift for any child.Here is part one of their mission video. You can view part 2 here, which explains why give a laptop to a child who may not have electricity.
Giftback.com offers a variety of gifts for every occasion, and 10% of every purchase goes to a charity of your choice. You can buy gift baskets, flowers, baby gifts, or something for the special guy or gal in your life, and shop with the warm fuzzy feeling that comes with doing something good.
See Also…
5 Sites Where You Can Donate to Charities For Free With One Click
With the economy the way it is, everyone’s cutting back on the non-necessities. One of the little luxuries that has become a necessity in modern times in television. Cable and satellite prices are outrageous, and usually you’re paying for channels you don’t even watch, just to get the few that have your favorite shows. And don’t even get me started on the premium channels like HBO and Showtime.
Thankfully there are alternatives available on the internet, and there are countless websites where you can watch your favorite shows anytime day or night, for free.
I love Hulu–I’ve been using it since it launched. It has a clean, simple design and features full length episodes of many of the shows I love (The Office, The Daily Show, & Heroes) plus older TV shows (like Alfred Hitchcock Presents), and even movies. New episodes are usually posted the day after they air on TV. You can browse by popular episodes or shows, and also genre, network, and recently added shows. The site also features a queue, so you can add several episodes (or clips) and then sit back and watch them back to back without having to pull up each one separately.
Similar to Hulu, Joost features a variety of TV shows, including Adult Swim shows, How I Met Your Mother, and others. The site also features movies, and unique from Hulu, has a music section with collections of music videos by popular artists.
If there’s a specific show you like, try checking the network website. Many sites feature full streaming episodes. Some have all the episodes up all the time, other feature episodes for certain periods. Some places to check include ABC, NBC, TBS, Discover Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, VH1, & MTV.
Yes, even Youtube has full episodes of TV shows. These are usually lower quality and split up into chunks since they’re uploaded by users, but you’ll be surprised what you can find on there. I often watch Daria, The Soup, and MST3K on Youtube, and with the quicklist, I just put all the parts on there in order and it will automatically play each clip in order.
Though you can’t actually watch the episodes at Sidereel, it is the ultimate reference for finding TV (and movies) streaming online. Unless I know I can find a specific show on Hulu or Youtube, Sidereel is the first place I go to find online episodes. Just search for the show you’re interested in and you can find links to watch specific episodes online. Often there will be links to buy the episodes on iTunes or Amazon, but a lot of the time there will be links to other random sites to stream the videos.
