Ernie Adams Hand-Builds Tiny Dwarf Cars From Scrap
For a car to be considered desirable in the US, it seems that it needs to be big, mass-produced, and brand spanking new. Ernie Adams turns that sentiment on its head with his wildly popular "Dwarf Cars" - small racers and cruisers made from scrap. Growing up near a landfill in Harvard, Nebraska, Adams showed an early fascination with all things mechanical. Taking advantage of the vehicular Valhalla, he began to salvage scrap parts and turn them into motorized masterpieces. Most of the models are only about 46" high and are miniature replicas of American classics. Housed in a museum in Maricopa, Arizona, the wheeled wonders have spawned a whole sub-culture of builders.
When Ernie Adams was eleven years old he took on his first project – upgrading a bicycle with a motor and a dual exhaust system. After dropping motors into tricycles and wagons, he graduated to slightly larger machines. Showing a remarkable ability for fabrication at an early age, Adams took flat sheets of steel and transformed them into fenders, handles, and car frames. Crazy for customization, he built his own tools and loves to fabricate his cars pieces by piece.
Adams made his first two Dwarf Race Cars in 1979 and 1980. He was inspired to build the vehicles after he and his friend Daren Schmaltz attended motorcycle sidecar races in Phoenix. During the drive home, they discussed how the three-wheeled racers were slow to round the corners. By adding a fourth wheel, they figured that they could improve stability while also creating a new type of spectator appeal. The first models were fashioned after a ’33 Dodge coupe with a 73” wheelbase and a height of 46”. The cars were built completely from steel and they were light enough to be powered by motorcycle engines. The two finally hit the races in 1981 when they ran a couple of exhibition laps around a dirt go-cart track.
From race cars, Adams moved on to making replicas of old cruisers, such as his diminutive ’39 Chevy, and more whimsical creations like the ’29 Ford Hillbilly. There are currently seven Dwarf Cars housed in an Arizona museum, most of which can still be driven. While he no longer makes them, Adams hopes that between the efforts of his son and resourceful builders around the world, the dwarf car legacy will live on. As of 2009, 45 cars were registered for the Dwarf Car Races, showing that a lot of ingenuity and skill have the potential to create a movement that extends far from the seed of a simple idea.
Via Make
You Have To See This - The Most Beautiful Commercial Ever! I Am In Tears!
I can’t even begin to say how much I love this commercial. Eastern commercials are always so much better than the ones we see here; they usually turn me into a weepy mess. I love how the messages are so subtle, and sometimes have little to do with the product being advertised.
This one from dtac ranks up there with my favorites. What a beautiful reminder of how important it is to actually have face-to-face time with the ones we care about. This is definitely something we all need to hear again and again: “Technology cannot replace love!”
Please SHARE with all of the important people in your life!
Only in a #policestate would police shoot at people at a protest against police shooting people. #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/CtonQRUpZu
— Brandon W. Prather (@BrandonWPrather) August 14, 2014
No One Left Behind helps Afghan and Iraqi translators gain their U.S. Special Immigration Visas and ensures that they are properly resettled in America.
When our Afghan and Iraqi allies resettle in the US, they usually come with nothing more than the clothes on their back and whatever they can fit into one suitcase. We feel that given their profound service to our nation's military while at war, these interpreters deserve better than years of waiting on seldom delivered visas and almost no support in resettling in America.
We provide furnished apartments, modest financial support to help cover the weeks it can take before their social service benefits (food, medical, etc.) begin, and assistance with seeking employment. We also pair up newly arrived refugees with other Iraqis and Afghans who have successfully immigrated to the US -- to help smooth the transition.
Grocery store finds a way to sell misshapen produce instead of throwing it away
Instead of letting all the produce that doesn’t look ideal get tossed, this grocery chain found a way to market it…
Here Are the Best April Fools’ Day Prank Stories Circulating on the Internet (Internet Hoax)
It’s April Fools’ Day and — as tradition would have it — there are countless prank stories circulating on the web. We’ve complied the best ones here and will continue updating this list throughout the day.
#1. United States to Ban Meat Sales
Mercola, a website dedicated to sharing “the most up to date natural health information and resources with the public” posted a fake news alert titled, “United States to Ban Raw Meat Sales, Following Joint Agency Decision.”
Image source: Mercola.com
#2.) British Government to Ban Selfies
The U.K.’s Metro published a story reporting that “a new branch of the Department for Culture, Media & Sport has drafted proposals for a ban on selflies, which could come into force as early as the end of next year.”
Image source: Metro
#3.) Piers Morgan Appointed as Liberal Democrats Adviser
The Huffington Post published a story reporting that “Piers Morgan is to take up a media-consulting role for the Liberal Democrats of the next general election, according to a senior party figure.”
Image source: The Huffington Post
#4.) Founder of Atheist Shoes Finds God, Closes Shop
Atheist Shoes posted a fake blog post saying that after a “difficult decision” the shop would close after the founder had a “divine” experience.
He found god.
“It is deeply hypocritical for me to continue selling ATHEIST Shoes, to people whom I fear may be on the wrong side (through no fault of their own) of a divine will. And, so, ATHEIST Shoes will shortly discontinue its operations,” the post said.
“Life as an atheist was hard – the cynicism, the hedonism, the loneliness Always quick to humour and slow to love. Eager to argue and rationalise, but resistant to pure feeling. It is not something to promote or revel in. And, whilst we achieved something godly in the incredible comfort of our shoes (something of which I remain proud) I cannot, in good conscience, ever make an ATHEIST Shoe again,” it continued.
“So we are closing Atheist Shoes. But we still have a lot of stock to shift (unfortunately I am not yet in God’s Kingdom and I still owe some money on a scooter, whilst Tobin’s baby will need to eat while his father is job-hunting). So we are announcing a 20 euro discount, on all shoes, starting now,” the post concluded.
#5.) Polar Vortex Temperature Climate Aboard Virgin America?
Nest released a YouTube video announcing that they had teamed up with Virgin America “to reinvent the way people fly.” The video shows what they called “Total Temperature Control” which would allow flyers to choose between an interesting set of climates.
#6.) New River Gorge Bridge to Be Relocated
Ace Adventure Resort published a post aimed at whitewater adventurers notifying them that there is a “BIG change happening in the New River Gorge.”
“Due to the destruction of the West Virginia mudrat habitat, a protected and endangered species, the W.Va. Department of Thoroughfares and National Board of Parks have unveiled plans to move the New River Gorge Bridge, the most photographed landmark in West Virginia,” the post said.
Image source: New River Gorge Bridge
#7.) Sam Adams HeliYUM?
Samuel Adams unveiled a new beer infused with helium in their noble “pursuit of perfecting the flavor of Noble Hops.”
#8.) Watch Bacon Sizzle on Netflix
Well, this technically isn’t a fake news story, but we thought we’d include it on the list. Netflix isallowing users to watch two brand new originals. One called “Sizzling Bacon” shows, well, bacon sizzling. The other, called “Rotisserie Chicken” shows 73 minutes of rotisserie chickens roasting.
Image source: Time
#9.) Launch of the ‘Worry’ App
Author Seth Godin published a comical new blog post announcing “Snowden’s new project.” He said the two were talking and decided to invent the “very first technological solution that maximizes the benefit of mankind’s oldest task: anxiety.”
“The Worry app is a front end to a sophisticated, cloud-based trouble-recognition system. Using Bayesian probability as well as advanced Fourier transforms and Markoff chains, the backend of Worry will monitor and calculate what really matters—the things you can’t control that somehow are a better use of all the time you’re spending trying to change things merely by thinking and worrying about them. (I didn’t understand all of this at first either, but Snowden is pretty smart, and explained it to me),” the post said.
“Imagine taking everything the web knows about you, including the content of your web history, your emails, your reading habits and more… then integrating that with real-time video cameras and GPS tracking… then adding to that what your friends, rivals and colleagues are saying about you (not just in public, but behind your back),” it continued.
#10.) Dog Mauls Racing Sausage?
A Milwaukee news website published a fake news story reporting that at yesterday’s Brewers home opener, a racing sausage was mauled by “Hank the Dog.”
Image source: OnMilwaukee.com
Where the Forest Meets the Sea: Breathtaking Landscapes of Oregon (PHOTOS)
Oregon is the state that has a little bit of everything, from snowy mountaintops to verdant forests. And despite the seemingly endless rain and fog that keep the sky gray for much of the year, Oregon has managed to topple Washington, D.C. as the favorite location for people moving to new places in the U.S.
View More Photos Here: http://www.weather.com/travel/where-forest-meets-sea-breathtaking-landscapes-oregon-photos-20140213
Sea Glass Beaches Show Off 'Jewels' of the Ocean
Filled with colorful, frosted jelly-bean-like pieces of glass worn smooth by the tides, California's Glass Beach shows that one person's trash really can be another's treasure.
The beach was a dumping ground for decades beginning in the late 1940s, when residents of nearby Fort Bragg – located about 3 hours north of San Francisco – would throw their trash over the cliffs, everything from household garbage to kitchen appliances and old cars, as well as lots of glass.
Dumping was finally halted in the late 1960s and several cleanups followed. By the time the 38-acre beach was turned over to California's state parks system in the early 2000s, years of pounding surf had turned what were once jagged shards of glass into millions of rounded, polished jewels.
It can take anywhere from 10 to 30 years to make sea glass, the name for any piece of glass that finds its way to the ocean and tumbles around in the water long enough to frost and smooth its surface. The glass can come from anywhere – bottles, flasks, or even car windows, thrown into a dump or overboard from a boat.
Once it makes its way into the ocean, the glass is broken up into shards and tumbled around in the water, where sand and other rocks act like sandpaper to smooth out its rough edges. Salty seawater, especially water with a higher-than-average pH, also gives the glass a frosty, pitted sheen.
Back on the beach, sea glass can be found in common colors like green, brown and white, and inmuch rarer colors like amber, jade, pink, aqua, citron and purple – really any color in which glass is made. Those rare colors have made sea glass a collectors' item and inspired books and hobbyist websites (like Sea Glass Journal) that offer tips on where and how to find sea glass around the world.
At California's Glass Beach, locals say that before it became famous, the beach was covered in as much as a foot of sea glass so smooth that a person could walk along it with bare feet.
Today, you can still find sea glass in what's known officially as MacKerricher State Park – as well as the occasional rusted spark plug – but what is left is being rapidly depleted by tourists who collect pieces in plastic bags, buckets and even sometimes canisters as large as trash cans.
Budget cuts have limited the park system's ability to enforce laws against collecting sea glass, however, prompting park officials to try any and all avenues to spread the message that it should be enjoyed for its view and left alone.
"It has never been legal to remove the glass from Glass Beach since it became California State Park property," said Marilyn Murphy of the Mendocino Area State Parks, in an interview with MendocinoFun.com. "So much glass has already been taken that if it continues, there will be no more glass on Glass Beach."
But Fort Bragg isn't the only place you can find sea glass on the beach – it can also be found nearby on California's Benicia Glass Beach and in Bermuda, Canada, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.
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