🦠Ballpoint Pen with Parasite, Polluted Popsicles,and Exploding Cakes
you won't like these popsicles
Hey friends! Guess what . . .
Remember how I said I might be having that baby last Monday?
Well, we did! “as it was foretold” haha. I actually forgot that i put that in my newsletter until Kevin Kaduk reminded me. 😂
My son was born on Monday at around 11 PM, and he’s the cutest kid ever. 😀 It’s been a sleepless but sweet week. My wife is awesome!
Speaking of awesome, guess what’s coming back in May?
That’s right. Pepsi Blue is coming BACK.
The last time i drank this stuff I was like - 12 years old at a corn maze. Hopefully it tastes as good as it did then.
Well, without any further ado, let’s hop on in shall we?
🧫Ballpoint Pen with Parasite
This one takes the books for me. In fact, this might be the grossest and strangest thing I’ve covered in The Land of Random.
This pen comes with a live parasite.
yeah . . .
It looks as disturbing as it sounds.
Look at those floating wormies. Look at em’
I do fully agree with the top two comments though.
Who in the world thinks of this stuff? We should sell a pen with a real live parasite floating around.
Spooky over at Oddity Central did a little digging, and discovered a bit of information.
There’s not a lot of information on this bizarre pen online right now, but according to some Twitter users, it was thought up by entrepreneurs in Japan’s Kochi Prefecture, which apart from its agricultural development is also known for its fishing tradition. Apparently, the nematode swimming inside a small, transparent tank embedded in a fountain pen was considered a great selling point. For what, I couldn’t tell you.
So here’s what else we know about this truly bizarre souvenir. According to those who actually bought it, the nematode-containing pen sells for 950 yen ($8.70), which is about 1,000 yen more than I’d be willing pay for it. (Source)
Yeah, it’s really freaking weird.
Definitely an eye catcher. You’d never forget the brand that gave you a pen with a floating wormie!
Oof.
In all fairness, this would be a pen to cure anyone of their pen chewing habits . . . or pen using habits for that matter.
Read more about it at the link. There’s a video too if you need that . . . in your mind.
🧊Polluted Popsicles
Ok, so this one is a tad bit gross . . . but it’s cool.
Sometimes it requires different ideas to convey the importance of ecological stewardship.
We can say Reduce, Reuse, Recycle like a blithe mantra until the apocalypse - but the message will only reach so many people.
What about Polluted Popsicles?
Students Hung I-chen, Guo Yi-hui, and Cheng Yu-ti from the National Taiwan University of the Arts concocted a line of “frozen treats” titled Polluted Water Popsicles. The group collected polluted water from 100 locations in Taiwan, first freezing the collected sewage samples and then preserving their creations in polyester resin. (Source)
It’s one of the most interesting ideas that I've ever seen. Look at them - don’t they look inviting at first?
That beautiful packaging.
Then you open them and oh dear.
There’s floaties, trash, and all kinds of stuff.
It’s so cool, isn’t it? It draws attention to the pollution issues of 100 bodies of water in a way that actually hits home for people.
When you think popsicle - you think cold, delicious, treat.
However - for these ones - you think gross, horror, nasty - but mentally you were set up to like them - with the colorful packaging.
It’s an engaging project that makes you stop and think about pollution in a real and visceral way.
How about your nearby water sources? How do you think those popsicles would look?
Read more at the link!
🎂Exploding Cakes
Ever wanted to send a friend a cake with a little . . . pizazz?
Personally, I find most gift websites rather cliche - with the exception of one-time subscription boxes or that pinata site.
15 years ago sending some cool stuff via the net was top-notch. Those Edible Arrangements were the jam back in the day.
Now? People want “the experience” like prying open a man crate.
Well, what about a cake box that explodes with flying butterflies?
The Send a Cake website is reminiscent of ones like Edible Arrangements - bright colors - the constant sales process. Heck, the first thing you do is pick a delivery date to mentally cement the idea that you’re doing this.
Then there’s the upsells - By the time you’ve built one dope exploding box you’re at 40 - 60 bucks and that’s before shipping.
The explosion cake lends itself very well to YT videos - thus easy social proof.
This box in the video looks like it cost $70 or more - for example. (Candy +$10, Butterflies +$10, personalized photos $5 each).
This website has absolutely brilliant upsells. There’s no way people are just buying base products haha.
I do have to admit - i am slightly tempted to get one of these as a gift for someone at some point.
🐙The Land of Random
That’s right! Random links just for you.
Clarinet Industrial Music
I would gladly pay for an album of this
The Eternal Acid Banger
Desire some acid-inspired music to mix up your morning routine? This nifty machine will fulfill your fantasies for a few moments . . . or hours.
Scietific Data Mapping
This nifty tool lets you map articles in a cool visualization tree. It’s been years since I’ve maybe needed a tool like this buttttt I typed in “zombies” in the keyword search and found some interesting articles haha.
Super Mario 64
This one is pretty cool. You can play Super Mario 64 in your browser using your keyboard. It runs pretty smoothly too! Now i just need something that plays Syphon Filter . . . . oh - btw The Main site that hosts this is crazy too
Build a Windows 95 Style Site
Do you use Bootstrap? Well, if you do - check out this freeeee Windows 95 website theme. It’s pretty cool!
Coolest Website Ever
This has to be one of the neatest websites I’ve ever found. The 3D effects are amazing, and the music is fun too! Yes - it is a tad disorienting. 😂
Who will pet the cat?
In this hilarious website you compete against other countries to pet the cat. So far as I write this email, Germany is winning. The clever part is that you can buy clicks. 😂 Basically free money for the website owner.
TikToks You Can’t Miss
This is all parents with online games
The door has been shut in the most unsettling way
This is one of the most insane trickshots i have seen
I wish I had a pet seagull
Definitely giving this mask a double take
What’s going through this roosters mind?
I want some Crog juice? wat
Wellllll that’s all for this issue of The Land of Random! See you next week.