A prediction from 1965: kangaroo butlers. A prescient, peak oil aware alternative to those robots we were supposed to have by now? Via Paleofuture.

Another gem from the SkyMall catalog. Would they still be redneck if filled with artisinal tap water?

Spotted in Meiners Oaks, CA. One person’s creative solution to not having enough cargo space.

A neat idea: a public bookshelf made from logs in Berlin. Via Boing Boing.  

From HaFoSaFo.com, a Chevy S10 mobile swimming pool on the 4th of July in Los Angeles. Hope you are all staying as cool as these folks.

I found this old ad posted in Facebook.

Even the smallest back yard has room for a flock large enough to supply the house with eggs. The cost of maintaining such a flock is small. Table and kitchen waste provide much of the feed for the hens. They require little attention–only a few minutes a day.

An Interested child, old enough to take a little responsibility, can care for a few fowls as well as a grown person.

Every back yard in the United Sates should contribute its share to a bumper crop of poultry and eggs in 1918.

In time of Peace a Profitable Recreation
In time of War a Patriotic Duty

Spotted at the Institute for Figuring in Los Angeles, a piece from their Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef. About the process:

The inspiration for making crochet reef forms begins with the technique of “hyperbolic crochet” discovered in 1997 by Cornell University mathematician Dr. Daina Taimina. The Wertheim sisters adopted Dr Taimina’s techniques and elaborated upon them to develop a whole taxonomy of reef-life forms. Loopy “kelps”, fringed “anemones”, crenelated “sea slugs”, and curlicued “corals” have all been modeled with these methods. The basic process for making these forms is a simple pattern or algorithm, which on its own produces a mathematically pure shape, but by varying or mutating this algorithm, endless variations and permutations of shape and form can be produced.

And, yes, they have a how-to book if you’d like to try this on your own.

“It’s a bed. It’s a couch. It’s a multi-functional piece of furniture for laid back lifestyles. The HuddleCouch® offers new possiblilites for entertainment and comfort.”

Believe it or not this ad is dated 1994. And apparently you have to wear a suit to enjoy your HuddleCouch. But the formal attire doesn’t stop this couch from being, “the most fun you can have on a couch or a bed. It’s a way of life!” Indeed.