When was the last time in your adult life that you thought "Oh no, I can't possibly finish this banana. I cannot waste it and I wish I had a protective clip that looked like a weird beak so I could save it for later". If you've actually had that exact thought, then I am in the wrong career and should be a psychic.

The Nana Saver is a little plastic cap/clip that keeps a half-eaten banana fresh. I can't vouch for how "fresh", seeing as I'm not cool enough to have tested the Nana Saver out. In my opinion, unless you are a small child, you should be able to finish off an entire banana in one sitting. I'm not trying to encourage people to eat more than they should, but come on, saving half of a banana? Ludicrous. You should have 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, according to the USDA Food Guide Pyramid, so eat up the rest of that banana.

Even funnier is that you have to make the decision ahead of time that you are only going to eat half of the banana since you have to leave the peel intact. Premeditated wussiness.

For those of you who enjoy eating bananas (whole bananas), may I recommend the Banana Bunker? There's no slicing or saving involved. It simply protects your banana wherever you decide you need to bring a banana along. If you don't eat the entire banana, don't even think about putting it back in the Banana Bunker, as its exposed end will certainly get brown and gross. The Banana Bunker is not suited for those who can't handle a banana in its entirety.

As you can see, the Banana Bunker has a very mature style. (Oh please, like you didn't already think something dirty about its ribbing and the word "banana".)

Obviously, the Banana Bunker is much cooler than the Nana Saver and also serves a better function. Plus, the Nana Saver folks didn't make a video of someone playing the drums with bananas while wearing a Viking helmet now did they?

Few activities are as enjoyable and deeply satisfying as a meal with an entertaining dinner companion. Even the worst food be ignored if the conversation is good enough, and I'm pretty sure the people below could make me overlook dog food as a main course.

10. Vlad Dracula, aka Vlad the Impaler - Aside from being the reputed inspiration for Count Dracula, Vlad was known for being a less than hospitable dinner host. He's said to have been directly responsible for the deaths of 40,000-100,000 mostly innocent people, which is quite a feat when you consider that he lived in a time where you had to do those things by hand (or stake, or boiling, or by nailing hats to their heads...). Just don't complain to him about the food.

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9. Michael Jackson - Hollywood has created a lot of stars who make you wonder where things went wrong, but few are as eccentric as The King of Pop. The Moonwalk, the one glove trend, the private zoo and amusement park... the child molestation charges. Oh, and his nose fell off. On second thought, it might be difficult to eat across from that...

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According to the Salt Institute, there are nearly 14,000 documented uses for salt. Personally, I was just tickled at the fact that something called the "Salt Institute" actually exists. The idea that it might have compiled a list of over 10,000 ways to use salt was just mind-boggling.

If you want to check out a fairly detailed list, you can visit the Salt Institute's page on consumer uses of salt. Their page was fairly long and the colors made it a little unpleasant to read, though, so I've posted some of the highlights here:


Testing egg freshness - Place the egg in a cup of water to which two teaspoonfuls of salt have been added. A fresh egg sinks; a doubter will float.

Cleaning stained cups - Rubbing with salt will remove stubborn tea or coffee stains from cups.

Reducing eye puffiness - Mix one teaspoon of salt in a pint of hot water and apply pads soaked in the solution on the puffy areas.

Removing dry skin - After bathing and while still wet give yourself a massage with dry salt. It removes dead skin particles and aids the circulation. Note: This is so much better than buying a Ped Egg.

Drip-proofing candles - Soak new candles in a strong salt solution for a few hours, then dry them well. When burned they will not drip.

I have seen my fair share of crazy piercings and strategically placed tattoos, but this is a whole new level of body modification. The Eyeball Piercing.

Imagine having something in your eye that you can't get out. Now, imagine that all the time. That is how I envision life with an eyeball piercing. It's not normal, it's not right. I can barely stand getting a cat hair in my eye, let alone inflicting this sort of pain on myself.

So when I saw this, I began to wonder... how do you go about getting an eyeball piercing? Apparently, you need to insert a 0.13 inch wide piece of special jewelry, like the heart in the picture above, into the eye's mucous membrane. Oh, and all the anesthesia and cutting and junk.

I've never seen anyone with this type of eye-wear in person, but if I did, I'd have to admit I'd freak out a bit. Okay, ALOT. Gross.

Let me just tell you that I will not be in line to get this done. I enjoy my vision, and plan to keep my eyeballs just the way they are thank you.

Although I spent just a few hours with my predecessor here at Vat19.com, I'm pretty sure that he and I wouldn't have gotten along.

It's not that he wasn't a nice guy. He was both enthusiastic and polite, rare qualities in someone who's preparing you to take on his job. It's not even like he looked at me funny or unknowingly insulted something I like. In fact, I didn't even realize my dislike for him until a couple of weeks after his departure.

One afternoon, though, as I was searching through a pile of his old faxes, I realized that he and I never would have gotten along. He consistently stapled his pages at the very edge of the paper.

That flagrant disregard for the permanence of the paper-to-paper union was enough to counteract everything else I knew of him. In an instant, I decided that he was unreliable, careless, and generally unlikeable.

I'm not the only one with these silly issues, either. A friend of mine refuses to go out with any man who owns a plastic watch. It doesn't matter if he's an outdoorsy sort who uses it while mountain-climbing and deep sea diving; she's out the door the moment she finds out.

Even my parrot has an irrational hatred - phones. The size, shape, and style are unimportant. If it's a phone, or if you're a person carrying a phone, she attacks.

A brief survey around the Vat19 offices revealed that pretty much everyone has at least one strong, irrational hatred:

• People who wear braided belts
• People who wear pantyhose with open-toe shoes
• Creative I-dotters (Though I must confess to agreeing with this one. Why are they wasting so much effort on circles, stars, and hearts? The collective wasted efforts of the creative i-dotters could have cured world hunger by now).
• People with ribbon magnets on their cars
• People named Holly.


Do you have any completely irrational beliefs? Would you switch jobs to avoid working with a guy who has salt and pepper hair? Would you duck behind doorways to avoid making conversation with a co-worker who drives a Volkswagen? Leave your irrational dislikes in the comments.

If I gave you a list of product names, without photos or descriptions, would you be able to correctly determine which ones are children's toys and which ones are sex toys?

Let's find out:

• Wet Head


• Hot Spot


• Wizard Stick


• Little Taps


• Round Beaver


• Screaming Octopus


• Wormie


• Rev 'N Ride


• Red Hot Idol Costume


• Kitty In My Pocket

Continue below to see the answers.

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/voteprime/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/thevoicewithin/

Have you ever walked into a store and noticed a sign that says "No Heelys"? The fact that stores even have to put up signs for this is ridiculous. Kids need to stop shoe-skating around in public places where it isn't appropriate because it is really annoying for everyone else.

I've seen kids slam into racks of clothing, fall because they don't know how to use their "cool" shoes, and run into other shoppers or pedestrians. I'm cool with kids having and using Heelys, but their parents need to teach them when they can and cannot use them. If they can't follow those rules, then bye-bye Heelys. Furthermore, kids that are so immature that they are "skating" around the mall shouldn't be unattended at the mall to begin with.

The other day I saw a sign next to an escalator warning people to use caution when wearing Crocs sandals. Are you joking? How many feet have been mutilated by an escalator to warrant a sign like this? How stupid are people? The fact that this particular brand and style of shoe was singled out is pretty crazy. Then again, the amount of kids (ugh, and adults) that I've seen wearing Crocs is huge so it's no wonder something stupid happened to someone.

What makes parents think that a chunk of whole-punched plastic is appropriate daily footwear for a child? Kids are always running around and climbing, and I wouldn't think these are the safest choice. Playing at the beach or a place where you'll want to hose them off - fine. Running around - you're asking for a fall and a possible injury. Those things don't even stay on feet securely, they start to smell despite the ventilation, and they are clunky and pretty ugly.

Crocs are everywhere. They are even sold in Hallmark stores. Why does a card/stationary/gift store sell shoes?

I know kids like things that are colorful, but I'm getting sick of seeing all those little charms that fit in the holes of the Crocs. But, I'll give that a break since I'm from the generation that drilled holes in dice to put them on the strings of our Adidas jackets.

Adults who wear Crocs is a whole other issue. Unless you have a job where your shoes are likely to get gross and need to be washed frequently, then you probably shouldn't be wearing bright, plastic clogs. I just don't get the fascination with them. What's wrong with a pair of flip flops? Are they worried they'll stub a toe? Are these things that comfortable that they'll disregard the hideous style?

The other day I was searching the internet for new, stylish glasses when I stumbled upon this contraption. Now I have seen some strange things in my day, but this is by far the most ridiculous "invention" I have ever seen. These pierced eyeglasses, invented by James Sooy and Oliver Gibson, make me wonder who would actually think THIS is a good idea?



For a quick how-to when making your own pair, (And yes, they're serious) first you need to pierce the upper bridge of your nose with a threaded barbell. Then, get L-shaped metal pieces made so that they can screw onto the barbell. Last, attach rare earth magnets to the glasses to keep them connected to the brackets.

And there you have it folks. I don't know about you, but I'm all about getting a hole drilled into my face to look cool. Sounds pleasant, doesn't it?

Since the dawn of time, there has been a great debate looming among all living beings: Who's cooler, dinosaurs or dragons? For the answer, you needn't look any further than cartoons.

The Dragons:

Maleficent - She is big, ugly, mean, and breathes fire. But, she's kind of cool since she's such a bad ass. When it comes to Disney, even the villains are popular.

Figment - If you haven't visited Journey into Imagination at Epcot, you are missing out. He's a little weird looking and his theme song will get stuck in your head like crazy, but he can fly and he gets away with interrupting all the time. When you're 6, it's cool.

Nearly everyone has encountered at least one cloud that looked like something entirely different. Bears, kittens, and bunnies are common, but what about the less conventional clouds...

Toilet Cloud: This cloud looks exactly like a toilet as seen mid-flush. The real question, then, is whether or not the clouds flush in the same direction in both the northern and southern hemispheres.

The Van Halen Cloud: The photographer, Dave Coustick, says it's an eagle, but I'm seeing Van Halen.

Spartan Cloud - In this case, the photographer (Flaminia Grubacki) saw this cloud as a person running away from something. Why not running to something? I don't know. Maybe she's just a glass-half-empty kind of woman. Either way, I thought it looked like a Spartan warrior.

Macedonian Architectural Mosaic Cloud - Credit for the original cloud picture goes to Bruce Burkman. I'll agree that they look like waves, but instead of looking like real waves, they actually look more like the wave portrayals of ancient mosaics in places like Pella and Pompeii.

Jabba the Cloud - This cloud picture by Allison Summey looks an awful lot like an angry Jabba the Hutt.

The Star Trek Cloud - Some people may say this cloud looks like a boomerang, but those people just haven't spent enough time watching Star Trek re-runs. It's very clear that this cloud is a Starfleet emblem.

And because a post on clouds just wouldn't be complete without it, here's Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now".