You know us, you love us, you buy from us. But do you know how we got our name? We get asked "What does Vat19 mean?" quite often, so we thought we'd address answering this question in a fun and unique way. That's just how we roll.
Below is a video we made of one possible answer to this Burning Question, but we want to know what YOU think Vat19 means. How do YOU think we got our name? Post a video response to our YouTube video or send us an email with your story. You never know, we just might send out cool prizes or coupon codes to those who submit awesome stories, so get creative!
Have you ever watched the Jaywalking segment on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno? The people he finds seem to be the stupidest humans roaming the earth. They don't know anything about history or identifying political figures. Sitting at home on my couch, I always thought I was much more intelligent than these people...and then I tried to take the State Capitals Quiz.
I will admit there were state capitals that I could not recall from my grade school days. I could have sat around all day trying to remember the capital of South Dakota. Sounds pretty pathetic, but how well do you know your state capitals? Go ahead and give it a try. You have 60 seconds to fill in 10 state capitals.
If you get a high score, you can save your name to the Top Scores of All Time list or feel free to brag about your high score in the comments (or let us all get a laugh at how poorly you did). You can also put a nifty badge of completion on your blog, website, MySpace, or Facebook page.
A high score will earn you one of these two badges:
A low score will earn you this badge:
This State Capitals Quiz is part of a new section of Vat19 called BrainCandy. Here, you'll find all kinds of interesting trivia about topics such as inventions, math, words, science, and even boogers.
What makes it OK for some cartoon characters to be naked and not others? How come some animals don't have to wear pants but others do?
Clearly, cartoons aren't held to the same dressing standards as humans. That's fine, but I am curious about how a decision is made about which articles of clothing a character will and will not wear.
Both Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck have a significant piece of an outfit missing. Mickey Mouse wears shorts and gloves. He doesn't wear a shirt, but he's a guy so it's no big deal. However, Donald Duck wears a shirt and hat, but he doesn't wear any pants. Are mouse "parts" more vulgar than a duck's or something? It can't be based on sex because Daisy Duck also only wears a shirt and Minne Mouse wears a dress. Is it because duck butts are kind of cute and the animators wanted to show them off?
It can't be based on what type of animal the character is because Goofy is some sort of dog, and he wears a complete outfit, including a vest and hat. You can look to the Winnie the Pooh characters for more examples. Winnie the Pooh wears a little baby tee and Piglet wears a striped bodysuit, but Rabbit, Tigger, and Eeyore are naked.
Whether to be a naked cartoon or not isn't based on age either. Kanga (the mama kangaroo) doesn't wear any clothes. Roo (the little boy kangaroo) wears a shirt. You wouldn't want to cover up a kangaroo's pouch, but why give the little boy a shirt and not the adult mom? How backwards!
Even within the same type of animal, there are differences. Chip 'N Dale are totally naked, whereas Alvin, Simon, and Theodore are totally covered with long sleeve boy-dresses. Are Chip 'N Dale naked because their names can also refer to male strippers? There is a Chip 'N Dale movie where they are dressed in tuxedos like Chippendales. I haven't seen this movie, but maybe, just maybe, they are wearing clothing for once just so they can take it off. Oh Disney, you just might be the pervert people think you are.
There's tons of videos on YouTube about hidden messages in animated Disney movies, but here's a very short one that includes some of the most commonly talked about instances. If you prefer a video with actual movie clips and like "E-pro" by Beck, watch this one.
Obviously, not everyone can compete for the "cool" Guinness World Records like "World's Tallest Man", "Longest Fingernails", or "Oldest Male Stripper". Fortunately, the Guinness Book is a thick one, and there's plenty of room for lesser record-seekers like the ones below.
Most Tango Spins in One Minute - Tim Ferriss, the dashing, world-traveling author of the New York Times Bestseller, The Four Hour Work Week:
Sword-Swallowing a Jackhammer - I'm not sure how you wake up one day and decide that you need to swallow a jackhammer, but this guy pulls it off. Bonus points for the fact that he looks like he just stepped out of a bizarre RPG (that's role-playing game for those of you who don't speak geek).
And Fastest Accordion Playing - I'm not sure if this one's been made official, but I do love accordion music...
Ever wanted to set a record of your own? This video explains how you can do it:
