Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 167
December 25, 2020
December 24, 2020
December 23, 2020
An Alex Trebek Portrait Worth A Thousand Cubes
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
For 36 years and more than 8,200 episodes, Alex Trebek became a regular feature of our lives as the host of Jeopardy! A fixture of our homes five nights a week, Trebek’s witty and debonaire personality represented a reassuring and consistent presence. With his passing on November 8th, a rich chapter in American pop culture history came to an end.
On December 25th, 2020, the last episode of Jeopardy! hosted by Trebek will air. To commemorate this event and his incredible legacy, Ripley’s recently acquired an eclectic and imaginative portrait of everyone’s favorite gameshow host created using nothing more than mini Rubik’s Cubes!
Who are the artists behind this stunning portrait, and how did they get started? We chatted with Phillip Pollack and Jennifer Loeb, the creatives behind NiceCubeArt, to discuss the inspiration behind their Alex Trebek portrait worth a thousand cubes.
What first gave you the idea for Rubik’s Cubes artwork?
Phillip: When I was a kid, every year, my family would drive 19 hours straight from New York to Florida. Without much to do during these long road trips, I determined to solve a Rubik’s Cube. Once I finally figured it out, I was hooked. This got me accustomed to solving them in general.
But it wasn’t until COVID-19 and lockdown that Jennifer and I were looking for ways to entertain ourselves. Jennifer had gotten a gift certificate for eBay and asked if I wanted anything. I suggested a few cubes, and she graciously obliged. We started small, making simple smiley faces and small portraits.
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Then, unbeknownst to Jen, I ordered 1,000 mini cubes to the apartment, and we started taking our experimentation more seriously. Although we don’t have any professional artistic experience, we realized that people were really interested in the results.
Wow! What did you think about the delivery of 1,000 mini Rubik’s Cubes, Jennifer?
Jennifer: The fact they’re mini cubes makes me feel better. I joke that if we start going with the full-size version, we’re going to need to move into a house.
How do you, as co-creators, split up the work that goes into each portrait?
Phillip: We’re a pretty good tag team. At the beginning of a new project, I spend a lot of time deciding on the best design. The hardest part is figuring out how we’re going to develop a three-dimensional portrait using only six colors. Then, Jen will come in. She has the better artistic eye, and she provides feedback. She helps me refine the design and tells me where to add more colors.
Jennifer: It’s the Jen seal of approval!
Phillip: That’s right. Once we feel comfortable with the design, we know how we want to solve each cube.
Do you work solely in mini cubes, or have you made any standard-sized cube art?
Phillip: Currently, we’ve only done mini cube art. It would be easier to use the bigger ones from a solving perspective, but then there’s living in a small apartment in New York.
Jennifer: The mini Rubik’s Cubes provide us with the perfect amount of detail while remaining accessible. Otherwise, each piece would need a gallery-sized wall to hold a single image. But with the minis, we can create a detailed portrait that fits on a standard wall. That way, everyone has access to our work.
Phillip: Each piece contains, on average, 800 to 1,200 solved mini cubes. That’s a lot of Rubik’s Cubes, from both a size and weight perspective. For example, our Alex Trebek portrait contains 980 cubes and weighs 50 lbs. Anything more than that would get unwieldy for shipping.
How long does it take to complete a finished piece?
Phillip: We’ve definitely gotten better since we started. For the Trebek piece, we solved the cubes in a weekend. All weekend, that is. It probably took between eight and nine hours of just solving. But the initial design process usually takes the most time. We spend between one and three weeks on the design process.
After we’ve solved all the cubes, we put them on the floor, completing the portrait. Then, we make it permanent by inverting every single cube to attach a frame to the back. We have to be very careful as we turn the cubes over, placing them on the right edge. Because the frame makes it permanent. We can’t rearrange the cubes once framed, so we usually spend two days on this step, depending on the work’s size. If we get anything wrong, it ruins the 3D effect.
How did you two find each other? After all, solving thousands of Rubik’s Cubes each month isn’t everybody’s idea of a party.
Phillip: I’m one lucky guy!
Jennifer: And I’m one lucky girl, too!
Phillip: We got engaged in July, and, of course, part of the proposal needed to involve what we do together, the Rubik’s Cubes. But I didn’t want it to be super cheesy or totally over the top—like a massive Rubik’s Cube portrait of Jen staring back at her. So, when I proposed, I set up clues about how we met and our dating history. Each envelope had the design of one cube on it, and when she put the ten cubes together, it spelled out my message.
From Ryan Reynolds to Chrissy Teigan, Jimmy Fallon to Jennifer Lawrence, you’ve depicted many celebrities. You’ve also completed tributes to Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Alex Trebek. Can you comment on the significance of these images?
Phillip: With the Ruth Bader Ginsberg portrait, we wanted to honor and pay tribute to her impressive impact and outstanding achievements. We tried to do the same with our Alex Trebek piece in terms of his wittiness, charm, and kindness. Throughout his life and career, he had a tremendous impact on almost everyone’s households growing up. With these tribute pieces, we wanted to create something people felt connected to.
Interested in learning more about NiceCubeArt? Visit their website at www.nicecubeart.com or find them on Instagram and TikTok @NiceCubeArt. And don’t forget to check out their stunning portrait of Alex Trebek coming soon to Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Gatlinburg Odditorium!
By Engrid Barnett, contributor for Ripleys.com
EXPLORE THE ODD IN PERSON!
Discover hundreds of strange and unusual artifacts and get hands-on with unbelievable interactives when you visit a Ripley’s Odditorium!
December 22, 2020
The Norse Origins Of Santa’s Milk And Cookies
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
As the holiday season approaches, those who celebrate Christmas have a lot of fascinating and unbelievable tales about jolly old Santa Claus to ruminate on. Was the image of the garish red-with-white-trim outfit created by Coca-Cola, for their iconic commercials? Spoiler alert: it was not. Saint Nick’s benevolent reputation may be a little suspect, too, when it comes to the truth about the company he’s said to have kept.
The fearsome legends of the Krampus, the switch-wielding Belsnickel, and the Perchta “Christmas witch” are all shocking enough, but just wait until you hear about the incredible origins of one of the most wholesome holiday traditions of all: leaving out milk and cookies for Santa and his reindeer on Christmas Eve. Believe It or Not!, this little ritual has its roots in Norse Mythology!
Milk, Cookies, and… The Great Depression?
The milk and cookies are often seen today as a reciprocal gift of thanks to welcome Santa into the home. This is also believed by some to be the reason for the original hanging of stockings, which may have been pre-filled with gifts for Father Christmas himself, rather than the other way around. Prioritizing giving gifts over receiving them is the essence of the holiday spirit, a concept that parents have tried to instill in their children for many years.
While the acts as we know them today became widespread during the Great Depression, a time of terrible hardship when community spirit mattered the most, they date back much further. The giving of milk and cookies, or the equivalent of such, is said to have its origins not in gifts to Santa’s reindeer, but to the horse of the Norse god Odin!
Santa and His Reindeer or Odin and His Horse?
Odin himself is a fascinating case study. The legends report that he gave the first members of the human race their life and souls, their very essence, and so became known as the All-Father. Originally known as Woden, a corruption of his name is believed to be the origins of the word Wednesday (Woden’s day). Needless to say, one of the most esteemed deities of the Norse people deserved a steed worthy of his status, and so the mighty eight-legged Sleipnir was born!
“Odin and Sleipnir” (1911) by John Bauer.
Sleipnir, the tales say, was born to Loki after he transformed himself into a female horse (as one does). From then on, the formidable steed, Sleipnir, was Odin’s loyal companion, which he often rode into battle in the legends. In addition, during the Midwinter Solstice celebrations of Jul, or Yule, families hoped that Odin and his horse would pay them a visit of a more peaceful kind. How did they try to tempt him to favor their homes? With offerings of food and drink, of course!
Unbelievable Christmas Stories
Over the years, many different guises of Saint Nick, Santa Claus, and Father Christmas have cropped up, but they seem to be defined by their magnificent beards. Whether the All-Father became Father Christmas or not is hard to say today, but there’s surely a lot of overlap in these traditional images. In some Scandinavian countries, it’s still believed that Santa’s sleigh is pulled by horses instead of reindeer, though the traditional gift of carrots or hay left for the tired animals remains unchanged either way.
This Winter holiday has been celebrated for centuries, by different peoples for different reasons. The fascinating thing is how many of the traditional celebrations seem to overlap. Another Scandinavian rite, still practiced today, is using goats made of straw, known as julbock, as part of a family’s holiday decorations. This is said to be a lingering reference to Thor and the two goats, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr, that allowed him passage across his domain by steering his carriage. Or, perhaps, his sleigh?
One thing’s for sure: this beloved holiday has not only one unbelievable origin story, but several of them all wrapped up in a pretty package with a bow on top.
By Chris Littlechild, contributor for Ripleys.com
December 21, 2020
The Privileged And Exploited Story Behind ‘A Christmas Carol’
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
A Christmas Carol is one of Charles Dickens’ most iconic works. The novella celebrates its 177th anniversary this year, but it remains as popular today as it was in Victorian England.
This familiar tale of an old miser who learns the error of his ways—with a little help from the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet To Come—is seen by many to be a heart-warming story that encapsulates the spirit of the holiday season. This is no twee holiday movie, though: Dickens’ A Christmas Carol in Prose: Being a Ghost Story of Christmas was actually written to make the author’s views on the sorry state of Victorian society more palatable to his audience!
The Victorian Working World
Victorian society was, infamously, rife with problems. The rich ensured they stayed rich at the cost of the downtrodden poor. Women were expected to maintain an image of demure modesty and respectability—hence the super impractical heavy dresses that required a nifty ‘skirt lifter’ gadget to allow them to actually move freely. And children…well, children were expected to get their hands dirty as part of the workforce almost as soon as their legs could carry them. In fact, until August 1842, it was perfectly legal for women and children under ten years old to toil in British coal mines!
Charles Dickens in 1842, the year before the publication of A Christmas Carol By Francis Alexander (1800-1880)
Money was so tight for the average working family in Britain that, often, entire families would work long days in the mines, simply to be able to afford food. Children would begin mining work at around the age of eight, though it wasn’t uncommon for those years younger to do so as well!
Today, as in his own time, Charles Dickens is best known as a writer and novelist. However, he was also a passionate advocate for social change. He abhorred the concept of public criminal executions, using his platform and influence to speak out against them.
Dickens Calls For Change
On November 13, 1849, he attended the execution of the Mannings, a husband, and wife who had murdered a wealthy friend of theirs. “I believe that a sight so inconceivably awful as the wickedness and levity of the immense crowd collected at that execution this morning could be imagined by no man,” he wrote to The Times, adding, “the horrors of the gibbet and of the crime which brought the wretched murderers to it faded in my mind before the atrocious bearing, looks, and language of the assembled spectators.”
Finally, in May 1868, the public execution of criminals convicted of murder was ended in the United Kingdom, partly thanks to the efforts of Dickens and other high-profile personalities. It’s no surprise, then, that this socially aware author strove to rail against injustice within many of his most popular works.
The beloved Oliver Twist speaks volumes about the treatment of children in Dickens’ contemporary world, while A Christmas Carol is so heavy with this message that the author originally intended to publish these same thoughts as a pamphlet entitled An Appeal to the People of England on Behalf of the Poor Man’s Child!
The concept came about in 1843. The acclaimed author had read a report from an acquaintance, in which various child workers detailed their plight. Industry was rapidly changing and expanding in Dickens’ time, as was the population of England. As a result, he read, children were working absurdly long days: sewing, pulling carts, and other monotonous activities for 11-16 hours a day for meager pay!
While Dickens later attained fame and fortune, he could certainly empathize with the fate of these children and their families. He, too, had toiled in factories as a youngster. His father had been a pay clerk in the navy, who was taken to debtor’s prison. To survive, Dickens spent much of his childhood working in a shoe polish factory!
The Moral Of The Story
It’s for this reason, then, that Dickens had the unique perspective of both the privileged and the exploited. In the Victorian era, poor workers had little choice but to accept the awful conditions, wages, and work hours they were dealt. If they complained, they could often be simply cast aside and replaced. What they needed were bosses who understood, who cared, who treated them with the respect they deserved.
In telling the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, Dickens paints a fascinating picture: here’s a business tycoon as heartless, greedy, and money-motivated as any other. Scrooge is not beyond salvation, though, as his eyes are opened to his cruel treatment of his workers and the impact it has had, not only on them but on himself.
A Christmas Carol is a poignant and scathing attack on societal injustice, wrapped up in a bleak yet charming tale for the holiday season. It’s a story that has been told over and over again (even by The Muppets), but perhaps the most telling thing of all is just how many of its core principles still ring true today.
By Chris Littlechild, contributor for Ripleys.com
EXPLORE THE ODD IN PERSON!
Discover hundreds of strange and unusual artifacts and get hands-on with unbelievable interactives when you visit a Ripley’s Odditorium!
Source: The Privileged And Exploited Story Behind ‘A Christmas Carol’
December 20, 2020
December 19, 2020
December 18, 2020
World’s Largest Iceberg Set to Collide with Antarctic Wildlife Sanctuary
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
[December 14–December 20, 2020] Singing porta-potties, a nixed nativity, and plucky predators—all round up in this week’s weird news from Ripley’s Believe It or Not!
Singing Porta-Potties Light Up Faces for Holidays
Indiana portable toilet company, Service Sanitation, brought holiday cheer to the masses this week with a video of 32 lit-up porta-potties “singing” the Christmas classic, “Hallelujah.”
The company posted the video on their Facebook this week declaring the “Jingle Johns” the world record winners for the “most animated faces on a single holiday light display.” It may not be an official record, but the company may be the first-ever to attempt this specific accomplishment.
What we do know is that it’s been a while since “12 Days of Christmas” was revamped, and we’d like to lodge an official request to add “32 toilets singing” to the list of things we’d like from our true love.
Vatican Nativity Scene is Astro-Not Hit
The Vatican has launched its annual Nativity scene, and the internet is not impressed.
It turns out the decision to feature an astronaut and a statue resembling Darth Vader in a depiction of Jesus’ birth was not the beacon of hope much of the Catholic community was looking for this time around.
The Vatican has a long history of crafting the nativity around a different theme each year, showcasing art donated by Italian artists. The themes typically revolve around a current event or virtue, with past scenes depicting a broken boat representing the struggle of refugees and themed around charity, mercy, and the meaning of Christmas.
This year’s controversial scene is from a collection of ceramics created by students and teachers in Castelli, Italy, between 1965 and 1975. It was chosen to celebrate the Abruzzo region’s history, known for ceramics, with the astronaut representing the moon landings of that era.
With that being said, the public is having a hard time relating to the futuristic theme. The installation has garnished criticism from social media users worldwide, ranging from outright disgust to comical observations.
Vatican nativity scene gets earthly thumbs down: A futuristic ceramic crèche – which includes an astronaut and a character reminiscent of Darth Vader from Star Wars – has received so many terrible reviews https://t.co/0521Kegpq9 pic.twitter.com/KqUIAJvpBX
— Reuters (@Reuters) December 15, 2020
No matter which side you’re on, there’s no denying the display is a bit weird, which is perfectly on-brand for 2020.
Dog Saved from Surge of Australian Sea Foam
A Byron Bay woman was sent into every pet owner’s nightmare when a sea of foam attempted to swallow her dog whole on the Australian beach.
Video taken by the local 7 News team shows the dog’s owner making her way through brown bubbles up to her chest, desperately calling for her beloved pup, Hazel.
Hazel emerged from the murky abyss shortly after and was immediately snatched up by her mom and safely removed from the dramatic scene.
Rescue of dog from sea foam in Australia pic.twitter.com/s0UjgIpJZQ
— The National (@TheNationalNews) December 16, 2020
The foam appeared after a massive storm pummeled Australia’s eastern coastline, causing waves that turned the water’s contents into thick, foamy bubbles, causing the area’s beaches to all but disappear.
First Feathered Dinosaur Found in Southern Hemisphere
An online report posted on “Cretaceous Research” this week describes the discovery of a 110 million-year-old fossil found in the Crato Formation in northeastern Brazil, marking the first established existence of a feathered dinosaur in the Southern Hemisphere.
After its initial discovery by local quarrymen in the early 1990s, the study co-authors, geoscientist Eberhard Frey and paleontologist David Martill, requested to export the fossil to the State Museum of Natural History Karlsruhe in Germany, where they have studied it since.
The Ubirajara jubatus—which loosely translates to “maned lord of the spear”—is about the size of a chicken with a fuzzy mane and streamer-like shoulder feathers, which were likely used to attract mates and keep rivals away. According to Martill, “when birds have these sorts of feathers, they do all sorts of posh dances and displays, so this dinosaur looks like it was a little showoff.”
Its name means “lord of the spear,” even if this illustration looks a bit more “lord of the dance.” https://t.co/5yRfYUXx9Y
— Science News (@ScienceNews) December 15, 2020
Though it has been long assumed that many dinosaurs from the Southern Hemisphere’s supercontinent of Gondwana bore feathers, this fossil is the first to show concrete evidence of their existence.
Max Langer—a Brazilian paleontologist not connected to this research—expressed dismay that the fossil has been researched outside of the country, as it is “part of the Brazilian paleontological heritage.” He also noted that the fossilization in the Crato Formation area as “pristine” and said it was “only a matter of time until a feathered dinosaur” was discovered there.
World’s Largest Iceberg Set to Collide with Antarctic Wildlife Sanctuary
British researchers are preparing to study the aftermath of the world’s largest iceberg colliding with an island of Antarctic wildlife in a matter of days!
The A68 iceberg is rapidly approaching the island of South Georgia, which is home to penguins, seals, and endangered blue whales. A direct hit by the iceberg, which covers about 2,000 square miles and is 95 miles long and 30 miles wide at one point, could cause mass animal starvation for the island’s inhabitants by blocking their feeding routes.
Further ecological damage can only be studied at sea, prompting the British Antarctic Survey to ship two 5-foot submersible robots to investigate. The robots will spend four months collecting data on the collision after-effects, including changes in the environment such as a trillion-tons of freshwater entering an ecosystem reliant on saltwater.
Having broken off from the Larsen C ice shelf in 2017, the iceberg has spent the past three years slowly making its way north until a current expedited its path this year, sending it to the Southern Atlantic Ocean.
A68-A Iceberg in February 2020 || Photo by European Space Agency
By Meghan Yani, contributor for Ripleys.com
Source: World’s Largest Iceberg Set to Collide with Antarctic Wildlife Sanctuary
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