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Elvis Presley is remembered as the King of Rock and Roll, but did you know that he also starred in over 30 feature films? In fact, as a kid Elvis wanted to be an actor, not a singer. He worked as a cinema usher as a teenager, where he was introduced to actors such as Marlon Brando, James Dean and Tony Curtis.  In 1956, Elvis’s dreams of the silver screen came true when he debuted in Love Me Tender – a movie titled after his hit song of the same year. With the song’s sales hitting over a million dollars (for the first time in music history) and the movie raking in over $4.5 million, it was lucrative year for the King. However, Elvis’s film career wouldn’t always be so peachy. Although he desired to play more serious, dramatic roles in non-musical movies, Hollywood directors wanted to make the most of their star’s hybrid abilities. Movie after movie starring Elvis as a fictional entertainer was released, and while some, like Blue Hawaii, are still loved today, others were complete duds. In ’69 Elvis quit films altogether, disillusioned by unfulfilling roles and bad reviews. As much as Elvis came to resent his film career, this clip from 1960 shows just how excited and committed he was to acting in the early days. It comes from one of his most-loved films, G.I. Blues, a love story filled with some of Presley’s greatest hits. Interestingly, parts of the movie were filmed while Elvis was on location with the Army in Germany, with the rest shot upon his return to America. No matter how many times we’ve seen this scene, it always makes us smile.  Read more: http://www.wimp.com/elvis-presley-puppet-wooden-heart-gi-blues/

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Shakespeare might have written Hamlet over 400 years ago, but the play still resonates and is just as relevant today. As every aspiring actor or college English major can tell you, Hamlet’s soliloquy is the most quoted scene of the play. The soliloquy contains the ultra-famous line “To be or not to be, that is the question.” To honor the famous monologue, Owen Harvey put together this supercut of famous actors performing Shakespeare’s lines. The result is one soliloquy performed by 25 actors. Read more: http://www.wimp.com/hamlet-performed-by-25-actors/

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Mankind’s fascination with space is a curiosity that will never be fully satisfied. Since we first looked up and gazed upon the night sky, we have always wondered what’s out there. Theories have existed for centuries, but it is only within the last couple that we have truly begun to understand the workings of the universe around us. It is our curiosity of the stars that has driven us to launch countless satellites, probes, and telescopes into space. We even accomplished what many thought to be impossible, by having manned missions to the moon and constructing a space station. Even though we have come so far in our understanding of the final frontier, there is still so much more to learn and observe. With space travel and rocket development now open to corporations and businesses, interest in space exploration is accelerating. Companies like Blue Origin and SpaceX are already making history by successfully developing reusable rockets, and Virgin Galactic is developing suborbital spaceflights to kick-start the space tourism industry. The strides we have made in the past decade are incredible, and one can only imagine where we will be in just a few decades. Recently, NASA’s Kepler space telescope observed a cataclysmic natural phenomenon that occurred 1.2 billion light-years away – an exploding star. The information gathered from the telescope is hard to interpret, so NASA has used the data to develop a model of what it would look like if observed with our eyes. The video shows what experts call a “shock breakout,” which happens when the nuclear fusion process within a star is no longer sustainable. The destructive power of the resulting blast is truly a sight to behold. H/T: NASA Read more: http://www.wimp.com/exploding-star-nasa-time-lapse/

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Have you ever wondered what polar bears dream about? Maybe they dream of hunting seals in the wild, frozen wastelands, or possibly of wearing warm red scarves and drinking Coca-Cola. While we will probably never know the answer to that question until someone invents a Bear-English extension for Google Translate, one thing we can say definitively at this time is that whatever bear dreams may be, this polar bear sure looks cute as a button as she has some.  This polar bear cub comes from the Columbus Zoo in Ohio and is five weeks old. She weighs a little over four pounds and measures roughly 16 inches long, but that’s sure to change rapidly. The noise that she makes is definitely not something you’d expect out of a bear, but her handlers say that it’s the sound of contentment. At such a young age, her motor skills are still fairly undeveloped, which makes watching her roll around in her sleep all the more adorable. Read more: http://www.wimp.com/fluffy-baby-polar-bear-makes-cute-sleeping-sounds/

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For many girls, Barbies are just as much a part of growing up as any friend or family member. The doll goes everywhere the kid goes and the two can’t be separated no matter how hard the parents try. Barbie has had more of an impact on American fashion and beauty than many real-life models, that’s pretty good for a piece of plastic. Since the first doll in 1959, Barbies have looked pretty much the same. They always have white skin, blue eyes and blonde hair. Sure, her hair might be done up in a different way and her clothes might change, but Barbie’s size and shape has always been consistent. Until now.  The newest models of Barbie take the concept into a new age. There are now four totally different looking dolls that represent the style and grace Barbie is known for. This is done so that girls of all kind can relate to their dolls, not just the ones with blonde hair and blue eyes. The hope is that a new generation of girls will grow up with a wider concept of what beauty means. That way, every girl can call themselves beautiful and have a Barbie to back it up. Read more: http://www.wimp.com/evolution-of-barbie/

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Arnold Hernandez from Ventura County, California is the definition of a dedicated father. The single father of three daughters doesn’t have much to his name. He works multiple jobs and even collects and sells bottles and cans when he has to, all so he can give his children the essentials they need – food, water, shelter and endless amounts of love. The family lives all together in an 18-foot, single-wide trailer. Aaron ended up in this situation due to a messy divorce and at times, his 20-year-old stepson also lives with them in the tiny trailer. Every morning, the family takes turns using and changing in the standing-room-only bathroom. Each Wednesday, they head over to the Santa Paula church to receive a hot meal. While living may not always be easy for them, the one thing the whole family can rely on is their love for each other. Aaron’s daughters even secretly made him a dating profile on a free site where they described him as a “gentleman who needed someone to be strong for him.” Seeing this video, I’d say he’s pretty strong already. Read more: http://www.wimp.com/single-dad-raises-three-daughters-in-trailer/

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All across the country, drum and bugle corps are producing some of the most fun and creative musical performances around. With such a large group of talented performers, they’re able to create a rich sound and dazzle audiences with their intricate formations and powerful storytelling. Corps like the Cavaliers, who are featured in this video, brought drum and bugle corps into the public eye by helping found Drum Corps International. The organization puts on over 35 competitions annually, giving this unique art form a venue to wow audiences with their breathtaking spectacles.  Sometimes, though, it doesn’t have to be an elaborate display of coordination and movement to keep people engaged. In fact, a simple stunt can be just as surprising as some of the large-scale ones we’ve seen in the past. These drummers remind us that sometimes all you need to do to wow your audience is look at them a little differently. Read more: http://www.wimp.com/marching-band-upside-down-drumming/

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For most people, a trip to the salon means a short break from the hectic chores of everyday life. It’s a time allow yourself to be a little selfish and enjoy being pampered and taken care of. Usually, the only thing to be afraid of when going to a salon is getting a bad haircut, but in reality, it’s no big deal – hair always grows back. When Elizabeth Smith went to a salon in her hometown recently, she experienced a nightmare far worse than she ever thought possible.  Elizabeth visited Blowbunny Salon in San Francisco, and found herself being rushed out in an ambulance minutes later. She had suffered a stroke while having her hair shampooed, and doctors were rushing to save her life. When she was brought to the hospital, she underwent a CT scan and it was discovered that an artery in her brain had been severely damaged. Elizabeth’s family was confused as to what could possibly have caused her to have a stroke while getting her hair done, but once the doctors learned where Elizabeth was when she suffered the stroke, they knew exactly what happened.  Elizabeth suffered from what is unofficially known as the “Beauty Parlor Stroke.” This occurs when your neck is placed at an awkward angle at the shampoo sink, which can put a lot of stress on certain parts of your brain. It’s a very rare phenomenon, but still something everyone should be aware of when going to a salon. Elizabeth’s recovery took 8 months, but without the help of knowledgeable doctors, it could have been a lot worse.  H/T: CBS Los Angeles Read more: http://www.wimp.com/woman-suffers-stroke-after-getting-hair-shampooed-at-salon/

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There’s a lot of talk about pennies these days. Specifically, what should we do with them? They cost more in metals to manufacture than their face value gets you in the store, which is a big problem, economically speaking. It might seem crazy to get rid of the base unit of our currency, but did you know that we used to have a half-cent coin as well? It was minted for 65 years. We got rid of it because as inflation went up, it was simply not worth making them anymore. Sound familiar? Well, the penny is worth far less than the half-cent was when we ditched it. Adjusted for inflation, its buying power at the time we dropped that half-penny was equal to around 14 cents! So, clearly at some point in history, we got a little more sentimental over our currency. Or, less willing to do a little more math when buying things. What we don’t realize is, it’s actually less math! If we dropped the penny from circulation, it would mean that all prices would be divisible by 5 or 10, and you’d never see $199.97 at the register ever again. Most coin-accepting machines already do this and some restaurants have even started rounding bills down to the nearest 5 cents. Yes, you read that right, down. It turns out it’s cheaper to lose a few pennies on a sale than it is to pay someone to count them for you. So, if pennies are basically worthless as money, what do we do with all of the ones just sitting around our house? Well, they actually make for great decor! We’ve seen all kinds of penny-based projects but our favorite is a classic. ShabbyDIY breathes life into an old junk-store table by laying out a beautiful pattern of pennies before giving them a permanent home under a clear, epoxy resin. We think it’s a striking piece that fits literally anyone’s budget. Enjoy. Don’t forget to SHARE this fun DIY project with your friends and family! H/T: ShabbyDIY Read more: http://www.wimp.com/you-can-make-this-amazing-tabletop-for-wait-for-it-pennies/

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