listicles

The Best Of The Bizarre

Hamilton Nolan · 04/22/08 11:35AM

The nether regions of the magazine world are truly a strange place. An upcoming book called Bad Mags is a collection of some of the most "strange, bizarre, and peripheral" magazines of the last 50 years—obscure fetish porn, occult titles, true crime, punks, horror, aliens, serial killers. Awesome. We've combed through hundreds of titles to bring you the ten weirdest, dirtiest, and/ or most intriguing magazine covers there are. They're all below—some are NSFW, but all are worthwhile.

Who Said A Novel Has To Be Novel?

rebecca · 04/18/08 01:17PM

A Page Six reporter has sold her debut novel to Simon & Schuster. Paula Froelich's Mercury in Retrograde centers on three New York women: a newspaper reporter named Penelope Mercury, who gets fired; a wealthy socialite fashion editor, Lena "Lipstick" Lippencraff, and a newlywed corporate lawyer Dana Gluck, who moves out on her husband when she discovers he's having an affair. Finally, some insight into New York women who have it at all, but still feel unfulfilled, by attractive female New York journalist. Except we've been there before, so many many times.

Fighters As Humans: 10 Portraits Of The Boxers Of Old

Hamilton Nolan · 04/14/08 11:31AM

Harry Winkler was an old-time boxing photographer who lived in California and spent most of the 1920s and 30s taking iconic photos of boxers. His collection is notable for capturing the humanity of professional fighters, picturing them less in the ring (though there is some of that) than in their everyday lives—on the rowing machine, at the ball game, shooting dice. For his full archive of thousands of photos, see here. We've selected ten of the best examples of his collection, which can be found after the jump.

Consumer Reports' Wondrous Tests Of The Past

Hamilton Nolan · 04/07/08 04:22PM

I once wrote a story about Consumer Reports that involved a field trip to the timeless, servicey magazine's headquarters and labs. They're an amazing sight, and certainly the most fun place to visit in Yonkers. They take their work very seriously. Testing washing machines, for example, involves counting individual strands of frayed string off test items that have been washed hundreds of times. Their audio testing lab is a free-floating, echo-proof room that looks like a Star Trek set. This is my anecdotal way of introducing the fact that Consumer Reports has posted a selection of its classic testing photos, and after the jump you can find the five most amusing—one for each decade from the 1930s to the 1970s. Back to the future!

Fake Vintage Ads: Viagra From The Past

Hamilton Nolan · 04/04/08 11:32AM

Everybody loves vintage ads, because they're all old and weird-looking with funny language and whatnot. The drawback is, you can never buy the products in them. Well now that problem has been solved! Spooftastic Photoshop wizardry website Worth1000 sponsored a contest for fake vintage ads of current products. In a servicey move, we've culled the entire list down to the five best: Girls Gone Wild, Jagermeister, cell phones, Viagra, and laser hair removal—in the old school style—after the jump.

Bullies Across America

Hamilton Nolan · 03/28/08 12:02PM

Are you being bullied at work? Who cares, as long as a media outlet can make a good listicle out of it! Forbes assembled an illustrated list of the "10 Signs You're Being Bullied At Work." It features a bunch of stock photos of people striking typical poses in typical office work environments (pictured). "We can condense and improve on that crap!" we thought, immediately sensing the opportunity to simultaneously rip off Forbes' idea and mock it in a shady philosophical tightrope act. Below, our photo-illustrated guide to the top five ways to know if you're being bullied at work. Because these days, the most bullied people don't work in offices, anyhow.

"The City of Superlatives"

Rebecca · 03/27/08 12:26PM

How awesome is New York? So awesome that it has 98 nicknames. Wow, that's so awesome! I don't know about you, but whenever I leave the city, I'm amazed at how fat and poorly dressed the rest of the country is, and I think to myself, I can't wait to be back in "The Greatest All-Year Round Vacation City." Or "The Modern Gomorrah." Or "The University of Telephony." Full list after the jump via The Big Apple. Add your own!

The Weirdest Sports Illustrated Covers Of 1978

Hamilton Nolan · 03/26/08 10:43AM

Sports Illustrated has put a huge gallery of its archived content online for free. The best part is the selection of old covers, from back in the grainy days of short shorts and wild hair. Some of the production meetings back then probably involved drugs. We've selected the five weirdest covers from 1978, a year we picked because SI put Clint Hurdle on the cover that year, and you have to admit that man has a fine name. Look at the covers below!

Your Balls, in Five Bullet Points

Rebecca · 03/25/08 12:55PM

CBS News has been running a lot unappetizing stories about sex lately. First it was "Things You Didn't Know About Your Penis" (or "Four Things I Already Knew About Your Penis And One That Grossed Me Out"). Then there was "Top 10 Reasons To Have Sex Tonight" (or "10 Terrible Reasons to Have Sex Tonight.") Instead of waiting for CBS to produce their inevitable list of factoids about testicles, we made our own. After the jump, five terribly important facts about balls.

10 Terrible Reasons to Have Sex Tonight

Rebecca · 03/24/08 04:18PM

Sex: it's one of the most popular activities to do when naked. People just seem to like it. If the TV is any indication, everyone really wants to have sex all the time. According to top scientists, if we don't have sex, our entire civilization could collapse! So CBS gives you their top ten reasons to have sex tonight. Don't wait until tomorrow. Sex must be had tonight! After the jump, ten of the worst pick-up lines ever.

Four Things I Already Knew About Your Penis And One That Grossed Me Out

Rebecca · 03/20/08 02:56PM

You know what people like reading about? Penises! Half the population has one and the other half wants to get up on one. (Like the mainstream media, I choose to ignore lesbians.) Knowing what a hit these little (or big) guys are, CBS has a rundown of five things you did not know about your penis. Like No. 1: "Your Penis Does Have a Mind of Its Own". In eighth grade Latin, this kid would have the most awkward erections while we waited in the hallway before class to start. Now I know that his sentient penis just enjoyed dead languages. More shockers after the jump!

The Five Most Obnoxious Grave-Dances By Spitzer Critics

Pareene · 03/12/08 06:14PM

Eliot Spitzer is dead and buried. He just promised to never involve himself in public life again, everyone in America knows he's been fucking prostitutes for a decade, we forced our apology from him and now we just hope he'll go way so we can meet our awesome new blind governor. But some people, people who never liked that Spitzer character, are so thrilled about this turn of events that they've become utterly insufferable. Spitzer is a fucking idiot and moral failure. But honestly, some of you are a bit too excited.

Internets, Gays, Celebrities: Three Things That Will Destroy Your Family This Valentine's Day

Pareene · 02/13/08 12:29PM

The American Family is Under Attack. Homosexuals, liberals, Europeans, celebrities, immigrants—all seek to undermine our nation's moral code. Marriage, parenthood, even chaste teenage courtship are embattled and probably doomed. Movies about children having children out of wedlock, gays trying to marry gays, and wife-stealing media moguls are just symptoms of a deeper moral rot in our culture. Here, we present to you, exclusively, three of the greatest dangers to your family unit that you are sure to face this February—and beyond!