The teen girls were suntanning when they fell asleep. The driver stopped at a corner, but ran over the girls when he took the turn and didn’t notice the girls on the ground. Needless to say, a scream alerted him of their presence. Things got worse when he realized one of the girls on the road was his cousin. The ambulance were called, and the girls were then airlifted to a Pittsburgh hospital where they, fortunately, are out of life-threatening danger, so we can point and laugh at them without feeling bad.

Check out this news report from WTAE who covered this bizarre accident.

Let that be a lesson to you: don’t lie in the road. Although why anybody needed to be taught that lesson is completely beyond us.
[Via Gawker]

Source: TheFW.com

And if that wasn’t heartwarming enough for you, here’s video montage of dogs welcoming their owners home from deployment.

[Via Viral Viral Viral]

Source: TheFW.com

YouTube

Tim Tebow is known for his on-the-field displays of religious faith. But on Sunday, the New York Jets quarterback spread the gospel in a more traditional manner, addressing the crowd at an outdoor Easter service in Georgetown, TX.

Over 15,000 showed up for the event, with Tebow as the main draw. He told the gathering that he believes it is important to be outspoken about your faith, and that he thinks athletes should try to be better role models. He also addressed “Tebowing,” the viral photo meme that found people adopting Tim’s signature kneeling pose in random places.

The 24-year old is fond of the meme because it gets people talking about his strong religious beliefs.

When asked if he ever thinks about backing off from his outward displays of faith, which are often criticized and mocked, Tebow laughed and said he has no intention of doing so.

It will be interesting to see how this unabashed Christianity will play in Tebow’s new home of New York, a place known for its melting pot of religions and cultures. It is certainly an odd coupling of athlete and city. But one imagines if he helps the Jets win football games, all will be forgiven.

Source: TheFW.com

YouTube

Even stacked together in a jar, all those pennies you have are fairly worthless. However, they may soon become collectors’ items.

Canada, our neighbor to the North, has just eliminated the penny in their latest federal budget, following the example of nations like Australia and New Zealand. The Canadian national mint will stop producing the one-cent coin over the next six months, and businesses have been asked to return pennies to be melted down.

We thought it was a joke too, but apparently the Great White North is serious:

“Pennies take up too much space on our dressers at home,” Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said in announcing the federal budget. “They take up far too much time for small businesses trying to grow and create jobs.”

Not to mention they cost more than a cent to make, and the move will save Canada 11 million dollars a year.

With pennies no longer part of the equation, vendors will simply round to the nearest five or zero on the bill’s total.

And, from now on, Canada will be a place where thoughts cost a nickel. Watch Canadians react to the news that their government has rendered them “penniless” in the local news report below.

[via CBC]

Source: TheFW.com

YouTube

‘Mad Men‘ returned for its fifth season on Sunday night. Not only has a lot changed for the folks at Sterling Cooper Draper Price during their 17 month TV hiatus, but a lot has changed for those of us in the real world.

Take Barack Obama, for example. 17 months ago, the President wasn’t thinking about Mitt Romney or raising gas prices. But now those are just some of the challenges on his plate. With that in mind, Will Rabbe offers his take on the iconic ‘Mad Men’ opening sequence, but with Obama in the place of Don Draper.

The video was played on ‘The Chris Matthews Show’ Sunday, in anticipation of the ‘Mad Men’ premiere. According to Rabbe, the reworked opening was created through a combination of AfterEffects, Cinema 4D and Photoshop.

So what do you think? Does the “Obama as Don Draper” theme work? If you’d like to learn more about how the video was made, check out Rabbe’s blog.

Source: TheFW.com

YouTube (2)/Lionsgate/YouTube (2)

It’s been a series of best selling teen novels and a much anticipated movie release, and now ‘The Hunger Games’ has achieved legendary status because it has been spoofed and spoofed and spoofed again on the Web. And, this seems like a trend that isn’t going to stop any time soon.

After all the hype, this week, those who are interested will finally get to head to the theater and watch the film adaptation of the massively popular book.  The studio and fans of the books have been talking about this release non-stop for so long that there are already plenty of good parodies out there, many just of the trailer. So, because we’re sick of seeing the actual movie preview, here are a few amusing recreations and parodies we found. (Note: some parodies feature NSFW language and violence.)

The ‘Harry Potter’ Games

Of course, one popular book series will inevitably be mashed-up with another. You can’t have ‘Hunger Games’ parodies without a ‘Harry Potter’ crossover. This YouTuber cut together the trailer using scenes from the final ‘Harry Potter’ flick and created their own mind-blowing fan experience.

‘The Disney Games’

A fan of classic Disney cartoons put together this version of the trailer using clips from flicks like ‘Aladdin’ and ‘Cinderella.’ Can you name all the films represented?

The Hunger Pains

If you parody the book, then you have to parody the trailer for the film adaptation of the book. And, if you’re the Harvard Lampoon, this is not a problem. Clearly, the Lampoon gang are feeling some actual hunger pains.

‘Glee’ Meets ‘Hunger Games’

The show ‘Glee’ kicked off with an incomparable cover of Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believin’’ which led to years of hype about the show, even though no other performance ever came close to matching it. It makes sense that the very hyped ‘Hunger Games’ trailer would be set to this song.

‘Hunger Games the Board Game’

This clever spoof from the folks at College Humor sends up both ”The Hunger Games’ and cheesy board game commercials from the ’80s and ’90s.

Disney’s ‘Brave’ Mash-up

‘Hunger Games’ isn’t the only new movie about a strong, female protagonist with a bow and arrow. Disney is again the subject of a trailer spoof as its preview for ‘Brave’ is mashed up with the ‘Hunger Games’ trailer.

The Lego Games

Your movie trailer hasn’t been spoofed until it has been performed by Legos and now ‘The Hunger Games’ can claim its title among those so parodied.

‘My Little Hungry Pony Games’

Even Hasbro’s ‘My Little Pony’ has gotten in on the action. Based on this YouTuber’s edit of the magical cartoon ponies on the hit show ‘My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic,’ it’s safe to see this is one crossover that would have geeks raving. This spoof, made with technicolor ponies, will change your perception of the movie entirely.

‘Muppet Games’

To promote the release of ‘The Muppets’ on DVD and Blu-ray, the entire Muppets gang joined in the ‘Hunger Games’ fun and created their own trailer. We can see how the two films are very similar.

‘Video Games’ Mashup (NSFW)

One of our personal favorites is this reimagining of Lana Del Rey’s popular ‘Video Games’ song, rewritten to describe the story of ‘The Hunger Games.’ The mash-up of the ‘Video Games’ parody video with the ‘Hunger Games’ trailer pretty much slams it out of the park.

Source: TheFW.com

YouTube

Research suggest that babies are born with a predisposition to dance. So would this video of nine month old twins. They just can’t help but get down when they hear one of their toys play the song ‘It’s a Small World.’ Get ready to smile.

Wow, these youngsters have turned the living room floor into the hippest dance club in town. And what’s so great about their hypnotic dance is that anyone can do it. Although to do it right you probably need a partner with a corresponding shirt.

One day they will learn how to get the music going themselves. But for now they need their dad to reset the toy when the song stops. So don’t stop the music, pops. Babies gotta boogie!

[button href="http://thefw.com/girl-sings-adele" title="Next: Two-Year-Old Girl Sings Adele"]

Source: TheFW.com

YouTube

In a video that won’t be making the already unpopular TSA any new friends, a 3-year-old toddler in a wheelchair is seen being searched by a TSA agent at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport.

Rocco was going with his parents, two siblings and grandparents to Disney World when he was pulled out of the security line. He was in a wheelchair because he had recently broken his leg.

Although his family was remarkably calm about the whole thing, and the agent who searched him was highly professional, the little boy looked scared and confused during his ordeal.

As you can see, the next person to be pulled out of the line is a senior citizen with a cane. Good to see TSA is tackling the real threats.

This video has re-ignited an old debate about who should get screened at airports. One the one hand, if terrorists and smugglers knew that the TSA never checks little kids in wheelchairs or senior citizens, they could use this information to do harm.

On the other hand, the chances that Rocco, traveling with his entire family to Disney World, was part of something nefarious seems about as close to zero as anything can be.

So should TSA agents be allowed to use more discretion in these cases? Or is what happened in the video just an unfortunate, but necessary, reality of the times we live in?

Source: TheFW.com

Was that sweet or what?? We had to turn up the volume just to hear her innocent, soft voice. While she isn’t the only toddler on YouTube singing along to Adele, Makena’s is one of the cuter covers we have heard. Her baby-speak resonates with every line she sings, making a depressing song like ‘Someone Like You’ bring a smile to your face. (It may even help you get over your break-up more than Adele’s version will.)

So does Makena have a singing career ahead of her? Is this the best baby singer you’ve ever heard? Let us know!

[button href="http://thefw.com/baby-sees-first-bubbles" title="Next: Baby Reacts to Seeing Bubbles For First Time"]

Source: TheFW.com

ABC

For the entire week before the Academy Awards, Uggie the dog appeared on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live‘ to gain Oscar buzz for his film ‘The Artist.’ The adorable Jack Russell terrier, who was the real star of the Best Picture-winning silent film, made Oscar picks for Kimmel and was generally one charming pooch. Everybody was happy with the way his appearance went.

Until earlier this week, that is, when an eagle-eyed Kimmel staffer noticed that something was off. 

As it turned out, the markings on the “Uggie” who was on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ were different than the markings on the “Uggie” who appeared in ‘The Artist.’ As Uggie’s costar Jean Dujardin would say, “Quel scandale!”

“I believe we were given a fake Uggie,” Kimmel concluded. “A ‘Fuggie,’ if you will.”

But that’s not all. Kimmel also has video to suggest that an impostor Uggie also showed up on ‘Ellen‘ and was even present at the Golden Globes. In fact, the Uggie you saw on stage after ‘The Artist’ won Best Picture at the Oscars was also the fake. Since Uggie (who also appeared in ‘Water for Elephants’ last year) was set to bow out of showbiz after ‘The Artist,’ is there a chance he took an early retirement?

Kimmel was pretty miffed about this development, especially since he had paid “thousands” to have Uggie on his show. While his first instinct was to call McGruff the Crime Dog, or maybe Ace Ventura, he realized he had an ace in the hole — Kimmel will be hosting the White House Correspondents Dinner in April, which Uggie is expected to attend. With the help of the Secret Service, who certainly won’t tolerate anyone entering the White House under false pretenses, the late-night host should be able get to the bottom of UggieGate 2012.

Source: TheFW.com

YouTube

Using Kung-Fu to market a golf game? The makers of ‘Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13,’ Electronic Arts, seem to think it’s a good idea. EA has unveiled a viral commercial starring the basketball giant Shaquille O’ Neal and the game’s title master Tiger Woods. Dressed in traditional samurai garb, the two sports legends bow in honor before…well, you’ll have to watch.

Shaq, video games and martial arts are not as strange a mix as you might think. In the ’90s, Electronic Arts published a 2D-fighting game called ‘Shaq Fu,’ in which a virtual Shaq fought enemies from another dimension. It flopped, and is now considered one of the worst video games of all time. Tiger Woods’ ‘PGA Tour’ series, on the other hand, is a very successful video game franchise and we’re guessing Woods’ martial arts skills were honed when protecting himself from ex-wife Elin Nordegren. What, too soon?

Source: TheFW.com

McDonald's/TSM

McDonald’s Shamrock Shake usually comes once a year around St. Patrick’s Day, but as the holiday passes, so does the elusive tasty beverage. Now you don’t have to be in March (or Irish) to enjoy one year round.

The cool part is you don’t have to just stick with the normal sugar-laced treat. There are several different recipes to every mood or taste.

First, if you’re just itching for a taste of the traditional recipe, Reware Vintage has a recipe for a virgin Shamrock Shake that only requires some vanilla ice cream, milk, peppermint extract and some green food dye for color. Stick it all in a blender or mixer and you’re ready to enjoy. The blog recommends not topping it off with whipped cream or a cherry since it ruins “the purity of the shake.” (We’ll be the judge of that.)

Maybe you overdid on St. Patrick’s Day and realize you need to get into shape. A quick search on YouTube turned up a low-calorie Shamrock Shake, courtesy of Lean Secrets founder Brenda-Leigh Turner, that she claims tastes just as good as the high fructose corn syrup version.

Then when you eventually ditch your diet because you’re starving and need something other than spinach and wheat germ to unwind, you can whip up a harder version cooked up by Mahalo’s lifestyle blog editor Miranda Valentine. Check out the recipe below. You can also watch a vintage Shamrock Shake ad featuring the jolly forgotten McDonaldland character Uncle O’Grimacy. Yes, he was basically a green (and possibly drunk) Grimace.

Source: TheFW.com

Joey Foley, Getty Images

Peyton Manning and Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay held a press conference Wednesday in which Irsay announced that the Colts were cutting Manning, the greatest sports figure Indianapolis has ever seen, rather than pay him a $28 million roster bonus.

What made the press conference extraordinary was Manning’s reaction to being cut. Instead of sounding bitter about missing out on such a huge chunk of change, Manning couldn’t have been more gracious. The 35-year-old, who missed last season with a neck injury but hopes to play again in 2012, tearfully thanked Irsay for all their years together. And he repeatedly thanked the people of Indianapolis for being so good to him, and such great fans.

Apparently that generosity of spirit also extends to Manning’s tipping. This bill comes from the Angus Barn restaurant in Raleigh, NC, where Manning had been working out.

Yup, that’s $200 bucks on top of the 18% included gratuity. With Manning out in Indianapolis, the future hall-of-famer and one of sports’ classiest guys is bound to make fans (and waiters) in another NFL city very happy. Check out a video of Wednesday’s emotional press conference below.

Source: TheFW.com

Kiss Cam

One of Hollywood’s few remaining loving couples were caught justifying their love on the Los Angeles Kings’ “Kiss Cam.”

A video popped up on the interwebs of Hollywood power couple Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks enjoying a Kings home game over the weekend. Suddenly, they found themselves looking up at themselves on the stadium’s Jumbotron in a heart-shaped frame and thrilled the crowd with a big wet kiss.

The media usually has a conniption when a famous celebrity couple finds themselves dealing with tragedies like infidelity, deceit and divorce. However, Tom and Rita always seem to be able to overcome such nastiness and offer a nice counterbalance to the never-ending stream of celebrity divorces and seedy tell-all books. Go ahead and call us a bunch of old softies, but we love Tom and Rita. Aren’t they adorable?

Source: TheFW.com

YouTube

You’ll need no more evidence than the videos below to prove that the world is full of people who can’t drive. We’ve gathered 10 examples of cars crashing into stores, homes and even a swimming pool. Convenience stores and gas stations, in particular, seem to bear the brunt of bad drivers. So, definitely keep your eyes peeled next time you pick up a slushie or top off your tank. (Note: Some footage may be too intense for some viewers.)

Elderly Woman Drives Into Swimming Pool

Bad Driver Crashes into Convenience Store

86-Year-Old Driver Plows Through Bike Shop

Tipsy Driver Misses Parking Space, Hits Store

High-Speed Chase Ends in Sleeping Man’s Bedroom

Woman With Sweet Tooth Crashes into Bakery

Oregon Police Officer Crashes into Home

Driver Falls Asleep at the Wheel, Destroys Convenience Store

Car Smashes into Springfield Music Store

Stephanie Drives Uncle Joey’s Car into the Kitchen on ‘Full House’

Source: TheFW.com

YouTube

Last year the United States retired NASA’s space shuttle program, and shipped the remaining crafts out for display in sites around the country. To pay tribute to the end of the space shuttle era, Romanian high school student Raul Oaida strapped a Lego model space shuttle on a weather ballon and sent it towards the great beyond.

The launch took place on December 31st, with the toy shuttle reaching heights of about 115,000 feet. For comparison sake, a commercial airplane doesn’t usually go more than about 50,000 feet in the air. Oaida attached a GoPro Hero video camera to the balloon, which is responsible for the spectacular images above. Yup, that is the curve of the Earth you start seeing around the three minute mark.

The shuttle, which was equipped with a GPS device, landed unharmed a couple hours later in a German forest 150 miles away from the launch point. Oaida wasn’t able to convince Romanian air traffic control to allow him flight clearance, so he instead traveled to Germany, where they have less regulations about such things.

If you’re wondering, the first song on the video is ‘Welcome Home’ by Radical face, and the second is ‘Also Sprach Zarathustra’ by Richard Strauss.

Source: TheFW.com

YouTube

Tornadoes wreaked havoc in the middle parts of the US on Friday, killing 39 people in five states. Storms of this force and magnitude can strike in an instant, and typically the only thing you can do if you find yourself in the deadly storm’s crosshairs is hope you are able to get to a storm cellar.

However, one woman in the West Liberty, Kentucky area decided to take on a tornado head on with prayer. Judging from the video, some people think her technique may have worked.

Pretty intense stuff, right? Do you think the woman’s desperate prayers had anything do with the tornado sparing her home?

And while you certainly can’t blame the woman for doing anything she could to keep the storm away, how do feel about praying for a tornado to change course? Even if your prayer works, the storm may still hit somebody in another town even harder than it would have hit you. Is that OK?

Source: TheFW.com

Infrogmation, Flickr

The king cake is a traditional Mardi Gras food. It is usually a ring-shaped pastry, sometimes filled with cheese or jelly and sprinkled with the colors of Mardi Gras. It began as an Epiphany treat, celebrating the arrival of the Three Wise Men to the stable where Jesus was born. Oh, and it’s delicious.

The king cake tradition was brought to New Orleans by French and Spanish settlers who associated it with the Mardi Gras carnival. A dessert synonymous with celebrations definitely belonged with Mardi Gras and has been shared during the festive season ever since.

The secret of the king cake is that there is always a small trinket, often a plastic baby representing the Baby Jesus, baked inside that one lucky eater is bound to bite into. Of course, the lucky person who gets the baby in the cake gets special privileges, but is also usually responsible for bringing the next cake.

To get into the spirit of the impending Mardi Gras celebration, and to make your mouth water a bit, here are some delicious looking king cakes we found.

The Drizzled King Cake

niseag03, Flickr

The Beaded King Cake

all of olive, Flickr

The Discus King Cake

syvwlc, Flickr

The Mickey Mouse King Cake

Loren Javier, Flickr

The Go Big or Go Home King Cake

Aldon, Flickr

The King Cupcake

kristen_a (Meringue Bake Shop), Flickr

Double King Cake All the Way

HorizonsSC, Flickr

The Doing It Wrong King Cake

lesteph, Flickr

The Baby in the King Cake

mikebdoss, Flickr

The Eaten King Cake

mikebdoss, Flickr

An Amazing Rap About King Cakes

Want to Make One? Here’s How

Source: TheFW.com

ABC / NBC / Fox

The Super Bowl is usually the highest-rated single television broadcast of the year — so the program that airs right afterwards typically follows suit and rides the game’s coattails to big ratings.

With an audience that substantial, premiering the pilot of a new series would seem like a no-brainer, but as the networks have learned in decades past, that strategy isn’t always so foolproof. These days, pretty much all of the programs shown after the big game are special episodes of an established series.

But which freshman shows got that coveted timeslot — and proved their mettle? Check out five hit shows that debuted after the Super Bowl below.

‘The A-Team’ (1983)

Technically this wasn’t the series pilot, but it was the first regular episode of the iconic action show that ran for five seasons on NBC. We pity the fool who turned off their TV after the big game.

‘Airwolf’ (1984)

Few shows featured as much awesome helicopter action as ‘Airwolf.’ (Scratch that — no show has more bang for your buck in the helicopter department.) After its post-Super Bowl debut, ‘Airwolf’ ran for three seasons on CBS before moving to the USA Network for a fourth and final season that ditched the original cast and relied heavily on stock copter footage.

‘The Wonder Years’ (1988)

This poignant coming-of-age drama was beloved by both audiences and critics, winning dozens of awards during its six season run. Just hearing the theme song (which you can watch below) makes us a little misty-eyed.

‘Homicide: Life on the Street’ (1993)

This Baltimore-set police procedural ran seven years, racked up three Peabody Awards, and spawned the spinoff, ‘Homicide: Second Shift,’ which was one of the first Web series.

‘Family Guy’ (1999)

Animated but decidedly adult, the Emmy-winning show was canceled in 2002 before big DVD sales and high ratings for syndicated reruns prompted Fox to renew the program in 2005 — and it’s still running today.

Source: TheFW.com

Laura Lezza, Getty Images

At least two Americans are among the estimated 16 people missing after a cruise ship hit a reef on Friday night and capsized off the west coast of Italy with 4,200 passengers and crew aboard.

Six passengers have been confirmed dead since the Costa Concordia ran aground near Tuscany, tearing a 160-foot hole in its hull and causing the ship to sink. The captain, Francesco Schettino, 52, blames the disaster on rocks not on his navigational charts, but has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.

In an emotional news conference, Costa Cruises boss Pier Luigi Foschi tearfully apologized and said, “The company will be close to the captain and will provide him with all the necessary assistance, but we need to acknowledge the facts and we cannot deny human error.”

Foschi said the ship’s route was entered correctly and that “the fact that it left from this course is due solely to a maneuver by the commander that was unapproved, unauthorized and unknown to Costa… He wanted to show the ship, to [go] nearby this island of Giglio, so he decided to change the course of the ship to go closer to the island.”

Survivors described the chaotic scene and said crew members were unprepared for an emergency situation, forcing many passengers to jump overboard and swim for land when the angle of the listing ship made boarding life boats impossible.

In addition, environmentalists worry that the ship could break up and leak its 2,300 tons of fuel. Italian Environment Minister Corrado Clini said his government would declare a state of emergency to release extra funding to avoid such a spill.

Laura Lezza, Getty Images

Laura Lezza, Getty Images

[BBC]