I know that, of the few people who watch me fore whatever reason, you have a universal love for messy stuff. I recently stumbled across a messy game in a YouTube video that I don't think I've ever seen anywhere else:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJ9wJrGIz3g

Just in case the video gets taken down at some point for any reason, I will summarize. The game is called Slap Cream. One player takes a can of Reddi-whip and sprays it on the back of their hand. Then they slap their forearm while raising it sharply. If done right, it should launch the whipped cream in the air. If playing alone, the player must then catch the whipped cream in his mouth. If playing with another person, they must catch the whipped cream in their mouth.

Admittedly, it's not a very elaborate game, but it's a bit of fun. It's like a low cost version of the game they used to do on Double dare where players launched pies from catapults and had to catch them using a pair of clown pants.

As a side note, it does seem to have to be whipped cream or something similarly light. I happened to have some pudding around and thought that Slap Pudding sounded like fun. Turns out that it was just too heavy to work.

At midnight, Comet TV will be airing The Secret of NIMH. If you have the channel in your area, you can tune in that way. Otherwise, you can watch live on their website:

http://www.comettv.com

I watched Buckaroo Banzai on TV a few days ago and I can't get the end credits song out of my head:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MqJ3iGBdOo

No wonder all the girls love the Hong Kong Cavaliers.

Gene Wider recently passed on and one of his most iconic roles was Willy Wonka. Certainly in my mind, the most impressive effect in the movie is the chocolate river. Who wouldn't want to dive in with Augustus? I decided to look into how it was done.

In Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the Wilder movie), the river was more or less legitimate. What you're seeing on film is 150,000 gallons of water, chocolate, and cream. From what I read, the whole thing started to stink as the cream went bad.

The effect in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (the Depp movie), the river was about 250,000 gallons, according to an interview with Vickers, the company behind the effect. The new stuff contained no actual chocolate or cream. The stuff was mostly water with a little less than 1% hydroxyethyl cellulose, .2% organic colors, and 1 part per million food grade biocide.

 iron-k has put his new story up and announced his winner. I won't spoil the ending for anyone reading who might be entered. Check it out here:

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/20892430/

If you're a fan of 90s style messy game show or Sonic the Hedgehog, it's worth taking a look. If you've entered, I say read the story to find out if you won. It's really like watching a game show where you entered to win a prize.

Over the course of 3 days, 22 people entered the contest. Here was everyone's odds:

1.  darknessfalls (9.66%)

2.  hdialer (7.41%)

3.  darkblitz (6.45%)

4.  varment (6.37%)

5.  antoneth (6.08%)

6.  truidiot (5.04%)

7.  whatamess (4.95%)

8.  heartlinedai (4.87%)

9.  demthefoxwolf (4.79%)

10.  duskcheetah (4.58%)

11.  delphbunny (4.54%)

12.  arbapew (4.16%)

13.  bbwolfie (4.08%)

14.  spikepapp (3.54%)

14.  susi (3.54%)

16.  scani (3.29%)

17.  sagemane (3.25%)

18.  thedisposableone (3.16%)

19.  robshi (2.71%)

20.  fyrefennec (2.62%)

21.  vairos (2.58%)

22.  rencat (2.33%)

To put this into perspective,  darknessfalls is four times more likely to win than  rencat.

So, why the difference? Because we're looking for the closest number. When we guess, we're essentially claiming "territory". The best strategy is to find the largest chunk of territory, stake your claim, and then hope that no one cuts into your territory.

One of interesting thing I noticed is that people tended to guess close to the center. A regression shows that 42% of a contestant's share of "territory" can be attributed to distance from the center. So, if you have several equally good numbers go bigger or smaller.

 iron-k is holding a contest for an appearance in one of his stories.

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/7757953/

I was the kid that tried to calculate the number of jellybeans in the jar (and won quite often). So, I used math to choose my number and then calculated everyone's odds:

1.  varment (12.53%)
2.  darknessfalls (10.74%)
3.  truidiot (10.53%)
4.  heartlinedai (8.24%)
5.  demthefoxwolf (7.95%)
6.  hdialer (7.41%)
7.  vairos (6.45%)
8.  whatamess (6.12%)
9.  scani (5.00%!)
10.  duskcheetah (4.58%)
11.  arbapew (4.16%)
12.  spikepapp (3.54%)
12.  susi (3.54%)
14.  rencat (3.25%)
14.  sagemane (3.25%)
16.  robshi (2.71%)

The odds favor  varment, but who knows?  robshi might end up the winner.

There are two things that I suspect you may be thinking, dear reader. First, why am I taking this so seriously? The contest is supposed to be fun. To that, I answer that I think math (and probability in particular) is fun. I'll probably do this again once the contest ends.

The other is why I'm only at 7.41% to win if my technique is so good. Well, it was the best possible move. The way the numbers fell, that gave me the best odds of winning.

Fellow WAM fans, I'm sure the fact that tomorrow is Pi Day. Perhaps you're interested in the Pie Face Challenge proposed by   Wamfurs However, you're wondering how to make a pie suitable for slapstick. I've looked into the topic and I'm willing to help you out.

The invention of the pie in the face gag is typically credited to comedic actress Mabel Normand. Mack Sennett, the director, took the idea and ran for it. The recipe from this era is preserved in Buster Keaton's autobiography, My Wonderful World of Slapstick and in a 1964 interview with Keaton.

1. Prepare two pie crusts. Make a paste of flour and water and use it to glue the crusts together. The two crusts make sure your fingers don't go through the bottom of the pie. Bake the crusts until brittle and carefully remove it from the tin. (The tin could injure the actor or distract from the moment of impact if it flies off).

2. Make a thick mixture of flour and water that clings like glue. Fill the pie an inch deep with the mix.

3. If the pie is destined for a brunette or someone in dark clothes, add a layer of lemon filling and top it off the a generous amount of whipped cream.

4. If the pie is intended for a blonde or someone in light clothes, add a layer of blackberries or blueberries and just enough whipped cream to splatter.

Al Christie disputes the claim that Sennett Studios had the first pie in the face on film. He claims to have done it first and that the gag was already in use in burlesque shows in London. Christie's recipe is based on egg whites. They should be mixed with enough flour to make them gooey.

An A-Z of Food and Drink believes that the gag dates to the mid-19th century and originally used Bird's custard powder, known in North America as creme anglaise.

The gag made its way to circus clown acts. However, the Keaton recipe wouldn't work. It was too much trouble to make a pie that was when you're on the road. Besides, whipped cream can discolor clothes if left on the clothes for too long. As a result, they substituted shaving cream. A few years ago, the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus revealed how they make their pies to advertise their attempt to win the world record for the biggest pie fight:

1. Take eight 1.5 oz. bars of shaving soap. Use a cheese grater or salad shooters to get a bunch of large, thin pieces of soap.

2. Fill a 30 - 40 oz. container with about 4 inches of cold water. Put the soap in the water and let it dissolved for 10 - 30 minutes.

3. Mix the soapy water with a paint mixer, moving it in a circular motion. Also move it up and down to get air in the mixture. The process should take 10 - 15 minutes. If the mixture is too soupy, add more soap.

Nickelodeon appears to have done things differently. An episode of Wild and Crazy Kids featuring a huge pie fight shows one of the hosts simply filling the pie tin with whipped cream. What Would You Do? sometimes used pie crusts, but not always. They also seemed to use whipped cream, as pied audience members sometimes ate the pie. An article by a local newspaper mentions a large amount can whipped cream backstage at the Double Dare Live Tour back in the 90s.

In the past few seasons, the post game pie in the face was a tradition among the Baltimore Orioles. Unfortunately, the MLB has banned the practice. They started out with shaving cream, but later made a deal with a local bakery for the real thing. In an article,they revealed how they make them:

1. Bake a pie crust.

2. To make the the filling, combine dry pastry cream with 26% fat heavy cream. Once they're integrated, add orange concentrate. It should have a consistency like batter. It'll be too yellow at this point, so add some red food coloring to get a nice orange. Fill the pie crust.

3. Top the pie with homemade whipped cream for a more explosive splatter.

Orange is the traditional flavor because orange is one of the team's colors. However, they do other types too for variety, including chocolate, pineapple, and strawberry.

So there you go! That's plenty of pies for you to choose from, both easy enough for the novice and complicated enough for the advanced. Get baking and have a great Pi Day tomorrow!

It's the Christmas season. Lately, I've been thinking about how you can celebrate the season by getting messy. Here's my ideas for those few of you following me.

Hot Chocolate Bath - Apparently, several spas offer this treatment. You won't want to use regular hot chocolate mix, as the sugar in it might cause yeast infections (that goes for guys too). Most recipes suggest adding cocoa powder and powdered milk to the bath, but some suggest liquid milk and melted baking chocolate.

Gingerbread Man/Woman - Get slimed with gingerbread batter. Using icing to further decorate.

Slime Ornaments - Fill balloons with slime and decorate them to make Christmas ornaments. Once you're finished, pop them over your head.

Yuleslide - Get (or make) a slip 'n' slide and cover it with shaving cream "snow." Perhaps put a big "snowbank" near the end. The proper way to go down is "penguin-style" (face first, arms at your side). This is going to require either a big house or a warm climate.

If anyone gives any of these ideas a try, please drop me a line.

While browsing the site, I came across  appledustings page. Appledustings is doing a YCH. For $50, you can have a drawing of your character covered in goo while being hypnotized.