“Whenever an actor gets it in his head that he should be a rock star, the results are absolutely terrible. If you make it to the end of this list without slitting your wrists or stabbing your eardrum with an icepick, well, just imagine what it was like to write this. I listened to some of these songs multiple times. After all, I’m a professional. Anyway, without further ado, here are 15 actors who tried to sing. May God or Buddha or Patrick Swayze or whoever have mercy on them.” w/ videos

“Traveling is generally an exciting and enjoyable experience, but it doesn’t take much to ruin a good trip. Every day, unsuspecting tourists fall victim to sneaky travel scams. It doesn’t matter how beautiful or quaint of a location, there are always scammers waiting to prey on naive, money-toting vacationers. Most scams can be prevented by using your common sense, while others are trickier and harder to spot. Before you travel domestically or internationally, it’s a good idea to do your homework and brush up on these 10 common travel scams.” w/ photos

“When we think of dirty places, the home isn’t the first thing to come to mind. But in all actuality, millions of microbes and viruses lurk around the house in some obvious and not-so-obvious places. What we consider to be a filthy area of the house is sometimes cleaner than we thought and the real problems exist elsewhere. So before you clean house and miss some spots, be sure to tackle these 10 dirtiest places first.” w/ photos

“Last year American voice-over artist Ted Williams became a national sensation when he was discovered in a state of bewildered homelessness… Williams’ very human story of struggle and redemption is still playing out, although in a lower key. Since his brief stint with national fame, Ted Williams has privately suffered a relapse and a recovery and is now working on a new project with NECN as their official ‘Voice’. While we wait to see if Ted will rise to riches we can look back on a number of other very determined people who were spurred to success by their humble beginnings.” w/ photos

“A painter makes pictures with paint, a sculptor makes statues with clay and a performance artist makes a fool of themselves. But what do you call an artist whose medium is fruit? From the radical to the ridiculous below you will find 12 excellent examples of this flourishing art form.” w/ photos

“Rachel Sussman has been traveling the world for the past few years photographing some of the oldest living things on Earth. Here’s a look at some of what she’s found.” w/ photos

“We’ve deemed you, our beloved readers, worthy of a list of the most beautiful, crystal clear waters in the world. Some are lakes, some are oceans, and all are natural. We wouldn’t be so over-the-top to claim this is a list of places to visit before you die, but we would heartily recommend you make a trip to a few while you’re still alive.” w/ photos

“For some people, what they do is a point of pride. For others it’s a closely guarded secret. But whatever you do, your job tends to define you. Whether you are a builder, doctor, lawyer, mechanic, astronaut, butler, or dictator, in this society you are your job. And while some jobs are lauded and some are laughed at, some are just plain strange…” w/ photos

“To someone like myself, who couldn’t act even if Hitler’s death depended on it, I really have no idea what goes into a monologue – however I do know what comes out of a good one. So when I judge the talent of these I’m really just judging how effective they seemed to be, not necessarily the amount of artistic effort that was put into it. Simply put, these are some terrific monologues.” w/ videos

“How do you judge the intensity of a ticking clock? It’s not always how close the characters came to zero – sometimes it’s about the process itself, getting to inevitability, fighting time. It’s rather like life, and the knowledge that being on this world is a sort of countdown. Every year is another tick of the clock, leading every one of us to the same inescapable conclusion… Here’s a list counting down countdowns.” w/ photos