2010: Living In the Future

Ever seen someone pull a robbery with a giant stick? Well cue the Benny Hill music. Serious, funny stuff. [from Gizmodo]

As the year closes out, have a look at 2010: Living In the Future, a book as relevant now as it was in 1972.

Plus, a retrospective in this year's online maladies: The Best Viral Videos Of 2010.

And also somewhat reflective of the recent year, The Adventures of Unemployed Man, a comic book hero for modern times.


"The future is much like the present, only longer." - Dan Quisenberry

It takes a village

Check out this one-man Village People act from a recent college hoops game.

And in the spirit of the holiday travel season, a Venn diagram of people who touch your junk.

"The man who occupies the first place seldom plays the principal part." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Ventrilotwist

Paul Zerdin performs some ventriloquism with an original angle at Comedy Rocks (which by the way, this does).

And Passive-Aggressive Notes, where the passive is optional.


"Rest satisfied with doing well, and leave others to talk of you as they please." - Pythagoras

20 Hours of Blizzard in 38 Seconds

Wondering how much snow would pile up during the recent storm, Michael Black stuck a camera and clock in his backyard and produced his December 2010 Blizzard Timelapse.

Speaking of things that quickly pile up, test your vocabulary, timed, at Knoword.


"If they try to rush me, I always say I've only got one other speed and it's slower." - Glenn Ford

Cat Diaries

For whatever reason, the good people at Friskies hung some cameras around the necks of some cats, did some editing, and created the first ever movie made by cats.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0PduP7PXx0

Or if you're more of a dog person, here's a compendium of man's best friends doing a whole lotta crazy stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de3uzRiABNU


"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us." - Calvin, from Calvin and Hobbes

My Blackberry Is Not Working

Fruit-flavored tongue-in-cheek tech skit from the BBC.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAG39jKi0lI

While on the topic, you can submit a drawing of your favorite meal at Draw Your Dinner. Or see how people re-designed the trusty government food pyramid.


"Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live." - Oscar Wilde

Winterwonderland

Blacksheep, the RC stunt flyers responsible for that crazy New York City fly-over, are back with a new, more fitting for the holidays video. Watch out for sheep panic a little ways in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9L4phs1owA

Going to the mall today for some last minute shopping? Then this Honest Shopping Mall Map: Holiday Edition might help.

Tis the season for holiday shipping. Visualize who ships those 300 million holiday packages.

"Gifts must affect the receiver to the point of shock." - Walter Benjamin

Walks of Life

The abridged yet creepy story of life on earth, as told through the medium of walking fingers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhnYipRAp3M

And, the Best Coathook Graffito Ever.

"In the year 3000, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook will merge into one super time-wasting website called YouTwitFace." - Conan O’Brien

Unisanta

What could say Christmas-time in Portland more than this quick clip?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbfD9OKwqBs

In another state of mind as well, save the driving with 50 Welcome Signs From 50 States.


"Everybody has talent, it's just a matter of moving around until you've discovered what it is." - George Lucas

Christmas 2.0

A modern webified story of the Nativity. Well-paced, well-done, sorta sad to us traditionalists.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZrf0PbAGSk

And, the United States of Autocomplete, a Web 2.0 take on U.S. geography based on Google Autocomplete's most popular suggestion.


"That's the greatest comeback since Lazarus." - Sid Waddell

Christmas duet

A little holiday cheer as David Bowie (Will Ferrell) visits Bing Crosby (John C. Reilly) to sing a duet of two Christmas classics, Peace on Earth & The Little Drummer Boy.
http://FunnyOrDie.com/m/4zol

And History for Music Lovers teaches the French Revolution, Shakespeare, the Black Death and more via pop music videos.


"A celebrity is one who is known to many persons he is glad he doesn't know." - H.L. Mencken

DIY avalanche

Home snowslide works out better than planned.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-11954988

And in no way connected is the Vuvutech 5000, the most annoying (if not effective) alarm in the world. At least someone's finally found a use for those idiotic plastic hellhorns.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SbOxwqbGEA


"There is no use whatsoever trying to help people who do not help themselves. You cannot push anyone up a ladder unless he is willing to climb himself." - Andrew Carnegie

Easy prey

Talented seagull swoops in and helps himself to a bite of donut.
http://www.break.com/index/seagull-snags-donut-out-of-guys-mouth-1968105

And another impressive survival tactic, a dog that crosses his eyes on command.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQnWZE-t3u4


"Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful." - Warren Buffett

Ninja Unboxing

Creative use of the Tube for this online promo.
http://www.youtube.com/ninjaunboxing2

And on the topic of crazy dudes flying around, watch this guy base jump off a bridge to escape arrest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNfgu-bYEvc


"Most games are lost, not won." – Casey Stengel

Snow fall

Remember when your mom would ask, "Would you jump off a bridge if he told you to?" Ah, vodka.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ0AnF-Zrgc


And apparently some things are much older than you think. WTF?


"The successful person makes a habit of doing what the failing person doesn't like to do." - Thomas Edison

Trip the lights

Extra-impressive F/X from France via The Telegraph. As Gizmodo put it, Who Needs Acid When You Have These Animated Buildings?"

And what the world would look like if it were arranged according to population? The good -- or bad -- news is that the U.S. remains the same.
http://i.imgur.com/c6Agr.jpg


"I went to a general store but they wouldn't let me buy anything specific." - Steven Wright

Dog sledding

Tell me your cat is going to do something like this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdJcYTh1rP0

And an amusing roundup of lost pet posters. Laughter is the best medicine for that sort of thing.


"Money will buy you a pretty good dog, but it won't buy the wag of his tail." - Henry Wheeler Shaw

Hitler + Jeffersons

Der Fuhrer sings the TV show theme song. (Thanks Unc)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3YRWhg4YaA

Speaking of pursuasion, can you remember any ads you saw today? Well you might remember these 20 Brilliant Marketing Campaigns That Literally Stopped Traffic.


"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me." - Dudley Field Malone

Amazing iPhone stunts

Experimentalist tapes his iPhone to a remote-controlled car and records the action. Apple would definitely approve of this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdErFWzitew

And pretend you know better with Smugopedia, a collection of slightly controversial opinions from self-satisfied smugbags.
http://www.smugopedia.com/


"I have found all things thus far, persons and inanimate matter, elements and seasons, strangely adapted to my resources." - Henry David Thoreau

Rat vs. cats

No animals were hurt during the filming of this clip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDXP_z8lU_Q

And a pretty fascinating blog post about NYC's least-appreciated inhabitants.


"Lack of will power has caused more failure than lack of intelligence or ability. - Flower A. Newhouse

Rough sledding

Not-so-safe looking slide off the top of a building, attached to a bungee cord. These kids today...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIFZcsVcRH8

And another sign that holiday insanity has set in, perhaps the ultimate symbolism in this towering Christmas tree made of...
http://inhabitat.com/towering-christmas-tree-made-of-86-shopping-carts/shopping-cart-christmas-tree-5/?extend=1


"In skating over thin ice, our safety is in our speed." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Let 'em feel cake

The birthday cake airbag prank...no further description needed. The fun ensues at around the one-minute mark.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YljX4E-KNGI

And along similar lines is this "pneumatic prank" at SeQuant:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmM00LDnLBI


"Tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy." - Isaac Newton

Real-life Roadrunner & Coyote

Live action short film with "real life" Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner. Great first acting credits, I dare say.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ5p9WttVhE

And Charts by Age. Could you be...?


"Forty is the old age of youth; fifty the youth of old age." - Victor Hugo

Fader Automation Groove

I know this description doesn't do it justice, but apparently some sound mixing boards (or whatever) have an "auto" feature where slider knobs move on their own. Then just put some objects in the way of the sliders and hear the music. Good quick hit; no justice done above.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVfYa05Tp-8

And along the same lines, turn Google's translation service into a robotic beatboxatron -- just translate gibberish into German.


"If computers get too powerful, we can organize them into a committee -- that will do them in." - Bradley's Bromide

Friday black Friday

Disheartening video of Black Friday shoppers trampled at a Target store in Buffalo. Oh the humanity.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOVD-m8urJU

And a little interactive film worth checking out is The Wilderness Downtown. (Tip: use the address you lived at the longest when you were a kid.)
http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/


"A society that gets rid of all its troublemakers goes downhill." – Robert A. Heinlein

Underwater Bubble-Ring Bottle Cap Trick

I have no idea what the heck this is or how it would occur to do it. And still...
http://www.break.com/index/cool-bubble-ring-bottle-cap-trick-1959795

And Loves Me Not, an infographic on the ins and outs of togetherness.


"Lost time is never found again." - Benjamin Franklin

Take a trip outside

Man having manic attack is carried from his inferno of a home, clearly demonstrating that drugs might not be good for you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkG7FGVWsLA

And when he's not doing something insanely idiotic, Kim Jong-il's main hobby appears to be looking at things.
http://kimjongillookingatthings.tumblr.com/


"Sometimes history takes things into its own hands." – Justice Thurgood Marshall

Good doog

Good for something, maybe.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjwIJyrZFlA

And have a gander at a TV spot for Kackel Dackel, a German game where the goal is to move food down the dog's growling GI tract to collect fake poop. (Rumored factoid: the manufacturer had a giveaway where you had to pick up real dogcrap to claim a prize.)


"Don't be afraid to see what you see." - Ronald Reagan

Don't be late

A little cruise through Paris, reminiscent of Ronin.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DSyEarRAKo

For more sounds of the urban landscape, here's an audiobase where people can listen to and add sounds from cities around the world.

And finally, sights you'll find only in Japan -- and I use these words loosely -- interesting van conversions. (Thanks Wood)


"If someone is going down the wrong road, he doesn't need motivation to speed him up. He needs education to turn him around." - Jim Rohn

Dramatic Eagle

YA sequel in the ever-popular series. Not bad -- though nothing quite beats the original -- though certainly worth your five seconds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSZaC_W7eyE

And Life And Death Of A One Dollar Bill, more than you wanted to know about those ones in your pocket, tidily bundled into an infographic.


"Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons." - Woody Allen