Bach in business

Nice visualization of Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 prelude makes it enjoyable to both listen to and watch.


Also, Newt's Nudes, some funny-to-look-at Renaissance photoshoppery featuring Newt Gingrich's head.

"An artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision." - James Whistler

 

Cat-amine

Kittens trying to grab a snack after waking up from a painkiller-induced nap, complete with dubstep soundtrack. Great resemblance to their post-club human counterparts.


And a sizzling diversion, drag your mouse across the screen and draw with sizzling bacon.

"Success is falling nine times and getting up ten." - Jon Bon Jovi

 

Living in a world full of wonder

A different kind of show premieres at a theater in France: Urban Flipper, a 3D light display playing pinball on its facade.


Other impressive imagery, winners from this year’s National Geographic’s photo contest.

"The man who has begun to live more seriously within, begins to live more simply without." - Ernest Hemingway

 

Merry Techristmas

Welcome to the world you live in, where computer-controlled gadgets play Christmas carols with all of the soul you would expect. [Gizmodo].

And an electronics store in Vietnam invested ten people and two weeks to put up this 15-foot tall Christmas tree made from 2,500 "unusable" cell phones, and containing more toxic waste than the typical fake tree. [BI]

"Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall." - Larry Wilde

 

Have yourself a merry little Christmas...

Christmas Firework

Katy Perry's "Firework" in no way qualifies as a Christmas jingle — or even a tolerable song — but good job anyway with this synchronized light display. (Caution: Might induce seizures and voluntary hearing loss.) [Gawker]


And Correlation or Causation?: What Facebook has to do with the Greek debt crisis, and other silly graphs. Correlation may not imply causation, but it sure can help us insinuate it.

"Errors using inadequate data are much less than those using no data at all." - Charles Babbage

 

Seize one's greetings

A novel if not somewhat unearthly holiday greeting from British animator Cyriak. It's the thought that counts, I 'spose. [bOING bOING]


And watt's going on...? A gallery of the most out of control Christmas lights displays, courtesy of Gawker.

"Christmas is a time when you get homesick — even when you're home." - Carol Nelson

 

Nicer than your average bear

Politeness rules the bear waves in this non-Disney clip.


And not quite as civil, someone put Google Maps Street View to good use in creating "Google Shoot View", a first-person shooter game. [BI]

"Be polite to all, but intimate with few." - Thomas Jefferson

 

Heads up

Scary, near head-on collision with a truck on an icy road is yet another reason to believe.


Also in the spirit of the season, some of the all-time ugliest Christmas sweaters.

"The most important single central fact about a free market is that no exchange takes place unless both parties benefit." - Milton Friedman

 

Journey through the center of life

Strange trip indeed, this video for The Maccabees' Pelican that runs you right up the gut of life.


And some classic album covers artfully redone in clip-art.

"Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact." - William James

 

Know when to fold 'em

Nicely done stop-mo vid called Proteigon shows off a little arts and crafts cinemagic. [Gizmodo]


And no relation, an entertaining collection of the all-time worst family Christmas photos.

"A friend loves you for your intelligence, a mistress for your charm, but your family's love is unreasoning; you were born into it and are of its flesh and blood. Nevertheless it can irritate you more than any group of people in the world." - André Maurois

 

Pennies to heaven

A convincing viditorial called Death to Pennies points out another case of government idiocracy.


On the topic of moolah: a huge xkcd infographic about the costs of everything from presidential inaugurations to the annual bill for having one Starbucks latte a day. And Death & Taxes boils down the U.S. federal government budget into a single poster that shows exactly how they're spending it all.

"What this country needs are more unemployed politicians." - Edward Langley

 

On the bounce

If you can imagine skatepunks with pogo sticks bouncing around the Matrix, it would look something like this. [Gizmodo]


And more evidence of an identity mix-up, interspecies cross-dressing.

"It is a wise man who knows where courage ends and stupidity begins." - Jerome Cady

 

Bridge over troubled human

Not bad singing from this willing baritone human speed bump, who should be able to make the move from reality show to Ford truck commercial.


And in other gratuitous violence, Old Spice now has a website dedicated to blowing things up, virtually speaking. [Gizmodo]

"I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells." - Dr. Seuss

 

Beat 'em and smile

Grumpy school photographer tries to coerce kids into looking unhappy in School Portrait, but the truth will out.


Also, dude franken-shops family members to make genetic portraits with interesting results.

"It takes vision and courage to create -- it takes faith and courage to prove." - Owen D. Young

 

Whistler's mullet

Watch this bit of daytime talk show gold as a man-with-a-mullet busts out a one-of-a-kind whistling performance while the audience appears simultaneously amazed and perplexed. Perhaps even funnier without the audio.


And another cultural oddity spotted at what appears to be a Texas fast food drive-though.

"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen." - Winston Churchill

 

Park ranger

New York City parallel parker extraordinaire shows his stuff in a classic exhibition. [Gawker]


And on the topic of crime and punishment, a map of where adultery is il/legal in the United States.

"Politeness and consideration for others is like investing pennies and getting dollars back." - Thomas Sowell

 

It will blend

Watching the effortless blendomorphing of faces in Amalgamation is a trippy, watery and potentially hallucination-inducing experience even without the influence of mind-altering substances. [Gizmodo]


And somebody is watching you... Eyebombing, humanizing the world, one googly eye at a time.

"Change is such hard work." - Billy Crystal

 

Back to the well

An old-school circus Well of Death in India featuring seriously impressive driving with just the right Road Warrior atmosphere.


And mostly unrelated, Ugly Renaissance Babies only a mother -- or 15th century painter -- could love.

"I went to a restaurant that serves "breakfast at any time". So I ordered French Toast during the Renaissance." - Steven Wright

 

Subway phone jam

A likely story: someone ripped off New York band Atomic Tom so they threw down a little jam on the subway using their iPhones. [BI]


And contrastingly for us older fogies, some bygone sounds your kids may likely never have heard. And in response, NPR has collected some modern-day equivalents.

"In this day and time you can't even get sick; you are strung-out! Well by God, I'll tell you something, friend: I have never been strung-out in my life, except on music!" - Elvis Presley

 

Digital Rube

A different kind of Rube Goldberg machine at The Experiment, a prod-pro site from Honda lets you piece together some pre-made "machines" in your browser for a quick, fun diversion. [Mashable]


Morph into Neo a little and/or frighten away the casual snoop with this fake code site. Recommended attire: long leather coat and sunglasses.

"That isn't writing at all, it's typing." - Truman Capote

 

Toy stories

With a little stop-motion and Google Maps Streetview, Address Is Approximate gives hope to lonely desk toys everywhere. [Gizmodo]


And Escape the Map is some well-done (though not so well disguised) Mercedes-Benz koolaid with a "trapped in Google Maps" plot that makes me think I've seen the movie before.

"When defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not sound, rebuild those plans, and set sail once more toward your coveted goal." - Napoleon Hill

 

As the page turns

Funny and a little poignant, Page 23 is an award-winning short that explores the existential emptiness of living in an IKEA catalog.


And The Content Farm is a funny jab at content mills like Demand Media, featuring "informative articles about every topic, written by people with a passing knowledge."

"The first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: decide what you want." - Ben Stein

 

Shot clock expired

Regrettable filmmaking exploit, how to lose $2400 in 24 seconds.


Also in the world of photography, the extent of photoshopping in magazines and advertising is astounding. Toggle the image displays to see how unreal it all is.

"For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Mean streets

Rad and gnarly street ski segment shot on some mean slushy and gravelly urban terrain in British Columbia. (Thanks Joel)


And some creative Haiku Street Signs from a New York City Department of Transportation public-safety campaign.

"Never measure the height of a mountain until you have reached the top. Then you will see how low it was." - Dag Hammarskjold

 

Ultimate frisbee (catch)

Connecting way down field in an amazing-if-true frisbee throw and catch. Must sea to believe.


And not really related, a cool tool to bring back YouTube looping from the olden days of the interwebs. Make Kate Bush spin forever...

"I can't run, I can't throw, I can't catch, I can't block and I can't tackle and this is my 21st year in the NFL." - John Kasay

 

another 10 quirky science stunts

Christmas parties and like are just around the corner, and thankfully Richard Wiseman created another 10 quirky science stunts to "help ensure that you are the life and soul of any party". Good luck with that.


Also a sequel, Irina Werning's Back to the Future 2 perpetuates the meme of recreating old pics. (Semi-warning -- contains a couple random bits of nudity.)

"I'm not anti-science, I'm anti the way science is sometimes used." - Charles, Prince of Wales

 

Shiatsu Shih Tzu

A short video that might signal the end of the world. The dog must be torn...


And on the flip side, My Cat is a Dick, a social proving ground for the time-honored opinion.

"You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

When life hands you lemons

Hilarity in this quick clip, Lemonade sketch, from Irish TV show "Your Bad Self" that illustrates a potential roadtrip disaster.


And in other misconstruals, a nice collection of occasionally profane rants from the name-abused.

"Delay is preferable to error." - Thomas Jefferson

 

Vegislative mishap

Congress has proposed reclassifying pizza as a vegetable for the purpose of "healthy school lunches", and Jonathan Mann has something to say about it in this little ditty. [bOING bOING]


And some Letterman-esque statistics can be had on a new Twitter account called @FakePewResearch... for example: Those who do not learn from history: 15% - doomed to repeat it; 85% - slept in.

"Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are more pliable." - Mark Twain

 

Stationery stop-motion

Music video Against The Grain puts colored pencils to good use with novel stop-motion animation, featuring (among other effects) a pencil equalizer that beats along with the music.


And for those so musically-inclined, The Rap Board features rappers’ signature sounds, catchphrases, grunts and more.

"A #2 pencil and a dream can take you anywhere." - Joyce A. Myers

 

Open the Bombay doors

A troupe called "The Warriors of Goja" are slightly out of control in this aberrational display of superhuman powers on an Indian talent. Assuming you put eating fluorescent light bulbs, getting run over by cars, etc., in that category... [Gawker]


Also in matters of physical destruction, would you survive a nuke? Enter your ZIP code and drop the simulated big one to find out.

"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia." - Charles M. Schulz

 

Siri-ous ad

Another amusing Siri ad parody from the guys over at College Humor. (Warning: Contains strong language and mature themes, so plug the kiddies' ears.)


And a funny Tumblr with a literary bent: what if Cormac McCarthy was a Yelp reviewer...? [bOING bOING]

"A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows the public opinion." - Chinese Proverb

 

Pass the gravy

Another thing to be thankful for today -- Adam Sandler's Thanksgiving Song -- a comic feast performed live.


And The Quest For Every Beard Type from a guy who's grown it 33 ways (and counting).

"Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow." - Edward Sandford Martin

"Thanksgiving is America’s national chow-down feast, the one occasion each year when gluttony becomes a patriotic duty." - Michael Dresser

 

Breaking bad

Yoga + breakdancing = Break ton Neck.


And an exhibit of sorts... all the art that you can cram into an Altoids tin.

"Ambition has one heel nailed in well, though she stretch her fingers to touch the heavens." - Lao Tzu

 

Lights, camera, action, roll 'em

In what might be the most outlandish Bollywood car chase ever, this clip from an Indian film culminates in our rollerbladed-hero kicking some bad-guy ass with the aid of delightfully realistic special effects. The only thing we have to fear is fear of cars flipping randomly into the air and exploding.


Also ridiculous and movie-related, a not necessarily talented baby recreates stills from famous movie scenes. I normally eschew anything containing a baby, but the effort expended and ultimate effect somehow cross a line for me.

"Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit." - Conrad Hilton

 

Liquid, courage

Carlsberg beer ad pulls off a nice prank wherein a movie theater all but full with biker dudes sells the last two tickets to young couples until someone grows a pair. 

What would you do...? 
(Thanks ABom)


If you've ever sort-of noticed that all movie posters look the same but never really thought about it, you'll probably like this little bit of bloganalysis. [Gizmodo]

"Believe you can and you're halfway there." - Theodore Roosevelt

 

Feline a little woozy

Heralded by its creator as "a small furry dollop of animated whimsy," Welcome to Kitty City is a unique style of psychedelic feline warfare. Drive carefully.


And Teenage Mutant Ninja Noses may signal some sort of nearing social blogging apocalypse.

"A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way." - Mark Twain

 

Cain promises he is able

Regardless of your political leanings, you might appreciate a little Mike Tyson in Herman Cain’s Campaign Promises, a F-or-D send-up of the Republican presidential candidate. Early, often, always, everywhere. [Gizmodo]


And somehow distantly related -- and exactly what it sounds like -- Sh-t No One Has Ever Said.

"A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul." - George Bernard Shaw

 

40 memes later

Band called "The GAG Quartet" (note that there are three of them) cram 40 memes into one catchy tune. Behold, the national anthem of the internet.


And Drinkify is a useful new tool to help you figure what music goes with which drink. Party on.

"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody." - Bill Cosby

 

Where's the fire?

Ever wonder about the force exerted by the water shooting out of a broken fire hydrant? See what happens to a car that has skidded over the open pipe after one got sheared off. [Gizmodo]


And Winning at Everything highlights the beauty of idiocy so brilliant that it mocks itself. (Thanks Gordon)

"All things are difficult before they are easy." - Thomas Fuller

 

Don't stop on a dime

Watch a 99% stoner-looking dude inconceivably balance 3,000 coins on one thin dime in seven time-lapsed hours. [Gizmodo]


Mo' money -- an infographic with some interesting facts about the almighty dollar. And other ways to deal with your change: Tipping Etiquette Around the World.

"A man is usually more careful of his money than of his principles." - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

 

Pee no evil

Meet Oscar, a peculiar dog with a not-often-seen posture issue who might provide impetus for a change to his namesake acting award statue.


Also odd and hirsute, the Leg Hair Font, a hairy typeface created without a computer.

"Every noble work is at first impossible." - Thomas Carlyle

 

Paper proof water

A music video called "Pirate's Life" entirely hand-drawn with markers on paper. Visual fairly cool, audio your call. [Kijek / Adamski]


If you've ever sort-of noticed that all movie posters look the same but never really thought about it, you'll probably like this little bit of bloganalysis. [Gizmodo]

"Bad artists copy. Good artists steal." - Pablo Picasso

 

Living small

In an amusing clip from the Conan O'Brien Show, Louis C.K. vociferates like (almost) only he can about the deterioration of human fabric in the smartphone generation. [Gizmodo]


Also on matters of dubious value, HuffNo, a Tumblr that pokes fun at the Huffington Post.

And a vaguely related bonus: best name for a cute site ever.

"I rant, therefore I am." - Dennis Miller

 

Birds of a feather

It's a natural phenomenon, sure, but murmuration -- huge flocks of birds sweeping the skies as if a single coordinated organism -- is a pretty freaky sight to behold. [Gizmodo]


Also from the scary world out there, terrifying teeth and menacing mouths abound at Nature Wants to Eat You.

"If I could come back as anything, I'd be a bird, first, but definitely the command key is my second choice." - Nikki Giovanni

 

Father Cooks Best

If PB&J was your dad's idea of cooking, you might appreciate this parody, Top Chef: Dads, featuring a battle among that division's culinary elite. [Gizmodo]


And an amusing compilation of magazine top tips that need no parody.

"Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great." - John D. Rockefeller

 

Pansy division

Recently released secret DoD footage reveals a micro-dog in a tank costume that could be our last line of defense against invading hordes of squeaky toys.


And may the best letter win at Type Fight.

"In the long course of history, having people who understand your thought is much greater security than another submarine." - J. William Fulbright

 

Cool beans

A stop-motion music video, "In Your Arms", painstakingly made with 288,000 jelly beans.


If you enjoyed Google's "Do a Barrel Roll" search trick making the rounds last week, you might also like these other whimsical search Easter eggs from the Googleplex.

"Data is not information; Information is not knowledge; Knowledge is not understanding; Understanding is not wisdom." - Cliff Stoll and Gary Schubert

 

Sonic bloom

I'd buy a bunch more often if they looked like these flowers awakening in the morning when viewed at normal speed.


And like a blog in a candy store, the so-called Scandybars represents the cutting edge of scanning.

"And the heart that is soonest awake to the flowers is always the first to be touch'd by the thorns." - Thomas Moore

 

Up with people

This YT uploader asserts that People Are Awesome, and I'd have to agree if by that he means absolutely freakin' nuts.


Also somewhat out of position, a bevy of models looking just slightly off kilter at Awkward Poses.

"I became insane with long periods of horrible sanity." - Edgar Allan Poe

 

Cleared for takeoff

Would airlines fare any better getting you to listen if they traded in the generally unenthusiastic pre-flight instructions for a comedy sketch? [The Consumerist]


So it's you and 6,999,999,999 people on the planet. What's your number? (Remember to enter your DOB the British way: dd/mm/yyyy.) [Gizmodo]

"The future is here. It's just not widely distributed yet." - William Gibson

 

Innuendo smorgasbord

For whatever reason, cooking shows like the UK's Celebrity MasterChef seem to make for great double entendres.


Also a little uncomfortably saucy is this site where one of the Village People will groan out your IP address in a gravely voice. Fairly too creepy for my blood.

"What makes resisting temptation difficult for many people is they don't want to discourage it completely." - Franklin Jones

 

Makes your head spin

Nice little animated micro-series from Open University called 60-Second Adventures in Thought. Our education system might be able to learn a little about how math, physics, etc., should be taught.


And a thinking-man's water fountain, Metalmorphosis, is a mirrored moving masterpiece located in Charlotte, NC. Fourteen tons of rotating stainless steel layers that form a giant bald head, equipped with live webcam.

"All the forces in the world are not so powerful as an idea whose time has come." - Victor Hugo

 

Better living through technology

Amusing little parody ad from Google, no less, blasting the poor state of affairs of online shopping. Though regardless of how poor the experience, the lazy among us will not be deterred.


And influenced by The Onion is this recently launched site called Outkube that caters to moronic internet commenters. It's about time they had a burning platform.

"There art two cardinal sins from which all others spring: Impatience and Laziness." - Franz Kafka

 

Good costume idea, though has a few holes

Maybe the best, geekiest Halloween costume to-date. It's not rocket science, though he is a NASA engineer. [Gizmodo]
 

Magic jack

Master magician puts an iPad to good use with some unique Halloween magic that blends good ol' manual prestidigitation with well orchestrated digital wizardry.


This remote-controlled flamethrower jack-o'-lantern is one of the Halloween better ideas that might not get past your homeowners association.

And fitting in this season of costumery, hardly seems possible that these Polyester Disasters were ever in fashion. "Vintage" is such a kind word.

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - Arthur C. Clarke

 

Rubik's cubed

Check out the serious multitasking skills on this guy as he juggles two Rubik’s Cubes while solving a third.


And not really solving anything, Microwhat catalogs animated GIFs that flash pics of foodstuffs in before and after microwaving.

"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you
really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I
have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.'
You must do the thing you think you cannot do." - Eleanor Roosevelt

 

Trick or geek

If shotgun beer races are your idea of party cleverness, you still might enjoy this rapid-fire medley of quirky science-based tricks that are sure to astound your friends at parties.


And also in the partying spirit, Hipster or Halloween Costume -- it's your guess -- in this new blog showcasing the rich tapestry that is humanity. Sometimes it's hard to tell, indeed.

And a semi-related bonus: the Hipster’s Dictionary.

"The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance -- it is the illusion of knowledge." - Daniel J. Boorstin

 

"What time is it, Siri?"

"Beer-thirty."

Geek rigs his iPhone so he can get Siri to pour him a beverage, though there's slightly more to it than that. [Techcrunch]


And if you're in the occupying mood but not quite up to actually doing it, go with a cyber-occupation of, say, Goldman Sachs.

"All men who have achieved great things have been great dreamers." - Orison Swett Marden

 

Whole Lotta Motormouth

Michael Winslow, AKA Motormouth Jones the mouth-noise guy from Police Academy, has a go at Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" to surprisingly impressive effect.


And speaking of unexpected remakes, The Best Muppet Show Beatles Covers.

"The way to get things done is not to mind who gets the credit for doing them." - Benjamin Jowett

 

Shatner in the Sky with Rhapsody

William Shatner just had to do a rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody, which I take sort of as required viewing if you've ever sat through his infamous "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds".


And also forgotten but not gone, If We Don't, Remember Me, a gallery of living movie stills.

"Reputation is what other people know about you. Honor is what you know about yourself." - Lois McMaster Bujold

 

On the Rox

Steve Ballmer. Bill Gates. Night at the Roxbury. Apparently old Microsoft conferences were streamed from an alternate dimension. [kottke.org]


And a little more unrelated business history, How 50 Big Companies Got Their Names.

"In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield." - Warren Buffett

 

Snap-together retorts

Little sunglasses for the David Caruso character in CSI: Legoland provide the essential element for a successful plastic caricature. (Mature themes; mild lego violence.)


Can you dig it? Simple, but effective, smart-ass signage from the b3ta funny name corner.

"Pride does not wish to owe and vanity does not wish to pay." - François de La Rochefoucauld

 

Funslinger

A fairly ambitious backyard project, the Human Slingshot, but looks like a pretty good time.
[Gizmodo]


And while slingshot isn't, guillotine is. A little article and music-vid ditty about how to live forever by becoming an objectified noun.

"You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough." - Mae West

 

Recharge of the light brigade

Viral ad from Qualcomm called "The Bug Circus Generator" that gives creepy critters a workout powering a smartphone. Bugs are the new hamsters, and presumably not coming to a pocket near you anytime soon. [Mashable]


And Less than 100g, a blog dedicated to tiny and beautiful (inanimate) stuff.

"All phone calls are obscene." - Karen Elizabeth Gordon

 

Duet to it

Geek musical interlude featuring an iPhone 4s entitled, A Duet With Siri. This guy is a little too connected, perhaps.


Money talks, but not loud enough for the 99%, so Occupy George stamps dollar bills to turn them into wealth-disparity infographics. Because money knowledge is power he says.

"Money is the opposite of the weather. Nobody talks about it, but everybody does something about it." - Rebecca Johnson

 

Burning reel

This time-lapse video packs five weeks of Burning Man 2011 -- from setup to dissolution -- into five ant-like minutes (that's three hours a second), leaving you to mentally fill in the sordid details. [Gizmodo]


And a meme for "Family Tech Support Guy": 21 Reasons Why Technology Isn’t So Great Sometimes.

"Experts agree that the best type of computer for your individual needs is one that comes on the market about two days after you actually purchase some other computer." - Dave Barry

 

'Round the horn

Seeming ancestor of the crazy trick shot basketball videos that graced the Tube in recent memory is Pitch Back Juggler, a hard to fathom display of hand-eye-bat coordination found just in time to kick off this year's Fall Classic. (Thanks Mr. G)


If you’re in the mood for games, Kern Type will test your spatial skills at slightly slower speed. And the surprising challenge that is Cheese or Font? (reprised).

"Statistics: The only science that enables different experts using the same figures to draw different conclusions." - Evan Esar

 

It's a Musical Thing

I hadn't previously envisioned John Carpenter's cult classic remake "The Thing" being turned into a three-minute micro-musical, but it almost certainly beats the lame prequel retreading that just was released.


And another couple of intriguing combos, pop culture meets philosophy: The Nietzsche Family Circus and Beatles Philosophy.

"What we think determines what happens to us, so if we want to change our lives, we need to stretch our minds." - Wayne Dyer

 

The S stands for sub

Not to be outdone by Apple's recent announcement, Subway unleashes its own revolutionary new product, the Meatball Sub 4S, that similarly is more different on the inside. [Gizmodo]


Also in related mockery, Sh*t That Siri Says, is a Tumblr where you can submit screenshots of inane "conversations" with your new sentient iPhone.

"Intelligence is the wife, imagination is the mistress, memory is the servant." - Victor Hugo

 

On your left

Novel tip for unobstructed walking on crowded streets... ring a bicycle bell and people will get out of the way, even if you don't have a bike.


And in other strange thinking, Highdeas is a website conceived of and for stoner logic. (For example: "Midget Village: Buy a forest. Adopt 8 midget babies every year (mixed race). Be the only non-midget around and raise them to think you're their god." Or, "Anybody notice that the word bed looks like a bed?")

"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream." - C.S. Lewis

 

Say it ain't so

When is a lyric not a lyric? Check out this video medley for a bit of musical history.


And from Letters of Note, "Seven Little Men Help a Girl" is a fake memo from a displeased animator at Disney over the "blanding" change to the title of their animated feature from 'Basil of Baker Street' to the more straightforward 'The Great Mouse Detective'. As you might imagine, much biting satire ensues.

"A good name, like good will, is got by many actions and lost by one." - Lord Jeffery

 

Insufferable Coffee Snobs

Snobs ruin coffee worse than adding milk, illustrated in Insufferable Coffee Snobs is like the hipster barista, come to life. (Funnier and less pathetic than the social nitwits in Insufferable Yelpers.)


And Surviving the World, a webcomic featuring potentially helpful and possibly humorous daily lessons covering "all shades of life".

"After a heated argument on some trivial matter, Nancy [Astor] shouted, 'If I were your wife I would put poison in your coffee!' Whereupon Winston [Churchill] answered, 'And if I were your husband I would drink it.'" - John Fellows Akers

 

Tearin' it out

Tearing out the main character, digital paperesque, in the music video Loose Fit makes for a creative effect. Tune could be worse, too.


The New York Times' T Magazine posted Model-Morphosis, an interactive photo gallery where you can use a slider control to see how fashion models are transformed via makeup and styling.

And on the flip side, Men-ups! is a Flickr set featuring males posing in stereotypically female style.

"Show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy." - F. Scott Fitzgerald

 

Do as I say

Nothing worse than a copy cat.


I never knew Einstein was INTP, but if you're familiar with Myers-Briggs types, you might be interested in this list of famous people by personality type.

"Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike." - Theodore Roosevelt

 

Every story tells a picture

Why not film a sketch, let YouTube translate, then re-act the translated script and call it Caption Fail 2...?


And in other caption-based entertainment developments, Sad Guys On Trading Floors.

"The gambling known as business looks with austere disfavor on the business known as gambling. - Ambrose Bierce

 

My what big teeth you have

Normal dog deathly afraid of Julia Roberts' unusually large mouth makes for a few seconds of amusement.


And if you feel like harkening back to the internet's early days, gander Find My Goddess for a few good laughs.

"Crave for a thing, you will get it. Renounce the craving, the object will follow you by itself." - Swami Sivananda

 

Shredding speed

Russian garage metal band takes it on the road and splits eardrums on a mobile stage at freeway speed.


And a list or two of words with no English equivalent.

"All human beings are also dream beings. Dreaming ties all mankind together." - Jack Kerouac

 

Real-life Angry Soccer Birds

Watch some players from the UNC-Asheville soccer team recreate Angry Birds with some trick shot magic. [BI]


For more warped refactoring, check out this psychotropic golf physics game called Wonder Putt.

"Keeping score of old scores and scars, getting even and one-upping, always make you less than you are." - Malcolm Forbes

 

Demolition, man

No big bang as this Bridge Too Far is demolished by a crew of humants in a mere 18 hours over night, brought to you in a neat little two-minute time-lapse package. [Gizmodo]


And who needs the full story when you can have information through ignorance at F%#&! Yeah Headlines? News story headlines conjure up some strange images, it would seem. (Safe for work, in case you were wondering.)

"It's amazing that the amount of news that happens in the world every day always just exactly fits the newspaper." - Jerry Seinfeld

 

1000 sticks -- dynamite

Quick-clip of a 1,000-piece "stick bomb" wreaking extremely minor household havoc. A nice change of pace from the traditional line of dominoes, though. [bOING bOING]


In other faux domestic destruction... want to see your home destroyed? Just type in your address and Chaos in Your Town will do the rest (with a little help from Google Maps).

"Unless one says goodbye to what one loves, and unless one travels to completely new territories, one can expect merely a long wearing away of oneself and eventual extinction." - Jean Dubuffet

 

Equal time

New Bad Lip Reading video designed to entertain and amuse, featuring (targeting?) Republican presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann. "You know me -- if you're in danger and odd-sized, count on me." Also in the running, the recent Rick Perry soundbite, which is nearly as enjoyable. [bOING bOING]


And from the other end of the politico front, Barack and Gary, BFFs with pictures from the official White House Flickr feed digitally enhanced with Gary Busey.

"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

Pryor art

Difficult to believe this classic skit featuring Richard Pryor as the first black President is 32 years old. Brilliant and on target given today's perspective. (Thanks Bomser)


And exactly what it sounds like, Sh-t No One Has Ever Said.

"A fool and his money are soon elected." - Will Rogers

 

Specific gravity

Time-lapse covering 30 hours of brush-less, bottle-squeezing, canvas-spinning masterpiece painting crunched down to a couple minutes. [Gizmodo]


Also, company logos from past to present to possible future.

"It is my feeling that Time ripens all things; with Time all things are revealed; Time is the father of truth." - Francois Rabelais

 

Instant Bad Karma

Frightening mashup of Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" X "Instant Karma" from John Lennon. Is it art or just gratuitously, disturbing violence? Exercise discretion -- NSFW (and maybe more).


How will you die...? This grim (reaper) infographic enlightens on causes of death broken down by gender, age and race/ethnicity. And regardless of those, looks like it's eventually heart disease for everyone who hangs around long enough.

"Aging seems to be the only available way to live a long life." - Kitty O'Neill Collins

 

Musical drive duet

Bored hacker on break from school programs two floppy drives to play the "Imperial March" (from Star Wars).


And along the same lines, The Museum of Obsolete Objects, a YouTube channel.

"The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today." - Franklin D. Roosevelt

 

Show me the movie...

...that can't be improved by the addition of Tom Selleck's moustache.


Also a blast into the past, Back to the Future Photos, reenactments of childhood pics.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana

 

No means 'Nooo!'

Even classic movies aren't safe from George Lucas with Darth Vader's "Nooo!" edited into scenes from bygone masterpieces. You'll be shouting it, too, after watching both minutes of this.


And Comically Vintage, a blog of context-free single panels from vintage strips might elicit a nyuck or two.

"Any idiot can face a crisis -- it's day to day living that wears you out." - Anton Chekhov

 

Change of face

Very interesting demo of some real-time facial de-recognition software. I hope to look like Brad Pitt in the very near future.


And bring your drawings to life with Draw a Stickman.

"All change is not growth, as all movement is not forward." - Ellen Glasgow

 

Waterwhirl

Summer may be over, but you can still enjoy some shots with this well-orchestrated Las Vegas-style water gun ballet. [Gizmodo]


And is there such a thing as insanity... among penguins? Photos of TV.

"It is with our passions, as it is with fire and water, that they are good servants but bad masters." - Aesop

 

Dry clean beats

Experimentalist orchestrates music from a dry cleaner using just the equipment available. Beats start about a minute in it.


Also making music of a sort, Nokia is running a competition to find the next great version of its famous ringtone. Once you listen, it'll be clear why the most liked entry ("The Great Marvelous") holds the top spot.

"He that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils; for time is the greatest innovator." - Francis Bacon

 

Cat fight

Not much of a battle when Bert the Cat throws down with the evil Cat Balloon.


And if you like animated GIFs of animals being less than nice to people or other animalkind, this Tumblr is for you.

"Forewarned, forearmed; to be prepared is half the victory." -Miguel de Cervantes

 

The Alphabet 2 developmental spelling video

Fairly creative, this so-called developmental spelling video entitled, The Alphabet 2, where each character visually represents the meaning of the word itself. Or a drawn version with a Japanese bent, the Illustrated A to Z of Japan.


Also somewhat wordly, iPhuckups features a collection of amusing iPhone auto-incorrect mishaps.

"Education is learning what you didn't even know you didn't know." - Daniel J. Boorstin

 

Trippin' Tokyo

Avoid the potential side-effects of psychotropics and just watch the mind-bending Tokyo Slo-Mode. A great effort at capturing one Hunter S. Thompson-esque version of the big city experience.


Also in the party hearty category, Hungover Owls, which seems to aptly capture the morning after a rough night out of the barn.

"There is nothing deep down inside us except what we have put there ourselves." - Richard Rorty

 

Spanning the globe

Beautiful time-lapse (1 min.) shot from the International Space Station as it orbits the Earth at night, from Antarctica to Zaire. [bOING bOING]


Also getting it all covered, WhatWasThere, a project that lets people upload photographs to create a photographic history of the world (or at least any place covered by Google Maps) to let you see what a location looked like in the past.

And some bonus questions... show what you know all over the place with geography quizzes galore.

"What is history but a fable agreed upon?" - Napoleon Bonaparte

 

Hello, again (and again)

Semi-mesmerizing short video of compiled clips wherein a differently attired Shelley Duvall says, "Hello, I’m Shelley Duvall" until you're almost beyond believing it. Strange to say, this vid has something, though I can't quite pin it down.


And somewhat less sledgehammer in technique, Subtly Simpsons, a list of particularly witty lines from the best TV show ever. Also, a classic penned exchange... Marge Simpson-Barbara Bush correspondence.

"Almost every wise saying has an opposite one, no less wise, to balance it." - George Santayana

 

Wreckless abandon

A PSA and mini-short rolled into one, Drive Recklessly offers a wistful caution against driving fast and furious.


And an impressive set of so-awful-they're-awesome movie posters, said to be created by artists in Ghana to sell tickets to screenings of bootleg shows. Make your way down to Cujo for for the win.

"Politicians should read science fiction, not westerns and detective stories." - Arthur C. Clarke

 

Undeadpan

Chuck Testa makes his mark as purveyor of the stuffed animal kingdom in the Official Ojai Valley Taxidermy TV Commercial. Look for him in the dictionary under "deadpan".


And a well-crafted blog of IM chats between a man and his cat. Just a coincidence that chat = cat in French...?

"Nothing but heaven itself is better than a friend who is really a friend." - Plautus

 

Might as well jump

Watch and be amused by 13 dogs jumping rope. Good luck finding a video of even a single cat doing same. (In fact, it looks like this.)


Think you might have OCD-ish tendencies? Don't worry; just check out this guy.

"We must not always judge of the generality of the opinion by the noise of the acclamation." - Edmund Burke

 

Bridge under troubled climbers

Deeply disturbed kids thoroughly enjoying themselves climbing the Moscow Bridge in Kiev, Russia. A little too spine tingling for me... more like a good reason to stay in school. [Gizmodo]


Speaking of dizzying, the folks at Mozilla created this hypnotic spiral generator, a.k.a., "the eye effer-upper". Cool enough for a few-second look.

"Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence." - Helen Keller

 

Geer boggles

Cleverly put-together anti-boozing commercial. Watch it once, then watch it again while hovering your mouse over it. Look familiar? (Split-screen version also available here.)


Also gearing you up for the weekend, Crap Dates sublimely summed in the 140 characters of a tweet.

"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing." - George Bernard Shaw

 

Herding cats

Amazing feat of French feline filming, this advert, which appears to illustrate a scenario where cats are in charge of a telecom company. No subtitles really needed.


Also apparently cooked up by some sort of animal, guns made of meat. (This artiste also makes skulls out of produce.) [bOING bOING]

"I had been told the training procedure with cats was difficult. It's not. Mine had me trained in two days." - Bill Dana

 

Qwerty you watching

The latest asdf movie (#4) in the series of minimalist five-second sketches that calls up something of a micro version of Robot Chicken.


And if you're looking for hours of useless distraction, check out Google Correlate. Draw a line and it finds trends that match it. Randomly interesting; be creative.

"One-fifth of the people are against everything all the time." - Robert F. Kennedy

 

Air of mobility

1 Rascal mobility scooter + 2 wood planks + 3 washing machines = The Great Canadian Appliance Jump. Ah, those magnificent men in their flying machines.


And a fertile imagination might lead you to Photoshop up some drunk trees.

"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream." - C.S. Lewis

 

Remedies for dirt, etc.

A suggestion I hope you'll never have to consider: putting out a fire with a vacuum cleaner. Yeah, seems unlikely, but apparently works, at least on floors.


Mona Lisa on a windshield will either fill you with joy or make you think about a bucket of soapy water... the dirty car art gallery. (Spoiler: Not that kind of dirty.)

"The ability to combine wisdom and power has only rarely been successful and then only for a short while." - Albert Einstein

 

Mothers of invention

Coke bottle is the real thing for a mariachi street-band trumpet player, possibly named MacGuyver"


And brightening the urban landscape just a bit... Street Art Utopia.

"A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd." - Max Lucado

 

Father knows best

I don't normally go in for the kid vid thing, but "Don't Jump, Edward" offers a bit of a surprise ending to a toddler melodrama.


And the Cartoon Color Wheel lays out the cartoon character spectrum.

"Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash." - Gen. George S. Patton

 

500 + 1500 / 110

Mucho excellente stop-motion video within a stop-motion video using 500 people and 1500 photographs in 110 seconds. (Caution: Do not operate while under the influence.)


And hopefully "carry daddies" and "yummy mummies" are terms you don't recognize, but regardless, Exactitudes has some interesting photo exhibits of unwritten dress codes some people adopt.

"Magic is believing in yourself; if you can do that, you can make anything happen." - Wolfgang Von Goethe

 

Sir Crapsalot

Crazed lovebird kicks axe on small plastic toys, set to a melodious soundtrack.


And in case you hadn't heard... stocking -- posing like a contrived stock photo -- is the new planking. Now what's the art of creating lame internet content with intent to commit virulence?

"The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again." - Charles Dickens

 

Half-ass: Jackass, Kiwi style

Cutting-edgy New Zealanders fire something of a salvo at Empty Vee and show us something every bit as exciting as the U.S. version of "Jackass". Refreshing and 100% SFW.


Also in the parody section, Heello is an oddly torqued take on Twitter built for laughs on a solid foundation of WTF.

"There is nothing new except what has been forgotten." - Marie Antoinette

 

Bot vs. Bot

Two AI machines called "Cleverbot" hooked up and left to their own conversation results in humorously surrealist small talk.


Highly self-conscious, impersonal, charmless... how do you close out your emails?

"The most imaginative people are the most credulous, for them everything is possible." - Alexander Chase

 

Fair game

French filmmaker Mathieu Weschler spent two years making The Trashmaster, a full-length 88-minute epic composed entirely from scenes in Grand Theft Auto IV, including all the debauchery you'd expect.

And here's a quick look at GTA4 with the friction turned off. City driving, a little more challenging.


Also, a bit of tech industry humor... the org charts of major tech companies.

"Men talk of killing time, while time quietly kills them." - Dion Boucicault

 

Heavenly meeting

Nearly a year of editing what was originally 30 hours of footage shot in Victoria, Australia turned it into Ocean Sky, one heck of a beautiful, majestic time-lapse creation.


Also painstaking (made using just a toothpick), some of the nano-est origami you'll ever see.

"A change in the weather is sufficient to recreate the world and ourselves." - Marcel Proust

 

Concrete Circus

Footage from a new film called "Industrial Revolutions" showcasing street trials riding star Danny Macaskill's skills at an industrial train yard in the beautiful Scottish countryside.


And it's almost but not quite too late for Oatmeal to explain The State of the Web this summer. All you need to know to get a good laugh at its expense.

"A man sooner or later discovers that he is the master-gardener of his soul, the director of his life." - James Allen

 

Sling 'n Slide

Gigantor-sized slip-n-slide + mega-slingshot + human = one giant fling for a man, one small amusing video for mankind.


Also in motion, peoplemovin is an interesting tool for visualizing migration flows across the world.

"It is better to travel well than to arrive." - Buddha

 

Divine intervention

As bad as TV advertising can be, this indescribably amateurish spot sets a new standard for utter crapification. Opulence, you has it indeed.


And give the GIF of vintage TV -- random animated images, presented in a simulated idiot-box ca. 1970.

"There are days when any electrical appliance in the house, including the vacuum cleaner, offers more entertainment than the TV set." - Harriet Van Horne

 

Idiotspotting

The question that maybe didn't need to be asked, but Gizmodo asked anyway... "Why do idiots keep trying to outrun speeding trains?" Apparently Darwin doesn't always win.


And the best obnoxious responses to misspellings on Facebook, a nice compilation of venom-infused attacks on those so deserving. Some gud, funnie stuf in their.

"Prudence keeps life safe, but does not often make it happy." - Samuel Johnson

 

Standard model

"Poses" is a video-experiment wherein normal women pose like models in public, which gets some interesting reactions from passers-by, mainly stopping to see whether they're OK.


And then there's Switcheroo, which is kind of like those Photoshop'd head-swaps minus the Photoshop.

"There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it." - Edith Wharton

 

Ductronic

Nicely done action-packed TV spot for duct tape that's not only humorous but also an homage to a classic scene from "Tron".


And some muy creative print ads created in a valiant attempt to reverse the medium's downward-swirling trend (thanks to that time sink known as the interwebs).

"Everyone is a genius at least once a year. The real geniuses simply have their bright ideas closer together." - Georg C. Lichtenberg

 

Gaseous

Helium-filled remote-controlled air-swimming sharks... slightly better to watch than it might sound.


And one of the creepier iPhone accessories around.

"Climate is what we expect; weather is what we get." - Mark Twain

 

Animal rites

Real 1965 reel of a wacky-as-hell taxidermy museum featuring stuffed (real) animals dressed up like people. Elaborate and bizarre.


Also somewhat horrifying and half-witted, Celebrities With Shark Mouths.

"When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on." - Thomas Jefferson