Cyriak's sixth sheep's sick

Having trouble passing out? Counting these sheep would probably only make things worse. Bizarre so-called "experiments in ovine geometry" in Cyriak's new short video.


And more unnatural contortions... give 'em an inch and they'll take a foot, competitors at the World Toe Wrestling Championship face off in an event that's sorta like arm wrestling but with smaller, smellier digits.

"A man always has two reasons for doing anything: a good reason and the real reason." - J. P. Morgan

 

Balloon payment

Quick clip of an ill-advised foray into home pyrotechnics using a balloon filled with obviously flammable gas of unknown origin. [Gizmodo]


And can a $2,800 leather lawn chair change your life? Read the stellar set of Amazon customer reviews to find out.

"Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day." - Samuel Goldwyn

 

Conan O'Brien rips Apple's Final Cut Pro X

An amusing clip from a recent Conan O'Brien show that humorously tears into a new release of Apple's editing software Final Cut Pro X.


And also on the app front, Asciiflow is a browser-based contrivance that might let you toss Photoshop to crank out those ASCII line drawings.

"Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't." - Margaret Thatcher

 

Tilt-shifting the Big Apple

A cinematic day in the life of New York City, nicely shot in model-esque miniature.


And somewhat vaguely related sorta, animals being dicks.

"Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence." - Napoleon Bonaparte

 

Garage band

Short promo piece for Leonard Solomon and his homemade music machine -- The Oomphalapompatronium, I guess it is -- which brings new perspective to the garage DIY project.


And if you like putting things together, you might twist and shout with this curvy puzzle.

"It is on the whole probably that we continually dream, but that consciousness makes such a noise that we do not hear it." - Carl Gustav Jung

 

Just say no

Amusing minute featuring micro-clips of Shia LaBeouf saying nothing but "no" from various movies. Or maybe you'd prefer Steve Jobs saying "boom" at his various keynotes.


Inventive infographica explaining what Rhett Butler gave a damn about, and creative visual depictions of other famous movie quotes.

"It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan."
- Eleanor Roosevelt

 

"Stop or I'll Throw!"

A trailer-as-ad for DirecTV featuring Eli and Peyton Manning fictionally starring in a fictional TV series called "Football Cops". [Mashable]


And more altered reality, some honest logos, a concept that exposes the true essence of the brand.

"Television enables you to be entertained in your home by people you wouldn't have in your home."
- David Frost

 

Rob Zombie's Woolite commercial

It came as a surprise to me, but Rob Zombie apparently directed a TV commercial for Woolite. It's entitled "Torturer", but don't get any ideas. [bOING bOING]

And see noteworthy curlers, clips, colors, beehives, buzzes, and buns at a so-called Hair Hall of Fame.

"Chaperons don't enforce morality; they force immorality to be discreet." - Judith Martin, Miss Manners

 

Click Tac Toe

Another vehicle for productivity reduction, courtesy of YouTube, with this interactive Tic Tac Toe game, including an opponent (the creator) who mocks your errant moves. By the way, this effort required 131 videos tagged with over 1,000 annotations, and took about a month of 14-hour workdays. [GigaOm]

(And if you like these interactive adventures and photo challenges, there's more info about them at GigOm.)


Also annotated, some Netflix Envelope Doodles here and here, some of which Gizmodo claims are better than the movie inside.

"A mistake is always forgivable, rarely excusable and always unacceptable." - Robert Fripp

 

Billiardominoes

Interesting display of prowess in this mutant offspring of two popular games.


And another nifty, trippy ball-oriented game (built in HTML5 for those who care).

"Plan ahead or find trouble on the doorstep." - Confucius

 

Harmony in the key of C

Absurd clip of an eHarmonizer who really, really, really loves cats. Posted with great reluctance, but it's just too ridiculous and widespread not to.


Author VS Naipaul suggested that he can read a piece of writing and within a paragraph or two whether it was written by a woman or man. Can you?


"Among my most prized possessions are words that I have never spoken." - Orson Scott Card
 

Industrial termination

Like a retro "Will It Blend" episode rockin' the 80s, a machine apparently capable of terminating anything thrown its way, including a comprehensive array of feminine hygiene products.


And if you're looking for an industrial painter, check out this outfit and let the voyage begin. Might just be the best website ever created.

"You can't expect to hit the jackpot if you don't put a few nickels in the machine." - Flip Wilson

 

Now and Zen

Funny, though not as intended, when the Dalai Lama doesn't get the zen joke told to him during a TV interview. [bOING bOING]


And Twitter has accidentally pioneered a new frontier in comedy, says Wired Magazine: The 140-Character One-Liner.

"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." - Dalai Lama

 

Down goes Frazier

Transformers got nothin' on this crane succumbing to the laws of physics as it attempts to hoist a prefab swimming pool over a house. Action at about the two-minute mark. [bOING bOING]


And what would you grab if your house was burning? The kids and pets? Or a load of old crap?

"Instinct. When the house burns one forgets even lunch. Yes, but one eats it later in the ashes." - Friedrich Nietzsche

 

Back story

Agonizing 30-second video of a man who pierced his back for a direct hook onto a hot air balloon. Nevermind the idiocy and the pain -- as the author of the post likewise wondered, what was his backup plan (lame pun intended)? [Gizmodo]


And speaking of interesting hook-ons, @PEANUTWEETER is a Tumblr blog that slaps random tweets onto frames from classic Peanuts comic strips for amusing effect. [bOING bOING]

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

 

O.G.

Organic gangsta rap video, riding in a Prius and surviving the cracks in the middle of the Whole Foods mud.


They say not to judge a book by its cover, but if you're one who chooses a wine by its label, here's some help in the form of "wildly ill-advised extrapolations about what the label means for your drinking experience: the wine label kingdom.

"The moment somebody says to me, 'This is very risky,' is the moment it becomes attractive to me." - Kate Capshaw

 

Mentos telepathy

Though in the well-worn tradition of people jamming Mentos into coke bottles, this attempt had a unique outcome.


Also unexpected, some photo amusement... "The Internet is Coming".


"One should never forbid what one lacks the power to prevent." - Napoleon
 

Robochef

It chops, it mixes, it stirs... the lazy geniuses at MIT have created a robot that bakes chocolate chip cookies, and fixes a nasty breakfast, though it seems like less work to do it yourself. [Gizmodo]


And a good way to play with your food, The Miniature Life of Food and Drinks.


Finally, for the food wordy, a meatier lorem ipsum generator, Bacon Ipsum.

"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools." - Douglas Adams

 

Easy rider

Bicycle guy in NYC gets fined for not riding in the bike lane, reforms, gets mad but not even.


Speaking of ups and downs, Slate's Hollywood Career-O-Matic lets you graph actors' careers based on Rotten Tomatoes movie ratings.

"A story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end... but not necessarily in that order." -- Jean-Luc Godard

 

For the birds

Wingsuit pilots make like birds and fly amok through canyons, trees, and whatever else they can buzz. Before attempting, you'd be wise to ask how exactly you stop. [Business Inisder]


Also daring, this not-so-good idea for a customized Visa card.

"I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different." - Kurt Vonnegut

 

The kingdom's English

Animals turned unwitting actors thanks to quirky, chiefly British voice-overs for your amusement.


Another superimposition of a sort, Dear Photograph, featuring pictures of pictures from the past to evoke a certain fleeting nostalgia.


And a Friday bonus quiz... you probably don't need to take the Pew Research Center’s quiz to know where you stand, but the results come with interesting tidbits about your political "type". Just 23 clicks and you're done.

"The prime purpose of eloquence is to keep other people from talking." - Louis Vermeil

 

Hush now

Improv Everywhere's latest mission involves a couple dozen people, a couple dogs, and coordinated muting. The fact that it took place in Brooklyn probably lessened the effect -- it's tough to phase a New Yorker -- but good idea and execution nonetheless.


And children undoubtedly cause insanity, as proven by a dad who dressed in a different costume each morning for 170 days to wave goodbye to the most embarrassed teenager in the world as he boarded the school bus. Contributing to the teen suicide rate is nothing to be proud of.

"When you are young and healthy, it never occurs to you that in a single second your whole life could change." - Annette Funicello

 

Tie one on

No, really. Terry Moore found out he'd been tying his shoes the wrong way his whole life and shares his groundbreaking experience with you in this three-minute video from TED. (Warning: contains some amusement and actual useful information.)


And in other surprises, the Next Model competition in UK takes a trolling with the vote open to the public.

"Computers are like Old Testament gods; lots of rules and no mercy." - Joseph Campbell

 

Off at the races

Some very strange goings on with "Japan World Cup 3", a horse-racing video game that all but defies explanation.


While Q&A sites can be helpful, the best part might well be the amusing, stupid and bizarro questions.

"It takes a lot of things to prove you are smart, but only one thing to prove you are ignorant." - Don Herold

 

Kids of war

Kids plus toy pistols plus gallons of animated blood equals awesome fake gruesomeness. Tarantino and Rodriguez would be proud.


And people with lots of time and Legos on their hands recreate ten famous movie scenes.

"Everyone has a plan 'til they get punched in the mouth." - Mike Tyson

 

Kube-bot

Watch a robot methodically (how else?) put a Rubik's Cube in its place in just ten seconds. Still doesn't beat the human record, apparently (just over six seconds). [Gizmodo]


Draw some lines, drop some balls, and make some music.

"A smart man makes a mistake, learns from it, and never makes that mistake again. But a wise man finds a smart man and learns from him how to avoid the mistake altogether." - Roy H. Williams

 

Human Spirograph

If you ever played with a Spirograph -- the toy that let you draw intricate geometric shapes with little plastic doohickers -- as a kid, you might appreciate this bizarre display of artistic prowess by a dude who takes the snow angel concept to the next level. [Web Urbanist]


And ambitious works of art made with toothpicks, toast, cereal and other bits or pieces, major endeavors showing off serious levels of OCD-ness.

"What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 1:9-14)

 

Sky hook

Human-shaped RC plane gussied up to look like Ironman. Sorta cool, in a novel and geeky way. A few seconds and you'll get the effect.


And someone else with his head in the clouds, a year-long photography experiment called Clouds 365.


Finally, the top 10 finalists in the 2011 Illusion of the Year Contest.

"What we wish, we readily believe, and what we ourselves think, we imagine others think also." - Julius Caesar

 

iPhone No Cancer Commercial

New studies confirm that F-or-D's iPhone No Cancer Commercial might be amusing.


And novel ink, a realistic, 3D-ish, almost Photoshop'd-looking zombie tattoo.

"They threaten me with lung cancer, and I still smoke and smoke. If they'd only threaten me with hard work, I might stop." - Mignon McLaughlin, "The Second Neurotic's Notebook"

 

Baby's day out

Funny yet disturbing footage of a diapered man-baby acting out crazy kid antics in public is something you may wish you had never set eyes on. [Boing Boing]


And more kid stuff I'm not quite equipped for, geography bees from Nat Geo and a sample test from the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

"The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts." - C.S. Lewis