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