Thrown for a bloop

So much local news out there, and turns out it *is* good for something, like these best news bloopers, for instance.

"History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again." -- Maya Angelou

Shredder rip

This ultra-slow-mo video of gumballs getting torn to shreds in a blender is nearly festive and sorta cool.

"When in doubt, do it." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

World foam-ous

Never would have thought a promotional video for foam pads would be this not-boring, but this English upholstery company is full of surprises.

"A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs. It's jolted by every pebble on the road." -- Henry Ward Beecher

Something fishy

Really strange but pretty damn cool concept, this fish made of sushi, which looks too real to eat.

And finally, a restaurant spiciness scale that's honest and accurate.

"If two wrongs don't make a right, try three." -- Laurence J. Peter

Chute, the gap

Exhilarating ski run through a ridiculously narrow crevice that the good Lord clearly did not intend to be skied through.

And if you think you're good at that sort of thing, see if you can dodge zombies. Easy at first but tough to keep going; just like in the movies. Good luck surviving for more than a couple-three minutes.

"I'd rather regret the things I've done than regret the things I haven't done." -- Lucille Ball

Embrace the season

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Cruelty to plants, maybe, but what's done is done, as in the case of this Venus fly trap in a googly-eye Santa Claus costume.

"Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind." -- Mary Ellen Chase

Great again

Ever wonder what Donald Trump would sound like if he ranted in a British accent rather than his trademark intonation? Me neither, but someone did.

And also from the other side of the Atlantic, The Guardian's quiz on how well you know your country, by the numbers.

"Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others." -- Groucho Marx

Grass roots

Enjoy some local color with this most excellent crazy-ass rant unleashed at a City Council meeting. Scratchy toilet paper...?

And a quiz: Do you know in which state these TV shows are set?

"One advantage of talking to yourself is that you know at least somebody's listening." -- Franklin P. Jones

A matter of perspective

Even with the close-ups, can you tell the difference between what's real and what's not in these illusions?

And other things illusory, here's what a thousand bucks in rent (give or take) gets you, from coast to coast.

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." -- Albert Einstein

Amateur auteur

This beautiful and powerful advertisement for Johnnie Walker called "Dear Brother" is all the more impressive because it was created by two talented film students.

No spoilers; make sure to watch it all the way through.

"Getting older is no problem. You just have to live long enough." -- Groucho Marx

Paper pushrod

You need the hands of a surgeon to build this ping-pong-ball-size working paper model of a V8 engine that really gets cranking when you hook up a can of compressed air.

"There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly." -- R. Buckminster Fuller

Future imperfect

"Blade Runner" scene amusingly reenacted with Deckard attempting to analyze the photo he found using somewhat-lacking 2015 technology.

"There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired." -- F. Scott Fitzgerald

Home of the rave?

Another incredible, intricate, and over-engineered Christmas lights show, this time with dubstep, EDM, and other less traditional tunes for its soundtrack.

And the cultural differences between East and West, according to one artist, in simple graphical form. It's amazing what you can learn from a few pictures with no words.

"The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live." -- George Carlin

Helmet head

Yeah, yeah... another day and yet another "Star Wars" parody. But this one is different. "Darth Trump" uses only 100%-natural Trump audio clips, and just might restore your faith and hope in the fountain of YouTube.

"You can always tell when a man's well informed. His views are pretty much like your own." -- H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Wired weird

Parodic production reinterprets Lou Reed's classic counterculture composition "Walk on the Wild Side", artfully employing Twitter profiles to "sing" the lyrics.

"Words, as is well known, are the great foes of reality." -- Joseph Conrad

Pound for pound

This 5-year-old percussion prodigy proffers a pro-style performance of System of a Down's "Toxicity" that will almost surely make you feel inadequate about any musical skill you may think you have.

"Do whatever you do intensely." -- Robert Henri

Hands-free

This 60-year old "granddude" demonstrates how he's mastered the art of beer yoga, placing a frothy cup on his head and drinking it without using his hands or arms.

"In order to attain the impossible, one must attempt the absurd." -- Miguel de Cervantes

Found in space

Nice little claymation video makes an excellent primer explaining asteroids, comets, meteors, and meteorites if you're in need of an intro to space rocks and such.

And an interactive map to help you answer the question, "Should I hate daylight saving time?".

"There are mysteries which men can only guess at, which age by age they may solve only in part." -- Bram Stoker

Silent night

It's that time of year again, so why not get yourself into the Christmas spirit with 45 minutes of Nick Offerman sipping whisky in silence by a yule log. Quite relaxing, especially for him.

"A conversation is a dialogue, not a monologue. That's why there are so few good conversations: due to scarcity, two intelligent talkers seldom meet." -- Truman Capote

Roundtrip

Who needs drones, anyway? Putting a new spin on things, this guy mounted a video camera on a three-blade boomerang and let 'er rip. The resulting footage is surprisingly stable.

"Doubt is the father of invention." -- Ambrose Bierce

Smashcam

Doe doh! A carefree deer in Kenton County, Kentucky gets lucky (?) after colliding with a police cruiser. (In the deer's defense, I guess it was a busy intersection.)

"It's always funny until someone gets hurt. Then it's just hilarious." -- Bill Hicks

Hope to it

What's the story? "It's going to be okay" from The Oatmeal puts a new face on an old (and true) tale.

"A pessimist is a person who has had to listen to too many optimists." -- Don Marquis