New tricks

Mike Boyd shows off all the new skills(?) he "learned quick" in 2016, all in a single take.

And for what it's worth, the year in memes, according to NY Magazine.

"Procrastination is like a credit card: it's a lot of fun until you get the bill." -- Christopher Parker

Clear history

Everything goes terribly wrong for these parents with this unexpected response from Amazon's Alexa to their son's request to play a song called "Digger Digger".

And an African Gray parrot perfectly mimics the Google acknowledgement sound.




(If you want to be impressed, check out Clover, the so-claimed best talking parrot in the world that knows more than 350 words.)

"When did the future switch from being a promise to a threat?" -- Chuck Palahniuk

Portable fridge

Man matter-of-fact-ly shows how to carry a refrigerator on a bicycle, making you think he's done this kind of thing before. Bonus points for the cobblestone street.

And bed sizes vary a lot around the world; in some countries, a king bed is smaller than a queen bed in the U.S. Here's a nifty graphic of all those variations presented visually.

"The most rewarding things you do in life are often the ones that look like they cannot be done." -- Arnold Palmer

Miracle on 34th Street

Noah Forman did the impossible, hitting 240 consecutive green lights while driving through New York City. Sure it was 3AM, but still...

And from Will Geary, a relaxing and colorful visualization of one day's-worth of subway activity in the Big Apple, perfectly set to "Rhapsody in Blue".

"No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar." -- Abraham Lincoln

Perish the thawed

Reverse melting popsicle gif

Strike an interesting mental chord with this gif of a popsicle melting in reverse. (It's watermelon flavor, and apparently complete with seeds, if that matters.)

And Deadspin says that all these authors of the worst tweets of the year should be ashamed of themselves. Read 'em and weep.

"If there are no stupid questions, then what kind of questions do stupid people ask? Do they get smart just in time to ask questions?" -- Scott Adams

Splice of life

Heath Waterman was amazed at the hundreds of adaptations of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" and spliced together 400 versions into a supercut to rule them all.

And humorous "unitasker" prank gift boxes like the Turn & Churn travel ice cream maker or Bacon Scented Dryer Sheets make for good cover.

"Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them." -- George Eliot

After the fall

When winter wonderland gets too litpic.twitter.com/8XldMH0JLQ

— Matt Kemp (@Matt_Kemp7) December 18, 2016

Oh, the Holiday spirit... two men busting some moves on a table ends as you might expect, though I have to admire the one guy's commitment. That giant bruise probably isn't what he wanted for Christmas...

And a breakthrough for imbibing anywhere, Guzzle Buddy is a wine glass with a cork-sized stopper instead of a stem. Put it directly in the bottle and enjoy the contents directly, without sacrificing elegance and dignity.

Just celebrate the life you had, not the life you could've had." -- Magic Johnson

Have a seat

Now don't get the wrong idea here -- Pony Up Daddy is a saddle designed for ferrying kids aboard adult humans. Watch it in action. Makes a great gift.

And the most popular fields of study over the last few decades.

"The bookful blockhead, ignorantly read, With loads of learned lumber in his head." -- Alexander Pope

In the key of boing

Man who's maybe seen Star Wars a few too many times plays the "Imperial March" on a coffee stirrer to showcase a peculiar talent.

And why is KFC such a yuge Christmas tradition in Japan, with 10X average sales and customers waiting in line for hours? Because marketing, yo.

"Where the senses fail us, reason must step in." -- Galileo Galilei

Bleating hearts

Action Aid decided to get weirder this year with a female choir singing We Wish You A Merry Christmas and other Christmas songs sounding like goats. You'll find all your Christmas favorites a la goat on their YouTube channel.

Also not sure what you're listening to... this blindfolded hearing test is a short NSFW comedic (?) clip that demonstrates the writing "rule of three".

"A fool flatters himself, a wise man flatters the fool." -- Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton

Crystal bridges

Skiing through this French Alps glacier's ice caves and exploring Nature's frosty ramps and halfpipes is like being in another world.

And this trippy interactive visualizer feels like you're flying through some molecular inner space.

"What springs from earth dissolves to earth again, and heaven-born things fly to their native seat." -- Marcus Aurelius

X-mas games

Brilliant Games Studios wanted to show what its new crowd-rendering system could do, so it generated 11,000 virtual penguins and 4,000 virtual Santas and set them loose against each other in a battle for the ages.

And this fancypants $30,000 ugly Christmas sweater is indeed fairly ugly, as is the price.

"To be or not to be. That's not really a question." -- Jean-Luc Godard

Keeping track

Watch what is claimed to be every scene ever of Tom Cruise running in this 18-minute montage from Burger Fiction.

Also all over, a map of more than 100 superstitions held around the world.

"You know you're old if they have discontinued your blood type." -- Phyllis Diller

Highlight

Out of season for sure, but watch how this gargantuan 573-pound firework lights up the entire sky. (The best of the bomb-bursting is around 01:30 in.) Here's the view of it from a helicopter.

And as is tradition, 54 nifty holiday Yule Log animations, each by a different artist. (It's for a good cause; all proceeds go to Camp Interactive, a kids' coding camp.)

"A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you've been taking." -- Earl Wilson

Scenic route

Action movies aren't far off the mark, says this motorcycle chase through the streets of São Paulo, Brazil. (Warning: Loud. Muting audio recommended.)

And a more mellow city tour, the Google's Window Wonderland lets you do a virtual walk-through of New York City store window displays for some classic holiday spirit.

"In trying to scramble out of a hole, it sometimes digs it deeper." -- Wellington Mara

Mixed signals

The latest concept design project from Lexus is this 2017 IS sedan covered in over 40,000 programmable LEDs strung with a mile of wire that turns it into a Christmas display on wheels.

And if you didn't care for the Cheetos jewelry set, it's not too late to order this Taco Bell ring set for that fast food lover who has it all.

"It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness." -- Eleanor Roosevelt

Battle of wits

HMB while I kick this safety post

Show 'em who's boss -- floor safety cone outwits (presumably tipsy) man in a short-lived but epic battle.

Also, Bill Dance in a classic fishing show blooper reel. And give credit where it's due... opportunities galore for swearing, but barely a one, dadgummit.

"There is always the need to carry on." -- Marjory Stoneman Douglas

Show some pluck

Publio Delgado's jazz guitar accompaniment makes funny internet videos better, like in this one for a truck rental and storage outfit. (Here's the original, which seems empty and lacking by comparison.)

But The No No No Cat video is possibly his best work, with the original sort of a distant memory.




Also, Modest Mouse, Steely Dan, The Doors and other bands whose names come from books.

"A sculptor is a person who is interested in the shape of things, a poet in words, a musician by sounds." -- Henry Moore

Stuck in park

Watch 200,000 LEGO bricks and almost 1,200 hours of assembly go into this "Brick Pony", a life-size LEGO model of a 1964 Ford Mustang in one minute flat.

And ranging from cheesy to creepy, terrible real estate listing photos that show what not to do when putting your house on the market.

"A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog, when you are just as hungry as the dog." -- Jack London

Corner case

This pro streetballer dude -- calls himself "The Tricky" -- can spin a basketball on pretty much anything, like his razor while shaving, for example. Better yet, here's a sampling of his ball-spinning talents displayed while taking the Mannequin challenge.

And still in time for Xmas giving, amazing pop art purses and accessories that look like real food from designer Rommy Kuperus.

"Mail your packages early so the post office can lose them in time for Christmas." -- Johnny Carson

Fireball express

Watch these students passing around a flaming lump of propane. Chemistry class these days is more interesting than I remember.

And take Ghent University's (?) vocabulary test, where you don't have to define the words, only mark whether each one is in the English language.

"There is no greater impediment to the advancement of knowledge than the ambiguity of words." -- Thomas Reid

Take it for a spin

I just can't watch this agonizing display of sitting and spinning high atop a building in downtown Toronto.

And it took 25 hours to set up, but this video of a triple spiral of 15,000 dominoes falling from Havesh5 is satisfying to watch.

"Just keep taking chances and having fun." -- Garth Brooks

Double-barrel polka

Ted Nugent probably would approve of this three-stringed guitar made from a shotgun that still fires.

And pricey perhaps, but these jet engine ceiling fans should keep you cool in the most extreme conditions.

"A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing." -- Emo Philips

Acted out

Watch the action match the words in this lyrics-literal reenactment of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" in this self-styled music video.

And a tripified music video for the song "Magnetic" by Dan Sultan that uses projection mapping and stop-motion animation to make a 3D-printed model come to life and belt one out. Seems like something Peter Gabriel would've done...

"By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth." -- George Carlin

Nature's wrath

Check out the automatic junk mail shredder built into this house in the form of a very territorial cat that takes exception with the mailman keeping his appointed rounds. (I guess the laugh track adds a quaint AFHV touch or something.)

And did this guy really punch a kangaroo that was wrestling with a dog?

"Problems are not the problem; coping is the problem." -- Virginia Satir

Be unreasonable

Watch this short (under a minute) video called "Preposterous" about objects behaving absurdly, set to some swingy upbeat music.

And clothing absurdity in real life, this fitted full-body wolf print onesie is the next level if wolf skivvies won't cut it for you.

"The possible ranks higher than the actual." -- Martin Heidegger

Gill trip

More of a catwhale, really... guy catches a 112-lb. catfish, and using 10-pound line, no less, making it all the more remarkable.

And a little contrast for your morbid fascination, watch the grossness that is a fish decomposing over time. Nature is indeed self-cleaning.

"We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us." -- Joseph Campbell

No good deed

Good Samaritan motorcyclist exacts his revenge on absentminded and oblivious but rude-as-all driver.

And one of those interesting visualizations, this one showing the world as 100 people in a novel format.

"He that displays too often his wife and his wallet is in danger of having both of them borrowed." -- Benjamin Franklin

No soup for you

Watch Warhol eat a Whopper (of the Burger King variety), from Jørgen Leth's 1982 documentary art film called "66 Scenes from America," a collection of "moving postcards" from the United States.

And this tweet from AdAge has to rank in some Twitter hall of fame. (Of course the reactions to it are well worth reading.)

"There ain't no answer. There ain't gonna be any answer. There never has been an answer. That's the answer." -- Gertrude Stein