iGetit

In a significant improvement over the original ad, Siri tells John Malkovich a better joke that would have rang a bell with my granddad. [Gizmodo]

And a few selections, like "All About Scabs", "C is for Chafing", and "Pets Who Want to Kill Themselves" are among the bizarre works of lit in the Weird Book Room.

"Knowledge will give you power, but character respect."
- Bruce Lee

Up to code

Meanwhile in Brazil... I wonder why the demolition contractors were wearing swimsuits...? [bOING bOING]

And a wry defacing of prints ads obviously makes this depressed copywriter feel better.

"Litigation is the basic right that guarantees every corporation its decade in court."
- David Porter

In the key of sea

Throw yourself in the Internet time machine, set the dial for early, watch Shrimp and enjoy a catchy riff.

Also a seeming bit throwbackward, these fluorescent stereographic drawings make for interesting viewing.

"Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul." - Douglas MacArthur

Call it progress?

New developments of note in the world... meet Melvin the Magical Mixed Media Machine (aka, Melvin the Machine), the self-contained traveling Rube Goldberg device. Amazing how technology just keeps making things smaller and smaller, and life better and better.

And this ambiguous "true-false" answer struck me as creative and funny.

"Always acknowledge a fault. This will throw those in authority off their guard and give you an opportunity to commit more." - Mark Twain

Stress test

A classic Slinky is put to the test, "running" on a treadmill, to see how it does away from its native habitat (stairs). Interesting to slide your mouse pointer along the position bar to see how it moves all over the place. (Thanks Raygun)

And what color do you associate with the word "dangerous"? Or the word "playful"? Or "narcissist"? Cymbolism wants to know, so take a minute if you have one and cast a few votes.

"Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening." - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Speed

Might have time for a quick compilation of the world's fastest everything, including clapping, stamping, cup stacking, and shooting.

And some good photos in this trip around the world via an all-request edition of the Atlantic’s "In Focus".

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit." - Aristotle

Pub crawler

A charming, easy-to-watch animation, Pub Dog is a vignette about a ne'er-do-well hound making mischief among the people.

Also evocative, these so-called "Bandwiches" include favorites such as, “Beach Boys: Grilled chicken breast, mustard, lettuce, SPF-50 sunscreen aioli, crispy fried peyote bits, white bread".

And if you're hungry for data, here's an interactive graphic on eating habits around the world. What's healthy, anyway?

"Desperation is a necessary ingredient to learning anything, or creating anything. Period. If you ain't desperate at some point, you ain't interesting." - Jim Carrey

Cascade of thousands

Sixty walls of 990, plus an extra 600, equals a cascade of 60,000 dominoes with a flourish of color. [bOING bOING]

And chase your dreams while playing the “Perfect Strangers” game, from a time I can't — and probably would rather not — remember.

"Adversity is the first path to truth." - Lord Byron

Throw back

Dudes hanging out and tossing around some vinyl records in a series of pretty well-contrived trick shots. (And not even a scratch...?)

And after all these years, the progenitor of FPS games "Wolfenstein 3D" is finally available for productivity boosting in your favorite web browser. [Mashable]

"A hero has faced it all: he need not be undefeated, but he must be undaunted." - Andrew Bernstein

Misguided missile

Amazing real-life dashcam clip of a Ferrari running a red light at well over 100 mph and t-boning an unfortunate victim on Singapore city streets. Death toll = three. [BI]
And there's also this unrelated moron in the Chicago suburbs who smacks up his Lamborghini in a most embarrassing way. [Jalopnik]

Speaking of fast Italian cars and things that can be difficult to watch, "Gifolas Cage" is a seemingly endless collection of Nic Cage gifs.

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke

Pop art

If you buy in to fire and explosions as an artform, check out this artist's latest "performance" entailing 40,000 rockets exploding at once. [Gizmodo]

Managing a blog means the joy of managing mountains of comment spam, which if properly sorted out can make for amusing reading, or so "Greetings I Am So Excited I Found Your Weblog" would seem to indicate.

"The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work." - Emile Zola

Cutting remarks

Best accent ever? This kitchen knife infomercial voiceover guy is semi-comprehensible at best, yet loaded with entertainment. I'm not sure which is more amusing — the unique accent that sounds like a robot running out of battery, or the unfathomable script...

And funny though it may be, why make fun of these Goths on OK Cupid...?

"Belief in oneself is one of the most important bricks in building any successful venture." - Lydia M. Child

Metal to the pedal

Bear metal band Red Fang (mis)uses its meager video budget to much avail.

And Blown Covers, New Yorker covers you were never meant to see.

"Even a mistake may turn out to be the one thing necessary to a worthwhile achievement." - Henry Ford

Re-illustrated man

An enthralling stop-motion animation of Hemingway classic "The Old Man and the Sea" unfolds at the artist's pentip right before your eyes.

And a sendup of album covers that look like unusable stock photography made with—perhaps unsurprisingly—stock photos dug up via simple web search.

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

What's old is new again

Potentially amusing video series "Old Jews Telling Jokes" returns with all-new, even older jews telling even older, funnier jokes. [bOING bOING]

And another flashback via Lists of Note, William Safire’s Fumblerules of Grammar, each humorously self-contradictory yet a useful, effective, and lighthearted grammar guide.

"From now on, ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put." - Sir Winston Churchill

Ven diagram

A day in the life of Venice, Italy, from dawn 'til dusk, neatly done timelapse with camera angles that make much of it look almost a video game.

And contrastingly, Sh*t My Students Write says a fair bit about the quality of our education system.

"What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the soul." - Joseph Addison

Game over

Classic games being chopped, minced, and generally violently abused, in a music video set to dubstep.

And an eye-opening array of derivative products at Not Official Merch, ranging from cutting societal statements to celebrity mocking and beyond.

"In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy." - William Blake

VW PSA: Laura Monk & High Cotton

My good friend's dear friends Laura Monk & High Cotton have a Kickstarter project to help them finish and promote their new CD.

As Mike puts it:

"These are good people, with 'real jobs', who perform simply for the love of Americana music. It would mean a lot to me if you would pass the link around. Help if you can (as Laura says, "no amount is too small") and thanks in advance."

Check it out, give a little if you enjoy, and spread the word.

Thanks,
\/ \/\/

P.S. — Watch the video, but also check out the sample of their new song, Lost in Space, further down the page. The full version will be included on the upcoming CD.