(via Bad Newspaper)
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Celebration
Kool & the Gang, from 1980. Guaranteed to get folks out on the dance floor, throughout the 1980s. And maybe even today, I don’t know.
Curious Owls
When you set up a camera to capture wildlife, you hope they don’t know they’re being recorded. It turns out that you can’t fool critters all the time. Someone attached a GoPro to a tree just beneath an owl’s nest. The owls, being eagle-eyed, immediately noticed something new in their environment. The camera gets a thorough inspection, which leaves us with the image of an entire family of owls staring directly into our souls.
The owls don’t care, once they’ve determined it’s something they can’t eat and won’t eat them. I got a little nervous when one owl chick hiked his leg, but I guess he was just stretching. Next, someone will give them funny dialogue. (via Everlasting Blort)
A Marching Band tribute to The Wizard of Oz
The upside of sitting in the nosebleed section of a football stadium is being able to see the formations of the marching band, especially if it’s the Ohio State University marching band. Saturday, they played the tunes from The Wizard of Oz while forming animated formations of the principle characters. Awesome!
Miss Cellania's Links
Haunted Houses: Tokyo's Real Estate Listings with Problems. More people are dying alone, which ensures that their spirits will haunt the next residents of the home.
Inside the evolution of a dead language. Just because no one speaks Latin on an everyday basis doesn’t mean we can’t add new words to its lexicon.
Alan Crowley was doing a selfie-a-day project when he was attacked and his face was slashed. The resulting time-lapse video shows his wounds, plastic surgery, and healing process.
The Eject-a-Bed is the cruelest, most effective morning alarm ever. Don’t want to get up? Get dumped on the floor!
21 pop-culture siblings from the last decade who got rather... close. What is our fascination with hints of incest?
The Months of the Year, Ranked. Now, this is a highly subjective and altogether meaningless list, but he’s wrong about October.
Yes, Americans Can Be Fired for Running for Office. And pretty much anything else your employer cares to fire you for.
10 Mind-Boggling Paradoxes.
The problem with home-cooked meals. Everyone wants to cook, but it’s hard to replicate the perfect family dinner.
The Shift
The latest short by Francesco Calabrese is unsettling, to say the least. It’s set in 1964 suburbia, which is already frightening, but things are not what they should be- you could say things have “shifted.” The Shift stars Molly Quinn from the TV show Castle in a story that’s like a cross between The Stepford Wives and The Twilight Zone. If the wide-screen format makes this too small for you, click the bottom right corner of the video to see it full-screen. (Thanks, Francesco!)
Monday, September 29, 2014
Once In A Lifetime
Kermit the Frog does his best David Byrne imitation in a performance of The Talking Heads’ song “Once in a Lifetime” on Muppets Tonigh in 1996. (via Dangerous Minds)
Trapped in a Game of Fetch
This guy sees a dog’s ball that unfortunately fell outside the fence. Like any good Samaritan and dog lover, he gives it back to the poor puppy. He soon realizes that he’s been outsmarted by a clever border collie who wants to play. I’m sure he’s not the first passer-by who’s been fooled into throwing the ball for this smart, energetic, and adorable dog. (via Daily Picks and Flicks)
John Oliver on Drones
Military drone strikes are terrifying. Who knows when one will come for us? John Oliver tells it like it is. Contains HBO language.
This Pepper is So Hot, They Had to Sing
Danish musician and pepper enthusiast Chili Klaus (Claus Pilgaard) talked his friend, singer Michael Caroe, into eating a Dorset Naga ghost chili pepper, which can register a million Scoville units. Then they perform the song "My Way," or try to, while fighting back the tears.
Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knewThat particular verse is so appropriate, but they didn’t spit it out. The rest of us would have been running to the nearest fire hydrant. (via Buzzfeed)
When I bit off more than I could chew
But through it all, when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out
I faced it all and I stood tall and did it my way
Miss Cellania's Links
This is a really simple game. All you do is click the tile that is a different color. (via Metafilter)
The Saga of the Woman with Three Breasts.
20 Things You Might Not Know About Pulp Fiction.
A Mother in Jail for Helping Her Daughter Have an Abortion.
LEGO Doom by Ochre Jelly.
12 Hilariously Weird Anti-Drug PSAs. You’ll have a psychedelic experience for free just by watching them.
Why Are Jokes So Perishable? Take a look at some of the things that were once considered funny, but no more.
Watch 150 Tiny Sea Turtles Make Their First Run Into Ocean Waters. Just hatched, and they are already little superstars!
Lonely Potato Syndrome. It’s easy to convince people they have a mental disorder, once it has a name.
Fish Eats Baseball Player
The ZOOperstars is a group of characters in inflatable costumes that entertain at sports events. Their character Mackerel Jordan showed up at a Rochester Honkers baseball game in Rochester, Minnesota, where he ate a baseball player. Something tells me that guy wasn’t a Honker. Tonika Lloyd caught the silliness on video. (via Daily Picks and Flicks)
Sunday, September 28, 2014
Batman Evolution
Batfans are going to love this! The Piano Guys perform a medley of Batman themes, in chronological order, spanning 50 years. They also have some great visual elements, with different versions of the Batmobile and the Batcave serving as their backdrop (or is it batdrop?). Don’t be discouraged by the length of the video; the song is only four minutes long. The rest is an ad for their new album. (via Viral Viral Videos)
Please Let Me In!
This little doggie thinks the glass door is closed. It’s probably closed most of the time. Watch how he finally knows it’s okay to come in! (via reddit)
Bears Enjoys Cookies
In the US, you see a bear at the window and you 1. shut the window, 2. make sure your kids are inside, and 3. call authorities. In Russia? Hand feed the bear! This bear sure likes the sweet pastries he’s getting, even though with a mere leap or swipe of the paw, he could be eating a sturdy human. Things are different in Russia. Of course, we can assume the men know this bear, but you have to wonder how that came to be. The real question is, what happens when you run out of cookies? (via Daily Picks and Flicks)
Pride: Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners
In 1984-85, the National Union of Mineworkers led a labor strike as a protest against the government shutting down coal mines. The Thatcher government sent in police to break up the picket lines, and refused emergency welfare payments to dependents of those on strike. The strikers found an unlikely ally in Britain’s gay and lesbian population, which banded together to raise money for the strikers, to the tune of thousands of pounds. And that’s the subject of the new movie Pride, which is in limited released in the U.S. Despite the serious and sometimes violent subject matter, the film is a comedy, and has excellent reviews.
In an article at The Guardian about how the movie came about, you can see a 23-minute documentary about the events of the film. The filmmakers and the real-life participants that inspired the movie talk about the movie in this video. (via Metafilter, where’ll you’ll find many more links)
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Making Breakfast with the Twins
A father demonstrates why it takes so long to make breakfast when you have twin babies. I can imagine it takes much longer to do anything! One baby takes all your time and attention; two will outnumber you, even if you have two stay-at-home parents. The upside is that eventually they will keep each other occupied. The downside is that they will be plotting against you. (via Tastefully Offensive)
Cute Kitten Escapes
When you foster kittens for a shelter, you know that there will come a day when the kittens reach a certain size and discover that they can escape the pen you so carefully constructed to enclose them. That’s when you have to pull out more duct tape and cardboard -if not something even stronger!
Assassin's Kittens Unity
The upcoming video game Assassin’s Creed Unity gets a remake already, with four adorable kittens in the roles of the assassins. The kittens take center stage in the action roles, thanks to clever editing and set design, and probably some feather-shaking just offscreen. (via Tastefully Offensive)
28 Birthday Traditions From Around the World
Since the mental_floss YouTube series a year old now, John Green celebrated by examining birthday traditions around the world in this mental_floss video. We make a wish and blow out candles on a cake, but while cakes are common, that’s not a universal custom. Some countries have other tasty treats, and a lot of places have customs involving smearing food on the honoree. I saved this video for my birthday!
Friday, September 26, 2014
The Star-Spangled Banner Across America
The Crew is an a cappella group from, believe it or not, Canada. They describe themselves as a “certified organic all-Canadian hypoallergenic contemporary folky-pop acapolka comedy band-group/team.” To celebrate their 25th anniversary as a group, they visited 25 American landmarks to sing "The Star Spangled Banner." The banzai trip of 10,000 miles took only 12 days in a van. There are three different edits of this song (you can see them at their site), but they aren’t all that much different. How many of these places have you been to? I counted 13. I’ve got to start working on the other 12. (via Daily of the Day)
Horse is All About That Bass
Just horsin’ around the stable, this young lady has some jams going and can’t help but dance. The horse studies a bit and then joins in. But the horse doesn’t want to dance with her, he wants a dance battle-type handoff, so he can watch anytime she dances. (via Buzzfeed)
A Bad Lip Reading of The Walking Dead Season 4
The AMC TV show The Walking Dead returns for season five on October 12th. Fans of the show have been trying to forget how long the wait was, but as it nears, we get more and more reminders. The folks at Bad Lip Reading have trod these waters before, but the show about a zombie apocalypse gives them so much fodder for new material that they’ve graced us with another reinterpretation of the show, with dialogue that fits those lips, but not the script. There’s even a musical interlude from Coral. This video is labeled “part one,” so you can look forward to more bad lip reading from season four. (via Tastefully Offensive)
Miss Cellania's Links
Professors on food stamps: The shocking true story of academia in 2014.
Six Things You May Not Have Known About Fiddler on the Roof.
Fighting Homelessness with Homes. (via Time)
States That Are Flatter Than Kansas.
One Night Cough Syrup.
Doing Pregnancy Announcements the Right Way. If you’re going to tell everyone, you may as well make it funny.
50 Underground Filmmakers Everyone Should Know. If you don’t already, there’s a ton of movies you can look up and watch from this list.
8 Ancient Cities that Remain a Mystery to This Day. They moved out and didn't even leave a note. (via the Presurfer)
Witness the fragile splendor of America's largest national forest. Alaska’s Tongass covers 17 million acres and a spectrum of sights.
How to Win a Preschool Argument
Okay, is it sprinkling outside, or is it raining? A little boy tries to argue about the weather with a little girl. She’s got a sister for backup, and although the sister makes an attempt to moderate the disagreement, you know the poor little boy feels totally outnumbered. And she poked his heart! There will be a lot more of that in this young man’s life to come. (via Daily Picks and Flicks)
10 Obscure Electronic Musical Instruments
You are no doubt familiar with the Moog synthesizer, the 1960s
instrument that came to represent electronic music for most people, and
the Theremin, which gave us spooky electronic sounds since the 1920s.
But along the way, there were dozens of other instruments using various
technologies that combined talent and technical developments to
synthesize music. Here are a few you may not be familiar with, in a list I posted at mental_floss.
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Waterfalls
Scott Bradlee & Postmodern Jukebox featuring vocalist Ashley Stroud do the TLC hit “Waterfalls” in the style of ‘60s R&B music. Except they give it extra zing that makes it more than the ‘60s or the ‘90s. This is good. (via Tastefully Offensive)
Tattooing in Slow Motion
The series Smarter Every Day visits a tattoo parlor to find how it’s done. We get an explanation of how two kinds of tattoo machines work, and then see a closeup of the process in slow motion. Our host Destin even gets a taste of the process, without ink, just to see what it feels like. This is pretty interesting, but I still don’t think I’ll ever get one. (via Digg)
Everyone is Lonely
This is really nice. Probably the best song Animation Domination High-Def has ever done, unless you just have to have a joke in there somewhere. (via Viral Viral Videos)
Miss Cellania's Links
There’s something romantic about living off the land, earning your keep by the sweat of your brow, and providing food. But people who dream of becoming farmers often have no clue about the amount of work it entails. (via Metafilter)
Heartbreaking Aerial Photos of Kashmir, Before and After Devastating Floods. The heaviest rainfall in 50 years left hundreds dead and thousands stranded.
The Reclusive, Doll-Collecting Copper Queen of Fifth Avenue. Read about Huguette Clark’s life and the fabulous things she left behind.
10 Mad Royals in History. Mental illness in an absolute monarch can have terrible consequences for an entire nation.
Filmmaker Steven Soderbergh altered the film Raiders of the Lost Ark, for educational purposes only, to study the staging of the film. The result is an amazingly beautiful version of the movie, reminiscent of a silent film or one of the old-time serials it was designed to imitate. (via Time)
Tech Startup Founder Says Women Are Like Men, Only Cheaper.
This Cat Probably Didn’t Want To Be Turned Into A Dragon, But A Russian Salon Did It Anyway.
7 reasons Comcast is the most hated company in America.
Mary Ann Manning was dying of cancer when she danced with her son at his wedding. Oh, why did they have to pick that song?
KLM’s Lost & Found Service
When you want to find a person, and all you have is one of their possessions, what’s the fastest way to identify them? A sniffer dog! In this case, an adorable little beagle named Sherlock who works for Dutch airline KLM at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. It’s an ingenious idea, but don’t make your plans now to leave something behind on KLM. Sherlock, as the program’s mascot, doesn’t work all the time, and he has other duties to look after as well as finding passengers to return their belongings: mainly, highlighting KLM’s Lost & Found team and their 80% record of returning lost items to their owners. (via reddit)
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Dip Your Apple
The Ein Prat Fountainheads welcome the High Holidays with a parody of Shakira’s World Cup song "Waka Waka." Happy Rosh Hashanah!
Rosh Hashanah Rock Anthem
From Aish, we have parody of "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO to welcome in the New Year beginning at sundown. The lyrics are at the YouTube page.
Killing Walkers
There’s only two and a half weeks to wait for the new season of The Walking Dead. This video by Robert Jones should get you in just the right mood for it. It’s all zombie-killing, 97 of them, strung together with appropriate music. This is bloody, gory, disgusting, and full of what we watch the show for. (Thanks, Robert!)
An Honest Movie Trailer for The Fault in Our Stars
Screen Junkies gives the honest trailer treatment to The Fault in Our Stars. Not only does this contain spoilers, but it also may make avid fans angry. And it will make everyone else cry. You’ve been warned. (via Tastefully Offensive)
Miss Cellania's Links
The 10 Creepiest Kids in Movie History. Children as villains are the worst, because we aren’t supposed to kill them.
Confronting My Temptation to Ban Books. Opposing censorship comes with accepting some literature that one finds personally repugnant.
Watch California Dry Up Right Before Your Eyes In 6 Jaw-Dropping GIFs. Water levels are dropping like a teenage boy’s waistband.
Snow White: Not Just a Fairy Tale. Two German women had lives that could have served as the story’s inspiration.
Wal-Mart's Unusual Rewards for Employees Who Give to Its PAC. The FEC can’t figure out if it’s illegal, but it should be.
Celebrating 50 years of Pop Tarts.
20 Weird Rules That Only Exist in Movie Universes.
How Gary Hart’s Downfall Forever Changed American Politics.
Six Fictional Animals That Broke Our Hearts the Most.
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Autumnal Equinox Traditions
Today is the autumnal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, the point
after which the nights become longer than the days, as the North Pole
tilts away from the sun. We commonly know it as the first day of fall,
although we’ve said goodbye to summer already in the rites of Labor Day
and the beginning of the school year. We’ve told you about the traditions and celebrations surrounding the vernal equinox
in the spring, and yes, there are traditions for its opposite- although
not as many. While the beginning of spring is a joyous occasion, the
waning of warm weather is a bit melancholy. Read about them in an article I posted at mental_floss.
Photograph by Flickr user Stonehenge Stone Circle.
Miss Cellania's Links
Not All Men: A Day in the Life of an Internet Commenter.
A year before the movie Star Trek III: The Search for Spock came out, he was featured in a math problem in the journal Mathematics Teacher.
As we anticipate the beginning of Saturday Night Live’s 40th season, let’s look back at 15 of the best moments in SNL history. There’s a conspicuous lack of Gilda Radner.
The Lincoln Children’s Zoo in Nebraska is staging a contest to name their new twin red pandas. See pictures and video and you may be inspired to enter.
The Story Behind Bill Murray And Harold Ramis’ 21 Year Rift. They made up before Ramis died.
Get a glimpse into the $93 million restoration of King’s Theater in Brooklyn. The magnificent movie palace is scheduled to reopen in January.
I Had a Stroke at 33. The symptoms are not always what you’d expect.
The 20 Best Places To Live In America. If you move to any of them, you may have to rent for a while due to house prices.
He Took a Polaroid Every Day, Until the Day He Died. Chris Higgins uncovered the pictures that make up the legacy of Jamie Livingston.
The History of Tattoos
Queen Victoria had a tattoo? We may never know for sure, but tattoos were somewhat of a fad in Victorian society, after sailors came back from Polynesia with them. But tattoos go back as far a human civilization, for various reasons in various places. The TED-Ed animation skims over many of them briefly, and together they reminds us of how universal the art of tattoo really is. You can get the full lesson by Addison Anderson here. (via Digg)
Monday, September 22, 2014
Pretty Crabby
Caspar Babypants makes music for children. “Pretty Crabby” is the first song from the new album Rise and Shine. The video is a wonderful stop-motion animation featuring yarn crafts, by Charlotte Blacker and Mark Taylor. About the song:
This one started out as a really abstract song called PRETTY SPARKLE and I was trying to capture the wonder of being alive in a song. It turned out to be too abstract so I gutted it and made it about this wee crab that I met on the beach on an island a little while ago. It seemed like it was having a bad day and wanted to get me but it was also an amazing creature with its intricate shell. In the end you can listen to this song if you are feeling crabby and maybe it will cheer you up!Well, it worked for me! (via Tastefully Offensive)
Frog Cinema
Install a movie theater, and they will come. These leopard frog are gathered to watch a video on a cell phone. The subject? Their favorite: worms! Sure to be a smash hit among the pond crowd. But think about it: you are watching a video of frogs watching a video. Now, who is watching you? (via Tastefully Offensive)
John Oliver on Beauty Pageants
John Oliver tells it like it is. People don’t pay attention to the Miss America pageant like they used to, but Oliver didn’t have a TV show back then. The whole idea is still just as ridiculous as it ever was. But hey, can YOU do an impression of a dictionary in a washing machine? Or better yet, can you solve the ISIS problem in 20 seconds? Maybe it will win you a scholarship!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)