(via Give Me a Sign)
Thursday, December 04, 2025
"Live and Let Die" Captured by Drone Camera
The 1973 song "Live and Let Die" by Wings was commissioned for the James Bond film of the same name. Now 52 years later, Paul McCartney still performs the song in concert, often with spectacular pyrotechnics. When he played in New Orleans recently, JayByrd Films deployed a drone camera to catch the fireworks in all their glory. This clip doesn't have the entire song, but you know it. When the drone flies over the crowd, you realize that the venue is so big that there's no way you could see the show from the cheap seats, even though they weren't at all cheap.
Our Favorite Peanuts Characters
The comic strip Peanuts debuted 75 years agos. We all know the Peanuts gang and we all have our favorite characters. The core group of Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, and Snoopy are augmented by a group of children and animals (but no adults) who each had their own unique personalities.
This video is set up to rank seven (actually eight) of these characters from "criminally overlooked" to "global icon," but we know how such rankings can rankle. It's better to look at it as an explanation of their personalities, and how each one plays a role in providing someone we can relate to, or maybe even aspire to. That said, I am disappointed by the absence of Pigpen. (via Laughing Squid)
The Rattlin' Bog
You may start watching this thinking that they are lip-synching to a record, but no, this woman's voice is just that good. And at the end of an all-night wedding reception.
She is Clodagh McCarthy, singing an old Irish folk song at the wedding of her sister Patrice O’Connor and Donagh Davern in Tipperary. The video went viral a few years ago.
Patrice comes from a family embedded in music and it was therefore no surprise that a sing-song started after the wedding.You can learn the lyrics to "The Rattlin' Bog" for your own wedding if you like. (via reddit)
However, what has happened since has been phenomenal, as the video of Patrice’s sister Clodagh McCarthy singing, with Patrice harmonizing, has gone viral.
The Real Reason American Health Care is So Expensive
Health expenditures in America dwarf those of every other developed country, because we are the only country that makes it into a profit-driven business. Canadians and Europeans don't understand why we put up with it. Or how.
Wednesday, December 03, 2025
An Honest Trailer for Kill Bill
The movie Kill Bill: Volume 1 came out in 2003, and Kill Bill: Volume 2 followed in 2004 to complete the story. And now this Friday, both return to theaters together in a four hour and 35 minute marathon called Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair.
Both the earlier movies were box office hits and became martial arts classics. But it's been a long time, and if you are young, your parents didn't let you see these movies the first time around. Is it worth sitting that long to see both volumes on the big screen? Kill Bill is the saga of a woman done wrong who furiously gets her revenge. It has plenty of over-the-top violence and the many quirks that brand it as a Quentin Tarantino flick, which becomes obvious in this Honest Trailer. The Whole Bloody Affair will also feature a new anime sequence, and there's an intermission between the two parts, so you can stretch your legs and relieve your bladder.
Top Ten Dogs Carrying Big Sticks
We Rate Dogs brings us a ranking a dogs carrying sticks they are so proud of. We are proud of them, too, because they are all good dogs. (via Metafilter)
Snow Bear
Polar bears are normally pretty solitary creatures, but this one feels the tug of loneliness. The other creatures of the Arctic either don't like him or are scared of him. It seems a bit strange for a wild bear to have an imaginary friend, but even that fails when climate change is involved. But there's always hope.
You'll be struck by the gorgeous visuals and the expressive faces in the cartoon Snow Bear. That's because it was written and directed by former Disney animator Aaron Blaise, who co-directed Brother Bear and worked on Aladdin, The Lion King, and Beauty and the Beast. Blaise spent three years on this project, with the aim of supporting Polar Bears International and the National Parks Conservation Service. (via Metafilter)
Miss Cellania's Links
The Penicillin Myth. Alexander Fleming's story of its discovery doesn't hold up. (via Damn Interesting)
The Nicest Place on the Internet. For When you need a hug. (via Nag on the Lake)
Cats can be very possessive about their favorite human.
The Buried Treasure of Baltimore. A pot of gold was a big story during the Great Depression.
Want to donate to charity? Here are 10 guidelines for giving effectively.
Level Devil is a diabolically simple run-and-jump game that will kill you over and over. Just when you think you've got it figured out, you are suddenly confronted with a new way to fail. (via kottke)
Texas cities have some of the highest preterm birth rates in the US, highlighting maternal health crisis nationwide.
Dear Satan
As someone who types in anagrams, I can assure you that it's an easy mistake to make. You write a letter to Santa, and a simple transposition of letters means it goes to Satan instead. The filmmakers at Anomaly London went with it and followed what Satan would do when he got one of those letters. This story is not for children.
Hope constructed her letter well, beginning with admiration for the recipient. That threw him off-kilter immediately. Even Satan can be vulnerable to the power of love. Enjoy this peculiar vision of hell, with an ending that will make you laugh and then feel guilty about it. (via Tastefully Offensive)
Grown Up
NEW COMIC: Swings
— Litterbox Comics (@litterboxcomics.com) December 2, 2025 at 2:28 PM
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Tuesday, December 02, 2025
Tattoo Santa Claus
It had to happen sooner or later. Santa Claus has been arrested for breaking and entering, ratted out by a naughty kid. He doesn't look quite so jolly in an orange jumpsuit as he enters prison life. Santa nervously meets his cellmate who has always been naughty, and now demands an unusual gift. A tattoo. During the process, Santa has time to listen to Joe's story and figures out a way to turn things around.
Tattoo Santa Claus is an award-winning animation from Patrick Ward. The animation appears simple at first, but the lighting and the details add depth to the underlying meaning of the story. (via the Awesomer)
RFK!
The latest song parody from Randy Rainbow is a parody of the song "Cabaret" from the musical Cabaret. Here, it's about the US Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert Kennedy, Jr. There's a 90-second as at 1:15.
Mama I'm Jingling My Bells
It's time for an unlikely mashup from Bill McClintock to open the Christmas music season! Here we have the late Ozzy Osbourne with his hit song "Mama" sung to the tune of "Jingle Bell Rock" by Hall and Oates. Ozzy would have gotten a kick out of it.
Dance in Trinidad: Moko Jumbie On 9-Foot Stilts
Moko Jumbies are stilt walkers who dance and perform amazing feats on stilts that are a highlight of the Carnival season in Trinidad and Tobago, although they can be seen on other occasions. Jonadiah Gonzales, Adrian Young, and Stephanie Kanhai are moko jumbies who perform with their crew Touch D Sky. They also teach the art to a younger generation. Their skill, balance, and artistic sense are breathtaking as they perform atop 9-foot stilts. This video is part of the New York Times series on Dance in the Real World. (via The Kid Should See This)
Do Justly
— Inspirational Skeletor (@skeletorinspires.bsky.social) August 13, 2025 at 1:00 PMThe reference here is Micah 6:8.
Monday, December 01, 2025
Electric Nematodes and Flying Spiders
Electrostatic attraction is not a mating strategy, but as you know, Ze Frank will take any opportunity for a double entendre. This video starts off telling us about nematodes, which are weird enough, but eventually gets to the subject matter: how they harness the tiny electrical charges in the atmosphere for their own ends. For nematodes, it's how parasitic species target flying insects to invade. For bees and other pollinating insects, electric fields offer a strategy for collecting plenty of pollen. That benefits the plants, too. Spiders use electrostatic charges to weaponize their webs into more powerful insect traps. And newly-hatched spiders use the power of electrons to spread their silky parachutes and fly. The concept of parasitic nematodes and flying baby spiders might be icky, so instead think about how these tiny creatures understand the physics of the world around them better than you do. There's a 75-second ad at 4:22.
Disabled Kitten Becomes Beloved Birthday Gift
Veterinarian Matt McGlasson knew the runt of the litter needed a special family to take care of her, so the kitten Ru went to his nine-year-old daughter for her birthday. Despite her bent back legs, the kitten turned out to be extremely resilient, and flourished in their home. See more of Ru at Instagram.
Dangerous Candle Wax
December is the darkest month of the year, so candles, once necessary, are now associated with Christmas. You are liable to light a few yourself, so you may as well learn the science behind what makes them dangerous. See, what actually burns in a candle flame is not the solid or liquid wax, nor the wick, but the vapor of the wax.
James Orgill of the Action Lab starts this video with a spectacular reaction you may not see coming. Maybe we should have noticed that he's using a long stick to keep it far away. Apparently this reaction is internet fodder, yet is rarely explained accurately. The video has a two minute skippable ad at 2:30. (via Damn Interesting)
Miss Cellania's Links
A calendar of Christmas TV specials. They include Hallmark movies, murder mysteries, and marathons.
Webcomic Updated for a 15-Year (So Far) Story.
Ancient DNA Reveals Most Europeans Had Dark Skin Until Just 3,000 Years Ago. (via Real Clear Science)
AI video slop is everywhere, take our quiz to try and spot it. Then read tips on detecting artificial intelligence.
The best way to open a huge bag of rice.
Face transplants were a medical miracle, but what are the long-term outcomes? They include medical, financial, and psychological ruin. (via Nag on the Lake)
5 Christmas Songs That Originally Had Nothing to Do With Christmas.
The Stoney Creek Killing. "a murder plot so preposterous that one of their lawyers used stupidity as a defence." (via Damn Interesting)
The Best Jenga Move Ever
This guy chose a peculiar block to remove in a large Jenga tower. If it were me, I'd go for the second or third layer from the top, but I am not a Jenga wizard. However, I think we've found one. Or maybe he's just lucky. Anyway, you're not going to see another move like this for a long time. And everyone in the family is there to witness it, at least one of whom has a camera going. (via Digg)
Pardon Me?
This. We’re pardoning the kingpins and blowing up the low level drug runners and moonlighting fishermen.
— madamjujujive (@madamjujujive.bsky.social) November 29, 2025 at 6:00 PM
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