Thoughts on a love of family, technology, music, and hockey, and random other things by a self-proclaimed and none-too-modest modern-day renaissance man who tends to overuse hyphens.
Uncensored doesn’t begin to describe the vulgarity of these clips from the sitcom BETTER OFF TED. The scuttlebutt is that BOT is on the bubble not to be renewed for next year, so the producers are looking to drum up some attention for the show. It’s hard to imagine they taped these lines for any real reason – I suppose they might be planning on doing a show where they censor almost everything coming out of the character’s mouths, but when you hear what they’re saying, yikes. More likely this is a publicity stunt, but it’s still freaking hilarious to see straight-laced characters speaking these vile lines of dialogue.
This song is the kind of ear candy that puts a smile on your face and gets stuck in your head, in a good way. And OK GO hit the ball out of the park with another fantastic concept video. I dare you to watch this video and not smile.
I tried to embed the video in this post, but embedding is disabled unfortunately.
Roger Ebert is on Twitter, and has been pumping out a ton of interesting links. I highly recommend following him. One of his more recent posts links to a clip of Mel Blanc on the David Letterman show.
Those unfamiliar with the name Mel Blanc might recognize some of the characters he voiced: Porky Pig, Foghorn Leghorn, Barney Rubble, and the real classics like Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. Take a few moments to walk down memory lane. His voice talent is incredible, and it turns out he’s a pretty witty guy as well.
Watch what happens when an ordinary staircase is turned into a playable piano. Even with an escalator right beside it, 60% more people chose to take the stairs when it offered the chance to have a bit of fun.
This is seriously one of the cuter things I’ve seen in a long time. The backstory here is that both of these women have played ukelele with Jonathan Coulton, and he suggested that they play a song together, one of them strumming and the other playing the chords. The result is a ridiculously adorable version of the Beatles’ classic We Can Work it Out.
By the way, the title Two Girls, One Uke is a play on words. If you don’t get it, don’t try. If you do, what’s wrong with you?
People like to go fast and film themselves doing so. Modern technology offers a variety of ways to both go faster than ever before and record that speed for posterity. But for something to look fast on video, there needs to be a frame of reference for the viewer — something to hurtle past or whoosh by — and maybe even a hint of danger. Here are a selection of videos of people doing just that: traveling at high speeds in cars, on train tracks, through the air, and down mountains in close proximity to traffic, large rocks, and thin atmospheres. Most of these videos are filmed from a first-person perspective so that when you watch them, you can imagine that you’re the one zooming along.
Jason Kottke points to a YouTube clip of Richard Feynman explaining how trains stay on their tracks. His explanation is charming, and makes perfect sense. It’s one of those things that I never really thought about, but as soon as you see him describe it, it’s impossible to think any differently. Here’s the clip:
I can’t let this go by without linking to it. It’s a YouTube video of a CBS segment about a blind kid who has learned how to “see” using echolocation – yes, like a bat. His abilities are astounding to watch – he can name objects around him, accurately throw pillows in a pillow-fight, rollerblade, and even play videogames, though that last one isn’t so much about echolocation as it is an incredible talent for picking out audio detail.
My favorite part of this clip is the interview with his doctor, who states that the child’s mother should be praised for the confidence she has instilled in her child, and the fact that she doesn’t baby him because of his disability, but rather instills in him the belief that he can do anything that kids with sight can do – and he can.