Land of Talk

It may not feel okay somedays, but at least there's incredible music to help you get through it. Throw in a a gorgeous video that feels like a collaboration between Luis Buñuel and Miyazaki-san and color me enamored.

xkcd

Randall Munroe is proof that a simple idea, well loved, can become complicated as all hell.

What does xkcd mean? (44:33)

People act out xkcd strips (7:15): "Cory Doctorow wears a red cape and goggles when he blogs..."; "Richard Stallman... sleeps with a katana..."; "Janeane Garofolo jumping a motorcycle off of the international space station as it crashes over an island with a volcanic eruption and tyrannosaurs..."; "Do you expect me to fly?" (19:15)

Also: Programming while drinking (10:15), "Maybe that's how Cory Doctorow gets to the balloon..." (21:25), lisp book (29:52), "If a raptor were to attack me in this room, how would I escape?" (30:28), River Tam (32:49), "Science. It works, bitches." (33:22), EMP Cannon (38:03), Sudo make me a sandwich (49:01), Braille (49:47), live Google doodle (52:52), and elaborate fight scenes (55:10).

Rent-A-Person

Kurt Kuenne is most widely known for his documentary, Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father, but he's also been producing brilliant short films for many years. Be sure to check out his award-winning Validation. And, while we're on the subject of uber-cute super-sap, throw Patrick Hughes' Signs on the fire, too.

Inspiring Bicyclist

Whether you're fearing for his life or simply in awe of his talents, Danny MacAskill demands to be watched. Band of Horses playing in the background doesn't hurt either.

A Slow Parade

It's not often I come across a song I really like on a TV show, but if I was hedging my bets, I'd say the next one comes from House, too. "Double A" Bondy is a former member of Verbena, for anyone who remembers them, and he's currently wrapping up a tour in support of his second solo album "When the Devil's Loose."

Check out the use of "A Slow Parade" near the end (37:30) of Episode 9 from Season 6 ("Wilson").

Sherman Alexie

I did a project about Sherman Alexie for a poetry class in college. My favorite poems of his are "Evolution" and "On the Amtrak from Boston to New York City." I remember joking about him having a mullet.

Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to see him on the Colbert Report. It seemed odd to me that, in searching for a video of the interview, I came across this footage of Alexie speaking shortly after 9/11. Maybe because the poetry class that I didn't go to the morning of 9/11 was the same poetry class in which I gave my Alexie presentation. I could gush about how cathartic his words are for me now, but I'll let Alexie speak for himself.

Tub Talk

I came across this video on the Venture Bros. Blog and immediately crushed on Sara Benincasa so hard that my brain melted into my esophagus.

"Do you know how many nerds just came in their pants?"

Time and Time Again

Moral of the story: invent an invisibility cloak before you invent a time machine.

Or, you know, just don't kill anyone. We wouldn't want to have to redefine murder-suicide.

Geekier Than Thou

If you've ever worried about your nerdy hobby or been concerned about your OCD kicking in, just rest in the knowledge that Adam Savage is somewhere out there pushing the envelope. He's also probably attempting to recreate the envelope from pictures in his spare time. But that's only because he destroyed the original envelope on Mythbusters... you know... trying to see if he could make it burn underwater or something.

LaundroMatinee

My favorite music blog is My Old Kentucky Blog. LaundroMatinee, according to its Vimeo account, is essentially MOKB's vlog counterpart:

"Craig 'Dodge' Lile from MyOldKentuckyBlog.com, with help from the incredibly talented Jeff DuPont (audio) , Doug Fellegy (video), Tim Wilsbach (video), Joe Wallace (Video), Michelle Castillo (Video) and Nate Karamanski (video), has created laundromatinee.com - a site that features the in-studio sessions MOKB records for its SIRIUS XM Blog Radio show (Tuesdays at Noon EST on SIRIUS 26/XM 43)."

P.S. I'm absolutely smitten with this video in particular.

Getting Warmer by the Numbers

This video is an interesting look at the back and forth of the climate change debate. Today, the Associated Press released an article by their science writer, Seth Borenstein, detailing the results of a new analysis on climate data.

"The AP sent expert statisticians NOAA's year-to-year ground temperature changes over 130 years and the 30 years of satellite-measured temperatures preferred by skeptics and gathered by scientists at the University of Alabama in Huntsville."

"Statisticians who analyzed the data found a distinct decades-long upward trend in the numbers, but could not find a significant drop in the past 10 years in either data set. The ups and downs during the last decade repeat random variability in data as far back as 1880."

Remember the Death Star(s)

Sometimes humor and Star Wars are the only medicine.

Dream Yourself to Death

A short by Rian Johnson, of "Brick" and "Brothers Bloom" fame.

American Imperialism

Whatever the History channel is broadcasting right now isn't as important as Howard Zinn's History of American Imperialism. Doesn't hurt that Viggo Mortensen is narrating.

Skate-tris

Wouldn't you like to know what were these skateboarders were smoking when they decided to rig themselves up as neon Tetris pieces?

Future Possibilities

The grandchildren of our grandchildren will think about us in the way we think about Neanderthals.

Go Team Venture! Again!

Venture Bros. Season 4 is "scheduled to premiere" on October 18. In the meantime, check out Jackson Publick's LiveJournal and Doc Hammer's deviantART.

Moments

Directed by Will Hoffman, this short film is apparently inspired by neuroscientist David Eagleman's new book Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives.

"I had always heard your entire life flashes in front of your eyes the second before you die. First of all, that one second isn't a second at all, it stretches on forever, like an ocean of time... For me, it was lying on my back at Boy Scout camp, watching falling stars... And yellow leaves, from the maple trees, that lined my street... Or my grandmother's hands, and the way her skin seemed like paper... And the first time I saw my cousin Tony's brand new Firebird... And Janie... And Janie... And... Carolyn. I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me... but it's hard to stay mad, when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much, my heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst... And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain and I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life... You have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure. But don't worry... you will someday." ~ American Beauty

QT Top 20 & Mixtape

In honor of the Inglourious Basterds, I present you with Quentin Tarantino's Top 20 since 1992 (ie. the year Reservoir Dogs came out). And, as a bonus, "The Tarantino Mixtape" by video remix magician Eclectic Method.

Parts Per Million

It's no secret, people love cold hard facts. Scientists can huff and puff about global warming all they want, but it's hard for other people to care about something on such a vast scale if they have nothing for comparison. We can't all go to Antarctica or Greenland and see the ice melting for ourselves. Even if we could, many of us probably wouldn't fully understand, while others would chock it up to a natural phase of weather (ie. interglacial).

Unfortunately for all of us, we've already exceeded the recommended 350 Carbon dioxide parts per million (ppm) that all the experts are getting excited about. Right now, we're hovering around 387 ppm. 350.org seems to be running a successful multimedia campaign to raise awareness, centered around a Global Day of Climate Action on October 24th.

I think it's a great idea to get people organized in their communities. I just have a nagging question in the back of my mind... If 350 is the upper limit, shouldn't we be aiming for something below that?

Hell, I'm moving further inland soon. You coastal people can deal with it.

Secret Of The Easy Yoke

Some part of me likes to think that the greatest time in my life was when I was a Christian. Over the years, I've lamented losing the faith I'd previously built my life around. Recently, though, I realized that the solution is not simply to return to church. Church was never the highlight of my spiritual experience. Church was a lot of somebody else's interpretation of a popular book along with some songs I didn't really like. The highlights were sharing my search for meaning with other people and challenging myself to live by a higher standard of consideration for everyone.

Regardless of how I feel about religions and churches, I'm still not quite sure what to make of the whole god thing. But if there's a song that captures the transitional experience, it's most certainly this one. To paraphrase David, "Well, a lot's changed since I heard this song, but it's an interesting document."

Just Mob It

In the Age of Irony, the flash mob is a troublesome brainchild. Conceived to poke fun at hipsters and conformity, this mockery mob-ishness has been hijacked by those savvy Swedes as a tribute to the late King of Pop. For all the cheap jokes we've slung in Michael Jackson's direction over the years, it's easy to see that these people are dancing for anything but irony's sake. These performances are like human fireworks. They don't try to drag out the whole song; they get the point across in less than two minutes. And then, as if nothing had ever happened, they disappear into the crowd.

I could think of no better way to commemorate the strange man who gave us such ridiculously catchy music and some flippin' sweet dance moves.

Call of the Wild

For some, it may be easy to forget that Isabella Rossellini is a famous actress and not a kooky high school biology teacher. But if I were a biology teacher, you better believe I'd be using these videos in my class. Check out both seasons of "Green Porno" at the Sundance Channel website.

You may have asked yourself at some point, why sex? Why not just asexually divide like creatures did at the beginning of our world? Fortunately for us, unique combinations of DNA help many species to fend off parasites. So, as the article's title says, "Like Sex? Thank a Parasite."

Sci-Fri Death Slot

Surprise, surprise... FOX put yet another Sci-Fi show on the Friday night chopping block. Virtuality didn't lack for pedigree either; the pilot movie was written by Battlestar Galactica creator Ronald D. Moore and scribe Michael Taylor.

There's no doubt that Sci-Fi fans have a love-hate relationship with FOX. Well, maybe more on the hate side. Love-hate-hate? Love-hate²? The Firefly debacle still burns brightly in the minds of Whedonites as they ponder the future of Dollhouse. The senseless cancellation of The Sarah Connor Chronicles continues to baffle me. You Hollywood numbskulls had a Terminator movie come out this summer, and you don't think anyone was gonna watch a Terminator TV show in the fall?

Anyway, the funniest part about Virtuality's debut, for me, is that they didn't even have faith enough in this one to let it complete a season, let alone a story arc.

I've got one thing to say to all you geeky, visionary writer/director/producers out there: go to the SciFi channel. You're more likely to get the go ahead.

As for the rest of you, there's always xkcd.

Amazing 3D Animation

When I came across "Eole" on Vimeo, I was floored. Other than Galactic Mail, I'd never seen any 3d animation of this quality floating around on the internet. After poking around the Eole website links, I began to realize that all of the other short films they were recommending belonged to alumni of Supinfocom, an animation university in France (and now India). I later discovered that Asterokid (Douglas Lassance), one of the creators of Galactic Mail, also helped to create Sigg Jones as a final project for his degree from... you guessed it... Supinfocom. It's a small world of animation after all.

Sex Ed. With A Smile

VideoJug has a lot of useful videos that cover everything from cooking to kissing (and things kissing will lead to), but Ben and Sarah always seem to be having the most fun. They're also together in a short called Pandora's Inbox and Out of Office, an ongoing web series.

Alive in Joburg becomes District 9

Alive In Joburg - Neill Blomkamp from Spy Films on Vimeo.

So maybe you've googled "aliens in africa" and maybe you haven't. Either way, I command you to worship at the altar of Neill Blomkamp. Worship!

How many people do you know that made a short film, posted it on YouTube, and then got to make a feature film with Peter Jackson? Yeah, that's what I thought.

Mixed Signals: Creation vs. Evolution

Opposite Day! Creation as technobabble and Evolution as melodramatic sermon... it's not just a brilliant switcharoo, it's also remarkably well done. You can watch them side by side on Vimeo.

Off-topic (but not if you're Pat Robertson):
So you've probably heard about Ida by now, but did you know it's also an impending hurricane? Do you think the World Meteological Organization and The Paleontological Society have a secret rivalry over names? You know, like the Anchorman news team street fight.

Mustaches bristling! Barometer slings launching projectiles into a crowd of prehistoric graverobbers! Picks and chisels bringing down the front lines of the weather soothsayers! Ida-the-hurricane-of-dead-lemurs!

Anyway, that's how I want to imagine it. We now return to your regularly scheduled program...

The Rocketeer Express

One of my favorite videos on Vimeo. But whaddabout DHL, yo?

Star Trek vs. Star Wars

The rivalry between Star Wars fans and Trekkies has been churning for so long that no Force powers or warp drives can escape it. Personally, I've been a fan of Star Wars AND Star Trek for a long time... probably since middle school back in the early 90s. Aside from the fact that Star Wars had much better toys - I've always considered the original, unmolested trilogy to stand head and shoulders above every Trek film. Let's face it, Star Trek was made for the weekly discoveries you shared with the crew of the Enterprise. That's where all of the important character development happened, week in and week out on the boob tube.

That time is over. A new era has arrived with J.J. Abrams. I dare say that I might end up liking a Star Trek film better than the original Star Wars. With the advent of the Star Wars prequels, one can't help but feel that some part of the original trilogy is tainted. Even as I watch my completely "unspecial" edition of Return of the Jedi on VHS, I cringe at the thought of George Lucas editing Hayden Christensen into the final scene. So much nostalgia coupled with so many mixed feelings is bound to make a lot of geeks jump starships.

Somebody must want to dethrone the "benevolent despot" Lucas at this point and prove me wrong. How about you Abrams? Please?

Muslim Demographics or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Laugh at Fearmongers

I love how the video stops just short of announcing a brand new crusade.

"As with the Christian religion, the worst advertisement for Socialism is its adherents." George Orwell

Genius Ain't Easy

Goodie Bag is easily my favorite channel on YouTube. The videos are posted kind of infrequently, but the monologues are always worth the wait. Here's to you Kirby Ferguson... good luck on your way to 10,000 hours of snark.

Nuke the Fridge!

It feels good to know I'm not alone. Videogum has an article series called The Hunt For The Worst Movie Of All Time. I poked around and was glad to find a royal roast of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Please note that I specifically left the name "Indiana Jones" out of that sentence. If you managed to avoid seeing this monstrosity of fan fiction, keep it that way. Sadly, I was sucked in with the masses, but I like to think my tirade helped someone avoid it. I later discovered the video above by googling the phrase "nuke the fridge".

I have two semi-related tangents:
1) I'd like to throw the phrase "Frak the Cavemen" into the ring, for all of us who suffered through the Battlestar Galactica finale. It would generally refer to any story whose ending isn't so much a twist as a baffling cop-out. Hell, BSG could milk a lot of these sayings from the last 10 minutes alone. How about "Must Be An Angel?" or "Strung Along The Watchtower." Cue silly robot montage!
2) Shia LaBeouf is a black hole. He stole center stage in a movie that was supposed to be about the Transformers, contributed to the Crystal Skull clusterfuck, and now he even threatens to bring down the adaptation of Y the Last Man. If DJ Caruso doesn't take some hints from Ranting & Raving, he's gonna be next on Fanboys' Most Wanted.

Forever's Not So Long

When the end of the world looms, I'll buy a puppy. And ice cream.

Jones' Good Ass BBQ and Foot Massage

"As long as it's fryable or edible, we gonna make it deliciousable."

In Plain English

Leelefever of Common Craft covers a lot of topics in less than five minutes; everything from zombies to podcasting with the occasional current affair thrown in (ie. elections, investing, etc.).

Credit Crisis Explained

“People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.”
― Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations

Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds

I'd heard rumors (ie. "rumours") about QT writing a WWII movie after Kill Bill Vol. 2 came out. I figured he'd scrapped the project when Grindhouse was released in 2007, so I'm pretty excited to finally see some footage of Inglourious Basterds. Empire Online has a shot for shot trailer breakdown that all you salivating Tarantino fans need to read.

Escape From City 17

"Directed by The Purchase Brothers.

The Escape From City 17 short film series is an adaptation based on the Half Life computer game saga by Valve Corporation. Originally envisioned as a project to test out numerous post production techniques, as well as a spec commercial, it ballooned into a multi part series. Filmed guerilla style with no money, no time, no crew, no script, the first two episodes were made from beginning to end on a budget of $500."

You Suck at Photoshop

Tired of being bored to death by your Photoshop training videos? Spice up your design life with Donnie Hoyle's tutorials, marriage problems and general neuroses.

Hot For Words

Marina Orlova might just be the sexiest woman on the internet. Whether it's the Russian accent and the absence of clothing or the philology and the fact that she Rickrolled everyone watching this video... you decide. If you're curious to see what words she's "investigated" so far click here.

Internet Video Memes

Oh, is that what you call them...

All sarcasm aside, this is a little trip down Memory Meme Lane in this big bad Internet City.

1) "All your base are belong to us"
This was the first internet phenomenon that really impressed me. I think it had something to do with the 8-bit Engrish obsession combined with the lure of en masse photoshopping.

2) "Gonads and Strife"
Or "Weee!" with a lot of e's if you prefer. Sure, it doesn't make any sense at first, but the hyperactive squirrel touches on some classic themes: drugs, death, R2D2... who am I kidding... I just watch it to sing "gonads in the lightning!"

3) "G.I. Joe PSAs" - If you ever lost faith in the interweb's ability to completely dumbfound you with random bullshit, don't blame Eric Fensler. I can only hope that The Rise of Cobra inspires a whole new set of live action PSAs.

4) "Powerthirst" - Let's forget for a moment that someone actually made a real life version of Brawndo (the sports drink that causes famine in Idiocracy) and used the Powerthirst voice talent to market it. It's all about the turbopuns and the preposterone hyperbole for me. From Rawberry to the 'fighter plane made of biceps,' watching the Powerthirst videos almost makes me feel good about skipping the gym.

5) "Can't Tase This" - Regardless of your OMG thoughts on the UF tasing incident, nothing spices up the internews like a little old skool... STOP... Hammertime. The sound editing is priceless, but I think the funniest thing for me is the implied lyrical oxymoron. Yes, they can touch this. Not only can they touch it, they can also tase it. Just you wait and see.

6) "Muppets react to '2 girls one cup'" - 2 girls 1 cup was probably the most disgusting thing I've ever seen. Kinda like having both my eyes raped by a troop of silverback gorillas. But, like many things in life, the Muppets found a way to make me laugh at it. Probably not what Jim Henson had in mind. Rolf FTW.

7) "There Will Be Milkshakes" - When a murder scene from a hyper-serious movie and the chorus from a sassy R&B song have something in common, well... opposites attract. They go straight to 'parking' after sharing a milkshake at the drugstore. What they don't tell you in health class is that the internet gets the orphaned baby after the one night stand. If I weren't such a lazy man I'd probably mash up Daniel Day Lewis and Kelis on morphthing.com for you. But I am.

8) "Oprah OVER 9000 penises f/ PEDOBEAR remix" - If you're unfamiliar with trolls and Pedopals then you may want to watch the clip from Attack of the Show before you delve into the remix. On one hand you might feel sorry for Empress O in her sincere concern for children online. On the other, you can't help but marvel at her gullibility as she serves to educate only by example. "Now make that your power!"

Dinner with the Band - Tokyo Police Club

History of the Internet