Sunday, December 30, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - Zoe Mulford performs Welcome In Another Year:

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Happy Christmas!

Wishing everyone a very merry and happy Christmas!

To celebrate, here's the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Colin Davis, with the Tenebrae Choir, performing For Unto Us a Child is Born, from Handel's Messiah:

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - We Three Kings, performed by The Piano Guys at Citipond in Bryant Park in New York City:



Thursday, December 20, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - Carols of the Bells and God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, performed on cellos:



Saturday, December 15, 2012

The Christmas Story

Tonight's Christmas story, Aussie kid edition:

Monday, December 10, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, performed by the Piano Guys:


Wednesday, December 5, 2012

The Popinator

Tonight's fun-with-popcorn video:



Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Stopping the intrinsic evil of abortion

Tonight's pro-life tactics video [warning: graphic imagery and video footage] - Gregg Cunningham of the Center for Bioethical Reform. This is an important video to watch:



Monday, November 19, 2012

How predictable are you?

Tonight's prediction video:

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Balls

Tonight's LEGO video:



Monday, November 5, 2012

Drag race

Tonight's fast car matchup - the Bugatti Veyron takes on a McLaren F1, as seen on the BBC show Top Gear:


Wednesday, October 31, 2012

All hallows eve

Tonight's Halloween video:

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Lockstep

Tonight's precision march, from the Land of the Rising Sun:



Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Free fallin'

Tonight's free-fall record breaker - Felix Baumgartner breaks the free-fall record:



Monday, October 1, 2012

BMW M5 - Like a bullet

Tonight's speedy auto video:

From the video's description:
The world's fastest sedan recreates super slow-motion bullet footage on a much grander scale. The result: High Performance Art.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Train ride

Tonight's Rocky Mountain luxury train ride:

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - a collage of videos of Gotye's Somebody I Used to Know:



Saturday, September 15, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - Pomplamoose performs Busts Your Kneecaps:

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Signs, signs everywhere

Tonight's antique cars and neon signage video:

Monday, September 10, 2012

So I guess the Dems aren't really all that "pro-choice", after all

Tonight's cognitive dissonance, Democratic Convention edition:



Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - a new take on J.S. Bach's Unaccompanied Cello Suite No. 1: Prelude:


Thursday, August 30, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - Florence and the Machine's What the Water Gave Me:



Saturday, August 25, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - a new take on Pachelbel's Canon in D, by The Piano Guys:



Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Robot chefs

Tonight's culinary automation - a robotic, noodle-slicing chef:



Monday, August 20, 2012

Gratitude

Tonight's nature video, from cinematographer and director Louie Schwartzberg:

From the video's description:
Louie Schwartzberg is an award-winning cinematographer, director, and producer whose notable career spans more than three decades providing breathtaking imagery for feature films, television shows, documentaries and commercials.

This piece includes his short film on Gratitude and Happiness. Brother David Steindl-Rast's spoken words, Gary Malkin's musical compositions and Louie's cinematography make this a stunningly beautiful piece, reminding us of the precious gift of life, and the beauty all around us.

As a visual artist, Louie has created some of the most iconic and memorable film moments of our time. He is an innovator in the world of time-lapse, nature, aerial and "slice-of-life" photography - the only cinematographer in the world who has literally been shooting 24 hours a day, 7 days a week continuously for more than 30 years.

Louie was recognized as one of the top 70 Cinematographers for the On Film Kodak Salute Series. He is a member of the Directors Guild of America and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. ...

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

I wanted to tell you I love you

Tonight's love story:



Friday, August 10, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - all-girl quartet Bond's Victory:

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Quick and simple life hacks

Today's everyday living tips:




Monday, August 6, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - Coldplay's Paradise, performed with an African influence. Filmed in Southern Utah, with vocals by Alex Boye:

From the video's descripion:
All the instruments you hear are REAL instruments. We wanted to be authentic about this. The following percussion instruments were used:

Djembe (drum)
Agogo bell (like a cow bell)
Udu (the porcelain vase-looking drum)
Guiro (gourd scraper)
Djabarra (shaker)
Rain stick
Pangi seed shaker ("goat toenails" or Unas)


Friday, August 3, 2012

Where the hell is Matt? 2012 edition

Tonight's peripatetic video - Matt Harding's new video:



Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - Pomplamoose's If You Think You Need Some Lovin':

Friday, July 27, 2012

Wanna watch a movie?

Tonight's movie buff - Mark Malkoff gets the most out of his Netflix subscription:



Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - all-girl quartet Bond's Explosive:

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Eye protection

Today's safety article -- Lucky Gunner tests a whole passel of ballistic eye protection:



Read the whole thing here.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Ventriloquist

Tonight's ventriloquism humor, with Nina Conti:



Friday, July 20, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - a little from Carl Orff's Carmina Burana for you. To wit, Orff's setting to music of the medieval latin poem O Fortuna:



The lyrics:
O Fortuna
velut luna
statu variabilis,
semper crescis
aut decrescis;
vita detestabilis
nunc obdurat
et tunc curat
ludo mentis aciem,
egestatem,
potestatem
dissolvit ut glaciem.

Sors immanis
et inanis,
rota tu volubilis,
status malus,
vana salus
semper dissolubilis,
obumbrata
et velata
michi quoque niteris;
nunc per ludum
dorsum nudum
fero tui sceleris.

Sors salutis
et virtutis
michi nunc contraria,
est affectus
et defectus
semper in angaria.
Hac in hora
sine mora
corde pulsum tangite;
quod per sortem
sternit fortem,
mecum omnes plangite!


English translation:
O Fortune,
variable
as the moon,
always dost thou
wax and wane.
Detestable life,
first dost thou mistreat us,
and then, whimsically,
thou heedest our desires.
As the sun melts the ice,
so dost thou dissolve
both poverty and power.

Monstrous
and empty fate,
thou, turning wheel,
art mean,
voiding
good health at thy will.
Veiled
in obscurity,
thou dost attack
me also.
To thy cruel pleasure
I bare my back.

Thou dost withdraw
my health and virtue;
thou dost threaten
my emotion
and weakness
with torture.
At this hour,
therefore, let us
pluck the strings without
delay.
Let us mourn together,
for fate crushes the brave.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Fill 'er up

Tonight's commercial - vintage and modern Ferrari race cars, filmed in major cities, doing their thing:

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's Irish jig - from Riverdance:

Friday, July 13, 2012

Obama: Narcissist-in-Chief

Today's top-20 look at the self-absorbed White House occupant, courtesy of Jordan Rickards. An excerpt (links omitted):

14. Obama as the standard of divine law

For millennia, theologians have struggled with the concept of sin. Usually, though, the question focused on how one finds redemption from sin, or what constitutes a sin, not who gets to decide what a sin is. It seemed a given that sin, by its very nature, is a transgression against God’s values. What those values are is subject to debate, of course, but the debate is always in the context of divine law and divine will.

Except to Barack Obama. When asked to define “sin,” he stated that sin is “being out of alignment with my values,” whatever those are. So take that, St. Augustine!


13. Announcing the killing of Osama bin Laden

Perhaps the only time the nation has truly been united under President Obama was when he delivered the news that Osama bin Laden had been killed. And why let a great opportunity for self-aggrandizement go wasted?

Just as he had felt compelled to include himself in the report of the Navy snipers who killed the Somali pirates who had hijacked an American tanker in 2009, telling us that he had heroically “given the order” to shoot, in his relatively brief announcement about the Bin Laden killing Obama referenced himself fifteen times, speaking at length of his minimal role: “I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against al Qaeda… I was briefed on a possible lead… I met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more information about the possibility that we had located bin Laden… I determined that we had enough intelligence…and authorized an operation.”

Oddly, never once during this speech did he mention the Navy SEALs who actually carried out the operation. But that was a minor detail.

Read the whole list here.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Cutaway view of a Formula 1 car

Tonight's auto racing inside look - a cutaway look at a Sauber F1 car:



Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - all-girl string quartet eScala performs Palladio:

Monday, July 9, 2012

Swimming with the Devil

Tonight's water adventure - swimming in the Devil's Pool, Livingstone Island, at the top of Victoria Falls, Zambia:



Saturday, July 7, 2012

Musical interlude, 10,000 singers edition

Tonight's musical interlude - the final movement from Beethoven's majestic Ninth Symphony:

From the video's description:
The performance of "Daiku", "The Ninth", Beethoven's 9th Symphony with 10000 (amateur) chorus singers is a Japanese highlight every year in the end of December. Here is the last movement, recorded at the 2011 concert in Osaka, this year dedicated especially to the memory of the victims of the desastrous tsunami in March. ...




Friday, July 6, 2012

Spooky

Tonight's aural notes, from a waterphone:

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Learning the piano, long distance edition

Tonight's long-distance musical instrument instruction:

From the video's description:
Jarrod Radnich, nationally noted composer and pianist of "Virtuosic Piano Solo Series" personally instructed Miss South Dakota, Anna Simpson, on one of his piano compositions. The composition, Pirates of the Caribbean, was then performed by Simpson at the Miss America Pageant. He did the training with a distance of thousands of miles between them!



Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Independence Day

Today's memorial video - I was going to title this post "Happy Independence Day", but quite frankly, with the awful US Supreme Court decision upholding the abomination that is Obamacare, and the Court's apparent green-lighting of virtually unbridled further intrusions on personal liberty by Congress, there's not a general air of happiness afoot.

This video, with its symbolism of destruction and rebuilding, seemed more apropos:

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - Neil Diamond's Coming to America:

Monday, July 2, 2012

Almost ready for takeoff, Captain

Tonight's aviation oddity:

From the video's description:
This 747 is sitting in a boneyard in Mojave, CA waiting to be dismantled and recycled at the end of its useful life. On May 23rd, 2012 the area experienced extreme winds of 70+ miles per hour and reports of gusts up to 100 near the pass due to a low pressure zone. Without the weight of its engines and with its landing flaps deployed, the slightly tail heavy 747 tries to take to the skies one last time. The next day the plane was found to have also rotated about 45 degrees from its original position. The same wind storm damaged many rooftops, cut power and sent huge clouds of sand and dust billowing into the sky. Mojave will occasionally experience this type of wind storm due to geography. --Mike

...



Sunday, July 1, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - Pomplamoose's Another Day:

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude -

From the video's description:
Rolling in the Deep written by Paul Epworth and Adele
Instrumental arrangement produced by Steven Sharp Nelson, Al van der Beek
Arrangement written by Steven Sharp Nelson, Al van der Beek & Jon Schmidt
Piano: Jon Schmidt
Acoustic/Electric Cellos: Steven Sharp Nelson

Recorded, mixed & mastered by Al van der Beek at TPG Studios

Video Produced by Paul Anderson, Tel Stewart, and Shaye Scott

In this arrangement we borrowed a melody from Gustav Holst's "Jupiter" Suite from "The Planets" -- op. 32 -- be sure to listen to his original composition -- it's amazing! The melody we used comes in about half-way through the piece.



Friday, June 29, 2012

I could care less, I suppose

Tonight's verbal peeves:



Thursday, June 28, 2012

Costa Rica

Tonight's Costa Rican tourism video:

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Flying fish

Tonight's airborne fish video:



Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - Leonard Cohen's By the Rivers Dark:



Monday, June 25, 2012

On a wing and a prayer

Tonight's wingsuit video:



Sunday, June 24, 2012

Who needs keys?

Tonight's lock picking video:



Saturday, June 23, 2012

Gopher tuna

Tonight's misheard lyrics - Carl Orff's O Fortuna, from Carmina Burana:




Here are the actual lyrics, in the original Latin:
O Fortuna
velut luna
statu variabilis,
semper crescis
aut decrescis;
vita detestabilis
nunc obdurat
et tunc curat
ludo mentis aciem,
egestatem,
potestatem
dissolvit ut glaciem.

Sors immanis
et inanis,
rota tu volubilis,
status malus,
vana salus
semper dissolubilis,
obumbrata
et velata
michi quoque niteris;
nunc per ludum
dorsum nudum
fero tui sceleris.

Sors salutis
et virtutis
michi nunc contraria,
est affectus
et defectus
semper in angaria.
Hac in hora
sine mora
corde pulsum tangite;
quod per sortem
sternit fortem,
mecum omnes plangite!


And the English translation:
O Fortune,
just like the moon
thou art variable,
always dost thou
wax and wane.
Detestable life,
first dost thou mistreat us,
and then, whimsically,
thou heedest our desires.
As the sun melts the ice,
so dost thou dissolve
both poverty and power.

Monstrous
and empty fate,
thou, turning wheel,
art mean,
voiding
good health at thy will.
Veiled
in obscurity,
thou dost attack
me also.
To thy cruel pleasure
I bare my back.

Thou dost withdraw
my health and virtue;
thou dost threaten
my emotion
and weakness
with torture.
At this hour,
therefore, let us
pluck the strings without
delay.
Let us mourn together,
for fate crushes the brave.

Friday, June 22, 2012

Hard boiled

Tonight's culinary tip -- peeling a hard-boiled egg without, well, actually peeling:



Thursday, June 21, 2012

Buzzword Bingo

Tonight's cliché video - 86 buzzword bingo:


Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - Bond's Victory:

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Sarcastic fish

Tonight's fishy video:



Monday, June 18, 2012

Gymming it up

Tonight's acrobatic gymnastics video - from the 2012 Worlds in Orlando, FL:



Sunday, June 17, 2012

We are Catholic

Today's Sunday video:



Saturday, June 16, 2012

The lazy man's skateboard

Tonight's motorized skateboard video:



Friday, June 15, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - Pomplamoose performs a rendition of Michael Jackson's Beat It:

Business Insider: 70 Terrifying Facts About The US Economy

Today's economic review, from Business Insider:

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Texting while driving

Tonight's traffic safety video:



Tuesday, June 12, 2012

On the set of The Avengers

Tonight's behind-the-scenes video:



Monday, June 11, 2012

Marry me

Tonight's musical interlude - Train's Marry Me:

Sunday, June 10, 2012

The Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Wishing you a blessed feast of Corpus Christi, which, in the dioceses of the United States, is transferred from the preceding Thursday to today.

Today's video - from last year, an Eucharistic Adoration flash mob in the UK, organized by some Capuchin Franciscans:



Saturday, June 9, 2012

Backing up is hard to do

Tonight's automotive reversal video:



Friday, June 8, 2012

Clean ears every time

Tonight's summer food prep video:



Thursday, June 7, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - Susan Tedeschi's Don't Think Twice:



Wednesday, June 6, 2012

That's gotta hurt

Tonight's marital arts movie video - Jackie Chan's top 10 stunts:



Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Dancing with the dogs

Tonight's girl and her doggie, dance edition:



Monday, June 4, 2012

The name's Bond, James Bond

Tonight's James Bond video:



Saturday, June 2, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - David Wong plays solos from Guns N' Roses November Rain album on his electric violin:



Friday, June 1, 2012

Remember to breathe

Tonight's Canadian travel tourism summer video, courtesy Travel Alberta (try watching full screen):

Thursday, May 31, 2012

How it's made - Contact Lenses

Tonight's clear vision video:



Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - Caro Emerald's A Night Like This:



Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Double Oh

Tonight's 00 video - all 190+ instances of "00" from all 23 James Bond movies:



Monday, May 28, 2012

Memorial Day

Wishing you a happy Memorial Day, as we remember those service members who have paid the ultimate price in service to our nation:



Sunday, May 27, 2012

Veni, Creator Spiritus

Tonight's musical interlude - the beautiful and ancient (circa 9th Century) hymn Veni, Creator Spiritus, in celebration of Pentecost Sunday, performed by the Schola Gregoriana Mediolanensis in Milan, Italy:

The lyrics in the sung Latin, with a loose English translation below each verse:

Veni, creator Spiritus
mentes tuorum visita,
imple superna gratia,
quae tu creasti pectora.

Come, Holy Ghost, Creator blest,
and in our hearts take up Thy rest;
come with Thy grace and heav'nly aid,
To fill the hearts which Thou hast made.


Qui diceris Paraclitus,
altissimi donum Dei,
fons vivus, ignis, caritas
et spiritalis unctio.

O Comforter, to Thee we cry,
Thou heav'nly gift of God most high,
Thou Fount of life, and Fire of love,
and sweet anointing from above.


Tu septiformis munere,
digitus paternae dexterae
tu rite promissum Patris
sermone ditans guttura.

O Finger of the hand divine,
the sevenfold gifts of grace are thine;
true promise of the Father thou,
who dost the tongue with power endow.


Accende lumen sensibus,
infunde amorem cordibus,
infirma nostri corporis,
virtute firmans perpeti.

Thy light to every sense impart,
and shed thy love in every heart;
thine own unfailing might supply
to strengthen our infirmity.


Hostem repellas longius
pacemque dones protinus;
ductore sic te praevio
vitemus omne noxium.

Drive far away our ghostly foe,
and thine abiding peace bestow;
if thou be our preventing Guide,
no evil can our steps betide.


Per te sciamus da Patrem
noscamus atque Filium,
te utriusque Spiritum
credamus omni tempore.

Praise we the Father and the Son
and Holy Spirit with them One;
and may the Son on us bestow
the gifts that from the Spirit flow.


Deo Patri sit gloria,
et Filio qui a mortuis
Surrexit, ac Paraclito,
in saeculorum saecula.
Amen.

Now to the Father and the Son,
Who rose from death, be glory given,
with Thou, O Holy Comforter,
henceforth by all in earth and heaven.
Amen.










... et portae inferi non praevalebunt adversus eam

... And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. [Matt. 16:18]. In celebration of Pentecost Sunday, generally considered the birthday of the Church. May the Holy Spirit enkindle the fire of Divine Charity in our hearts.



Saturday, May 26, 2012

Shocking

Tonight's shocking musical interlude, courtesy two electrical engineering students - House of the Rising Sun, played on seven foot tall Tesla coils:

From the video's description:
... These are two gigantic solid state musical Tesla Coils. A Tesla Coil is a special type of transformer invented by Nikola Tesla that is able to generating extremely large voltages using a phenomenon known as electrical resonance. Each coil in this video is capable of generating a 13 foot spark. This equates to about 500,000 volts of electricity.


The primary drive system for the coils consists of high power semiconductors arranged into an H-Bridge switching configuration. During a spark event, the coil is pulsed on for a few hundred millionths of a second. During this short time, thousands of amps circulate within the primary tank circuit and the energy is coupled into the secondary resonator through magnetism.


So what appears to be a continuous burst of sparks is actually a specific number of sparks generated per second. By modulating the number of sparks that emit from the coil each second, different tones can be produced by the coils. ...




Friday, May 25, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - Ben E. King's classic Stand by Me, performed by musicians around the world adding their part to the song:

Thursday, May 24, 2012

How it's made - Bubble Gum

Tonight's chewy video:



Wednesday, May 23, 2012

How to pull the perfect movie heist

Tonight's how-to video, movie heist edition:

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

America's fourth greatest president

Today's political video - a tribute to greatness:



Monday, May 21, 2012

Cubs vs. Sox

Tonight's sports rivalry - Chicago Cubs vs. White Sox:



Sunday, May 20, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - Nick Kwas performs Adele's Set Fire to the Rain:

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Happy Armed Forces Day

Today's musical tribute to our men and women in uniform - The Warrior Song:

Friday, May 18, 2012

People are awesome

Tonight's stunt compilation:



Thursday, May 17, 2012

Pushpin art

Tonight's pointy art - using 15,000 pushpins to create a portrait:



Behind the scenes video:




Hat tip: Bayou Renaissance Man

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - Pomplamoose's Bust Your Knee Caps:

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Meet the new master, same as the old master

Today's political fable:



Monday, May 14, 2012

Caine's arcade

Tonight's arcade story, from East L.A.:

Sunday, May 13, 2012

One more kilometre

Tonight's performance art - belt sander meets a stack of paper:



Saturday, May 12, 2012

Push button to add drama

Tonight's dramatic commercial:



Friday, May 11, 2012

Frasier's celebrity callers

Tonight's celebrity callers:



Thursday, May 10, 2012

Close calls

Tonight's close calls video compilation:



Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Card trick

Tonight's card trick - James Galea performs at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival:



Tuesday, May 8, 2012

How to boil water

Tonight's how-to video:

Monday, May 7, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - Buddy Greene plays Carnegie Hall:



Sunday, May 6, 2012

Famous faces in their film debuts

Tonight's famous faces video:

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Bad pitches

Tonight's bad ceremonial first pitches:



Friday, May 4, 2012

Jay Leno on Top Gear

Tonight's celebrity auto lap - Jay Leno takes the Top Gear challenge lap:

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Ten foot put, the hard way

Tonight's ten foot putt:


Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Signs - A Love Story

Tonight's love (short) story:

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - the Salve, Regina:



The Latin text:
Salve, Regina, Mater misericordiae,
vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve.
ad te clamamus exsules filii Hevae,
ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes
in hac lacrimarum valle.

Eia, ergo, advocata nostra, illos tuos
misericordes oculos ad nos converte;
et Iesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui,
nobis post hoc exsilium ostende.
O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria.

And the common English translation:
Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy,
our life, our sweetness and our hope.
To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve;
to thee do we send up our sighs,
mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.

Turn then, most gracious advocate,
thine eyes of mercy toward us;
and after this our exile,
show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

Monday, April 30, 2012

Montage

Tonight's video montage:

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Flying car

Tonight's flying car video:

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Black bike

Tonight's bike skills video - Andrew Dickey shows off his bike skills in Melbourne, Australia:

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Look Ma, no Hands!

Tonight's self-driving car:

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - Pomplamoose performs their rendition of Simon and Garfunkel's Mrs. Robinson:

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Laser sword

Tonight's Star Wars parody:

Monday, April 23, 2012

Through a waterfall in a wingsuit

Tonight's wingsuit video - Jeb Corliss flies through a waterfall in the Swiss Alps:

From the video's description:
... Hurtling through the air at 85 miles an hour, daredevil adventurer Jeb Corliss becomes the first man to fly through a waterfall wearing a wingsuit. Flying through an exit point called 'The Ultimate' in the mountainous region of Lauterbrunnen in the Swiss Alps, 35-year old Jeb flies within five feet of the 2000 foot sheer cliff wall. Falling three feet for every one foot he moves forward, Jeb's precision flight enables him to travel through the two foot wide falls despite the turbulence hitting the water causes him. One year in the planning, Jeb practiced the flight eight times before nailing it on the ninth attempt. ...

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Some parking spots are better than others

Tonight's automotive parking video:

Saturday, April 21, 2012

The meaning of MPH

Tonight's blonde ruminations:

Friday, April 20, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - French actress/singer Nora Arnezeder does a rendition of Singin' in the Rain:

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Resupply

Tonight's time lapse video - off loading the supply ship at McMurdo Station in Antarctica [try watching full screen]. From the video's description:
Annual supply ship offload at McMurdo Station Antarctica, 2012.
Due to an unusually warm winter last year, the floating ice pier that is normally used to offload cargo melted badly this summer, making it unusable. A temporary floating pier had to be installed by the U.S. Army Transportation Corps.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Evidently, bobsledding's not his thing

Tonight's not-a-professional-bobsledder video - a man tries out the French ski area La Plagne's mono bobsled run:

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Official spoiler rules

Tonight's spoiler etiquette:

Monday, April 16, 2012

Riding the booster

Tonight's space shuttle launch video - from the perspective of the solid rocket booster:

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Test of Fire

Tonight's election 2012 video:

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - the Dies Irae (Day of Wrath), in the beautiful Latin:



The Latin text:
Dies irae, dies illa
solvet saeclum in favilla:
teste David cum Sibylla.

Quantus tremor est futurus,
quando judex est venturus,
cuncta stricte discussurus!

Tuba mirum spargens sonum
per sepulcra regionum,
coget omnes ante thronum.

Mors stupebit et natura,
cum resurget creatura,
judicanti responsura.

Liber scriptus proferetur,
in quo totum continetur,
unde mundus judicetur.

Judex ergo cum sedebit,
quidquid latet apparebit:
nil inultum remanebit.

Quid sum miser tunc dicturus?
Quem patronum rogaturus,
cum vix justus sit securus?

Rex tremendae majestatis,
qui salvandos salvas gratis,
salva me fons pietatis.

Recordare, Jesu pie,
quod sum causa tuae viae:
ne me perdas illa die.

Quaerens me, sedisti lassus:
redemisti Crucem passus:
tantus labor non sit cassus.

Juste judex ultionis,
donum fac remissionis
ante diem rationis.

Ingemisco, tamquam reus:
culpa rubet vultus meus:
supplicanti parce, Deus.

Qui Mariam absolvisti,
et latronem exaudisti,
mihi quoque spem dedisti.

Preces meae non sunt dignae:
sed tu bonus fac benigne,
ne perenni cremer igne.

Inter oves locum praesta,
et ab haedis me sequestra,
statuens in parte dextra.

Confutatis maledictis,
flammis acribus addictis:
voca me cum benedictis.

Oro supplex et acclinis,
cor contritum quasi cinis:
gere curam mei finis.

Lacrimosa dies illa,
qua resurget ex favilla
judicandus homo reus.

Huic ergo parce, Deus:
pie Jesu Domine,
dona eis requiem. Amen.

Friday, April 13, 2012

That's a long shot

Tonight's long-range pistol shot:

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Remember to breate

Tonight's Canadian travel tourism video, courtesy Travel Alberta (try watching full screen):

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Perpetual ocean

Tonight's ocean currents video, courtesy NASA (try watching full screen):

From the video's description:
This visualization shows ocean surface currents around the world during the period from June 2005 through [December] 2007. The visualization does not include a narration or annotations; the goal was to use ocean flow data to create a simple, visceral experience.

This visualization was produced using NASA/JPL's computational model called Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean, Phase II or ECCO2.. ECCO2 is high resolution model of the global ocean and sea-ice. ECCO2 attempts to model the oceans and sea ice to increasingly accurate resolutions that begin to resolve ocean eddies and other narrow-current systems which transport heat and carbon in the oceans.The ECCO2 model simulates ocean flows at all depths, but only surface flows are used in this visualization. The dark patterns under the ocean represent the undersea bathymetry. Topographic land exaggeration is 20x and bathymetric exaggeration is 40x.

credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

source: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/goto?3827

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

A lesson in Vagina Economics

Today's economics lesson, from Finem Respice. A snippet:
... Even if Jezebel's editor were not terminally mathematically challenged (and this is putting the case very mildly) the basic premises that underlie the thrust (so to speak) of her utero-call-to-arms are patently absurd.

After listing out a litany of drugstore and prescription items ranging from cranberry juice to toilet paper our heroine tacks the annual expense for a pair of ovaries at between $2,663.02 and $4,228.02.

Taking this decidedly amateurish analysis at face value, by implication this puts the present value of my vagina's ten-year discounted cash flow at between -$17,949.96 and -$28,498.77, or about on par with a Chevy Volt.

With the 10 year treasury yielding 2.05%2 and an implied equity risk premium hovering around 5.85%3 I use a 7.90% discount rate for my vagina here. This is befitting my highly conservative valuation approach as one could easily make the case that cost of capital for a vagina far from the end of its useful life is extremely low given the exceedingly strong borrowing power one commands on the highly liquid (as it were) global vagina market.

Certainly, the beta for long maturity AAA, AA, or A rated vagina vis-a-via the S&P 500 would be under 1.00, but I use 1.00 here. One can verify the conservative nature of these figures simply by observing the fact that top quartile and 1SD vaginas are effectively "same as cash" in most global (meat) markets with friday and saturday trading days.

In addition, there are active vagina futures and options markets with high open interest (forgive the jargon), particularly around the contracts with January 1st and February 14th expiration dates and those that fall near investment bank bonus seasons. (Unfortunately, a discussion of the vagina swap market and vaginal rehypothecation is beyond the scope of this piece). ...
Go read the whole humorous thing here.

Monday, April 9, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - Perpetuum Jazzile performs a Bee Gees medley:

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Happy Easter

Wishing everyone a happy and blessed Easter as we celebrate the glorious Resurrection of our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ -- He is risen, Alleluia, Alleluia!

Below, a rendition of G.F. Handel's Hallelujah Choris, from Andre Rieu's "Live From Radio City Music Hall" in New York City 2004, with the Johann Strauss Orchestra and the Harlem Gospel Choir:

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's solemn musical interlude - The Deer's Cry, also known as the Lorica (Breastplate) of St. Patrick:

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Way back home

Tonight's bike travel video - Danny MacAskill takes a trip from Edinburgh back to his hometown Dunvegan, in the Isle of Skye:

Monday, April 2, 2012

Let Calcutta surprise you

Tonight's hand-puppet video (try watching full screen):

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Cost saving

Tonight's cost-saving video, airline edition:

Friday, March 30, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - Manfred Mann's Mighty Quinn:

Thursday, March 29, 2012

First dance

Tonight's wedding first dance video - meet Stephanie and Julien:

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Jewish Bra Shopping

Tonight's Jewish lingerie humor:

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Slinky workout

Tonight's workout video, slinky edition:

Monday, March 26, 2012

Flying rays

Tonight's ocean life video, courtesy BBC One:

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's a capella musical interlude - Perpetuum Jazzile performs Rosanna:

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Sweet dragon

Tonight's candy art - sugar painting a dragon:

Friday, March 23, 2012

Invisible car, Mercedes-Benz edition

Tonight's invisible auto:

Thursday, March 22, 2012

All alone in the night, Space Station edition

Tonight's time-lapse video - night video from the International Space Station, including some great aurora sequences:

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Taking shotgunning to a whole new level

Tonight's shotgunning video - shooting the "Gnat":

From the video's description:
... GNAT offers a new and exciting challenge for shooting enthusiasts with a target like no other, a radio controlled aircraft, capable of speeds up to 80 mph. It zips by, shows a flash of its belly and pulls up into a steep climb. With each hit, it sets off a pyrotechnic charge, a puff of smoke and keeps flying. ...


Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - A Capella group Perpetuum Jazzile performs Killing Me Softly:

Monday, March 19, 2012

Rope swinger

Tonight's rope swing video, sandstone arch version - filmed at Corona Arch, in Moab, Utah:



Behind the scenes video:

Sunday, March 18, 2012

How to tie your shoelaces

Tonight's remedial how-to video:

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Romney surges in polls after flaunting wealth

Tonight's political satire, Republican primary edition, courtesy of The Onion:

Friday, March 16, 2012

Date Night, Rube Goldberg edition

Tonight's date night video:

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - James Taylor, Steve Martin and others rehearse Foggy Mountain Breakdown for the gala celebrating the 120th Anniversary of Carnegie Hall last year:

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Aurora

Tonight's aurora borealis video (try watching in full screen mode):

From the video's description:
... Shot in and around Kirkenes and Pas National Park bordering Russia, at 70 degree north and 30 degrees east. Temperatures around -25 Celsius. Good fun. ...

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Scared crows

Tonight's commercial humor - not your average scarecrow:

Monday, March 12, 2012

Cell phones in church

Tonight's cell phone free worship service:

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Fun with airsoft

Tonight's airsoft project:

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - the Kruger Brothers' Forever and a Day:

Friday, March 9, 2012

Trunk Monkey

Tonight's optional auto accessory:

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Ping pong toddler

Tonight's ping pong video:

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

The Tides of March

Tonight's high tide video, from the Bay of Fundy:

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Big bore

Tonight's "Who's afraid of a little recoil?" video - shooting the .950 JDJ rifle, billed as the largest caliber centerfire rifle ever built - weighing in at 50 lbs, firing a 2,400 grain bullet via 240 grains of powder:




My shoulder hurts just looking at the video.

Monday, March 5, 2012

How to make an entrance at a movie premiere

Tonight's flashy entrance - Navy SEALs parachute in to the premiere of Act of Valor:

Here's a first person point-of-view:




And one from the ground:




A trailer for the movie:

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's brief musical interlude - How Mountain Girls Can Love, by the Sleepy Man Banjo Boys:

From the video's description:
A bedroom practice of Ralph Stanley's How Mountain Girls Can Love. Brothers Jonny Mizzone age 9 on banjo, Robbie Mizzone age 12 on fiddle, and Tommy Mizzone age 14 on guitar. Jonny is playing a Huber Vintage VRB-75 Banjo.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Elephant Picasso

Tonight's artistic elephant, from Thailand:

From the video's description:
Watch this elephant paint a beautiful image of an elephant holding a flower. You'll be amazed at how her talent unfolds as she carefully completes each stroke. Her mahout talks to her throughout the process as his gentle touch gives her confidence. She focuses on her work and seems to enjoy the approval of the audience and, of course, the sugar cane and banana treats. All of her training has been reward based. ...

Friday, March 2, 2012

That's like, so, you know, totally uncool

Tonight's language rant, courtesy poet and comedian Taylor Mali:

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Training flight

Tonight's Navy aviation training video - according to the video's description, footage from a fighter detachment at NASWI (Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, in Washington State) with VFA-204:

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Temporal distortion

Tonight's time lapse video (try watching in full-screen mode):

From the video's description:
What you see is real, but you can't see it this way with the naked eye. It is the result of thousands of 20-30 second exposures, edited together to produce the timelapse. This allows you to see the Milky Way, Aurora and other Phenonmena, in a way you wouldn't normally see them.

In the opening "Dakotalapse" title shot, you see bands of red and green moving across the sky. After asking several Astronomers, they are possible noctilucent clouds, airglow or faint Aurora. I never got a definite answer to what it is. You can also see the red and green bands in other shots.

At :53 and 2:17 seconds into the video you see a Meteor with a Persistent Train. Which is ionizing gases, which lasted over a half hour in the cameras frame. Phil Plait wrote an article about the phenomena here blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/10/02/a-meteors-lingering-tale/
There is a second Meteor with a much shorter persistent train at 2:51 in the video. This one wasn't backlit by the moon like the first, and moves out of the frame quickly.

The Aurora were shot in central South Dakota in September 2011 and near Madison, Wisconsin on October 25, 2011.

Watch for two Deer at 1:27

Most of the video was shot near the White River in central South Dakota during September and October 2011, there are other shots from Arches National Park in Utah, and Canyon of the Ancients area of Colorado during June 2011. ...

Monday, February 27, 2012

Heavy machinery, delicate work

Tonight's deft excavator operator:

Sunday, February 26, 2012

How it's made, wheel edition

Tonight's how-it's-made video - steel racing wheels:

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude mashup - Queen's Fat Bottomed Girls + The Beatles' Come Together:

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Iron, wrought

Tonight's wrought iron video:

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Finger artist

Tonight's nimble-fingered artist:

Monday, February 20, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - Chris Thile and How to Grow a Band From the Ground performs at the 2007 Joe Val Bluegrass Festival:

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Fishing under ice

Tonight's upside down video, from under the ice at Lake Saarijärvi in Vaala, Finland (try watching full screen):

Saturday, February 18, 2012

The joy of books

Tonight's animated bookstore - filmed at the Type Bookstore in Toronto:

Friday, February 17, 2012

Hello

Tonight's Lionel Richie song, movie collage version:

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Federer trick shot redux

Tonight's don't-try-this-at-home video - Andy Murray and James Corden, of the UK TV show A League of Their Own, attempts to recreate Roger Federer's William Tell trick shot:




Here's the original Roger Federer video:

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Robot meets Rubik's Cube

Tonight's robotics video - an automated Rubik's Cube solver sets a new Guinness World Record:

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - Celtic Woman performs Ave Maria:

Monday, February 13, 2012

Fast hotel

Tonight's quick construction project - building a 30-story hotel in 360 hours using pre-fabricated materials:

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Word as image

Tonight's lexicographical video:

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Machete slingshot

Tonight's machete slingshot:

Friday, February 10, 2012

A real page turner

Tonight's Rube Goldberg page-turning contraption:

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Another blond public school graduate

Tonight's blond humor:

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

When bungee cords fail

Tonight's reason not to go bungee jumping - an Australian woman goes bungee jumping near Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe:

Raw footage (language NSFW):




Luckily she survived - here she is in an interview about the fall:

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Spray on clothing

Tonight's aerosol fashion:

Monday, February 6, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings, Op. 11, performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra:

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Close calls

Tonight's close calls:

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Superbowl car ads

Tonight's look at some Superbowl ads, automotive edition:





Friday, February 3, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - Florence and the Machine's Cosmic Love:

Thursday, February 2, 2012

The Pyro Board

Tonight's musical flames:

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

A short history of the modern calendar

Tonight's history video:

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Who's your favorite?

Tonight parental favorite:

Monday, January 30, 2012

Time is nothing

Tonight's time lapse video (try watching it in full screen mode) - Time is Nothing - Around the World Time Lapse: 17 Countries. 343 Days. 6237 Photographs. One incredible journey.:

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - Somebody that I used to Know, by Walk Off the Earth:

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Your flight, from your baggage's perspective

Tonight's passenger travel video, from your bag's point-of-view:

Friday, January 27, 2012

Not good at parking? There's an app for that

Tonight's parking assistant:

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Polite distances

Tonight's etiquette video:

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

100 Years in 10 Minutes

Tonight's history video recap:

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Rollerman

Tonight's extreme sports video - "Rollerman" Jean Yves Blondeau:

Monday, January 23, 2012

Move

Tonight's travel video - a guy travels the world and splices together one second of video from each location:

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - Jarrod Radnich plays his original arrangement of themes from Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean":

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Maybe she's born with it ... or maybe it's Fotoshop

Tonight's digital image-manipulation video satire - Fotoshop by Adobé:

Friday, January 20, 2012

The higher the heels, the bigger the fall

Tonight's catwalk fashion model video:

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Lobsters... Whoa!

Tonight's cute kid reaction:

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Best of 2011

Tonight's best-of compilation:

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Dance like nobody's watching

Tonight's laundromat dancer, Angela Trimbur - in a laundromat in Echo Park, CA:

Monday, January 16, 2012

The Three Little Pigs, Shakespeare edition

Tonight's fairy tale, in the manner of The Bard:

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Snowboarding

Tonight's best-of compilation - snowboarding videos:

Saturday, January 14, 2012

That's about how it works

Tonight's debt increase video satire:

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Serene

Tonight's time lapse video - The Mountain, filmed from El Teide in Spain:

From the video's description [link(s) omitted]:
... The goal was to capture the beautiful Milky Way galaxy along with one of the most amazing mountains I know El Teide. I have to say this was one of the most exhausting trips I have done. There was a lot of hiking at high altitudes and probably less than 10 hours of sleep in total for the whole week. Having been here 10-11 times before I had a long list of must-see locations I wanted to capture for this movie, but I am still not 100% used to carrying around so much gear required for time-lapse movies.

A large sandstorm hit the Sahara Desert on the 9th April and at approx 3am in the night the sandstorm hit me, making it nearly impossible to see the sky with my own eyes.

Interestingly enough my camera was set for a 5 hour sequence of the milky way during this time and I was sure my whole scene was ruined. To my surprise, my camera had managed to capture the sandstorm which was backlit by Grand Canary Island making it look like golden clouds. The Milky Way was shining through the clouds, making the stars sparkle in an interesting way. So if you ever wondered how the Milky Way would look through a Sahara sandstorm, look at 00:32.


Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Looping elevator

Tonight's unusual elevator - the cyclic elevator, or Paternoster lift, at the Attenborough Tower at the University of Leicester, UK:

From WikiPedia:
A paternoster or paternoster lift is a passenger elevator which consists of a chain of open compartments (each usually designed for two persons) that move slowly in a loop up and down inside a building without stopping. Passengers can step on or off at any floor they like. The same technique is also used for filing cabinets to store great amounts of (paper) documents or for small spare parts. As a result of safety issues, many such lifts have been shut down, however a small few survive around the world, the largest of these located in the Arts Tower at the University of Sheffield, which also remains the tallest university-owned building in the UK.[1]
...
First built in 1884 by the Dartford, England engineering firm of J & E Hall Ltd as the Cyclic Elevator, the name paternoster ("Our Father", the first two words of the Lord's Prayer in Latin) was originally applied to the device because the elevator is in the form of a loop and is thus similar to rosary beads used as an aid in reciting prayers.[2]

Paternosters were popular throughout the first half of the 20th century as they could carry more passengers than ordinary elevators. They were more common in continental Europe, especially in public buildings, than in the United Kingdom. They are rather slow elevators, typically travelling at about 0.3 metres per second, thus improving the chances of getting on and off successfully.[3]

The construction of new paternosters is no longer allowed in many countries because of the high risk of accidents (people tripping or falling over when trying to enter or alight). Five people were killed by paternosters from 1970 to 1993. The elderly, the handicapped and children are the most in danger of being crushed.[4] In 1989, the paternoster in Newcastle University's Claremont Tower was taken out of service after a passenger undertaking an up-and-over journey became caught in the drive chain, necessitating a rescue by the Fire Service. A conventional elevator was subsequently installed in its place. This accident led to an 18-month close-down of all UK paternosters for a safety review,[citation needed] during which additional safety devices were fitted. ...

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Take a photo

Tonight's photo experiment:

Monday, January 9, 2012

News bloopers 2011

Tonight's news blooper compilation:

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Movie quotes, Arnold Schwarzenegger edition

Tonight's movie quote compilation (Warning: language NSFW):

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Roller coaster

Tonight's European mountain ride:

Friday, January 6, 2012

Zeitgeist 2011

Tonight's year in review video:

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Musical interlude

Tonight's musical interlude - a rendition of The Chordettes' Mister Sandman:

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Near miss

Tonight's close call:

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Party tricks

Tonight's party tricks video:

Monday, January 2, 2012

Address is approximate

Tonight's short movie:

From the video description:
Google Street View stop motion animation short made as a personal project by director Tom Jenkins.

Story: A lonely desk toy longs for escape from the dark confines of the office, so he takes a cross country road trip to the Pacific Coast in the only way he can – using a toy car and Google Maps Street View. ...


Sunday, January 1, 2012

Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a happy and prosperous New Year!

Today's video - Where the Hell is Matt?, dancing his exuberantly silly little jig (now over 40 million views on YouTube):