Drivers who cannot handle snow

Speaking as somebody who lives in a fairly icy neighborhood, it does amuse me how people in less snowy areas totally lose their cool the moment the ice comes down. Schools and businesses close and everybody stays home, more to protect them from themselves than anything.

Take the drivers in the following video. You can hear the first one actually hitting the gas after the first collision.

Beatles 3000

This is genius - ostensibly a look back at The Beatles from a thousand years in the future, it basically becomes a loving critique of historical specials and unverifiable "experts":

Stewart on Beck

www.thedailyshow.com

A week ago I overhyped a Daily Show clip on Fox News. I may have gone overboard in my endorsement, though despite the proximity to the last post failing to highlight this spot-on parody of Glenn Beck would be unfair. This is clearly just The Daily Show having fun, not juxtaposing clips of hypocrisy but merely doing a parody of both the mannerisms and analysis of an individual who is himself beyond parody.

Stewart on Fox News Bias and Bloviation

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
For Fox Sake!
www.thedailyshow.com

It would be pretty difficult for me to argue that this clip from The Daily Show isn't one of the smartest, funniest and most prescient clips from the show's recent history - or certainly its history regarding Fox. Once again The Daily Show is one of the most populist, intelligent programs, an "opinion" program easily surpassing more serious programs on other networks. Blah blah - watch it.

So I don't have to be self-righteous ALL the time...

This makes me laugh. So I'm posting it.

Senior Citizens comment on MGMT to hilarious effect

This is genius. Old people watching, and commenting on, one of the most effed up (and, I believe, subtle and evocative, albeit horrific) music videos in recent memory. One of the video's commentors noted the distance between the preceding generations and ours - most young people, raised on irony, symbolism and meta-meanings to things (after all, that kid is really scared) wouldn't bat an eye at this stuff. The sustained look of horror in that woman's eyes at 2:20 is priceless and unnerving.

I laughed harder than I think I have in weeks, though there's that odd idea hanging in the rafters - what if they're all right, and we're sick for producing and watching this stuff? After all, it's not really a matter of being old and out of touch; the folks in the video were literally raised on a different diet of conceptions.

(Oh, and yes - the "mom" is Joanna Newsom, supposedly doing a spot-on send-off of Britney Spears.)

More evidence that Glenn Beck's show is an elaborate, brainy farce

This woman's lab coat says "Richard." (Jump to 7:40 or see the pic below.)



Is she a doctor? Did she kill Richard and supplant his role on the show? See this screenshot for a better, albeit grainy, look:


It wouldn't be fair to read too much into this unintentionally hilarious image, but we are dealing with the master of tenuous connections, so I think for humorous effect I'll interpret this is evidence of faux-libertarian treachery backed by ACORN, the RIAA, Hagar the Horrible and the bass player from Styx.

Next week on Glenn Beck: horses with human masks arguing against stem cell research.

EDIT: To really ride with this as a serious point would be as dumb as attacking Obama for ordering spicy mustard. Read the comments below for some more context - I don't like Mr. Beck but this isn't one of the foundations of my argument.

Source: I'm not saying Glenn Beck [planted] fake doctors in his panel, I'm just saying this woman's lab coat says her name is "Richard"

Dealing With Stuff #2

The point of dealing with stuff is acceptance, not internal combat and turmoil. I think a message such as this can provide an incomparable amount of comfort and provide a beneficial push toward internal security. Some might call it Mad Pride - I call it healthy (in both senses) common sense.

(This video is an episode of the Maria Bamford Show. You need to check out Maria Bamford - she's a fantastic, very human comic, easily my favorite.)

1:14 of genius

Gotta love that recontextualization.

One Man Band

I can't get over how good this guy is at what he does. I'm posting the link because you really should watch it in higher-definition: link.

Msueum of Animal Perspectives provides just that

I'm enchanted by this set of videos from the Museum of Animal Perspectives, most particularly this video of an armadillo foraging and a wolf quite deliberately hunting a squirrel. Though animal rights-conscious individuals may balk at the prospect of fixing animals great and small with cameras and setting them loose, I'd like to think that such a treatment actually drives their point home more carefully and completely than any awareness campaign - that animals are real individuals with real lives.

I wish these videos were longer.

Link

Asians Doing Christopher Walken Impressions

And they're good impressions.

The BBC Reviews "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"

I wish I had thought of this. The page makes it clear that this is actually a review of all of Michael Bay's work, a sort of appropriate retrospective. Had I not edited the inch-long footer out of existence you would have seen that without my telling you.

More Jibjabbery (He's Barack Obama)

JibJab can be hit or miss, but it's hard to argue that the production values on their political shorts have ever been less than stellar. The Spiridellis brothers have a grasp of Flash animation that's practically second to none, and their videos have gotten increasingly more epic, at least the ones that mattered.

The timing on this video seems odd, coming as it does a few months after the election, but I prefer to see it as a slightly sarcastic, still respectful take on our president. His sense of humor being what it is, I think he'd get a kick out of this.

Cup Stacker Accomplishes Coordinated Cup-Stacking

It's a fairly useless talent, but most are. This kid stacks cups like a beast. As one commenter points out: "Well, at least he's not doing coke."

"White Magic" - More smooth electronic music from Pogo

The guy who did "Alice," the incredible remix track I blogged about a year ago, has a new track: "White Magic," incorporating sounds from the 1963 Disney flick The Sword in the Stone. The track has much of the mesmerizing effect that "Alice" had (and still has), particularly during the chorus. It's definitely a grower, less accessible than "Alice" but still well worth a listen.

Koyaanisqatsi

The classic Geoffrey Reggio/Philip Glass fast-motion slow-motion city flick Koyaanisqatsi is available online, courtesy of MGM! Yes, it's the movie you learned about in film school! Yes, it's basically a trippy montage critiquing modern human society and its effect on the environment! But it's Koyaanisqatsi and it's trippy in the right ways, and each montage brings something new. Watch it!

Watch Koyaanisqatsi

Cell-Phone-in-a-Microwave Viral Advert

Well, though I've wised up enough to recognize viral marketing when I see it (though this ad is more straightforward than most), I still know how to enjoy simple charms, like this guy melting a cell phone in his microwave:



"Graar!" indeed.

Related:

Viral Marketing: Bike Hero

Real Playskool People

This video by Keith Loutit is a full-scale video of real people and real vehicles in and near an Australian beach, but I prefer to think of it as the best stop-motion video of all time. It might even make me finally come around to this style.


(via my dear and glorious leader BoingBoing)

Golden Half-Digested Comedy Bits

This isn't a video blog, nor is it a particularly commercial one - I posts what I likes and hope my readers resonate in some small way. Here's some of the peripheral stuff I've been doing lately:

This video of Elmo and Ricky Gervais shooting the breeze is wonderful. Something about Ricky poking the cutesy Muppet in the stomach and talking about "drugs, child abuse and the Holocaust" reminds me of the wonderful unscripted Fozzie/Kermit moments that came with The Muppet Movie.

My new comic Planet Techno is up. It's as close to what I had in mind as any of my strips so far.

Fans of The Office might want to check out this Fan Video. Or this one which does a bang-up job of recontextualizing the show as a modern horror film.

So very true, Aquaman.

I enjoyed the graphic novel Watchmen, so watching this short clip of the opening credits and trying to catch all of the references (both in-universe and relating to the story's alternate history) was a pretty sublime experience. Some disturbing imagery warning.

Finally: Obama's elf. Just watch it.