Epic nerd crush.

Who knows, maybe it was Carol's idea.

Denis Dutton's Darwinian theory of beauty.

Awesome visuals!

Tom Naughton on how the misguided fear of saturated fat created a nation of obese diabetics.

Worthwhile if you have the time.

Cowboys & Aliens trailer!

Green Lantern cinematic trailer is out!

Carrhotus xanthogramma: the closest I've ever come to enjoying a spider video.

And a couple of (lightly edited) notes from the uploader, sigma1920:

An adult male of the jumping spider (Carrhotus xanthogramma, family Salticidae) showing combat displays against his own reflection on the mirror again and again. Mid-May 2009 in Japan. Soundtrack (audioswapped): "Into The Mirror" by Spencer Brewer.

...

This species (Carrhotus xanthogramma) is one of the commonest jumping spider in Japan. The mature males and females have quite different colourations (sexual dimorphism) and you can tell them apart easily. Unlike the general rule-of-thumb, the palpi of adult male C. xanthogramma are not so bulbous.

"thanx so much for uhelp ican going to graduate to now"

"I, who have no name, no opinions, and no style, have written so many papers at this

point, including legal briefs, military-strategy assessments, poems, lab reports, and,

yes, even papers on academic integrity, that it's hard to determine which course of

study is most infested with cheating. But I'd say education is the worst. I've written

papers for students in elementary-education programs, special-education majors,

and ESL-training courses. I've written lesson plans for aspiring high-school

teachers, and I've synthesized reports from notes that customers have taken during

classroom observations. I've written essays for those studying to become school

administrators, and I've completed theses for those on course to become principals.

In the enormous conspiracy that is student cheating, the frontline intelligence

community is infiltrated by double agents.

Future educators of America, I know who you are."

Source.

Cowboys & Aliens Poster is out!

And a clip from Comic Con SDCC 2010:

New Favourite: The Story of Stuff Project

Here's a link to the official site.

Herbal. Fucking Herbal. Not goddamn 'errbal'.

Cymothoa exigua: wanna eat'cha wit ma littlemouth

Source.

NB: In future, try to avoid nightmares involving this little guy.

[edit] Must try harder.

The accident would almost be worth it.

re:Modern Warfare 2 redux

Truth be told, I think this is the first unbiased review of Black Ops I've seen.

For a vegetarian, Rents, you're a fuckin' evil shot!

This clip is no good for anxious types.

It just ain't fair. You can't use a track like East Hastings (most commonly known for its use in the 28 Days Later soundtrack) and not have some kind of violent/ dramatic release. By the end, I almost felt nauseous from the amount of tension it had build up.

It feels like some kind of messed up Pavlovian tension trap, but I guess that might say more about me than the clip itself.

Sometimes, the best music videoclips are the ones that never go to air.

But first, perhaps a timely warning: if you follow the link, you will find the original videoclip that accompanies the track. Let it be known that the videoclip in question is maximum NSFW.

Source Massive Attack Video – “Paradise Circus” (Feat. Hope Sandoval) (NSFW).

Lucas sent this to Cameron when Titanic upstaged Star Wars at the box-office

Sir, put down the watermelon.

Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis: Bruce Willis from Bruce Willis

re: Dead Rising 2

Incredible Hog - Wreck My Soul

John F. Kennedy Jnr. under the Resolute Desk

Source.

OH NOES! BoingBoing has been hacked.

Link

[EDIT] ಠ_ಠ Sigh, it's already been taken down.

This noise is all kinds of epic.

TODOR & PETRU from CRCR on Vimeo.

Start dancing like the Beastie Boys, dammit!

(This is a live webcam stream of the Mars rover "Curiosity" being built)

If you hit the play button on the bottom left you can view the stream without having to open a pop-up.

"I'm Here" the new a short film by Spike Jonze.

Okay, new rule: no more war docos for a month. After this one.

New favourite: Vice Broadcasting System (vbs.tv)

Holy Moses this site is awesome! The associated blog is also worth looking at.

They seem to focus predominantly on publishing short form documentary-type pieces. They're all very well polished and presented. The content is usually well researched and completely engrossing.

This is a pretty good example of why I love this goddamn site.

The only problem is the trust accounting paper I have due next week.

And in other news...

At least throw it like you mean it.

Cool starry, bra.

We will look back and scold ourselves for calling them paranoid.

Sentient City Survival Kit - Quick Start Guide from mark shepard on Vimeo.

Bonus marks for using Boards of Canada in there.

Wikileaks: Internet Supermen.

And then there's this:

ROOKIE: Now I'd like to ask you some questions about X.

ASSANGE: I don't want to talk about X. That's not why I agreed to participate in this interview.

ROOKIE: Alright, I understand and really, there is a lot more about you and your work that I'm sure everyone wants to hear about.

ASSANGE: Great, I'm glad we can move on.

ROOKIE: So tell me more about X.

Only Ones - Another Girl Another Planet

I'm pretty sure it didn't smile at him, dude.

Also, did he or did he not just pronounce it as 'mantable' ?

Rabbits are too damn much.

BO DIDDLEY - elephant man

Stephen Fry on the internet & us

Stephen Fry on the internet & us from Tim Sparke on Vimeo.

Trailer for new Simon Pegg and Nick Frost movie, Paul!

Tame addendum

Saw these guys live last night at the Tivoli. It was so good.

!!

New RESTREPO trailer!

re: MARWENCOL

A friend brought this little one to my attention. (Thanks Re!)

Official Site.

A series of Mark Hogancamp's photographs released by Rotten Tomatoes. (See below)

Funkadelic - Super Stupid (turn this this shit up)

One of the most powerful images I've seen in a long time.

Source.

This had to be staged. It's too perfect.

[EDIT]: Come to think of it, this seems more like sneaky viral advertising than anything else...

Pink Elephants sequence sync'ed to Sun Ra's version of the song.

The hyper-charismatic, telepathical knight.

Source.

Banksy's simpson intro.

Free speech is not a marketing plan. Free speech is only any good if you take advantage of its invitation. So I say this to you, my video game maker brethren: say something. Say it like you mean it.

Persuasive Games: Free Speech is Not a Marketing Plan

by Ian Bogost

Cahill's octahedral "Butterfly Map"

Source.

This trailer for Restrepo looks promising.

Source (official site)

[EDIT] I note that the comments for the trailer on YouTube have been disabled. Good Call.

On the effects of tilt-shift on Van Gogh.

Source.

re: Fogonazos

Aspirins - Cutter

Aspirins - Cutter from Mr. Harrison on Vimeo.

28 Days Later OST - In Paradisum (edited by John Murphy)

re: An Idiot Abroad (Holi)

Cool little stop motion advertisement.

Gaz Metro A Natural Evolution from La Moustache on Vimeo.

Although I'll be honest, I'm having a hard time drawing a connection between scribbling in chalk on a building and what appears to be the promotion of some kind of 'clean/[generic hippy buzzword]/responsible' energy agenda.

[EDIT]

I get it now. If you your energy is provided by this company, you may notice that you can scribble chalk over the exterior of buildings at night. This is useful for those who are in the business of making quaint little adds in stop motion for power companies.

So at the end of the day, this is an ad for the company that did the ad for the power company.

I change my mind; I resent this ad.

Consequently, though once this entry was filed simply under 'ART', it now also answers to 'RANT'.

Source unknown.

Big Brother and the holding company - Take another little piece of my heart

Source unknown.

Source unknown.

Devo " Gut Feeling " first time in live in 1977

Believe it! The Goon is commin'

re: hipsterhitler

Source.

Well, played Sir.

Source.

From this:

Source.

Wait, Santa is... what exactly?

---Speculated scene from "Rare Exports"---

SENTRY 1:

Sure is quiet.

SENTRY 2

Too quiet.

SENTRY 1:

Shit! What's that?

SENTRY 2:

Whats what?

SENTRY 1:

There, at the edge of the clearing, in the trees. See it?

SENTRY 2:

It's just the wind.

SENTRY 1:

No I don't think so.

[The wind abates, yet the trees continue to jostle as a great weight shifts within]

SENTRY 2:

Oh God! They're here! They've come for him!

[Hundreds of MIDGETS in brightly coloured outfits descend from the trees, and swarm around the perimeter of the camp]

[SENTRY 1 fires his ASSAULT RIFLE wildly into the hoard]

SENTRY 1:

ELVES!

--- Cut to black ---

Squid Iridescence (Also the first post of CreatureCast)

CreatureCast - Squid Iridescence from Casey Dunn on Vimeo.

I've been following CreatureCast for a while now, and I rekkon they've done an awesome job at making the topic of marine biology accessible and engaging for those without a background in science.

I love these guys.

Sadko in the Underwater Kingdom (Ilya Repin)

Source.

I am sure that no one coming to this ceremony expected a High

Court judge to use the occasion to talk about that four letter word, love.

But that's a good thing. In life, never be predictable. It's so uncool.

The Hon Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG

Address On The Conferral Of The Honorary Degree Of Doctor Of The University

16 DECEMBER 2008

Theme? Listen buddy, THIS AIN'T NO THEME!

Source.

Source unknown.

Nevermore!

Hypnotoad lives! The Amazon Horned Frog (Ceratophrys Cornuta)

Source.

Watership down: Story of Creation

"All the world will be your enemy, Prince of a Thousand enemies. And when they catch you, they will kill you. But first they must catch you; digger, listener, runner, Prince with the swift warning. Be cunning, and full of tricks, and your people will never be destroyed."

— Richard Adams (Watership Down)

Macropinna microstoma: can't I just call it the metroid fish?

Cowboy Junkies - Sweet Jane

re: the Bait Ball

Deerhunter - Desire Lines

Epic fan-made opening credits for Walking Dead.

THE WALKING DEAD "Opening Titles" from Daniel Kanemoto on Vimeo.

The track featured is The Eels - Fresh Blood.

Aaaawesome!

Doubling it up here.

Hey fish! Stop walking. You're not even a real quadruped.

Source.

The accompanying caption:

This image provided by NOAA shows an as-yet unidentified creature seen by the Little Hercules ROV during the INDEX 2010 Exploration of the Sangihe Talaud Region off Indonesia in July, 2010. (AP Photo/NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program)

Watch this: The Adventures of Sebastian Cole.

Brighter than a thousand suns.

Source.

Surrender of Japan on September 2, 1945

Source.

Impromptu Tai Chi

Source unknown.

fyi

I am a small man. from brandonnn on Vimeo.

And the quote:

Always keep Grit from being pessimistic. Avoid printing those things which distort the minds of readers or make them feel at odds with the world.

Avoid showing the wrong side of things, or making people feel discontented.

Do nothing that will encourage fear, worry, or temptation... Wherever possible, suggest peace and good will toward men.

Give our readers courage and strength for their daily tasks. Put happy thoughts, cheer, and contentment into their hearts.

Dietrick Lamade

Source.

Mister Rogers defending PBS to the US Senate

Funkadelic - Maggot Brain

Sublime!

re: The Howling.

Source.

The Science Vessel is real.

Source.

Source.

Source.

I imagine it would be unnervingly quiet up there.