313 posts tagged with awesome.
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"...the kids were finally old enough to do the stunt work required..."
Sabotage Holiday 2023 "It only took 4 years and a major global event but the kids were finally old enough to do the stunt work required to recreate SABOTAGE by THE BEASTIE BOYS for our holiday card this year. We hope you enjoy it as much as we loved making it. Happy Holidays one and all! (the original) [more inside]
I scream you scream, we all scream for Rube Goldberg ice cream machine!
The Ultimate Showdown 15th Anniversary Redux Collab!
The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny now has an extended version with all-new improved animation from a variety of online animators.
The world's first 1541 disk drive graphics demo
Matthias Kramm, a demo coder, shows us his setup: a Commodore 64, a monitor, and a 1541 disk drive, all connected together. He show us he's loaded a small program into the drive's memory. Then, he disconnects the computer from the monitor and the drive, severs and strips the drive's cable still plugged into the drive, connects them directly to the monitor with a resistor spliced in, opens and closes the drive's door, and the show begins. The fact that the demo has music without speakers isn't close to the most impressive part of it. There's an overview on his site, which has links to more details.
Ingenious
"We can say human beings have flown a rotorcraft on another planet." On April 19th the Ingenuity copter, part of the Perseverance rover mission, took off from the Martian surface, hovered, took a photo of its shadow, then safely landed. It is the first time a human-built craft has flown on another world. [more inside]
Oh, the Lindy Hoppery: Vernacular Jazz Dance
Best known of late by its TikTok remix -- upon further examination, research and algorithms lead to 2015 Jazz Roots - the Teachers Battle outro -- and thence to Vernacular Jazz Dance. Which was a wonder: who knew the span of the art form's complexity or the amount of scholarship devoted to its technique? Or that it has become so international a phenomenom? Not me. [more inside]
Yeah, they got it!
The Go-Go's perform "We Got the Beat" live for The Today Show, September 2020. (SLYT)
(The Go-Go's previously) [more inside]
Harpist covers classic rock and pop
There are lots of "musician covers song on weird instrument" mefi posts but this one is mine Allow me to interrupt as the internet celebrates the "Man who shot himself in the Balls" with some love for Maël Isaac. A French experimental musician with a penchant for covering classic rock and pop on a harp... and killer vocal accompaniment. [more inside]
Margaret Atwood on a scooter.
Here's Margaret Atwood on an electric scooter. That's it. That's the post.
how have I made it this long without knowing about this instrument?
Senegalese musician Salliou playing the cas cas, Gorée Island, Dakar, Senegal. January 5th 2018. The instrument is made by connecting two small, bean-filled gourds with a string. Another video of Salliou, also filmed for the Music of Senegal documentary. (via) [more inside]
The Rugged Road
December 1934, Theresa Wallach and Florence Blenkiron left London for South Africa on 600cc single-cylinder Phelon & Moore Panther motorcycle with sidecar and trailer. They rode straight through Sahara desert without a compass in record breaking time, arriving in Cape Town in July 1935. [more inside]
te reo Māori rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody
Incredible live version of Bohemian Rhapsody in te reo Māori by choir and the music video, (by the same group) which is good fun. [more inside]
Hayabusa 2 had landed. And is hopping.
The story of an asteroid, one space probe, and two robot rovers. About 200 million miles from Earth the JAXA space probe Hayabusa2 (Japanese language site; English language site; Wikipedia) has landed two tiny rovers on top of a very small asteroid, 162173 Ryugu. The rovers (named 1A and 1B) are now hopping on Ryugu's surface, taking photos, and sending them back to Earth via Hayabusa2 in orbit. [more inside]
PannenKoek's Mario 64 Videos
So it's "Mar10 Day," har har. How better to celebrate it than by looking at what PannenKoek, aka Scott Buchanan, the "A button challenge" guy (MeFi), has been up to lately? The channel to watch for that sort of thing is UncommentatedPannen, where you can find a pair of awesome videos detailing how SMB64's platforming collision detection works, the complete details of when characters blink their eyes, the internal units the game uses for its coordinate systems, everything about SM64's random number generator, the limits of SM64's floating point representation, what is pause buffering, the nuts and bolts of held items and the circumstances in which Mario will fall asleep. Meanwhile, the mobile versions of Google Maps will feature Mario in a go-kart for the next week. [more inside]
The CRPG Book Project
For over four years Felipe Pepe has been working on a 500+ page book reviewing 400 CRPGs, going over their history from early PLATO amusements to the latest 100+ hour Bethesda open-world monstrosities. At last his efforts have reached a conclusion, and he's giving the ebook away free on his website.
Hi, my name is Emily. I am 9 years old and this is my seventeenth video
Emily's drum cover of "Be Yourself" by Audioslave (check out the subtle sideways glance at 4:05). Emily posts videos of her drum covers of rock songs, and has been doing so for a while. The drum only audio track for the linked Audioslave song. [more inside]
Princess Leia's Stolen Death Star Plans
It's the Sgt. Pepper's/Star Wars mashup you didn't know you needed. Palette-Swap Ninja has adapted the entirety of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band into a long form musical adaptation of Star Wars: A New Hope. [more inside]
Do you want a pet tardigrade? They're basically tiny Pokemon.
Tardigrades or "waterbears" are cute tiny nigh-indestructible 10-legged beasts that prefer to live in wet environments but can also survive the hard vacuum of space. They sound exotic, but they're probably right there in your own backyard. The Stanford Tardigrade Project has an easy guide for finding your own pet waterbears. There are several videos showing what you will see when you find them.
The Art of Mending
Trick or treat purse first
After a post from the blog "Raising My Rainbow" went viral, about a little boy named CJ who was planning to dress up as Bob the Drag Queen (winner of RuPaul's Drag Race, Season 8), for Halloween, CJ got a surprise buddy last night for trick-or-treating.
The teacher that you always wanted
Mr. Wright of Louisville Male High School I found this while I was supposed to be doing homework. This is way more interesting.
(Warning: It's dusty in here...)
City of Women
What if the New York City subway map paid homage to some of the city’s great women? It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World” is a song James Brown recorded in a New York City studio in 1966, and, whether you like it or not, you can make the case that he’s right. Walking down the city streets, young women get harassed in ways that tell them that this is not their world, their city, their street; that their freedom of movement and association is liable to be undermined at any time; and that a lot of strangers expect obedience and attention from them. “Smile,” a man orders you, and that’s a concise way to say that he owns you; he’s the boss; you do as you’re told; your face is there to serve his life, not express your own. He’s someone; you’re no one.
I hated that necktie anyway
Some genius superimposed John Williams' Superman score on the season preview for Supergirl. (SLYT)
Humans to attempt insertion of Jupiter
Mission Juno Tonight, Earth species Homo sapiens sapiens, with ongoing support from photosynthesizing relatives in the Plant kingdom, will attempt the delicate task of inserting a large machine into polar orbit around the highly radioactive gas giant Jupiter. After using a slingshot maneuver around Earth and Jupiter's tremendous gravitational pull to become "one of the fastest human-made objects ever built," it is hoped Juno will collect data for 20 months, shedding light on the composition of the planet and what it can tell us about the origin of the Sol system 4.6 billion years ago. [more inside]
They called you exotic. Which is just people talk for awesome.
Coyote Peterson, host of wildlife TV show Brave Wilderness, was hunting for spiders at night on a trail through Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula when he encountered a very different kind of creature.
We got each other, and that's a lot
Fan Jeremy Fry dances to Bon Jovi at a 2009 Celtics game. Via this Aeon link: How being awesome became the currency of our time.
"To them we were cartoons come to life"
VancouFUR, Vancouver's principal furry convention, occurred at a hotel that was also housing Syrian refugee families (many with small children). The kids loved it, and so did the convention attendees.
1:41:07
Nathan Sexton finished his first half marathon this past weekend in Chattanooga, Tennessee, finishing at a 7:44-mile pace for 13.1 miles. Last summer, Sexton was diagnosed with stage 4 glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer that brings an average life expectancy of 15 months.
With Bob & David
Huh, a new show on Netflix. "W/ Bob & David." It's sketch comedy. Wait a second... BOB and DAVID? OMG MR. SHOW IS BACK! Here's a country music video parody from them! [more inside]
Marie's Crisis
The American Theatre Wing presents, Working in the Theatre: Marie's Crisis
Set the Controls to the Heart of the Sun
Watch the ESA's Sentinel-1A Earth observation satellite launched and deployed into Earth orbit via rocket-mounted cameras (SLYT).
Calling All Brothers
On August 25, a group of 100 men of color lined up outside Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School, in Hartford to greet and cheer for the children on their first day of school. “In an urban community, people say that black men [aren’t] valued or there aren’t enough black men doing something,” Pastor AJ Johnson explained. “I wanted to prove everyone wrong.”
Next time NASA lands on Mars, they want your name on the lander.
Your name could be on Mars in the next several months. You've already paid for it, so you might as well go. In March 2016, NASA is launching its Insight lander, which will be the first Mars mission to probe beneath the surface of the Red Planet and explore its interior in-depth. (In-depth, get it? Nevermind) They're offering to micro-etch the name of any Earthling who wishes on the lander. Here's where to sign up. [more inside]
Nobody knows what the hell they're doing.
CBC Radio's WireTap is saying farewell. In this special video message, people of all ages offer words of wisdom to their younger counterparts.
You can believe me because I never lie, and I'm always right.
My name is Wyatt Scott and I'm running for parliament as an independent candidate for Mission Matsqui Fraser Canyon. We all know politics are corrupt so lets do something about it. Put an independent in the house.
Bea Arthur's gift
How Bea Arthur Became a Champion for Homeless LGBT Youth, by Carl Siciliano, Executive Director of the Ali Forney Center.
But they didn't call it "MANT!"
The Vulture came up with a trailer for Marvel's upcoming Ant-Man film as a '50s-style horror picture -- complete with narration by the great Vincent Price!
(Ant-Man previously, previously) [more inside]
Please taste and enjoy many Japaneese products
Enjoy! Best in translation.
More like a six foot turkey.
"I rediscovered my Jurassic Park dossier when cleaning out a cupboard... At around 14 years old, I tried to charm a girl by saying if she ever wanted to know anything about dinosaurs, she could come to me." (via)
You're going to prom!
Many will enter. Few will win.
Remember the '80s and '90s commercials for the Nickelodeon Super Toy Run? The A.V. Club talks to two past winners.
Ganges Delta Blues - from A Meeting By The River
Building Lego Creations for SCIENCE
How scientists are using Lego to manipulate insects. An unusual scientific paper has just appeared online detailing how entomologists can use Legos to build apparatuses to handle museum specimens. This is important: museum specimens are what we use to study biological history, and preserving them is increasingly less well funded. Fortunately, innovations like this fall into a larger biological tradition of building your own equipment. [more inside]
Gay marriage comes to Asia?
Miami, Miami, you've got style....
On August 21, a federal judge in Florida ruled that that the state's ban on same sex marriage was unconstitutional, but the ruling was stayed until January 5. Although the state Attorney General appealed the ruling and asked for a further stay, both the 11th circuit, and os of last night the Supreme Court have denied the appeal, and Florida will become the 36th marriage equality state on January 6th. [more inside]
This was not planned.
What's the best way to make sure that your politically divided children behave around the Christmas dinner table? Call in while they are appearing on C-Span.
Songs We Love
NPR Music has put together a massive playlist of their best of 2014, Songs We Love.
That link above launches the groovy in-browser app, which lets you listen on shuffle, choose a genre, and gives you artist info, as well as other functionality. You can view the entire list here if you are more eye-curious than ear-curious.
That link above launches the groovy in-browser app, which lets you listen on shuffle, choose a genre, and gives you artist info, as well as other functionality. You can view the entire list here if you are more eye-curious than ear-curious.
Amazing Race
The last finisher at runDisney's Kids' Mile yesterday was Sarah Kate Sligh. Sarah Kate is a runner and a champion.
I can't deal with jam hands.
293 Thoughts I Had While Watching “Gilmore Girls” For The First Time. Gilmore Girls begins streaming on Netflix tomorrow.
Harry Potter DIY - optical cloaking on a budget
John Howell and Joseph Choi at Rochester's Institute of Optics have built an optical cloaking device which uses just 4 readily available lenses. Eat your heart out Harry Potter.