Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Bright Bowl
These construction of the Bright Bowl pictures make it look like a work of art, rather than a skateboard ramp. The only youtube vid of the actual skating is almost a disappointment. Arkitip have noticed the same thing, because they put the underside of the Supreme bowl on the cover. Bonus link: also at the Bright show was this incredible retrospective of the skate shoe, featuring the debut of the dope Air Safari inspired Zoom Tre. Shoe of the year so far.
Labels: skateboard
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Tuesday Links
Factor by which the number of “perfect games” bowled last year exceeds the number in 1985: 7Competitive bowling is in decline, and yet technology has made the game too easy. Having had to lengthen the holes at Augusta, are bowling alleys going to have to grow too?
[U.S. Bowling Congress (Greendale, Wis.)]
Trick shot madness
My favourite shot is at 1 min 15 seconds. 5 pool balls stacked one on top of the other (presumably using crumbs of chalk or salt), all on top of a bottle.
Labels: pool
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Labels: games, robot, starwars
Sasuke Obstacle Course
Video of a Japanese game show that tests extreme Parkour / modern day Ninja skills.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
24 Season 6 Goof
1 min 44 seconds into the 24 Season 6 trailer there's a classic goof. Jack picks up a phone with a cord, and for about 3 frames the unplugged end of the cord flails up in front of his body. They don't call me Eagle-Eye for nothing.Ghostriding as Political Protest
Even Ghostriders Started Small
An audioviusal clash between Werner Herzog's Even Dwarfs Started Small and a Nick Catchdubs remix, curated by Pinglewood. Herzog's life story is unbelievable: shot by a fan during a BBC interview (bonus link: hilarious Henry Rollins interview with Herzog in which they both agree how invigorating and generally virile it is to be shot at), ate a shoe for a bet, caused Ian Curtis to commit suicide, and invented ghostriding 30 years before it became big on YouTube.
Labels: catchdubs, dwarfs, ghostride, herzog
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Nike x Transformers Shoe Toy Thing
Seen the movie? Now buy the 1/2 scale Nike Free 7.0 x Megatron (or Convoy) Transformer. (Thanks Iggy)
Friday, January 19, 2007
The definitive Dr Pepper
I have tasted a Dr Pepper in every bar I have ever been to that offers such a cocktail. It therefore came as a shock to me to discover that FREVD (aka Freud) serves a remarkable, perhaps unbeatable version of said drink. The exact recipe remains a secret of sorts, but having observed the barmen in action on a number of occasions this evening, I can hazard an approximation:
3/4 fill a 14 ounce Collins glass with ice cubes.
Pour over
1 and a 1/2 ounces of amaretto
1 ounce each of Morgan Spiced Rum, Galliano, and Chambord
Top with Coke
Stir briefly and serve
My previous comments suggesting that the "gustatory authenticity" of the Flaming Dr Pepper is outweighed by "the danger and drama of the drinking" are overturned. I declare the FREVD Dr Pepper my new favourite cocktail.
Labels: cocktails, dr pepper, FREVD
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Gaza Bootleggers' Tunnels
The Guardian report on tunnels being used to smuggle cigarettes, guns, and exotic animals into Gaza. Make would be impressed by the combination of low-tech terrifyingness, and medium-tech gadgeteering (vacuum cleaner based air-con etc).As Boromir famously stated, one does not simply walk into Confluence.
Astonishing urban exploration of the abandoned, flooded Niagara hydroelectric plant. link (via l-bunnies)Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Sadist Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 Machinima
This is clearly the hottest genre in machinma right now, except for Linerider, obvs.(also via Robowis 2)
Labels: jorn, machinima, rollercoaster
War on Everything
Until the Brüno Movie gets green lighted by Sacha Baron-Cohen, enjoy this 9 minute movie of Aussie Julian Morrow, "light heartedly" poking fun at America's lack of cultural learnings of its own. (via Robowis2)
Japanese Wake Up Pranks
My comments re the inauthenticity of japanese TV pranks, still hold, but sweet flaming baby jeebus these gags are funny.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Labels: bees, DRM, playboy, sneakers, spiders
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Labels: borat, chomsky, whales, zombies
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Japanese Ski Resort Spa Prank
On TV. In Japan, etc etc. Either litigation is less common in Japan, or these "victims" are actually stooges. Even so it's hilarious.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Penny The Pony visits Great Ormond Street
Someone on the staff of "Roundabout", the Great Ormond Street Hospital Magazine, clearly has a sense of humour about Geri Halliwell's diminishing fame.
Labels: gosh, pony, spicegirls
"Ross approaches Joey, his womanizing best friend, for advice. Drunk on sherry, and feeling particularly misogynistic after losing a recent acting job, Joey suggests that Ross improve his skills in cunnilingus: "Train your tongue to find that fleshy lodestone, those sweet lips peeled back like the tender skin of a blooming orchid."
Look your opponent straight in the eye and say “Well, looks like Wii can’t play anymore.” Crack a large smile, and if they don’t laugh, proceed to explain how you used the word “Wii” instead of “we”, therefore creating a clever pun.
Labels: nike, robot, updike, wii
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Lost Dialects of Britain
Due to high levels of migration, Britain has apparently been steadily losing dialects since the industrial revolution. The problem is so bad that even Cornish had to be artificially resusciated, at the end of the 19th century. One entirely lost tongue is the Berkshire Dialect, quoted here from the OED:
I can't think of a better use of the license fee.
"I be got rid o' the doctor, an' I be a-veelin' quite veatish now."Due to the influx of bankers, hobby farmers, and golf professionals it disappeared in the 1960s. Fortunately a rather prescient Professor of the English Language, Harold Orton, organised a Survey of the English Dialects during the 50's that captured these fading patterns of speech. Some of the recordings from that survey are assembled in the British Library English Accents and Dialects Collection. Now though the BBC are repeating the survey, with their Voices project. It has a great map interface so you can explore the different contributions by region:
I can't think of a better use of the license fee.Labels: bbc, berkshire, dialect
Danse avec les Robots (then let them pour you a beer)
Every ride at Futuroscope is some variety of sub-Star Tours "3D" cinema experience, except for Danse avec les Robots. In a giant hangar, six enormous industrial robot arms, each have a pair of rollercoaster seats attached to the end. In time to music, choreographed by Kamel Ouali, (France's answer to Bruno Tonioli), they flip and spin you in ways a normal rollercoaster never could. I rode it last year, but had somehow forgotten what a great experience it was, until I saw this video of a robot arm pouring a bottle of Japanese stout. The combination of intense power with extreme precision was what reminded me of it.
Unless you are a fan of lame simulators, son et lumiere, and general dilapidation, Futuroscope still isn't strictly worth a visit. Definitely save your Euros for Parc Asterix.
The Clones Shall Inherit The Earth
Running "The Joy of S*x" query through Google gives this:
The Joy of Sex: about 173,000 results The Joy of Sox: about 213,000 results The Joy of Six: about 93,700 results The Joy of Sax: about 12,900 results The Joy of Sux: exactly 3 results "Oh my God! They killed Kenny!" (about 31,100 results) Vs "Oh my God! They killed *" -kenny (about 20,400 results) "All your base are belong to us" (about 652,00 results) Vs "All your * are belong to" -base (about 807,00 results) "I for one welcome our new insect overlords" (about 12,400 results) Vs "I for one welcome our new * overlords" -insect (about 120,000 results)
I was initially surprised that the sox clone is more popular than the original. That's not always the case:
Other clones are swamping their originals though:
Maybe this is just the fate of all cliche. As the original starts to lose cultural currency, it gets overwhelmed by its derivatives, and the original meaning might even eventually be forgotten.
Where the Dickens have I been? (Part 1)
My list of cities visited November 06-Jan 07 is mighty swish:
London
Bangkok (just a brief sojourn in the new airport)
Christchurch
Sydney (8 hours of tedium, as I had no visa to leave the airport)
Hong Kong
London
Maidenhead (not quite as glam as the others)
Capetown
London
Hong Kong and Cape Town were holidays, while Christchurch was for business. I was at the International Continence Society Annual Meeting. It was busy, and I never managed to leave town at all. I did become the joint inaugural winner of the Ferring Water Prize, and am consequently now the "Young Investigator of the Year". Since I turn 30 in 8 weeks, I qualified as "Young" by virtue of being within 10 years of graduation. My winning abstract is reproduced here. However for the full multimedia experience you can enjoy the webcast of my presentation, complete with slides, here. Self-recommendation is no recommendation, but it is quite an interesting talk, particularly the bit at 4min 32s where I appear to ingest a fly.
London
Bangkok (just a brief sojourn in the new airport)
Christchurch
Sydney (8 hours of tedium, as I had no visa to leave the airport)
Hong Kong
London
Maidenhead (not quite as glam as the others)
Capetown
London
Hong Kong and Cape Town were holidays, while Christchurch was for business. I was at the International Continence Society Annual Meeting. It was busy, and I never managed to leave town at all. I did become the joint inaugural winner of the Ferring Water Prize, and am consequently now the "Young Investigator of the Year". Since I turn 30 in 8 weeks, I qualified as "Young" by virtue of being within 10 years of graduation. My winning abstract is reproduced here. However for the full multimedia experience you can enjoy the webcast of my presentation, complete with slides, here. Self-recommendation is no recommendation, but it is quite an interesting talk, particularly the bit at 4min 32s where I appear to ingest a fly.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Catch-up Links
Labels: bangface, bowery, green, howser
The hiatus is back off
"I'm an arrogant, solipsistic, attention-needy freak who pretends to have an opinion about everything. I don't have time to listen to you. I barely have time to listen to me."It does me good to take a little time off from blogging each Christmas. I haven't been entirely out of touch however. I did notice that you and I had become the person of the year. That glory must have irritated the old media dinosaurs, because the backlash has officially started. Joel Stein, quoted above, is sick of public commenting, as is Guardian film critic Peter Bradshaw. Anyway, given this intense pressure to defend the reputation of the blogosphere, I'm back in blogging action.
Labels: blogging
Friday, January 05, 2007
Mindstorms Factory Making Small Lego Cars
I'm not dead or anything. In fact I'm back from holiday on Monday, and might even resume posting regularly then. This video is simultaneously excruciatingly dull, and absolutely fabulously awesome. Go figure.
Labels: car, factory, lego, robot
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