I'm a Human Inbox

Human Inbox has been retired

2006-10-21T13:31:00.000-07:00

Who knows if anyone is actually coming to this site anymore, but you probably noticed that I've pretty much stopped updating. I'm a Human Inbox took up a lot of time and effort for me, and I wanted to move onto something a bit different.

I'm still Blogging, but on a much smaller and simpler scale. I've moved to two different formats. I'm using a Stumble Upon account to find random but interesting webpages. I encourage you to check out Stumble. Stumble Upon allows users to submit webpages they like, which other people can stumble upon randomly.

I also have a del.icio.us account which will be my main area for posting new and interesting things I find. If you're still interested in viewing my picks, you can check them at one of those two areas.

Sprites: I Started A Blog Nobody Read

2006-08-23T09:01:00.000-07:00

[Media: Music]

A sad song about Blogging? It's a hit in my books! Anyone who has done any online blogging or started a journal on Myspace or Livejournal will probably find this song amusing and familiar.

So what's with the picture for this post? I couldn't find a picture that represented the song so I just put up a picture of me with my Blogger T-Shirt looking quite skeptical.

Link (via Waxy)

Junior Senior: Can I Get Get Get

2006-08-20T12:18:00.000-07:00

[Media: Music Video]

I've really loved watching Junior Senior's music video "Can I Get Get Get". The video is composed of fan submitted videos of them dancing and singing along with the song, and it's a lot of fun to watch. Although the music itself isn't something I'm going to be listening to, the visual images of people being goofs has remained in my mind for a while now.

The official link to this music video is a little slow, so check out the Streaming Version if you don't mind slightly reduced quality.

And if you like this sort of thing, you might also enjoy Yeah Yeah Yeah's Cheated Hearts which follows a similar format.

Link (via Clip Tip)

Stupid T-Shirts

2006-08-19T23:44:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

I've been away from Blogging for a while now haven't I? It is regrettable but I've been incredibly busy this month with life, work and socializing with loved ones. Not like it's going to get any easier in the next couple of weeks, but I will attempt to do more posting when I can.

In anycase, we'll start off with a flash animation done by the same guy who did the famed End of the World short. It's disappointing that he's doing a Nike commercial, but at least it's random and weird.

Link (via Giant Mecha)

The Music of Loco Roco

2006-08-03T12:23:00.000-07:00

[Media: Music]

In what is clearly viral advertising, artcadeplaystation.com sent me notice that they are hosting 7 streaming Roco Loco songs. I get a lot of corporate emails asking me to do posts about their upcoming games and normally I ignore them completely, but these songs are too wonderful to pass up.

Kotaku recently pointed out that Japan Hates LocoRoco and it has ultimately bombed over there. I find that confounding but at the very least the music can be appreciated. The Loco Roco music is silly, happy and complete gibberish. I love it.

Link

Cursor Kite

2006-07-29T11:17:00.000-07:00

[Media: Images]

Finally, a way to get geeks to go to the beach!

You may have seen these images floating around the Blogsphere by now, but they're still quite fascinating. WindFire Designs is a Kite design studio who mostly seems to create fancy looking kites. The WindFire Cursor Kite looks unlike any other kite in that it looks like it was photoshopped into the photos.

If you check out Tim's Personal Gallery you should get a better idea of how the kite looks and flies.

Link (via Boing Boing)

On Piracy: Documentary on File Sharing

2006-07-28T11:07:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

This morning I've been watching the Canadian documentary "On Piracy", and it's absolutely fantastic. So far the interviews have been very balanced, taken both from the music industry's point of view and of consumers. Both sides of the Piracy argument have been well covered and it's really interesting to see how passionate and invested both sides are.

The amusing thing at this point is that the recording industry is a little more frantic and off-topic. Contrasting the record execs with scholars and historians might be a little unfair just because the later are so well spoken. But it's interesting to hear the execs say that their industry is "flexible", and to see them stumble over the idea that videogames are outselling music.

I haven't seen the whole thing yet, but so far it is excellent. Highly recommended.

Link (via Waxy)

Valve: Portal Training

2006-07-27T13:22:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

Some really interesting stuff has been coming out of Valve lately and now I finally have a bit of time to talk about it here. If you haven't seen Valve's Portal trailer I encourage you to do so by clicking the picture above. Portal is a puzzle game which uses a portal gun to solve a number of interesting spatial problems and it ships for free in Half-Life 2: Episode 2. The concepts and puzzles within Portal are complex for they deal with the ability to bend space itself.

Portal was developed by the team responsible for Narbacular Drop, a game which is free and was created earlier this year.

If you liked the trailer for Portal, I recommend that you check out 1up's Episode 38 of the 1up Show. 1up discusses Portal, Narbacular Drop, Half-Life 2: Episode 2, Team Fortress 2 and The Ship. I'm personally very interested in The Ship and I'm curious to see how it turns out.

Link (via Joystiq)

DoodleBug

2006-07-23T13:10:00.000-07:00

[Media: Website]

DoodleBug is a great website in which artists do a drawing and the process is saved as an animation. This allows people to watch how the drawing was completed, step-by-step. Personally I've been fascinated by this website all morning; it's so easy to watch a couple drawings in a small amount of time. In otherwords, this is a great time waster.

I'm impressed by some of the crosshatching done on this website. I'm alright at drawing, but I've always sucked at crosshatching. Dammit.

Link (via Fazed)

What a Wonderful Day

2006-07-23T00:58:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

This video starts out showing a stuffed bunny relaxing on a hill. A narrator, who sounds like the narrator from Winnie the Pooh, describes the events as they unfold. What starts out as a fairly tame children's story quickly turns into a dark and disturbing tale.

I never expected the bunny to shout, "Now you're burning!!!"

An surprising video, but it sure made me laugh. Forgive that this site uses RealPlayer, for luckily there is Real Alternative.

Link (via Drawn)

Rinocerose: Cubicle

2006-07-21T11:56:00.000-07:00

[Media: Music Video]

Clip Tip hasn't been my favorite music video blog lately and most of the posts are boring and nonsensical. I don't understand why anyone would post music videos that they don't recommend. Quality complaints of Clip Tip aside, I've really enjoyed the song Cubicle by Rinocerose.

Cubicle has choreographed guitar posturing, play fighting and adlib silly dancing. It's a little difficult to pin down why I really like this video, but I've been thinking a lot about what makes a good music video lately. I watch a lot of music videos, and I'm amazed by how many are just plain boring. Why are there so many bad music videos? It seems disproportionate to other forms of media that I enjoy.

I think one of the biggest problems with music videos is that it is boring to watch people sing and play their instruments. Although it's fun to watch that sort of thing at a live performance, it really doesn't work well on TV. The good music videos, I think, include very little actual singing. And that is what's good about this video; no singing.

Link (via Clip Tip)

Selling My DS

2006-07-20T11:40:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be selling my DS Phat to acquire a DS Lite sometime this week. I've been attempting to avoid selling it over Ebay, but if I can't find someone who wants to buy my DS locally then I'll probably have to.

I'm selling my DS Phat for $110.00 Canadian, which is a terrific deal. It has nothing wrong with it and it's in great condition. If anyone in or near Nanaimo would like to buy it, please contact me. If nobody is interested, I'll be putting it up on Ebay in the next couple of days.

The Daily Show: The Internets is a series of tubes!

2006-07-20T10:00:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

I've been giggling for a week after reading the speech Senator Ted Stevens gave against Net Neutrality in favor of giving large Internet companies like AOL preferential treatment.

They want to deliver vast amounts of information over the Internet. And again, the Internet is not something you just dump something on. It's not a truck.

It's a series of tubes.

And if you don't understand those tubes can be filled and if they are filled, when you put your message in, it gets in line and its going to be delayed by anyone that puts into that tube enormous amounts of material, enormous amounts of material.

But it hasn't been until now that The Daily Show has covered it to hilarious results. I'm amazed that someone like Ted Stevens is in charge of making decisions like this. Never before have I seen such a lack of understanding by someone who is in a position of power. It is truly horrific to imagine the fate of the Internet in Ted Stevens hands.

Someone has also done a remixed song of Ted Stevens' speech which you may appreciate. Remember, the Internet is not a truck!

Link

You're Beautiful Parodies

2006-07-19T21:05:00.000-07:00

[Media: Music]

I've been hearing some really fantastic parodies of James Blunt's song You're Beautiful. If you haven't seen or heard the video I encourage you to do so first, and then check out the two parodies I have listed here.

First up is It's Bloody Cold, a video music parody of the originals video done by Dead Ringers, whom I'm unfamiliar with.

The second parody, which I heard today, is called My Cubicle and it's about a bored office worker. The lyrics and the MP3 are available to download if you follow the link.

Via Fazed

Mario Hoops

2006-07-17T07:14:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

Although Joystiq didn't like this commercial, I definitely did and I think it's slick and well put together. Hot Mario Bros is part of an ad campaign in Japan featuring a pair of comedians dressed up as Mario and Luigi.

Interestingly, as a Joystiq commenter pointed out, this commercial seems to be spoofing an old Nike Commercial from the late 90's.

Not to sound like a complete corporate shill but I've been really enjoying my DS the last month or so. I bought Brain Age and I've been having a great time with it. All my friends and roommates love it and play it whenever they have a chance. Even my parents showed some interest in it which is quite amazing. I recently picked up Metroid Hunters and it's amazing to see a FPS work on a portable platform with controls comparable to a mouse and keyboard. I've been using my DS so much that I'm planning on upgrading to a DS Lite sometime soon.

And sorry about the lack of posting, I've been really busy with work, family and socializing. Not a whole lot of spare time on my hands lately.

Link (Youtube Mirror ) (via Joystiq)

Etched in Time

2006-07-09T10:10:00.000-07:00

[Media: Website]

Just the other day I was pondering over the fact that some artists strive to become masters over restrictive mediums. Take the Nintendo DS for example. The DS is painfully difficult to draw in, but I have seen some amazing drawings and animations using nothing but pictochat which comes with the DS.

George Vlosich specializes in using an Etch-a-Sketch to produce his artwork. These are drawings far better than I could do, and the amount of time and patience that it would take for each piece is intimidating. I am impressed how George manages to produce different shadings in his pictures.

Most of the pieces show sports and celebrities, but I'll forgive that. They're still amazing.

Link (via Drawn)

Adam Phillips: The YuYu

2006-07-06T13:44:00.000-07:00

[Media: Flash]

I'm a huge fan of Adam Phillips, a master of flash animation shorts. I've mentioned him before when I made the post about Little Foot, and his other animations Bitey of Brackenwood and Prowlies at the River are also highly recommended.

The latest installment features Bitey racing away from a cloud of black little imps in high pursuit. While there isn't much of a story this time, it's still an amazing chase scene. The music is also very nice.

Link

Albi The Racist Dragon

2006-07-05T10:42:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

I've never heard of the Flight of the Conchords before, but I really loved their performance of Albi The Racist Dragon. The fairy tale storytelling is an odd style to use for a remarkably unsubtle lesson on racism.

Truth be told I'm not quite sure how Albi learned his lesson. I'd want to go to the Marmalade Forest between the make-believe trees if he wasn't such a meanie.

Link (via Fazed)

Where the Hell is Matt?

2006-07-03T22:48:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

Almost a year ago I put up a post about Dancing Matt, which is still one of my favorite little dancing videos. Matt is a guy who decided to quit his videogame programming job and travel the world. At each of his locations, he dances. A stupid, silly, and happy dance. I love it.

Matt's recently put up another video of his travels and dancing and it's just as lovely. There are some amazingly beautiful locations here, and it makes me smile and chuckle to see him do his little jig. Sometimes people look at him strangely, and sometimes they join in.

Matt is a 29-year-old deadbeat from Connecticut who used to think that all he ever wanted to do in life was make and play videogames. He achieved this goal pretty early and enjoyed it for a while, but eventually realized there might be other stuff he was missing out on. In February of 2003, he quit his job in Brisbane, Australia and used the money he'd saved to wander around the planet until it ran out. He made this site so he could keep his family and friends updated about where he is.

The response to the first video brought Matt to the attention of the nice people at Stride long-lasting gum. They asked Matt if he'd be interested in taking another trip around the world to make a new video. Matt asked if they'd be paying for it. They said yes. Matt thought this sounded like another very good idea.

Matt, keep doing what you're doing, you make me happy.

Link (via Drasl)

The Condom-On

2006-07-02T12:16:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

Although Boing Boing has a lot more background information about this commercial, I'm mainly going to focus on the commercial itself. The Condom-On is a fake commercial for a product which quickly and accurately applies your condoms. I laughed when I saw this, and it's odd enough that strikes my fancy. And let's be honest, putting on condoms is never what anyone would call "fun".

I posted another hilarious condom commercial almost a year ago called Durex in a Car Door which is also worth checking out.

Link (via Boing Boing)

The Show with Ze Frank

2006-06-29T10:02:00.000-07:00

[Media: Website]

"The Show" is a daily video blog commentary site hosted by Ze Frank which sounds boring when described but is quite excellent in its execution. Think of it as snarky political commentary like Jon Stewart's Daily Show with ADD.

I recommend that you check out at least two or three of the short clips before making a decision about it. Ze Frank makes up little songs, insults the intelligence of his forum posters and generally makes an ass of himself and everyone else in a witty way. He also looks like he is consistently operating on a serious lack of sleep.

Duckies.

Link

Spiderman 3 Trailer

2006-06-28T10:08:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

I just got a job earlier this week, which will hopefully explain the lack of posting. In the meantime, check out the Spiderman 3 Trailer if you haven't already seen it. It's pretty much required posting.

From the looks of it we can expect to see: Sandman, the Green Goblin and Venom. Looks like a pretty fantastic lineup. After you watch the trailer be sure to check out a little snarky comic that AppleGeeks did about the Spiderman 3 Trailer.

Link

The Sultan's Elephant

2006-06-22T19:16:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

I somehow never got around to watching The Sultan's Elephant performance in London, but I ran across a clip from it today. The performance has a giant marionette of a little girl waking up, taking a shower from a gigantic elephant and walking around the park and playing with "real" little kids. It is bizarre, creepy and truly beautiful. You can see real awe on the faces of the people watching the show.

A second clip shows footage of the giant elephant walking through the crowds of people, and a rocket ship carrying the gigantic little girl blasting off. How simply wonderful.

Link (via Giant Mecha)

Boards of Canada: Dayvan Cowboy

2006-06-22T17:46:00.000-07:00

[Media: Music Video]

This music video, for some reason, has been a long time coming. I've wanted to post this video for a while, but I never quite managed to decide how to go about it.

The first part of this music video contains footage of Joseph Kittinger, the first man in space and set the record for the highest space jump ever attempted. A documentary video of this jump can be found here on Google Video. As Kittinger passes through the clouds the scene changes to become a surfing video. Set to instrumental music, the images shown in this video are achingly beautiful. I do not know why this music video interests me so.

While I'm speaking on music videos, I should also point out a website which occupied a large portion of my time today. Pitchfork's 100 Awesome Music Videos has an impressively large list of music videos which all contain embedded Youtube videos. Although I didn't agree with all their choices, it's still an interesting way to spend some time surfing the Internet.

Link

Marlon Brando Reanimated for Superman Returns

2006-06-21T11:24:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

Although Marlon Brando is not alive today, he has been reanimated with the help of Computer Graphics for the upcoming Superman Returns movie. Rhythm + Hues studios have provided an excellent step-by-step breakdown of what they did to bring Brando, as Jor-El, back to life. They show how they animated Brando saying "You Do Not Remember Me" and the finished product for the movie.

It is kind of a creepy idea to be able to animate someone long after they're dead. It makes you wonder what kind of copyright issues must be resolved for that. It's also interesting that some of the more amazing advances in computer animation have not been large flashy graphics, but the more minute and mundane. The animators have really done their job well when we can be oblivious to the special effects of something like this.

Link (via Waxy)

Burning Safari

2006-06-19T22:08:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

Wow, what a fantastic little short. This video is wordless and yet extremely expressive in describing the interactions between a robot tourist and a monkey in the Safari. I laughed really hard and it has already proven itself a worthy piece of entertainment to my other roommates.

As a sidenote, the rest of the animations from this French Animation studio also look fantastic. I look forward to delving deeper in what they have to offer.

Link (via Fazed)

Shiny Happy People

2006-06-18T08:49:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

Alright so this is an ad for coffee, but it's so psychotic that I had to post it. This video features spray-on-tanned, glowing, floaty happy people from the 70's dressed in yellow who try to cheer up sleepy heads. And they sing a song which is reminicent of the Oompa-Loompas from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Man, I'm a morning person but these people would drive me bonkers.

"You can sleep when you are dead!"

Link

How to take your clothes off in seven seconds

2006-06-18T08:45:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

Have you ever wondered how you might take your clothes off extremely quickly? Well this young man seems to have found the answer, and is able to take all his clothes off in seven seconds in one fluid motion. That skill just might come in handy some day.

I love the expression on the woman's face from the picture above. Priceless.

Link (via Fazed)

James 'Smidget' DeVito

2006-06-16T11:43:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

Although it's not hard to find examples of skill in games such as DDR and its derivatives, I've been seeing some interesting videos lately. I've really been enjoying this latest Smidget video (and the picture above does not come from the video itself, it's just a better picture of James DeVito) where he's showing off some really slick dance moves. It's one thing to be able to pull off the right steps, it's another completely to make it look like actual dancing.

There's another promo video of him doing his thing, but I don't find it as impressive as the first one I mentioned.

Here's one last video by some other guy using a completely different dance style. It's more akin to Riverdancing, and my roommates could hear the staccato beat his feat were pounding out and came to see what I was watching.

Link

Wake-Up Calls

2006-06-15T12:05:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

This is another example of a video which I skipped over the first time I saw it posted. I'm really glad I actually clicked on it though because I ended up laughing really hard.

This is apparently a show from Japan which features some pretty awful ways of waking people up. For example, one of their victims is thrown down a waterslide, bed and all, while still asleep. The guy wakes up halfway down the slide and looks absolutely horrified. What a way to wake up!

Link (via Drasl)

The Lyrebird

2006-06-14T12:38:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

This nature film about the Lyrebird is absolutely fascinating, and for once in a very long time I dropped my jaw in awe. I do not exaggerate, the Lyrebird can do something fascinating.

When the Lyrebird is looking for a mate, the male will sing the most complicated song it can to attract a female. What it does is it immitates the sounds of things it hears in the forest. This includes other birds and animals, but what is really impressive is the artificial sounds it can imitate. Have you ever heard a bird imitate the sound of loggers cutting down the Forest? I bet you haven't!

This makes me wonder what else it's capable of. If a Lyrebird were to be taken into the city and be exposed to humans, what sort of sounds would it imitate? It'd be fascinating to find out.

Link (via Boing Boing)

Zoomable Photomosaic

2006-06-11T21:17:00.000-07:00

[Media: Website]

This photomosaic is impressive because you can continuously zoom into it forever. As you zoom in, more pictures appear. The photos themselves are of high quality and are interesting to look at. Just make sure that you don't get caught in a picture consisting of mainly one colour type.

You'll probably spend more than a couple of minutes playing with this interesting tool.

Link (via Boing Boing)

Animation Fight

2006-06-11T21:09:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

While the picture doesn't seem very impressive, this is quite a creative piece of animation. As a Flash animator draws a stick figure to torment, the stick man struggles against the oppressive user. The fight eventually progresses beyond the confines of the drawing board and into the interface itself.

Definitely fun to watch.

Link (via Drasl)

Shaolin Soccer

2006-06-07T00:22:00.000-07:00

[Media: Movie]

I must seriously be the last person who has heard of the movie Shaolin Soccer. I thought I had the heads-up on this movie over my friends, but it seems like I was the only one who hadn't seen it.

Shaolin Soccer is reminiscent of Kung-Fu Hustle, both of which have been directed and acted by Stephen Chow (pictured above). Huh... That actually explains a lot.

Shaolin Soccer is a Kung-Fu comedy which uses a lot of special effects. The movie premise is quite simple, it's about Kung-Fu masters using their skills to kick some major ass in Soccer. I recommend that you check out the video clip that I've linked to, and then go rent the movie at your local video store. I totally enjoyed this movie and I swear that if Soccer was like this in real life, I'd be watching a lot more TV.

Link (via Drasl)

Tyger

2006-06-07T00:11:00.000-07:00

[Media: Music Video]

Tiger, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what brings to mind William Blake's poem The Tiger this music video is a powerful piece of animation worthy of multiple viewings.

In the middle of the night an enormous Tiger, animated by three gigantic shadow puppeteers, makes its way through an urban city. In its passing, burning vegetation grows and all manners of people change into their animal forms thus making the city of thriving jungle.

Beautiful.

Link (via Giant Mecha)

This Spartan Life: Malcolm McLaren

2006-06-04T17:59:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

Although this may look like a videogame post, I assure you it is not. I have mentioned This Spartan Life a couple of times here on I'm a Human Inbox and it once again deserves mention. I haven't frequented This Spartan Life for a while now, but I went back there recently and delved into its new content. Additions of note are a discussion of Net Neutrality titled "Can't Buy Me Web" the Travelogue, a silly video showing off glitching in Halo 2, and DJ Octobit's music and playlists.

DJ Octobit does music based on sounds produced by the Gameboy's soundcard and speakers. I've been amazed by the variety and flexibility of such a limited instrument; initially you won't even realize that its music produced by gameboys.

Moving on to the actual purpose of this post, This Spartan Life did an interview with Malcolm McLaren.

Malcolm McLaren's career began in the early 70s with a clothing store that had a big part in starting the punk movement in Britain. He soon founded the seminal punk band, The Sex Pistols and set out to cause a huge disturbance, the effects of which are still being felt today. His work in film, television and on his own genre-hopping music releases has exposed his more thoughtful side, but he continues to situate himself in the midst of the latest radical upheaval, most recently gameboy music. He is currently producing a film version of the book "Fast Food Nation".

What struck me about this interview is the very nature of the environment in which it was situated, and McLaren himself. McLaren speaks in a hypnotic English accent and his words and vocabulary produce more poetry than actual discussion. As the host Damian Lacedaemion and Malcolm McLaren walk through the virtual reality of Halo, as if taking a leasurly walk on a sunny day, the world and players of Halo clash in the background. In one moment, a pair of glitchers jump ladder themselves into the sky, in another moment a massive battle with tanks and phantoms rages, and finally a dance group of aliens dance from the foreground into the distance. The playful and violent natures of the players in the background mixed with the philosophical monologue creates a really beautiful and striking juxtaposition.

In other words, there's a lot to see, hear and experience at This Spartan Life that you might not at first expect.

Link

Moral Orel

2006-06-04T17:13:00.000-07:00

[Media: Videos]

I discovered the absolutely hilarious show Moral Orel yesterday, a show from Adult Swim, which features a Christian boy named Moral and the lessons he learns. Although that description sounds innocent, the show is laced with biting and sometimes terrible mockery of religious values.

Moral usually takes lessons learned from his parents or the Church too far, usually to disastrous results. For example when the Church said it was God's wish for people to be charitable, Moral gave his money to a homeless person. Unfortunately this homeless person was a crack dealer and gave Moral free crack in exchange for the money. I'm sure you can see where this is going.

My friends and I have really been enjoying this show, but it does come with a warning. If you are Christian, specifically Protestant, you might find this show quite offensive. If you don't think you would enjoy this kind of humour, please avoid watching Moral Orel.

Link

Harrison Lake Sand Castle Competition

2006-06-03T13:40:00.000-07:00

[Media: Images]

Harrison Lake, held in my province British Columbia, holds an annual Sand Castle Competition and they have some beautiful photos of some of the competitors. I can't imagine actually attempting to sculpt some of these, sand doesn't seem like it would be a very forgiving medium. It's a pity that none of these will last very long.

Link (via Fazed)

Beer Cannon

2006-06-03T13:29:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

Although it is a Beer Commercial it is still fascinatingly fantastic. There are a lot of random objects being fired at other random objects in slow motion. My only complaint is that for the first half of the video it doesn't quite show any of the objects hitting their targets, which makes it something of a tease. Come on, let's see the impacts! Still, it's a very sweet video.

I like the one where they're firing a jar of peanut butter at a bunch of jam covered crackers. Such a tasty combination.

Link

Humans!

2006-06-02T12:27:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

"Uh-Oh! It looks like you've got a case of the Humans!"

This educational animated short film talks about how Planets, in this case Earth, can contract parasitic Humans as a sort of deadly disease. Humans apparently slaughter all forms of life, use up a planet's resources and multiply at a rapid pace. Humans may eventually even become contagious!

Aw, poor Earth! You're dead now.

Link (via Drawn)

Spiders of Vietnam

2006-06-02T10:02:00.000-07:00

[Media: Images]

Wow Spiders are really not normally the kind of thing that interests me, but these photos are wonderful and the descriptions are passionate. I don't hate Spiders like some people, but I prefer to avoid the large ones and thus there were moments when looking through these photos that I got a little squeamish.

Ultimately, these photos allow you to see the powerful beauty of these creatures, and to see details that you would normally never notice. There are some really exotic examples of spiders here, and it's amazing how diverse and different some of these creatures are. Some spiders mimic ants, while others grow in spiky star shaped patterns so that they won't get eaten.

Here is the description for the picture above:

Lynx spiders have small eyes and correspondingly poor eyesight. This forces lynx spiders to use a "wait and snatch" hunting strategy, rather than the jumping spider's strategy of walking (and jumping) around until they find something. The lynx spider strategy might also help to explain why most of them have long spines on their legs; as well as possibly allowing them to detect air movements and other hints of approaching prey, they might also help to corral their prey within the grasp of their long legs, before moving in for the kill.

In other news, I apologise for my lack of posting lately. I have been really busy this week with interviews, resumes, rent, birthday parties, family, cleaning and a girlfriend. Also the Internet has been slightly boring this week, but I promise to put up some interesting curiosities in the next couple of days.

Link (via Fazed)

Music for One Apartment and Six Drummers

2006-05-26T11:38:00.000-07:00

[Media: Music Video]

This strange short has the cast of Stomp breaking into other people's apartments while they're out walking the dog and creating music by banging on anything they can get their hands on. For example, in the picture above their in someones bathroom using toothbrushes, shavers, the bathtub, shaving cream and scrubbing the toilet to create a fairly catchy tune.

The whole video is quite fascinating although a bit creepy. Why can't they do this in their own house?

Link (via Waxy)

Juggling in a Cone

2006-05-25T15:10:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

This video of Greg Kennedy standing inside of a cone juggling is pretty entertaining. Juggling is hard enough, but what about when you have to factor in spinning up and down the inside of a cone?

Greg Kennedy's newest manipulation routine, the juggling of 3, 5 & 7 balls on the inside surface of an 8-foot high inverted cone

I could probably spend a lot of time just tossing balls around in there.

Link (via Fazed)

Ghost Rider Trailer

2006-05-24T09:21:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

Oh my God, nerd orgasm. The Ghost Rider movie seems to have been in the works forever so it's surprising to see a trailer for it all of a sudden. The movie looks fantastic, here's to hoping that it really is. It will be released two days after my birthday on February 16th 2007.

Link (via Sataguini)

Sit On It

2006-05-22T13:24:00.000-07:00

[Media: Image]

Due to size restrictions you're going to have to click on the image above to see the whole thing, but I'm sure you'll enjoy the surprise. What a freakin' little bastard. I never have been so selfish with my gaming habits, I swear.

Link (via Drasl)

Metal Gear Solid 4 Trailer

2006-05-21T12:37:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

Alright, so I saw the Metal Gear Solid 4 trailer weeks ago, but it wasn't until today that I saw the 15 minute version. The story and art direction look fantastic, although I'm a little uncertain how I feel about an aging Snake. This video will probably only appeal to fans of the series, but the video is worth watching just to see Raiden (shown above) kicking some major ass.

If they can make the live action Metal Gear Solid Movie like the cut scenes in the game, there's really nothing to worry about.

Link

Towel Day

2006-05-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

[Media: More Text!]

It is my joyful duty to make sure you're all informed of an international holiday of which you may not be aware. It's not quite Winter-een-mas, but...

This coming Thursday, the 25th of May, is Towel Day. On this auspicious occasion, even such a lot of strags as you and I can take up the towel in remembrance of Douglas Adams. That's right, carry a towel anywhere convenience allows. Noting that towels drape quite nicely over the shoulders, that's a large majority of places. Check out the linked article for the associated trivia.

It's a big universe out there; don't forget your towel!

Link

DJ Z-Trip: It's all about the music

2006-05-19T13:41:00.000-07:00

[Media: Music Video]

I've been tracking down as much information as I can about this fantastic mashup video. The video features vintage footage of Jazz dancers Al Minns and Leon James dancing the Charleston. Mixed to the footage is DJ Z-Trip featuring Whipper Whip in a song called Is it all about the music.

This video is fantastic, it has fat beats and the dancing goes perfectly with the music. Watch these guys totally burn the place up.

Link (via Boing Boing)

Robot Chicken: Star Wars

2006-05-17T18:15:00.000-07:00

[Media: Videos]

Ah Robot Chicken, I'm so glad you're back for a second season.

Just when you thought that all the Star Wars jokes have been done already, Robot Chicken brings something fresh to the scene. The first video, shown above, has Emperor Palpatine getting a collect call from Vader about the Death Star being blown up. The second video is a recreation of the scene where Vader tells Luke that he's his father.

Doesn't sound very interesting on paper, but Robot Chicken, as always, finds a way to twist things in a disturbing manner.

Link

The Algorithm March

2006-05-16T19:44:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

Wow, how to explain this one? The video starts off with an introduction to the "Algorithm March" with translated subtitles for the words. After that they do the dance again, but this time with Ninjas! I mean come on, what isn't better with a gang of Ninjas dancing behind you?

What's interesting is that the dance only really works with a line of people behind you. The moves fit with eachother when you have more people. You'll see what I mean.

In other news, I have a computer set up now so expect more frequent posts from me in the future.

Link

Judson Laipply: Evolution of Dance

2006-05-13T15:34:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

I always love funny dancing videos, and this one is no exception. Judson Laipply is a comedian who goes through a history of dance moves from the early 50's all the way up to modern times. He's a pretty good dancer actually. I'm not willing to move my hips around as much as he does.

Link (via Boing Boing)

Nintendo at E3

2006-05-13T13:03:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

My apologies for the serious lack of updates lately. Life has been catching up to me. In between visiting family, searching for jobs, interviews and my computer being broken I just haven't had the time to make proper updates. It's really hard to make posts on an ancient laptop when I can't even view movies on it.

Also, the Internet has exploded with news about E3 and it's incredibly difficult to keep up with the surge of information. I still found myself on Tuesday hitting my refresh button for the Live Blogging Feeds of the Nintendo E3 Press Conference, but it wasn't until today that I got to sit down and watch the actual video of the Nintendo E3 Press Conference.

I think now that E3 is finally over I can talk about what I thought about the event. Although I wish I could say that I had interest in what Sony and Microsoft had to say at E3, I didn't. Microsoft's press conferences are always more like business meetings: Dry Powerpoints and marketing buzzwords. This year Sony's presentation was almost laughable. Sony felt unfocused and they have seemed to have adopted a "Me-too" attitude towards their platform. They are directly competing with Microsoft, and yet the graphics of the PS3 and the Xbox 360 seem indistinguishable. They talk about an online network, but it sounds like a shallow comparison next to Xbox Live. And most amusingly they've incorporated a tilt sensor into their PS3 controller which is an embarrassing attempt to copy Nintendo's strategy. The price point for the PS3, $600.00 US, is way too much money. When Peter Moore, Microsoft's Marketing President tells people to go buy a Wii and an Xbox 360 instead of one PS3, you know you've been burned.

Nintendo's conference on the other hand was exciting, albeit low on information. Although I was disappointed that I didn't learn much about the Wii, I could understand Nintendo's focus on hands-on gameplay and demonstrations of how the controller works. That's what I, and everyone else, wanted to know anyway. Does it work? Is it fun?

The resounding answer is yes. The controller works the way it was promised, it's easy and it's fun. Games were shown putting ideas into practice and the attendance on the Nintendo floor shows that gamers can be more excited about a controller than fancy graphics. The lineup to get into the Nintendo floor was 3 hours long, and then you'd probably have to wait an hour to play some of the more popular games. The interest in Nintendo's controller was so great that it broke every record since E3's conception. If that doesn't say something, then I don't know what does.

Although I am fairly broke right now, I want to make the purchase of a Nintendo Wii possible once it comes out. My gut tells me that Nintendo will release the Wii in late October of this year, and I want one. I have never bought a game system on launch day, but I think I may actually preorder a Wii system.

If you've read this entire post so far, good for you! I'll drop a couple of other links that are worth checking out. A couple of days before E3, someone made an awesome fan-made Nintendo Revolution music video called Are you with me? . If you've been following all the Nintendo Revolution news you should recognise the footage. The song is pretty awesome and appropriate. And finally, if you love Super Smash Bros, you'll love the trailer for the Smash Bros Brawl on the Wii.

Stephen Wiltshire: The Human Camera

2006-05-08T09:38:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

Stephen Wiltshire is known as The "Human Camera" and has the amazing ability to commit almost everything he sees to memory. In a film called, "Beautiful Minds: A Voyage into the Brain", Wiltshire is flown over the city of Rome for 45 minutes and is asked to draw everything he remembers within 3 days. This video documents this process and is amazing to watch. As a computer junkie, I have lost any talent to remember, thus I find this fascinating.

Similarly Gilles Tréhin is a Savant who has been creating his own imaginary city since 1984 and has been drawing each building one by one.

Link (via Fazed)

Loading Ready Run: Why the Wii?

2006-05-07T11:04:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

I've been purposefully avoiding discussing the Nintendo Revolution's official name change to "Wii" (pronounced "We"), mostly because people have been getting so incredibly upset about it. I could care less. The name does not change the functionality of the system, nor its potential. And if you think about it, Google is an incredibly stupid name but you don't hear people complaining about it.

But, I would still like to make a couple of contributions to the Wii conversation, mostly through stupid videos. Loading Ready Run did a little video about the Wii, which warns that Sony will change their console name to "Woo" and Microsoft will follow with "Yaa" which will steal all of our cries of jubilation. I've been a huge fan of Loading Ready Run ever since Theresa pointed them out to me, and I encourage you to check out some of their other stuff beyond their Wii video.

As an extra, check out this little animated Gif, Don't Fear the Wii. Oh the stupidity!

Link

They're Made Out of Meat

2006-05-06T12:13:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

"They're Made Out of Meat" is a short film adaptation of a short story by Terry Bisson. The video is basically a conversation between two aliens (in human form I guess) about how humans are made entirely out of meat, something which disturbs them greatly.

This film won first prize in the Science Fiction Museum's First Annual Short Film Festival, something I'll have to check out in greater detail. My only wish is that more science fiction short stories were adapted to film, how awesome would that be?

My apologies for the low frequency of posts. I am in the process of finding a job, so the majority of my Internet surfing is focused on job posting rather than Blog postings. Boo to that.

Link (via Boing Boing)

Desiree Palmen: Street Camouflage

2006-05-02T19:26:00.000-07:00

[Media: Images]

I've been having a hard time lately finding interesting stuff to post about. Perhaps it's because Boing Boing seems to be getting weird and boring and has relatively few interesting things to talk about.

But here's something that made me take notice. Desiree Palmen has an amazing gallery of photos showing him wearing absurd Camouflage suits designed to hide the wearer in urband settings. Most of the outfits only look good at very specific angles, but it's still really interesting.

Link (via Fazed)

Stephen Colbert at White House Press Corps Dinner

2006-04-30T10:46:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

I'm not a huge fan of Stephen Colbert. He's funny sure, but I haven't found his material to be truly inspiring. But regardless of how you feel about Colbert, his speech at the White House Press Corps Dinner is pretty fantastic. Forget your politics for a moment, this event was designed to draw laughs even if Colbert was pushing the envelope. And yet, there was very little laughter to be heard from the audience.

Colbert is speaking infront of a lot of high ranking politicians, military officers, the President and the media. The people in attendance were shuffling uncomfortably, and had cold looks on their faces. The last time I've seen an audience react so poorly to a popular Comedian was when Jon Stewart hosted the Oscars. I always find it incredibly fascinating when people are unable to laugh at themselves. I hope that if a Comedian came along and made fun of someone like me, I would be able to laugh really hard.

Update: Ah Youtube, I can never trust you to maintain proper links in the future. I will fix you. In other news, Jon Stewart from the Daily Show is quite happy about Colbert's Ballsalicious speech.

"It was balls-alicious," Stewart said. "Apparently he was under the impression that they'd hired him to do what he does every night on television"

Link

Leather Dragon Backpack

2006-04-28T10:36:00.000-07:00

[Media: Images]

Although the idea of having a Leather Dragon Backpack is totally awesome, wearing it outside in public is not an option. Thus, this item would remain in my closet like some of my other geeky items, like my Naruto Headband.

I really think that you'd get badly damaged if you wore this outside. By girls.

Link (via Fazed)

Ultimate Utopia XXIII

2006-04-28T08:28:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

For those of you who've played Final Fantasy games (or, for that matter, any PlayStation era RPG), this will be a humbling experience. Ultimate Utopia XXIII, by Adarahs, is an embarrassingly accurate recreation of a Final Fantasy game experience. It boasts live actors, cheesy special effects, and all the cliches. Did it always look that ridiculous?

I'll warn you: it features a boss fight, so it clocks in at 12 minutes.

Jesse: Wow, Jezebeau hasn't done a post in a while but he's always welcome back. I saw this a long time ago but I was never really a Final Fantasy Fan so I never felt justified in posting about it.

Link (downloads found here)

Code Monkey

2006-04-25T13:59:00.000-07:00

[Media: Music]

Human Inbox reader Michael sent me a link to the song Code Monkey by Jonathan Coulton the other day, and I think it's pretty awesome. Code Monkey is about a lowly normal and sensitive coder and his troubles (or rather his feelings) at work.

So all you Managers Rob, you need to be nice to your Code Monkeys! They have feelings too you know. You might also want to check out the Lyrics for this song while you're listening to it.

Code Monkey get up get coffee
Code Monkey go to job
Code monkey have boring meeting, boring manager Rob
Rob say Code Monkey very diligent
But his output stink
His code not functional or elegant
What do Code Monkey think
Code Monkey think maybe manager wanna write goddamn login page himself

As a sidenote, my Hard Drive crashed and burned a couple of days ago, so I'm running off an ancient laptop right now. I might not be able to do as many super excellent posts due to my laptop's inability to display videos.

Link (Thanks Michael!)

Violent Videogames Make Me Snap

2006-04-22T11:15:00.000-07:00

[Media: Swag]

Most people agree after seeing this shirt, that it's definitely buyable. I am also well suited for this shirt because anyone who knows me will vouch for the fact that the chances of me "flipping out" are quite high. That's why I'm going to University, to get a degree in kicking your ass. I'm like totally a rageaholic and it's all due to a healthy diet of violent videogames.

Link (via Wonderland)

Lasse - Hyperactive

2006-04-22T09:27:00.000-07:00

[Media: Music Video]

Well this is a surprise, someone with a webcam who actually has a good amount of talent! Lasse Gjertsen, looks bedheaded and bemused and at first I thought it was going to be another embarrassing video of someone doing something goofy but boy was I wrong.

By making random noises Lasse remixes them into a beatboxing mishmash, producing a very creative music video. Well done my friend, well done.

Link

Mystic Ball

2006-04-20T23:09:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

Mystic Ball is a documentary film about a sport in Thailand akin to hackey sack. I admit that I don't know much about this film, or the sport itself, but the film is very beautiful. The audience in background seems almost entirely comprised of Buddhist Monks, I wonder where they're performing?

Update: Since making this post I have recieved an email from Greg Hamilton detailing information about this film. It also looks like the Chinlone site has been updated with further information since my original post.

I saw on your I'm A Human Inbox blog a link to the film Mystic Ball. I just wanted to let you know that you have some wrong information about the sport. Please look at Cchinlone.com or the Wikipedia article on chinlone. It is the traditional sport of Myanmar (Burma).

Thanks for linking to it. We are having the world premiere for Mystic Ball at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival on May 1, 9:30pm at the Isabel Bader Theatre - 93 Charles St. - and a second screening on May 7, 7:00pm at the ROM Theatre. It's a feature length documentary - 83 minutes.

Chinlone is non-competitive dance-like sport - a team sport with no opposing team - a spiritual game that has been played for over 1500 years.

Link (via Drasl)

Loco Roco

2006-04-19T09:13:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

Although this post is about a game, I want everyone to click on it, even the non-gamers. Loco Roco is a game coming out for the PSP, and is something I would never have gotten exposure to if it wasn't part of the 1up Show this week. This is the video interview with the developer of Loco Roco, and it's really quite lovely.

Loco Roco is a game that's impossible to describe, but easily understood once it's seen in motion. Like Katamari Damacy, this game brings a sense of joy, happiness and wonder to those who see it. The music, the colours, the ideas are so pure.

I personally love the little story of how the game got its name:

In the beginning I was trying to find a good name for the title. I was trying to find something that was easy going, casual. Then a coworker of mine mentioned "Loco Roco" because it sounds like Local Motion from Hawaii.

Please check this out even if it doesn't sound like your thing, it really does make me happy that games like this exist.

Link

Adicolor: Pink

2006-04-18T16:42:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

Wow, I've been watching and absorbing these amazingly weird Adicolor ads. Pink was the first one I saw, and I have yet to find anyone who can clue me into what it all means. Strange music, moving teddy bears and some mysterious pink goo. This video is so weird it borders on disturbing, but I definitely love it.

Two other videos, both strange in their own way: Green, White.

There are three other videos which will be released at later dates, I'm definitely going to have to go back to watch them. I still have no idea what they're actually trying to promote.

Link (via Waxy)

Israeli Military Girls

2006-04-16T17:59:00.000-07:00

[Media: Images]

A couple of days ago I ran across this gallery of photos depicting Israeli girls in the military, and became totally engrossed. In Israel every girl who turns 18 must spend at least two years doing military service, which is something of a rarity compared to the rest of the world.

The images are quite striking, and they depict girls in a variety of situations reflecting their daily life in the military. For me, the most surreal image was of a girl in full military garb getting her groceries. It's also quite strange to see these girls carrying automatic weapons everywhere with them, including the shower room.

The photographer was a girl in the army herself and her statements really put these photos in perspective:

Rather than portraying the soldier as heroic, confident, or proud, my images disclose a complexity of emotions. The soldier is often caught in a transient moment of self-reflection, uncertainty, a break from her daily reality, as if questioning her own identity and state of contradiction. She is a soldier in uniform but at the same time she is a teenage girl who is trying to negotiate between these two extreme dimensions. She is in an army base surrounded by hundreds like her, but underneath the uniform there is an individual that wishes to be noticed.

...The girls I encountered were so immersed in this lifestyle, in their new reality, and completely divorced from the outside world. How could I explain to them that what they are doing means nothing in the outside world, yet will affect them for the rest of their lives?...

In the end these girls are just that, teenage girls in a harsh masculine environment. I feel slightly guilty when I find myself thinking how attractive most of these girls are. There's definitely something appealing about a girl in uniform, smoking and holding an automatic weapon.

Link (via Drasl)

1 Year Anniversary

2006-04-15T17:26:00.000-07:00

I almost completely forgot what day it was! Today is the 1 Year Anniversary of I'm a Human Inbox and the 175,395th visit. I really can't believe that I've been doing this for an entire year now. A couple of months ago I was almost considering dropping this site altogether, and I was planning on doing it on the 1 Year Anniversary just to be a jerk, but I still haven't gotten Blogging entirely out of my system yet.

The end of the school year is approaching and I'm finishing up my exams. Infact I should probably be doing my Calculus right now, but I felt I had to do something for this post.

So I'd like to thank all the people that have made this possible. Which is... Me really (don't worry Anne, I haven't forgotten that you've helped out a bit). I've also accomplished all the goals I set out to do with this site, which is fame, fortune and girls.

I've also rounded up a list of my top favorite 27 posts. It's 27 because I couldn't narrow it down any further, I just liked them all. So feel free to take a retrospective look at this site and I hope it brings a smile to your faces.

Update: I've realized that some of the links didn't work properly so I've found working links and made the appropriate updates. Please let me know if you find any problems with these links.

The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny
Loading Ready Run: We're 1337
The Chronic of Narnia Rap
The Touchtone Genius
SuperMonies: Vikings vs Monk
Alive in Joburg
Jan Pehechan-ho
Honda Civic: A Cappella
People Viewing Goatse For The First Time
Charlie the Unicorn
Un-Balancing
Matrix Table Tennis
Spasmodic
OK Go: A Million Ways
Best Moped Commercial Ever
Russian Dance Contest
Decorer, process of cheerful decoration
Real Life Tetris
Family Guy: Take on Me
End of the World
Voltron Gets Served
Spin: The Power of Music
Chinese Ice and Snow World
Dancing Matt
Chinese Dance Troup
That One Guy
Nutragrain Commercial

Death From Above 1979: Sexy Results

2006-04-15T15:19:00.000-07:00

[Media: Music Video]

Here's your weirdness for the day. Sexy Results is one of the strangest music videos I've seen in a long time, and it's been hovering around my links list for ages but I keep thinking about it every once in a while.

The song is lip synched by replacing the nipples on this girl's breasts with the singer's mouth. The special effects are terrible, and it makes less and less sense as the video goes on, and yet it is still immediately rememberable and completely hypnotic.

Warning: Not Safe For Work

Although this video comes with a NSFW warning, there is no actual nudity in this video.

Link (via Clip Tip)

Ron Mueck

2006-04-14T09:00:00.000-07:00

[Media: Images]

Ron Mueck is an Australian artist who has no formal training, but his work is quite fascinating. Mueck creates sculptures of people of unrealistic proportions and yet the details are so realistic that the pieces look like real people. The skin and nails are translucent, the hair is sewn in one by one and the eyes are realistic.

It's all quite haunting.

Link (via Fazed)

First Avenue Machine

2006-04-14T08:54:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

Although I am normally loathe to link to a website with such a crappy Flash interface, I will take exception this time. You might recognise First Avenue Machine from a past project called Plants with Eyes. First Avenue is a 3D animation studio who specializes in integrating 3D graphics with live action sequences.

They have a number of really awesome Quicktime videos in the Project section and I recommend that you take some time to watch them.

Link (via Giant Mecha)

Rob Cordry Hates You

2006-04-12T09:48:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

The Daily Show recently had a story about Rob Cordry's trouble being accepted as a racist, which at one point displayed a list of all the peopled he hated. The list was over 200 entries long, and scrolled by really quickly, but someone went to the trouble of writing the entire list down.

Cordry ended his report saying that "I'm a pretty decent guy, unless of course, you're one of these things. In which case I hate your guts.

Belgian
Mohawk Indian
Hindu
Mary Kate & Ashley
Puerto Rican
Gay
Bisexual
Lesbian
Bicurious
College Lesbian
Sunni
Seriously Stop Pausing This
What do you think this is Lost?
4 8 15 16 23 42
PT. Cruiser Owner
Nepalese
Boy Scout Troop 19
Canadian

So go check out the video, and then take a look at the list. Did you know that Rob Cordry even hates Jedi? I wonder if that means he's okay with the Sith?

Link

Wu ji (The Promise)

2006-04-10T08:54:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

I love Chinese cinema, as it treads where Japan seems to be unwilling to go; live action Anime. In the vein of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Hero and House of Flying Daggers, Wu Ji looks to be a beautiful and colourful work of cinematography. Wu Ji also touches upon the impossible and incredulous, something I'm a fan of.

Although the movie looks like it's going to have its fair share of silly moments, after watching this trailer I'm eager to get my hands on a copy of it. Hopefully this movie will not be like the Casshern experience. Casshern was a movie which looked fantastic based on its trailer, and yet it was probably one of the most boring and nonsensical movies I have ever seen (I wrote a review shortly after I watched it).

Link (via Giant Mecha)

George Lucas in Love

2006-04-09T12:06:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

George Lucas in Love is a funny little video about George Lucas trying to write the Star Wars script when he was a student in University. Struggling with writers block, Lucas is inspired by a girl to write "what he knows", and amusingly little aspects of his life obviously make it into the Star Wars script.

Characters in his life include an Asthmatic dark neighbor, a pot headed roommate talking about a universal "force" that surrounds everyone and a wizened professor who speaks backwards.

Link (via Drasl)

Thank You For Smoking

2006-04-08T11:34:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

"Thank You For Smoking" is a movie about a tobacco lobbyist who spins the truths and lies about smoking in order to create a positive image for the tobacco industry. It reminds me of Lord of War and looks fricking hilarious; I'd really love to see it.

It's apparently out in theatres right now, but it didn't show up in my town so it looks like I'm going to have to wait for the DVD release. For those who don't know what a Mephistopheles is (like me) here's the definition:

Mephistopheles is the evil spirit to whom Faust sold his soul and is a name given to one of the chief demons of Christian mythology that figure in European literary traditions. The name is frequently used as an alternative form of Satan or the Devil.

Link (via Joystiq)

Optimus Prime Having a Wonderful Time

2006-04-07T13:50:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

Yay! Today is the last day that I have anything due with the exception of exams, so I'm effectively done my classes. To celebrate, here's a happy little video of a toy Optimus Prime having a Wonderful and Marvelous time with a wide variety of other toys. Pot with Jay and Silent Bob, a fight with the Black Knight from Monty Python and a battle against Godzilla with Captain Picard and Captain Kirk are some of the scenes that you will witness.

I think I want all those toys in my room.

Link (via Sataguini)

Hacked Chevy SUV Ads

2006-04-05T21:12:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

Chevy has created a monster of a website, and has encouraged users to create and submit their own Chevy SUV commercials. You can choose from a number of clips and music, and then add your own text to the video. Although it's likely that Chevy knows and understands that people will create videos that will bash their product, the attention gained is probably worth the risks.

After showing a couple of examples to my roommate Trevor, he went and created his own video, which I've liked to above. There are a number of other great examples, so you can check them out here, here and here. Milk and Cookies also has a couple of clips saved.

If you'd like to create your own clips, check them out at Chevy Apprentice.

Link

Bob Ross on the Nintendo Revolution

2006-04-05T08:24:00.000-07:00

[Media: Article]

Alright, you've probably seen this article if you read gaming sites, but I was waiting for it to be confirmed as an April Fool's Joke before I posted it. I was certain it was an April Fool's Joke, because the press release was posted the day before April 1'st. It was also the strangest thing I've heard all week. But as April Fool's passed, people were still claiming that this is a legit press release.

The games, which are being developed specifically for Nintendo's Revolution console and DS handheld, will be focused on the art of painting, no doubt harnessing the precision accuracy of Nintendo's control methods. A PC version is also planned.

We're not kidding.

AGFRAG made the announcement yesterday, prompting concerns from skeptics of an early April Fool's joke. We contacted AGFRAG directly for clarification.

"The press release is not a joke, but the side effect of people thinking it is might help us get noticed," explained Joseph Hatcher, who heads up the company bringing Bob Ross to Nintendo's systems.

So, apparently the development studio AGFRAG is planning on releasing a Bob Ross painting game on the Revolution and the DS. I think almost everyone knows who Bob Ross is, the Afro painter on PBS that has been around since the dawn of time. All I have to say to my friends is "Do you know that Painter guy on TV?", and they're like "The guy with the Afo? I love that guy!". It's completely surreal.

But as I've thought about it, I'm actually kind of excited about the idea of a painting game. Not that I'm ever going to play this game, but I'm glad that games like this are going to exist for people. Diversity in gaming is always a good thing, not only for casual gamers, but for the hardcore. When there's creative diversity, it's to everyone's benefit, even if it comes from a game featuring Bob Ross.

Link

King Kukulele

2006-04-04T07:54:00.000-07:00

[Media: Video]

In what is going to be your daily dose of wacky randomness, this satellite radio commercial attempts to show how boring normal radio is by having a Ukulele player singing and dancing around. But let's be honest, who wouldn't want a hula-skirted man following them around playing the Ukulele? Alright, maybe I'm the only one.

The singer is the Ukulele musician, King Kukulele, who unfortunately has only one music video called "When I'm Alone". I'd love to hear more of his stuff.

Link (via Boing Boing)

Dr. Tran

2006-04-01T14:58:00.000-08:00

[Media: Video]

Dr. Tran is the funniest thing I've seen all week.

I'm not really sure how to describe what goes on here. Some Asian kid is quietly eating breakfast when a movie trailer voice starts describing the awesomeness of "Dr. Tran". The kid does his best to let the voice know that he's not a Doctor, nor an actor, nor Dr. Tran, but the voice doesn't seem to agree.

I have no idea if that description makes any sense, but it shouldn't matter. You should be clicking on the link and watching it.

Warning: Some Swearing

"I'm not a moccodity!"

Link (via Kevin)

Be Quiet!

2006-03-30T21:57:00.000-08:00

[Media: Video]

I love British comedy, and although my maturity will surely be questioned I still laughed pretty hard. These two wounded solders are trying to pretend that they're dead so that the enemy doesn't shoot them, but it seems they're having a bit of trouble keeping a straight face.

Enjoy.

Warning: Questionable Taste in Maturity

Link (via Fazed)

Beverly Hills: Halo 2

2006-03-30T15:55:00.000-08:00

[Media: Music Video]

This is a pretty good adaptation of Weezer's "Beverly Hills" song, done to the footage of Halo 2. The timing is spot on, the camera work is smooth and stylish, and the "extras" are fairly creative. Normally you wouldn't think much of a machinma music video but amazingly this video pulls off some highly polished production values.

Master Chief comes off looking fairly cute when pining about his social status.

Link (via Kotaku)

Gypsy MIDI

2006-03-29T08:05:00.000-08:00

[Media: Video]

I've been working for almost a week on a presentation for one of my Computer Science classes tomorrow. I have to do a presentation on Real Time Programming Languages which, put simply, are languages which allow systems to interact with things in the real world, in real time. The aspect that I chose to focus on is Motion Capture, specifically the Virtual Air Guitar Project.

So I'm sure you can understand why I immediately took interest in this GypsyMIDI product when I first saw it.

The GypsyMIDI Suit allows the wearer to use their body as an interface to control music. The user can control the music by moving their arms left, right, up and down, and with their wrists. The interface can then be customized to control different buttons, sliders or sounds.

I encourage you to check out the videos here on this site, the best of which are the drums and the DJ Gypsy Tracker videos.

Link (via Giant Mecha)

Funny Street Signs

2006-03-27T21:17:00.000-08:00

[Media: Images]

You may have seen some of these pictures elsewhere on the Internet, but this is still a good collection of amusing, and most likely photoshopped, street signs. I sat back and had a good laugh at this website, and I'm sure you will too.

Update: If you liked this post, you should probably check out these funny billboards.

Link (via Grumpy Gamer)

Mini Moni: Hina Matsuri (Girl Festival)

2006-03-26T12:55:00.000-08:00

[Media: Music Video]

Well this is definitely the weirdest thing I've seen all day, just be prepared for an oversaturation of girly J-Pop. Hina Matsuri translates to "Girl Festival", which is basically like a day for girls. From Wikipedia:

It is a celebration especially for girls, and is sometimes called the "Girl's Festival".

The customary drink for the festival is amazake, a sweet, non-alcoholic version of sake made from fermented rice. The customary food is colored arare, bite-sized crackers flavored with soy sauce.

Every family with a female child has a dolls set. There are many legends about this Matsuri (festival), one of them is this: if the family forgets to retire the whole set before the night of 4th March, the girl won't marry before the next year.

The video itself would put a game of Mario Party to shame with its overly bright pinks, blues and yellows. Oh my God, there's so much pink!

Link (via Exploding Aardvark)

Scrambled Hacks

2006-03-25T12:16:00.000-08:00

[Media: Video]

Scrambled Hacks is a fascinating project which is very exciting for music samplers. Scrambled Hacks takes sounds, say from a microphone, and searches through a music video in order to find sounds that are similar. The program will then reconstruct the music video and imitate the sounds it just heard.

In other words, this program will create a visual and audio representation of any sound it hears, and all of this can be done in real time.

It's a little hard to imagine, so check out this video which describes and demonstrates how this works. I'd love to get my hands on something like that! Then again, as a computer science student, I would love to be able to work on a project like that.

Update: Since I don't trust Youtube to maintain a link for very long, I'm adding a mirror link to Milk and Cookies just in case.

Link (via Waxy)

Hisashi Tenmyouya

2006-03-25T12:07:00.000-08:00

[Media: Website]

I spent this morning gazing at Hisashi Tenmyouya's beautiful artwork, which utilizes traditional Japanese styles and imagery, merged with modernized references and ideas. The result is immediately engaging, and makes you think when you see images of historical Japanese gangs posing next to American-styled lowriders.

The paintings also have a great sense of motion, wit and criticism. My only wish is that the images hosted here were larger, I'd love to see some of the smaller details.

Link (via We Make Money Not Art)

Super Furry Animals: Not the End of the World

2006-03-23T18:21:00.000-08:00

[Media: Music Video]

This is a pretty fantastic music video, which uses stylized puppetry to provide the visuals for this song by the Super Furry Animals. There are a lot of cute little details in each scene, and I'm pretty sure I've never seen an exploding Earth puppet before. Cute.

Just incase this link goes dead for some reason, you can find a mirror at Milk and Cookies.

Link (via Drawn)

Overloaded Vehicles

2006-03-22T08:29:00.000-08:00

[Media: Images]

This here is a fantastic gallery of images showing vehicles which bear incredible burdens. Bikes with 30 monitors piled ontop of them, someone hauling thousands of bottles, trains overflowing with people, the list goes on and on.

These images are completely surreal and reach comical proportions; but still, it's quite amazing.

Link (via Boing Boing)

Call Center

2006-03-22T08:17:00.000-08:00

[Media: Video]

Call Center is a fantastic short film running at 12 minutes which touches on the funnier side of outsourcing. The video features an Indian Call Center employee trying to juggle calls from 4 different customers, one of whom is on the Suicide Support line.

I really can't tell you anymore without giving away some of the better stuff, but I had a really good laugh with this one. Totally worth checking out.

Note: This link might give you an error that says "Service Unavailable". If you get that error, just refresh the page a couple of times and it should be fine.

Link (via Fazed)

Final Fantasy XII Intro Movie

2006-03-21T06:40:00.000-08:00

[Media: Video]

I am not really a Final Fantasy fan, I've found the last 3 Final Fantasy installments to be terrible terrible games and I wonder what people really see in these games. I'm going to get hurt for saying that.

But one thing I can agree on is the beautiful art direction and the CG work that Squaresoft does. I love the character designs, the architecture and the vibrant living worlds that they create. All of this is very evident in the opening prologue video for Final Fantasy XII.

So even if you're not really interested in videogames, let alone Final Fantasy, it is worth your time to download this video just to see what Computer Graphics studios are capeable of these days.

Just to warn you though, it's quite large (112 MB) and over 7 minutes long. Not that that's a bad thing though!

Link

Kid Perverts

2006-03-19T11:12:00.000-08:00

Today I'm going with a themed post because here's a number of funny videos which all have something in common. They're all about perverted kids. No worries though, all of these are Safe For Work, you won't see any nudity here.

Owner of A Lonely Heart

This music video features two kids who have the best day ever. They skip school after their Mom drops them off, and decide to put up posters asking ladies to show up in their bikinis for a dance audition. They even go so far as to rent a casting studio (where did they get the money for that?), and calmly cast a ton of hot women. What perverted little bastards!

Link (via Drasl)

Peeping Kids

This is a commercial for some sort of chocolate bar... Man, this ad will give kids all the wrong (right?) ideas.

Link

Wanking to World of Warcraft

And finally, the meanest, most embarrassingly funny video ever. You know you play too much World of Warcraft if you get caught wanking off to it. Owned.

Link (via Kotaku)

CRIA Study Shows that Music Downloading Does No Harm

2006-03-18T11:47:00.000-08:00

[Media: Article]

The Canadian Recording Industry (CRIA), which is similar to the American RIAA, quietly released a study which counters pretty much all their talking points about Internet Music Piracy. It's surprising that this study even got released at all because it's very damaging to their standpoint on this issue.

Consistent with many other studies, people who download music from P2P services frequently buy that same music. The study found that only 25% of respondents said they never bought music after listening to it as a P2P downloaded track. That obviously leaves nearly 75% as future purchasers, including 21% who have bought music ten times or more. Note that demographically, the lowest percentage of non-buyers actually belonged to the 13 to 17 year old demographic.

More interestingly, the survey also asked why people bought less. Only 10% of respondents cited the availability of music downloads. Instead, people cited a long list of alternatives that have nothing to do with downloading including price (16%), nothing of interest (14%), lack of time (13%), collection is big enough (9%), don't buy (7%), listen to radio (7%), change in tastes (6%), no CD player (3%), have an MP3 player (2%), lack of opportunity to buy (2%), watch more tv (2%), age (1%), only buy what I like (1%). Simply put, P2P simply is not a major factor behind decisions to buy less music

There are a number of other very interesting facts, and they all line up with what consumers and Internet Activists have been saying for years. P2P does not prevent people from buying music, it is used primarily as a way to sample music before purchasing.

Most likely CRIA and RIAA will ignore the information found in this study and continue to push for harmful and invasive copyright protection technologies and regulations. But hopefully this will start to change the Government's mind about the issue and start to protect their citizens rather than the corporations.

In other news, RIAA and the MPAA are trying to prevent people from uninstalling DRM technology even if it has the potential to kill you. I don't think I ever need to say anything about DRM or RIAA ever again when their disrespect for people steps over the line between life and death.

It has also been shown that DRM laden music on your MP3 players actually significantly reduce battery life. Lovely!

Link (via Boing Boing)

Pure Pwnage: Episode 10

2006-03-17T12:58:00.000-08:00

[Media: Video]

I've mentioned Pure Pwnage before, and I tend to refrain from making multiple posts about the same webpage or show, but I think I'll break this rule just this once.

Episode 10 was a long time coming, over 3 months, and thus each new episode is becoming something of an event by now. Pure Pwnage is one of my favorite shows and I hope that if you haven't checked it out before, that you'll do so now. PP is a fake reality Internet-based show about a small group of gamers and their disconnect with reality and people around them. And although their sense of self-accomplishment sometimes seems undeserved, they do seem to hold some strange gaming powers, such as their "Micros".

Episode 10 features a fantastic Strongbad Email parody, a custom written soundtrack, romance and dealing with the harshness of moving out from their parents house for the first time.

Do yourself a favor and check this show out, you'll thank me later.

Link

Turn Your Head: Custom Pirolettes From Your Profile

2006-03-16T10:07:00.000-08:00

[Media: Website]

I'm sure you've seen those optical illusions which depending on how you look at it, you'll either see a cup or two faces. Turn your Head is a company which will create a Pirolette for you, based on your silhouette.

[W]e fill the space between two opposing profiles of your face. By spinning that space into a three dimensional “visage” that follows the outlined silhouettes of your two profiles, we create the "Pirolette".

Your profile captured forever in an object of art. An optical illusion of shadow and light, each one unique because it’s you!

How fantastic is that?

Link (via Boing Boing)

The Voices Behind "The Simpsons"

2006-03-16T09:59:00.000-08:00

[Media: Video]

My apologies that I haven't been updating regularly, life has been catching up with me. I'll probably make a couple of posts today to make up for it though, there's been a lot of great stuff on the Internet lately.

This clip from Conan O'Brian has an interview with two of the guys who do a large number of the voices for "The Simpsons". I'm always amazed by voice talents who can do a wide range of voices, and I've seen this demonstrated by one of the voice actors for "The Family Guy". Did you know that one guy does the voices for Stewie, Brian, Peter and Quagmire for Family Guy?

The guy in this picture goes through voices for Homer, Krusty the Clown, Groundskeeper Willy, Mayor Quimby and Grandpa Simpson. Totally awesome.

Link (via Drasl)

Xbox Live: Talking Smack

2006-03-14T14:18:00.000-08:00

[Media: Video]

This educational video is a 8-step program to becoming a Grade-A Asshole on Xbox Live. Lessons include "Smack Talking", "Corpsehumping" and "Spawn Camping". Even if you don't play Halo or Xbox Live, you can probably appreciate this sort of behavior if you have any sort of familiarity with the Internet.

I on the otherhand, play far too much Halo 2 on Xbox Live and so I found this video to be absolutely hilarious. It's true, people really are like this on Halo 2, which is why I have everyone's voices muted. I have no interest in hearing a 13 year old talk about having sexual intercourse with various family members of mine.

Link (Thanks Kyle!)

Indoor Man Made Beach

2006-03-13T08:02:00.000-08:00

[Media: Images]

I'm always kind of fascinated by huge, useless Mega-Projects like this Indoor Man made Becah in Japan. What's really interesting is that there's a perfectly good beach 300m away from this structure. Why would you be going to this instead?

Ocean Dome has its own flame-spitting volcano, crushed white marble "sand", and it also boasts the world's largest retractable roof, providing a permanently blue sky. Temperature, wind and humidity are closely controlled to provide an ultra-safe "sea-side" experience.

The optical illusion of a beach is pretty good though, the sky and walls would definitely mess with my brain.

Of similar note is a list of Dubai Mega-Projects, with examples like "The World" which is a set of 300 islands created into the shape of the planet Earth.

Link (Thanks Kyle!)

Yakko's Nations of the World

2006-03-11T10:52:00.000-08:00

[Media: Video]

I think most people my age will remember the cartoon "Animaniacs" from when they were growing up. I miss that show; Animaniacs had a lot of good things going for it like "Pinky and the Brain". This video here is the "Nations of the World" scene, where Yakko sings a song listing every country in the world.

I once had a friend, Jay, who had memorized this entire song and would sing it to show off his prowess. I wonder if he still has all the countries memorized?

Link (via Fazed)

Robotic Pack Mule

2006-03-08T21:45:00.000-08:00

[Media: Video]

Take a look at this robotic pack mule being developed by the military. Named BigDog it can carry 120 lbs and is able to traverse any terrain ranging from loose rocks, mud, snow and hills.

The best part about this video is watching what happens when one of the staff gives it a healthy kick. Instead of toppling over like one would expect, the robot positions its legs in order to regain its balance just like an animal might. The fluidity of motion starts to get a little creepy actually.

For more information about the project, check out Boing Boing's article.

Link (via Giant Mecha)

New X-Men III Trailer

2006-03-07T14:29:00.000-08:00

[Media: Video]

Yes, I realize that I've posted an X-Men III Trailer before, but this one is much much better.

This trailer has more special effects, more mutants and full description about what exactly is going to happen in this movie. Apparently a mutant named "The Cure" (not the band of course) is the source of an antidote to "cure" mutants of their mutant abilities. It looks like "The Cure" has the ability to actually turn mutants into normal people. What's interesting is that "The Cure" is the same child from the movie Ultraviolet (A movie I don't recommend going to see), who held the cure for the vampires in his body. Poor kid, type casted into the same role in two consecutive movies which come out months apart from eachother.

Anyway, check out the trailer, it's looking really sweet.

Link