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Fun With Glow Sticks

In this video for Bon Yurt yogurt (yes, it's an ad for yogurt), a group of artists paint a room using glow-in-the-dark material from glow sticks, then host a bizarre dancerless dance party. When the party begins, blenders rip up glow sticks, feeding tubes that snake along the walls. It's visually interesting and short -- there is no message here except "glow in the dark stuff looks cool" -- but I kept wondering how they would safely dispose of all that glow-stick stuff? What's even in those things?... READ ON

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The Set of "The Shining" is Intentionally Impossible

The set in "The Shining" appears to be intentionally designed to confuse and freak out viewers, through subtle "impossible and illusionary designs used by Kubrick to disorientate the viewer, and to communicate the illusionary nature of the Overlook Hotel." Kubrick expert Rob Ager explains in this weirdly fascinating, mind-bending two-part video (full of spoilers,... READ ON

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Damn Fine "Twin Peaks" Coffee Ads from Japan

I'm a Twin Peaks fan, and like to think I know a little trivia about the show. But it was news to me that in 1993 David Lynch directed a series of Twin Peaks-themed TV ads for the Japanese canned coffee-flavored drink called Georgia, made by Coca-Cola. According to LynchNet: These commercials were done for the Japanese canned coffee, Georgia. The series was set in Twin Peaks and featured many of the cast from the series. In the ads, a Japanese man searches for his missing wife. Each commercial added... READ ON

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The Post-it® Ghost

Ready to be creeped out at work? Read The Housemate, or as it's affectionately known online, "The Post-it® Ghost." Without giving too much away, it's the thrilling story of one man's encounter with anonymous Post-it® notes appearing throughout his house. Who wrote them? Why were they there? Here are a few of the... READ ON
  1. FIND THESE T-SHIRTS AND MORE IN THE STORE!

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Yay! 4th of July Fireworks 2011!

For the fifth year running, software designer Cabel Sasser has gone down to his local fireworks retailer in Vancouver, Washington* and photographed the most insane fireworks boxes. The result is amazing. From the "Blond Joke" (complete with the warning: "shoots flaming balls") to the unbelievably complex "Computer" (a faux-laptop fireworks array which "emits showers of sparks"), this is a wonderfully weird cross-cultural experience. Enjoy, if you dare. (See also: 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010.) My... READ ON

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The Hoax Archive

Got some time to kill and an internet connection? You've got hoaxes! The Hoax Archive (aka Museum of Hoaxes) catalogues historical hoaxes by both date and category. Some favorite categories of mine: Travel and Exploration Hoaxes; Extraterrestrial Life Hoaxes; and April Fool's Day Hoaxes. Here's a summary of the Patagonian Giants hoax (categorized as a "rumor"): In 1766, when the Dolphin returned to London after circumnavigating the globe, a rumor began to circulate alleging that the crew of the... READ ON

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The Late Movies: The "Unsolved Mysteries" Theme Song

Rob Lammle wrote a terrific piece in January called Unsolved Mysteries: More Than Just a Creepy Theme Song. But I wondered: can that theme song get any creepier? Guess what -- it can. Listen if you dare. (On one of the videos below, YouTube user TiffanyMarie105 wrote: "The song alone (let alone the actual show) has probably given millions of people nightmares. I could probably listen to it on repeat for hours and not get bored of it." Yes. She'd listen to it on repeat until the nightmares began.)... READ ON

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BlöödHag: Seattle's Edu-Core Death Metal Library Rockers

BlöödHag is a death metal band from Seattle who perform, among other places, in libraries. Their songs are "Edu-Core," and focus on science fiction authors and literacy -- check out some lyrics here. In fact, what the heck, I'll just quote their classic "Robert A. Heinlein" in its entirety: Robert A. Heinlein Grok this! Robert A. Heinlein, here's a dis You're a misogynist. Known as the fascist of the Best Seller list As you died in pain. You still had to persist And make sure everybody knew... READ ON

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Can Ants Count?

In this science video from NPR, Robert Krulwich (of Radiolab fame) describes an experiment in which scientists demonstrated that ants were somehow counting their steps. The crazy (and somewhat gruesome) part is that the experiment involves, uh, altering the ants' legs in order to demonstrate the specific counting aspect of these ants' behavior -- it's like they have some sort of built-in pedometer going. Check out the animated video below -- they've made it cute, so the gruesomeness is actually kinda... READ ON

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Kurt Vonnegut's Story Diagrams

In this four-minute video clip, the late author Kurt Vonnegut shows us his "story shapes" -- simple graphs of plots along two axes. I'll tell you the labels for the Y axis: it runs from G (Good Fortune) to I (Ill Fortune). That's about all I can say without ruining this whole. Sample quote regarding one of the most popular plot diagrams: "The whole thing, we call this story 'Man in Hole,' but it needn't be about a man, and it needn't be about somebody getting into a hole. ... People love this story!"... READ ON

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