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The Empire Farts Back

Now, look. I'm not normally a guy who would post a fart video on an esteemed website. But guess what, that's what's going down. And the reason I'm doing so is that there is a moment in the following fart video that seems to define a new category of fart video, in the same way that a famous speech seems to redefine the notion of a speech -- raising the discourse and rhetoric of an entire nation. That is what this fart video does. And that singular moment starts around 1:15 into The Empire Farts Back,... READ ON

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The Late Movies: White People Rapping Poorly

The Tumblr White People Rapping Poorly is devoted to cataloging, you guessed it: bad raps by white people. It's off the hook...um...y'all. Their mission statement: "Science has show that for every Eminem, there are approximately 598,467 white people that try to rap but can't. This is devoted to bringing you the best of the worst." Blazin Hazen A classic. Sort of. Denny Blaze writes: "I'm just a middle class guy who's trying to express myself through my rap music. Once you watch my video,... READ ON

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Why Can't (Blindfolded) People Walk Straight?

Today, a short science video from NPR contributor Robert Krulwich (of RadioLab fame), animated by Benjamin Arthur. Krulwich describes a series of experiments in which blindfolded people are asked to walk (or drive) in a straight line -- and then maps are made showing the routes they walk instead. It's certainly a curious effect, and I recall hearing something like this in the context of lost-in-the-woods survival as well -- there's that old notion about just staying where you are rather than striking... READ ON

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Required Viewing: IBM's "They Were There"

It's hard to believe that IBM is 100 years old (well, nearly -- it turns 100 on June 16, 2011). Yet, watching this newly released 30-minute documentary, the point is driven home: IBMers were indeed there at many crucial points in American technological history. They invented so many devices and systems we take for granted today that it really does take 30 minutes to review them in any depth. For example, there's the SABRE computer reservation system that still powers many travel bookings. And then... READ ON

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Portlandia Begins Tonight

Tonight, welcome to my world: Portlandia. I've lived in the real-life analogue of Portlandia for eleven years, and it's a place of dreams -- dreams of sleeping late, of opening a yarn store, of becoming a freegan, of getting rid of your car and becoming a bike commuter who only wears natural fibers while working quarter-time at a gluten-free bagel shop. It's a city where young people have come to get away from being in a city. As Fred Armisen (now famously) says in the first episode of Portlandia,... READ ON

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Humpty Dumpty in the Style of Edgar Allan Poe

So I missed Poe's birthday by one day, but this is worth it: a version of "Humpty Dumpty" written by Dylan Curry in the style of Edgar Allan Poe. The poem: Once upon a wall of stone Sat Humpty Dumpy all alone Shrouded in a web of gloom His fate as near as tomorrow's tomb For earth called him As he teetered and fell And the ground took him And mangled his shell All the angels in heaven And Demons below Were soaked in yolk As they fought for his soul Now my own days grow shorter The... READ ON

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The Late Movies: Amy Sedaris's Crafts for Poor People

Amy Sedaris, star of Strangers With Candy and surprisingly successful craft maven, has her own YouTube channel! In her videos, Sedaris teaches us how to make some spectacular crafts -- like the classic "hot dogs on a rake," "pom pons" (sic?), and who could forget the "donut bird feeder?" This is spectacular and ridiculous and wonderful. I've included most of the videos currently posted on her channel (they're all promo for her new crafting book), but I suggest you subscribe for more gems. Dusty... READ ON

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LBJ Needs Pants

Today I bring you a remarkable historical document -- complete with animation to make it even more bizarre. In 1964, President Lyndon Baines Johnson needed some pants. So he called up the folks at Haggar (who had previously made him some excellent pants) and ordered more. What's remarkable about this is not just that this call was recorded (as we now know, this was common practice at the time) -- it's that LBJ was a real straight shooter when it came to ordering pants. You wanna know how the president... READ ON

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OOPS: Cameras Being Dropped, Lost, and Tossed

oops is a short film featuring YouTube clips of cameras being dropped, submerged, thrown, or otherwise lost -- mostly by accident. Director Chris Beckman does a great job of stitching together the clips in sequence, so they lead into each other. Without context, the film becomes strangely personal, as many of the clips show people just hanging out around the house...or the pool...or the trampoline. And you usually get to hear how upset the videographers become once their camera is dropped. It's ten... READ ON

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NASA - The Frontier Is Everywhere

In December, I asked whether y'all could handle more Carl Sagan remixes. The overwhelming answer was YES, so today I bring you "NASA - The Frontier is Everywhere," a promotional social media video created for NASA, but not by NASA, featuring Carl Sagan's famous "Pale Blue Dot" narration. The video was made by Reid Gower, who was frustrated by NASA's bad PR and thought he'd go ahead and promote the agency by himself. Here's what Gower wrote: I got frustrated with NASA and made this video. NASA is... READ ON