FAIL Friday: Thanksgiving

Don't think just because yesterday was Thanksgiving that I would forget about posting FAIL videos. I guess these videos are somewhat related to the holidays: ice sculptures, plane flights & turkeys.

Ice Sculpture FAIL


In-Flight Movie FAIL

From the original poster of the video, "Just what you want to see when you're traveling at 35,000 feet. I shot this on an actual flight from LA to NYC. No special effects. Seems jetblue is just as "good" at selecting the right in-flight entertainment as they are at dealing with delays. This TV program could have potentially set off a panic attack in the cabin, for the fearful of flying."

Interview Location FAIL

Macy's Thanksgiving Parade gets Rick Rolled

Whoever set this whole thing up is my hero. Not only did they Rick Roll the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade but they got Rick Astley to come and do the Rick Roll in person. Simply amazing.

The Macy's Thanksgiving Parade has officially been Rick Rolled.

The float for Cartoon Network's "Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends" seemed normal enough, with a group of muppet-esque characters singing a tune from the show. But the music abruptly scratched to a stop, and Rick Astley emerged on the float to perform "Never Gonna Give You Up." [HuffingtonPost]

Related Link:
Oldest Living Rick Rolled Me

Best Football Comeback/Letdown Ever

Pretty happy I found this video again. It was the Thanksgiving post on KissingSuzyKolber and is a video from the 1994 high school football game between Plano East High and John Tyler High. Plano East was down 41-17 with just 3 minutes to go in the game. Plano East won an ESPY in 1995 for "Showstopper of the Year" for this. You gotta see it to believe it.

Bruce Lee Ping Pong

Saw this video last week on the ViralVideoChart but didn't want to post it until I found what the story was behind it.

None of the big shots featured in Celebrity PingPong magazine would stand a chance in a match against a nunchuck-wielding Bruce Lee. This amazing viral video leads to a Web site where a digitized Lee kicks some ass with his Nokia N96 phone. Though made for a Chinese audience (ostensibly for a product sold in China), the video has traveled around the world in a few short days. No doubt, like me, the world is now going to travel to China to pick up an N96 and a little bit of Bruce Lee sickness. [via AdFreak]

Kaka Showing Off Some Skills

This video is pretty cool, too bad I'm sure its fake. It reminds me of the video of Ronaldinho doing the crossbar challenge.

Although the footage seems unaffiliated to any commercial enterprise, the authenticity of the video is questionable, particularly having regard to the seemingly staged calling of the youngster.

The video starts with Kaka doing some simple tricks with the ball, only for a little kid to interrupt the footballer by throwing a second ball into the mix. But Kaka fails to lose his control, managing to continue his tricks without pause, while juggling both balls at the same time. [Dave'sFootballBlog via 101GreatGoals]

MMA Live & Some Guy Getting Body Slammed

MMA still hasn't really broken through to get any mainstream TV coverage but at least ESPN is catching on and has created a web video series entitled "MMA Live." I've posted one of their videos before and I used to follow their podcasts pretty regularly. It's a good general summary of what's going on in the world of MMA with some good insight from actual fighters like Frank Mir and Kenny Florian.

ESPN's MMA Live discusses Jon Fitch's 24-hour UFC whirlwind, Affliction and Golden Boy's partnership and head-to-head events, the UFC's march on Germany, and more... [via MMA Insider]

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In a somewhat related video, some guy involved in a fight in the crowd at UFC 91 gets body slammed by a cop. Proof once again that just because you wear an Affliction or a TapouT shirt it doesn't mean you actually know how to fight whatsoever.

Viva Futbol Vol. 25

Check this video out, some pretty awesome moves and tricks are on display.

Viva Futbol is back with more amazing skills and showboats. Watch previous Viva Futbol volumes
[via FootyTube]

(Warning: The background song is by DMX...he likes to swear)

Palatial Regalia

This video comes to us from the YouTube channel of Nicholas Goosen. You may remember that name as he is the man who directed the movie Grandma's Boy. Anyway, Goosen has an interesting group of friends, including: Nick Swardson, Adam Sandler, Simon Rex (aka Dirt Nasty) & Mickey Avalon.

This video is entitled "Palatial Regalia." Enjoy.

(Warning: A little foul language)

Top 10 Amazing Biology Videos...i'm a science nerd

So I'm a science nerd; I think biology is fascinating (probably the reason I studied it for 4 years). If you are not similar minded and think its terribly boring, this post will put you to sleep. Anyway, check this out, I found it on Wired.com.

Cyborgs, stem cells, glowing mice, and hilarious music videos are great reasons to be excited about biology. Here are some of our favorite clips from the life sciences.

10. Immune Cell Chasing a Bacterium
It may look like the predecessor to Pac Man, but this vintage clip shows a neutrophil wending its way through a crowd of red blood cells to destroy its bacterial nemesis.

9. How High Speed Gene Sequencing Works
Within the next few years, Helicos BioSciences may be able to read an entire human genome for under one thousand dollars. This video explains the science behind their amazing technology.

8. Shrimp Jogging on a Treadmill
While comparing the stamina of sick shrimp to their healthy brethren, David Scholnick filmed this video of a cute little crustacean running on a treadmill. He had no idea that it would be come an internet sensation.

7. El Corazón
An unusual music video about the heart, in Spanish, with English subtitles.

6. The PCR Song
Biochemists often use the polymerase chain reaction to copy DNA molecules. This hilarious music video, tells the history of that technology and makes some jokes about its many uses, including paternity testing.

5. Glowing Mice Shed Some Light on Stem Cells
This year, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to three scientists who studied a fluorescent protein from jellyfish. It has become a tremendously important tool for scientific research, because biologists can use it to understand what is going on inside of cells. An experiment with glowing mice led to a major discovery about stem cells.

4. DNA Origami
Using a mix of chemistry, biology, and computer tricks, Paul Rothemund can design DNA molecules that fold up into complicated two-dimensional shapes. In this TED talk, he explains some of the logic behind his work, and how living things operate.

3. Cyborg Monkey Controls Robot Arm
By implanting an array of electrodes directly into the motor area of a monkey's brain, researchers can read some of its thoughts. Their interface is so good that the animal can take control of a robot arm and use it to feed itself. Someday, these brain-computer interfaces could be used to help paralyzed people live normal lives.

2. Evolution and Human Ancestry
Genetic tests are becoming an important part of medicine, but can also tell us about our ancestry. This charming cartoon, made by 23andMe, offers a fantastic overview of how humans evolved.

1. Building Body Parts from Scratch
Last week, regenerative medicine researchers announced that they have grown a new windpipe for a woman who was crippled by tuberculosis. Years ago, other scientists were able to make bladders, from scratch, and implant them in children with malformed urinary tracts. This video shows some amazing footage from two tissue engineering labs.

[taken from Wired Science]

FAIL Friday (a few days late)

Better late than never.

Balloon Launch FAIL

Backstory: At a fundraising event, this group of people released a set of balloons. Each balloon is said to represent one orphan child.

Statue FAIL

Notice the guy in the front, he tries to switch shoulders...pretty much this is all his fault.

Coke FAIL

Tropic Thunder

Just saw Tropic Thunder this weekend courtesy of Netflix & I have to say I liked it. I've been hearing reviews go either way, people seemed to really like it or really hate it. Either way, Tom Cruise and Robert Downey Jr. are definitely the movies' saving grace.

Tropic Thunder is a 2008 American action comedy film directed and produced by Ben Stiller and written by Stiller, Justin Theroux, and Etan Cohen. The film stars Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey, Jr. as a group of prima donna actors making a Vietnam War film when their fed-up writer and director decides to abandon them in the middle of the Vietnamese jungle, forcing them to fight their way out.

Tropic met controversy among the disability advocacy community prior to its release in the United States on August 13, 2008. It received generally good reviews with 83% of reviews positive and an average normalized score of 71% according to the review aggregator websites Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, respectively. It earned $26 million in its opening weekend and retained the number-one position for its first three consecutive weekends of release. The film went on to gross more than $180 million worldwide before its release on home video on November 18, 2008.

Les Grossman (aka Tom Cruise) dancing during the credits


The controversial scene between Tugg Speedman & Kirk Lazarus


Related Links:
Tropic Thunda! (er)

24:Redemption

Don't get too excited, while there was a 2 hour premiere event of 24:Redemption on last night the show won't be returning until January 11th. When the show comes back I'll try and give some regular updates of the Jack Bauer kill count & various other things of note from the show.

According to Blogs4Bauer, Jack was able to rack up 17 points in last nights episode (14 kills & 3 DAMMITS). Here's what else they said in the episode recap:

Season 7 Preview

-Tony’s back - Chloe’s back. Dude from Sons of Anarchy. Explosions and an uzi. I cannot wait.

So what did you think?

My thoughts. I thought it was good. When I heard Jack was going to be in Africa - I expected that Season 6 was not the worst that Fox could offer. However this 2 hour installment was pretty good. There was some old-school Jack Bauer shooting, and a few “dammits”. I could have done without the filler with the junkie and would have liked fewer commercials.

The previews for Season 7 has me pumped up for January. I said to myself that I wouldn’t waste my time blogging for Bauer if it meant sitting through another crappy season. Last season was really hard to watch (and even harder to blog about).

Whatever we post about - we are all fans of 24 and want Fox to let Jack be Jack. Hopefully we can just put Season 6 out of our memory (sort of like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom). So stay tuned to Blogs4Bauer as we all gear up for Zombie Tony’s return in January. If Jack Bauer can come back from the dead (twice), Tony can do it at least once.

Watch last nights 2 hour episode (it's 87 minutes run time without commercials)

Kanye West on the AMAs

It was a packed night of big time TV last night. The Indianapolis Colts beat the San Diego Chargers (GO Chargers GO) with a last second Adam Vinatieri field goal. The latest season of 24, 24:Redemption, had a 2 hour premiere (more to come later).

Well with all that said, the American Music Awards was also on.

Highlights include:
-Chris Brown takes home artist of the year
-Rihanna named favorite female artist in two categories
-Alicia Keys accepts the award for Pop/ Rock Album
-Kayne West named favorite male rap/hip-hop artist


Here's Kanye West performing Heartless

...and here's a link to the man who inspired his outfit

Related:
Kanye West Heartless Music Video

LIFE Photo Archives

So this is really cool. Google is now hosting the entire LIFE photo archive.

The Zapruder film of the Kennedy assassination; The Mansell Collection from London; Dahlstrom glass plates of New York and environs from the 1880s; and the entire works left to the collection from LIFE photographers Alfred Eisenstaedt, Gjon Mili, and Nina Leen. These are just some of the things you'll see in Google Image Search today.

We're excited to announce the availability of never-before-seen images from the LIFE photo archive. This effort to bring offline images online was inspired by our mission to organize all the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. This collection of newly-digitized images includes photos and etchings produced and owned by LIFE dating all the way back to the 1750s.

Only a very small percentage of these images have ever been published. The rest have been sitting in dusty archives in the form of negatives, slides, glass plates, etchings, and prints. We're digitizing them so that everyone can easily experience these fascinating moments in time. Today about 20 percent of the collection is online; during the next few months, we will be adding the entire LIFE archive — about 10 million photos. [Google Blog via RantsofaModernDayElitist]

Enough With Stupid Celeb Baby Names

Well everybody, Ashlee Simpson (the less talented and less famous Simpson daughter) had her first child last night. Simpson and father Pete Wentz (Fall Out Boy) decided to name their child Bronx Mowgli Wentz. Come on, seriously?

Bronx Mowgli Wentz weighed 7 lbs., 11 oz., and was 20 1/2 inches long.

"Ashlee, Pete and baby Bronx are all healthy and happy, and thank everyone for their well wishes!" a spokesperson tells PEOPLE.

Simpson-Wentz, 24, and the Fall Out Boy bassist, 29, announced her pregnancy in May, a few weeks after their opulent Alice's Adventures In Wonderland-themed wedding. [People via WWTDD]

So this story reminded me of a VH1 special I once saw about horrible celebrity baby names. Check it out.

SOME OF THE WACKIEST NAMES...

AUDIO SCIENCE
Parent: Actress Shannyn Sossamon
Birth date: May 29, 2003

BANJO
Parents: Actress Rachel Griffiths & husband Andrew Taylor
Birth date: November 22, 2003

DENIM
Parents: Singer Toni Braxton & husband Keri Lewis
Birth date: December 2, 2001
Wacky named sibling: Diezel

DIXIE DOT
Parents: UK TV personality Anna Ryder Richardson & husband Colin MacDougall
Birth Date: April 7, 2003
Wacky named sibling: Bibi Belle

FIFI TRIXIBELL
Parents: Live Aid founder Bob Geldof & UK TV personality Paula Yates
Birth date: March 31, 1983
Wacky named siblings: Pixie & Peaches Honeyblossom

GOD'ISS LOVE STONE
Parents: Rapper Lil' Mo & husband Al Stone
Birth Date: February 24, 2005
Wacky named sibling: Heaven

JERMAJESTY
Parents: Singer Jermaine Jackson & now ex-wife Alejandra
Birth date: 2000

PHINNEUS & HAZEL
Parents: Actress Julia Roberts & Camera man husband Danny Moder
Birth Date: November 28, 2004

PILOT INSPEKTOR
Parents: Actor Jason Lee & girlfriend Beth Riesgraf
Birth date: September 28, 2003

PIRATE
Parents: Korn frontman Jonathan Davis & porn star wife Deven Davis
Birth date: March 18, 2005

POPPY HONEY
Parents: TV Chef Jamie Oliver and wife Julie Oliver
Birth date: March 18, 2002
Wacky named sibling: Daisy Boo

PUMA
Parent: Singer Erykah Badu
Birth date: July 5, 2004
Wacky named sibling: Seven

REBEL
Parents: Director Robert Rodriguez & wife Elizabeth Avellan
Wacky named siblings: Racer, Rocket, & Rogue

REIGN BEAU
Parents: Actor Ving Rhames & wife Deborah Reed
Birth date: September 21, 2000
Wacky named sibling: Freedom

SAFFRON SAHARA
Parents: Duran Duran frontman Simon Le Bon & wife Yasmin Parvaneh
Birth Date: September 25, 1991
Wacky named siblings: Amber Rose & Tallulah Pine

Some Funny Frank Caliendo Impersonations

Don't know if I would actually watch a 30 minute sketch comedy show just featuring the same impersonations over and over but a few YouTube clips of Frank Caliendo's impersonations are pretty hilarious. My favorites are definitely John Madden, Bill Walton and of course, Charles Barkley.

"T-R-B-L. Trbl. Kenny, that's trbl"


On Mike & Mike


His Jim Rome isn't bad either


as Bush


as John Madden

Links to Share

Here are some random links across the web.

The Infamous Puppy Cam (Story Here)

Computer Taught to Recognize Attractiveness in Women

Wolf Boy Suffers From Rare Genetic Disorder

Werewolf Boy Escapes Moscow Clinic

How The Presidency Ages Men

Life Expectancy for Pro Linemen? How About 52?

Bike Hero

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UPDATE:
So the video is actually professionally done. I mean there's no way a group of kids could pull it off.
Check out AdFreak for the post.
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Awesome idea but to me it seems like this would be way too hard for a kid to pull off. I have the feeling it's professionally done and made to look like UGC to increase it's viral appeal.

The "director's cut" of the TV spot for Guitar Hero World Tour, which shows the totally stacked German supermodel rocking out in a bra and panties and a whole lotta hair, has racked up nearly 2 million views since it was posted on YouTube two weeks ago.

Now a new video celebrating the game has turned up on YouTube, this one apparently posted by a fan. There's no T&A in this one, but judging from the user comments, viewers are finding it pretty cool all the same.

"Bike Hero," the three-and-a-half-minute clip, shows the game from the point of view of a kid who's playing it, but instead of using one of the game's controllers, he's riding a bike that has a controller built into its handlebars.

The route he's traveling -- down bike paths, across a highway, through a parking lot, over a bridge -- is paved with colored notes, as they would appear onscreen, of The Living End's 1999 punk anthem "Prisoner of Society," one of the game's featured tracks. The video appears to have been shot from a videocam mounted on the guy's forehead. What you see is a music video in the guise of a new game category: first-person rocker.

The Guitar Hero homage was posted Tuesday afternoon by "madflux," whose profile identifies him as a burger-flipper at McDonald's named Kevin. No word yet on how the clip was made, but at the beginning of the video he holds up a sheet of paper that says, "Difficulty: Hard." That would appear to be an understatement, given that no handlebar controller for the game is known to exist.

Only thing is, for an allegedly fan-created video, "Bike Hero" looks a bit too perfect. It's the only video that madflux has posted so far to YouTube, and at least one viewer voiced suspicions that the apparent fan flick might be a plant: "What's it like to work for Activision?" jibed one commenter using the handle OnlyRev0lutions on madflux's profile page.

Guitar Hero is one of Activision Blizzard's biggest franchises, with 24 million units shipped to date. The latest entry, released Oct. 26, sold 534,000 units in the week after its release, according to the NPD Group. That's down considerably from the 1.4 million that Guitar Hero III sold in its first week a year earlier. [Wired]

You can also see the GH4 commercial with A-Rod, Tony Hawk, Michael Phelps & Kobe Bryant HERE

Check Out These Nunchuck Skills

Check out these guys who show some great skill with nunchucks. I guess fighting off attackers has gotten too easy with these things so they have moved on to hitting baseballs and opening champagne bottles (one hell of a party trick).
[via JapanProbe, HomeRunDerby & WithLeather]


In the related videos on YouTube I found this guy who does a "Nunchaku Freestyle"

Music Monday on Wednesday: Coheed and Cambria

Coheed and Cambria is an American rock band formed in New York. The band has been active since 1995, although they did not go by the name Coheed and Cambria until 2001, when Nate Kelley left the band. Before this they were known as Shabűtie.

Coheed and Cambria's albums are concept albums, revealing the plot of a science fiction storyline called The Amory Wars, a series of comics, written by lead singer Claudio Sanchez. To date, the band has released four studio albums, two live albums, and various special-edition releases, with their latest release being Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume Two: No World for Tomorrow in 2007.

A Favor House Atlantic


Devil in Jersey City


Gravemakers and Gunslingers


Welcome Home


The Suffering



Links:
Official Site
YouTube Channel

100 Movie Spoilers in Under 5 Minutes

If your busy schedule keeps you from having time to watch all the new movies as they come out, don't worry because in less than 5 minutes you can find out what happens in 100 movies. Don't say you weren't warned if this ruins some movie for you...hence the name "spoilers."

Football Catch of the Week

I don't know if I will actually post a football catch every week but if I was to do so, this would definitely be catch of the week. It's pretty amazing he is cognizant enough to still go after that ball. So not only does he make the amazing catch but there has to be a 15 yard penalty on that play for a helmet to helmet hit.



...this is another football catch, I guess if that one was top of the list this one would be at the bottom. This video doesn't really involve a football being caught with someones hands it is actually more centered around a kid catching a soccer ball with his face. Anyway, impressive toughness by this kid too.

Lesnar Takes the Title

This past Saturday was UFC 91: Lesnar vs Couture. I posted about it last week, noting Brock Lesnar's amazing physical gifts and his amazing athleticism. Well looks like strength and speed have prevailed over strategy and experience. Brock Lesnar connected with a glancing blow off Randy Couture's temple in the 2nd Round on Saturday and before Couture had a chance to even breathe Lesnar was all over him with, as Joe Rogan said, "hammerfists from hell."


What's possibly more impressive than Lesnar's size and speed is the fact the UFC has proven tough economic times won't affect their business.

After garnering the fourth-largest live gate in company history at "UFC 91: Couture vs. Lesnar," the UFC has shown it can thrive in economic conditions that have forced other promoters out of the industry.

But while EliteXC's recent demise has left an apparent programming void on network television, UFC President Dana White said at Saturday night's post-UFC 91 press conference not to expect the world's largest MMA promotion on CBS any time soon.

"Network deals are what's helping put these other companies out of business," White said. "Just because you get a network deal doesn't mean it's a good deal. When we get a good network deal, we'll be on network television."

When pressed further as to when a good deal might arise, White pointed to the current difficult financial situation in the U.S. as a reason why the process might take some time.

"(We are) not very close (to a network TV deal) now with this market like this," White said. "The economy is bad. I don't know if anybody else in this room feels it as bad as some of the other people in this country we live in, but the economy is really bad right now.

"There's no money out there. Sponsors aren't spending as much money as they used to. They've cut way back. Some sponsors are pulling out of advertising. Some sponsors are going out of business. It's really scary times right now." [MMA Junkie]

Links:
UFC 91 Salaries
UFC 91 Pictures
Lesnar Punch Blindsided Couture
Brock Lesnar: "Inexperience has gotten me this far"

Family Guy Parodies Grape Lady

A couple months ago I posted this video(GO HERE) and just noticed that Family Guy parodied the clip. This is great for two reasons: it once again proves why Family Guy is the funniest show ever and because I get watch the grape lady faceplant then moan in agony over and over again. Here's some info on the video:

Reporter Melissa Sander was doing a live segment for Fox 5 Atlanta on a grape-smashing competition at the Chateau Elan Winery & Resort in Georgia one day in the late 90's. As she smashed grapes with her interviewee, she accidentally fell off the platform and got the wind knocked out of her (though a message on Chateau Elan's website in 2004 reassured TV viewers that Sanders was fine). Her pained screams and groans were uploaded to the Internet in 2005. There, her detractors take additional joy in lambasting her for her attempt at cheating in the moments before her fall. According to her bio at WTEN Albany, where she worked following the grape incident, Sander's "interests include cooking, hiking, antiquing, singing, and playing with her adorable dog (adopted from the Humane Society)." [CollegeHumor Web Celeb Hall of Fame]

White Stripes - Fell In Love With a Girl Music Video

This is definitely not new but I still think it's one of the coolest/most original music videos I've seen in a long time. "Fell In Love With a Girl" was a single by the White Stripes on their White Blood Cells album.

The album reached number 55 in the United Kingdom, being bolstered in both territories by the "Fell in Love with a Girl" single and its Lego-animation music video directed by Michel Gondry. The video won in three awards at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards: Breakthrough Video, Best Special Effects, and Best Editing. It was also nominated for Video of the Year, but did not win

At Least I'm Better Than Charles Barkley

This has no real relevance to anything new or exciting but I just wanted to post to point out how terrible Charles Barkley's golf swing is. The man was able to play in the NBA at the top of the league for years so you would think his God given natural abilities would allow him to swing a club and look mildly coordinated. Luckily, this is not the case. We all have certain things we excel at and certain things we are for whatever reason pretty bad at...you would think he would realize golf is not just for him, but then again he doesn't realize he's not that hot of a gambler either. [via Dough]

Celebrity Pro-Am in Lake Tahoe


The Swing...in Slow Mo


Tiger Woods Imitates Sir Charles' Golf Swing

FAIL Friday: Cars

Tis Friday, enjoy the videos.

Driving FAIL


Police FAIL


Clearance FAIL

Story: At approximately 3 PM, Tuesday, July 2, a 2008 Dodge Ram 2500, pulling a new travel trailer, hit the corner of the Texas State Bank Drive-In on Tenaha Street, causing the complete awning to come to the ground. Luckily, the driver of the Dodge, Mickey Miller, of Garrison and his 10 year old son were able to exit their vehicle uninjured.According to Miller he was circling the bank to park on the other side when the corner of his travel trailer caught the corner of the bank awning. Next thing he heard was a rumble as the awning started falling against his driver's side door. Somehow he was able to unbuckle the seat beat and exit the other side of his truck as it was falling. Mark Ivy of Texas State Bank stated that the main lobby would be open for business while the drive-in is being repaired.

New Watchmen Trailer

There's a new Watchmen trailer that just hit the internet last night and since you are already on the page and reading this I would suggest you watch the trailer below. Here's a little about Watchmen.

Watchmen is an upcoming 2009 American film that adapts Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' 1986 comic book limited series Watchmen. Directed by Zack Snyder, the film adaptation stars Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earle Haley, Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Matthew Goode, Stephen McHattie and Carla Gugino. Set in an alternate 1985, the film follows a group of former vigilantes as war begins to break out between the United States and the Soviet Union. The film began shooting in Vancouver in September 2007 for release on March 6, 2009. Like his previous film 300, Snyder closely modeled his storyboards on the comic, but unlike 300, he chose not to shoot all of Watchmen using chroma key and opted for more sets. [Wikipedia]

Flu Trends

There's been a few cases going around our office the last couple weeks. Luckily I'm smarter than the average bear and got my flu vaccine weeks ago.

Like many Googlers, we're fascinated by trends in online search queries. Whether you're interested in U.S. elections, today's hot trends, or each year's Zeitgeist, patterns in Google search queries can be very informative. Last year, a small team of software engineers began to explore if we could go beyond simple trends and accurately model real-world phenomena using patterns in search queries. After meeting with the public health gurus on Google.org's Predict and Prevent team, we decided to focus on outbreaks of infectious disease, which are responsible for millions of deaths around the world each year. You've probably heard of one such disease: influenza, commonly known as "the flu," which is responsible for up to 500,000 deaths worldwide each year. If you or your kids have ever caught the flu, you know just how awful it can be.

Our team found that certain aggregated search queries tend to be very common during flu season each year. We compared these aggregated queries against data provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and we found that there's a very close relationship between the frequency of these search queries and the number of people who are experiencing flu-like symptoms each week. As a result, if we tally each day's flu-related search queries, we can estimate how many people have a flu-like illness. Based on this discovery, we have launched Google Flu Trends, where you can find up-to-date influenza-related activity estimates for each of the 50 states in the U.S. [Google Blog]

GOOGLE FLU TRENDS

Random I know but it came up when I did a Google Image search for "Google"

The Man, The Myth, The Legend...Ronald Jenkees

"Hello YouTubes"

It's easy to see why we have a special piece of Jenkees artwork in the office. I'm still undecided if this is just a character or there is a Ronald Jenkees out there who acts like that all day long. Either way he gets nasty on the keyboard.

But over the past 4 months or an undercurrent of controversy surrounding Jenkees has started to creep to the surface. It seems there are quite a few people who have a problem with Jenkees’ persona on YouTube. In fact, some of them think that Ronald Jenkees is a blatantly fake character, that was created with the sole intention of gaming the YouTube crowd.

This has led to lively discussions in forums, Fresh Peel comments, and in the YouTube comments section.

Out of all comments I’ve read in regards to Jenkees, very few criticize his music. The point of confrontation seems to always stem from differing opinions of just how authentic Ronald Jenkees is.

I’ve found there to be three very different opinions on Ronald’s authenticity:

1. Ronald Jenkees is an outright fake.
2. Ronald Jenkees is a talented musician that has created stage personality.
3. Ronald Jenkees is totally authentic. All the hats, funny voice, and stupid sayings are 100% Jenkees.

This again begs the question, what is the true definition of authenticity?

Is there no place in the conversation age for characters, fictional stories and stage names? Must everything be presented with a disclaimer in order to truly be authentic?

If that’s the case, transparency could make things pretty boring.

—

What do you think? [FreshPeel]

Newest Video

STS9 Collab - Using their drums to jam with!! FUN!

5 Most Viewed Videos

messin with a guitar sound (will be on my next CD)


'disorganized fun' on a REALLY REALLY fun beat!!


"stay crunchy" - messin with an e-piano sound


"Throwing Fire" -- Re-Uploaded (better audio this time!)


The Rocky song Remixed


Links:
Website
MySpace
Interesting Jenkees Interview

Toshiba Timesculpture Advertisement

Pretty cool Toshiba advertisement.

The world's first timesculpture advert, from Toshiba. See more and redefine what you watch at www.toshiba.co.uk/upscaling.

Best viewed in high quality.

Soundtrack: Air War, Crystal Castles [RedefineWhatYouWatch]

Behind the scenes of the world's first timesculpture TV ad, created by Toshiba. See more at www.toshiba.co.uk/upscaling [RedefineWhatYouWatch]

Great Soccer Compilation

Pretty awesome video of great soccer (football for my international fans) tricks, plays and goals. Enjoy.

Berbatov to Ronaldo....Filthy

Although this play is from Manchester United's game against West Ham United on October 29th it is definitely worth a post. Sit back and watch how nasty Berba gets on the poor West Ham defender and sets Ronaldo up for an easy pass into the back of the of old onion bag.

Tim Lincecum Wins Cy Young - First Giant Since 1967

Tim Lincecum delivers during the first inning against the San Diego Padres, Saturday, Sept. 13, 2008, in San Diego. (DENIS POROY / AP)

Tim Lincecum this morning became the second San Francisco Giant to win baseball's most coveted pitching honor and the first since Mike McCormick in 1967.

In balloting announced by the Baseball Writers Association of America, Lincecum won in a landslide. He garnered 23 of 32 first-place votes, seven second-place votes and one third-place vote, for a total of 137 points.

Brandon Webb of Arizona finished second with four first-place votes and 73 points. The Mets' Johan Santana was third with four first-place votes and 55 points.

CC Sabathia of Milwaukee got the final first-place vote but finished fifth behind Brad Lidge, the Philadelphia closer.
...
In his first full big-league season, Lincecum threw 227 innings over 33 starts and one relief appearance. He went 18-5 with a 2.62 ERA and led the majors with 265 strikeouts. [SFGate]

A Little UFC 91 Hype

This Saturday is UFC 91 featuring the main event fight of Randy Couture vs Brock Lesnar. In a nutshell, Randy Couture is probably the most famous and most beloved mixed martial arts fighter of all time. He was the first inductee into the UFC Hall of Fame and has fought the who's who list of MMA legends. Brock Lesnar is a former WWE wrestler who was an NCAA National Champion wrestler in college. After passing up a major contract extension with the WWE he tried to realize his dream of playing pro football (after not having played since high school). He tried out with the Minnesota Vikings and made the practice squad. Apparently during the try out Lesnar showed off his elite level athleticism by running at 4.7 second 40 yard dash and recording a 35 inch vertical jump while weighing in at 295 pounds.

Go behind the scenes as 3-time UFC® Heavyweight Champ Randy "The Natural" Couture and wrestling powerhouse Brock Lesnar prepare for the biggest fight in mixed martial arts history! Can the legend prevail? Or will a new hero rise? [UFC Channel]

Brock Lesnar All Access Part 1

Brock Lesnar All Access Part 2

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Update - Dana White's UFC 91 Video Blog
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David Elsewhere

Proof once again that YouTube can lead to stardom. Check out this guy.

David "Elsewhere" Bernal (born August 2, 1979) is an illusionary dancer from Santa Ana, California. He became known through a viral video clip (Often titled Kolla2001) of himself dancing to Kraftwerk's song Expo 2000 recorded at the Korean-American talent show Kollaboration in 2001.

The clip showcased Bernal's characteristic take on the contemporary dance styles of popping and abstract waving. Performances of these dances were rare at the time, and the clip became very popular when it circulated on the internet — so popular that in November 2006 the viral marketing company, The Viral Factory, collated page-impression figures from websites such as YouTube and Google Videos. They determined that, as of November 2006, this video had been viewed over 200 million times, making it the 8th most viewed video.

Bernal was later hired to participate in advertisements for Heineken (dancing to "Cobrastyle" by the Teddybears), Volkswagen, iPod, 7-Eleven Slurpee, Pepsi and Doritos. He also made a cameo appearance in the movie You Got Served and TV performances including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. [Wikipedia]

David Elswhere - Kollaboration 2001



iPod Commercial

Heineken Commercial

Golf GTI Commercial

Slurpee Commercial


See More David Elsewhere Videos

Jeff Goldblum Wafers

Proof that the multifaceted thespian can even make a box of wafers sound interesting. [SethComedy]

FAIL Friday

I've decided today's FAIL videos will revolve around peoples interactions with the law. Enjoy.

Speeding Ticket FAIL


Drunk FAIL


Gun Safety FAIL