PBS Ideas Channel "Guide to Common Fallacies" | Crazy Philosophers

Ah.... logic.

For the complete playlist of the PBS Ideas Channel's "Guide to Common Fallacies" head to their YouTube playlist page.

For a hint of the fantastic wonders within... the "No True Scotsman" Fallacy...:



Thx to Open Culture for pointing this out.

Lee Mishkin's 1973 "Is it always right to be right?"

Featuring the voice of Orson Welles, Lee Mishkin's 1970 short film won the 1971 Oscar for Short Films, Cartoons. This was the last award of that category, when it was changed the following year to "Short Subjects, Animated Films."



visit Open Culture for a great write-up.

Fire is stored sunshine | Crazy Scientist

You need to watch this clip right to the end. Richard Feynman explains what fire is, on the 1983 BBC series Fun to Imagine.



Thx kottke for pointing this out.

Wes Anderson's "X-Men" (Parody) | Crazy Flimster

Orkestra Obsolete cover New Order "Blue Monday" | Crazy Musicians

Using only instruments available in the 1930s, like the theremin and musical saw, Orkestra Obsolete perform a cover of New Order's 1983 Blue Monday.

Darwin's "Origin of Species" | Respect

On November 24, 1859, English naturalist and geologist Charles Robert Darwin published On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. This work is considered the foundation of evolutionary biology.

It is difficult to imagine a world prior to the theory of evolution. At the same time, I'm surprised at the number of people that don't necessarily understand "how" evolution works. Here's an excellent video that explains the process of evolution, from the fine folks over at Stated Clearly.

James Last live at BBC Studios, London, 1976 | Crazy Orchestra

German-born contemporary composer James Last passed away on June 9, 2015. [BBC obit] Reaching international fame and success with his original and orchestral re-mix medleys of popular songs, he sold some 200 million albums worldwide in his lifetime.

This BBC studio performance was recorded on October 15, 1976.

Regardless of whether one thinks he was ahead of his time anticipating the mash-up or simply the "King of Elevator Music" it's undeniable he was a talented composer surrounded by equally-talented musicians. If you love watching musicians do their thing, this is a must-see.

Banksy sells art in Central Park | Crazy Artist

So... Banksy set up a stall in New York's Central Park selling original, signed stencil artwork. But didn't tell anybody.

Bill Murray | Wisdom

For a contemplative day. Asked what he wants that he doesn't have, Bill Murray answers candidly and honestly with words of wisdom.

"I'd like to be more consistently here, y'know?"



(thx for the excerpt, Rustbukkit J.)

In Praise of the Quiet Life

(thx School of Life)

UHD (4K) View of Planet Earth from NASA | OuterSpaced

New York City Transit's ancient equipment | Just Crazy

An informational video published in 2015 about the upgrades to the New York City Transit (MTA) system, including a look and explanation about the current equipment. Some of the control systems are over 80 years old...!



(thx Kottke)

How to use the dial telephone (1927) | Crazy PSA

Important instructions and pro-tips for when your own state-of-the-art rotary-dial telephone is finally available for installation in your town, kindly produced by all our friends at the American Telephone and Telegraph company!



(Thx PDR for the tip!)

Choir! Choir! Choir! cover "Ahead By A Century" by The Tragically Hip | Good Rawkin'

Oldest Song in the World, written 3,400 years ago | Crazy Ancient Musicians

The short of it: in the early 1950s archaeologists discovered 14th Century B.C.E. clay tablets with cuneiform writing in what was once the Sumarian city of Ugarit, in present-day Syria. The cuneiform turned out to be a cult hymn, and Ann Draffkorn Kilmer of the University of California produced an interpretation in 1972, which was then recorded. It's a fascinating story, which is explained wonderfully at Open Culture. It is also worth reading the detail text on the YouTube site, posted by AssyriaTimes.

Happy Canada Day! The Tragically Hip, 1989.

Thx Darrin Cappe.

Dossier C : Crows

It's been several years since I was struck on the back of my head by a crow. My initial hatred and desire for revenge have subsided, but I am still always aware and wary of The Crows. We have reached some sort of detente, even though I know they are my Enemy, and I will never again trust them.

I think my vigilance and suspicion is justified -- after all, they drew first blood. My experience is not uncommon, as this Langara College-designed map of common crow attack areas in Vancouver indicates. [CrowTrax] In fact, the map is crowd-sourced, so if you are swooped or struck, add your experience to the map! (Thx VanBuzz for the great story about the map!)

As if we needed any reminders as to how insidiously clever and ruthless this Enemy is... here are some interesting random tidbits I've collected:

They use complex tools... even more complex than imagined: they can make tools that only humans have been known to make previously.

They can solve complex problems, involving multiple steps: this crow can solve a problem involving eight steps.



A crow's brain can recognize numbers: and counting crows' neurons work just like humans.

And we already knew: crows recognize faces... and they know where you're hiding.



Though also just like us, sometimes hard work just doesn't pay off: crow versus pizza box.



And they hold funerals. (thx Devour)



Our only defense, other than carrying around a tennis racket (which I have been tempted to do), is education. PSA: from VanCity Buzz, 8 tips to prevent crow attacks.

Ambition | Crazy Filmsters

This is an impressive science fiction short film, with great effects, produced through a collaboration between Platige Image the European Space Agency to promote Rosetta. It stars Aidan Gillen (of game of Thrones) and Aisling Franciosi. The theme explores the ambition that turns science fiction into science fact.



The amusing part is that the "making of" video is longer than the film itself.

The Icicle Works "Birds Fly (A Whisper to a Scream)" | Crazy Band

29 Celebrity Impressions, One Original Song | Crazy Musician

This could have gone terribly, terribly wrong, but is terribly, terribly entertaining and well done. Musician Rob Cantor (vocals/voices, with the help of several others, as this is a music video and not a live performance) performs an original song in the voices of 29 celebrities. What I particularly love is that the theme of the song actually ties in with the use of all the voices, instead of being a simple gag or shtick: you're perfect in the way that you are.



And before anybody screams foul that it's fake and this dude isn't actually singing all those voices: yep, you're right. It's a music video. It's to promote a music album called Not a Trampoline. Remember when Michael Stipe and REM blew the socks off the music video world by not singing (lip syncing) a line in "Losing My Religion"? Same sorta thing: it's to entertain.

Check out the "making of" video, it's pretty interesting in its own right:

Frozen bubbles in Calgary | Nature

Last winter Chris Ratzlaff took some photos of blown bubbles freezing in the Calgary temperatures. This video is mesmerizing.



thanks CalgaryBuzz. and Chris Ratzlaff!

Cookie Monster should be a Letter | Crazy Cute

As an antidote to the seething malignant evil that is Friday the 13th... an oldie but a cutie... every so often I stumble back onto this clip and... even though I am fairly confident I am conversant with my ABCs... I watch this all the way through. The "I love you" is too cute to miss.

REM - So. Central Rain. live on Letterman 1983

The first national television appearance for REM was on the David Letterman show in 1983. I thought it was cool that Michael Stipe didn't chat with Letterman, only Peter Buck and Mike Mills.

Vancouver Night Landing by Air Canada 767 | Vancouver

The view from the cockpit of an Air Canada 767 while landing in Vancouver.



Original: JustPlanes. Thanks to VanCityBuzz for the tip.

Blooper Reel from Star Wars | Crazy Actors

FearWatch | The Numbered Radio Stations

Numbered Stations are unlicensed radio stations that transmit odd sequences for no apparent purpose, like buzzes and tones, or a voice reciting numbers, or bursts of music. Reports of numbered stations begin as early as World War I, with Anton Habsburg of Austria listening in on "enemy stations" and delivering 30 pages of transcribed broadcasts each day to the War Department. The broadcasts are considered to be a highly secure method for delivering one-way messages to undercover operatives in foreign locations. As the broadcasts are shortwave radio, they can be picked up across the globe.

At the time of this writing, the Numbers Station Research and Information Center lists 44 active stations in the world. Ten operate in English, two in German, six in Slavic, six in other languages, 17 in Morse code, two in polytones, and two in "other" mode: one listed as "Hybrid Mode" and one "Digital Pseudo-Polytone".

Here is a recording from the Conet Project, from a sample on Wikipedia:


I wonder if any declassified World War I code books (if such even exists!) could be linked to broadcasts transcribed by Anton Habsburg...?

Further reading:
Numbered station. [Wikipedia]
Numbers Station Research and Information Centre [NS-RIC]
The spooky world of the 'numbered stations'. [BBC]  Sorrel-Dejerine, Olivia. 2014 Apr 16.
The mysterious numbers station formerly known as UVB-76. [KNuts] Ramsay, Heather. 2015 Aug 9.
Numbers stations: mystery over the airwaves. [NPR] "Staff". 2010 Jul 17.
Inside the Russian short-wave radio enigma. [Wired] Savodnik, Peter. 2011 Sep 27.
The Conet Project. [ConetProject]
Spy Number Stations on Shortwave Radio [SpyNumbers]

Droning On

There has been some amazing footage taken by drones these last few years. Here are few of my favourites.

First, let's visit Newfoundland, and drone around an iceberg. Yes: these things just break off and float down the ocean, ending up offshore everywhere. This planet is amaze-balls.



Let's go from cold to colder: drone footage of Antarctica.

Antarctica from Kalle Ljung on Vimeo.

And for more than casual sightseeing, drones are good for... extreme sightseeing...? Footage from inside a fireworks show gives a pretty spectacular perspective.



And finally, no drone compilation would be complete without a viewing of OK GO's ingenious video.

Notes about The Guitar

I've picked a guitar up once or twice in my time, but have never taken the time to actually learn the thing. As a drummer, wherein "hit stuff make noise" is the starting point, the scales and finger-positions and strumming techniques all seem like a lot of book-work.

Favourite guitar-player jokes:

Q: How long does it take to tune a 12-string guitar? A: Nobody knows.
Q: What do you throw a drowning guitar player? A: His amp.

Alright. The evolution of the guitar solo:



But I do like the levity. Here's cat-meets-guitar.



And here's a pretty clever prank.



And back to some serious notes: Dr. David Grimes at Oxford discusses the physics of playing a guitar solo. (if you're interested in reading Dr. Grimes' paper, it can be found at the PLOS ONE site.)



Not to leave out the Bass Guitar, here are some of my favourite bass guitar jokes:

Q: Why couldn't the bassist get through the front door? A: He couldn't find the key and didn't know when to come in.
Q: What do you call someone who hangs around musicians? A: The bass player.
Q: What are the three most difficult years in a bass player's life? A: Second grade.

Seriously though: here is an amazing video of the 100 "greatest" bass lines, played in a single melody.



And don't worry, I also know lots of great "drummer" jokes.

The Hobo: A (N)Americana Icon

I was fascinated by hobos (one of many fascinations) in my distant youth. Growing up in a small town, a resource-based community, in the latter-half of the 20th century, the legendary escape of "running away to join the circus" was always almost a "real" option. Stories of the Great Depression, mass migrations of young people in search of work, of "riding the rails", were still part of everyday chit-chat.

I think I always realized the difference between hobos and tramps, and bums -- ideological cousins somehow, but each different in their own way. Hobos travel to find work; tramps work when they have to; and bums don't work at all. [wikipedia]

In this first video, John Hodgman presents a (fake) PBS American Experience documentary episode.



In the second video, narrated by someone with exactly the right voice for this, the National Hobo Conference in Britt, Iowa, is described.



And finally, the VICE documentary about the decline and fall of the hobo: "Death of the American Hobo".

Moon River | Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer

Moon River, written for Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's is a beautiful song. Composed by Henry Mancini, with lyrics by Johnny Mercer, this is a demo version taped by Mancini and Mercer.



For the full story about the making of Moon River, visit the BBC website.

Respect | George Stevens' "D-Day to Berlin" excerpt

Respect | "World War II in Europe: Every Day" by EmperorTigerStar

Crazy Orchestra | Som Sabadell

headspace | 75 Years of LSD

Today marks the 75th anniversary that LSD was synthesized by Sandoz Industries. On November 16, 1938, Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann created LSD as part of a research program searching for medically useful ergot alkalod derivatives. [LSD] [History of LSD]

Keep On Keepin' On | Seth Godin

Seth Godin often relates some excellent life and business advice on his blog.

These are my favourites:

• Organization vs. movement vs. philosophy. Trouble is when you think you have one but actually have the other.
• Building a job vs. building a business. Building the gig is the gig.
• Interesting & Interested. The two ways one earns attention.
• How to get a job with a small company. The rules are different than trying to get a job with a Fortune 500 company.
• Insulate yourself. ...and other snippets of advice.
• The sad irony of selfishness. The connection economy multiplies the value of what is contributed to it.
• Meeting vs. Making. Making demands results while meeting leaves room for excuses.
• Doing it wrong, relentlessly. Working the system, or not.
• Three masters. Choosing successfully demands consistency in action and goal.
• How to make money online. 21 points that apply to more than just making money, or to making it online.
• How to run a productive meeting. Everyone going to or chairing meetings should read this and take heed.
• The simple power of one a day. Molehills to mountains, with suggestions.

And as an added bonus, here is a fantastic Seth Godin TEDtalk. I recommend watching all three.

Respect | Lest We Forget

DULCE ET DECORUM EST

 

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,

Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,

Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs

And towards our distant rest began to trudge.

Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots

But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;

Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots

Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!---An ecstasy of fumbling,

Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;

But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,

And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime...

Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,

As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,

He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace

Behind the wagon that we flung him in,

And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,

His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;

If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood

Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,

Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud

Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,---

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest

To children ardent for some desperate glory,

The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est

Pro patria mori.

by WILFRED OWEN [wikipedia]

[via FWWPDA]

[wikipedia]

Crazy Actor | David Leys "3 minutes to a proper English accent"

Thanks, haha.nu

Crazy Filmster | Bad Lip Reading "Medieval Land Fun-Time World"

Crazy Artist | Nando Costa "The New America"

You need to read the Open Culture post from whence this film was purloined. A short teaser of why this is important: Portlandia; Fred Armisen; Pacific Northwest; Laser-etched maple wood blocks and stop-motion animation; Kickstarter. Need I say more? [OpenCulture]

Good Rawkin' | The Matinee "The Road"

The Road from The Matinee on Vimeo.

Spiderweb Software "Avadon 2: The Corruption"

To be clear: I'm posting this without having yet purchased or played this game. But I am going to purchase and play this game, and you should too. I should clarify some more: if you are a story-driven gamer that "grew up" long enough ago that you recognize retro-style genius game-play and don't need total-immersion high-definition graphics to have an enjoyable experience... like me... you should purchase and play this game.

And for the record, you probably should purchase the other games Jeff Vogel of Spiderweb Software has available. The company was founded in 1994, and I played my first game of his -- Exile -- not long after. Whenever it was included on the (now defunct magazine) Mac Addict shareware CD, whichever issue it came with, was my first exposure.

Something was fishy, because I was hooked.

I even ordered one of the "tip books" that was available to help the ess-than-brighters among us (such as me) walk through the expansive game. Call me a fanboy if you will, but I'll wear the title unabashedly.

Back to the matter at hand: Avadon 2: The Corruption has been released.

Jeff talks a bit about the release in his (always entertaining) blog, The Bottom Feeder. [BF]

It's available from the Spiderweb Software store, the Mac Game Store, Steam, Gog... and probably elsewhere soon. [SSS][MGS][STEAM][GOG]

And in case you're not totally convinced, download the demo... these are always huge, and pretty much worth the asking price on their own!

For fun, here's the game trailer:

Amanda Bentley [Crazy Musician]

Crazy Actor | Alan Rickman drinks tea dramatically

Portraits in Dramatic Time (Alan Rickman) from Moving Portrait on Vimeo.

Crazy Dancer | Marquese Scott

The always-amazing Marquese Scott dubstep dancing. The song is Need your heart by adventure club (protohype remix).

Respect | Jimmy Dean "Steel men"

Respect | Happy Birthday to the Man in Black

Johnny Cash was born on February 26, 1932, and passed away on September 12, 2003. I had a weird night when Johnny Cash died. I'll tell you about it somewhere else.

This is the first time Johnny Cash played "Man in Black", on February 17, 1971. He needed cue card to help him remember the lyrics.

DangerWatch | Animals

I have been collecting odd tidbits about animals for a while... animals are odd, and interesting. And sometimes dangerous! Here's a bit of it all.

First, let's get to the scary ThreatWatch-type bits, so we are not lulled into letting our defenses down out of sheer cute-ness.

An ancient antibiotic-resistant bacteria was found in an isolated cave. Let's hope it never gets out. or breeds. [cbc]

But some may be trying to communicate, like this beluga whale [bbc] and this elephant [cbc]. In fact, animal speech may be more complex than we ever thought. [cbc]

Speaking of elephants... here is one painting a picture... of an elephant.



This video about the anatomy of an ant colony is cool.



And some mourn their dead, like these giraffe. [bbc] Some hold funerals, like these western scrub jays. [bbc] Let's hope the fore-mentioned ant colony never gets it together enough to exact revenge for pouring concrete down one of their cities.

And I find crows amongst the scariest of animals... they can reason about causes. [bbc] Wasps are right up there, but just because they're nasty. And becoming more populous. [cbc]

But don't forget the animals close to home... here is a video of a feral cat hunting birds.



Then again, they could all just be dizzy nuts, like this confused duck.



Speaking of ducks... this is totally heartwarming and cool... this is a video of ducks that had been rescued from a hoarder that kept them in pens, without access to adequate water of nutrition... and this is the first time they have ever been introduced to life in a pond.



Finally... here is a video of a squid's membrane pulsing along as it listens to Insane in the Membrane by Cypress Hill.

For Valentine's | "Voice Over, a short film" by Martin Rosete

The Olden Days | Destination Earth (1956)

Crazy band | Ramones full concert "It's Alive (The Rainbow) Dec 31, 1977

cute animal | Cat meets Snow for first time

Crazy Animator | Rodrigo Blaas "Alma"

Crazy Band | The Besnard Lakes "People of the Sticks"

Crazy Band & Filmster | Tim Burton directs Killers videos

Hell in a Handbasket | The Beachings

There is a disturbing trend that I've been noting, for which I have no explanation. Sometimes, animals that live in the oceans end up beaching themselves, running themselves up onto land, sometimes in massive numbers.

Sometimes it is a lone animal, as was reported Wednesday, December 26, 2012 when an endangered finback whale was found washed ashore on the bay side of Rockaways, Queens, New York. [cbc] In these cases, I am content to believe the animal is sick or somehow already close to death.

I stopped following these cases for a while. There were too many, it seemed. The last time I made special note of such an occurance was in January, 2011, when "large numbers of dead herring washed ashore" on a Vancouver Island beach. It had both fishery officials and local fishermen looking for answers. (Unfortunately, the Vancouver Sun has an absolutely terrible online archival system and the story is no longer accessible.)

I noted a story on November 7, 2010, about 35 whales that beached and died off the coast of County Donegal in Ireland, on Rutland Island near Burtonport. (The BBC has a much better archival system: the story can be found here: [bbc]) The article notes that 60 whales died off the "west coast of Kerry" in the 1960s and "35 to 40 animals died in north Kerry in 2001."

On September 22, 2010, I noted at least 40 out of 80 pilot whales that stranded themselves on a remote northern New Zealand beach (Spirit Bay beach) had died, with officials saying more whales were joining them on land. [cbc] The article notes this was the second mass beaching in the region in a month, when in mid-August 58 pilot whales were stranded at nearby Karikari Beach. (Which I also noted: [bbc]) The September article also notes 101 pilot whales were stranded on the same beach in 2007, and that since 1840, the Department of Conservation has recorded more than 5,000 strandings of whales and dolphins around the New Zealand coast. "New Zealand has one of the world's highest rates of whale strandings, mainly during their migrations to and from Antarctic waters, one of which begins around September." Despite this, the article clearly states scientists have not been able to determine why whales become stranded.

On July 20, 2010, scientists were still trying to figure out why about 500 penguins washed up dead in the previous 10 days on Peruibe, Praia Grande and Itanhaem beaches of Sao Paulo state in Brazil. [bbc] Starvation (perhaps by overfishing or cold temperatures driving foodsources away) was a possibility, as autopsies revealed their stomachs were completely empty, though strong currents and/or colder-than-normal temperatures were also considered. The article noted in an average year about 100 to 150 penguins normally show up on the beaches (they get lost while migrating), with only about 10 of those dead. [cbc]

On May 11, 2010, marine biologists were trying to figure out why eight harbour porpoises washed ashore near Victoria, BC, Canada, in the previous week. While not unusual for harbour porpoises to wash ashore, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans said it was "strange to see so many." [cbc] The article states the animals were healthy, and suggested death was caused by the stress of being hunted by killer whales. It further noted the body of a newborn killer whale washed up near Victoria the previous week.

On Monday December 28, 2009 I noted an article about 125 pilot whales that died on Colville Beach on the New Zealand's North Island Coromandel peninsula, with rescue working managing to coax 43 others back out to sea. [cbc] Meanwhile on South Island, the article goes on, 105 stranded long-finned pilot whales died the previous Saturday.

On Friday October 9, 2009 an article mentions two great batches of Humboldt squid washed ashore, one in August then another in September, near the town of Tofino on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. [cbc] John Payne, a marine biologist with the Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking Project (POST), said the events show that oceans are changing, and "I think we're going to see a lot more strandings."

I think this is the August event mentioned above, though I can't confirm it is the same or a different event, as it's from this terrible Vancouver Sun collection. On August 8, 2009 I noted an article with the synopsis: "Thousands of dead fish and squid have washed up on beaches in and near Pacific Rim National Park in the past week, Tofino-based biologist Josie Osborne said Friday. It was not immediately known what caused their deaths."

Though I do also have an article from Thursday August 6, 2009 that indicates the above-mentioned event is in fact seperate... the article begins "Just days after decomposing squid washed up on the beaches near Tofino, BC, hundreds of dead pilchard and herring came in with the high tide along the same beaches." [ctv]



On Saturday May 30, 2009 I noted 34 pilot whales were euthanized on Kommetjie Beach near Cape Town, South Africa, with rescuers managing to push 20 whales back into the water. [cbc]

On April 17, 2009 I noted an article from National Geographic where the synopsis states: "In the same Chilean town where 1,500 penguins had washed up a week-and-a-half ago, thousands of dead sardines mysteriously turned up on beaches. (The link also goes into a bummer-can't-find-this non-archive at National Geographic, which I am now very disappointed in as well. Vancouver Sun, New York Times, and National Geographic: I am going to stop following you.)

And that ends the events I have tracked, and I am quite certain to have missed some, probably several. I'll end with this: In February 2009 the CBC put together "FAQs: Whale and dolphin strandings and beachings."

Crazy Filmster | "Machu Picchu Post" by Clement Crocq, Margaux Durand-Rival and Nicolas Novali

Machu Picchu Post from Machu Picchu Post Team on Vimeo.

Crazy Competition | Royal Navy Field Gun Competition 1997

Crazy Filmster | "Young Drama Queen" ad for award show

Crazy Animator | Zealous Creative "Zero"

ThreatWatch | Planet of the Apes

Apes can recognize themselves in mirrors. "The image there is a representation of the body here."

Crazy Masher | Kutiman "Thru-you 01 Mother of All Funk Chords"

Utilizing multiple found-sounds on YouTube, Kutiman creates a beautiful mashed-up tune. Nice one!

Crazy Filmster | Jeff Desom for Hauschka's "Morgenrot"

Hauschka - Morgenrot from Jeff Desom on Vimeo.

Crazy Band | Alt-J "Something Good"

Crazy Filmster | Conan parody Wes Anderson "Star Wars Audition Tape"

Just Crazy | Nikola Granberg's Knife "Skills"

Just Crazy | Jones' Big Ass Truck Rental & Storage

Yes. I would buy anything this fella is sellin'. He seems like a good guy. Honest.

Crazy Filmster | FatAwesomeFilms "Cat-Friend vs Dog-Friend"

Just Crazy | Derren Brown "Person Swap"

Somehow, somewhere, I will use this on Boxing Day...

Yule | The Barr Brothers "Dear Mrs Claus"

Yule | Scientist explains Santa Tech

Yule | Isaac Hayes "Mistletoe & Me" (1969)

Yule | Mel Torme & Judy Garland "The Christmas Song"

Yule | Bela Fleck & The Flecktones "12 Days of Christmas"

Yule | Ella Fitzgerald "We Three Kings"

Yule | Trans-Siberian Orchestra "Christmas Canon Rock"

Yule | Recordings of Christmas Past

Curators at the Museum of London have discovered what they believe to be the first ever recordings of a family Christmas, made 110 years ago by the Wall family who lived in New Southgate in North London. The recordings were made between 1902 and 1917 on wax cylinders made by a phonograph machine.

Absolutely fascinating story. [BBC]

Yule | Listverse "10 Remarkable Origins of Common Christmas Traditions"

From how Christmas itself came about to where Santa came from... another fantastic list by the fine folks at ListVerse!

Yule | Bing Crosby & David Bowie "Little Drummer Boy"

Yule | They Might be Giants "Santa's Beard"

Yule | Walk of the Earth "Jingle Bell Rock"

Yule | Kinks "Father Christmas"

Crazy... Dancer? | The Charlie Brown School of Dance

Crazy Band | The Postal Service "We Will Become Silhouettes"

BONUS END-OF-THE-WORLD POST

Crazy Filmster | Sampled Vancouver

Crazy Filmster | Jonathan Wang "Pockets"

Just Crazy | John Hodgman's Apocalypse Survival 101

BONUS END-OF-THE-WORLD POST

Crazy Band | Peace "Your Hand in Mine"

Crazy Band | The Zolas "Knot in My Heart"

Crazy Band | Purity Ring "Lofticries"

Crazy Band and Animator | Mother Mother and Chad VanGaalen "The Sticks"

Crazy Band | Metric "Breathing Underwater"

Crazy Musician | Newton Faulkner "Teardrops" live Massive Attack cover

...in an elevator in Paradiso, Amsterdam...

Crazy Cute | Best Friends

Crazy Musician | Modern Day Jester live on the London Underground

So... a live busker performance by Modern Day Jester on-board a London Underground subway car. His twitter: @moderndayjester

Crazy Musician | Matt Andersen "Ain't No Sunshine"

For all my Lunenburg NS buddies out there... Matt Andersen at the Pearl Theatre on October 16, 2009, eh bah?

Just Crazy | Jonathan Mann & Ivory King "We've Got to Break Up"

Not gonna lie. This is a bit odd. After five years a couple decides to break up, and write a song to explain why to their friends and family, and post it on youTube.

Crazy Band | The Pack a.d. "Positronic"

Crazy Statistician | Andrew Walker "One day of activity..."

Brought to my attention some time ago by the ever-interesting Price Tags... Andrew Walker runs transit information through home-made custom software (based on a program for satellite-tracking software) to create a visualization of the transit activity of one day (4am to 4am) in a city. He started with Vancouver:



And recently came out with New York City.



Both are quite beautiful.

Crazy Band | Skydiggers "A Penny More"

One of the few bands I will actually leave a comment on... truly one of the great voices recorded, with music so suited as to be almost miraculous... the Skydiggers are Canadian Musical Gold. I spent a lot of time with their Road Radio album, and it is amazing in its depth and beauty.

Crazy Band | Wallflowers "Reboot the Mission"

Crazy Filmster | Empty America: New York City

Happy Halloween!

Just Crazy | Oppa Gangnam "Westcoast" Style parody

This was all over the tubes a bunch of weeks back... I'm "future-posting" it because I didn't bother to watch it for a week or so after it first came out... and it's surprisingly really well done. Amazing job, and I honestly didn't expect that. I love being surprised by my community's incredible talent and skill, and can't give the folks that put this together enough props. Nice one!

Crazy Musician | Raz Ben Ari a metal primer

Crazy Band | Len "It's My Neighbourhood"

Always the best in bubble-gum pop, Len ("Steal My Sunshine") is back with new tunes, looking forward to Summer 2013! (Shout-out to Ms. Sedun for the cameo...!)

Movin' Pixers | Original voice of Darth Vader as performed on set

Good Rawkin' | First Aid Kit "Blue"

toob'd | Arrested Development documentary trailer

via kottke, via devour.

Just Crazy | Ronnie Shalvis "Assassin's Creed meets Parkour in Real Life"

Crazy Filmster | Keith Loutit "The Lion City"

The Lion City from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

Good Rawkin' | The Wallflowers "Reboot the Mission"

Crazy Humans | Men throwing rocks with the wrong hand

Just Crazy | PSY "Gangnam Style"

pong'd | Prince of Persia in the real world

via haha.nu

Crazy Band | Bend Sinister "The Road Divided" on Playground #4

PGI#4 - Bend Sinister, The Road Divided from playground.is on Vimeo.

Funny Pages | Brad Guigar "Evil Inc."

A web-comic I've been reading for a while (and enjoying) has been Brad Guigar's Evil Inc.

It's about a corporation staffed by evil superheroes.

Unfortunately, the site also doesn't have any mechanism for embedding any of the strips, as far as I can tell. So check out the Evil Inc website.

Anyhoo. Mr. Guigar has tried his luck with stand-up comedy.

Crazy World | Levitating Slinky in Slow-Motion

via Kottke

Crazy Vancouver Band | Mother Mother "The Sticks"

Crazy Band | daedelus "astroboy"

Crazy Band | Pink Floyd "astronomy domine" on look of the week

Crazy Historian | Drunk History: Burr vs. Hamilton

Crazy Band | Yukon Blonde "Stairway"

Crazy Animators | Super Golden Friends

crazy driver | Ken Block "Gymkhana Five: San Francisco"

Crazy Band | Abe&Tell "This Man's Brighter Days"

Crazy Filmster | Walking in Slow Motion (Wes Anderson parody starring Bill Murray)

Crazy Band | SOKO "We Might Be Dead By Tomorrow"

Crazy Band | The Band "The Weight" in Vancouver 1983 Reunion

Crazy Dancers | Wrecking Crew Orchestra "20120208EL"

Crazy Cute | Puppy vs Cat... "...are we done here...?"

Lucky B*shterd | Gun versus Hat

Crazy Band | The Band "The Shape I'm In" in Vancouver 1983 Reunion

Crazy Band |The Asteroids Galaxy Tour "Heart Attack"

Crazy Band | Said the Whale "Heavy Ceiling"

Crazy Band | The British Columbians "In The Leaves"

Hell in a Handbasket | The Warlord Problem

By now quite a few people have seen the "Kony 2012" campaign, the Facebook, Twitter, YouTube meme by which Joseph Kony, war criminal and leader of the Lord's Resistance Army has been hefted into the internet limelight for the stated purpose of making him famous, to bring him to justice.

There are supporters and detractors on both sides of this issue. Much of the controversy revolves around the manipulative manner in which the subject is presented by the filmmakers, to elicit an emotional response rather than to offer good journalism.

To me, this is one of the most eloquent: Patrick Kigongo "Don't Reduce Uganda to a Meme." [good]

Mr. Kigongo writes with a healthy dose of skepticism (perhaps even resignation) that Mr. Kony's sudden noteriety will last within the Meme-Cycle to do more than scratch the surface of "American" apathy toward world events and injustices. I get the impression he feels Mr. Kony is littered across Facebook pages right now, but will quickly fall off the radar when the next 'cat-playing-saxifone' video hits the tubes.

He's probably quite right.

But the point is not that attention will shift from Mr. Kony to some other distraction, but that Mr. Kony, for a brief time, is in the consciousness of individuals previously unaware, and spoken of by individuals that perhaps didn't even know this sort of unacceptable behaviour still exists.

Though we may not agree on the method of delivery, I would like to think we can all agree that "this sort of thing" is unacceptable behaviour. Anywhere. By anyone.

A problem can only be solved by starting a discussion, and using this time to educate others as to what the problem is.

Because the problem is not Joseph Kony. We have to include practices in the DemRep Congo and other African nations, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and other armed groups in the Phillipines, the... well, you get the idea... individuals within these and other groups are not necessarily even indicted by the International Criminal Court yet. But they should be. (Here's another GOOD article about who the "next 6 Konys" should be. [good])

And then, one by one, we should make a plan, if we are dedicated to avenging unacceptable behaviour in resolving conflict, to finding these individuals and bringing them to justice.

But before running off with righteousness we need to know what to do the day after that. The underlying problems that created the situation will still be there. What do we do to rehabilitate and re-introduce these children back into "normal" society?

And further questions of another line: is this our problem to solve, or are we over-simplifying the situation at the expense of African capability? The idea this may be little more than new round of "The White Man's Burden" has been circulating among the discussions.

The point of all this: take the controversial Kony 2012 video as the conversation-starter, and get into the conversation already under way. It's good to talk about things on a global basis, rather than regionalizing problems. But it's not like suddenly we know about this Joseph Kony guy, or that child-soldiers exist -- it's just that you do now. And that's a good thing. [UN]

Lucky B*shterd | Snow and Logging Truck

Wisdom | Horace

"Pale Death beats equally at the poor man's gate and at the palace of kings."

Horace.
[wikipedia]
[project gutenberg]

Crazy Musician | Ana Rucner "Ode to Joy" for the Croatian National Tourism Board

Crazy Band | Brasstronaut "Requiem for a Scene"

Great band... and check out their CBC page.

Crazy Band | Austra "Lose It"

Crazy Band | Metric "Gimme Sympathy"

Crazy Band | Bon Iver "Towers"

Bon Iver - Towers (Official Music Video) from Bon Iver on Vimeo.

Nature | Starlings vs. Falcon

Crazy Band | Fatboy Slim "Weapon of Choice"

Crazy Band | White Denim

[via El.]

Crazy Band | Gallows

Thanks to El for this one.

Crazy Band | Yukon Blonde "Stairway"

crazy musician | Skrillex "Bangarang"

The answer is 42

Crazy Driver | Austrian Freeride Bicyclists

I can imagine why there is music overdubbed, rather than the original soundtrack -- the original soundtrack must've consisted of "...omigadomigadimgonnaDIEimgonnaDIEomigadomigad..."

Goodbye 2011. Welcome, 2012.

As we say goodbye to 2011 and welcome 2012, here is David Attenborough reciting "Wonderful World" for the BBC.

Crazy Humans | People Are Awesome 2011

Crazy DJ | Ruth Flowers aka DJ Mamy Rock

We all know the traditional view of the "old year" as an old man, and the "new year" as a newborn baby -- ever wonder what the "old year" does after it's collected the golden watch...? I think DJ Mamy Rocks has a pretty good idea. Check this out!

Crazy Orchestra | The Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain "Teenage Dirtbag" (Wheatus)

Faith | Life Vest Inside - Kindness Boomerang - One Day

Yule | Terry Gilliam "The Christmas Card"

Yule | Coldplay "Christmas Lights"

Yule | Killers "The Cowboy's Christmas Ball"

Yule | Santa is a Jerk

Yule | Rudolph Goes to Rehab

Yule | Silent Monks "Hallelujah"

Yule | Trans-Siberian Orchestra "Christmas Canon Rock"

Yule | Waiting for Santa

Yule | Phil Marlow "Holiday Everything" from CBC This is That

Yule | Pogueswith Kirsty MacColl "Fairytale of New York"

Yule | Gruff Rhys "Post Apocalypse Christmas"

Yule | Jonathan Coulton "Chiron Beta Prime"

Crazy Awesome Buy | Have Not Been the Same album

Desperate to get something super-cool for that awesome music-lover on your list?! Check this out!!

Or you could get it after the Big Day and be a hero for simply giving a cool gift ("...saw this and thought of you...") without being social-traditionally-bound to do so...


Have Not Been The Same commercial from Colin Medley on Vimeo.

Just Crazy | Touched by a wild mountain gorilla

Crazy Band | Destroyer "Kaputt"

Crazy Band | Grimes "Vanessa"

Grimes - Vanessa from Arbutus Records on Vimeo.

Crazy Band | Royksopp "This Must Be It"

Crazy Band | Arcade Fire "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)"

Beer | The WilliamsWarn Personal Brewery

omg. you mean i don't even have to go to the pub anymore...?


The WilliamsWarn Personal Brewery from WilliamsWarn on Vimeo.


Thanks to Beck and her fabulous becks beer blog for this enlightenment!

Crazy Filmster | Michael Berliner "School Portrait (2011)"

School Portrait (2011) from Michael Berliner on Vimeo.

Crazy Musician | Kalle Mattson "Thick As Thieves"

Kalle Mattson - Thick As Thieves (Official Video) from Kevin Parry on Vimeo.

Thanks to Larry Cebula's Northwest History for this!

Crazy Filmsters | Side Films "Too Late"

WARNING: The makeup in this film is quite graphic! It is not for children!

Too Late from SIDE FILMS on Vimeo.

crazy storyteller | Moran Cerf's Moth GrandSLAM winning story

crazy musician | The Coppertone

The Coppertone- Quicksand (live) from Adrian Vieni (Wood & Wires) on Vimeo.

crazy filmster | Keith Loutit "Time Lapse: Metal Heart"

crazy foodie | John Nese at Galcos Soda Pop Shop (Los Angeles)

crazy animator | Dropbear, for Hudson "Against the Grain"

Hudson - Against The Grain from Dropbear on Vimeo.

crazy orchestra | Recording the main theme for Legend of Zelda (25th Anniversary)

ThreatWatch | Planet-Hacking

We've always had a bit of a love-hate relationship with Science down here in the abomb&thecorpse bunker. After all, Science gave us Reason, Evidence-based Change, and a host of technological developments that eventually led to a plethora of wonderfully nefarious devices to divert the attention of the masses. It opened up a whole new world of grey, which is absolutely magical to Our paradyme.

On the other hand, it also handed a spectrum of tools for potential mis-information and lies to Those Who Agendize. (I think this, or something to this effect, was said on The Wire: "A lie is not the other side of the story: it is still a lie.")

I have always loved Science for dreaming the big dream, for shooting at the stars, for going all-in, for doing almost any cliché you might wish to imagine for trying anything just to see how close it comes to being done.

This is one of those things I'm not sure is best to try on our planet -- after all, right now we only have one. Best not to mess that up until we've at least got another, in case we break the first one.

"Planet Hacking", more accurately Geoengineering, or manipulating natural systems to create a desired outcome, does not seem like a particularly good experiment to fiddle with. [cbc] I wonder if Eli Kintsch is the new Nero? (I tease. Obviously not. There will be nothing to fiddle to if Mr. Kintsch were to accidentally burn down the planet.)

crazy musician | skrillex "First of the Year (Equinox)"

crazy driver | Speed Demon goes 462 miles per hour

carzy musician | Sean Quigley "Little Drummer Boy"

crazy musician | Dub FX "Step on my Trip"

crazy animator | Kevin Parry "The Arctic Circle"

The Arctic Circle from Kevin Parry on Vimeo.

space'd | Astronauts falling on the moon

crazy filmster | Support Your Local Video Store

I posted the first three webisodes of this a few posts back, when Videomatica was going to close down... they have since gotten together with the ever-excellent Kitsilano music store Zulu Records to share space, as this excellent post by Bob at Vancouver is Awesome explains.

Here are webisodes number 4 and 5 for you! (And check out the main SYLVS site!)

Support Your Local Video Store Episode 4 from Red Wheelbarrow on Vimeo.

Support Your Local Video Store Episode 5 from Red Wheelbarrow on Vimeo.

Space'd | Timelapse from ISS

Earth | Time Lapse View from Space | Fly Over | Nasa, ISS from Michael König on Vimeo.

crazy band | Focus "Hocus Pocus" live 1974

crazy filmsters | the Videomatica folks "Support Your Local Video Store"

This is a comedy web series by the fine folks at Videomatica, on West 4th Avenue in Vancouver. I can remember if they already closed down, or are closing down in future... which I guess is part of the problem, sadly. I hardly ever went to the store... but I loved that they were there.

Funny webisodes, though.


Support Your Local Video Store Episode 1 from Red Wheelbarrow on Vimeo.


Support Your Local Video Store Episode 2 from Red Wheelbarrow on Vimeo.


Support Your Local Video Store Episode 3 from Red Wheelbarrow on Vimeo.

crazy dancer | WHZGUD2 dubstep to Pumped Up Kicks remix

crazy filmster | Vita Bella: The Dogumentary

A web series mockumentary about a dog psychologist, filmed in Vancouver. Three episodes so far, as of this posting... I'll post those here, and you can find the rest!

Book Party!

Come to The Beaumont (316 West 5th Avenue, at Alberta Street) at 9pm this Saturday, September 24, 2011 for the release of Mark Loader's newest M.O.R. graphic novel! The $12 entry gets you in, and gets you a copy of the book (limited to the first 100 people)! Plus live music by Katelyn Molgard! There will always be MOR!

Crazy Band | Timber Timbre "Too Old To Die Young"

Crazy Filmster | Kim Pimmel "Compressed 02"

Kim Pimmel combines soap bubbles and ferrofluid liquid. Very cool.

Compressed 02 from Kim Pimmel on Vimeo.

[via Kottke]

Respect | David "Honeyboy" Edwards, 1915-2011

Deltablues guitarist David "Honeyboy" Edwards passed away today at the age of 96.

crazy musician | Baard Kolstad

Crazy Band | MGMT "Time to Pretend"

Crazy Band | Puscifier "The Mission (M is for Milla mix)

Crazy Filmster | Rick Mereki

MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

LEARN from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

EAT from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

Crazy Band | The Pack a.d. "BC is on fire"

crazy musician | Delia Derbyshire

Respect | BC Day

In short form, we in British Columbia have BC Day to celebrate the pioneers who built the Colony into the great Province it is today. And because when it was brought in everybody else had the first MOnday in August off already.

Bob Kronbauer at the Vancouver Is Awesome site wrote an excellent post last year to explain the history of the day in more detail. [via]

Crazy Choir | Perpetuum Jazzile cover Toto's "Africa"

crazy orator | C.R. Avery on Pierre Elliott Trudeau

crazy musician | Jason Webley

Check out Jon Dy's blog, Eye on the Sound.

Jason Webley - Pork Goulash from Jonathan Dy on Vimeo.

Crazy Band | World Order "Machine Civilization"

Respect | B.C. Women

British Columbian women won the right to vote in Provincial elections, on this date in 1917.

Last year Daniel Francis at KnowBC wrote an excellent post about this important event. [knowbc]

Crazy Band | eddy "need" (first music video shot fully on iPad 2)

iPad 2 Music Video - Eddy "NEED" from Remedy Films on Vimeo.

Crazy Band | Stomacher "Untitled/Dark Divider"

Stomacher - Untitled/Dark Divider from Sean Stiegemeier on Vimeo.

crazy dancers | this has to be on a cruise

Respect | Make Your Influence Positive

crazy cute | Baby smashes up a bar

Crazy Musicians | Top Secret Drum Corp

Crazy Band | The Black Keys "Howlin' For You"

Crazy Band | Eskimo "We Got More"

keep on keepin' on | December Edition

A small collection of tidbits related to personal development.

Internalizing: What You Are, and What They Say [anc]
Wisdoming Lessons: 10 Life Lessons from a 30-year-old. [dumblittleman]
Onwardly Mobile: 10 things that may be hurting your career. [TechRepublic]
7 Must-Read Success Lessons from Dale Carnegie. [dumblittleman]
Why intelligent people fail. [AcceleratingFuture] [via Kottke]
Do not covet your ideas. [Lifehacker]
Ditch secrecy when vetting ideas. [Lifehacker]
Advice for an aspiring architect, in 1931. [lettersofnote]
Jim Lehrer's Rules for Journalists. [PBSombudsman] [via Kottke]
Career Advice from Hoehn: just DO things. [Hoehn's Musings] [via Kottke]
How to avoid an untimely death. [BodyByScience] [via Kottke]
How to craft your personal business model. [FreelanceSwitch] [via Lifehacker]

smarties | A few tidbits

The world/universe in which we (think we) live is a pretty wierd place. There are lots of different topics that fall under the purview of "science". Here are a few I've found interesting.

- Astronomy and Space Exploration

Relocation: First habitable exo-planet found. Send mail to Gliese 581, Planet G. [cbc] [bbc] [NatGeo]

- Research

The Internets is changing how research is conducted. Let's put a consumer-friendly label on it: Science 2.0. How nice. [CBC]

- History and Science

The moon appeared to disappear, even with the aid of telescopes, in May of 1761. According to a retired NASA scientist, the cause may have been a major volcanic eruption. [NatGeo]