Friday Ephemera

Cat plays theremin. (h/t, CMJ) // Nazis with cats. // Panoramic ball camera. // The interactive periodic table of swearing. Sound essential. // The sound of arrogant dependency. // What Google would have looked like in the 80s. // 4G trench coat with charger. Coat’s “average download speeds range from 3 to 6 Mbps, with spikes as high as 10 Mbps.” // Make your own gin. // Kitchen of the future, 1964. (h/t, MeFi) // inFORM, an interactive dynamic shape display. // Elk starts trouble. // Village of the Damned, 1960. // Virtual anime robot masturbator. // Dolphin masturbates using decapitated fish. // Re-entry. // An advert for tissues. 

Comments

[JuliaM]

Those lab animals saluting the abolition of vivisection look as it they've already experienced a bit. Or possibly the artist's just not very good...

[sk60]

The interactive periodic table of swearing.

Well that expanded my vocabulary.

[David]

This is fun. Jonah Goldberg on the beclowning of Obama:

The hubris of our ocean-commanding commander-in-chief surely isn’t news to readers of this website. He’s said that he’s smarter and better than everyone who works for him. His wife informed us that he has “brought us out of the dark and into the light” and that he would fix our broken souls. The man defined sin itself as “being out of alignment with my values.” We may be the ones we’ve been waiting for, but at the same time, everyone has been waiting for him. Or as he put it in 2007, “Every place is Barack Obama country once Barack Obama’s been there.”

[David]

Right, I’m off to watch Sandra Bullock collide with space debris.

Don’t fiddle with the nick-nacks.

[oralJex]

I've always hated those evil bastards, but after seeing those photos I can't help but think kittens are kinda cute.

[Simen Thoresen]

Finally together. Benny Hill and Immortal(from BoingBoing);
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLXp0_NzF4w

Groovy.

[R. Sherman]

Nazis with Cats: What my Facebook page would look like had the Germans won the war.

[John D]

What Google would have looked like in the 80s.

I just realized it actually works. Duh.

[Dom]

Concerning nazis with cats, this is better:

http://www.catsthatlooklikehitler.com/cgi-bin/seigmiaow.pl

[dicentra]

Uh, you didn't really like that bunch of glass grapes, did you?

They just don't make 'em like they used to.

[Darleen]

"a pair of legs engineered to defy the laws of physics."

http://youtu.be/c8xjXqC9m2A

[Joan]

Right, I’m off to watch Sandra Bullock collide with space debris.

David, does it live up to the hype?

[David]

David, does it live up to the hype?

Some of it does, yes. It’s a very pretty film with excellent sound design and the first 20 minutes or so are extraordinary, thanks to Emmanuel Lubezki’s cinematography and the technology mentioned here and here. The visuals are seamless and immersive and will probably win every award going. It’s also quite tense, especially early on. The bit that doesn’t really work is the script. There’s at least one implausible decision made simply to advance the plot, such as it is, and Sandra Bullock’s Big Existential Moment doesn’t convince anywhere near as much as the earlier sense of peril. In that respect it reminded me of Inception, which couldn’t quite hit the emotional notes it wanted. There’s also a twist that’s fairly cheesy.

That said, I’m glad I saw it. It’s enough of a visual treat to not mind the plot shortcomings too much. And it’s definitely one for IMAX 3D.

[David]

Needless to say, the parodies have begun.

[jabrwok]

"a pair of legs". All I saw was a panoramic camera.

[Col. Milquetoast]

the intro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yatg89gi0nM
and the "a pair of legs engineered to defy the laws of physics."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7FIvfx5J10

The title is "Volvo Trucks - The Epic Split feat. Van Damme (Live Test 6)" I think I'd like to see how Van Damme handled test 1 through 5. A year or so ago I saw a reality show with Van Damme and I'm getting convinced that Jean-Claude Van Damme tends to more interesting being himself than when he's in a role.

[Col. Milquetoast]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ISYMjhC6o4
it is basically a step by step guide of how to carve a corset out of wood. You were probably wondering how to make your own wooden lingerie so here it is. It really doesn't look that difficult so I don't understand why my attempts at carving leave the wood on fire. Jump to 6:05 to see it finished.

[TimT]

On the tissue issue -

"This is the infamous Kleenex commercial from 1986 that viewed in Japan, and is the subject of a popular urban legend where everyone involved in the commercial later died"....

And: "Perhaps because the song was in a foreign tongue, rumors stared circulating that the tune was a German folk song with the lyrics “Die, die, everyone is cursed and will be killed.” From here.