Tony vs. Paul is a stop motion video of two friends fighting. It's really well done. It must have taken forever to take all of those shots.
I wish I liked running more than I do, because Urban Sprinting looks like it would be great for a laugh.
Wow! The Book/Cut Sculptures that Su Blackwell does are amazing. I love the idea here.
No, FoxTrot cartoon guy, since you asked, I can not think of anything more scary (or depressing for that matter) than your costume.
Album Cover Wars is a fun animation that sees classic album covers from years past fighting to the death in an all out battle royal. The animation is a little sketch. Sometimes it's sort of hard to see what's happening. It's still really great though, if only because it reminds me of a time when classic albums had classic covers. These days, I never even see the covers of the music I listen to.
Wow! The editing involved in putting together 787 Cliparts (quicktime) must have taken forever. Really nice work.
This Live, Stop Motion Space Invaders Movie is 10 kinds of awesome. It uses people as pixels. My one complaint is that the second round is basically just a repeat of round 1. What's the point of doubling up just to make the video longer? Other than that, very, very cool!!!
Look Around You: MATHS is what it must be like if Monty Python is teaching mathematics, and using the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy as a text book.
Even though I know the problems are absurd, my brain keeps wanting to solve them. Stupid brain.
Holy Crap! Watch this video of a fireworks factory exploding to the end, and you'll see the camera taken out by the explosions not once but twice. Definitely not a place you want to be standing next to.
OK, this kid has some moves for sure, but I don't think he's playing DDR right. He's never going to get high score that way.
Long Awkward Pose is much funnier than I would have expected. Tell somebody you are going to take their picture, then secretly record video of them while they're standing there posing. Sounds dumb, but it really is funny for some reason.
Starlords starts off kind of slow, and the introduction goes on way too long. Once they break into the dance number though all is forgiven. That's some funny, wacky editing right there.
Serge Seidlitz has some cool illustrations on his Portfolio/Site. Although, I really don't care for the way clicking on an illustration pops a new window and scrolls the window you're in back up to the top. That's kind of maddening.
OK - Lucas has pretty much ruined Star Wars for me. Still, lightsabers are freaking kewl with a capital K, and true to its title, this one is quite probably The Best Home Made Lightsaber Duel Ever.
Man, I wish I was a Jedi!
Airport is a wonderful animated short. The trick is that it's made entirely out of the types of pictographs you find in airports. Since infographics like those have to be stripped down to their essential qualities, it gives the short a very basic and boldly graphic look that is really nice.
I'd never heard of Ralph Baksi. Not surprising since I've probably never heard of any of the people who do animation. This blog post sure makes him sound impressive though, and the doodles are really great.
Mr bigshot, Mr. rich and famous till you through it all away on pills and porn! What happened to the Pac Man I married? I hate you!
Funny concept. The ending is pretty weak, but still worth a few minutes to give it a look. Now, I need to go find myself an arcade with a dusty old Pac Man machine in the corner. I think there's one off the Redondo Pier.
A fake Republican takes questions from an audience of greasy haired liberal hippies. Funny Stuff.
This Motorola viral, SMITH&FOULKES (QuickTime), is kind of cute.
If you've seen the classic movies reenacted in 30 seconds by bunnies animated shorts circulating on the internet, I couldn't help but wonder if this was inspired by those.
Anyway, there are a few movie references I don't quite recognize, but most are pretty clear even with the 1 or 2 seconds they give to them.
I like the idea of something like Database Imaginary:
Databases drive culture. 33 artists take us on an imaginative and subversive ride. The artists presented in Database Imaginary use databases to comment on their uses and to imagine unknown uses.The actual work though (what I've seen of it so far -- I've only made it to the first 3) seems to be based on computers in general more than databases in the specific. Anyway, another example where the concept seems better than the execution.
Why oh why did I click on that link? The South Park Banana Phone Remix is going to be stuck in my head all damn day now.
This Movie combines the worst of all possible media players. You get the WMV file that can't be played as an embedded movie in Mozilla for the Mac for reasons I've never worked very hard to figure out.
So, I switch over to Safari, which will at least offer to pop it out of the page and play it in Windows Media Player. But then, I get the buffering headaches that normally goes along with Real. On top of that, I'm pretty sure the song they're playing in the background is Xanadu.
Still, the effect of somebody poking their finger into a video file and changing the view from day to night is really cool.
The Hogwarts Dancers (Google video). I'm not sure I get it, but I'm pretty sure it must be awesome. Thank you internet.
An Esquire writer outsources his personal and business life to a few firms in India in the story My Outsourced Life. It starts out dry, but gets pretty funny. I need to find myself a Honey K. Balani.
Finally, the internet lives up to its potential. He Man does 4-Non Blondes must surely be the pinnacle of the information age. It's all downhill from here folks.
"What's going on" indeed!
Mosquito is a sort of funny parody of Firefly -- the short lived but exceptional TV show, soon to be a (hopefully) kick-ass movie called Serenity. Man, I can't wait for Serenity in a few weeks. In the meantime, I guess a dopey parody will have to do.
OK, I don't speak French, so I'm not sure, but I think the gist of Geraldine is that one morning, as a boy was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that in bed he had been changed into a woman.
He doesn't handle it at all like I think that I would handle it. Personally, I think I'd rather have an apple rotting in my back, but you know, that may just be me.
Cubic Tragedy is a well done animated short. I feel like I've been in the same place she is whenever I try a bit of home improvement. Everything I try to fix it just seems to make it worse.
I'd never heard of the graffiti artist, Banksy. I guess he's English. The Guardian is caring some images from a recent trip to West Bank barrier in Israel/Palestine. It's interesting stuff. I wish the images were bigger though.
Kyle Winkelman has an animated short called SAM (WMV File) about a robot janitor who wants to fly rockets.
Common Desk (QuickTime) is a fantastic, and really long examination of creativity. Incorporates ads and various media from various sources. Really great. via
I cannot even begin to imagine the amount of work that went into this, but Bobby Standridge actually created a CGI version of Neil Peart playing YYZ (Direct link to the 43 MB WMV File).
First of all, I've always loved Rush, so mad props for having fantastic taste.
Second of all, I never knew where the name YYZ came from (Toronto Airport Code), so that's kind of cool.
Third of all, can I just say again, holy crap that must have taken a lot of work (he says it took him 1 1/2 years). Labor of love my friends. Labor of freaking love!
My hat's off to you dude. You're nuts.
OK, it's not really The Princess Bride, but The Duel (QuickTime) is an amusing little animation of a couple of swashbucklers having themselves a good old-fashioned sword fight.
You know, if Bill Cosby hadn't sent House of Cosbys a cease and desist, I never would have seen these short cartoons. So, thanks Bill Cosby for making sure I see what you didn't want me to see.
You know, I love my job. I know some people who don't love theirs though. They should really go see the video on Really Bad Jobs.com. I think it would provide some needed perspective.
It's a viral for a phone company (which I must say I was not expecting and don't understand). It's pretty funny though.
Femme (embedded QuickTime), a French viral for AIDS awareness or something, takes a look at the romantic exploits of a young girl as she grows up. Cartoon nudity and explicit situations abound so don't watch it at work or if you're bothered by that kind of thing.
I was expecting to like Remastered more than I did. The idea is that they give contemporary artists classic works of art, and ask them to give their take on the work.
Some of the work is really interesting, but some of it seems to be too influenced by the original or worse, not influenced nearly enough by the original. I guess it's a really tough balance to be original while still working within the confines of the project.
I hate, hate, hate the fact that the page resizes my browser window, but Ugly Green Shirt is a pretty nice bit of animation all the same.
Delivery is an animated short made by Till Nowak. It sort of reminded me of that animated short -- I think it was called "Smile" -- the one with the guy that invents the product that makes people happy. Same kind of dingy world view. Anyway, certainly worth the download.
Spike Jonze did a nice ad for Adidas (QuickTime). Shoes used to be magical. With the right pair, you could run faster, jump higher. This seems to capture some of that spirit with a dream like quality to it all.
Somebody who uses an alphabet I can't read draws a woman from the skeleton up. It's sort of an interesting effect. I was hoping the artist was going to use color and get to something that looked closer to real. It's all just lines to indicate shape and shadow though. Still, kind of interesting to watch how few lines it takes to pull off that indication.
The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (yeah, I never heard of it either) has an online exhibit called Now Then.
It features current artwork from a bunch of illustrators and also drawings they did as kids. The contrasts aren't as interesting as I would have expected them to be, but some of these artists (none of whom I'd ever heard of), are doing some amazing work currently. Really, interesting stuff.
Clearly I need to take a closer look at comic and cartoon art because I am missing out.
Grandaddy's Nature Anthem Video is disgustingly happy. I mean like, "I'd like to buy the world a Coke" happy. Still, for some reason, the little squirrels really made me laugh.
I'm linking the pseudo training film, Make Mine Shoebox, because it has the line "Shortly after the deadline has past, the artist will begin to think about submitting his work to the Art Director for approval." Now, that's a really funny line. The rest of it is funny too, but not quite as funny. Still, worth checking out.
I always loved Calvin and Hobbes. In particular, I always loved Calvin's psychotic snowman creations. Some guy has been recreating them with actual snowmen. It almost makes me miss the snow. No, that's a lie. It doesn't even come close to making me miss snow. It is pretty sweet though. And, by sweet I mean totally awesome!
Paul Graham tells it like it is in What You'll Wish You'd Known, a speech to high school students. He's partially right. I think there's other stuff I would have rather known, but he certainly seems to hit the mark around the center. I couldn't help wondering how I'd have received this speech when I was in high school. I feel so far away from being that person that I don't even think I can remember or know.
This Low-Rent Rocky Movie is strangely funny in a dopey kind of way. I laughed at several points throughout. I wish I knew if all these bits were set up or if it's all really a bunch of gorilla theater. I suspect the former, but hope for the latter.
Violence, Porn, Kids Line Dancing ... Yep it's all here in Concrete TV where it's been crammed together in a bizare series of montage edits where A + B just doesn't seem to add up to C for some reason. Won't somebody please think of Sergei Eisenstein rolling in his cutting-room grave? As you may have guessed, I'm not sure quite what to make of it, but then that's life I guess. via
I can't get into audio books. I put them on, and within 10 seconds my mind is drifting and I miss everything. I wish I could retain information that way, but I need a visual component or something. I'm much better with reading.
I only mention it because I'm wondering if radio plays might be a different story. I just downloaded a ton of classic Sherlock Holmes plays from The Sherlock Holmes Society of London. Now, I just need to synch them up to my iPod and wait for a long drive.
La Specola - Art and Wax Modeling Museum features some stunning works. They were cast from carved up cadavers so it has sort of a macabre feel to it. I'm just amazed at how detailed they seem (at least judging from the photos). I'd love to see them in person.
That reminds me, I'm running out of time to see the Body Worlds exhibit at the California Science Center.
Remarkable ... Stunning ... Gorgeous ... I lack superlatives to properly do justice to something like The Beauty Of life. Available in MPEG or DIVX, it's completely worth the 52 or 32 megabyte download.
This straw art is amazing. I've seen some cool things done with paper origami, and I've seem some lame things done with balloons. I had NO idea that there were people who were so creative with straws.
Somebody help me out here. Is Japan really into freaky crap like Zentai Woman, or do they just do this stuff to confuse Westerners?*
* I know there's a tremendous amount of ethnocentricity implicit in that question, but I mean come on. Nobody could be genuine about stuff like this could they?
Wow, this video of a drive from Los Angeles to New York is incredible. Definitely worth several looks provided you can handle huge, honkin' big QuickTime files. via
There's something I love about the videos over onWhat Happens If I...?. Is it the wanton destruction? Is it the juvenile joy of discovery? I'm not sure, but whatever it is, please bring me more.
The crazy cats over at Red vs. Blue have developed a satirical tutorial (QuickTime) to let everybody know the differences between the real world and the Internet. I don't know. The Internet still looks pretty good to me. I want it to be true, so it is. Via
Wow! It's just like Quicksilver only without Kevin Bacon or a hotdog stand. I've only watched one movie so far, The Bronx Race, but if the other videos of New York bike messengers are anything like that one, then I have to say that these guys are completely and totally nuts! This dude almost gets hit like 20 times.
I desperately want to find a video like A Look at Letterpress interesting. On some level, I'm able to do that. Mostly though, I find it incredibly ponderous. I suspect somehow (but can't know for certain) that they'd feel the same way about me, so I guess it all works out.
If you're into type though, it is worth seeing if only for the historical gee whiz elements about it. Still, it would have been better if Huell Howser was doing the interview.
Here's a trailer for a (non-existant) Batman and Superman movie. From the same guy who did that Batman versus Predator movie.
Some of it looks a little raw, but it's still tremendously well done. The casting is crazy good. The story... Well, it's hard to tell. I'd certainly see it though.
Aaron Kraten has an interesting style of art. It's sort of like a cross between illustration and assemblage. I like it.
Well, I guess it's a bit like tracing your hand to make a turkey. You know, except with Butts.
Mena has posted a video of dogs talking. Judging from the laugh track, I'm guessing it came from one of those funniest home video shows. Still, despite the questionable entertainment value of the source, there's something really freaky/funny about seeing dogs apparently speaking English.
Wow! I love Dushan's illustrations. I'm not as big a fan of the interface. I guess there's something to be said for being surprised, but would it kill you to give me an idea of what I'm going to get when I click?
Anyway, if you're in to trippy, extremely colorful illustrations, then check 'em out. They really are great.
You can keep your Kurosawas and your Tarantinos. For serious, hard core sword play action, give me Samurai Peeps any day. Those little marshmallow mothers are fierce.
Found Magazine is a clearinghouse for notes that people have found around town. I never find notes (unless you count crappy flyers that are littered left under wipers of my car). Maybe I need to start looking around a bit more carefully.
There's something about these clothing sculptures that reminds me of the muppets from the movie Labyrinth. I'm not sure what exactly, but I think they're pretty cool. via
The artwork of Gabrielle de Montmollin is interesting and kind of creepy. Dolls always have this potential to be kind of creepy, and when you shoot it and process it and mess it up the way this artist does, it gets even weirder. I'm not sure what to think of it, but I think I like it. via
You know I've heard English is a confusing language to try to learn, but I had No Idea (MP3 File)
Who knew Legos could be so thrilling?
Requires Quicktime. If you don't have broadband or a LOT of free time, seriously don't bother.
Kind of an interesting analysis of Eye Placement in Paintings. It seems to be more uniform than I would have suspected though I can't speak to the quality of their sample set or their math for that matter.
I'm not sure that I get David Gaddis' comic Piercing. There aren't any words, but the images are so remarkably expressive, you don't miss much. It starts out georgious and then takes a turn for the bizarre. I'd love to see more without the strange twist, but I'll take whatever I can get. Truly beautiful.
I think I may have pulled out a few stitches* (recent experiment in dental torture) laughing at this clip of Ali G interviewing Posh Spice and some Soccer Player. Curse you Milk and Cookies!
*No mom, I'm almost certain I didn't actually rip out any stitches. You can put down the phone or stop composing the worried e-mail now.
I was just talking about some of the stupid stuff we did as kids with fireworks and bb guns. We never got this insane (WMV Movie of guy acting as human target for roman candles). It's nice to see that shows like Jackass are having a positive effect and pushing people to do dumber and dumber things.
Oh, man! The Xerox Art Show is really well done. I love the scroll to the right presentation to the thing as well. I really sort of felt like I was in a gallery. Excellent. A must see. Via
Marcelino Gonçalves' art as described on the cherrydelosreyes site sounds like it'd be right up my alley:
Marcelino Gonçalves has created exquisitely subtle paintings of poignant moments and places seen through the lens of solitary male figures.But, judging from the few images displayed on the site, the frame may be too tight for me to comfortably approach. I feel like there's no room for me there. I like my solitude at a removed distance.
Still, I very much want to see this show.
Hmmmm... There's something kind of disturbing about Laurie Lipton's art. It's a bit too much like looking in on somebody's therapy sessions. I do like work that challenges me though. There's a bit of artistic nudity there, so work .... blah blah blah ... you know. via
This has got to be the most frightening thing I've ever seen on the internet. And let me just point out that I've seen Tub Girl and the Goatse.cx guy, so you know I've been around and stuff.
I just try to picture in my mind the circumstances under which David Hasselhoff green lit that video (and he must have green lit it unless the editor has mad skills and access to some bizarre stock footage). There's just no way that looks like a good idea to me. Probably work safe despite my mention of tub girl and goatse.cx. You might not want to watch it before going to bed though as it is the stuff of nightmares.
The Urban Beast Project takes discarded stuffed animals, gives them evil looking teeth and then poses them taxidermy style in natural environments. These images are very disturbing to me for some reason. It must be tapping in to some childhood memory. I want more like this.
Hmmmm... Now, art.blogging.la could be interesting. I go to a bunch of museums in and around LA, but I almost never get to gallery shows (because I almost never know when they're going on). If there's an LA art scene, maybe this will keep me in the loop. Nice. via
Tripping the Rift is a very adult animation (seriously, don't open this at work) that pokes fun at Star Trek, Star Wars, and probably a bunch of other star stuff I didn't even notice. It's funny. However, the humor is a little too rooted in sex and overly specific pop culture references to go very far.
Strangely, I understand the SciFi channel has picked it up. I can't imagine what they're going to do with it, but I bet it will be very, very bad. There's just no way they could run with this thing as is. They'll have to neuter it, and at that point, what is the point?
You are No(w)here is a series of kaleidoscopic animations. Each animation marks a unique aspect of Dublin that forms part of a familiar journey. This piece originated as a collaborative project - that aimed to investigate the diverse experiences gathered on a routine journey, travelled at the same time everyday - from home to work.
Kind of a neat idea.
Since I get most of my news from the Internet, I never saw Dean's speech in Iowa. I sure read about it though, and all the talk had me thinking the guy totally melted down.
Now that I've seen it though, I'm not sure I see what all the fuss was about. It looks like a typical rallying, rah rah don't be discouraged speech to me. This is from the crowds POV which they seem to stress provides a different prospective from what the TV cameras picked up. Also, it looks like it gets cut off a little short. Maybe the guy goes crazy after this. I don't know.
Holy crap. This (18.4 MB WMV File) is one of the most stunning performances I've ever seen. I know there are all kinds of talented artists out there, but this guy seems so sure and fluid. It's like these images just appear out of nowhere.
It was a double post over on MeFi. Thank god since I missed it the first time. These kinds of videos tend to go away if too many people start downloading them, so I don't know how long the link might be good. If it's not there you might try searching on some of the P2P nets. The file name is sand_sicaf2003.wmv.
These 9 drawings were done by an artist under the influence of LSD -- part of a test conducted by the US government during it's dalliance with psychotomimetic drugs in the late 1950's. Via
Oh Man, I always loved the Calvin and Hobbes Snow Man Strips. It's easy to forget how funny that strip was. via
I have to remember to go to This:
The Open Show is Gallery 825/LAAA's annual exhibition in which all Southern California artists are invited to submit work. This year's Open Show is an incredible survey of the wide range of local talent, including the work of over thirty artists.I want some new art for my place, and I want to support local artists. Hopefully, I can find something there.
The web may not be the best medium to enjoy something like the Leather Face Journal. Even when you zoom in, a lot of the text it tough to make out. It sure does look nice though. Via.
I used to love The Bionic Man as a child. That's probably why I found the video charting the operation to transform a nondescript wiener into The Cybernetic Parrot Sausage so compelling.
The scene where they rip the parrot's face off is horrifying (in a John Travolta/Nic Cage Faceoff kind of way).
Thanks to Aaron for pointing me to this in one of my comments.
If there's a message in here, it's thoroughly lost on me. It sure is interesting to watch though. QuickTime Movie
Thanks blort.
How did I never see that in Michelangelo's Creation of Adam, god is represented in a cross section of a human brain? Sister Wendy already hipped me to the flaccid "finger", but the whole brain th
