Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Cool Shit 7/31

Oh sure, science can try to explain how a Ouija board works, and suggest that it's not supernatural, but then how do they explain this?

Oh sure, Henry Ford developed the production line and the model-T, but it wasn't all suns and roses for him. Case in point: Fordlandia!

I can't think of a joke for this: the oral history of HBO's Real Sex.

So here's a look at what NASA has planned for the next 20 years.

There can be only one Harry Potter. Though that doesn't mean Hollywood won't try to find another one.

Apparently there's this TV show Breaking Bad and it's coming back or something soon?




Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Cool Shit 7/30

I never played Oregon Trail. I guess my school's curriculum was too advanced. Or not advanced enough. We did play a game where you had to drill for oil on some imaginary continent. Our class broke into teams and the one team who found enough oil to fulfill the demand would win. And we would have easily won except the future Summa Cum Laude's team cheated and drilled in a spot that had been used previously as an example to the class on how to find oil. Kinda made me question two things: how bright the teacher was that he couldn't figure that out, and just how did that dude make Summa Cum Laude. Regardless, I'm sure many of you out there will be pumped to find out just how Oregon Trail got made.

It simply takes one minute for a lot of things to happen on the internet.

I don't know why lists have to use such hyperbole and say "best" or "worst" since it's all subjective in the end, but if you're looking for a new television series to start watching, this list of British television shows is a good place to start.

Want a rabbit hole to fall into for the day? Enjoy a look at how television show universes overlap to suggest there's just one - and that one lives inside the head of an autistic boy holding a snow globe.

Not sure if everyone knows this or not, but that monologue by Quint about the USS Indianapolis and the sharks? It did really happen. And somehow, it's worse than the story from Jaws. And while we're here...



Seriously, why are you drinking bottled water again?






Monday, July 29, 2013

Cool Shit 7/29

Want to live forever? Maybe it's possible.

And you thought humans were the most violent creatures on the planet. Check out these photos of ants battling.

Enjoy reading what some famous authors think other famous authors best opening lines were.

Want to make a Hollywood blockbuster? You should probably buy this book then!

A personal experience during the Running of the Bulls...and a look into why would want to do it.


Friday, July 26, 2013

Cool Shit 7/26

Supperjumping...apparently it's a thing, where you buy food in one restaurant and eat it in another. And by thing, I mean like a competition. And it sounds absolutely stupid. That said, I guarantee you I could beat you in supperjumping.

For all you people out there who are tired of timelapse videos, but still want to see the beauty of nature, I present this...



Of course I can't not link to an awesome time lapse video. 365 to be exact.



It seems like one day, algorithms will solve all of our problems.

Ok so you're looking for a new hobby. You want it to be something cool. Something maybe a little dangerous. Or maybe a lot dangerous. Welcome to the first day of parkour.


Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Cool Shit 7/23

Sometimes, it's not only ok to screw up, it's beneficial. Especially in science. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to mix some of these random chemicals together to see what happens.

Carl Sagan used to host a show called Cosmos. And it was awesome. Well, he's dead, but that doesn't mean we can't bring back the show and give hosting duties to Neil Degrasse Tyson!



Here's a nice thought...missing your parents? Take a quick look at how many times you're most likely see them before they die.

I know it sounds silly, but light pollution is a significant problem. And one that will probably have more psychological effects (and therefore more personal effects on the individual than other forms of pollution) than we know about right now.

So how did the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon become such a great place to go white water rafting? And who were the people that were the first to do it?

Monday, July 22, 2013

Cool Shit 7/22

I really hope by saying "studying how to control the weather," the CIA means they're just watching The Avengers over and over. And I'm not talking about the Joss Whedon one.

So wait, the glasses now can make things taste better?

Artistic renditions of world-ending disasters.

Apparently this is Dutch. As in, it aired on Dutch TV in the 70s during the Star Wars craze. Of course, if I gave you 5 guesses to name the country of origin, the Netherlands has to be in their, right?



Some tidbits about what we can expect in Season 4 of The Walking Dead. And if you haven't seen it yet, here's a trailer...

Friday, July 19, 2013

Cool Shit 7/19

Hopefully you're reading this on the toilet to give it some extra ooomph.

So Elon Musk really wants to build this Hyperloop. Has anyone checked to see if he carries a cat around with him all the time?

Enjoy some disturbing Would You Rather questions. Though I think suggesting they are the most difficult is a little hyperbolic. Like, I didn't even see "Would You Rather swim a lap in a pool of mayonnaise or eat a cup of hair?"

Sometimes The Onion is just too good for its own good.

What a great discovery. Apparently while Andy Kauffman was alive, early in his career, he carried around a tape recorder and would routinely record himself having conversations with random people. These conversations are set to be released on a comedy album sometime soon. But this article delves a little deeper, trying to get into the psyche of why Kauffman would do this, and other things.

Norwegian bachelor parties are CRAZY!




Thursday, July 18, 2013

Cool Shit 7/18

Snake Island! Honestly though, the legends the locals tell about it - not really that "legend-y" if you think about it.

While I don't think this compilation can be considered the "worst" death scenes (you can't include comedies as some of them were made to be bad on purpose) there are a few gems in here.



Truth stranger than fiction? Here's a list of movies that went the extra yard to get the perfect shot.

So Sharknado was a moderate success. We all know what that means: Sharknado 2! Submit your own title for the sequel!

Want a quick guide to everything that is Comic Con? Here you go.

Haven't seen Star Wars yet? Luckily for you, someone is posting it on Instagram, 15 seconds at a time!


Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Cool Shit 7/17

Guy who tinkers around with archiving blockbusters stumbles into creating documentaries of some of the biggest movies out there.

Sometimes you don't have to be outside to go rock climbing.

It's amazing to me that movie ends can get so easily changed after production starts. Here are 10 examples.

Yesterday you had a chance to play electric dominoes. Today, you can watch 275,000 of them fall.



Predicting long term, human mobility. A crazy notion that sounds impossible, until you read what Microsoft is doing.

Jack Handey is the writer I want to be. He's the writer a lot of people want to be.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Cool Shit 7/16

So a documentary about Calvin and Hobbes (and obviously Bill Waterson) is set to come out. Though the rumors are the creator didn't attempt to speak with Waterson. While that's admirable, given that I don't believe Waterson wants to be bothered with the strip, it also poses quite a challenge for a documentary's subject matter. Specifically, what will the documentary really be about, other than opinions from random people and other cartoonists about how influential Calvin and Hobbes was to them?

Set them up, and knock them down; its online dominos!

It seems like Pacific Rim has been a disappointment. While not having seen it, I can say having read things about it, it seemed as though the origin story was confusing, and then the movie didn't delve much more into the plot, instead depending on the idea that giant robots fighting giant monsters would attract the audiences. Here are ten movie monsters that did it a little better.

Chef Chris Cosentino wants you to eat more of the animal that you don't necessarily want to eat. Yet.

A guide to Los Angeles' more interesting places.

2013 Gathering of the Juggalos is coming up. Not excited enough yet? Here you go!

Monday, July 15, 2013

Cool Shit 7/15

Sometimes, just having a larger force doesn't necessarily guarantee victory.

Excited by the Voynich Manuscript story I posted the other day? Here are 10 more weird texts that people aren't 100% about.

The Art of Killing is a new documentary from Werner Herzog and Errol Morris. It's bizarre in the sense that the subject matter is heavy, yet the execution is almost light hearted. Here's a discussion about just that...



I had never heard the theory about every Pixar movie being somehow connected. And now, after reading it I'm not sure I'm happy I have heard about it.

Movies visualized as "treasure" maps. Regardless of the movie, these look really cool and you can even try to guess which movie they represent.

John Hodgman speaks about the last great movie he saw: Full Metal Jacket.


Friday, July 12, 2013

Cool Shit 7/12

With this news, I'm thinking about getting into raisin futures. It has to be a steady market, right?

What makes this guy a kissing expert, other than he says so. I guarantee I'm a better kisser!

It's impossible to definitively declare one novel, the great American novel, but here are 9 opinions from people who probably know a thing or two about literature.

I've never understood the appeal of a wax museum, but a bad wax museum? I can get behind that.

Kinda cool - this website does nothing more than give you the number of people currently in space. Right now, we're a 6. I gonna say if you see that number jumping up quickly in the future, you might want to take action.

A deeper look at the 1987 masterpiece, Mannequin.

Here's the trailer just to spice up your day...

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Cool Shit 7/11

If you live near a 7/11 today and don't get a free Slurpee, you're stupid. And that's my PSA of the day. Onto the links...

Hidden stuff in paintings. Seems like Dan Brown may have been onto something!

So a SyFy movie called Sharknado exists. And it will be on tonight. And Tara Reid is in it. As well as Ian Ziering. Recently there was a conference call for reporters about it. (Don't click if you don't want to read about spoilers, though I'm not sure it's possible to spoil anything in a movie called Sharknado. You should pretty much understand what you're getting into with the title, no? Anyway here's a terrible trailer for it as well:



And if you're really interested in how the movie got made, from a Hollywood standpoint, check out this article on Asylum, the production company that makes these movies.

Now these are some nice couches. I would fuck all of them! (Please don't tell me that reference is already too old to make).

Here are 6 graphs that pretty much explain why summer blockbusters suck. And here's an article about how sequels and blockbusters destroy the market for all other films. Basically Hollywood is eating itself in order to turn the biggest profit as quickly as possible, instead of looking for solutions that might help them down the road.



Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Cool Shit 7/10

I'm sure I've posted about the mystery and weirdness of Voynich Manuscript before, but here's another take on it, this time from the New Yorker.

Anything with "the worst video game ever created" in the title, piques my attention. And no, it's not about the Atari 2600 game E.T. It's a video game Penn and Teller created, and its about driving a bus. For a loooong time.

Most people have heard about the Roswell UFO incident, but here are 6 other historical UFO sightings you might not be familiar with.

The Wolfram Alpha site is awesome. More awesome than you probably know. How so? Take a look.

Here's all the awesome stuff we have to look forward to thanks to climate change!

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Cool Shit 7/9

It's web pages like this that fully embrace the full potential of what the Internet can give you: Lifestyle pictures featuring wookies.

If you enjoy reading, you won't want to miss the Millions (great book blog) list of anticipated novels for the second half of 2013.

Sure, Amazon reviews are generally worthless, but sometimes, you'll find gold.

By now, if you haven't at least heard of the television show The Wire, you're an idiot. But with such heavy themes and material, how did the cast handle themselves off set?

After bombs such as The Lone Ranger, White House Down and After Earth, this article lists 3 reasons trying to explain the recent flops. I'll add a fourth: the movies have to have some "positive" entertainment. What do I mean by that? I mean they need buzz from people (not just critics; I'm not suggesting box office profits are tied to reviews) that the movies in question are entertaining. That they connect on somewhat of an emotional level with the moviegoer. After Earth was too dense and pretentious; The Lone Ranger was too old of a reference and doesn't even connect with the main star (seriously Depp is the one they bank on yet the movie isn't about him) and White House Down, well White House Down is the one I'm surprised about. But if I had to guess, I would say making the president of the United States one half of a buddy cop duo had something to do with it. The movie's marketing positioned it almost as a comedy, and I think that hurt it significantly. Also, Channing Tatum doesn't get to be Bruce Willis yet. He needs to put in a little more time.

I guess I'm naive, but I had no idea there was a website that tracked every UFO sighting. And apparently last week saw a uptick in sightings. I can't imagine why.

Monday, July 8, 2013

Cool Shit 7/8

Time lapse and fireworks all in one? I'm in heaven!



I don't think James Cameron plagiarizes this much to get all these lawsuits against him, I think it's more of a combination of his success and that his ideas are just that broad to attract connections from people. Maybe if he spent a few more minutes coming up with some fresh ideas, instead of using the same tired old tropes, he wouldn't have this much legal trouble.

Here's you mind blowing teaser of the day for a film called In Saturn's Rings - someone created a movie about Saturn (and to a lesser extent, space in general) using photos taken by satellites - there's no CGI or other special effects in this movie, if you can believe it.



Get a jump on the future with these technologies of the future that we will no doubt be wining about soon.

Sure, they look stupid, but dang it if I said I'd never use some of them. Useful Japanese inventions.

Hijacking an airplane used to be so normal, apparently.

Robot Wars used to be a television show that was exactly what the title said it would be. See how it started with ILM.

This ranking of cheap beers from around the United States is a travesty.


Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Cool Shit 7/3

How about a homemade death star destruction scene from the original Star Wars to start your morning?



Or perhaps you'd rather listen to a new single from Beck?



Ranking Stephen King's television endeavors.

If you have any interest in the Battle of Gettysburg, or alternately, cool interactive shit on the internet, this link is for you.

I consider myself a Val Kilmer fan and even I had never heard of this movie. But any project devised as a global warming thriller has my attention.

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Cool Shit 7/2

Have access to a decent camera and a hot air balloon? Then you too could probably get some of these cool looking photos from high altitudes.

Crank up your hi-fis Arrested Development fans...apparently there's an album coming out.

Going camping this Independence weekend? Might want to check out this list of awful ways to die in the wild just in case.

I know, with Game of Thrones on hiatus now, you've already blown through the books and The Killing just isn't doing it for you, check out these science fiction book series.

While "ridiculously great" might be a tad overreaching when it comes to describing this list, it is a decent look at some 2013 movies you might not have heard about.

New trailer for Inside Llewyn Davis, the latest movie from the Coen Brothers. I gotta admit, after watching these trailers, I'm not sure I'm ready for such a downer of a movie. I've yet to see an ounce of optimism in there anywhere.




Monday, July 1, 2013

Cool Shit 7/1

Finally, a trailer for the Larry David/HBO movie Clear History. Seems as though it has a generic plot, but an unbelievable cast, and the magic of Larry David behind it.



Sure, the article title suggests this is about different ecosystems created within our urban landscapes, but I think it's simply examples about how life will always find a way. Thank Dr. Malcolm!

An interview with the person who has given us all so much pleasure in dive bars around the country: The Erotic Photo Hunt engineer!

Well, if we ever did this, our hockey team would probably be unstoppable.

Want to become a treasure hunter? Crack this one and you'll be on your way.

This is for fans of John Carpenter's The Thing. A look at how John Carpenter had a unique opportunity to take a look at his movie and then almost completely change it when he wasn't satisfied. Very detailed, and slightly hard to follow, it's still a cool example of how directors employ their craft.