Cool Shit 2/11

While I admit this looks kinda cool, I also think we as a society, might be over saturating the market for recreational snow vehicles.

Growing up in a tennis house I remember watching the Connors/Krickstein match live... I actually remember watching every Connors match of that historic US Open run. It was special because it was a former great giving the crowd one more shot to thank him for his spectacular career. Sad to hear about 3 hip replacements.

New Pitch Perfect 2 trailer:



Ghostbusters boardgame? I'm all in.

Search engine for the dark web - now you'll be able to find a plethora of hitmen for that annoying neighbor.

Humans will always be curious, so it's not surprising there's a decent number of people volunteering to be the first people on Mars (and who won't ever be able to come back), but I wonder if that sense of curiosity will ultimately clash with our sense of survivalism.

Phone calls make for a creepy utility in some mysteries. Even with the advent of cell phones, they can have a chilling effect.

Watch these specific scenes from Jaws to learn what good cinematography can do for your movie.



Six stories from the Russian North; an area on our map that little is known about but holds some pretty cool treasures.

Cool Shit 8/29

We are not that far away from being able to customize out entertainment. Television, because of the money invested in it, has to reach broad (see the CBS lineup for an example) and even it is dipping its toes into narrower minded shows (AMC series are basically niche brand entertainment). But if you really want to see how it's going to work, it's time to get on the internet. Start with these three shows. While the money obviously isn't there yet in the sense of getting big audiences and ad revenue, the stream has started at least to trickle that way.

Living off the grid, raising cows and looking to spice up your diet? Or maybe you just live near a Whole Foods. Either way, here's a good guide to help you put together the best burger you've ever made!

So apparently, Monica Seles has written (with some help) a YA series. And it sounds completely awesome. I only wish one day I can create a character with a name as brilliant as Nails Reed.

It's mildly comforting to know if the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man - or any large, bulbous candy mascot - attacked New York City that there is a rough plan in place to take care of the situation.

Movies to check out this fall.

If you're a comic book movie fan, I assume you're curious/excited about this Superman v. Batman movie that's coming out in the next year or so. But oh what a Superman movie could have been...



Phil Hartman wasn't just a SNL genius. He was a comedic genius. That's because he could play over the top, but also be the rock on set to let everyone else go over the top.

Cool Shit 8/15

Ramp. Bicycle. Lake. Film:



Enjoy sushi? Take these helpful tips and enjoy it more!

Quite possibly the greatest thing on the internet...the fake movies of Seinfield, posterized!

Speaking of Seinfeld, here's a recent profile about him where he delves into his life and his standup.

Like superheroes? I mean do you really like them? Because if so, here's a chart detailing them and the superpowers that make them up.

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!

Cool Shit 6/20

Sure, it seems like there's been a bunch of Superman movies made, but there have been many more almost made. If you're a Superman fan you will both enjoy and cringe at what almost happened, and if you're not you'll still shake your head in bewilderment at the ideas that drive Hollywood.

It saddens me that the United States can't get its act together enough to hold its own National Pyrotechnic Festival. Thankfully, our neighbor Mexico doesn't hold the same opinion. Check out these photos to see just how much fun we're missing. Here's but a taste...

I'm not one of those people that preach you should stop eating fast food and other gross stuff because you're doing damage to your body, but I do think you should at least know what you're putting into your body. And in the US, sometimes that can he harder than it seems. Take a look at these awesome ingredients that have been banned elsewhere, but are in food in the United States.

The roller coaster ride of the production of World War Z is about to come to an end; unfortunately it seems like it won't be the fun loop de loop we want it to be, if we are to believe this review.

I think I'd like to do what Rick Rubin does. Is there a website, or someone I have to talk to, for that?

And finally, RIP James Gandolfini, a great actor who died yesterday apparently of a heart attack. A lot of people (rightfully so) point to his work in The Sopranos as a career defining performance, but I will always remember him for this one part in True Romance, this look he has after hitting Patricia Arquette, that summed up his character and actions all at once. It's a look of disgust, rage and atonement (looking up, as if to ask God for forgiveness for his actions) and says all you need to know. I wish more actors had this kind of talent.

Cool Shit 1/31

If you're a Nic Cage fan, you're going to want to check out this site.

An excerpt of Vanity Fair's oral history of Pulp Fiction.

This may be the worst/greatest trailer I've ever seen for anything, anywhere. Empire of the Apes!



We won't have 30 Rock anymore, but we will always have the Jack Donaghy insult generator (until its hosting runs out I guess).

An article about Dustin Hoffman, Robert Duvall and Gene Hackman struggling to make it as actors in New York City during the 1960s.

Powerpoint - it's not just for business presentations. Use it to proclaim your undying love!

This is why frisbee sports will never get proper respect...

Dollarshaveclub.com

I realize that by sharing this video with all of you, I am playing right into the hands of dollarshaveclub.com and its advertisers. But you know what? When the quality is this good, I'm ok with that.

Besides, I'm good at tennis!

The Greatest Movie Trailer Ever

Checking out blog io9, I stumbled across an article (since removed, apparently) suggesting the trailer for the 1983 Filipino movie The Killing of Satan had the greatest trailer ever. So Of course I had to check it out.

30 seconds in, I thought, It's good, but best ever?

1:00 minute in (right around the gang of naked women) I thought, Ok, maybe not the best, but top 10.

Then when the woman ripped off half of the guy's face, I conceded. It probably is the greatest movie trailer of all time. The guy running to get steamrolled by the boulder and the ocean zombie are just cherries on top of this cinematic sundae.

Warning - there's some full frontal nudity. The 80s apparently were a crazy, censorship free time in the Philippines.

2011: A Year in Falls

I dare you not to watch all 12 minutes of these...

Dance Dance Evolution

I know what you're thinking...this can't get possibly better than an elderly gentleman with stylish mismatched socks and red suspenders shuffling like a mad man, but then, at the 30 second mark, shit gets real...

Best Christmas Card Ever

I have got to get me on the mailing list of the mayor of San Juan Puerto Rico!

For a look at the story (translated since it's in Spanish) go here)

A Most Captivated Audience

We finally know the answer to the age old question:

"Do you think cows would enjoy a stripped down version of 'When the Saints Come Marching In?'"



Tremendous thanks to @calindrome who linked this via Twitter!

Jonny Quest Opening Credits Reimagined

You should know my love for Jonny Quest based on this post. If you don't, you should obviously sign up to follow the Popcorn Trick, or at least follow us on Twitter.

Regardless, if you don't think I'm going to link to a guy who updated the Jonny Quest opening credits with new animation, well, you're just being silly...

Jonny Quest Opening Titles from Roger D. Evans on Vimeo.

Mountain Biking Excitement

I don't know the first thing about competitive mountain biking, but I assume this guy is pretty good, based on the announcers' reaction of his run...

I might hire these guys to walk around and announce my daily activities.

What the Hell?

This is simply amazing. Realize that when they go up at the net, they're actively using both feet and FAKING spikes with one foot and hitting it with the other. I'm still stunned that human beings can even do this.

Finding Bigfoot Part 1: The Introduction

After the maddening ending (or, according to how you think the non-ending) of AMC's The Killing (and I will always add the AMC part there because they're the ones that ultimately let us all down) I've been absent-mindedly flipping through the television channel lineup wasteland, finally knowing what Moses must have felt like in the desert. While the Philadelphia Phillies usually keep me going, along with the hate watching of Food Network's Next Food Network Star and Chopped, they can only satiate my television appetite for so long.

It got so bad, in my darkest hour, I briefly contemplated watching Treme. But just as I thought all was lost, on my way toward flipping over to the revamped Lingo (yech!) I stumbled across quite possibly the greatest television show in the history of the world...

I'm of course talking about Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot.

Before I go into more depth, I have a confession to make. I was (and let's face it, since I'm actively watching a show based in the genre, still am) a UFO/ghost/Bigfoot/etc. fan. I even started the UGM Club, back in fourth grade to study and get to the bottom of the mysteries of UFOs, ghosts and monsters. My favorite book as a seven year old was a comic book devoted to true stories of UFO encounters (which included an encounter that happened mere miles from my home).

As I've grown, my rational mind has matured, and logically speaking I can't speak to the authenticity to any of these things. While the stories still intrigue and entertain me, I don't blindly accept the existence of any of them. I like to be open minded, but also cynical when it comes to any "evidence." I guess you could say I have the heart of Mulder, with the mind of Scully (at least until before the third time she was attacked/groped/kidnapped by a supernatural creature yet still would obsessively demand a logical explanation and ignore the empirical data in front of her face).

So, a show purportedly looking into the legends of Bigfoot, as well as investigating current sightings with rational, skeptical minds, sounded like a good idea to me.

That Finding Bigfoot is the absolute opposite of that makes it that much better.

I have watched exactly three episodes of Finding Bigfoot - not because I'm plodding through the show, but because I want to savor them, breathe them in, rewatch them in all their splendid, possibly unironic joy. I want to take the same journey that Cliff, Matt, Ranae and Bobo are taking in real time. I want to savor each episode, in each state (who knew Bigfoots routinely showed up in not just the Pacific Northwest, but instates all over our union? I mean, besides the crew at the Bigfoot Field Research Organization, or B.F.R.O.).

I want this show to go on forever.

The show follows 4 "researchers" in the B.F.R.O. travel to a different area each week to follow up on a Bigfoot sighting. At least that's what I picked up watching my first episode. Honestly, I was so perplexed watching it for the first time that I may have missed some of the subtleties of the show. But there are two things I definitely did not miss...two things that I feel are the show's heart and soul.

1. The "reconstructions"

Pretty much every show starts with the team heading somewhere because they heard about a recent sighting. This first show was based in Georgia, following up on a policeman's dashcam video of something running across the road. After seeing the video, the team decides to "recreate" it using a human. You can watch the whole thing here:

Aside from the complete lack of regard for accuracy in recreating these things, (and the fact that I believe Bobo is only around as their Bigfoot model) the thing I love about these "reconstructions," is the validity the entire team puts into them. It's as though running across the road at night proves the existence of Sasquatch! Not only that, to hear most of the members of this team talk, you'd think Bigfoots (Bigfeet?) are about as common and real as deer. There is no doubt in my mind that there is any doubt in Cliff's mind (the de facto leader of the group) that Bigfoots (or Squatches as he loves to call them) exist. And that only stokes the fire of my enjoyment that much more.

2. The Growl/Howl/Screech

This really can't be described. It must be witnessed...

My favorite things from this clip?

• It seems each "researcher" has their own distinct howl, or at least thinks he/she needs a couple of different calls for different situations?
• Everyone involved also seems to think these howls have any effect on a Squatch, going so far as to suggest they heard a howl in response!
• It appears that the preparation/planning leading up to this bellow is quite intense. I wonder if Cliff was just a little mad when he was interrupted before he got one off, much like a pitcher gets annoyed when the umpire calls time in the middle of his windup.

This being the first episode of Finding Bigfoot that I've ever seen it's easy to say that I'm hooked. So much so that tomorrow, in Part II, I will give you a rundown of the best things I heard while watching my second ever episode of Finding Bigfoot.

Until then...

Top Gear Car Chase

Do people secretly want to be involved in a car chase, or is that just me? I mean, am I the only one that constantly scouts out places as I drive as potential places to lose a cadre of police vehicles chasing me, should the situation arise? (quick tip: look for driveways and parking lots that connect parallel streets).

Regardless - the boys from Top Gear have taken my fantasy and made it a reality...

Mesmerizing Pendulum Video

Sure there is a science behind the swinging of a pendulum, but forget it right now, and just become hypnotized by this crazy video...

(From Kottke)

The Seagalness of Steven Seagal

The past few days the Internet has been given this video of every bone Steven Seagal has broken in his movie career...

A. That's a lot of broken bones.

B. I have really lapsed on my Steven Seagal movie roles. He pretty much has a decade of movies I've missed out on.

Regardless, the above video is very good, and very nice, but does it hold candle to the wisdom Seagal drops on us in this clip?