Cool Shit 2/18

Anyone (other than Roger Ebert apparently) remember the movie Lifeforce? Didn't think so. Of course, it does star the venerable Steven Railsback, who also played Charles Manson in the made for television rendering of Helter Skeler. And yes, I've seen both of these things. Repeatedly.

If you enjoy photography but are always striving to get better, here's a huge directory of links to help you make it so.

As our world becomes more and more text based (less actual interaction, more virtual interaction) it makes sense to at least start thinking about more pieces of punctuation to convey our emotions.

Enjoy a virtual tour of Mexico's Isla de las Munecas. AKA Island of dolls. Nothing creepy here or anything. Just a small island with hundreds of decaying dolls hanging in the trees.



If you were thinking of making a career change and starting a heroin ring, this article is probably a good place to start. Minus the actual catching and dismantling of said ring. But we all learn from others' mistakes, no?

One of the stranger, overlooked stories during Hurricane Sandy - the rescuing of (most of) the crew of  The Bounty, a glorified movie prop ship that was apparently sailing during on the bigger hurricanes in weather history.

Cool Shit 2/12

There's a new Between 2 Ferns out!

Between Two Ferns: Oscar Buzz Edition Part 1 from Zach Galifianakis      

Some movies are so good they don't let you take a moment to question the logic of some of their decisions.

Every year Sony holds a competition for the best photography. Here are the 2012 winners.

Country music, at its heart, its not really about Taylor Swift's ex-lovers. Its history is much more colorful.

Want to see great art but can't stand the thought about not enjoying an alcoholic beverage? Or perhaps you want to get a drink but hate staring at drab, bare walls. Well, if you're in New York, we have ten solutions for your conundrum.

Cool Space Photography

Sure, Twitter is a lot of toilet humor, rants about Monday (it's like a Garfield comic minus the drawing sometimes) and coffee talk (literally), but every now and then, something comes along that makes it completely worth it.

Douglas H. Wheelock has been posting pictures he's taken on his twitter feed. What's so special about that?

Douglas H. Wheelock is an astronaut, and his photos are taken from way up high. Why not enjoy some of the better ones here? (I think my favorite one is of Italy and Sicily at night.)

I Just Got Hypnotized By National Parks

Called the Infinite Photo by National Geographic, simply click on it to see more photos of more national parks. I stopped after like 6, but I encourage you to continue the sojourn.

Awesome Photography from the Forgotten West

Really cool website from photographer Troy Paiva, who specializes in abandoned stuff out in the west. I hope you check out some of his photography.

And speaking of abandoned stuff, check out this cool website, documenting photos of abandoned swimming pools!

Weather Photos

I'm a sucker for extreme weather, and the Big Picture is the digital crack feeding my addiction today. How would you like to have been in the hail storm that caused all that damage?

Links of Interest 9/11

Interview with a family who gave up the creature comforts for a year – and made a movie about it.

Awesome tilt shift photography.

Hey, even street drugs have to market themselves out there.

I think it’s rather naïve to suggest some Beatles fans wouldn’t know these facts, but still they are pretty interesting.

Anyone a fan of Andrew Zimmern? That, bulky, bald headed guy on the Travel Channel that you thought was a flaccid copycat to Anthony Bourdain? Well, he has a book out, and Time asked him a few questions about it.

This guy has spent a lot of time in checkout lines.

Smuggling humans on the Mexican border.

The inside scoop about Amsterdam coffeehouses.

If you like documentaries, this website is for you.

Sure, dancing is fun. But it can also be incredibly awkward to watch.

Links of Interest 3/27

More information about that demon seed coffee.

What it’s like to be an intern on Saturday Night Live.

Here are the top 10 most viewed SNL commercials from Hulu. Hmmm, I smell a blog post coming up about it.

Now this is a small Pac Man game. I scored 73 before going blind.

Here’s a list of the best television series’ finales.

So you might have heard the word krautrock, but do you know what it actually is?

Extreme weather! It’s like weather – but extreme!

I’m a sucker for good photography. Here are 50 awesome long exposure shots.

Another take on the current financial mess that is kind of depressing. And by “kind of” I mean "completely."

I’ve never heard of this cult movie, but I’m intrigued.

Man lives in house for 40 years and writes about it. It’s more interesting than you’d think.

Searching the pictures of Life

Google recently did an awesome thing by unlocking the vaults at Life and giving everyone access to their complete catalog of pictures. So we here at the Popcorn Trick decided it would be cool to occasionally search through them, giving them a whole new audience.

This week's search I figured I would make it something that's near and dear to our hearts and seek out some cool music images, predominantly of some influential, iconic bands. Actually, I was truly inspired by this photo of the Zappas, which I love, since it confounds the expectations of the person clicking on the link, while at the same time completely sums up the culture of the times and the artist.

If nothing else, it will just be a list of cool photos to take a look at.

One more thing, I'll simply be linking to the photos here, asking you to click through, since I'm not 100% sure if Google would be cool with us simply posting the photos on our site. I hope that's not too inconvenient.

On the flip side - photos!



The Beatles
Last time they were happy together? Seriously though, it does seem that this photo exudes the joy of the Beatles and what their music, at least at that moment (the Beatles made it easy for people to tell their different eras of music by altering their hairstyles as they passed through) in time.

Louis Armstrong
I think it's unfortunate that most people these days only know Louis Armstrong for his rendition of "Hello Dolly." That I am linking a photo of him accepting kudos for performing it is what you might call irony.

Jim Morrison
I wish she had his awesome beard in this shot. If nothing else, this photo should reaffirm how good a job Kilmer did portraying him.

Keith Richards
Captured on the Voodoo Lounge tour, his thoughts seem to echo my sentiments about that tour. I wish he was with the Expensive Winos still.

James Brown
Teaching Johnny Carson how to dance. I have to imagine it's a lost cause.

Madonna
An early look at what she used to be. At least she looks like she's having fun.

Chuck D.
With someone else that officially makes it a weird pairing. Though that mustache is bananas.

Led Zeppelin
...from 1988, which means technically it isn't Zeppelin, but it's still a cool shot, seemingly taken from the crowd.

Elvis Presley
I'm guessing Elvis felt more like this and less like the personality he emanated from the stage. That this is taken so early in his career is a little startling.

Johnny Cash
I get it. He's walking the line. Even with the cliche based on his music, it's still a great picture.

It's just a small sample, and if you have any other cool ones, feel free to share them in the comment section!

Links of Interest 11/17

I'm not bragging, I'm just stating...I used to love the Onion, but it hit a rough spot in the early 2000's (I'm not sure how that phrase is supposed to be written) and I got off it, never to return. What does that have to do with this monstrous profile on what goes on there? Nothing at all.

Apparently there's a secret Beatles track out there. And we may even get to hear it someday!

I'm always interested in learning what I should do in the event of a nuclear attack.

Tilt shift photography basically takes a normal looking shot and makes it look like a model. Need an example? Here are several.

Note to self: Do not wear bikini when meeting James Bond.

Links of Interest 10/20

Someone's been taking photos at just the right moment! Cool freeze fame photography.

That guy that wrote the fairly famous How to Lose Friends and Alienate People? He visited the set of the movie about his book.

Pretty cool article about the lengths the British went to attempt to infiltrate the IRA. Of course, I'd hate to be the guy that actually had to clean the clothes.

Rolling Stone's take on the life (and unfortunately, the death) of David Foster Wallace.

Synecdoche, Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut is coming out soon. Here's a look at the person behind it.

Links of Interest 6/10

So many unanswered questions in this video...where are they? Who thought it was a good idea to have a panoramic mountain shot behind them? Why is Kirk Cameron hanging on every word? Are we really supposed to believe a banana is the ultimate proof of God's existence? Guess these two are really going to be ticked off when bananas leave this mortal coil in the next 20 years or so, as they're becoming extinct. What God would forsake us of bananas?

William Shatner is a complex man. Seriously. I know people love to poke fun of him (myself included, and it's easy - here's an example) but shouldn't we also respect him as an artist? You have to give him this - he takes chances and doesn't care about the consequences.

You hate to see this, but with video games moving into the homes within the last 20 years, there's simply no reason to go to an arcade. Although, there is something to be said walking into a random arcade, and scoping out the game scene, debating which machine to put your quarter into. That sense of random variety is slowly disappearing in our society, and I think we're worse off for it. Our customizable, on demand world breeds a stronger sense of entitlement, which only makes us more selfish and petulant. And so concludes my "old guy on a porch rant."

Now this is how you get some cool publicity.

I'm a sucker for cool photography. By clicking on this link, I'll know you are too.