Turtleman!

This guy is awesome!

Isabella Rossellini is Crazy / Why I Love Isabella Rossellini

Just read this. The end.

AIRWOLF!!!

I'm not generally a big fan of spoken word poetry, unless it's a poem about Airwolf.

Planet of the Gators

So, if we aren't overrun by genius fish, I'm guessing the WALKING ALLIGATORS will be the end of human civilization.

That's a Wrap

I saw a couple more movies at the Wisconsin Film Festival today. Urban Explorers: Into the Darkness is a new movie by Melody Gilbert, who directed Whole, which was one of my favorite movies at the festival a couple years ago. This one's also about strange and interesting people. Here, she focuses on people who explore abandoned buildings and subway tunnels and sewers and the like; I really liked everybody featured in the movie. You can find out more about the fascinating hobby/lifestyle of urban exploration here or here or here. The movie was good, by the way.

Flight of the Red Balloon was as lovely as I expected it would be. A lot of it was shot in reflections on store windows and reminded me vaguely of certain photorealist paintings I've seen, and there was a lot of playful fun going on in the backgrounds (a lamp that looks like a red balloon, shapes and patterns created by streetlights and signs, etc.).

I was supposed to see The Singing Revolution, too, but I screwed up and walked all the way to the wrong end of campus thinking it was at the Union Theater when it was actually at the Orpheum, so I ended up skipping it.

The End.

Scots Nats!

A vote from James Bond for Scottish independence.

Youtube Frenzy

Here are a bunch of mostly unconnected youtube videos I just like. They're good, in different ways.

Mike Gravel does "Helter Skelter." Cause that song isn't associated with crazy people at all.


This was his last little number. It's awesome.


Excellent April Fool's gag from Terry Jones and co.


The greatest ad ever made: Hungarian sausages!



And this is sublime and beautiful.

I'm an Ape Man, I'm an Ape Ape Man, I'm an Ape Man

Monster Quest, a fun cryptozoology show on The History Channel, is running an episode this week focused on an alleged plan of Stalin's to create an army of ape men, which it turns out didn't really happen. However, the show is absolutely fascinating anyway, especially if you're not in the habit of keeping up with all the COMPLETELY INSANE things scientists have tried to do over the past century or so.

Here is the article that kick-started the "Stalin tried to create an army of ape-men" story, which was published in The New York Times and got picked up with some distortions by The Scotsman.

Here is a site devoted to ape-like cryptids, including the Alma, which are also discussed in this show.

The Monster Quest episode also covers other crazy stuff I wasn't aware of, including the doctor who semi-successfully performed a head transplant (the show includes very disturbing footage of this) and of course the Soviet scientist who really did try to cross-breed chimps and humans.

Anyway, this show is awesome. Watch it.

Leningrad Cowboys Go Alabama

ABC Links (mostly Wikipedia, mostly awesome)

A. Recently, a parachute possibly belonging to the infamous D.B. Cooper was found up in Washington State. (On a side note, while I've grown very tired of the increasingly ridiculous show Prison Break over the last two seasons, the first season was kinda good, largely because it featured D.B. Cooper as a character).

B. Also got this today. Now he would have been an interesting Vice President.

C. Speaking of Vice Presidents, my brother sent me this a while back. Richard Mentor Johnson had the best/worst campaign slogan ever: "Rumpsey Dumpsey, Colonel Johnson killed Tecumseh." I guess it's not as bad as "Whip Inflation Now."

"O-kay!"

Check out this freaking awesome Japanese propaganda cartoon from 1934. It's got an evil Mickey Mouse riding a bat that shoots bullets out of its mouth.

"Death comes in the night on little cat's feet"

Andrew W.K. meets John McLaughlin here. Oh, and it's awesome.

ADDED: Here is the actual exchange, from Wonkette.

The Day of Rockening

Only watch this youtube if you want your eyes and/or ears to be MELTED BY AWESOMENESS!!!


More on Lordi and their upcoming movie.

AFSCME

Funny PSA on the youtubes.

"Association"

I'm sure this will be all over the internets soon and that there isn't much of a reason for a little blog nobody reads like this one to feature it, but I'm going to anyway, just in case you haven't seen it and happen across this blog while randomly surfing the web in the middle of the night. Maybe you will suddenly realize you need some strange, strange, strange animated weirdness. So here's the butt-biting bug. Enjoy.

ADDED: The youtube link is down, thanks to NHK. Here's another version. The subtitles aren't in English on this one--but really, do they need to be?

Wow.

Lion-eating chimps.

"Lions are yummy!"

Great Animation

Here is some great animation. Nina Paley has set some Hindu legends to old-timey bluesy jazz music, and it's beautiful and funny at the same time:

View Clips

The Grid

O behold it! Behold it and weep at its majesty!

The Grid.