A Trip to the Moon

I FOUND IT!
Originally, the only YouTube video that I could find had been 'removed.' Thankfully, I decided to try searching one more time, and look what I came up with!

Enjoy...


If you can't see the video, here.

Please Accept My Apologies.

Wow, it's been over a week since I last posted anything here...However, I will say that it has been a busy hectic week! I've been going to classes, art shows, meetings, Nebraska and somewhere in between all of that fun have had to find to do homework, eat, sleep and read.
Speaking of reading, I just finished reading an amazing book: "The Invention of Hugo Cabret," by Brian Selznick. The book creatively uses illustrations to help tell the story. The way that the author placed illustrations throughout the book makes it seem as if you are "reading" a movie.
And speaking of movies, the book also discusses the origins of film, especially concerning early French filmmaker Georges Melies. I did not know much, if anything, about the early days of film, but after reading this book I was intrigued to find out as much as I could about Melies.
Melies was a magician who, after seeing the "magic" of moving pictures realized that this was a medium which he could utilize heavily. According to Wikipedia (always a good source...) Melies was possibly the innovator of the stop-trick, or substitution method of film-making. He was also one of the first filmmakers to utilize multiple exposures, time lapse photography, dissolves and hand-painted color in his film.
Melies' most famous work is "Le Voyage Dan La Lune," (A Trip to the Moon) about a group of astronomers who go on a voyage to the moon. One of the most famous scenes from this film includes the man in the moon being hit in the eye by a rocket. Another famous film is "The Impossible Voyage." Both of these films are important because they represent two of the earliest science fiction/fantasy films. In addition, Melies is often credited with inventing the horror film!
For more on Melies:
Wikipedia.
The Geoges Melies database.

Finally, here are three great movies, courtesy of YouTube, by this innovative early filmmaker. I don't know much about film making, and what I do know is confined to doing it digitally, so this is amazing to me!

The Four Troublesome Heads (1899)

If you can't see the video, here.

The One Man Band (1900)

If you can't see the video, here.

The Man With the Rubber Head

If you can't see the video, here.

Flight School

The Power of Lego.

In recent years the Bible has been portrayed through many different mediums. The Bible is now available on CD, CD-Rom, DVD and video, but no other medium is as interesting, or as fun, as the Bible represented through Legos.
According to the website, The Brick Testament contains 268 stories with 3,048 illustrations. These stories and illustrations cover aspects of both the Old and New Testaments.
Here are some examples;

The Parting of the Red Sea:


Samson defeats 1,000 Philistines with the donkey of a jawbone*:


The Plank in Your Eye:


The Good News of the Empty Tomb!


The theology may not be the best, but you have to admit that this is a fun way to represent the stories of the Bible.

For the entire Brick Testament go here.

*I have to admit that I put this particular story up with an ulterior motive. When I was in high-school and attended weekly Youth Group, one of the things we liked to do was read the "Extreme Faith Bible" which had a picture of a guy skateboarding with his Bible on the cover. This story was probably the funniest one in there as Samson's song read something like this; 'With the jawbone of a donkey I killed one thousand men, I beat them with this jawbone over and over again.'

I'm a Walking Contradiction.

About a week ago I posted this New Years Post in which I stated all the flaws that I have and my inane desire to keep it that way. Well, I'm here to tell you that somehow, whether consciously or not, I have actually found myself on the road to recovery.
First off, I've been drinking more water lately. I don't exactly know why, I just know that I find myself craving water more so than pop as of late, and I wonder if that isn't such a terrible thing.
Secondly, I have also found myself reading, though I wouldn't say "voraciously." I am currently enthralled with two books; The Know It All, by A.J. Jacobs and Peter and the Starcatchers a children's book by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson.
However, where I have begun to counteract #5 of my original list (I watch a lot of TV) I have only increased the level of random information that could spew forth at any moment. This is entirely because of the book The Know It All, which I must say is an amazingly poignant and entertaining read. It chronicles the authors "humble quest to become the smartest person in the world," or so says the dust jacket. He accomplishes this by reading the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica. Frankly, I am enamored by the information I have discovered through this book. For instance, did you know that Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, wrote the children's book Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?

Terry Tate: Office Linebacker

With Super Bowl season upon us I thought it would be nice to relive one of the best Super Bowl moments of the last few years. Reebok's Terry Tate commercials were quite possibly some of the funniest TV spots that I can remember. They first appeared during the 2002 Super Bowl (XXVII).


If you can't see the video, here.

After the originals were through airing they created yet another short, Sensitivity Training.


If you can't see the video, here.

Keep Healthy...Buy a Pogo Stick!

A doctor in Arizona considers pogo-sticking a good way to exercise... [story]

I think these guys just like to have fun...





Whoa...I want one, too!

Anyone Have $700 I Can Borrow?

It is utter insanity how much textbooks for college cost.
Consider this:
If I buy all of my books brand new it will cost me OVER $700.
If I buy them all USED it will cost OVER $530.
Why is this SO ludicrous?
Because I only, technically, have 10 weeks of class this semester. The final five weeks will be spent performing a teaching practicum in an actual classroom...of campus.
In other words...I COULD pay between $500 and $700 for books that I'm going to, foresee ably, get 10 weeks of use out of.
Before you say anything, yes, I know that most books are available online. Unfortunately, most of mine seem so "specialized" that even used online they are nearly as expensive as the used ones in our bookstore.

The good news in all of this?
Thankfully I have someone who will share the brunt of the expenses with me, and who is in all of my classes.

Needless to say; I am slightly angry, hence the rant.
However, I am not nearly as angry as this guy...


If you can't see the video, here.

...and I would never treat a computer with such disrespect.

Thanks for listening, and, since I haven't mentioned it yet, if you have not already noticed my coauthor Andrea has returned and is again posting some fantastic(ly) interesting stuff.

You're Going to Ruin Your Breakfast!

In recent years I have endured gasps and intense scrutiny for drinking pop in the morning (sometimes with breakfast, usually McDonald's breakfast - I like the breakfast burritos). Thankfully, it has come to my attention that there are more people out there just like me, and the number is growing.

It's not unusual for Dee McKinsey to have three cans of Coke before she leaves the house each morning for her job as the regional director of boards and volunteerism at the American Cancer Society in Chicago.

"There is nothing better than the feel of Coke on the back of your throat in the morning," said McKinsey, a morning pop drinker since the 1970s, savoring the cold, stinging sensation that coffee drinkers just don't get.

But these days, more people are enjoying that chilled morning jolt as they increasingly turn to soft drinks instead of coffee, flaunting mom's no-pop-for-breakfast rule many had in their youth.

Consumption of soft drinks at breakfast eaten outside the home has nearly doubled in the past 15 years, while coffee consumption with breakfast outside the home has fallen nearly 25 percent, according to data compiled by New-York based consumer research firm NPD Group, which has offices in Rosemont.

The data is specific to drinks with meals and does not, for example, address the Starbucks phenomenon.

Breakfast consumers order a soft drink with their breakfast 15.1 percent of the time, compared with 7.9 percent of the time in 1990, said Harry Balzer, an NPD executive vice president who has studied American eating habits for more than 25 years. At the same time, Balzer said, coffee was being ordered 38 percent of the time, compared with 48.7 percent 15 years ago.

As I was growing up there always seemed to be this stigma about drinking pop in the morning, and therefore it was essentially given the seal of anathema (I like using words that I learn in theology classes) until noon, or later. However, now that I am in my fourth year of college I have discovered that I can drink a pop anytime I want, and I generally do: even, on occasion, with breakfast.

[Full Story Here]

No One Likes Getting Nagged...

But this guy took things WAAAAAAAAY too far.

When Ricardo A Nance Jr.'s mother told him that if he wanted to stay living in her house, he'd have to get a job, he responded with what might be termed an over-reaction. According to police, he burnt the house down.

Investigators looking into the torching of the house in Monroe, Louisiana say that Nance admitted using a cigarette lighter to set fire to the couch in the house he shared with his mother, after she had been nagging him to get a job or move out.

Nance is 31 years old.

[Full Story]

American Football in London.

London will hold the NFL's first regular-season game outside North America this year, the start of a campaign to take American football to a global audience. "There's great history of NFL football in London, and British fans have been great fans of football over the years," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said Tuesday. "We're confident that this game is going be a great success in London and will be a great foundation to play more games there going forward."

[Full Story]

Mutant Turtles

Mutation: (noun) a sudden departure from the parent type in one or more heritable characteristics, caused by a change in a gene or a chromosome

Perhaps two heads truly are better than one.

Nice and Cozy

Somedays you just want to curl up and take a nice long nap...with a python?!

Ok, now how many parents out there are interested in bringing one of these home for their young child's next pet?!

This picture kind of scares me.

Up or Down?

Life is full of "ups" and "downs," but they often don't come simultaneously...

Are these stairs going up or down?

[Link]

New Theological Outlook

Hebrews 2:9 reads: "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone." A Christian would say that Jesus died for the sins of the world, and that because of that, they receive salvation.

But a new theological explanation is on the rise...


You decide.

Count em up!

Who Says Elvis is Dead?

Canada's Collingwood Elvis Festival had held the record for the most Elvis impersonators singing at once - 78.

But 147 men in big black hair, sunglasses and jumpsuits smashed that record when they delivered a simultaneous rendition of Love Me Tender in Parkes yesterday.

[link]

New Years Post.

Here's the post I should have posted a couple of weeks ago...let's say around New Years. Every year, around New Years, people develop a list of resolutions, things which they resolve to change about themselves over the coming year; these could be things like, "quit smoking," "exercise more," or "stop yelling at people for no reason at all." Well, I've decided, this year, to take a slightly different approach.
Without further ado, here are 10 things about me that I have decided will probably never change...
1. I procrastinate (case in point, this post which is all about New Years and yet is being written two weeks after the fact.
2. I am, generally, unorganized, but this is not to say that I lose things. Far from it in fact. Everything has its place. That place may not be clean or tidy, but at least I know where it is.
3. I eat lots of junk food. However, I have been eating a lot more fruit this semester.
4. I drink lots of pop, soda...whatever you call it. For two years in a row I gave it up for Lent hoping that after that time I would not drink as much. That was not the case, so I probably won't give it up anymore.
5. I watch a lot of TV. Sometimes its only as background noise...most of the time its somewhat educational (Discovery Channel, History Channel, Jeopardy)
6. I get grumpy when I'm hungry...who doesn't?
7. I get annoyed when I'm tired...again, who doesn't?
8. I have become increasingly addicted to the internet.
9. I am a "cesspool of worthless knowledge." At least that's what my sister calls me since I always win Trivial Pursuit.
10. I can't stand American Idol...but I am a fan of Survivor and the Amazing Race...

There you have it, my admission of guilt.

The Indecency of a Society Gone Too Far.

America, the land of the free and the home of the brave...right?
Well, yes, America is the land of the free, but are we (Americans) really all that brave anymore? Unfortunately, I do not know how to answer that question. After all, what is bravery? I think everyone could, if they truly wanted to, come up with their own definition of the word. For example, I could (emphasis on could) consider myself brave for standing up as a young, white, middle-class, Christian, moderate in a society which (through the media at least) seems to celebrate a more, for lack of a better word, liberal ideal. I could, in contrast, consider myself a coward for failing, at multiple times in my life, to stand up for what I believe in when it was being mocked and slandered by those around me. What is bravery, and who displays it?
I know by now you are asking yourself, "what does this have to do with the title of the post?!" Well, I'm getting to that, albeit slowly. I spent most of this afternoon sitting on my couch watching TV and inanely flipping through the channels. At one point I stopped on MTV which was showing a re-run of the show "My Super Sweet 16." As I watched the 15 year old son of two musical celebrities whine about the fact that his birthday invitations (which consisted of an mp3 player holding a recorded message inviting the listener to his party) weren't ready when they were supposed to be I realized how incredibly selfish and materialistic our society has become. This kid is 16 years old. He's had everything handed to him. He hasn't had to work a day in his life, and probably never will.

One quote that I have been thinking about a lot lately goes like this, "Tolerance is the virtue of a man without convictions." I've been thinking about it because of something I heard someone say a couple of weeks ago. "I don't really believe in anything," he said, and that seemed, to me, to sum up how our society works. It seems that many people don't WANT to believe in anything because if you believe in one thing then you are alienating someone else and therefore annihilating their freedom to believe in whatever they want to believe in. Therefore, people flounder on the issues and lack the conviction it takes to make a finalized decision, and in so doing become completely tolerant human beings who lack the ability to truly believe in anything. They want (fill in the blank), but only if it doesn't interfere with (fill in the blank) and it has to come from (fill in the blank). They leave the decisions up to others, and then, when they don't like the decision, they get upset about it. (For clarification, I'm not just talking about the President)

I realize that this post has strayed from what generally is published on this blog, but its something I've been thinking about a lot lately and had to get out there. I also realize that this post may be slightly ambiguous and scattered, that was the point. Take from it what you will...maybe it's just the ramblings of someone who spent 13 hours in a car on Friday and should be asleep right now (it is 1:30 AM after all). This could possibly be the most dizzyingly ambiguous thing I've ever written; I promise that tomorrow everything will be back to...normal?

Jump Around.

I've really got to get off of this video kick. Most of my...no, all of my posts for the past few days have been somehow video related, but they're just so cool!
Here's another one featuring a guy who takes "free walking" to a new level.


If you can't see the video, here.

Did you notice that there is no seat on that bicycle?
Via

The Living Camera

Stephen Wiltshire is autistic and is considered an idiot savant for his ability to draw accurately from memory. In this video he takes a 45 minute helicopter ride above Rome and is then given three days to draw what he remembers, here's what happens...


If you can't see the video, here.

Amazing.

L.A. County Fair.

A series of commercials for last year's L.A. County Fair.


If you can't see the video, here.


If you can't see the video, here.


If you can't see the video, here.

Can I Take Your Order?

Just a bunch of guys trying to get some McDonald's


If you can't see the video, here.

Who Does Hasselhoff Think He Is?

Hasselhoff...wow...

Hooked on a Feeling

If you can't see the video; here.

Secret Agent Man

If you can't see the video; here.

Jump in My Car

If you can't see the video; here.

And finally, in German.

If you can't see the video; here.

Typical Montana Weather

Billings Montana records a difference of 53 degrees between 2 PM and 11 PM.
At 2 PM the temperature was 54 degrees and I was hiking around outside taking pictures (some of which can be viewed here), as of the news at 11 PM it was 1 degree out and we had an inch+ of snow. That's Montana for you.

Butte Montana = Toxic

If you can't see the video; here.

Weird Daily.

I am now a contributor for Weird Daily, a blog very similar to this one which chronicles the strange occurrences of everyday life. Don't worry, I will continue to update this blog on a regular basis with funny videos, etc, but many of my weird news blogs will be posted over there.
Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me over Christmas break, I know the posts have been fairly sporadic lately. Next week will pick up as I will be back at school.

UPDATE! URINAL THIEF CAUGHT!

The thief profiled in this post has been caught!

Apparently he took the bathroom fixture as a souvenir, albeit a very odd one.

Full Story.

Top Ten Calculator Phrases.

School children everywhere rejoice as Casio releases the top ten phrases which can be written on a Casio calculator in celebration of the 1 Billionth Calculator leaving the assembly line.

Casio’s Top 10 favourite calculator words:
1. Boobies (5318008)
2. Bellies (5317738)
3. Boobless (55378008)
4. Bogies (531608)
5. Sizzles (5372215)
6. Gobbles (5378806)
7. Google (376006)
8. Boogie (316008)
9. Shell Oil (71077345)
10. Esso (0553)

Full Story via Weird Daily.

Truth is Sometimes Stranger Than Fiction.

The plot for Snakes on a Plane was full of holes, but at least there was an explanation as to why the snakes were on the plane (even if the questions of how they got there and how they survived went unanswered). Unfortunately the origins of a scorpion which stung a man on a flight from Chicago to Vermont may never be truly known.
The man, who was on the second leg of a journey from San Francisco to Vermont, was apparently stung on the leg while sleeping on the plane and then again while he and his wife were waiting for their luggage. He then went to the hospital and reported feeling ill the next day, a common side effect of being stung. Scorpion stings are rarely fatal to adults, according to the story.

"You're much more likely to die from an ... allergic reaction to a bee sting," the doctor said.

Sullivan said he was taking the experience in stride. "I've traveled enough in tropical climates, Argentina, South America, to know about the risks from insects and animals and microorganisms. ... It's a dangerous world out there."

He said he hadn't seen the recent movie, "Snakes on a Plane," starring Samuel L. Jackson. "I'm pretty selective about what I see," Sullivan said. "Maybe I have to see it now."

Full Story.

Sibling Rivalry.

It's official, Don't Forget Your Sunscreen is a big brother. Ok, maybe that was just a bit too cheesy, but I honestly could not think of anything else to say here.
Yesterday I purchased Corel's Paint Shop Pro Photo XI and decided that there was really no reason to have it if I wasn't going to share the pictures I was messing with. Therefore I have created a photo blog which you can view here.
I hope you enjoy it. I'm going to try and keep it updated fairly often and am inviting some other photographers to join me, we'll see what happens.

Not so Flushed Away.

Toilets are in the news today.

In the recent kids movie "Flushed Away," where a white rat named Roddy (voiced by Hugh Jackman) who lives his life of luxury as a pet in London and gets flushed down the toilet by a not-so-friendly intruding rat, Spike. In contrast, residence of Tuscon, Arizona have been finding rats in their toilet bowls. Apparently the determined vermin have been swimming up the pipes and finding their way into people's homes. According to reports, the rats resemble the kinds which are found in pet stores and science labs.

Making it from the sewer up the lines into someone's toilet is a difficult trip, Hagen Fairbanks said.

A four-inch pipe, called the house connection sewer, or HCS, runs from the house to a sewer main. And there's no "trap door" or other barrier in place, she said.

But if the lines are running, the rats have to hold their breath and swim uphill in the pipes against the water current.

"If the rat makes it through your HCS, that's a determined rat," she said.

Full Story.

Don't Squat on a Stolen Pot.

The title to this post may be slightly misleading since the article in question isn't actually a toilet but instead a urinal.
Apparently, a thief in London decided it would be a good idea to steal a urinal from a pub. Authorities believe that he may be a plumber trying to cut cost, and corners, by stealing the parts he needs. This theory is based on the fact that he did such an expert job of removing the urinal from the bathroom wall.

There he carefully removed a white urinal from the wall, stuffed it into a rucksack and was captured on closed circuit television walking out with the bulging sack on his back.

"He made a very, very expert job of dismantling it from the wall and turning the water off. A very professional job," landlord Alan Dreja said in a video posted on the Southampton Daily Echo newspaper's Web site.

Full Story.

You're Not Going to Get Anywhere That Way.

WAUSAU, Wisconsin (AP) -- Who is that mysterious, elegant man? And why is he sitting on a dead horse?

Such are the questions sparked by a black-and-white photograph taken in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, between 1876 and 1884 that has led to nationwide curiosity, speculation and jokes.

Full Story.

My Home's In Montana!

From today's Billings Gazette:

Laugh Lines:
So, God was showing the angels the different parts of the earth he was creating, what land would be covered in ice and what would be desert.
When he came to Montana and Wyoming, he said, "Ah these two states will be the most glorious places on earth. There will be beautiful mountains, clear and fish-filled rivers and people will be fun, hardworking and wonderful"
The angels gasped in wonder.
Finally one said, "What about balance, God? You said there would be balance."
God replied, "Wait until you see the idiots I'm putting around them."

Just as an aside, I was born in Wyoming and grew up mostly in Montana...so I've got that going for me.

Don't Forget To Recycle

These guys should go on tour reminding kids to recycle (or at least encouraging them to not litter).


If you can't see the video; here.

Don't Have a Band?

Just create your own backing track!
I like this song, and the way she performs it live makes me like it even more.


If you can't see the video; here.

Year in Review 2006

Part Five of Five

First off...my plan was to have all of this done by the time 2006 was over, that plan changed when I went to Bozeman, MT for New Years Eve and didn't have access to a computer.

Anyways, here's what has happened on this blog in the last few months:

Number of Posts = 100 (with this one)
Number of Hits = @ 2000 (at the time of this post)

Hopefully both numbers will rise exponentially in the new year - Happy belated New Years to everyone!

Year in Review 2006

Part 4 of 5

Worst Place to get stranded when you are on your way back to college and your radiator hose unexpectedly explodes...



Kadoka, South Dakota