I hope you've had a great 2018—and 2019 will bring you nothing but the best!!
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As we close out and old year—today's video features a very brave (or crazy) photographer who decided to sit on a river bank and take pictures of bears feeding on salmon.
The video begins when when he is joined by a bear who nonchalantly walks right up to where he is sitting and takes a seat next to him—just feet away.
Bears reportedly have poor vision—and a breeze is blowing that may be obscuring the photographers scent—so the bear may not even be aware of him.
Hope you are having a wonderful week—and if you're celebrating Christmas—you're able to relax and enjoy all the festivities a bit.
Unfortunately, during this Holiday Season—thieves aren't taking any time off—and videos of "porch pirates" stealing Christmas packages from homes are being uploaded almost as fast as the crooks are trying to steal them. On the upside—some people are hoping to make criminals think twice by using clever methods—from loading "dummy" packages with heavy rocks and dog droppings—to one guy who claims to have added a mechanized "fart spray" to a decoy parcel—set to go off when it was opened.
: )
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Today's very entertaining video—shows a home at night, decorated with cheery Christmas lights—as a thief saunters up to the porch to steal a package conspicuously left there.
A Screen Capture From The Video Below
Fortunately for us—he gets a nice surprise instead—when a 12 gauge shotgun blank is triggered and goes off when he picks it up—and the video shows him hilariously sprinting off into the darkness.
: )
Whether your celebrations have been dampened by thieves this year or not—it's quite funny and VERY satisfying video to watch.
Enjoy!
LiveLeak Advisory Warning Below *
Thanks for stopping by! See you again soon!
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Merry Christmas!
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* LiveLeak Advisory Warning:
This video is embedded from LiveLeak—a video hosting site similar to YouTube and others like it. Content on LiveLeak is NOT as moderated, however—so there are videos containing accidents, violence, fatalities and suicides, sexuality/nudity, and other graphic content. In addition—video comments too often include hateful rhetoric, insults, and vile racist language.
As the operator of this blog—in the strongest possible way—I DO NOT endorse or condone racism and hatred of any kind against any individual or group—but rather condemn it and those who perpetrate or espouse it in any form.
Whether you celebrate Christmas or not—most everyone is probably aware of its symbols in popular culture: Christmas trees and carols, holiday lights—and of course Santa and his sleigh towed by reindeer.
The folks at Rollin' Wild created a very funny video with their own brand of unique and very "round animals"—this time on a roof top with some very roly-poly reindeer and Santa's sleigh.
I got a kick out of this one—and hope you will too.
In a recent post (11-23-18) I shared an awesome animation—and that video led me to discovering this one: The LA-Z Rider "opening" for the The Simpsons TV Show.
Screen Shots From The Video
It turns Homer into a live-action hero—and Ned Flanders into a super-villain.
: )
Enjoying this is predicated on knowing a bit about that TV show — but unless you don't watch any television — it's been hard to miss The Simpsons ubiquitous presence — so even if you're not a dedicated fan you'll likely "get" it.
Years ago when I was a wee lad — the little town I grew up in would hold parades to mark certain holidays or events — and because we lived in the mountains there were a lot of "western" themed floats and people riding horses and so on.
In fact — in one parade, my sister and I rode our horses — Frosty and Dusty — as part of our 4H "horseman-ship" group.
I'll never forget though — that one kind looking old cowboy would show up over the years riding a HUGE bull.
The street would be crowded with people — and the old guy would steer < cow joke) the gigantic bull back and forth across the road — zig-zagging his way along the parade route.
The bull seemed very tame and endured being saddled, ridden, and put on display— in front of a boisterous and loud audience who'd cheer and yell as he rode by.
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I found a video today that brought that memory flooding back.
Screen Capture From The Video - Aston Thinks He's A Horse
I'll let the video description fill in a few more details:
"Sabine Rouas, 43, met Aston the bull five years ago when she started helping out at a nearby cow farm near Verdun, northern France. She formed a close bond with the newborn calf - then called M309 - and convinced the farmer to let her buy him and save him from slaughter. Animal-lover Sabine then raised him alongside her pony Sammy, now 10, and noticed the baby cow was picking up the tricks she was teaching her new horse. Now Aston enjoys his freedom and training alongside other horses."
Hope you enjoy this video as much as I did.
: )
Thanks as always for stopping by!
See you again soon!
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* Notice:
LiveLeak is a video hosting site like YouTube.
If you follow any links there, however, please be advised that it is not as moderated — so there are videos of car wrecks, violence, and other graphic content.
In
addition — comments under the videos often include rough and course
language — and sadly far too often vile racist and other sickening hate
speech. I do not condone, approve of, or endorse — and completely disavow — ALL racist or hateful language, comments, or ideals.
Earlier this year — I posted a video of an elk running along side a car driving along a roadway and then leaping over the road right in front of the car.
I just found a video so similar at first I thought it was the same one — only reversed from left to right.
But after taking a closer look — it's clear this is a different one.
: )
Screen Capture Sequence From The Video Below
Quote From the Original Up-loader's Description:
"On November 12, 2018, a very unexpected situation occurred in Golina Wielka, Poland. I recorded a deer running along the car. After a short moment, the deer jumped over the [road right in front of the car]."
Even though I don't understand what they're saying in the video — I love their surprised reactions!
Hope you enjoy this too.
LiveLeak Warning below *
* Warning:
LiveLeak is a video hosting site like YouTube.
If you follow any links there, however, please be advised that it is not as moderated — so there are videos of car wrecks, violence, and other graphic content.
In addition — comments under the videos often include rough and course language — and sadly far too often vile racist and other sickening hate speech. I do not condone, approve of, or endorse — and completely disavow — ALL racist or hateful language, comments, or ideals.
Today I'll share two animations in the order I discovered them—because while the quality of the first video is low-fi—I prefer its blue tint and music over the "official" version.
Screen Captures From The First Video Below
If you are already familiar with very early animation—you'll immediately see that it re-creates the character stylings, look and feel of those OLD light-hearted efforts from Betty Boop to Disney and Popeye, etc—but adds a very dark twist with the content shining a light on modern society's murky fixation with smart phones, selfies, social media, swiping left and right, and celebrity—and the way far too many are sleep-walking through lives while glued to electronic devices.
It has a decidedly dark edge to it—and I love it.
Hope you enjoy this as well.
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BTW—the music bed in this first one (which is a bit discordant in the beginning) starts after about 8 seconds.....
Today I'll share another video about ancient history: The 9 Lives of Alexander the Great
— highlights Alexander's military conquests and triumphs as he stormed across the map.
Inspiring devotion and loyalty from his army — he leaped into battle — often fighting ferociously against insurmountable odds — and leading by example by being first into the front lines of many fights.
Along the way Alexander suffered grievous wounds and nearly died many times — so there is irony in his final death from fever once he had returned home again and had ended his military conquests.
Screen Capture From The Video Below
The video is narrated well and is filled with graphics that help explain this history of one of the world's most well known and celebrated leaders.
Enjoy!
Thanks as always for stopping by! See you again soon!
Today I'll share another excellent animation—this time from Lighting Boy Studio.
According to it's description on YouTube:
"[This] project first gained a lot of attention following the huge success
of its Kickstarter campaign.
Many were impressed by the passion and determination of the small team
of three animators, who spent more than two full years creating the
10-minute film.
The film tells the story of two spirited travelers who come across an incredibly wide chasm on their journey and decide to build a bridge to cross it.
Screen Captures From The Video Below
Entitled 'Le Gouffre' (The Chasm) — has been selected in more than 60 festivals around
the world and won nine awards, four of them for "Best Animated Short":
Today I'll share another video of theirs — this time on the History of Greece.
Just 18 minutes long — the video quickly moves through historical aspects of Ancient Greece such as "Homer, The Minotaur, the 300 Spartans, Greek Theater, the Parthenon, the foundations of Democracy," and Alexander the Great — encapsulating pre-Greek history through it's historical end — to the fledgling rise of Rome as a super-power.
Screen Capture From The Video Below — Showing The Boundaries Of Classical Greek Culture
As with the last video this one is Narrated by Brian Cox — who has an engaging delivery and voice — and the video is filled with maps, graphics, and images — and has a light feel with some humorous touches.
If you've visited this blog before — you're probably already aware that I love animals of all kinds — from the smallest to the largest.
I do have to admit however — that there is something special to me about the large woodland creatures found in forests around the world — like deer, elk, moose, and bears.
While not dramatic — today's video features AWESOME footage of a rare white moose in Sweden.
Screen Capture From The Video
According to the video's description: "Despite being completely [white, they] are not considered albino, but rather piebald."
I'm not certain about this because the definition found on Wikipedia seems to indicate that piebald coloring has patches of both pigmented and un-pigmented coloring — the the moose in this video is completely white.
Many years ago I purchased a copy of the book Sun Tzu - The Art of War intending to read it.
When I did finally sit down with it — I was bogged down by the LENGTHY introduction and early chapters where the origins of the ancient manuscript, the history of its time, the translation techniques, and so on — were gone over with a fine tooth comb.
I began to find all the technical information uninteresting — and ultimately put the book back on the shelf where it's been since then.
Once Trump became President people were saying he's read it — and bases much of what he does on the theories Sun Tzu espoused — so I decided to give it another try.
^ ^ Donald Trump Tweet From 2012 ^ ^
So with renewed interest — I dusted off my copy — turned past the ENDLESS academic introductory information — and went straight to the chapters featuring the translations of Tzu's writings.
It is indeed very enlightening to read his strategies — many of which seem like simple common sense — and understand that any successful battle involves planning and thought — rather than just blinding running head-long into it.
This isn't to say that successful battles haven't been won by throwing caution to the wind — but those who win multiple battles or campaigns generally haven't been so reckless.
These strategies can be applied to winning in sports, and in business and politics— but it can also be applied to maneuvering through all the pit-falls we encounter with people and in our lives.
If you think as I do, that "war" is something that should be avoided at all costs — Sun Tzu (who lived from 544 to 496 BC) makes it clear that not having to go to battle is the best strategy — and it is best to out-think your enemy instead of fighting them.
The video below encapsulates the book in a brisk 5 minutes — and highlights a few key strategies found in it.
Unless you are already very well versed in the ancient history of Rome — this very cool video will make a great start — or a quick refresher for those who already know a bit.
In just 20 minutes the video-makers, Arzamas, take you from the pre-Roman era — to it's early foundations — and then speedily through it's triumphs and glories to its ultimate end as an empire.
It definitely makes an excellent launching pad into understanding that time in history — and it because it is presented in a crisp, informative way — it certainly isn't a boring history lesson.
Arzamams includes maps and graphics of Rome from its earliest days — to its ever expanding boundaries — and detail the personalities, wars and political intrigues that made everything Roman possible along the way: From Romulus and Remus to the Pax Romana — and its rulers from Tiberius to Caligula, and Constantine — and much, much more
The video-makers assert that the Roman empire was a breeding ground for a lot of the western language, culture, and forms of governments we take for granted today!
Hope you enjoy this excellent, informative video as much as I do.
From the 2nd Act of the ballet "The Nutcracker" — Waltz of the Flowers — written in 1892 — is one of those classical pieces that has regularly been used in movies and TV shows.
Walt Disney famously used it in his epic 1940's 2D animation, Fantasia.
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If you'd like to learn more about this piece or the Warsaw Philharmonic — check out this link:
If you haven't seen this yet you are in for a treat — on the other hand if you've already seen it — it's definitely worth another view.
On Sunday, September 23, 2018, the LA Galaxy took on the Seattle Sounders — but before their professional soccer match began "Galaxy Social
National Anthem Contest" winner — 7-year-old Malea Emma sang the US National Anthem.
She is ADORABLE — but to stop there would marginalize her major talent as a singer. Completely poised before the crowd and players she gives a goose-bump performance of the anthem — belting out high notes and even adding some throaty flare near the end.
Though the today's video is shot by a shaky hand-held device it's definitely worth watching!
It shows a motorcyclist in India missing being crushed by landslide by mere seconds.
According to the video's description:
"The dramatic footage, shows traffic stopped on a mountain road with debris from an earlier landslide strewn across the tarmac. Drivers are wisely waiting to see if any more landslides may be triggered. One motorcyclist, however, decides to brave it and crosses the debris — but as he does a huge mass of rock and mud falls onto the road, [just seconds from hitting him]!"
Sometimes it's easy to get jaded with all the amazing stuff you can find on the Internet and start to think you've seen it all.
Fortunately there are still a lot of awesome surprises too.
Today I clicked on a video expecting to be underwhelmed—and found myself literally exclaiming "WOAH!" out loud.
: )
The title on YouTube is "Meanwhile in Alaska: this giant wandering in the streets at
midnight..." and it features a magnificent, GIGANTIC moose with impressive antlers walking along a roadway as a guy in a car films it.
The guy's accent makes it sound like it might have taken place in Canada—(and his commentary is a tad bit annoying)—but the video definitely makes up for that in my humble opinion.
Hope you agree!
Today's video isn't dramatic—but is very heart-warming.
From the 2017 video's description *:
"US elementary School teacher, Jerusha Willenborg, learned the personalized handshake of each of her 3rd grade students at Mueller Elementary School in Wichita, Kansas.
Footage shows her performing the incredible faced-paced handshakes which include foot taps and dabs.
She told local media at the time the story broke that after one student taught her his special greeting, all the other students wanted one.
She writes: 'I started performing my handshakes during my first year of teaching.
The students make up their own and teach them to me.
It is special between me and that student and has helped build a strong bond.'"
It's awesome to see these kids line up to receive their special handshake—and get a hug at the end too.
Warning: If you visit this link please be advised that Live Leak videos are not usually so warm-hearted or tame.
L.L. allows users to post content that other sites will not—including violence, car accidents, suicides, nudity, sexual content, and other very graphic videos.
In addition, although the site is moderated, sadly some users still choose to post racist and sexist comments—and some are simply designed to ridicule others or incite anger, hatred, and division between people, etc.
I have another unusual video today—this time of a young woman named Luna—Playing a Dire Straits Song (Sultans Of Swing) on Her Gayageum.
From Wikipedia: "The gayageum or kayagum is a traditional Korean zither-like string instrument, with 12 strings, though some more recent variants have 21 or other number of strings."
As you can see in the Screen Capture From the video—Luna uses insets of her playing different parts.
Anywho—it's very interesting and unusual in my opinion.
Hope you enjoy this too.
(A short 6 second ad embedded by the video host will play at the beginning)
Today's video may not be for everyone—but I thought it was very cool—and definitely unusual.
The description on the site where I found it gives very little information—but it features a guy in what looks like a European city somewhere using an digital sampler/controller to mix various sounds he creates by ringing bike bells, blowing in bottles—along with sounds he makes with his mouth, a little scatting, and a dash of singing too.
He improvises an entire track while he walks and dances along the street. What really makes it enjoyable is that he looks like he's having fun—and the people he encounters respond to his enthusiastic performance with smiles—although some seem a bit bewildered as well.
: )
The video is titled "Rico Loop - In One Shot"—which I think is a nod to the performer's name—and of course that it is one continuous shot of him.
Hope you get a kick out of this too.
PS: The best part in my opinion is when he plays a harmonica in a bluesy style at about 2:23...and he's pretty good too!
Today's post is about almost the exact same thing — but this time with a Driver and Gardner — also in Spain.
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In June of 2016 - Two men "in the town of Jerez de la
Frontera, southern Spain, have been fired after the town hall discovered
they had been collecting pay but not going to work for a period of up
to 15 years.
The Human Resources department in the town council at first discovered
that the two men had not been to work for a single day in 2015 or so far
in 2016 when they were going through their records.
But on further inspection they discovered that the period stretched much further back than they could have imagined.
The town admitted on its own website that: The two "could have gone years without coming to work [and] according to a
written statement by the men themselves this situation could date back
15 years.' Their union defended the men suggesting 'that they were simply taking off their "accumulated days" and
those of other employees, which can be shared."
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The two men are not the only workers exposed as having worked much fewer hours than they should have.
The town hall claims that it also discovered that several workers from
the local police had worked fewer than 100 days in 2015.
One member worked only 47 days in 2015, while another worked 66. In February 2016 it was discovered that a civil servant has failed to
turn up to work for six years but had continued to collect his salary
each month when no one noticed his absence.
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Now if we could only talk the government workers in the U.S. into not "working" too.
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Thanks for stopping by!
See you again soon
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The original story for this blog-post was found on LiveLeak:
If you venture over to LiveLeak be forewarned that some of the videos, stories and links there can be quite shocking or disturbing to some. In addition, many of those commenting use obscene language and racial slurs. While videos, links, and information found on LiveLeak are sometimes posted here—this blog does NOT in ANY way endorse racist or obscene language posted by individual users there.
Unless your smile is broken—today's video should put one on your face.
; )
The video features a cute little boy in a dentists office—and the dentist entertaining him with some really well executed magic tricks using little red lights.
The dentists involves the little boy in the tricks—completely mesmerizing, and delighting the kid.
It's so fun to watch!
A Screen Capture From The Video Below
PS: Sometimes going to the dentist can be a frightening experience for kids—but I'll bet this little guy will look forward to his next visit.
Many years ago—right after I moved to the Arizona desert—I was driving home in a severe rain storm.
The rain was coming down HARD in a driving wind—so I decided to stop and take shelter at a convenience store—rather than risk driving in what was becoming very dangerous conditions.
Once inside, I wandered around the the small store just killing time—and peering out the window occasionally waiting for the heavy rain and wind to end.
All at once the whole building began to shake under a tremendous downward wind.
Thankfully, it only lasted seconds—both because it was pretty scary—and also because I sincerely believe the building could not have with-stood much more and collapsed.
Later—When the rain and wind finally slowed—I continued my journey homeward and found the roads covered with large tree branches and leaves—and all kinds of debris.
Then I came upon an entire shed that was sitting in the middle of the road—obviously blown there by the wind.
I knew then that it had been a very destructive storm that had covered a large area.
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Later when I made it home—I turned on the TV and discovered all the local News Stations talking about the storm and the "Micro-Burst" that had hit the area I'd just driven through.
A Wikipedia entry about Micro-Bursts describes them succinctly:
"A micro-burst is an intense small-scale downdraft produced by a thunderstorm or rain shower."
Someone shared this NASA image on that entry—to illustrate the phenomena.
"Illustration of a
micro-burst. The air moves in a downward motion until it hits ground
level. It then spreads outward in all directions."
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Recently, photographer Peter Maier captured an amazing time-lapse sequence of an awesome rainstorm passing over a large lake and dumping a literal waterfall of rain driven downward by a micro-burst—(uploaded to his YouTube Channel on 6-12-18).
Peter poetically calls what he captured a "Tsunami from Heaven"—which is a fitting description IMHO.
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Check out the AWESOME video below—and see if you don't agree that it is awe inspiring!
This video has been circulating the Internet for quite a while now—but it is still amazing to revisit—or see for the first time if you haven't already.
A Screen Capture From The Video Below
Taken on 5-27-2017 from a security cam—the footage shows a very young boy and girl walking along a dark street in Kukatpally, India—cutely holding hands.
Within moments a pack of dogs runs at them barking and terrifying the poor kids.
The little girl runs off leaving the 5 year old boy standing there by himself.
At first he stands his ground—but then tries to run too—which causes the dogs to chase after him and surround him.
Check out the video and see what this awesomely brave little guy does next!!
Thanks so much for stopping by! See you again soon!
Screen Capture From Video Below - Judges Scoring John Smiths Brewery's Hilarious Diving Competition
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Hi!
Most of the time TV commercials are a pain—interrupting programs and trying to sell us services and products that often don't even slightly interest us.
On rare occasions—though—they can be quite entertaining.
Thankfully—Culturepub seeks these out and shares them so we can all enjoy their magnificence. : )
Case in point is this 2003 commercial for John Smiths Brewery in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, England.
It shows a diving competition with—shall we say—an unusual competitor. Hope it gives you a laugh too.
A Screen Capture From The 3D Animation — "Extinguished"
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Hi!
Through the years, Ringling College Of Art And Design in Sarasota, Florida, has produced a number of excellent student animators and artists—and many go on to work for the major studios that create the large budget 3D animated films, TV cartoons, and commercials/ads we're all likely familiar with. Fortunately, the school and its students share their animation projects on-line—and IMHO many rival the quality of what you'd expect from a studio with a HUGE budget like Pixar.
A case in point, is a lovely 3D animation called Extinguished—by Ringling students Ashley Anderson and Jacob Mann.
Screen Captures From The 3D Animation — "Extinguished"
The plot features a young man searching for love—and all the highs and lows that go along with that.
Bonus points go to Corey Wallace who created a perfect music track for this student project. Enjoy!
Extinguished from Extinguished Short Film on Vimeo.
"Extinguished" by Ashley Anderson and Jacob Mann
In a world where flames represent love, it's easy to get your heart burned.
Created at Ringling College of Art and Design
https://www.facebook.com/ExtinguishedMovie/
Jacob Mann - jacobmannart.com - jmann@c.ringling.edu
Ashley Anderson - ashleyanderson.squarespace.com - aanderso@c.ringling.edu
Superlatives are very overused these days—but this video of a Ross Sisters performance is truly AWE inspiring!
This trio of sisters were not only a triple threat by birth—but all three could sing and harmonize—AND they were phenomenal athletes who could do acrobatic moves that clearly required unbelievable flexibility and strength to perform.
Screen Captures From The Video Below
Their singing/dancing/acrobatic routine of Solid Potato Saladis from 1944's Broadway Rhythm—which was originally filmed in black and white—but is nicely colorized in this version.
There's a bit of corny acting that starts this clip—but the video is embedded to start at 1:23—just before the sisters start singing/dancing.
Their acrobatics begin at about 2:25.
Enjoy!
Thanks for Stopping by! See you again soon! -----------------
If you are the last one to leave could you please switch off the lights?
