extra christmas presents

if you are based in the USA, then SPIN magazine has a treat for you! Click Here to get taken to their downloads page (iTunes required) - free tracks from MGMT, The Walkmen and Spoon.

santa lives in NYC

lemons + love + water =

beard cage

yarn bombing

(translated into british as yarn storming..."because you can't say bombing" ) is basically graffiti knitting . so now your grandma, nephew or cousin can produce some street art of their own, keeping door handles cosy and parking meters warm.

swimming pool exit dance

are you a bit of an extrovert?
do you like wearing skimpy clothing to show off your figure?
do you think you can dance?
great! click here for further instructions.

scatological humour...

we brits sure do love toilet humour...and though i'm a little late to the game, i couldn't resist sharing the online application called "Flush Tracker". it does what it says on the tin. it tracks your poo.

virtuoso in the underground

walking through the metro/subway/underground in many big cities, you'll often hear strains of music competing against the rush of trains and masses of footsteps filling the air. do you ever stop and listen, or are you too busy to stop and stare? next time this happens, maybe pause for thought. it may be virtuoso violinist Joshua Bell enriching your life for free.

please vote for me

china isn't exactly renowned for its democratic ideals. that doesn't mean that social experiments with kids on the topic aren't wonderfully entertaining - on the contrary. as this trailer for Please Vote For Me shows, young children are wonderful little politicians. Luckily for us, they just haven't been taught the lesson about not being caught on camera. Overthrow Xiaofei!

roadsworth

..."What began as a form of activism rooted in a desire for more bike paths eventually grew into an art project that, to a certain extent, continues today. Fuelled by a sense of righteous indignation I also felt empowered by the expressive and creative outlet that street art afforded me. Instead of feeling like a helpless passenger on a train headed for disaster I felt that I had created a voice for myself amid the noise of the city."

in short, amusing and awesome street art .

kilian martin

iconic roadtrips

doing a roadtrip across the USA has always been one of my travel to-do's, but it starts to get complicated when it comes to deciding the route. if you're a movie buff, well - now the route to take doesn't have to be such a difficult choice: a kind soul at NYU has come up with an interactive map of movie road-trips from Thelma and Louise to Easy Rider.

cookieboy

if you can dream it, cookieboy can bake it. click on "works" to see what theoretical treats can come from an oven...

The War of the Scarves

The keffiyah - the Scarf Formerly Known As A Political Statement - is a fashion staple in the west, with the political aspect long forgotten. However, politics is coming back into fashion as the last Palestinian factory which produces the scarves is finding it very difficult to compete with Chinese imports.

False Confessions

A really interesting article on NYMag.com, asking why people confess to crimes they didn't commit.

conflictKitchen

Conflict Kitchen is a take-out restaurant that only serves cuisine from countries that the United States is in conflict with. The food is served out of a take-out style storefront, which will rotate identities every four months to highlight another country. Each Conflict Kitchen iteration is augmented by events, performances, and discussion about the the culture, politics, and issues at stake with each country we focus on.

nine minute ink

here comes trouble

the ugly dance

this is what happens when websites and music make babies.
the ugly dance.

paupers need not apply

a magazine for those who really have everything....except their own private island .

one day...sigh

lightshow

this starts off slowly...and then it messes with your head.

power is beauty

the new york times has short videos of female tennis players in slow motion . it sounds random....but just watch and enjoy

karma

this is an advert by Migros, one of the two major Swiss supermarkets.


[translation: "Respect Nature. One day, the animals will do the same for you"]

cliche

...sometimes, nothing beats a good sunset

thirtyfive MM

35 movies, simplified to a single concept. beautiful ...but frustrating!

and...everyone have a nice day....thankyou

mirrorkicks

strongmen and acrobats

egg vs chicken

i am sure you will all be thrilled, ecstatic, overjoyed...to learn that as of july 2010, scientists are pretty darn sure the chicken came first.

but that of course then begs the question...where did the chicken come from??

blu COMBO

COMBO a collaborative animation by Blu and David Ellis (2 times loop) from blu on Vimeo.

smile and the world smiles with you

laugh....and you can achieve world peace...??!

that's enough to make anyone giggle...

south korean pixels

rise above plastics

Here in Switzerland, plastics recycling is maybe a few steps ahead of other countries: there are big blue PET recycling bins all over the place, so you can return your empty Sprite or Rivella bottle, and HD-PE can also be disposed of in a friendly manner. Supermarkets charge you for shopping bags - and they are made out of paper. However, this isn't the case in a lot of places. Head on over to the Rise Above Plastics site for some informative videos, nice explanations and inspiration as to how you can continue to make our world a little better, day by day.

when insults had class

this wryly amusing collection of insults will unfailingly put a smirk, if not a smile, on your face. Mae West had a point when she said,
“His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork.”
Owned.

mario rules the school

information is beautiful

a little website which visually displays information in colourful, unexpected ways...such as the David McCandless "Colors in Cultures" colour-wheel ;

"Caffeine Vs Calories" ;

and an intriguing "Because Every Country is the Best at Something" - did you know Canadians are the #1 Fruit Juice Drinkers?!

dutchgenius

backwards + forwards

in case you are somehow unaware that LOST has now finished, there are sure to be many, many articles and videos celebrating, parodying and bemoaning The End. It was confusing, uplifting - and for some, satisfying. If you were left a little bemused and disappointed, then maybe this video will improve your opinion; I know it did mine!

Up There

UP THERE from The Ritual Project on Vimeo.

is the pope even a christian?

apparently not. or can we maybe rename the post to "the pot" to stop confusion? or maybe "kettle"... either way, the man-who-demands-respect-yet-does-nothing-to-deserve-it has proclaimed to a gathering of lay Catholics in Portugal "that he appreciated their efforts fighting abortion and promoting the family based on the "indissoluble marriage between a man and woman"—the Vatican's way of expressing its opposition to divorce and same-sex unions.

Such initiatives "help respond to some of the most insidious and dangerous threats to the common good today," he said. "Alongside numerous other forms of commitment, such initiatives represent essential elements in the building of the civilization of love."

What those 'other forms of commitment' are, is as of yet, still to be outlined. My guess would be a)the commitment to abusing young boys; b)the commitment to a wilful disregard for human life when preaching against the use of condoms when HIV/AIDS kills so many every day; c)the complete devaluation of women, as persons unable to decide what's best for themself.

I do not understand why so many millions of people around the world continue to revere this misogynistic, uncharitable "christian". I for one am looking forward to the day he loses the ability to speak.

art in a teacup

more can be found at Isabelle Krieg's website

the moral life of babies

A gently provocative article by the New York Times Magazine, it contains the wonderful sentence,
A sympathetic parent might see the spark of consciousness in a baby’s large eyes and eagerly accept the popular claim that babies are wonderful learners, but it is hard to avoid the impression that they begin as ignorant as bread loaves.

this is strangely compelling

inky, blinky, pinky and clyde

what do pac-man ghosts do when not chasing their arch-nemesis?
turns out, they want to know what's going on on The Island as much as the rest of us!!

commandment #11: you must pee standing up.

so sayeth the lord?!

black(board)

Lëtzebuergesch,हिन्दी, and العربية

openCulture have a great directory of free, online language lessons in a surprising variety of languages. So whether Luxemburgisch, Hindi or Arabic - or indeed Spanish, German or Japanese - interest you...go download!

like parkour on bikes

boobQuake

monday, april 26th 2010 is the day that will go down in history as when the world experienced the most horrendous earthquake, EVER.
well, that is, if you believe (like a certain Iranian imam, a guy in a position of power who really should know better) that women showing cleavage causes seismological disasters.
want to be part of the fun? Join the boobQuake!

Gravité

Gravité from Renaud Hallée on Vimeo.

outside life

the sun is shining, snow is melting, and it's starting to get a little bit smelly on public transport thanks to the muppet with their giant oversize buggy basically forcing your face into your neighbour's armpit as you swing from the handrail. there's slowly more rubbish on the streets as, well, there's more people on the streets. you have to do laundry that little bit more often because you get stinky faster.

El Verano is here.

and all i have to say is, bring it on!

the geek in me says "awesome!!"

boy can dance!

yes, it's that time of year again...the return of Britain's Got Talent!

it's the final countdown...

well, no, not really, but it is a countdown. A blog of 1000 Awesome Things . It starts off a little weak but just gets better and better as it counts down towards zero.
#982, #981 and #977 already made my day. Awesome!

graphs of musical frustration

geekologie have a nice page with colourful graphs and charts illustrating online music and piracy figures. my favourite finding is that (at least in the UK), your average teenager's iPod has $800 of pirated music on it. rock on.

pale blue dot

the sound of the universe

What The Planets Would Sound Like If Their Orbits Made Music
[taken from nymag.com]

granite state of mind

this is what the word 'awesome' was invented for: jay-z via new hampshire

radio station for magpies

click next...next...next...
until you like something you find.
then download it.

acrylic-on-flesh

Alexa Meade's artwork
is like an optical illusion...
but real?

mobstr

Come on, Paint Me White Again

tickling the ivories

laughing for a good cause

the BBC's sport relief campaign raises money through ... well, sport...and also comedy - i'm always pleasantly suprised at how willing David Beckham is to take the piss out of himself. just watch the video. awesome.

chatroulette

whilst i'm waaay too chicken to go on chatroulette it seems there's a sneakin' suspicion that Ben Folds isn't...amazing!

tweetin' rabbi!

it's nearly pesach, and although you're a couple thousand years too late, never fear - follow
The Exodus...on Twitter!

eat like cinderella

well, not quite...but try VB6 - Vegan Before 6

pee on them

some really doesn't like Goldman Sachs

when is a human right not a human right?

when your existence terrifies others apparently...

...and now for something completely ridiculous

in the blue corner we have >>
a mad emu attacking a policeman ,
and in the red corner >>
a Vatican prostitution ring .

the choice is yours

raftman

"urban kvetch"

[taken from heeb.com]

"Please don’t invite me to join your "Stop violence against stray cats in Afghanistan" Facebook group. What, like some senator/Prime minister/mayor will see those 26 members (including your mom) and say, "Well, they were passionate enough to click a button while waiting for porn to download. I better get on this issue right away!"


Stop using social networks for your lazy, ineffective, faux activism. Just enjoy Facebook for its original purpose: stalking all your exes."

i love this sort of videos

famous last words...

...as told by the grim reaper

wry smile

tokyo/glow

the green man from the traffic lights goes AWOL in tokyo...

circulosity

colour/change/circle

metal on metal

random acts of kindness week

february 15th - february 21st
(but it's ok, you are allowed to practice undercover kindness outside of these times too)

fire on ice

tech-support-barbie

A very pressing question indeed for the BBC:
Does Barbie's new geeky look fit with reality?

say it with light

Light Writing Proposal from Derick Childress on Vimeo.

are you being serious?!

it's a question i would like to ask ol' Ratzinger aka The Pope. latest from the holy see: The Pope Versus Equality . yep, the UK government wish to pass a bill under which discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation would be outlawed. Ratzinger thinks that passing this bill is wrong and an affront to humanity.

"Religious leaders have voiced concern that the Equality Bill may force churches to employ sexually active gay people and transsexuals when hiring staff other than priests or ministers."

maybe i shall have to rethink what i was actually being told when i used to sit in church and hear the message of tolerance, understanding and acceptance. i obviously missed the subtitle: [except the gays]

what would jesus do? he wouldn't give a shit. there's bigger problems in the world than whether the woman carrying the candlestick down the aisle kissed another woman last night. Haiti? Sudan? DRC?

skoo-wiff

a game to drive you a little crazy: First Person Tetris

hellzapoppin'

once more, i have no idea

someone obviously thinks this is a great idea. i have no words to explain why. click here to visit, um, Selleck Waterfall Sandwich

slice of sunshine

you spin me right round

an article from The Times: "The Day I Decided To Stop Being Gay"

save the date

i believe "epic" is the right word to describe this "save the date...video"

perhaps the best thing to happen...

to punctuation since the invention of the ampersand. folks, please welcome the 'SarcMark'

randomly pointless

amongst other random things to do on the site, you have the chance to Barcode Yourself

feathers to betsy

a kick-ass event to write in your diary...and start organising:
World Pillow Fight Day .
April 3, 2010.
will i be there? eider know yet...

visualize

just like Philip Niemeyer has done for the New York Times: the last decade...in pictograms