I Finally Have a Hero

This man is my hero. Plain and simple. I learned two things form this video:

1) How to do wicked dance moves.

2) Why not to do blow before a family function.

Remarkable Chernobyl Video

This six minute video was shot by esteemed Ukranian videographer/journalist. He was one of very few with unfettered access of the facility, and died of exposure related cancer within weeks of the filming.

Perhaps the most chilling images (4:17) are those of the "biorobots" who were shoveling radioactive graphite from the roof of the reactor. The radiation levels at this area was measured at several thousand roentgens. According to the video this exposure would cause their bodies to shut down within an hour, and to add further perspective an exposure of about 500 R in 5 hours is lethal for humans. The intensity of the radiation was so intense in this area that a helicopter pilot flying above is shown becoming radiation sick and crashing.

Another gripping segment (3:09) of the video chronicles the human excavators who had to tunnel below the reactor, where the radioactive elements had melted down to, in effort to pour concrete underneath. This was done in effort to vault the radioactive elements by supporting the hundreds of tons of filler materials the filled in above.



I am relieved that technical advancements in nuclear science in concert with sound engineering has avoided such a situation in Japan.

A-Kick-A-Flip

Skateboarding and its associated cultures have always held my attention. One of the primary aspects that's captivated me is how the growth in the sport mirrors the growth an individual. It is at base a man vs. himself conflict being acted out. It is raw, and it is emotional.

Growing up skateboarding I had always been drawn to surfing. At the core they are essentially the same, but surfing always seemed more pure and less violent. Being stuck in southeast Michigan was a tease. We had as much water and cast as anywhere, but surfing was hardly on the menu. Because of that surfing slowly took on mystical qualities, and it remains on- I can't believe I'm using this term- bucket list. (blech)

While out with friends skating we often talked about what skate trick would be coolest on a surfboard. The hands down favorite was always the same. Kickflip. Surfing was starting to really progress at the time and ariels were becoming common. Still a kickflip was a whole new game. I seemed impossible. The water provided no leverage, and the board- while smaller than ever- was still clumsy for this time of trick. It was so out of the realm that Volcom posted a $10,000 bounty for the first one filmed.

NSFW: Holy Crap! 7 vs. 1 Gang Fight

Ok, this guy might be the biggest bad ass ever. This is a jaw-dropping video. I'm sure the guy with the baseball bat isn't exactly a prince of human being, but regardless, he's hardcore.

There's rough language, so I'd deem this NSFW.

Just Watch:

UP!

This is very cool! National Geographic built a life-size replica of the "house with balloons" from Disney/Pixar's UP!. Not only is it a replica, but it's a functioning replica. The house literally flies! It apparently left the ground for over an hour.

This project will be featured on an upcoming National Geographic Channel series called, How Can it Be Made? The show will premier this fall.

Link to article and video via Gizmodo

If You Don't Love Me You're Not Human

This is one of the most beautiful things in the world. How can you not smile?

Chernobyl: As it Sits Today

Every time I see photos of Chernobyl, I'm as creeped out as I am interested. A blogger decided to share photos from his tour he just took at the abandoned city. Take a look! You can see the entire album here.

Selleck Waterfall Sandwich

Every so often I come across a website or blog that blows my mind away. It's not necessarily that the content is important or essential, but it's the fact that it exists. Well folks, I want to introduce you to one of the more incredible blogs I've ever come across.

The theme is simple. It's images that feature three things: Tom Selleck, a waterfall, and a sandwich. Ironically enough, the blog is called "Selleck Waterfall Sandwich"

Google Art Project

And Google does it again. Google street view for museums.

Google Art Project

Incredible: The Skin Gun

This is truly amazing. This is a spray gun that literally uses a person's own stem cells to duplicate healthy cells to repair the skin. Everyone opposed to stem cell research should view this.

Gaming the Game

Jonah Lehrer has posted a fascinating piece in Wired on Canadian, Mohan Srivastava. Srivastava, an MIT and Stanford schooled statistician, became intrigued after receiving some Tic-Tac-Toe scratchoff lottery tickets as a gift. While most of us would've shucked off the latex layer without thinking twice, Mohan looked at the tickets and pondered how they were created. How could rolls and rolls of tickets be printed so that they appear to be completely randomized without being random?

Thoughts of cracking the game filled his head, and passing a petrol station without stopping to pick up a few more tickets became impossible. The game was calling him. After a short period- a few hours- of studying the tickets Srivastava was convinced he had it. Best of all it didn't require a single scratch of the ticket, and it was simple enough to teach his 8 year-old daughter. Impossible. He was dumbfounded that a multi-billion dollar industry could put out a game that was so flawed, but there it was true. He had cracked it with 90%+accuracy.

Zach Wahls Defends the Family

This week Iowa took steps to amend the state constitution to make it so that they can refuse to acknowledge gay marriage/ civil unions.

19 year-old Zach Wahls is an engineering student and son of two women. He took the opportunity to speak to the Iowa House Committee, and proved in just over three minutes the misdirection of those in charge. Who exactly are the politicians trying to protect? Bravo!

True Colors

This video is wickedly badass. According to "QuintessenzCreation" (who posted this on Youtube), "Four month exhausting hard work in an abonded area, no sun just artificial light. The final result, a stop motion movie with no digital effects at all, everything is handmade. About 5000 pictures are processed with an average by 15 pictures per second. The music is by Pretty Lights from Denver, Colorado"

No digital effects? Wow.

**Open this on Youtube to view it in HD.

Wayne Coyne: His [experimental] House

Wayne Coyne might quite possibly be the most interesting person in music. The front-man for The Flaming Lips isn't just one of the founding fathers of experimental rock (as we know it today), but his house represents a similar approach as his music.

If you're unfamiliar with Coyne and The Flaming Lips, I strong urge you to watch the Documentary The Fearless Freaks (which is available on Netflix Instant). You don't have to like The Flaming Lips or even know who they are to enjoy this film. It's an exceptional look into Wayne Coyne's inception of the band and his quirky approach to making music and living life.

The architects responsible for Coyne's unique home is Fitzsimmons Architects. I included a few photos from their site that are of the home, but to view the entire catalog, visit here.

Please keep in mind that this isn't a mansion. As far as I can remember, it's actually his childhood home that he remodeled.

Detroit: The Fall of a City - In Photos

Photographers Yves Marchand and Romain Mefre have put together an amazing 230 page book with incredible photos of Detroit. It's over 180 sensational shots of the interior and exterior of the dilapidation known as Detroit. They offer you a glimpse into the book's offerings on their site, and it's astonishing.

It's amazing how something that is in such despair can appear so beautiful in this context. It also tells a story of how far the city really is from recovery (if it can be recovered at all).

The Book Itself:

It can be purchased for $125 here. Expensive, but this book seems like the ultimate in the Detroit coffee table book genre.

Black and White Brought to Life

Take a look at these. They're old black and white photos (that are obviously very iconic images) that were filled in with color. It's amazing how much more impact they have when the colors compliment the shot.

First: "Burning Monk"

Second: "VJ Day Kiss at Times Square" ("VJ Day" the day victory over Japan was declared in WWII)

These colored photos were submitted to Reddit, by user: mygrapefruit

How To Make a Daft Punk Helmet

What's the need for making a Daft Punk helmet? I have no fucking clue. But if you have 17 months on your hands and a reason to have a helmet that lights up like The Battle of Antietem, then this is the video to watch. It's kind of badass, I can't deny that.




Source: Voplin Props

Then and Now

This is quite amazing. Below is Shanghai in 1990, and then again in 2010 (only 20 years later). It looks like an entirely different place on Earth.