Happy Halloween!

Oops, left this a bit late. I was hoping the London - Hawaii time difference would save me. Happy All Souls' Day!


This is my jack-o-lantern for this year, on my balcony. It was designed by my friend's 3-year-old. Hopefully it's scaring the $@#! out of the feral kids in the council estate behind my apartment. I know I'm terrified of it.

update-- just figured out how to fake the time on this so it turns out I did post it on Halloween after all! Does this relate to this?

The Horribly Slow Murderer with the Extremely Inefficient Weapon

Okay, this thing's over ten minutes long, but if you HAVE ten minutes, it's worth it. Like, if you don't have ten minutes, don't watch it. But if you do, do.

Brace Yourself for a LEGO Reality Show

Get ready for some unscripted TV featuring LEGO® Brand Building Bricks.

Why Is Your Dad So Weird?

Sittin on tha Toilet

Maybe don't click on this while you're at work.

Via @radtke327

Felicia Day <3 astronomy

Via the Bad Astronomer. To be honest, if they just kept the Felicia Day part and got rid of everything else it would be much better. This is what happens when scientists try too hard to be cute.

Terminator 2 Rap

Not quite as awesome as the original, but every bit as thorough.

don't be scared, it's just the future

and now for some J-metal.

Okay, I'm sure not everyone here is into J-metal or Anime, but I think you will still get a laugh.
Death Note is a dark anime about a kid who finds a special notebook. Basically, you write someone's name in it, and they die. Maximum the Hormone did one of the opening songs for the series. Video is ok. But then someone came around and misheard the lyrics. And thus, we get this...

Ala Moana Tower

I've been spoiled this past month working on the 18th floor of the Ala Moana building. Two floors higher and I could have been in the old revolving restaurant, but I can't complain—it was hard enough trying to get work done with a view of the marina during two tsunami warnings! Ah well, thirds the charm.

From the right (with constant daydreaming of a 2012-like apocalypse, and from what I've learned from WoW, I'm pretty sure I can get on roof of the shopping center):

From the left:

I did not know this: the La Ronde was the first revolving restaurant in the world!

Addendum: I couldn't help myself—Panic originally posted this in a comment somewhere I think, but it deserves the front page:

quick little thing

via @theofanning

Shepard Fairey; Keeping the artworld up to its usual standards.

This is basically a link to a law periodical, which ran a brief article about one of my least favorite artists "coming clean" in regards to the misappropriation of a highly seen photograph to make a highly seen poster. I feel bad for the Obama campaign to have even been involved in this stupidity.
I just want everyone to know that Shepard Fairey was/is/and always will be a tool in my opinion.

Now Look What You've Done

Tarantino explains what "Top Gun" was really about

Sorry if you all have seen this before. I suspect this clip has already made quite a few rounds online - but I just found it yesterday while researching a "Top Gun" scene. (Lest you think I've suddenly morphed into a cheesy Hollywood film specialist, allow me to explain: A real-life fighter pilot who has a cameo in this move is about to become the top U.S. commander in the Pacific. I'm writing about him.) Anyhow, enjoy:

I'll just leave this here...

Cool Halloween costume, Part 2

Another very cool Halloween costume -- an homage to the best Star Wars figure of all time.

That was the problem playing with Star Wars figures with other kids when there was only one Boba Fett-- inevitable bickering about who got to play with BF. I mean, compared to IG-88 or Greedo, it was a no-brainer who was the favorite. The rocket pack, the cool gun, the badass face visor. Hell yeah!

where was this when i was a kid?

it's even got bowel loops on the lining!

found it and others on the huffington post in a slideshow of wierd halloween costumes for children.



the look on this kid's face as the alien bursts out of the costume is priceless.

Bear muscles

Hey, my friend just gave me yet another animal toy whose guts you can see!



She did this without knowledge of these: [1] [2].

Can any Chinese speakers translate? [UPDATE: Oh, it's Japanese! Odori?]

oooohhh... dat's da way it is!

Hey, remember The Factory?

Yeah, The Factory. Many, many magic evenings. None of them very well represented by this video, but I'm not sure what I was expecting, exactly.

I remember one big dark room with intense music, and one slightly less dark room with less intense music and a poorly installed carpet, or something. Anyone remember anything else?

Best not to think too hard.

Star Wars (Episode IV): Why did the Empire try to kill the heroes on the Death Star?

Grand Moff Tarkin and Darth Vader have a plan, and one that very nearly turns out to work perfectly: They install a tracking device on the Millennium Falcon so the Death Star can follow it to the rebel base. In order for this to work, Luke, Leia, Han, Chewbacca and the droids have to actually get to the ship and take off, right? So why does the Empire try to crush them in the trash compactor, then send squads of stormtroopers after them? I mean, I can understand sending some token troops just to make sure it wasn’t obvious, but they really seem to be trying to kill them. Of course Leia does say “They let us go. It’s the only explanation for the ease of our escape.” But I’m inclined to agree with Han that it really wasn’t that easy, and seriously, Princess, if you’re so sure you’re being tracked, why are you going straight for the place you know the Empire is looking for?

For those of you willing to indulge your sci-fi-inner nerdness, go here for even more ridiculousness. The comments section is just as priceless.

Snow?!?!?

It's not even Halloween yet dammit.

Shaky frame because I'm cold. Stupid cold. Stupid winter. Stupid AI-BU9 for living here.

I'm going back to my little grass shack...

not in Kealakekua, but in Nuuanu. More like a single story rambler than a shack. And the only grass is in the yard. And it's my parents' house not mine. But I'll be home to blow up shit on new years.

December 27th to January 9th.

Start working on the imu.

Mameshiba

Mameshiba! Did you know, this video is so cute you'll want to scoop your brains out?

Bullets hitting things in really slow motion

I kind of watched the whole thing.

A stupidly accurate AT-AT by Rocko

AT-AT-Front2
Originally uploaded by Rocko™

posted via Flickr.

A Sampling of Anti-Gay Marriage Ads

The Huffington Post has put together a nice little sampling of anti-gay marriage ads. Over and over you hear "it's not hate" and "it's not bigotry". The ads are full of encapsulated little concrete reasons for why you should oppose gay marriage. There are references to statistics and studies, none of which is dwelled on much. The ads invariably return to the idea of "doing what's right". The language and imagery really give me the impression that the ads are preaching to the converted.

Two things going on here. First, the ads are intended to offer concrete (often economic) justifications why gay marriage should be stopped. Second, the ads appeal to the motivations of the motivated, the reasons why the viewers rage so strongly against gays getting all married. This part seems to be heavily encrypted, but the motivations seem to range somewhere between "it's wrong" to "it's disgusting".

What strikes me most here is the stark disconnect between the justifications and the motivations. Usually both aren't so clearly displayed, but I think it's this same disconnect that makes select Teabaggers so inarticulate. See also the state's rights arguments made in defense of slavery in America.

The ads, I believe, are intended to provide alternate ammunition to people whose primary reasons are at best personal and irrelevant (and at worst; very, very mean). It seems to me that if you make your point using canned statistics, while keeping your real convictions to yourself, then maybe you're not entirely on the correct side of the argument.

I don't mean to use only examples opposed to my own alignment (Neutral Good). I'm sure there are cases of the Secular Left doing this as well. I just can't think of any, possibly because it's rarer, but more likely because this sort of thing is harder to see when you're doing it yourself.

link via @shortpacked


UPDATE: Guilty! I saw this picture:


from this article and immediately started trying to think up reasons why the war in Iraq is a bad idea, just so that little girl wouldn't have to say goodbye to her dad. I'm no better than those racist and homophobic bigots, rhetorically speaking. I hang my head in shame.

Riot Photo

Okay, I'm going to be completely honest. I didn't even read the article.

Tour de Francie

TV and Video - Outline for Year

Cute things falling asleep!

They are cute and they are falling asleep.

Technical Stuff part 1

Technical Stuff Part 1: Frame Rates and Aspect Ratios

 

You may have noticed that there are different frame rates in video, with some rates flickering more than others. Frames Per Second, or FPS, is how the frames are measured. Here is a list of common Frame Rates:

 

FPS	Type
30	NTSC	American/Asian video format
25	PAL	European video format
24	Film	Frame rate traditionally used in film
12	Animation	Frame rate traditionally used in Animation
10	Web streaming	Frame rate traditionally used on the Web

 

Frame size: You also may have noticed when you open video files on your computer, that the size of the windows are different. Some poorer quality frame sizes are quite small, at 176 X 132, 320 X 240, going up to Standard Definition (SD) at 720 x 576, and High Definition (HD) at 720 X 1080. There are even higher resolutions, but for our purposes here, High Definition video will be used for the most part.

 

Aspect Ratio: Old fashioned televisions were sized at a 4:3 ratio:

 

 

But new Widescreen TVs are sized at a 16:9 ratio:

 

                                           

 

This is a more cinematic shape, and also, incidentally, roughly the same shape as the golden ratio (1.618:1), which has both an aesthetically pleasing shape found in nature and an elegant mathematical formula. This is what video is: a combination of math and aesthetics. The math is used to engineer the technology, and the aesthetics are used to make your video.

 

Data Porn Friday

PhD Comics

Preshaa

Nikki Graziano

Lunchbreath

Fake Wood Paneling

When I bought my house, it had this fake wood paneling on every wall. It was a little darker than what you see here, sort of more of a chocolate brown. I'd call the paneling in the video more of a butterscotch. I mean, it was really everywhere, on every surface, including the ceiling. It was Masonite, I think, with a rough side, and a shiny side with a wood pattern printed onto it. We tore it all out. We considered keeping it, maybe leaving it as is, or painting it, but we decided that we should just rip it all out and put up gypsum board. It made the house feel smaller, having dark textured walls. White walls sort of fall away. So we tore it out, and it came off in big 1/4 inch 4x8 sheets. The bugs were kind of eating it, so this turned out to be a good move. Also--all of the kitchen cabinets were constructed of the stuff. This was the really strange bit. There was some plywood for structure, but mostly all of the drawers and doors and shelves were made of leftover Masonite. Even the drawer runners, the slats that the drawers slid on, were made of Masonite cut into strips and sandwiched together. We ended up ripping every last bit of the stuff out and reducing the interior of the house to bare studs. Since all that Masonite was so flat, we were able to dispose of it all pretty easily. Three or four runs to the dump in a pickup truck, that's all it took to get rid of a house full of the stuff.

My apologies if you've heard this story before. This story is 100% true.

Robert Kirkman talks about The Walking Dead on AMC

I had heard a little about this, but here's Robert Kirkman himself talking about bringing The Walking Dead to the medium screen.

The Walking Dead is the saddest, most horrific comic I've ever read, but it's very well done and I can't stay away. I think it will work well in a long TV format--I think a three act movie would completely miss the point. The way I see it, the book is about settling into a terrible, terrible life that gets more terrible every single day. My goodness, why do I read this book?!?

Via @mtvsplashpage

I Sue Drunks!

I finally just read an email sokeripupu sent me like a month ago which had a bunch of links to this awesome guy. I wonder if he mostly gets calls from drunks who have been wronged by other drunks?

Star Wars Uncut Trailer

Now even more almost finished. Via @darthvader.