mental_floss magazine
SUBSCRIBE >
GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS >
DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS >
subscriber services >
• One of the most amazing videos I have ever seen … a monkey on a mini motorcycle. Even more astonishing is his conscientiousness: he wears a tiny helmet, and waits for traffic before zooming off!
• Movies still on VHS that just aren’t good enough for DVD. I thought I had erased the horrors of Meet the Deedles, but this list brought it all flooding back. Anything on this list you’ve been awaiting anxiously to convert?
• Thanks to my friend Thomas who sent in this clip with the instructions to wait until the :47 second mark. If you do, you will be rewarded tenfold. I KNEW I should have stuck with those piano lessons.
• Flossy Reader Heather has brought this amazing site to my attention: MAD magazine fold-ins that are completely interactive. Enjoy procrastinating with these!
• An online card trick—can you savvy Flossers figure out how it works? For more magic, watch this absolutely hilarious clip of (a faux) David Blaine scaring the mess out of some “unsuspecting” LA residents. (Warning: lots of profanity).
• As a film nerd, I am constantly amazed at all of the new ways people are finding to integrate various media into their online videos. This is another fantastic find—fun with flip books.
• Have trouble keeping up with your news in an organized fashion? Newsflashr lists all of the top headlines from a plethora of respected sources so you can keep an eye on what’s considered important news. Or vote for what you think should be considered “top” news here. (Thanks Jan!)
• Cindy brings to us the hidden hilarity of grocery lists. Another reason you should be careful not to litter. One man’s trash is another man’s blog.
• If the US presidential race isn’t interactive enough for you, consider making your own candidate finger puppets and staging your own debates. Film it, and you could be the next YouTube star!
• An addicting game that connects with ocean conservation efforts. See how easy it is to catch the bluefin tuna? EXACTLY. The music is uber-soothing, though. (Thanks so, so much to Angie who sent in a sundry of awesome links this week).
• I would provide a photo for the anecdote I am about to relate, but this is a (sorta) highbrow website. In any case … you know when you go to certain sushi joints you get the little orange peel man? (the curious can Google it). In any case, apparently there are many kinds of art that can be crafted from our friend the Orange. Here’s a beautiful example.
• What happens if you raise a child from birth to hone in on a certain skill? Deeper considerations aside, this dad has brought up his son to appreciate his passion of skateboarding … and in doing so has created a tiny Tony Hawk.
• I found out that this video is a little old, but since it’s my first time seeing it, it may be yours as well. How far will some people go to keep neighbors from allowing their dogs to do their ‘business’ all over the neighborhood? Watch this and find out …
• Spring is in the air! If you are feeling the call of the birds and bees, check out this beautiful art project called Hidden Love Song.
• Speculation as to the demise of the Titanic may never cease (but would we want it to?) Katie points us to new evidence that claims faulty rivets may have been a major part of the problem (oh yeah … and that iceberg.) For more on when Ship Happens, read up on Stacy’s recent post on the subject.
• Thank you so much to everyone who sent in links this week—you guys heard the call and answered it overwhelmingly. But don’t stop there! As you do your internet trawling, think of me at FlossyLinks@gmail.com, and send anything you find in your nets on over (just not any bluefin tuna, of course).
Comments (13)
Comment
- Follow mental_floss
the car trick thing is easy…don’t want to spoil it though!! if you don’t want to know, don’t read on. they change all of the cards out.
posted by mri on 4-19-2008 at 8:55 am
Where’s the joy in that performance? Where’s the cheering audience? That girl might as well have been jumping rope for all they cared…
posted by SA on 4-19-2008 at 10:08 am
SA I agree! It’s astonishing, and yet no one seems to care. Are these sorts of things commonplace? I for one was greatly inspired and impressed.
posted by InternAllison on 4-19-2008 at 11:00 am
As for the movies article, Howard The Duck has a certain tacky charm to it. It should come out on DVD. Where else could you see Jeffrey Jones gutturally snarling, “She took my eggs!”?
posted by Duke Egbert on 4-19-2008 at 11:02 am
that is the best youtube video in history! thanks for sharing.
posted by David on 4-19-2008 at 11:43 am
That monkey was not conscientiousness at all, the only reason it stopped was because the trainer was no longer yanking on its chain. That’s animal abuse and it’s sickening.
posted by Brittany on 4-19-2008 at 6:19 pm
Thank you, Brittany. I was just about to point that out. The poor thing was being dragged around by it’s neck. So sad.
posted by Laura on 4-19-2008 at 10:11 pm
A feat of memorization, maybe, but not a feat of musicality. It was rote, mechanical; no feeling. A lot of the cool stuff was being done by the keyboard settings. Maybe that’s why the audience was unimpressed.
posted by Liza Jane on 4-20-2008 at 12:16 pm
I disagree, Liza Jane. She’s 10 years old, and is probably nervous about doing a good job. She had to manipulate the settings at the appropriate times and keep up with playing. I thought it was great.
posted by LP on 4-20-2008 at 12:20 pm
Sure, she’s young, LP, and undoubtedly she was nervous. She may in fact be an amazing musician, and have a great future in front of her. And she’s a very deft pusher of keys and buttons. But in my opinion that performance was all about the mechanics, not the music.
posted by Liza Jane on 4-20-2008 at 12:28 pm
I could be wrong but my impression of the piano player was that she was Chinese. I’ve heard that children there are often rigorously trained to perform one particular “showcase” item such as a feat of acrobatics or a card trick, etc, in the hopes that they will be able to work in an entertainment program for Western audiences (think about the ones who’ve gotten into Cirque de Soleil). Thus, that audience may be a little jaded.
posted by frodopal on 4-20-2008 at 4:29 pm
Regarding both the videos of children doing amazing things – do you SEE what can be done with attention and love?? We often see the results of ignoring kids and are so sad. If most parents would pay half the attention to their children that the parents of these 2 kids did, then the world would be so much better. Children will move mountains with the approval and encouragement of their parents.
posted by L2 on 4-20-2008 at 10:41 pm
@ Allison >> thanks for your link
;-)
posted by Jose (ViaComIT) on 4-21-2008 at 3:47 am