..but then Zombie Parkour hit the Tube..
It’s by a group called CBR Stunt Team. (You can see more of there stuff here.)
The tagline for the video is “No longer do they slumber as the walking dead, they are ferocious and fast, they are the flipping dead.”
Yeah, I have no idea what they were thinking either.
But it turns out it doesn’t matter ’cause parkour is cool.
Sure, you probably strut around feeling all superior with your opposable thumbs.
Sneering at your pets when they ask you to “do the magic” with the door.
But this cat would sneer right back at you.
Here he laughs in the face of the five doors that stand in the way of him and his goal of being outside.
Penelope was just 2 years old…yes 2!…when she sang this Pearl Jam song (Elderly Woman Behind the Counter In A Small Town) for the camera.
Sheesh, I can’t remember even half the words to any given song, but at 2 she was nailing…every…single…blessed…word.
Now at 7, Penelope is reportedly rightly pleased with the sudden viral success of her video.
A goldfish…
named Einstein…
in a “lifejacket.”
Do I really need to say more?
OK…maybe a little explanation is called for here.
Poor little Einstein the Fantail Goldfish got a terrible swim bladder infection and lost his ability to swim correctly. He ended up with air pockets that forced him to swim upside down in his tank. And needless to say, that’s a bad thing that eventually would mean death for the little guy.
But my new hero…Einstein’s owner Leighton Naylor…wasn’t ready to give up on him so he made him a teeny tiny little lifejacket made of tubing.
And it worked! Now, with the help if his special jacket Einstein can once again swim around his tank like a boss.
Prepare for mind blowing cuteness in the extreme. And then click play.
This giant tortoise spots the camera filming him and heads in for an up close and personal look.
You have to wonder what’s going on in that wise old brain when he spots it.
Tortoise Trivia Time:
Did you know that the average lifespan of a tortoise is 80 to 150 years?
Or that the longest (known and unconfirmed) living tortoise was 255 years old?
Jonathan is the oldest known tortoise living today having been born in 1832 and clocking in at a spry 181.
Tortoise cuteness lies ahead…
For most of us the name Ray Harryhausen probably wouldn’t ring a bell.
But I’m QUITE sure you’re familiar with some of his work, even if you’re not aware of it.
You see, Ray Harryhausen was a groundbreaking visual effects designer, writer, and producer.
He created a brand new type of stop-motion animation called Dynamation that allowed you to seamlessly introduce animated creatures into live-action scenes. And Ray was responsible for a heck of a lot of the movie monsters and incredible creatures that you’ve known and loved over the years.
Ray died yesterday at the age of 92; And when he shuffled off this mortal coil we lost an incredibly talented…albeit somewhat unknown by the common man…guy.
Godspeed Ray.
Someone was kind enough to put together a clip of ALL of Ray’s wonderful creatures in chronological order for us.
To see a list of the creatures visit The Ray Harryhausen Creatures List website here.
It’s animated snack time for your eyeballs.
But these snacks are a little on the dark and uncomfortable side.
The animations are slightly disturbing. But in a very, very good way.
They are the work of Boston animator Jack Fried.
Jack hand animates every frame you’re going to see.
He creates his “moving paintings” by laying down layer upon layer of the traditional ink and gouache along with the more unconventional white out and coffee mediums onto a single canvas.
The resulting images are fantastically engaging.
Thanks to io9 for bringing Jack’s work to my attention.
Be sure to watch these full screen and with headphones if you have them…or sound up if you don’t. (Sound is an important part of the experience here.)
The Deep End from Jake Fried on Vimeo.
Raw Data from Jake Fried on Vimeo.
Waiting Room from Jake Fried on Vimeo.
It seems like most of the time when we run across dash camera footage it’s bad news.
We’ve seen fights, car crashes, an airplane crash (!), and a freakin’ meteorite.
This one is different.
Sure the music is a bit over the top. And there’s nothing particularity heroic to see here. But some of the moments will still help restore your faith in people just a bit.
It reminds you that LOTS of people do the right thing. It’s easy to forget that sometimes.
It may even make you a tad shiny eyed in a few spots…which is a good thing.
And maybe it will make you think twice about just driving by when you could help.
