Cassette Boy Vs The Apprentice 2

HT to Chris Cohen;

The World's Most Boring TV Show... And Why It's Addictive #SlowTV

I was lucky enough to see part of this live 5.5 day ferry voyage along the coast of Norway when in Oslo last year, and I wondered what I was watching. For the 30 mins or so I was glued to it in my hotel room, I saw a load of people run out of their house, and start waving. In the background, you could see someone else sat on a sofa, with his back to the camera watching the show on his TV, too lazy to get up and simply waving, so not to disrupt the action. The action, that he was part of. I went out for the evening, came back hours later, switched on the TV, and watched again as the ship sailed in open seas, with nothing to look at, and the occasional song. Great stuff.

Yes, this is a TED talk, but a good one. I hope someone in the UK has the balls to do something similar, I think it'll also be a ratings winner.

By the way, pretty impressive conference centre Arendal!

If you'd like to experience 4 hours of the show, then you are in luck;

The Landing : 20min Short Sci Fi Film For Lunchtime #WedsLunchShortFilm

This is a good little watch whilst you are having your lunch at work with your headphones on, and under 20mins with a great little twist. No spoilers, but "A man returns to the Midwestern farm of his childhood on a desperate mission to unearth the horrifying truth of what landed there in the summer of 1960"

THE LANDING - Short Film from Perception Pictures on Vimeo.

Malvern Police's Take On John Lewis Ad #MeanwhileInMalvern #Monty

Often wondered what the Police do in the town where I was born, Malvern. Well, they watch Hot Fuzz (apt) and make parody videos. Good work.

On the other hand, Malvern Fire Brigade have no time for such trivial things, as the Malvern Gazette reports, under the headlines Fire in grill pan in Malvern "FIREFIGHTERS were called to a house in Worcester Road, Malvern, at about 3.20am this morning after a grill pan caught fire. The small fire caused smoke logging in the ground floor of the building". Yes, that's it.

HT to MBS

Elton John Falls Backwards Off Chair

And then makes an Elton John song related gag afterwards. You know someone will have been fired for this.

HT to B3ta

Time Trap. Stranded in Space, but not in Time... #ShortFilm

Great short film created by Michael Shanks, who also made the Star Wars Force Awakens George Lucas Edition

HT to Mashable

2014's Biggest Hits Mashed Into One New Song : DJ Earworm's Mashup "United State of Pop 2014 (Do What You Wanna Do)"

So this is very very good. No really, and you can actually buy it. Bit of a headache for royalties.

Featuring:

A Great Big World feat. Christina Aguilera - Say Something

Ariana Grande feat. Iggy Azalea - Problem

Bastille - Pompeii

Dj Snake & Lil Jon - Turn Down For What

Hozier - Take Me to Church

Idina Menzel - Let It Go

Iggy Azalea feat. Charli XCX - Fancy

Iggy Azalea feat. Rita Ora - Black Widow

Jason Derulo feat. 2 Chainz - Talk Dirty

Jeremih feat. YG - Don't Tell 'Em

Jessie J feat. Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj - Bang Bang

John Legend - All Of Me

Katy Perry feat. Juicy J - Dark Horse

Lorde - Team

Magic! - Rude

Maroon 5 - Animals

Meghan Trainor - All About That Bass

Nico & Vinz - Am I Wrong

One Direction - Story of My Life

Passenger - Let Her Go

Pharrell Williams - Happy

Pitbull feat. Ke$ha - Timber

Sam Smith - stay with me

Taylor Swift - Shake It Off

Tove Lo - Habits

HT to Twisted Sifter

Star Wars : Trailer Parody Round Up

A new era for Star Wars, not only with "The Force Awakens" and J. J. Abrams directing, but now the temptation for YouTube parodies of the official teaser trailer.

This is the inspired George Lucas version, showing what Star Wars VII would look like with him in the chair;

This is the Lego version, someone was busy on Friday;

Then there's the Lens Flare version, taking a pop at J. J. Abrams's love of this effect (See Star Trek compilation for further evidence);

Here's an idea, using footage from the original trilogy, a shot for shot remake of the teaser trailer

Here's the Disney version;

The Michael Bay version;

The SpaceBalls version;

And another Lego version, this one is a little darker;

I just hope the new film isn't a huge let down and as shit as Phantom Menace was.

Here's the trailer for Phantom Menace, "Every Generation Has A Legend" (presume this isn't Jar Jar Binks)

Attack Of The Clones;

Revenge Of The Sith, which is pretty much a 3 minute version of the film #Spoilers ;

A New Hope, which looks very dated and features a crappy voice over;

Empire Strikes Back, with another crappy voice over;

Return Of The Jedi, with a less crappy voice over, but piss poor quality, I'm assuming LucasFilm didn't keep the original, but sent someone along with an 80's video camera.

Drone Flyover Of Chernobyl

It's coming up to 30 years after the nuclear disaster, fascinating how nature has taken over the town of Pripyat, Chernobyl. There is a 20 mile no-go zone around the reactor, which can still kill, and the clean up continues today. Read more from CBS.

I remember this incident well, the daily updates of where the radiation cloud would hit, and a science teacher at the Chase High School Malvern, setting up a geiger counter, so we could here the difference when it came over. Scary stuff.

Postcards from Pripyat, Chernobyl from Danny Cooke on Vimeo.

Watch The Exploding Antares Rocket From The Launch Pad

Incredible footage. One of the most expensive fireworks ever launched, probably. Read more from IFL Science.

HT to Robbie Know for sharing

Weeeeeeeeee!! POV ride on the world's tallest roller coaster (500ft)

Er, no thanks. You can go first. Opening in Orlando in 2017.

HT to Huffington Post

Band Aid 1, 2, 3 & 4 Played Simultaneously. Epic Drum Breaks At 2:30

All 4 versions, played at the same time, someone has had a lot of stress making this. But it's great, especially the epic drum break battle bit at 2:30 with Phil Collins and The Twin Out Of Bros That Drums, someone should sample that.

HT to Holy Moly

Cymatics : Science Vs Music

A film that describes the effect of cymatic frequencies have on matter. Very cool indeed.

CYMATICS: Science Vs. Music - Nigel Stanford from Nigel Stanford on Vimeo.

HT to B3ta

Running For Your Life From Shia LaBeouf

You're walking in the woods, there's no one around and your phone is dead, out of the corner of your eye you spot him...

HT to whatleydude.com

#BandAid30 - Band Aid, Band Aid 20 and the embarrassing Band Aid 2

Bob & Midge have announced today plans for the 4th version of Do They Know It's Christmas, Band Aid 30, to raise funds to fight ebola.

Yes, 4th version - this is the 1st, which featured no female singers in the lead parts, a slowed down drum sample from Tears For Fears "The Hurting", Paul Young singing the line intended for David Bowie, Phil Collins on the drums, Duran Duran's John Taylor on bass, Paul Weller on guitar and Status Quo providing the showbiz sherbet.

This is Band Aid 20, the 3rd version, featuring Thom Yorke on the piano, Danny from Supergrass on Drums, Paul McCartney on bass, Fran Healy and Charlie from Busted on rhythm guitar, The Darkness on lead guitar, Dizzie Rascal's rap, Bono doing his "tonight thank god it's them" line, again, and Damon Albarn making the tea;

And this is the mostly forgotten 2nd version, The Stock, Aitken & Waterman version. Featuring lots and lots of Kylie, Jason Donovan and Matt from Bros sharing the "Bono" line, the other one from Bros on the drums, Chris Rea on guitar, Stock & Aitken playing everything else, an unknown 3 piece boyband near the start, Sonia and that really annoying bit by Lisa Stansfield. No, no the head nodding singing, the way she smiles and goes "Mmm" before she starts singing.

Wonder who will play the drums on Band Aid 30.. my money is on Harry from McBusted.

**Update** Here is the official video for the 4th version. It features One Direction singing the Paul Young line, originally intended for David Bowie, Roger Taylor (From Queen) on Drums, and Clean Bandit members on strings, Bono doing his line again, but with a twist in the lyrics, and no one making the tea, providing the drugs or doing anything remotely exciting, unlike the original.

I still prefer the original.

2manybuttons

Mildly amusing DJ piss take for a Friday afternoon.

HT Beta

Ooh, That Sounds Familiar : 3 : Jamie T "Zombie"

It's not very important, but it recently dawned on me - how much Jamie T's new single "Zombie" sounds like Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start The Fire". Another to be filed under "Talent Borrows, Genius Steals (Shits Copy)" I suppose.

See also Ooh, That Sounds Familiar : 1 : U2 "With Or Without You", and Ooh, That Sounds Familiar : 2 : Radiohead "Creep"

A Tale Of Momentum & Inertia (And Under 2mins Long)

A Tale of Momentum & Inertia from HouseSpecial on Vimeo.

Decisive Cat Judge, "It's A No From Me" #XFactor (Slighty NSFW Due To Swears)

Maybe the cat is still scared of the dentist, the dark and pretty girls.

HT B3ta

Boston Layer Lapse (Because Ordinary Time Lapse Is Already Boring)

Coming to a TV Ad near you, probably soon.

Boston Layer-Lapse from Julian Tryba on Vimeo.

Postman Pat On Nitro

Pat is the fastest postman in the west.

HT to b3ta

Race The Tube : Wheelchair Edition

This was in response to;

Street Fighter - Angry Goat Edition

HT to b3ta

Weeeeeeeee!! Cycling behind a truck going 77MPH looks fun / Slipstreaming demonstrated clearly

A "well seasoned cyclist" that "knows exactly what he's doing" with a GO-PRO but without a helmet sits behind a truck doing 77MPH in Brazil. And does little bunny hops to miss the cats eyes.

HT to b3ta

Star Trek "Into Darkness" Amusing Outtakes / Gag Reel

Quite amusing, Simon Pegg looks like a laugh on set doesn't he? Wonder if the Star Wars set will have the same sort of atmosphere under JJ Abrams. Hope so.

Hat tip to i09.com

Cycling Through The Channel Tunnel

Could be a unique Triathlon event this. Swim the channel, do a bike loop, run back. Anyway, lucky bastard.

Woman With Shopping Crossing Flooded Street *Requires Volume*

Found on b3ta

Mick Jagger & David Bowie "Dancing In The Street" Without Music

Amusing - thanks Oisin!

OK Go Make Great Videos

You could say they should put more creative effort into their music, but then we wouldn't have heard of them.

Found on b3ta.

Folks, U2 & Coldplay & Keyboards Are Back.

Coldplay have gone off on a tangent with "Midnight", which many are liking because "it doesn't sound like Coldplay". I must admit I was waiting for the drums to come in, but they don't. And Chris's weird dancing in this video is something he'll regret around the next album (when they start to write stadium songs again). Maybe it's a joke, but I don't get it, and if it's the first single of their new album, na
U2 on the other hand, have already had several moments like this (Zooropa / Passengers / etc etc) and are back being a parody of U2.

40 (+8) Years Of Hurt - England World Cup 2006

Can it really be 8 years since I made this? Blimey. I don't think I've watched England play since, other than the other night.

One of many "fan made" videos I created around the World Cup 2006 for various clients, this one was done just for "fun" at the time England fell out of the tournament.

Published under an alias the day after and "seeded", it's one of my personal faves, as the subtle movements on screen match the sentiment and lyrics of the brilliant David Ford track "I Don't Care What You Call Me". It got to over 200k views before being taken off YouTube by FIFA.

40 Years Of Hurt - England World Cup 2006 from Ritch Ames on Vimeo.

A Nomad's Life

a nomad's life from showmetheworld on Vimeo.

Commando: The Musical (Arnold Schwarzenegger)

Thanks B3ta

"Killer Willard" The Boxing Kangeroo

A 25 year old clip of TV gold, that had me in tears, tears of laughing both out loud, and a bit like a girl. Yes, this is very funny.

Thanks to redflame for posting on B3ta.com

What DJs Do

And some of you thought they just pressed the space bar on a Mac. It would seem these three have already squirted WD-40 on that stiff nob that causes most DJs to pull that trademark face - the same one that lead guitarists pull when playing high notes.

360° Video With 6 GoPro Cameras

Nice.

360° Video using 6 GoPro Cameras - spherical panorama timelapse from j0n4s on Vimeo.

Coke + Nutella + Mentos + Durex

No idea what he's saying and what happens at the end is pretty inevitable, but still worth watching for his enthusiasm in this scientific "experiment".

Rebellious Cat In A Box

Found on USvsTh3m

Magic Swimming Pool Please

When I win the EuroMillions jackpot, I'll be getting one of these - it looks like a decent length too.

Thanks to Paul Armstrong for sharing, more info here

Time - The History and Future of Everything

So the time between a T-Rex existing and today, is the same as a T-Rex existing and a Stegosaurus.

Spoiler alert. Time does stop. Heat Death is when nothing in the universe changes anymore. The universe becomes an ex-universe, and nothing exists, even nothing. So you might as well get on with doing what you enjoy doing, while you exist and stop worrying about anything, because everything is going to die.

What a cheerful thought.

Drone Camera Plays Dodge With Erupting Volcano

Cat Punch

)

The Beginning of Everything -- The Big Bang Explained

Yeah, still don't get it.

Traditional Irish Breakdancing

I think it's breakdancing. Overdubbed with "Mountain Dew" by the Clancy Brothers & The Dubliners because 50 Cent overdubs are boring (well, this one is good - thanks Rhys)

Found on b3ta

Threads

Cold War 2. Maybe that should be #ColdWar2. Growing up in the 80s, we were all scared to death about a nuclear war - to help terrify us, they made programs like this, to really get the message across. Skip to 45mins to get straight to the horror.

Stewart Lee "Rap Singers"

Stewart Lee talks about Asher D's book, about being in So Solid Crew and being a "rapper"

Something Strange About Facebook's Ad Model & Likes

This is interesting for those of use involved in digital marketing - might test it out for myself with my SpringWatch UK page :)

Squirrel Steals Airplane

Unbelievable video of Squirrel stealing model airplane with manual controls. Nothing else to add.

Found on b3ta.com

Benny Hill Ravers

More Benny Hill themed videos - and don't they look cool? This could become a meme.

Dot Matrix Printer Sings "Eye Of The Tiger" & Benny Hill Theme

Whilst its not exactly the same as the ticket barrier happily singing Blur's Song 2, this is still a talented machine

"Eye of the tiger" on dot matrix printer from MIDIDesaster on Vimeo.

Benny Hill theme & how it's done from MIDIDesaster on Vimeo.

Found on b3ta

NBC Newsreader Raps "Rappers Delight"

Stick with it, it gets better.

Found on b3ta

Goats Balancing On Bendy Metal *updated*

Almost 700k views in one day!? This is crying out for some sort of additional commentary / music.

Chris Cohen said he was on the case, and bingo;

Found on b3ta, then several times in my Facebook newsfeed

Vic & Bob's 1995 #Neknominate

All in the name of charity, attempting to raise a massive £75

10 Minutes Of Grass Growing Has 10 Thousand More Views Than 10 Hours Of Paint Drying

Having said that, the grass growing has a crow crowing at about 3:40, and there are rumours of a dog going for a walk.

Metro's "Most Shared This Week"

Whilst this is a pleasant surprise and accolade for my Jubilee Line Ticket Barrier Sings Blur's Song 2 #WooHoo isn't it nice that I get to share the Metro homepage with fellow festival worker and friend Dick Tee of EnTEEtainment Ltd. What are the chances?

A Daft 5 Days : Jubilee Line Ticket Barrier Sings Blur's "Song 2" Update

Firstly, yes, I've had previous for creating low budget, fan made viral videos over the years, mainly for others benefit including ( Eric Prydz vs Pink Floyd 'A Global Warning', Sonny Jim 'Can't Stop Moving', David Ford '40 Years Of Hurt', Embrace 'Celebrate', James 'Hey Ma', Butch & Sundance Forever for Blackbud and my first for Adrian's leaving card from Independiente "My Way",) most of them were eventually taken down over copyright claims, and in the case of A Global Warning, taken down when it was the 12th most discussed video of all time on YouTube, which was quite annoying (and a false claim).

However, Blur's Song 2 was the first time I'd created one just for fun, and put my name to it, and the last week has been quite a ride.

The video has now had over 763,000 views, it was created on Monday 28th January, uploaded over night, made live on Tuesday 29th January after agreeing to Blur's copyright on the track (YouTube's T&C's). I then started the seeding.. firstly uploading to b3ta of which I've been a active member for years, this got it started and it was quickly featured on the b3ta homepage (yay), which was picked up by usVsth3m, then it went mad The Metro (and was featured on Page 2 in the paper Wednesday 30th, The Guardian, Gigwise, NME (my elbow once featured in the NME), The Independent, Time Out, Huffington Post, Digital Spy, Shortlist, Contact Music, The Poke, The Mirror, The Telegraph, The Canary Wharf website, Gizmodo, LBC, BBC America (thanks Fraser!!) and The Sun. At some point during Wednesday, through a mutual friend, I contacted Blur's management to notify them, and hope they'd be ok with it.. a few hours later the response came back "Thought it was really funny actually - all good! We've tweeted it and will add it to the site". *phew*

It was also played on air, and discussed on BBC Radio Two with Jo Whiley, BBC Radio One with Fearne Cotton, part of a daily feature on BBC Five Live with fellow listeners calling in with their own machines singing happy songs, including a washing machine that does Abba, chatted about on XFM, who's photocopier likes to sing Wu Tang Clan's Gravel Pit, and Sky News, who asked for an interview.

It also featured on ITV's This Morning on Thursday 30th (Philip Schofield commenting that it was 'just genius', but most people were more excited about Holly Willoughby saying my name) and the first episode of the second series of the award winning The Last Leg on Channel 4, the hosts finishing the show performing the track with a ticket barrier and oyster card on Friday 31st. It ended the week as The Metro's "most shared".

The stats behind the video were interesting, though I'm not going to reveal all here, the day with the most views was Wednesday, the day of all the radio coverage. The site providing the most referrals was not Facebook or Twitter.

One of the highlights of the week, whilst in a brainstorm with the creative director of Ogilvy & Mather, who had included the barrier in one of his ideas, not knowing I was in the room. Another highlight was watching 30-40 French exchange students queueing up to go through the happy barrier, each singing as they went through. Oh, and one last one - a colleague (who shall remain nameless) attempting to take credit for the idea, and the video - whilst I was in the room. Amazing the bullshit some people come out with.

There will be a new video..

Jubilee Line Ticket Barrier Sings Blur's "Song 2"

#WooHoo. I may have mentioned this before, but yesterday had the chance to film this talented barrier at Canary Wharf, and was pleasantly surprised to find it sings almost in key with Damon. It's the 4th barrier from the right as you go down into the tube station, not the 2nd as previously mentioned.

I made this btw.

Thanks to everyone that has shared / tweeted / posted - especially @BlurOfficial for seeing the funny side (please don't take it down, the ad revenue is all yours). I feel under pressure to make a follow up, the difficult second album.

Apple 30th Years Of Innovation

Now there's a headline to get a debate going..

Here's the original 1984 advert. Blimey. 1984 was 30 years ago.

In other news, Samsung's quarterly profits are down for the first time in 2 years.

Found on The Drum

Noel Gallagher's Director Commentary

It's been posted and shared loads of times, been said to have "gone viral" (really, with only 100k views?) but I want to stick it on this blog as it's a place to save stuff I like. And it's funny.

Definitely Maybe was released 25 years ago this year, and I think if it was released for the first time today, it would have the same impact.

Originally spotted on b3ta.com

The Stig Vs. Google Street View Car

Doing the rounds today, Google's Street View Car racing round the Top Gear track against The Stig in a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. The famous Surrey track is now available on Street View.

Posted on Mashable

Norway's Northern Lights

Northern lights - never seen them, even though I've been to Norway 6 times. It's a bit like going to Ireland, went 5 times last year, passing through Dublin and didn't see Bono anywhere.

sixth element from Level 4 on Vimeo.

London in 1927 & 2013

A shot by shot comparison of Claude Friese-Greene original short film showing the London of 1927 in colour, alongside footage from last year. Amazing how some bits of Big London haven't changed much at all.

London in 1927 & 2013 from Simon Smith on Vimeo.

Thanks to Kieron for sharing, full article on The Londonist

The Prodigy "Firestarter" Without Music

Mildly amusing for 42 seconds of your life.

Doctor Who Uncensored (NSFW)

"This time the Doctor will be different"..

Found on b3ta