Saturday, November 24, 2007

California Screamin' at Disney's California Adventure

Here is the p.o.v. I shot on California Screamin' at California Adventure. It was very smooth and very fun! (Even though the video doesn't show it) :p

Thursday, September 27, 2007

A Bangkok Market

Here is probably the lowest rent district anywhere in Bangkok.
Make sure you watch the whole thing... :)

http://view.break.com/368159 - Watch more free videos

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

One Froggy Evening

Remember ol' Michigan J. Frog??? Well he is the star of the 1955 classic cartoon "One Froggy Evening" and I thought it was time for it to make a come back!

"One Froggy Evening" is an approximately seven-minute long Technicolor animated short film written by Michael Maltese and directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on December 31, 1955 as part of Warner Brothers' Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. This cartoon also celebrates New Year's 1956 since it was made on December 31.

Some critics and observers regard this cartoon short as the finest ever made. Steven Spielberg, in the PBS Chuck Jones biography Extremes & Inbetweens: A Life In Animation, called One Froggy Evening "the Citizen Kane of animated film". In 1994 it was voted #5 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field. The film is at IMDb currently ranked as the second best short movie ever. In 2003 the United States Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.




Froggy Facts?

Some believe that the story of this frog was at least partly inspired by a real critter. In Eastland, Texas they tell the story of one horned toad named Old Rip. He was placed in the cornerstone of the courthouse there in 1897. In 1928 the courthouse was demolished and the story is that they pulled Old Rip out and he was still alive. He did not get up and dance however. Eleven months later Old Rip finally croaked and the citizens made him a fancy velvet-lined casket and put him on permanent display - where you can still see him today.

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Wobbly Charley

Charley is an amazing cat with cerebellar hypoplasia. It's a condition that affects motor skills but not the life expectancy and as you will see he lives a pretty normal life.


I just had to put this video up the second I saw it... The cute-o-meter is off the charts plus it's a great awarness video for people out there that might have pets with the same 'problem'.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

And now for the news... The internet crashes!

Officials confirm that all online data has been lost after the Internet crashed and was forced to restart.


Study: Multiple Stab Wounds May Be Harmful To Monkeys

Repeatedly stabbing monkeys with sharpened objects may have an adverse effect on their health, according to a new study.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

I'm Old Gregg...

Pretty much one of my favorite (quotable) things I have run into in a very long time... If you want to see the rest of this episode from "The Mighty Boosh" give YouTube a whirl and search "old gregg".

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Lobby meets Aqua Teens

OK, I know you all remember or have seen the classic "Let's all go to the lobby" intermission movie clip but have you seen the new version of it that plays before the new Aqua Teen movie? It's totally BAD ASS to say the least!

Fist off a trip back into that crazy world of dancing food...


Now for your enjoyment; the best dancing food clip EVER!!!

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Kebert Xela

The Family Guy Spoofed Jeopardy in this first clip and then watch the second below as real life imitates animated...


Now watch this real life clip from Jeopardy as Jared Cohen works his almost seemingly impossible deficit... :D


Here is Jared Cohen's blog about his three day run on Jeopardy if you are interested.

Indian Tractor Fight!!!!!!!

Just when you thought you had seen it all, this comes along...

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Lip Dub - Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger

We did this video one night after work. We are a company called Connected Ventures, a group of friends who work for: Vimeo, CollegeHumor, Busted Tees, and Defunker.

... and, we're hiring: http://connectedventures.com/jobs.shtml



Lip Dub - Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger from amandalynferri on Vimeo

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Cheese Rolling 2007

Cheese Rolling 2007. A collection of head-over-heels video clips from the 2007 Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling and Wake from www.SoGlos.com. Every year daring competitors throw themselves down an almost vertical hill in Gloucester, UK, chasing an 8lb Double Gloucester Cheese. It can never really be caught as it reaches breakneck speeds but the first person to cross the line at the bottom of the hill wins the cheese. Thousands of spectators turn out for the event each year and, unsurprisingly, there are usually a good few injuries. Thankfully St John's Ambulances are on hand to whisk the casualties away to the local hospital. Click here for the full story. :)

Monday, May 14, 2007

Giovanni Sollima - Sogno ad Occhi Aperti (Daydream)

Lasse Gjertsen writes:
So this is the project I've been working on for the last 5 months, and heres how part 1 of it is made:

On the six arms parts, which by the way took most of the time to make, I filmed Sollima playing the different layers of cello after each other. I then edited the video frame by frame in Photoshop (remember, it's 25 frames per second of video), cutting his arms out from the other layers and pasting it on top, matching the movement of the cello. This was done ca 4000 times, by myself.

The clouds were actually filmed in my backyard, sped up 1250 times. The birds we're filmed in my town, Larvik, Norway on clear blue sky, so that I could use blue screen keying to put them on top of the clouds. It's hard to notice, but the birds are moving in half speed slow motion. I also had to stabilize the motion of the birds, since I filmed it with handhelt camcorder. The sequence was cut together using After Effects and Premiere.

The forest, river sequence was photographed in a forest in Arona, Italy. I took a picture ca. every five meters, and morphed the images together using WinMorph, matching the pace of the music.

The zooming sequence is very hard to explain. Basically, the first 8 seconds after it starts zooming and when you see Mr Sollima's face is real photos. The rest inbetween are "painted" in Photoshop by me.

The rest of this part is merely editing in Premiere and After Effects. Allright!

Part 1


We went out into this very weird forest outside Milan, Italy, 5 in the morning to catch the morning fog. Then we just started filming, nothing planned except which song to play :P SO most of this is merely experimenting with angles and editing. People have asked me how I made the background. "Uhm, it's a real forest..?" Spooky atmosphere..

The part were the "camera" follows the bow is made with After Effects.

The last part was filmed at a concert in Italy.

Part 2

Monday, May 07, 2007

"Reality" TV Editing

My personal input on the matter has changed very drastically since the day I met a nice gentleman that is a TV and film editor. He worked for a few years as an editor on a couple of America's very popular reality shows and had many stories about how he and his crew changed the outcome of a real situation just for the extra ratings and interest of the scene... Even though reality television is fun to watch, we have to just take it with a grain of salt for it's really not real...but I'm sure you already knew that... :p

Here is a great piece by England's Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe on Reality TV Editing

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Heavy Metal Baghdad

In 2003, just after the US toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein, Vice magazine published an article on the only heavy metal band in Iraq, Acrassicauda. The Baghdad-based band was formed in the last few years of Saddam's rule and aside from the typical problems every band has, they also had to deal with the stigma of playing dark western music in an Islamic state under Baath party rule, while coming out of a decade of war, sanctions, and poverty. We found their story inspiring. When we interviewed the band they were excited to be living in a newly freed Iraq, and their future seemed limitless. They even talked of recording an album. Things took a turn for the worse, however. After a few months respite, the situation in free Iraq deteriorated quickly and by the end of the year, after a few key insurgent attacks‑the bombing at the UN building, the massive strike at the grand Shi'a mosque in Najaf‑Iraq started to unravel. We stayed in touch with the band through this time and in the fall of 2006, with the insurgency reaching a fevered pitch, VICE Co-Founder Suroosh Alvi and VBS Producer Eddy Moretti decided to visit them.


The following 5 short videos are a very interesting and internal look at the state of Baghdad and what people have to go through on a daily basis...









Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Spiders on drugs

In 1960, Dr. Peter Witt gave various drugs to spiders
and observed their effects on web building.

For the record, I nor anyone else associated with almostAMAZING.com
condones the practice of animal testing. This video is for educational purposes only.

Monday, April 23, 2007

PocketMod

The PocketMod is a new way to keep yourself organized. Lets face it, PDAs are too expensive and cumbersome, and organizers are bulky and hard to carry around. Nothing beats a folded up piece of paper. That is until now. With the PocketMod, you can carry around the days notes, keep them organized in any way you wish, then easily transfer the notes to your PDA, spreadsheet, or planner.

The PocketMod is a small book with guides on each page. These guides or templates, combined with a unique folding style, enable a normal piece of paper to become the ultimate note card. It is hard to describe just how incredibly useful the PocketMod is. It's best that you just dive in and create one


Make yourself a pocket organizer. This is actually quite a clever idea if you're into getting things done. It's been around for a while, apparently, but has been getting a lot of attention lately. Click here!

Biff's Question Song

Here is a classic song written and sung bye everyone's favorite nemesis 'Biff' from Back to the Future, better known to his family as Thomas F. Wilson...

Thursday, April 19, 2007

The Landlord

I have seen an uprising of cussing children videos lately and even though
it's not a good thing for adults to encourage such potty mouth babies,
it still makes me laugh every time... Yeah, I'm jumping on the bandwagon
by posting such videos but I'm in good company here with my buddy Will Farrell...

Here's the link to the video at 'funny or die.com'.

Sunday, April 15, 2007

"DAVID BLAINE" TERRORIZES PASSERSBY... AGAIN!

It's a spoof but pretty darn funny and well done if you ask me...

jeffbeer


jeffbeer, originally uploaded by almostAMAZING.

Mr. Jeff himself enjoying a Sierra Nevada Best Bitter at "The Graduate" in Chico, CA...

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Easter Beer Hunt 2007

Here are a couple of short movies of our very own 14th annual Easter Beer Hunt!
(Held the day before so we don't feel so blasphemous)

Indeed, some of the children helped the parents find the beers but rest assure they didn't nor where allowed to drink anything but soda and juice. :) Just for the record...


IC Tawni grabbing a little Joey bootay! w00t!

Saturday, April 07, 2007

George Washington

This video has some pretty strong language so beware but I had to post
it because I woke up singing this gem of a song and it has been stuck in
my head ever since... You know the drill; play the song to get it out!!!
So here you go... Enjoy!

So what did you think?
I know; it's stuck in your head now...
My job here is done... :p

Friday, April 06, 2007

Orcas ruin fishing trip

These fishermen are out fishing in an inlet when all of a sudden
they are interrupted by a group of Orcas who just might have
something to say about the fishermen taking their tasty dinners.

Funny Opening Credits

Ok, this is another one that might fly past you the first time...
Can you spot what is so funny about these seemingly normal movie credits?

Thursday, April 05, 2007

Fast Food Freestyle

A fun little freestyle rap in the local McDonald's... Mmmm, Big Mac...
I need a double cheeseburger and hold the lettuce
Don't be frontin' son no seeds on a bun
We be up in this drive thru
Order for two
I gots a craving for a number nine like my shoe
We need some chicken up in here
In this dizzle
For rizzle my mizzle
Extra salt on the frizzle
Dr. Pepper my brother
Another for your mother
Double double super size
And don't forget the FRIES...

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Sunday, April 01, 2007

Friday, March 30, 2007

Ring Ring

People on the streets of Japan obey the almighty bike bell. I love it!!!

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Yeeeoouch!!!

Ok ladies and a few trimmed gentleman, it is time once again to get your 'areas' ready for those extra small pieces of cloth they call bikinis...

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Charles Has A Licking Problem

Charles Has A Licking Problem

drewtoothpaste Writes:
"My dog Charles has a licking problem. I wrote a song about the licking, which accompanies this video.

The licking is not a serious medical problem. Charles is under regular veterinary care, and was not harmed during the making of the video. He is just a weird dog.

The song is called "Charles Has A Licking Problem." The lyrics are pretty easy, maybe you will want to sing along to my song. (In case you can't tell, that is me singing.)"


Enjoy...

Stick Magnetic Ribbons on Your SUV

Asylum Street Spankers Video presents: "Stick Magnetic Ribbons on Your SUV"

Bitches and Fleas

Bitches Ain't Shit - A Cappella

DeCadence (an A Cappella group at UC Berkeley) sings Ben Folds version of Bitches Ain't Shit.




Flea Market Montgomery

This local TV commercial has made it to national TV via the Ellen Degeneres show. This is the extended version

Friday, January 19, 2007

The Lonely Tree of Ténéré

The Lonely Tree of Ténéré

The Tree of Ténéré in the early 1970s. © Krohn Photos
The Tree of Ténéré in the early 1970s. © Krohn Photos

Because trees are so abundant, it is rare for a single one to become well-known. Some trees become distinguished due to their historical significance. The Bodhi Tree in India, for example, is where Buddha is thought to have gained enlightenment; and the Liberty Tree in 18th-century Boston was a gathering place for American colonists who objected to British rule.

A few trees are also worthy of note due to being record-holders. The state of California is home to several such trees: the tallest one known, a 155.5 meter redwood called Hyperion; the largest, the 1,450 cubic meter giant sequoia named General Sherman; and the oldest, a 4,800-year-old bristlecone pine known as Methuselah. It's difficult to be certain of which individual tree is the most remote. For several decades that distinction belonged to the Tree of Ténéré, an acacia tree standing alone in the vast, hostile expanse of the Sahara Desert. However, in 1973 this tree met an exceedingly improbable end.

Also referred to by the French 'arbre du Ténéré', millennia ago the tree was part of a sizable forest. Gradually, climate change reduced the area to a desert as the trees perished. The Ténéré region became one of the most inhospitable areas, with little vegetation and an average annual rainfall of only 2.5 cm. Water ended up being scarce even underground. By sometime around the early 20th century, a small group of the thorned, yellow-flowered acacias were all that remained of the trees of the Ténéré. Over time, all but one died, leaving it as the only surviving tree in a 400 kilometer radius.

As a result, the three-meter-tall tree was one of the few interruptions in the landscape of sand. Visible from a considerable distance, it became a landmark for desert travelers. Its ability to survive on an unforgiving patch of sand was a mystery at first, but passers-by reasoned that there must be a water source. During the winter of 1938-1939, the French military coordinated the digging of a nearby well to increase the utility of the site. Workers discovered that the tree's root system was drawing water from a source 35 meters underground. Meanwhile, sometime during or after the construction of the well, a truck at the site backed into the tree and broke off one of its main branches. The tree managed to survive the impact, though its previously distinct 'Y' shape was lost.

In the decades that followed, caravans shipping grain, salt, and dates across the Sahara often stopped to take water from this well. The tree was so essential to locals' navigation of the large, barren desert that damaging it was inconceivable. As Michel Lesourd of the Central Service of Saharan Affairs wrote after seeing the tree in 1939, "[t]he Acacia has become a living lighthouse." It appeared on large-scale maps of the desert as one of the sole reference points.

By the 1970s many of the passing caravans were trucks rather than camels. In 1973, one such truck was being driven by a Libyan - allegedly drunk - and despite the flat, wide-open expanse he lost control of his vehicle. The truck veered off the road and slammed into the only tree in the entire region. This second impact with an automobile was more than the solitary Tree of Ténéré could bear, and it snapped from its trunk. It was estimated to have been 300 years old.

In November of that year the remains of the legendary tree were retrieved and transported by another truck to the Niger National Museum in the capital of Niamey, where it still resides today. At the Tree of Ténéré's original location, an anonymous artist constructed a metal monument made up of recycled pipes, fuel barrels and discarded auto parts. Thus the location still stands as a landmark - at least until the next drunken truck driver comes by.

The metal sculpture that replaced the Tree of Ténéré.
The metal sculpture that replaced the Tree of Ténéré.