PYROGASM

91 ROMAN CANDLES (the action starts at 1:10):



20,000 BOTTLE ROCKETS (the fun begins at 1:15):



 10.5 MILLION FIRECRACKERS:

MELVIN THE (MINI) MACHINE

"Melvin the (Mini)Machine" - a wonderful Rube Goldberg machine that fits into two suitcases. Video by Heyheyhey design studios.

  (via Notcot)

MOONRISE KINGDOM

Coming May 2012, a film by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola:

CHEWED: A GALLERY OF DESTROYED DOG TOYS

Chewed - by Arne Svenson and Ron Warren - a fine gallery/book of 140 dog toys that "have seen better days."
(via FeatureShoot)

INVISIBLE INK

I bought a bottle of this high-quality (cobalt chloride) invisible ink from J. Herbin, a "maker of fine specialty inks." For the maiden voyage, I tried my best at Edgar Allen Poe's "Gold Bug" - in the story, an illustration of a species of scarab has an invisible ink skull drawn beneath it, the ink activated by heat.

THE KING OF LEGOLAND

A beautiful video by Micaël Raynaud showing the toys of his childhood, set to the song "King of Legoland" by Hunting Charlie's Band & Samuel Vielliard.

(via Notcot)

PROFESSIONAL DISPLAY OF NO-HANDED BIKE MOVES

"Golden Tree" by Martin Brooks

(via Notcot)

REEBOK ALIEN STOMPERS

In the epic 1986 science fiction film "Aliens," Sigourney Weaver can be seen wearing futuristic-looking red, grey, and white Reeboks; as a product tie-in following the film, Reebok sold "Alien Stompers" for a brief time. And now, every few years, a new line of Alien Stompers will come out on the market - they often sell out through online pre-orders, and you will likely never, ever see these on the shelves of shopping mall sneaker stores. Although they have serious fanboy geek appeal, they have an even greater selling point: they are some of the most comfortable sneakers you will ever wear.

And earlier this year, two cool new styles have hit the (online) market:

INDIANA JONES ALIEN STOMPERS
As of the date of this post, a small number of online stores still have "Indiana Jones Alien Stompers" in stock - dark denim and dark polished leather, with Pre-Columbian gods on the tongues.

BLADE RUNNER ALIEN STOMPERS
You can still find the awesome "Blade Runner Alien Stompers" in several online stores (here, here, and here) - futuristic metal-grey color, Japanese on the back, and the nice origami unicorn detail on the side.

DON'T PLAY NO GAME THAT I CAN'T WIN

The full-length version of "Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win" from the new Beastie Boys album, "Hot Sauce Committee, part II."


And for a mere $750.00, you can actually BUY the set of Beastie Boys action figures (proceeds go to charity).

FAKE CRITERIONS: ENCINO MAN

So in love with Fake Criterions, I've been inspired and started making some. I hope they show up on their site.
First installment: Encino Man.

FOOD AND AUTOMATION

Takoyaki are fried balls of batter with octopus meat, onions, ginger, and crunchy tempura scraps inside. Watching them cook in an automated fryer is something between hypnotic and meditative.


Watch robotic arms pick up and stack pancakes on the assembly line at Honeytop Foods:

(via Tasteologie/Notcot)

MOVIE ART UPGRADE

The perfect upgrade to movie art for iTunes, iPods, and AppleTVs - replacing the stock film "cover art" with awesome artistic remakes.

• (Often comical) "Fake Criterion" versions of film posters (including movies that would never, ever be in the Criterion Collection).
• A number of movie posters remade by poster artist Olly Moss.
• Star Wars episodes 4-6 beautifully revisioned by Olly Moss.
• Remakes of the posters for Star Wars episodes 1-3 by Zenithuk, inspired by the Olly Moss series.

XENOPHOBE

It was such a totally epic arcade game in the late 80's, Bally Midway's "Xenophobe." On a big nostalgia trip, I've been playing the arcade version of Xenophobe on a free MAME emulator on my laptop (and here's the game ROM you will need). The gameplay is something of a comical version of the film "Aliens" - your mission is to clear Moon bases and starships of aliens, before the self-destruct time ends.

And how much do I love this game?
Click on the epic Xenophobe wallpaper I made [above] to download the full size. And click on the image [below] to get the full sized map of the first 5 levels of the game.
You're welcome!

THE GREATEST KUNG FU FILM COLLECTION EVER

Behold! After several months of hunting, the collection is complete: the collection of the greatest Kung Fu films. The perfect housing for such a collection: a custom-made Buddha USB drive. Although there are scads of new Kung Fu films being made each year, this collection sums-up the greatest of the original "Old School" Kung Fu films, with only a few recent films that are truly worthy.
• "The 5 Deadly Venoms" ("The Five Venoms") [1978].
• "Clan of the White Lotus" ("Fists of the White Lotus") [1980].
• "Drunken Master" ("Drunken Monkey in the Tiger's Eye") [1978].
• "Encounters of the Spooky Kind" ("Spooky Encounters") [1980].
• "Five Fingers of Death" ("King Boxer") [1972].
• "Game of Death" [1978/2000].
• "Kung Fu Hustle" [2004].
• "Legendary Weapons of China" ("Legendary Weapons of Kung Fu") [1982].
• "Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky ("Story of Ricky") [1991].
• "Shaolin Soccer" ("Kung Fu Soccer") [2001].
• "Eight-Diagram Pole Fighter" ("Invincible Pole Fighter") [1983].
• "The 36th Chamber of Shaolin" ("Shaolin Master Killer") [1978].
• "The Crippled Masters" [1979].
• "The Flying Guillotine" [1978].

CONVERSE x ACE HOTEL = CHUCK TAYLOR BOSEY

Converse and Ace Hotel have joined forces to create an epic limited-edition sneaker: The Chuck Taylor Bosey. Inspired by wading boots and 1940's military boots.
(via The Awesomer)

NINJA TANTO BATTLE PACKAGE

You couldn't name something with 4 cooler words: the Ninja Tanto Battle Package. For only $19.99, it comes with a hidden dagger, throwing spikes, and caltrops. A must-have for any stealthy assassin.

CHAP-HOP

Professor Elemental - "Fighting Trousers"


Mr. B: the Gentleman Rhymer - "Chap-Hop History"


AmberGambler - a beautiful Mr. B + Professor Elemental Megamix.

SKATEBOARD RIDE AROUND NYC

Skateboard + DSLR camera + over-the-shoulder camera rig + New York City + Zack McTee =

(via Notcot, via Misagarcia)

DelFly MICRO AIR VEHICLE

The DelFly Micro Air Vehicle - weighing 3.07 grams, onboard camera, fully remote-controllable. An awesome micro-ornithopter.


(via BotJunkie)

(DE)MERIT BADGES

DemeritWear Merit Badges - merit badges to honor what most of us are like in the great outdoors: getting poison oak, burning a marshmallow, not knowing how to tie knots; and everyday life things: breaking an arm, cleaning up dog poop, following assembly instructions, or flashing breasts at passers-by.