Here's Some Awesome

Robots Rock to Support Independent Music Oh Jack Conte. I bumped...

Thu, 16 May 2013 15:01:00 -0700

Robots Rock to Support Independent Music

Oh Jack Conte. I bumped into his YouTube channel five years ago when he released his Yeah Yeah Yeah music video. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting him a few times at independent music and video meetups in the Bay area. So I’m a little biased in my appreciation of his music. But a robot spider playing Launchpad!?! I squealed a little at how cool that is.

I also love that Jack isn’t into music for the money but love the process and the art of winning people over with creativity. Jack makes all of his music in his home studio. He skips traditional labels, despite the popularity of his other project Pomplamoose, and puts all money made back into his songs. Stay tuned through the end of the music video to hear more about the donation-based support system behind Jack’s music.

Agua Fresca David Foster Wallace - a man not known for his...

Tue, 14 May 2013 11:37:08 -0700

Agua Fresca

David Foster Wallace - a man not known for his brevity – gave the 2005 commencement speech to the graduating class of Kenyon College. It was well-received.

Here it is as created by LA graphics and design team, The Glossary. Quite a nice job they’ve done, though was it really necessary for the guy and the cute girl to be all flirty in the store? Maybe so. Maybe not. Maybe judging is a waste of idle time.

Simon Pegg’s amazing tale of on-set “Star Trek” prankery (feat....

Mon, 13 May 2013 11:11:49 -0700

Simon Pegg’s amazing tale of on-set “Star Trek” prankery (feat. Benedict Cumberbatch)

This hot new single (clip of an interview from Jimmy Kimmel Live) is this summer’s most catchy dance track. Okay, it’s NOT as hot as Daft Punk, but I’ve certainly listened to the tale of Simon Pegg, Chris Pine and the cast and crew of Star Trek Into Darkness teaming up to prank Benedict Cumberbatch nearly as much as I have “Get Lucky.”

And there’s not even a sweet bass track! Just beautiful words and Pegg’s pretty solid Cumberbatch impression. Check it out.

I know I know, more cats. But seriously guys I LOLed so hard my...

Thu, 09 May 2013 14:55:00 -0700

I know I know, more cats. But seriously guys I LOLed so hard my sides hurt. ZeFrank’s homage to our furball-hawking friends and their tireless moodiness is down right genius. Demanding the world, upset with anything less than perfection, cats despite their silence have a lot to complain about (at least enough to fill an entire Captain’s log-esc diary).

via zefrank

Audi Ad Challenges Nimoy and New Spock to a Game of Wits I...

Wed, 08 May 2013 23:24:00 -0700

Audi Ad Challenges Nimoy and New Spock to a Game of Wits

I generally avoid ads because I feel like I should be paid to watch them and they are rarely done well. Audi however managed to catch my eye with this Spock on Spock mockery. Did I learn anything new about Audi S7? Nope. Does it make me want to watch more Star Trek, heck yea. Timed perfectly to the ‘Into Darkness’ release, Audi is definitely pandering to a generation of hard working nerds who love space, automation, and going fast. Well Audi, you have my attention.

Hard to go wrong when you combine PBS and the Avengers YouTube...

Mon, 06 May 2013 10:58:15 -0700

Hard to go wrong when you combine PBS and the Avengers

YouTube channel Gritty Reboots unites some of public television’s biggest badasses to take down public ignorance. It will make you as happy as Bob Ross’s happy little trees.

Chris Gethard got cut from “Iron Man...

Wed, 01 May 2013 11:06:02 -0700

Chris Gethard got cut from “Iron Man 3”…

…And he might be a little emotional about it. But no hard feelings. Right? Right? Right?

I’m new to the Awesome, so it might take me a few rounds...

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 10:30:00 -0700

I’m new to the Awesome, so it might take me a few rounds to get the hang of it. I wanted to start with “To This Day” by Shane Koyczan.

Koyczan is a spoken-wordsmith from Canada, and this video uses one of his poems as the track. The visuals are created by 87 individual animators who contributed 20 second increments. It’s a little long, but it’s gorgeous. It’s a little dark, but it’s beautiful.

Hope you enjoy, and thanks for having me.

Astronaut Chris Hadfield makes a washcloth seem magical in...

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 10:52:54 -0700

Astronaut Chris Hadfield makes a washcloth seem magical in space.

Look, if you’re not following the adventures of Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, who is Tweeting and Tumblring WHILE IN SPACE (he is one of six people on the ISS, YOU ARE MISSING OUT. Because he is awesome.

Just the latest example: Here he is, demonstrating what happens when you wring out a washcloth in zero gravity, because the only thing more awesome than space? Is SCIENCE.

Dominos with 10,000 iPhones Ok, you should really watch this...

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 11:08:00 -0700

Dominos with 10,000 iPhones

Ok, you should really watch this video before reading. Go on just hit play. I warned you…
Spoiler Alert: It’s all fake. But does that make it any less awesome? Not really. Just knowing that in some parallel universe (most likely After Effects) $7 million dollars worth of iPhones could be falling to the ground in pretty patterns is enough for me.

Skateboards Made of Skateboards This video is all show and no...

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 10:30:28 -0700

Skateboards Made of Skateboards

This video is all show and no tell, but really everything you need to know is in this title. Iris skateboards takes old stickered up retro style skateboards, strips them down to the raw wood, and builds new boards out of them. And of course, after you make a skateboard…you need to ride it.

Moby and Mark Lanegan make the desert beautiful I was looking at...

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 10:38:22 -0700

Moby and Mark Lanegan make the desert beautiful

I was looking at your day, and I was like, heh, your day could use some beautiful cinematography and chill Moby tunes. And I was right. Enjoy.

Quartet Sweats to Game of Thrones Theme I’m not a music...

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 09:08:00 -0700

Quartet Sweats to Game of Thrones Theme

I’m not a music connoisseur, nor do I know anything about the symphony, but I’m fairly certain that the Games of Thrones theme is played by an orchestra (or at least a digital version of one). So I find it pretty impressive to see four people play the sounds of a hundred. Over the past year or so, I’ve seen a number of cool covers to this track. It’s been played on violin, floppy disks, and electric harp. It’s been crowd sourced, mashedup, metalized, and sung by cats. But rarely have I seen it played by a few musicians ‘rocking out’ as they sweat to the hectic rhythms of this nerdy tune.

If You’re Fcking, You’re (Probably) Fcking Warning: (probably)...

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 09:14:00 -0700

If You’re Fcking, You’re (Probably) Fcking

Warning: (probably) not safe for work (without headphones).

I generally shy away from anything crude or blatantly sex-related, but this new music video by Reggie Watts, seemed like a suitable exception. There is something amazingly vintage (remember when they could ‘talk about sex on the radio’) meets modern hipster that tickles my fancy. Also I find both the song and the video to be strangely hypnotizing.

An ode to our “Doctor Who” feels It doesn’t matter who broke...

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 15:12:00 -0700

An ode to our “Doctor Who” feels

It doesn’t matter who broke your heart more — Rose Tyler or Amy Pond — any Doctor Who fan can identify with this rap ode to sci-fi’s most crey-inducing series.

ADHD: Animation Domination High Def I don’t know how I haven’t...

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 09:56:35 -0700

ADHD: Animation Domination High Def

I don’t know how I haven’t seen or heard of this before but I love it! Every Monday ADHD releases a new cartoon and they are all awesome. I’ve just watched six and I’ll likely watch a dozen or so more. According to their YouTube channel, ADHD will run as a series on FOX starting this summer. I’m not sure if these cartoons are teasers for the show or a sample of what we can expect in a 22 minute format but either way, I’m excited. Finally, there’s show that fits my sense of humor (fact-based, not mean or judgy) and my attention span. Ok, now that you’re interested, here’s one more.

CollegeHumor mashes up Disney princesses and Spring...

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 12:02:17 -0700

CollegeHumor mashes up Disney princesses and Spring Breakers

This one didn’t really have me until the bit with Cinderella, about 30 seconds in. But once it got me, it got me good. Well played, CollegeHumor.

Ever wonder how you’d haircut in space? A Flowbee of...

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 14:48:00 -0700

Ever wonder how you’d haircut in space? A Flowbee of course! Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield shows of how he ‘gets his hair did’ at ZeroG in the ISS: International Space “Salon”.

A quadcopter in a cage flying through tesla coils?! I...

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 11:28:12 -0700

A quadcopter in a cage flying through tesla coils?! I don’t know what possessed anyone to want to try this but it looks pretty awesome.

Iron Man Homemade Obviously, being a bad ass comic book movie...

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 13:18:00 -0700

Iron Man Homemade

Obviously, being a bad ass comic book movie (that costs $200 million dollars to make), Iron Man is the ultimate eye candy that breaks the barrier of that is possible (thanks CGI!). So I was pretty impressed when I bumped into this homemade trailer that recreates the trailer shot by shot. Granted, some of it looks a bit cheesy (you can see strings pulling the cardboard mask), but the fact that Cinefix pulled it off with common real word object and clever editing is fairly remarkable. Click here for the side by side trailer comparisons.