Watermelon Carving

Takashi Itoh may be the world's most famous watermelon carver, enough so as to have his works called for in three different continents. Come watch the laws of supply and demand at work.

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Top 50 Music Videos Of 2006

DoCopenhagen lists 2006's top 50 music videos available on youtube. Be prepared to loose hours of your life.

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A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant

Les Freres Corbusier, the theater company behind Brooklyn's Hell House, return with Dianetic take on the holidays in their critically acclaimed play "A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant.

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Most Dangerous Christmas Toys

Not so sure you love your kids? Than consider investing in one of Radar Magazine's 10 Most Dangerous Play Things of All Time (note that a cougar on PCP is not one of them).

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Nerdcore For Life Trailer

A documentary about nerd-based rap, filling in the niche of things-on-the-internet-that-fill-me-with-prepubescent-shame. The moment when the kid in the mask explains rapping through a D&D metaphor--and I was able to follow...it's reasons like this I don't keep a gun in the house.

The Saddest Song in the World

While persuing the AV club's blog The Hater, I came across the following article:

Nokia recently commissioned a physiologist to conduct research on the subject of music and emotions, and he came to the exact same conclusion as my sister did after watching Richard Dryfuss teach some kid how to play the tuba during the turbulent 60s: Turns out, music does make you feel things. Who knew?

But the science didn't stop there. The physiologist went on to test physical responses to a number of songs in order to determine which songs make people the saddest, and which songs make them feel the most exhilarated.

The saddest song was The Verve's "The Drugs Don't Work." (Sadness was measured by decreased heart rate, not by the number of tears you're crying on the inside.)

The most exhilarating song (i.e. the song that causes the biggest increase in breaths per minute) was Blur's "Song 2."

Yes, this study took place in the UK.

Grab a tissue and have a listen to both the most and least blue songs in the world.

LINK (to the original article)

THE SADDEST



THE MOST EXHILARATING

Ray Harryhausen Creature List

Harryhausen remains the oldest school gangsta.

Golf Ball Destruction

Okay, I love to see things destroyed by projectiles. Sue me.

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Marvel superhero versions of peanuts characters

I don't know geek times geek is, but this has got to be pretty close.

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Vintage Colt 45 ads

From the last ad: "You can always go out at get you a 45 [a malt liquor and a revolver] in each hand and have yourself a good time." I can't shake my head long enough for these to even start making sense.

Diabetes ho!

The vital statistics:

Standard creme egg : Height : 2" Girth : 4" Weight : 40 g Calories : 175

Creme de la creme egg : Height : 8". Girth : 16.5". Weight : 2.25 kg (about 5 lb)Calories : estimated 10000

Interested? Do-it-yourselfers, please direct your eyes to Pimp My Snack, the website basking in the fact that gluttony is still a cardinal sin.

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28 Days Slater

Every February Mario Lopez undergoes a horrible transformation and becomes Bayside High's A. C. Slater. Like most things in life, this is due to a chip in his brain. Check out the rest of the episodes at Team Tiger Awesome.

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The Good Word

WWLLCJD: What would L. L. Cool J Do?

And the most important advice you'll ever recieve is...

Game over, man! Game over!

I should probably feel bad for the detail in which I recognize these games.

Voltswagon Yin and Yang

Care of neatorama.

Knuckling Under

Knuckles are the license plate of the tattoo industry--capable of communicating messages limited to eight digits or less. Given this restriction, take a look at what some enthusiasts have put together.

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Hoo-ray for Bollywood

I sort of wish Axel Rose had picked up any of this guys massive funkadellics for his act rather than his pathetic microphone-snake-dance.

The distinction between laughing with and laughing at getting thinner and thinner

Here’re some funny clips from the blooper reel of Bill Dance’s Fish Talk TV show.

Scrabble

If you’ve never seen Zefrank and the show, you don’t know what you’re missing. After a recent news of the highest scoring scrabble game hit headlines recently, we have little choice to but to pay attention to the ethnography of scrabblites. Watch and take notes.

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Worst. Halloween Mask. Ever.

Princeton’s John Delaney has posted a collection of famous death masks, giving us all that awkward pleasure of knowing what it would feel like to French kiss an unwilling Jonathan Swift.

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six foot twenty, made of radiation

I LOVE George Washington. I want him to be the first president of my heart!

You should take a look at Creased Comics, the production company for this cartoon, as well. They’re responsible for other little gems like this:

Take a look in the archives for more.

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Recipe for an Oedipal Complex

I don't know what I'm more sickly fascinated by--the fact moment of fruit on veggie softcore porn or the convincingly Michael Bay action scenes. I guess it's okay if a version of Oedipus wants to make you claw your eyes out.

Sometimes the best thing about a blind date is knowing you'll go down in flames

frim the site:

The singles below are real people with real issues. Some are overweight. Others are crippled by debt. Quite a few live with their parents. But they all have one thing in common: They are available. And they've put themselves out there with the hope of finding someone willing to accept them at face value. So, please, scan their profiles. You may not get exactly what you want, but at least you know exactly what you're getting.

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The stocking stuffer of psychological scarring

Nothing says Happy Holidays like a photo of sweet little toddlers screaming at Santa. Kick back and laugh at someone else's pain.

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Who says heroin use doesn't promote a healthy sense of humor

From the site:

As if you need another reason to love Iggy Pop, the veteran rocker (and his band The Stooges) have the single most entertaining concert rider TSG has ever obtained. The document--all 18 pages of which you'll find below--describes Iggy's requirements in terms of amplifiers, security, lighting, stage set up, and dressing rooms. But unlike most similar documents, Iggy's rider is written in a rollicking, stream-of-consciousness fashion that delivers multiple laughs per page. Apparently written by roadie Jos Grain, the Iggy rider is peppered with witty gems, tasteless asides, and typos. For example, in describing how Iggy's dressing room should be made to "look less like a typical rock & roll dressing room," the rider suggests that promoters "just let someone loose with a little bit of artistic flair...Er, do you know any homosexuals?" Explaining the need for two heavy duty fans, Grain notes, "So that I can wear a scarf and pretend to be in a Bon Jovi video." Also, don't miss the backstage requirement of a Bob Hope impersonator for Mr. Pop. (18 pages)

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The most educational video you'll watch today

This BBC series parodies the 1970s "For Schools and Colleges" programs, especially ITV's series "Experiment." Take a look on Youtube for the rest of the series.

One non-sexual Trojan containing a reservoir of seamen

The Chasers War on Everything tests whether in fact we have learned from anything, whatsoever, from history. Answer: not really.

And now for something completely stolen...

You may or may not have guessed by the recent change in subject matter, as well as the six month hiatus, that things are changing here. We here at the Erik Leavitt staff have had a revision of the blog as less narcissistic and more Erikphiliac—all Erik’s interests all the time. We’ll be trying to post links and videos of interest with some frequency as the Erik staff robs mercilessly from the research done by other websites. Come bask in the immorality!

Almost to the stalking stage...

The crush I've been developing for Nellie McKay remains unalleviated by her amazing live performances for NPR. Checkout her acoustic piano work for "Live at Studio 4A."

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Fulfulling every BB gun's desire

Maybe it's the fact that I've never really outgrown an angry fire-starting adolescent, but I can't help but be drawn to this striking collection (pun...sort of intended) of high speed photography. Wallow in the beauty of golf club and .22 bullet blowing stuff the hell up via.

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English lesson for Japanese Tourists

Thanks to Youtube we have access to even the strangest of videos, including emergency English videos for Japanese tourists. This may be the perfect self-defense video against robbers confused my kerchief placement and terrified of awkward choreography.