Category: Videos

“January 11, 2000 – July 31, 2006.
2356 Days.
A work in progress.”

I recommend watching this video alone in a quiet room, with the lights out, as you count down the days to seeing your beloved wife again after four months apart, and even though the pain from the root canal last week is not quite yet faded, you are chewing on fresh sushi. Then, the music is truly sublime.

It’s comforting to know there are some familiar points in the society into which I shall plunge: Slapstick, vampires, hot chicks on TV.
On the other hand, sometimes it is disturbing to see the whitening effect of various cosmetics pursued by so many in Thailand. You know what, though? I attribute this less to the perceived beauty of pale skin than to the fickle nature of the female species – you know, wanting straight hair when they have perms and vice versa. It’s a vicious cycle, but it’s also only natural, I guess.
(via Magnoy)

Is this the new Macarena?
I can’t claim to watch Pythagoras Switch (?????????) on a regular basis or anything, but this is some damn fine educational television programming for 6- to 8-year olds.

This is one of the most amazing videos I’ve ever seen. Those of you with babies (hint, hint, hint, and lord forgive me if I forgot anyone else’s child) might want to take note.
I apologize that the video is entirely in Japanese, with no subtitles.
Basically, this is a television show called Tantei Knight Scoop that documents strange and interesting people/places/things that their viewers often send in. In this episode, a mother of a child who fusses a lot writes in to say that a popular television commercial by Takemoto Piano has a strangely and instantaneously soothing effect on her son and his friends (this effect is in fact documented on the company’s website, and during the clip the man in the commercials says that people call in all the time asking when it will be on the air!). I think you can basically understand it from there. At the end of the show, the host concludes that the tonal range of the commercial is probably soothing to babies, at around 440 Hz.
……….
Here are both commercials that reportedly make babies stop crying, rolled into a single clip:

Let me know if they really work or not!
/////////////////
UPDATE 2007/03/21: Once again, Takemoto’s tranquility effect transcends borders!

Reminiscent of Michael Hedges.

Animal is always hungry but Buddy is just hungrier here…

It’s OK, he probably doesn’t believe in that “survival of the fittest” shit anyway… Don’t bring a bow to a hoof fight, biooootch!

“I edited this together from clips from Empire, and time-remapped some to get a few expressions to work. Enjoy.” – Doomblake

Speaking of movies, apparently Michael Mann decided he wanted “nothing to do with the TV series” and hence did not use Jan Hammer’s original masterpiece in the new Miami Vice movie. Apparently there’s no Phil Collins or Glen Frey either.
Nothing to do with the original series, eh? That means no Daytona, no Testarossa, not even a Bren Ten! Hmm… I think it’s safe to say, the new movie won’t even come close to touching the Perfect Scene:

The intro drags on a bit, but they get a +2 for laying the Gipsy Kings over pug footage: