People Are Awesome 2013
February 9, 2013 10:03 AM Subscribe
This generic Epic Win compilation, set to the music of the band whose YouTube account it was posted on, was obviously made to go viral and sell the music.
I muted it immediately -- not out of disgust re: the facts above, but because the music is just so incredibly godawful.
So, hey, good luck with that, Hadouken.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:11 AM on February 9, 2013 [3 favorites]
I muted it immediately -- not out of disgust re: the facts above, but because the music is just so incredibly godawful.
So, hey, good luck with that, Hadouken.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:11 AM on February 9, 2013 [3 favorites]
I've barely enough control over my own body's movements to walk upright. The combination of athleticism and nerve it takes to pull off stunts like this seems totally supernatural to me.
posted by dchrssyr at 10:11 AM on February 9, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by dchrssyr at 10:11 AM on February 9, 2013 [4 favorites]
And some of those are death-defyingly stupid.
posted by Pendragon at 10:12 AM on February 9, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by Pendragon at 10:12 AM on February 9, 2013 [3 favorites]
I'd have stuck just one #fail moment in there, just to make it interesting.
posted by 2bucksplus at 10:12 AM on February 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by 2bucksplus at 10:12 AM on February 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
dchrssyr: "The combination of athleticism and nerve it takes to pull off stunts like this seems totally supernatural to me"
I bet you could do that last stunt, if you had a big enough set of carpeted stairs.
posted by idiopath at 10:14 AM on February 9, 2013 [6 favorites]
I bet you could do that last stunt, if you had a big enough set of carpeted stairs.
posted by idiopath at 10:14 AM on February 9, 2013 [6 favorites]
Rugburn Baby wil be the next big meme.
posted by The Deej at 10:15 AM on February 9, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by The Deej at 10:15 AM on February 9, 2013 [3 favorites]
I don't think it's my usual, but rather a newly evolved cynicism that makes me shun aggregated videos like this. They make them for the ad revenue, which steals the ad revenue from the original clips. Yes, people are awesome, except the people who make these convenient clips.
posted by Catblack at 10:17 AM on February 9, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Catblack at 10:17 AM on February 9, 2013 [2 favorites]
The music definitely made me zone out and get amazing-feats-fatigue, but then that kid wiped out in the foot race and broke into the worm and it was worth the struggle.
posted by SharkParty at 10:18 AM on February 9, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by SharkParty at 10:18 AM on February 9, 2013 [3 favorites]
For some reason I was expecting examples of kindness and generosity, not an X-games highlight reel. It was interesting, but not what I was expecting.
posted by Badgermann at 10:19 AM on February 9, 2013 [9 favorites]
posted by Badgermann at 10:19 AM on February 9, 2013 [9 favorites]
Not so ironically, the vast majority of popular videos are made up the 99.9% of these stunts and "ridiculously amazing things" that did not go as planned. In a sense, these are the outtakes.
posted by Mike Mongo at 10:19 AM on February 9, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Mike Mongo at 10:19 AM on February 9, 2013 [2 favorites]
I only take my awesomeness local or fair trade.
posted by cmoj at 10:21 AM on February 9, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by cmoj at 10:21 AM on February 9, 2013 [2 favorites]
They may have youth, athleticism and daring, but I can type snarky comments into the internet like nobody's business.
posted by metaBugs at 10:26 AM on February 9, 2013 [23 favorites]
posted by metaBugs at 10:26 AM on February 9, 2013 [23 favorites]
I don't get the clip at 0:30. If you swang on a rope away from a cliff, wouldn't you just swing back with almost the same force? Is she doing something else that makes more sense?
posted by Jehan at 10:30 AM on February 9, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Jehan at 10:30 AM on February 9, 2013 [2 favorites]
Guy who fell down at the finish line, then started doing The Worm: epic save. (that should be a thing in the win/fail continuum)
posted by ShutterBun at 10:36 AM on February 9, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by ShutterBun at 10:36 AM on February 9, 2013 [4 favorites]
Meta-snark aside, seeing some juggling in the background of one of those clips reminded me of my current favourite ball juggling video, which has some pretty jaw-dropping stuff in it.
posted by metaBugs at 10:37 AM on February 9, 2013
posted by metaBugs at 10:37 AM on February 9, 2013
That it's a compilation video by a band (that presumably would not want you to copy a song from their album without permission) makes this interesting to me. A firm like cheezburger is playing the same game, but in a way the fact that sleazy content aggregators is all they are makes it seem.. less hypocritical.
That said, there were some pretty "wow" moments in there I wouldn't have seen otherwise, even if some of them were very fake. So there's that small good outcome, anyway.
posted by Alterscape at 10:41 AM on February 9, 2013
That said, there were some pretty "wow" moments in there I wouldn't have seen otherwise, even if some of them were very fake. So there's that small good outcome, anyway.
posted by Alterscape at 10:41 AM on February 9, 2013
I'm waiting to see how many of these get debunked on Mythbusters.
posted by matildaben at 10:56 AM on February 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by matildaben at 10:56 AM on February 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
On the other hand, Mythbusters has (have?) in fact contributed to the genre with this bit of amazing.
posted by ShutterBun at 11:00 AM on February 9, 2013
posted by ShutterBun at 11:00 AM on February 9, 2013
Evidently the majority of people that are awesome are men. Needs more women.
posted by corpse at 11:06 AM on February 9, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by corpse at 11:06 AM on February 9, 2013 [3 favorites]
How the hell do you practice some of these stunts without maiming yourself and others around you?
posted by JoeZydeco at 11:10 AM on February 9, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by JoeZydeco at 11:10 AM on February 9, 2013 [2 favorites]
I thought this was already posted and deleted.
And yeah, some of these are fake which makes the whole thing suspect.
Terrible, terrible music. Terrible.
posted by dobbs at 11:11 AM on February 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
And yeah, some of these are fake which makes the whole thing suspect.
Terrible, terrible music. Terrible.
posted by dobbs at 11:11 AM on February 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
Yeah, what happened with that Mythbusters pizza video? Did that get proven one way or the other?
posted by dobbs at 11:12 AM on February 9, 2013
posted by dobbs at 11:12 AM on February 9, 2013
How come the "awesome" stuff is always just people doing flips and getting lucky, and nothing like this?
posted by Philosopher Dirtbike at 11:13 AM on February 9, 2013
posted by Philosopher Dirtbike at 11:13 AM on February 9, 2013
How the hell do you practice some of these stunts without maiming yourself and others around you?
The guy doing the wheelie on the bike with another guy on his shoulders wasn't practiced. It was just a fluke and they've been riding like that ever since, unable to figure out how to stop or get down.
posted by dobbs at 11:18 AM on February 9, 2013 [5 favorites]
The guy doing the wheelie on the bike with another guy on his shoulders wasn't practiced. It was just a fluke and they've been riding like that ever since, unable to figure out how to stop or get down.
posted by dobbs at 11:18 AM on February 9, 2013 [5 favorites]
Philosopher Dirtbike: "How come the "awesome" stuff is always just people doing flips and getting lucky, and nothing like this ?"
If you get the physical stunt wrong, you could get seriously injured.
If you get science wrong, you could get rich because people like easy answers even if they are wrong.
posted by idiopath at 11:26 AM on February 9, 2013
If you get the physical stunt wrong, you could get seriously injured.
If you get science wrong, you could get rich because people like easy answers even if they are wrong.
posted by idiopath at 11:26 AM on February 9, 2013
Caulk all this up to advances in reconstructive surgery. Just wait until they get the bugs worked out on high powered active prosthesis.
posted by sammyo at 11:27 AM on February 9, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by sammyo at 11:27 AM on February 9, 2013 [2 favorites]
If you swang on a rope away from a cliff
Is swang a word? If not, I approve of its creation. Swang!
posted by phaedon at 11:34 AM on February 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
Is swang a word? If not, I approve of its creation. Swang!
posted by phaedon at 11:34 AM on February 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
That's the most hilariously bad music I've ever heard. It's like the Troll 2 of music.
posted by codacorolla at 11:42 AM on February 9, 2013 [6 favorites]
posted by codacorolla at 11:42 AM on February 9, 2013 [6 favorites]
The guy doing the wheelie on the bike with another guy on his shoulders wasn't practiced. It was just a fluke and they've been riding like that ever since, unable to figure out how to stop or get down.
What about these stunts with guys dancing on snowmobiles in mid-air? How many do you wreck trying to get that right?
posted by JoeZydeco at 11:53 AM on February 9, 2013 [2 favorites]
What about these stunts with guys dancing on snowmobiles in mid-air? How many do you wreck trying to get that right?
posted by JoeZydeco at 11:53 AM on February 9, 2013 [2 favorites]
The snowmobile backflip at 1:00 is the same trick that just killed Caleb Moore at this year's X Games.
posted by mefireader at 12:27 PM on February 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by mefireader at 12:27 PM on February 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
So, the long-rumored extended cut opening credits for Alphas finally hits the Net.
posted by scalefree at 12:28 PM on February 9, 2013
posted by scalefree at 12:28 PM on February 9, 2013
This is bullshit.
Ryu cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, "levitate". Since SF2T, he's been able to perform his Hurricane Kick in air, which at first was a linear attack like it is on the ground, which was replaced in SSF2 with an arcing fall. In the VS series, he can perform nearly all of his special attacks in the air, which will cancel the fall into the move, or slow descent, and Evil Ryu from Alpha series on could teleport like Akuma, but at no point could Ryu levitate.
"Hadouken" indeed.
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 12:46 PM on February 9, 2013 [3 favorites]
Ryu cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, "levitate". Since SF2T, he's been able to perform his Hurricane Kick in air, which at first was a linear attack like it is on the ground, which was replaced in SSF2 with an arcing fall. In the VS series, he can perform nearly all of his special attacks in the air, which will cancel the fall into the move, or slow descent, and Evil Ryu from Alpha series on could teleport like Akuma, but at no point could Ryu levitate.
"Hadouken" indeed.
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 12:46 PM on February 9, 2013 [3 favorites]
I can't do anything amazing, because my mom told me to stop running with scissors.
posted by Mojojojo at 12:57 PM on February 9, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Mojojojo at 12:57 PM on February 9, 2013 [2 favorites]
If you swang on a rope away from a cliff
Is swang a word? If not, I approve of its creation. Swang!
It's not.
bring - brought - brought
cling - clung - clung
ding - dinged - dinged
fling - flung - flung
king - kinged - kinged
ping - pinged - pinged
ring - rang - rung
sing - sang - sung
sling - slung - slung
spring - sprang/sprung - sprung
sting - stung - stung
swing - swung - swung
wring - wrung - wrung
zing - zinged - zinged
English: It's just that simple!
posted by Sys Rq at 1:00 PM on February 9, 2013 [3 favorites]
Is swang a word? If not, I approve of its creation. Swang!
It's not.
bring - brought - brought
cling - clung - clung
ding - dinged - dinged
fling - flung - flung
king - kinged - kinged
ping - pinged - pinged
ring - rang - rung
sing - sang - sung
sling - slung - slung
spring - sprang/sprung - sprung
sting - stung - stung
swing - swung - swung
wring - wrung - wrung
zing - zinged - zinged
English: It's just that simple!
posted by Sys Rq at 1:00 PM on February 9, 2013 [3 favorites]
I think it's all fake, since obviously nobody can do more than shuffle between the couch and the fridge.
posted by happyroach at 1:04 PM on February 9, 2013 [6 favorites]
posted by happyroach at 1:04 PM on February 9, 2013 [6 favorites]
God, I love the human body!
posted by QueerAngel28 at 1:37 PM on February 9, 2013
posted by QueerAngel28 at 1:37 PM on February 9, 2013
Deeper shades of win within the video itself.
posted by jason's_planet at 1:50 PM on February 9, 2013
posted by jason's_planet at 1:50 PM on February 9, 2013
The various "fails" collections tell us just how stupid most of this really is and how ridiculous lucky some people get, for that one time. Not talking abut the edited ones, obviously...Liked how that kid went down the stairs, though.
posted by Namlit at 1:57 PM on February 9, 2013
posted by Namlit at 1:57 PM on February 9, 2013
Is swang a word? If not, I approve of its creation. Swang!It sure is! My dictionary says:It's not.
swang verb Chiefly Scot. and North EnglandI, might I say, am a very chiefly Scot, so this word is appropriate to me.
posted by Jehan at 2:11 PM on February 9, 2013 [2 favorites]
Yesterday I was behind a truck that said on its back window, "Swang or get swung on."
So... I should constantly have been swinging? How do you start? Because I have not been swinging to my knowledge.
posted by cmoj at 2:53 PM on February 9, 2013
So... I should constantly have been swinging? How do you start? Because I have not been swinging to my knowledge.
posted by cmoj at 2:53 PM on February 9, 2013
A swang is like a swing, but sassier.
posted by dephlogisticated at 3:33 PM on February 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by dephlogisticated at 3:33 PM on February 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
More 'guys' than 'people'. I counted two definitely-women in the whole lot, and that's the norm for these videos, and also for the WIN! site. I *know* women do awesome things, so where are all the videos?
posted by HypotheticalWoman at 5:15 PM on February 9, 2013
posted by HypotheticalWoman at 5:15 PM on February 9, 2013
I was watching this video quite happily until the jackass jumped over the train.
Do NOT fuck with trains, people.
Please don't involve the engineer in your death wish.
(or anyone else, for that matter)
That said, as someone who can barely stand up on ice skates, rock on.
posted by BlueHorse at 5:26 PM on February 9, 2013
Do NOT fuck with trains, people.
Please don't involve the engineer in your death wish.
(or anyone else, for that matter)
That said, as someone who can barely stand up on ice skates, rock on.
posted by BlueHorse at 5:26 PM on February 9, 2013
"How come the "awesome" stuff is always just people doing flips and getting lucky, and nothing like this ?"
Yeah, I totally expected to see people discovering things, creating things, explaining things, not just jumping over stuff, kicking stuff, etc.
Guess I have a different definition of amazing and awesome.
posted by signal at 5:27 PM on February 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
Yeah, I totally expected to see people discovering things, creating things, explaining things, not just jumping over stuff, kicking stuff, etc.
Guess I have a different definition of amazing and awesome.
posted by signal at 5:27 PM on February 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
People are indeed awesome.
Hadouken is not awesome.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 5:41 PM on February 9, 2013
Hadouken is not awesome.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 5:41 PM on February 9, 2013
You know what's awesome? A threadful of hyperliterate elites too jaded to appreciate the mastery and beautiful execution of death-defying aerial stunts.
It's like going to a circus with a kid who'd rather play on a Nintendo DS.
posted by mistersquid at 6:29 PM on February 9, 2013 [7 favorites]
It's like going to a circus with a kid who'd rather play on a Nintendo DS.
posted by mistersquid at 6:29 PM on February 9, 2013 [7 favorites]
I kind of liked the music actually. Sort of 80s in a way, but a good track.
posted by Seekerofsplendor at 11:08 PM on February 9, 2013
posted by Seekerofsplendor at 11:08 PM on February 9, 2013
You know what's awesome? A threadful of hyperliterate elites too jaded to appreciate the mastery and beautiful execution of death-defying aerial stunts.
The problem for this hyperliterate viewer is that some of the stunts are definitely fake, and have been documented as such (and yes, I'm too lazy to find the links for those right now. Possibly too jaded, also.). That some are fake leaves me spending most of the video trying to figure out which are fake and which are real, and therefore unable to enjoy even the ones that don't strike me as mindbogglingly stupidly dangerous.
posted by bardophile at 2:09 AM on February 10, 2013 [1 favorite]
The problem for this hyperliterate viewer is that some of the stunts are definitely fake, and have been documented as such (and yes, I'm too lazy to find the links for those right now. Possibly too jaded, also.). That some are fake leaves me spending most of the video trying to figure out which are fake and which are real, and therefore unable to enjoy even the ones that don't strike me as mindbogglingly stupidly dangerous.
posted by bardophile at 2:09 AM on February 10, 2013 [1 favorite]
The one where they jump on an airbag and send the guy flying into the lake? That's not fake, and it was a couple miles from my house. I've seen them doing it, but a different spot on the lake. That spot was in Cham, Switzerland.
posted by Goofyy at 5:58 AM on February 10, 2013
posted by Goofyy at 5:58 AM on February 10, 2013
"People"? I didn't see any women... should this be "men are awesome?"
(Please correct me if I'm wrong... funny, I've seen women doing lots of amazing things.)
posted by kinnakeet at 11:59 AM on February 10, 2013 [1 favorite]
(Please correct me if I'm wrong... funny, I've seen women doing lots of amazing things.)
posted by kinnakeet at 11:59 AM on February 10, 2013 [1 favorite]
Jehan: I don't get the clip at 0:30. If you swang on a rope away from a cliff, wouldn't you just swing back with almost the same force? Is she doing something else that makes more sense?
I'm not sure what kind of sense you're looking for here, but maybe it'll be helpful to see the clip with more context: see 1:54 in this video.
posted by stebulus at 12:31 PM on February 10, 2013
I'm not sure what kind of sense you're looking for here, but maybe it'll be helpful to see the clip with more context: see 1:54 in this video.
posted by stebulus at 12:31 PM on February 10, 2013
Sys Rq: English: It's just that simple!
bring - brang - brought
cling - clang - clung
ding - dang - dinged
fling - flang - flung
king - kang - kinged
ping - pang - pinged
ring - rang - rung
sing - sang - sung
sling - slang - slung
spring - sprang- sprung
sting - stang - stung
swing - swang - swung
wring - wranga - dong
posted by boosh at 12:39 PM on February 10, 2013 [1 favorite]
bring - brang - brought
cling - clang - clung
ding - dang - dinged
fling - flang - flung
king - kang - kinged
ping - pang - pinged
ring - rang - rung
sing - sang - sung
sling - slang - slung
spring - sprang- sprung
sting - stang - stung
swing - swang - swung
wring - wranga - dong
posted by boosh at 12:39 PM on February 10, 2013 [1 favorite]
Yeah, I thought it was going to be people rescuing puppies from burning buildings or something. Or (true story) the anonymous donor who just paid a Professional Internet Kitten's emergency vet bill, because his mom has run out of money from paying his previous bills.
Some of this video was pretty wow-inducing, though. I feel like a lazy slug now.
posted by MexicanYenta at 7:52 AM on February 11, 2013
Some of this video was pretty wow-inducing, though. I feel like a lazy slug now.
posted by MexicanYenta at 7:52 AM on February 11, 2013
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posted by Pendragon at 10:10 AM on February 9, 2013 [3 favorites]