what the luck
January 17, 2009 2:23 PM   Subscribe

 
I don't think a giant Cadbury Creme Egg really crushed a car on a rooftop parking lot.
posted by ericb at 2:28 PM on January 17, 2009 [3 favorites]


Wow. Some of the clips where spectators avoided getting hit by racing cars are incredible.
posted by ericb at 2:32 PM on January 17, 2009


There are a million of these internet videos, and almost as many sites devoted to them.

A selection of crappy quality ones set to shitty Casiotone dance music is a hideous post...
posted by Brockles at 2:32 PM on January 17, 2009


ericb: Rally cars, not race cars

/pedant
posted by Brockles at 2:33 PM on January 17, 2009


Ericb - that Cadbury Creme Egg was meant....for you.
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 2:33 PM on January 17, 2009 [1 favorite]


la trance.
posted by empath at 2:34 PM on January 17, 2009


Huh, I liked it. I thought the falling egg thing was fake (the second clip) but some of the other ones are amazing. The dance music was a distraction.
posted by delmoi at 2:35 PM on January 17, 2009


I thought the falling egg thing was fake...

Ya' think?
posted by ericb at 2:37 PM on January 17, 2009


Please stand by. Cheese levels are being adjusted kraftmatically.
posted by loquacious at 2:37 PM on January 17, 2009 [7 favorites]


Huh, I liked it.

Yeah, but why not just link to Break.com (or one of a bajillion others) and be done with it? At least people can find these sorts of things if they like it otherwise. These videos are good ( I watch them as a procrastination, I have to confess), but this is an FPP with no effort in it.

Bring us a list of these places, or something, with a youtube summary for a taster.
posted by Brockles at 2:40 PM on January 17, 2009


Not a bad video.

Here's a 30 minute long compilation of people decidedly less lucky.
posted by flatluigi at 2:40 PM on January 17, 2009 [2 favorites]


Much as this feels a little weak, I can't hate on near-death-by-rally-car footage.
posted by arcanecrowbar at 2:40 PM on January 17, 2009 [1 favorite]


There are a million of these internet videos...

Seriously. Someone swiping unattributed clips from YouTube and adding dance music does not constitute a good post. World's Fieriest Car Crashes shows better curatorial merit than this. MetaFilter is not Boing Boing.
posted by oulipian at 2:42 PM on January 17, 2009


MetaFilter is not Boing Boing.

I could make some steampunk reference if it will help.
posted by Joe Beese at 2:47 PM on January 17, 2009 [7 favorites]


There are a million places online to find political commentary, to find blues music clips, to find images of sleepy kittens. The purpose of Metafilter, I believe, is to filter out the bad and deliver the good. I thought this was good.

I don't normally watch these videos, and don't care enough to browse through sites like Break.com to find them, but I found this very entertaining and thrilling. (It was originally linked in the NY Times website, so one of their editors must have felt the same.) Feel free to improve the thread with links to more such videos, Brockles. Or even make your own FPP.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 2:48 PM on January 17, 2009 [2 favorites]


Rally cars are members of the set of race cars.

No, they really aren't. They are both 'competition vehicles' perhaps, but 'race' and 'rally' are the defining terms for two very different types of cars.
posted by Brockles at 2:49 PM on January 17, 2009


So how many of these are faked. At least one, of course. Post definitely needs more than three letters, though. And probably some more meat. But I'm glad I watched the video, if nothing else to see the man not falling off his motorcycle.
posted by ErWenn at 2:50 PM on January 17, 2009


OMG bank robbery. I hadn't seen that one before.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 2:52 PM on January 17, 2009


Rally cars are members of the set of race cars.

True, but even worse, ericb called them "racing cars". It would be difficult to argue that the cars in the video weren't, in fact, racing. Incorrect pedantry makes me so angry!
posted by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America at 2:52 PM on January 17, 2009


adding dance music

People dance to that music? Now that's terrifying.
posted by longsleeves at 2:53 PM on January 17, 2009 [1 favorite]


What is supposed to be happening in the tennis game? My pixelvision needs adjusting.
posted by LVdB at 2:57 PM on January 17, 2009


No, they really aren't. They are both 'competition vehicles' perhaps, but 'race' and 'rally' are the defining terms for two very different types of cars.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmkay.
posted by billysumday at 2:58 PM on January 17, 2009


I enjoyed watching the piece, but I have a word use question.

Has "youtube" become synonymous with "online video" the way "xerox" has become synonymous with "copying?" Because if that isn't the case, this isn't really a SLYT post, but a SLDM post.

It is entirely possible that "youtube" is become synonymous with "online video," but I want to make sure we're agreeing this is the case before I start using it like that.
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:58 PM on January 17, 2009 [2 favorites]




Oh, holy fuck. Clearly this didn't need to be so big a deal, but that doesn't mean that people can't use (admittedly precise) terms correctly:

Race cars= Racing cars (UK term more commonly) = cars that compete against each other directly and are on the track at the same time.

Rally cars = time trial where they compete indirectly with other rally cars against the clock and win by virtue of having the lowest total time rather than being 'first across the line'.

posted by Brockles at 3:04 PM on January 17, 2009


Oh balls. I screwed my HTML up. The italics are because I was trying to quote this before my reply:

"True, but even worse, ericb called them "racing cars". "
posted by Brockles at 3:05 PM on January 17, 2009


It was thoughtful of them to include a soccer clip near the end so as to indicate when I could stop paying attention.

I also didn't get the tennis clip. Anyone?
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 3:05 PM on January 17, 2009


OMG bank robbery...

Also fake. You can hear the director yell Cut at the end.
posted by oulipian at 3:08 PM on January 17, 2009 [1 favorite]


I think the tennis clip was one of those 'the return was poor, but bounced on top of the net and juuuuuuust made it over the right side' but it's hard to tell. It'd be consistent with the 'lucky' theme.
posted by Brockles at 3:11 PM on January 17, 2009


OMG the world is full of fakes. Is MetaFilter fake?
posted by Xurando at 3:16 PM on January 17, 2009


Clearly this didn't need to be so big a deal, but that doesn't mean that people can't use (admittedly precise) terms correctly

What you're not understanding is that "racing" and "car" are not precise terms, necessarily. The words "racing" and "car" both can be used in their ordinary senses and combined according to the rules of English grammar to form basically semantically compositional phrases.

The fact that motor sport enthusiasts find it useful to draw certain distinctions and use terms in more precise ways than they are normally used does not rob these terms of their ordinary meaning.
posted by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America at 3:19 PM on January 17, 2009


What the hell....EPIC PONG SHOTS
posted by davebush at 3:20 PM on January 17, 2009 [4 favorites]


Here's a 30 minute long compilation of people decidedly less lucky.

Do you by any chance know of an outlet that publishes this intriguing compilation with a soundtrack other than this ungodly teenager luring emotional punk rock music?
posted by mr.marx at 3:29 PM on January 17, 2009


What you're not understanding is that "racing" and "car" are not precise terms, necessarily.

Not in strict English language usage, no, which was why I acknowledged I was being pedantic. However, in the context of motor racing they are very much precise terms. They are industry definitions. The clip was, surely you'd agree, within the context of motor racing. These are definitions of different types of car used in competition and, also, differentiates them from 'road cars' (normal cars, to you).

Yes, it's pedantic (assuming you don't respect or care about any of the definitions used in the industry), but the original description was, technically and within context, incorrect. I was attempting to point that out without (and this is possibly going by the wayside) any attempt to put ericb down.

The fact that motor sport enthusiasts find it useful to draw certain distinctions and use terms in more precise ways than they are normally used does not rob these terms of their ordinary meaning.

No, but you are being just as pedantic by saying "in ENGLISH, it's fine" by pretending that industry (and widely accepted) standards and definitions don't matter. I was adding information through pedantry, not saying "YOU CAN'T CALL THEM racing cars, THAT'S WRONG!"
posted by Brockles at 3:38 PM on January 17, 2009


A selection of crappy quality ones set to shitty Casiotone dance music is a hideous post...

Add some David Lee Roth screaming though, and you have a blogospheric pop culture phenomenon.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:42 PM on January 17, 2009 [1 favorite]


What kind of an asshole just stands there and lets someone punch them in the face?
posted by dead cousin ted at 3:49 PM on January 17, 2009 [2 favorites]


I have to say it gets off to a poor start with that Creme Egg advert, but there are some amazing clips after that.

A+ Would allow it to take my breath again
posted by fire&wings at 4:05 PM on January 17, 2009


However, in the context of motor racing they are very much precise terms. They are industry definitions. The clip was, surely you'd agree, within the context of motor racing.

BUT YOU SAID IT WAS MOTOR RALLY NOT MOTOR RACING OMG I CAUGHT YOU I KILL YOU FILTHY VORGA
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 4:15 PM on January 17, 2009 [3 favorites]


Post definitely needs more than three letters, though.

Says who -- mr. One Post? No. Posts can have as many letters as is best for the post. Personally, I liked this but felt the fake ones kind of killed the mood; but as for this, for the umpteenth time, single link posts are okay, short posts are okay. It's the content that matters.

It has always been so on Metafilter, and so it will be until the end of days.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 4:42 PM on January 17, 2009 [6 favorites]


Quant suff!! Most scientific.
posted by Herodios at 4:45 PM on January 17, 2009


That was some nice rally footage. I would totally love to, like, be in a rally car race?
posted by Mister_A at 5:12 PM on January 17, 2009


whoa. That was cool. Each clip amazing in its own right. Had seen a bunch of them already but nice to see them one after the other like that. Thanks for the rushes.
posted by nickyskye at 5:13 PM on January 17, 2009


That last one was pretty neat, and the robbery one was pretty hilarious (but seems fake).

The rally ones: Uh, there's people in the cars, right? Not so lucky for them, is it?
posted by Sys Rq at 5:28 PM on January 17, 2009


Protip: If you are at a rally/race thing, you may want to stand more than 3 feet away from the place where CARS MAKE SHARP TURNS AT DANGEROUS RATES OF SPEED. Just a suggestion.
posted by Rock Steady at 6:08 PM on January 17, 2009


the one where the car flips over the bloke looks fake as well. He reacts while it's already over his head!
posted by RufusW at 6:57 PM on January 17, 2009


If you are at a rally/race thing, you may want to stand more than 3 feet away...

Crowd control in many places has historically been a major issue. Central Europe learnt it's lesson (and got an entire level of motorsport banned) in 1985 when many people were killed on a Rally stage in Portugal. People who don't spend their time around these cars have almost no clue where to stand, and where physics dictates the car will go when something goes wrong. Things are very different today than they were some years ago, but not all countries either bother, or can afford, to police the crowd safety dictated by such events as the World Rally Championship. Injuries and issues arise as a direct result. I have seen people standing in astonishingly stupid places, but are determined to do so because they are 'a bit closer to the cars'.

Well. Sometimes 'a bit closer' is 'too close', but some people refuse to learn without direct experience...

the one where the car flips over the bloke looks fake as well. He reacts while it's already over his head!

No matter how you think you will react in such a circumstance, the vast majority of people find it incalculable the way a car reacts when losing control. Their speed of reaction (when they finally work out they are in danger) is mind-bendingly slow to the casual observer. It looked real (and entirely typical) to me. Many, many people react like this.
posted by Brockles at 7:28 PM on January 17, 2009


Oulipian, nice catch of the bank robbery fake.
posted by storybored at 7:31 PM on January 17, 2009


sheesh...get a life folks...it's the internet...
posted by HuronBob at 8:13 PM on January 17, 2009


Watching that, the voice of Don Adams as Maxwell Smart kept echoing in my ear: "Missed me by THAT much."

"MMBTM", a collection of near-misses without the sports stuff and obviously staged scenes, set to ironically appropriate music like John Waite's "(I Ain't) Missing You" would've been better. 6½ out of 10, and I'm being generous.
posted by wendell at 8:41 PM on January 17, 2009


goodnewsfortheinsane: I was not claiming that a post cannot be good in three letters, merely that I felt this post needs more than the three letters that it had. All "OMG" tells us here is that there is something surprising. If I hadn't been extremely bored, I probably wouldn't have even clicked on the link. I wonder how many interesting links I miss because they've been camouflaged by mystery meat posts. Maybe it's personal preference, but unless our enjoyment of is going to be seriously improved by not knowing anything about the link before we click, I see no reason to provide at least a little info. It doesn't have to be much. In this case, I think I would have been happier if the title of the post ("What the luck") had been the content of the post. Still mysterious, but there's at least something to go on.

And there's certainly nothing wrong with single-link posts. In this case, after watching the video clips (most of which are fantastic, by the way), I wanted to know more about the events depicted. Or maybe a good way to find more of the same kind of clips. I just wanted more. As far as criticisms go, to say that I liked it enough to want more is pretty tame.

In any case, thanks go to Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese for the post.

And what the hell does the number of front-page posts I've had approved have to do with anything?
posted by ErWenn at 8:53 PM on January 17, 2009


OMG, what's the name of that awesome song that's playing in the video?
posted by orme at 9:03 PM on January 17, 2009


I agree with Brockles. Not worth posting. This is Digg fare. And this isn't even a SLYT as it claims to be.
posted by wastelands at 9:05 PM on January 17, 2009


The bank robbery clip was from an observer of a take from a Chevy Malibu commercial. Same car, police cars pull up in the same spots, robber jumps on the hood, etc.
posted by Tacodog at 9:05 PM on January 17, 2009


of... from.. whatever, it's saturday. just click the link.
posted by Tacodog at 9:08 PM on January 17, 2009


Contrasted with the professional motorcycle racer who is probably already thinking about what is going to be plowing into him before he even hits the wall.
posted by BrotherCaine at 9:40 PM on January 17, 2009


orme, it's just generic late 90s teutonic trance. There are 80 billion songs that sound just like it.
posted by empath at 9:53 PM on January 17, 2009


While it may have been an easy post and the music was annoying it was worth it to see the motorcyclist flip off his bike, nearly fall and then get himself back on.

That was incredible
posted by AzzaMcKazza at 10:43 PM on January 17, 2009


The music is "Eurodancer" by DJ Mangoo.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 11:19 PM on January 17, 2009


FWIW, the first clip was of Guilford College's basketball team. I know because they showed us the clip during the parent orientation when we took our son up for his freshman year. I think they're still showing it.
posted by ancientgower at 2:20 AM on January 18, 2009


(It was a winning shot, natch.)
posted by ancientgower at 2:21 AM on January 18, 2009


Just what the hell is happening in that tennis clip? The flv quality is so low that the tennis ball is too small to be represented by even one of those giant horrible pixels.
posted by tehloki at 7:07 AM on January 18, 2009 [1 favorite]


In the tennis shot I think the ball is lobbed directly into the receiver's racket and bounces off and successfully over the net without him having to take a swing, resulting in a winning point. No racing or rallying involved.
posted by ericb at 8:39 AM on January 18, 2009


Yeah, the tennis shot is a block-return of serve that is going well wide until it clips the tape at the top of the net and skews back into court on the server's side, winning the point for the guy that really didn't know much about it.
posted by MUD at 8:56 AM on January 18, 2009


I know this makes me totally uncool around these parts, but I love the soundtrack.
posted by desjardins at 9:04 AM on January 18, 2009


[Wow! Which is more of a train wreck? The three character post or the ensuing comments ripping each other apart about the deservingness of the post or the correct usage of "race car"... WHEW!!]
posted by Drasher at 9:09 AM on January 18, 2009


It was thoughtful of them to include a soccer clip near the end so as to indicate when I could stop paying attention.

Yeah soccer sucks theres not enough scoring and theyr'e all greasy italian furriners amirite wheres my beer & nachos woman.
posted by Zambrano at 9:13 AM on January 18, 2009 [1 favorite]


"Whaa, someone said my favorite sport with ridiculously large goals sucks! I'll fix their wagon - with bold tags! Burn!"

Chin up, little soldier.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:33 AM on January 18, 2009


longsleeves writes "People dance to that music? Now that's terrifying."

Since the dawn of man.
posted by krinklyfig at 10:19 AM on January 18, 2009


I would totally love to, like, be in a rally car race?
Rally cars rally. Racing cars race.
Dumbass.
posted by Floydd at 10:55 AM on January 18, 2009


Since the dawn of man.

I'm ashamed to admit that I still love Sandstorm.
posted by empath at 2:19 PM on January 18, 2009


hey racecar is a palindrome omg momeord nilap as i racecar hey!
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 11:05 PM on January 18, 2009


hey racecar is a palindrome omg momeord nilap as i racecar hey!

FAILINDROME
posted by Rock Steady at 11:10 PM on January 18, 2009 [3 favorites]


... yeh.
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 8:19 AM on January 19, 2009


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