Drat the luck!
March 15, 2010 10:30 AM Subscribe
A man, a balloon and bad luck. (SLYT) A man records himself trying to get into an enormous balloon. His running commentary is Frink like.
Hate that!
posted by Michael Roberts at 10:34 AM on March 15, 2010
posted by Michael Roberts at 10:34 AM on March 15, 2010
I have no words. That was the weirdest... and most entertaining... video I've seen in some time.
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 10:34 AM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 10:34 AM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
And just like the last time I saw this, the visceral panic reaction hits about a second after I see it start to deflate.
posted by Phineas Rhyne at 10:35 AM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Phineas Rhyne at 10:35 AM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
He did eventually make it in there.
I'd imagine that there are balloon fetishists out there who enjoy watching him struggle to get inside.
posted by davey_darling at 10:36 AM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
I'd imagine that there are balloon fetishists out there who enjoy watching him struggle to get inside.
posted by davey_darling at 10:36 AM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
This does not obey the rule of How Would It Look If The Police Were Investigating Afterwards.
Police: So he covered his mouth and nose with the balloon?
Witness: His whole head was in there!
Police: He put his head in the balloon?
Witness: Actually, his whole body.
Cause of death: Idiocy
posted by DU at 10:36 AM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
Police: So he covered his mouth and nose with the balloon?
Witness: His whole head was in there!
Police: He put his head in the balloon?
Witness: Actually, his whole body.
Cause of death: Idiocy
posted by DU at 10:36 AM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
Performance artist?
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:37 AM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:37 AM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
Glavin!
posted by vito90 at 10:38 AM on March 15, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by vito90 at 10:38 AM on March 15, 2010 [3 favorites]
Oh! Oh! I know this one -
Turns out he was hiding in the garage the whole time?
Seriously, this was great. The things people do.
posted by never used baby shoes at 10:38 AM on March 15, 2010
Turns out he was hiding in the garage the whole time?
Seriously, this was great. The things people do.
posted by never used baby shoes at 10:38 AM on March 15, 2010
I love his statement when he finally does get inside, in the video davey_darling posted: "Hey! I'm inside!! How 'bout that? .............what now?"
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 10:40 AM on March 15, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 10:40 AM on March 15, 2010 [2 favorites]
"This is the last thing I need!"
posted by Think_Long at 10:41 AM on March 15, 2010 [11 favorites]
posted by Think_Long at 10:41 AM on March 15, 2010 [11 favorites]
As a rule I am not crazy about SLYT posts, but if more of them included the declaration, "Well, my head's inside," I might come around on this.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 10:42 AM on March 15, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 10:42 AM on March 15, 2010 [2 favorites]
This guy was on Tosh.O, and the interview with him was one of the funniest ones they've done with random Internet video people.
posted by burnmp3s at 10:44 AM on March 15, 2010 [4 favorites]
posted by burnmp3s at 10:44 AM on March 15, 2010 [4 favorites]
Dear Lazyweb,
Please create a loop of the gyrations he goes through at the 2:00 mark and set it to Beyonce's Single Ladies.
Thanks,
Horace Rumpole
posted by Horace Rumpole at 10:46 AM on March 15, 2010 [7 favorites]
Please create a loop of the gyrations he goes through at the 2:00 mark and set it to Beyonce's Single Ladies.
Thanks,
Horace Rumpole
posted by Horace Rumpole at 10:46 AM on March 15, 2010 [7 favorites]
Ha! Made me think of this recent thread- he would have made a great comic relief sperm.
posted by biddeford at 10:57 AM on March 15, 2010
posted by biddeford at 10:57 AM on March 15, 2010
Excuse me, billoon45, but I couldn't help but overhear your nerdly predicament.
posted by schoolgirl report at 10:59 AM on March 15, 2010
posted by schoolgirl report at 10:59 AM on March 15, 2010
His commentary would be funnier if the balloon was filled with helium.
posted by gfrobe at 10:59 AM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by gfrobe at 10:59 AM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
It's old. Very old. And oddly inspiring.
Chase your dreams! Your stupid, messed up, embarrassing, dreams!
posted by chairface at 11:02 AM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
Chase your dreams! Your stupid, messed up, embarrassing, dreams!
posted by chairface at 11:02 AM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
I'm not sure that "bad luck" is really the right way to describe getting stuck in a deflated balloon that you were trying to climb into.
posted by diogenes at 11:05 AM on March 15, 2010 [7 favorites]
posted by diogenes at 11:05 AM on March 15, 2010 [7 favorites]
I though this was going to be about Richard Heane for a minute, there.
posted by idiomatika at 11:08 AM on March 15, 2010
posted by idiomatika at 11:08 AM on March 15, 2010
Rover! You stop and spit that out at once!
posted by PontifexPrimus at 11:09 AM on March 15, 2010 [12 favorites]
posted by PontifexPrimus at 11:09 AM on March 15, 2010 [12 favorites]
I'm glad I have my own office.
posted by dirigibleman at 11:15 AM on March 15, 2010
posted by dirigibleman at 11:15 AM on March 15, 2010
He was one mistake away from being the first self-narrated Darwin Award winner.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 11:17 AM on March 15, 2010
posted by Hardcore Poser at 11:17 AM on March 15, 2010
Pontifex made the Prisoner reference I only wish I had had the presence of mind to make.
posted by everichon at 11:18 AM on March 15, 2010
posted by everichon at 11:18 AM on March 15, 2010
Okay, the first time I watched this I didn't laugh at all. Then I read all the comments on here saying how funny it was, and I watched again... and I howled with laughter. I'm not sure what set me off - partially the anticipation, I guess, but also his literal, exposition-heavy dialogue. 'I'm becoming trapped in the balloon!' is a wonderful exclamation of frustration to utter when becoming trapped in a balloon.
posted by RokkitNite at 11:40 AM on March 15, 2010
posted by RokkitNite at 11:40 AM on March 15, 2010
burnmp3s: This guy was on Tosh.O, and the interview with him was one of the funniest ones they've done with random Internet video people.
That was amazing. I threw my hands into the air and cheered.
posted by Kattullus at 11:45 AM on March 15, 2010
That was amazing. I threw my hands into the air and cheered.
posted by Kattullus at 11:45 AM on March 15, 2010
Some people just don't know what to do with themselves in a democracy, but man, that is so frickin' Freudian!
posted by Alexandra Kitty at 11:47 AM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Alexandra Kitty at 11:47 AM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
I love the commentary and how it sounds like he's just talking to himself. I love this guy. I'm happy I'm not reading about this on the Darwin awards.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 11:53 AM on March 15, 2010
posted by Solon and Thanks at 11:53 AM on March 15, 2010
Some people need a life.
posted by Seekerofsplendor at 11:54 AM on March 15, 2010
posted by Seekerofsplendor at 11:54 AM on March 15, 2010
... says dude on Internet message board.
posted by chunking express at 11:55 AM on March 15, 2010 [8 favorites]
posted by chunking express at 11:55 AM on March 15, 2010 [8 favorites]
I work with a guy who says "Blast!" and "Drat the luck!" on a regular basis. He wears caftans. He once showed up at my office with a little reproduction of "The Thinker" and explained that he "just wanted to show you THE MAN!" I can see him climbing in and out of giant balloons.
posted by Skot at 12:06 PM on March 15, 2010
posted by Skot at 12:06 PM on March 15, 2010
Some people need a life
You can watch his latest video of him waiting on the legislature to pass a bill so he can receive (disability?) income from the state and avoid hawking his shit in order to pay rent. That sounds a lot like life to me.
posted by Think_Long at 12:08 PM on March 15, 2010 [3 favorites]
You can watch his latest video of him waiting on the legislature to pass a bill so he can receive (disability?) income from the state and avoid hawking his shit in order to pay rent. That sounds a lot like life to me.
posted by Think_Long at 12:08 PM on March 15, 2010 [3 favorites]
Possibly the worst burlesque act ever created. Barring the one with suffocation at the end.
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:19 PM on March 15, 2010
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:19 PM on March 15, 2010
This guy has some sort of balloon fetish. 240 videos, pretty much all about balloons.
posted by ofthestrait at 12:30 PM on March 15, 2010
posted by ofthestrait at 12:30 PM on March 15, 2010
Possibly the worst burlesque act ever created. Barring the one with suffocation at the end.
The Aristocrats!
posted by The Bellman at 12:31 PM on March 15, 2010 [6 favorites]
The Aristocrats!
posted by The Bellman at 12:31 PM on March 15, 2010 [6 favorites]
It's been hours since I watched the video, and I still have to stifle a laugh every time I think about it.
posted by diogenes at 12:38 PM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by diogenes at 12:38 PM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
Thoughts flitting through my mind as I watched this (in order):
Is he going to try to fly away in a balloon?
Ah, no. Performance art. The old "man inside the balloon" ploy.
Heh, Peter Sellers was funny as Inspector Clouseau.
Where do you buy a balloon like that, anyway?
Keeping the rubber band, so he can seal it again once he's inside?
No, the ceiling's too low for you to lift it up.
Yes, that was particularly Frinkian.
Heh, Jerry Lewis.
Okay, so his head is in. I hope he has air inside. Duh, of course there's air inside. *quick mental calculation of volume of air and maximum time before asphyxia, subtracting the increasing volume of his body occupying the space and displacing the air inside*
Definitely getting an image of The Prisoner, here.
Okay, he's in - and whoop! I think he just fell over. Hey-hey it hurts me!
Oops, looks like he's lost control of the aperture. Aaaand it's deflating.
Oh shit, it's deflating. He could be seriously screwed here. Hope he can rips the balloon if he has to.
Cool, he's able to squirm out. Aaaand now he looks like he's in a full body condom, complete with reservoir tip.
Heh. "I hate that."
Okay, so he didn't kill himself. I'll give him a C+ for not accidental.ly killing himself, because hey, that's gotta be worth something. And any man-in-a-balloon gig you can walk away from is a good one, I guess.
posted by darkstar at 12:39 PM on March 15, 2010 [2 favorites]
Is he going to try to fly away in a balloon?
Ah, no. Performance art. The old "man inside the balloon" ploy.
Heh, Peter Sellers was funny as Inspector Clouseau.
Where do you buy a balloon like that, anyway?
Keeping the rubber band, so he can seal it again once he's inside?
No, the ceiling's too low for you to lift it up.
Yes, that was particularly Frinkian.
Heh, Jerry Lewis.
Okay, so his head is in. I hope he has air inside. Duh, of course there's air inside. *quick mental calculation of volume of air and maximum time before asphyxia, subtracting the increasing volume of his body occupying the space and displacing the air inside*
Definitely getting an image of The Prisoner, here.
Okay, he's in - and whoop! I think he just fell over. Hey-hey it hurts me!
Oops, looks like he's lost control of the aperture. Aaaand it's deflating.
Oh shit, it's deflating. He could be seriously screwed here. Hope he can rips the balloon if he has to.
Cool, he's able to squirm out. Aaaand now he looks like he's in a full body condom, complete with reservoir tip.
Heh. "I hate that."
Okay, so he didn't kill himself. I'll give him a C+ for not accidental.ly killing himself, because hey, that's gotta be worth something. And any man-in-a-balloon gig you can walk away from is a good one, I guess.
posted by darkstar at 12:39 PM on March 15, 2010 [2 favorites]
"I'm becoming trapped in the balloon!" is my new go-to phrase.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 12:40 PM on March 15, 2010
posted by BitterOldPunk at 12:40 PM on March 15, 2010
I'm guessing this guy's mom once thought it was adorable how much her toddler loved balloons.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 12:40 PM on March 15, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 12:40 PM on March 15, 2010 [2 favorites]
that's gotta be worth something.
At the very least, he may have come up with a new way of shrink-wrapping people. And that certainly could be useful.
posted by quin at 12:48 PM on March 15, 2010
At the very least, he may have come up with a new way of shrink-wrapping people. And that certainly could be useful.
posted by quin at 12:48 PM on March 15, 2010
I don't want to spoil it for you Postroad, but he's still up there. The thread is still very active, and some zeppelin owning MeFites are planning a meetup with the famed Falcon. Lord knows he must be getting hungry by now.
posted by mccarty.tim at 12:55 PM on March 15, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by mccarty.tim at 12:55 PM on March 15, 2010 [2 favorites]
I think I accidentally inhaled my hard palate. Please don't show me videos like this one.
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:13 PM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:13 PM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
This is what the Lady Gaga video was missing.
posted by Elmore at 1:24 PM on March 15, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by Elmore at 1:24 PM on March 15, 2010 [3 favorites]
I'll be impressed when he shoves his head up his ass.
posted by stormpooper at 1:42 PM on March 15, 2010
posted by stormpooper at 1:42 PM on March 15, 2010
I just can't stop laughing and crying and playing it over again.
posted by umbú at 2:22 PM on March 15, 2010
posted by umbú at 2:22 PM on March 15, 2010
oh, how I pine for the IMG tag
posted by decagon at 2:39 PM on March 15
Could use a NSFW tag. Not actually showing what it appears to be showing, but when you see the few frames isolated and looped, the position of his right hand makes it loook like he is really, really enjoying the situation.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 3:17 PM on March 15, 2010
posted by decagon at 2:39 PM on March 15
Could use a NSFW tag. Not actually showing what it appears to be showing, but when you see the few frames isolated and looped, the position of his right hand makes it loook like he is really, really enjoying the situation.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 3:17 PM on March 15, 2010
I keep waiting for him to say, "That monkey's going to pay!"
posted by usonian at 3:34 PM on March 15, 2010
posted by usonian at 3:34 PM on March 15, 2010
I have some friends who dumpster dive and found a cache of balloon videos, wherein young men blow up and pop large balloons per the direction of a creepy voice. The funny quickly becomes icky as I watched them. This may be the ultimate direction of that fetish.
posted by rabbitsnake at 5:02 PM on March 15, 2010
posted by rabbitsnake at 5:02 PM on March 15, 2010
posted by loquacious at 6:16 PM on March 15, 2010 [1 favorite]
Some people just don't know what to do with themselves in a democracy, but man, that is so frickin' Freudian!
I first saw this guy's videos a while ago, and it just so happens that I was also so intrigued and interested in what Freud would say I secretly built a time machine, brought Freud back and spent about a year showing him the 21st Century and educating him about our modern life to give him some context - you know, goatse, all your base, second life, two girls one cup, mr. hands, that crazy Japanese guy with the horse mask and mushrooms, furries, Roy Orbison wrapped in cling film, dragons having sex with cars, dinosaurs having sex with robots - not to mention World War Two, The Bomb, the Cold War -- all so he could watch this video.
The following is a transcript of that ultimate moment.
Me: So, what do you think of that one? What are your thoughts? Where's the cigar? Is it a birth metaphor? Is he trying to crawl back into a metaphorical womb?
Freud: I, uh... *clears throat, sits silently for some time deep in thought* I... I really just don't know any more. Yes, surely this is the birth and rebirth metaphor but that is too easy. Is it that he finds the surrounding membrane to be comfortable, to be hermetically partitioned from the world that so obviously troubles him? He seems to want to be packaged, but the balloon is a stretchy membrane. It would be much simpler to crawl into a trunk or crate.
But then the balloon pops! Almost every time! He complains quite convincingly about being stuck in the balloon, but then he buys more of them, inflates them, crawls into them... and then pops them? What kind of womb is that? Is he misplacing aggression towards his mother? But... no... he is gentle with the balloons, not violent. They pop on accident. He merely wishes to crawl into the balloon... and then complain halfheartedly about being stuck, and then complaining even more when the balloons inevitably burst and he is freed! Again and again!
I really just don't know any more. Maybe sometimes a cigar isn't even remotely a cigar at all. Maybe sometimes a cigar is an absurdist's dream-nightmare, a Hindenburg made out of candy, a pinata of dreams stuffed to bursting with brightly colored little candy skulls, each skull filled with surreal whispers of worlds unknown and then lit on fire - monsters rushing forth to light their own torches, pipes and cigars on the dancing flames - dreams never meant to be dreamt, a recursive madness so mad it becomes sanity, warping reality itself... an origami-like manifold manifestation...
I... I just don't know any more. I'm so confused. Everything I thought I knew is wrong. Please, may I go home now? Back to my own time? I just want to lay down for a while. I don't want to think any more about... any of this. I don't want to think about /b/, or modern Japanese men with horse masks, or what happens to kittens when you masturbate, or women with cups *wretching sound* and I really don't want to think about what grown men do with balloons on your internets and all of your idiot-magic picture-word boxes. I'm so confused... please, take me home, now. I miss Minna.
posted by loquacious at 6:55 PM on March 15, 2010 [7 favorites]
I first saw this guy's videos a while ago, and it just so happens that I was also so intrigued and interested in what Freud would say I secretly built a time machine, brought Freud back and spent about a year showing him the 21st Century and educating him about our modern life to give him some context - you know, goatse, all your base, second life, two girls one cup, mr. hands, that crazy Japanese guy with the horse mask and mushrooms, furries, Roy Orbison wrapped in cling film, dragons having sex with cars, dinosaurs having sex with robots - not to mention World War Two, The Bomb, the Cold War -- all so he could watch this video.
The following is a transcript of that ultimate moment.
Me: So, what do you think of that one? What are your thoughts? Where's the cigar? Is it a birth metaphor? Is he trying to crawl back into a metaphorical womb?
Freud: I, uh... *clears throat, sits silently for some time deep in thought* I... I really just don't know any more. Yes, surely this is the birth and rebirth metaphor but that is too easy. Is it that he finds the surrounding membrane to be comfortable, to be hermetically partitioned from the world that so obviously troubles him? He seems to want to be packaged, but the balloon is a stretchy membrane. It would be much simpler to crawl into a trunk or crate.
But then the balloon pops! Almost every time! He complains quite convincingly about being stuck in the balloon, but then he buys more of them, inflates them, crawls into them... and then pops them? What kind of womb is that? Is he misplacing aggression towards his mother? But... no... he is gentle with the balloons, not violent. They pop on accident. He merely wishes to crawl into the balloon... and then complain halfheartedly about being stuck, and then complaining even more when the balloons inevitably burst and he is freed! Again and again!
I really just don't know any more. Maybe sometimes a cigar isn't even remotely a cigar at all. Maybe sometimes a cigar is an absurdist's dream-nightmare, a Hindenburg made out of candy, a pinata of dreams stuffed to bursting with brightly colored little candy skulls, each skull filled with surreal whispers of worlds unknown and then lit on fire - monsters rushing forth to light their own torches, pipes and cigars on the dancing flames - dreams never meant to be dreamt, a recursive madness so mad it becomes sanity, warping reality itself... an origami-like manifold manifestation...
I... I just don't know any more. I'm so confused. Everything I thought I knew is wrong. Please, may I go home now? Back to my own time? I just want to lay down for a while. I don't want to think any more about... any of this. I don't want to think about /b/, or modern Japanese men with horse masks, or what happens to kittens when you masturbate, or women with cups *wretching sound* and I really don't want to think about what grown men do with balloons on your internets and all of your idiot-magic picture-word boxes. I'm so confused... please, take me home, now. I miss Minna.
posted by loquacious at 6:55 PM on March 15, 2010 [7 favorites]
I was mildly amused, but more concerned, expecting the guy to suffocate. When I was a child, back in the days of space capsules and vacuum tubes, my parents were always going on about balloons being dangerous.
But I do wonder about a balloon, or giant plastic bag, floating on a lake, and being inside. I seem to remember a magazine advert with someone doing that. A Segrams ad.
posted by Goofyy at 9:28 AM on March 16, 2010
But I do wonder about a balloon, or giant plastic bag, floating on a lake, and being inside. I seem to remember a magazine advert with someone doing that. A Segrams ad.
posted by Goofyy at 9:28 AM on March 16, 2010
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