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13 minutes of shooting through things (SLYT) in ARMA 3. Trajectories are colour-coded.
posted by squinty at 11:53 PM PST - 12 comments

Presenting A Christmas Garland woven through with festive stories and essays by H*nry J*m*s, R*dy*rd K*pl*ng, Th*m*s H*rdy, H.G. W*lls, G**rg* B*rn*rd Sh*w, and many other worthies from the Edwardian literary c*n*n! [more inside]
posted by Iridic at 10:44 PM PST - 6 comments

Edward Snowden has delivered the UK Channel 4's Alternative Christmas Message (alternative links, transcript):

Together, we can find a better balance. End mass surveillance. And remind the government that if it really wants to know how we feel, asking is always cheaper than spying.

This address follows Monday's interview with the Washington Post in which he explains his motives for releasing information he collected while working for the NSA.
posted by Joe in Australia at 9:59 PM PST - 94 comments

Bklyn legend Jonny Sierra and B-More titan Spank Rock bring to us a most glorious parody of a most glorious titanic legend.
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:30 PM PST - 2 comments

Run away! Run away FARTHER! (SLYT) A malfunction at a fireworks show entertains the crowd.
posted by bitmage at 8:01 PM PST - 20 comments

"... and it was on that day I made the snowman." In 1982, the film adaptation of Raymond Briggs 1978 children's book The Snowmanwas released on British television. The original release begins with a short narration by the Briggs, but a later version replaced him with David Bowie gently rocking a toy horse in an attic. Besides the opening narration, the film is without talking and is accompanied by a score by Howard Blake. It yielded the hit We're Walking in the Air which peaked at #5 on UK pop charts when Aled Jones covered it in 1985 (here he is many years later on This Morning Programme singing along with a video of himself as a boy). Last year, a sequel called The Snowman and the Snowdog was released to mixed reviews.
posted by Corduroy at 5:40 PM PST - 25 comments

During the 1950's, Wernher von Braun served as technical adviser for three space-related television films produced by Disney: Man in Space, Man and the Moon and Mars and Beyond. [more inside]
posted by zarq at 3:17 PM PST - 40 comments

Now listen dear children, and you will hear,
A story fantastic, a story so queer,
It's all about Santa, and his helpers three,
there's Hardrock, and Coco, and Joe.

Ooh dee-o laadee I laa-dee I-a,
Donner and Blitzen, away, away
Ooh dee-o laadee I laa-dee I-oh,
It's Hardrock, and Coco, and Joe.

Suzy Snowflake - Frosty the Snowman (original)
Chicago Kids TV
posted by JHarris at 2:41 PM PST - 12 comments

Christmas Control to Thunderbird 3 [more inside]
posted by philip-random at 1:31 PM PST - 11 comments

"On the 25th anniversary of the bombing of Pan Am flight 103, which led to the deaths of 270 people, a specially commissioned report by Channel 4 News claims that a CIA agent, Dr Richard Fuisz, was given detailed information from within US intelligence and from 15 high-ranking Syrian officials in the immediate years after the December 1988 bombing...The CIA briefing to Dr Fuisz, in the months after bombing, also claimed the PFLP-GC, then based in Syria, had organised the mid-air destruction of the Pan Am jet." Indy article on Jim Swire's speech at the 25th Anniversary Memorial Service.
posted by marienbad at 12:56 PM PST - 10 comments

You, too, can learn modern dance!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 12:16 PM PST - 15 comments

World Order's latest, "Last Dance", starts with a shot of TEPCO corporate headquarters. Also making apperances are the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), anti-nuclear protesters outside METI, and the Ministry of Finance. [more inside]
posted by needled at 12:03 PM PST - 4 comments

Smithsonian Magazine examines the extent to which Peter Jackson's vision of The Hobbit shows fidelity to Tolkien's text. [more inside]
posted by MoonOrb at 11:37 AM PST - 104 comments

The BMJ analysis of 007's alcohol consumption.
posted by pjern at 10:55 AM PST - 57 comments

How The 'Earthrise' Photo Was Made.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:44 AM PST - 7 comments

A Paul F. Tompkins Christmas Party Story. Actually it's mostly a story about smoking pot, but I figured it was a timely way to present this: Someone (not me!) has compiled 132 Paul F. Tompkins videos into one YouTube channel. [132LYT] [more inside]
posted by Room 641-A at 9:46 AM PST - 8 comments

Seven Ways to Kill the Tarrasque (in D&D 3.0)
posted by griphus at 8:36 AM PST - 116 comments

Nearly 200 years after "A Visit from St. Nicholas" was written, the authorship is still in dispute. In the years since, there have been quite a few parodies and variants of the poem written, recorded and performed, including at least two different versions of a Cajun Night Before Christmas (a recording of the version by Te-Jules, and Trosclair's version[Google books preview], read by Larry Ray, recorded from WLOX). Snopes tracked down the history of The Soldier's Night Before Christmas, Fifties Web collected 21 tame versions (with auto-playing music), and Dirty Xmas has a number of "adult" versions. Yuks 'R' Us has a large collection, including some dated computer-related stories. Speaking of dated, you can view a vintage '98 "enhanced" version of the original poem plus more variations from Purple Lion (a member of the Merry Christmas Webring from 1998). But for the ultimate collection of variants and parodies, you might recall this thread from 2002. The link is dead, but Archive.org caught the site around that time, with 581 versions. That was over a decade ago, and now Alechemist Matt is up to 849 versions, parodies and variants of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:57 AM PST - 5 comments

Sherlock Mini-Episode: Many Happy Returns (SLYT)
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 6:51 AM PST - 54 comments