MetaFilter posts tagged with Video and UK

FOOD FLASH - There's spud in your eye!

The Whelk — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 17:06:42 -0800

The Ministry Of Food was a British government ministerial posts separated from that of the Minister of Agriculture. A major task of the latter office was to oversee rationing in the United Kingdom arising out of World War II. They made many newsreels and PSAs to inform the citizenry how to use the food rationing system: Rationing is introduced in 1939 The new ration books are coming! Cod Liver Oil Here's spud in your eye Don't cut that bread! DON'T WASTE FOOD! Dig For Victory! Milk is here! In addition, some short films instructed people in how to best use the new rationing system : Two Cooks And A Cabbage How To Make Tea Rabbit Pie Buying black market meat: a Partner in CRIME A US view explaining UK rationing to the States.

social impact bonds

flex — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 16:34:32 -0800

Are Social Impact Bonds a good way to invest in public services? "Imagine a contract where private investors are paid by the government if there's a decrease in homelessness or convicts re-offending. It's a an idea that's taking shape in the UK and some US states. And now the Canadian government is considering piloting social impact bonds. Critics say it's a way of governments shirking their responsibilities." CBC's "The Current" reports. Summary at the main link; show is audio (listen at the main link), 24 min. long. Also covered on AlJazeera's The Stream program - lots of videos & infographics at the link; direct link to video is Betting on public good? (<--- story begins at this time-adjusted link, lasts about 20 min.; postshow lasts 6 min.) *Toronto Star - Feds introduce controversial ‘social impact bonds’ to fund social services

The federal government is introducing a controversial new approach to funding social services called “social impact bonds” that can turn a profit for private investors. Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservatives, who have often been accused of short-changing social programs, view the bonds as a valuable source of fresh funding for Canadian communities. ...Under Finley’s proposal, the government would contract with a non-profit organization or a private, for-profit business to supply a service, such as building affordable housing, counselling ex-convicts to keep them from reoffending, or working with at-risk youth. Funds would be raised from investors or charities to finance the project and, if the goals of the project were reached, the investors would be repaid their original investment plus a profitable return by Ottawa. If the project’s goals weren’t met, the federal government wouldn’t pay. The bonds, which have caught on in a big way in Britain and the United States, are a source of widespread debate. Many praise the idea as an innovative strategy to tap private capital and market discipline to address underfunded social goals. But critics say the bonds privatize social objectives in a way that gets governments and the public off the hook for paying for needed programs. “It’s a commercialization of social values,” said David Macdonald, a senior economist at the Ottawa-based Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. One of the foremost questions about this funding model concerns how the outcomes are measured to decide whether it’s a success that leads to a payout for investors. Macdonald said private-sector investors will learn how to arrange the project and the eventual performance assessment in a way that ensures they don’t end up holding the bag. “What will probably end up happening is that the government will pay dramatically more for programs that 10 years ago would have been funded because they were good ideas,” he remarked. “Now they’ll run them through this bond system, whereby some private financier makes 10 per or 20 per cent on their investment rather than the government evaluating a good idea and saying, ‘Yeah, that’s a good idea, let’s fund that.’ Critics have also questioned whether the bond program will lead to reduced funding for non-profit organizations supplying valuable but hard-to-measure services.

*NYT - Giving Back More Than A Warm Feeling: Investors profit by giving through social impact bonds

The seven teenagers sit with their feet tucked under tan desks in a classroom in New York City’s Rikers Island jail... The adolescents are part of a new program aimed at building personal responsibility and life skills, with the goal that fewer of them will re-offend. The program is financed by an innovative mechanism called a social impact bond, one of a handful of ways that philanthropy is trying to tap new pools of funding to produce measurable social results. If the program succeeds in significantly reducing recidivism, the “investors” paying its upfront costs — in this case, Goldman Sachs, with backing from Bloomberg Philanthropies — will be repaid by the city with a modest return. If the program falls short, the investors lose their money, sparing taxpayers the costs of the program. The “social impact bond,” also known as a “pay for success” bond, is the latest — and most discussed — tool in a broader playbook philanthropists are using to blend business and charity to make a bigger difference. Sometimes known as impact investing, these approaches include providing low-interest loans to nonprofits, making equity investments in companies that tackle social problems and investing a portion of a foundation’s endowment in enterprises that produce measurable benefits to society and a financial return...

*wikipedia - social impact bond *SocialFinance.ca - social impact bonds *Gov't of Canada Economic Action Plan - The Government of Canada is Taking Action to Address Local Challenges *Knowledge@Wharton - Social Impact Bonds: Can a Market Prescription Cure Social Ills? *NYT Opinionator - The Promise of Social Impact Bonds *The Economist - Playing with Fire and Being Good Pays *SSIReview: Social Impact Bonds: Lessons from the field *Stanford Social Innovation Review - The Trouble With Impact Investing, Part 1: "There's only one bottom line. It ought to be impact." (Part 2 & Part 3) *RCI (Radio Canada International) - Ottawa’s new social policy will mostly benefit private sector, says economist

Sing us a Song to Keep us Warm, There's Such a Chill

Rhaomi — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 12:06:13 -0800

In the wake of their grunge-y breakout hit "Creep" and the success of sophomore record The Bends, Thom Yorke and the rest of Radiohead were under pressure to deliver once more. So they shut themselves away inside the echoing halls of a secluded 16th century manor and got to work. What emerged from that crumbling Elizabethan castle fifteen years ago today was a shockingly ambitious masterpiece of progressive rock, a visionary concept album that explored the "fridge buzz" of modernity -- alienation, social disconnection, existential dread, the impersonal hum of technology -- through a mosaic of challenging, innovative, eerily beautiful music unlike anything else at the time. Tentatively called Ones and Zeroes, then Your Home May Be at Risk If You Do Not Keep Up Payments, the band finally settled on OK Computer, an appropriately enigmatic title for this acclaimed harbinger of millennial angst. For more, you can watch the retrospective OK Computer: A Classic Album Under Review for a track-by-track rundown, or the unsettling documentary Meeting People is Easy for a look at how the album's whirlwind tour nearly gave Yorke a nervous breakdown. Or look inside for more details and cool interpretations of all the tracks -- including an upcoming MeFi Music Challenge! Album tributes and cover versions: Quinton Sung deftly recreates the whole album in 8-bit chiptune style Stereogum's OKX: a multi-artist tribute (previ-ously) Strung Out on OK Computer: The Vitamin String Quartet's classical cover of the album Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions of Radiohead: Airbag - Paranoid Android - Subterranean Homesick Alien - Let Down - Karma Police - No Surprises Amazingly choreographed renditions from the University of Arizona marching band: Airbag - Paranoid Android - Fitter Happier - Karma Police - Exit Music (From a Film) - Lucky Individual tracks: "Airbag" (notes)

Inspired (along with several other songs) by a car accident Yorke and his girlfriend had been in years before; muses on "the feeling you get when you realise that you've just missed having a serious accident, and the feeling of elation that follows."

"Paranoid Android" (notes)

The most ambitious track, a mutating six-minute sprawl in the tradition of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and the Beatles' "Happiness is a Warm Gun" that took the band eighteen months of practice to play live. Rooted in a harrowing experience Yorke had in a druggy Los Angeles club, he later passed the track off as a lark, but NME's Luke Lewis (who declared it the best single of the last 15 years) objects:
Far from penning a universal hymn of woe, Thom Yorke claims he picked the title as a self-mocking "joke", and says the lyrics are "not personal at all." Bassist Colin Greenwood remembers the writing process being "a laugh", the result of "getting wasted together". When the band came to actually play the song live, according to guitarist Ed O' Brien the whole thing was "completely hilarious" and had them "pissing ourselves as we played". Anyone would think they'd written 'My Humps', not one of the towering rock songs of the 20th Century. And yet... they protest too much. I have a theory. I think that Radiohead knew they'd written an era-defining masterwork, but - in a very British way - felt embarrassed by the grandeur of their creation, and ever since then have bashfully tried to make light of it. They're not fooling anyone. [...] Anyone with ears and a brain can tell that this is a song about the horror of modernity. Thom Yorke surveys the whole grand sweep of humanity and finds he's disgusted by all of it. [...] Besides, this idea that 'Paranoid Android' was intended as a joke - a sozzled attempt to rewrite Queen’s 'Bohemian Rhapsody' - doesn't quite tally with Yorke's own account of how he wrote the lyrics. They came to him at 5am following a hateful night out amongst coked-up music biz types in Los Angeles. "I was trying to sleep when I literally heard these voices that wouldn't leave me alone," he recalled in 1997. "Basically 'Paranoid Android' is just about chaos, chaos, utter fucking chaos." When pressed to reveal more about the "kicking squealing Gucci little" piggies who inspired the song, Yorke described them as "inhuman… you do often see demons in people's eyes. They're like fucking devils…. Everyone was trying to get something out of me. I felt like my own self was collapsing in the presence of it." Hmm. So not quite dashed off as a rib-tickling novelty wig-out then? Lest you doubt that 'Paranoid Android' burns with a core of genuine misanthropy, note the hex on the single sleeve. The ensuing world tour was called Against Demons. 'Paranoid Android' is a song about seeing evil in the world around you, and being absolutely terrified by it.
Don't miss the phenomenal cover version compiled from dozens of amateur YouTube videos (previously). Other notable takes: - Weezer - Mike Massé acoustic guitar (previously) - Christopher O'Riley on solo piano - jazz pianist Brad Mehldau's 9-minute interpretation - Male and female a capella - early demo version - Easy Star All-Stars reggae version - Sia Furler's soul version - University of Arizona marching band

- Big band arrangement "Subterranean Homesick Alien" (notes)

Namechecks Bob Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues and evokes the fanciful "Martian poetry" style to take an anthropologist's eye to mankind's troubles. The need for vintage soft keyboards has led to the track not being played on live tours in the last decade.

"Exit Music (For a Film)" (notes)

Written for the end credits of Romeo+Juliet and partially inspired by Zeffirelli's 1968 version, which had moved a 13-year-old Yorke to tears and wonder why the two lovers never tried to just run away from their families. The intimate vocals were recorded on the manor's stone steps.

"Let Down" (notes)

A melodic musing on the disappointment of glib sentimentality promoted in the media; guitarist Jonny Greenwood plays in a different time signature to amplify the feeling of disconnection and disorientation. For aural effect, it was recorded in the spacious manor ballroom at 3 a.m.

"Karma Police" (notes)

Named for a band in-joke about the "karma police" nabbing anyone who misbehaved, equated with the overly regimented atmosphere in large organizations. Originally passed on by Marilyn Manson, the concept for the backseat music video led to a hairy situation where Yorke was stuck in a car leaking carbon monoxide fumes (referenced later in "No Surprises").

"Fitter Happier" (notes)

A bleak piece dominated by increasingly surreal robotic pronouncements on ways to live a better life (voiced by the same synthesizer Stephen Hawking uses). Yorke claimed the list of imperatives was "the most upsetting thing I've ever written."

"Electioneering" (notes)

Late '90s Britain was swept by the landslide victory of Tony Blair's "New Labour" party, but this angry broadside held no illusions about modern politics. Inspired by both the Poll Tax Riots that helped remove Margaret Thatcher from power and the gladhanding "rope line" atmosphere that dogged the band's American tours.

"Climbing Up the Walls" (notes)

An eerie track from the perspective of various creeping horrors, from serial killers to insane asylums to "the monster in the closet." Prompted by Yorke's experience working part-time in a sanitarium emptied of many dangerous patients by Conservative budget cuts. Incorporates a string section modeled on Krzysztof Penderecki's nerve-wracking "Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima."

"No Surprises" (notes)

The first song recorded for the album (and on the first take). The music video, involving Yorke locked into a 2001-esque space helmet slowly filling with water, was somewhat disturbing to make, even with special effects tricks to speed up the submersion sequence.

"Lucky" (notes)

Recorded in five hours for a charity benefiting Bosnian War victims, the band considered this track their best. Brian Eno agreed, calling it "the most beautiful song I've heard for a long, long time."

"The Tourist" (notes)

A slower, spacier closing track written by Greenwood as a reaction the breakneck pace of the other tracks. Thematically linked to the rampant pace of technology as well as to the opening track's car crash, implying a kind of Joycean circularity to the album.

MeFi Music Challenge: Recently announced and still open to applications is next month's Music Challenge -- multiple cover versions of every OK Computer track by Mefites of all stripes. Discussion is over in MetaTalk; here's the set list for now:

Airbag: unSane, The Great Big Mulp, naju, davejay, Corduroy, bedhead Paranoid Android: InfidelZombie, chococat, Ardiril, Jofus, ignignokt, ZsigE Subterranean Homesick Alien: snsranch, dobie, god hates math, Rube R. Nekker, burnmp3s, dismas Exit Music (For A Film): askmeaboutLOOM, koeselitz, th3ph17, two lights above the sea, O9scar, the_very_hungry_caterpillar Let Down: dubold, pyramid termite, The World Famous, curious nu, fleacircus, theichibun Karma Police: uncleozzy, tigrefacile, erikgrande, Acari, michaelh, lazaruslong, modernserf Fitter Happier: sleepy pete, azarbayejani, flapjax at midnite, Listener, threeants, freya_lamb Electioneering: TwoWordReview, motty, muhonnin, roboton666, not_on_display, MrVisible Climbing Up The Walls: Doleful Creature, Elmore, supercres, Captain Najork, Johnny Wallflower, Sebmojo No Surprises: cortex, Grangousier, John Cohen, visual mechanic, OrangeGloves, the jam Lucky: grog, cmoj, googly, idiopath, Karlos the Jackal, greenish The Tourist: cathodeheart, qnarf, sinnesloeschen, Philosopher Dirtbike, evoque, zix

Other: An entire OK Computer live show (previously) Liner notes and artwork (part 2) The album's cryptic liner art analyzed Interview with cover designer Stanley Donwood Were OK Computer and In Rainbows meant to be played over each other? Radiohead and T.S. Eliot Not from OKC, but this creepy animation based on "2+2=5" is worth watching (previously) as is the "Homeless Mustard" cover of "Creep" (previously)

The News Corporation scandals

East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 08:54:11 -0800

Murdoch's Scandal - Lowell Bergman (the journalist portrayed by Al Pacino in The Insider) has investigated News Corporation for PBS Frontline [transcript]. He depicts Rupert Murdoch's British operation as a criminal enterprise, routinely hacking the voicemail and computers of innocent people, and using bribery and coercion to infiltrate police and government over decades. Enemies are ruthlessly "monstered" by the tabloids. Bergman also spoke to NPR's Fresh Air [transcript]. But the hits keep coming: in recent days News Corp has been accused of hacking rival pay TV services and promoting pirated receiver cards in both the UK and Australia. With the looming possibility of prosecution under America's Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, how long will shareholders consider Rupert Murdoch irreplaceable? [Previous 1 2 3 4]

The Victorian Kitchen Garden & a metric butt-ton of historical reconstruction series

flex — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 21:17:07 -0800

The Victorian Kitchen Garden is a 13-part TV series that aired in 1987 on BBC2. It follows the month-by-month restoration of the Victorian walled kitchen garden at the Chilton Foliat estate in Wiltshire, England. Almost all the episodes are available to watch online. (via hark, a vagrant) It had three sequels - The Victorian Kitchen, The Victorian Flower Garden, and The Wartime Kitchen and Garden - and inspired more recent historical reconstruction programs: Tales From the Green Valley, A Tudor Feast at Christmas, Victorian Farm, Victorian Farm Christmas, Victorian Pharmacy, and Edwardian Farm. (Victorian Farm and Edwardian Farm previously.) Beekman 1802 has collected what episodes of Victorian Kitchen Garden that are available online into one webpage. Out of 13 episodes, the first 10 are complete online; the last 3 have only the first part available for each. Of the sequels, Victorian Kitchen is available in full; Victorian Flower Garden has the first 6 of its 8 episodes available; but unfortunately, of Wartime Kitchen and Garden's 8 episodes, only the first two and the last one are available. Tales From the Green Valley, A Tudor Feast at Christmas, Victorian Farm, Victorian Farm Christmas, Victorian Pharmacy, and Edwardian Farm are all available in full online (YouTube & TVO here; other links available in the post of and the comments of the previous MeFi thread). Victorian Kitchen (1989) Episode 1: Introduction Episode 2: Breakfast Episode 3: Luncheon Episode 4: Afternoon Tea Episode 5: Dinner Episode 6: Supper Episode 7: The Dinner Party Episode 8: Picnics Interview with Peter Thoday about the "Victorian Kitchen" series Victorian Flower Garden (1991) Episode 1: Introduction Episode 2: Exotic Plants Episode 3: Cut Flowers Episode 4: Wedding Flowers Episode 5: Victorian Technology Episode 6: Flower Arranging Episode 7: Autumn Colour (could not find online) Episode 8: A Grand Musical Evening (could not find online) Interview with Peter Thoday about the "Victorian Flower Garden" series The Wartime Kitchen and Garden (1993) (8 episodes, but could not find most of them online) Episodes 1 & 2 in one video Episode 8 in three parts: 1, 2, 3 Tales From The Green Valley (2005) "The series recreates everyday life on a small farm in Wales in the 1620s, using authentic replica equipment and clothing, original recipes and reconstructed building techniques." (wikipedia) All twelve parts of the series (with each episodes split into two parts, for a total of 24 videos), can be viewed on YouTube: playlist here. Episode 1: parts one & two Episode 2: parts one & two Episode 3: parts one & two Episode 4: parts one & two Episode 5: parts one & two Episode 6: parts one & two Episode 7: parts one & two Episode 8: parts one & two Episode 9: parts one & two Episode 10: parts one & two Episode 11: parts one & two Episode 12: parts one & two A Tudor Feast at Christmas (2006) An hour-long special "spin-off" of Tales From The Green Valley. "A group of historians and archaeologists prepare a Tudor feast as it would have been over 400 years ago, including the use of period clothes, recipes from the era, food sourced from the land and the absence of modern conveniences. " (imdb) YouTube: part one, two, three, and four Victorian Farm (2009) "The series recreated everyday life on a small farm in Shropshire in the mid-19th century, using authentic replica equipment and clothing, original recipes and reconstructed building techniques." (wikipedia) Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 Episode 4 Episode 5 Episode 6 Victorian Farm Christmas (2009) "A three-part follow-up series, Victorian Farm Christmas, was produced in 2009, in which Goodman, Langlands and Ginn return to the Acton Scott Estate after a year away to re-create preparations for a Victorian Christmas." (wikipedia) Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 Victorian Pharmacy (2010) "...a four-part series in a similar style to Victorian Farm, also made by Lion and shown on BBC Two... Filmed almost exclusively at Blists Hill Victorian Town, it revolved around a recreation of a Victorian chemist's shop..." (wikipedia) Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 Episode 4 Edwardian Farm (2010-2011) "Edwardian Farm is an historical documentary TV series in twelve parts, first shown on BBC Two from November 2010 to January 2011. It was made for the BBC by independent production company Lion Television and filmed at Morwellham Quay, an historic quay in Devon." (wikipedia) All twelve parts of the series (with each episodes split into four parts, for a total of 48 videos), can be viewed on YouTube: playlist here.

Spaced Shaun Fuzz Vs. The World

The Whelk — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:46:14 -0800

Has your life becomes choppy, condensed, and full of zooms? You may have Edgar Wright Syndrome

Learning Space at Open University

infini — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 07:34:37 -0800

Try one of over 600 courses available through the Open University's Learning Space. Get to know the meaning behind the making of kente cloth of Ghana or learn the mathematical modelling involved in analysing skid marks. Lose yourself in art and design or simply learn a new old language. All you need is a device with a browser and internet access. Bonus: OU on the BBC's Frozen Planet series

Yesterday's Tomorrow Today!

The Whelk — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 10:18:45 -0800

The BBC broadcasted the science and technology showcase show Tomorrow's World (titles on piano) on 7 July 1965 on BBC1, it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled at the beginning of 2003. Unlike the boosterism of US science programs, Tomorrow's World was more famous for it's live stunts and wry outlook ( James Burke experiences the "convenient" office of the future and the future of home gardening and crushing ennui). The BBC has an archive of episodes and clips for UK visitors, everyone else will have to be content with clips concerning Home Computers, New Banking, Nellie The School Computer, The Elliot Light Pen, Mobile Phones, and Moog Synthesizers.

Hello, my name is Tara and I scream my own name during sex

The Whelk — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 09:40:55 -0800

From 1999 to 2003, the largely-female UK comedy trope Smack The Pony had a series of short skits based on video dating ads. Youtube user myLastTears has edited them together into a supercut: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 (via)

You say smile I say cheese

schmod — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 07:02:13 -0800

A year after spending some time in Edinburgh, and subsequently finding his way home across Scotland, Danny MacAskill unexpectedly finds himself in an abandoned ironworks. A zen-like state of bicycling ensues. [via kottke]

Brown And Also Blue

The Whelk — Sun, 08 May 2011 21:29:18 -0800

VE and VJ Day, in London. In Colour.

Everything's made up, and the points don't matter

Rhaomi — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 17:00:00 -0800

Years after its final broadcast, the award-winning, pond-hopping, cult comedy hit Whose Line is it Anyway? is returning to television! Sort of! Tonight in just a few minutes, Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza (promo, sample segment) makes its debut on GSN, reuniting Carey with popular "Whosers" Ryan Stiles, Colin Mochrie, Greg Proops, Brad Sherwood, Wayne Brady, and many more. Though the show will air every weekday, you don't have to wait around for new episodes to get your improv fix -- in spite of the lack of DVD box sets, there's a veritable treasure trove of past content available free from multiple online sources, including the complete run of the American Whose Line on both YouTube and fansite WatchWLIIA along with every episode of the original UK run from Channel4's official YouTube channel and their streaming video site 4oD. Too much content? Look inside for selections of the show's most hilarious moments as sampled from the show's burgeoning TVTropes entry. See also: Fan guide - American episode guide (UK version) - List of game types Notable Guest Stars Richard Simmons - Stephen Colbert - Robin Williams - Whoopi Goldberg - David Hasselhoff - Lassie - Stephen Fry (2) - Eddie Izzard Other highlights: Improbable Mission - Drew's tape recorder - Ryan's accident - Censorship fail Greatest Hits: Horror (puntastic) and Greatest Hits: A... Tern? Compilations: Scenes from a Hat, Props, and more Greatest Hits!

JOG ON KITTIES

The Whelk — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 11:07:47 -0800

CATS, WITH THUMBS. (SLVP)

Let England Shake

Artw — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 13:15:15 -0800

The Words That Maketh Murder/The Last Living Rose - Director Seamus Murphy introduces two of 12 short films he made for PJ Harvey's forthcoming LP, Let England Shake

It's that time of year again...

fearfulsymmetry — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:05:00 -0800

THE HOMEMADE XMAS VIDEO by Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones from 1986 (1, 2, 3, 4)

"...with God's help, we shall prevail."

zarq — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 23:46:08 -0800

A new movie, The King’s Speech, (official site / trailer / clips) depicts King George VI of England's struggle to overcome his problem with stuttering and find his voice, in time to deliver the historic radio speech that prepared London for WWII. The film is being hailed as a potential Oscar-contender, for its unique, sensitive portrayal of stuttering -- a sharp contrast to the way movies traditionally present those who suffer from the disorder.. Slate offers a slideshow of ten video clips: A History of Stuttering in the Movies PDF containing transcripts of some of King George VI's wartime radio broadcasts.

(Almost) Frozen in Time

gman — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 14:31:53 -0800

"In all my slow-motion work so far, I’ve used a static camera to capture a high-speed event. But, I wondered, what would happen if the camera was the fast-moving object? For instance, if you use a 210fps camera at 35mph, on playback at 30fps it’ll seem to the observer that they’re moving at walking pace- but everything observed will be operating at 1/7th speed." It really begins at around 20 seconds in, and unfortunately it's a tad jumpy at points.

Do Not Try This At Home

The Whelk — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:30:12 -0800

You can see that things gradually become more terrifying : Five of the six alkali metals and their reactions to air and water. Learn more at the Periodic Table Of Videos. Lithium, Sodium, Potassium, Rubidium, Cesium (Caesium), and the elusive Francium.

SWEDEMASON

flatluigi — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:35:03 -0800

The Works of Swede Mason: "Jeremy Clarkson," "Get in the Back of the Van," "Jungle All The Way," "Bill Wyman's Metal Detector," "Put the Lotion in the Basket, *" "Got The Sucka," "The Gobshite, *" "Squashed Thingy," "Spare Me The Madness," and the pair of tracks based on Neighbors deaths "Coffee And Croissants" and "Todd....Dead." note: starred tracks have NSFW audio. mp3 downloads can be found here.

That was too close: RAF Tornado comes within 30ft of mid-air collision

nthdegx — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 02:54:15 -0800

That was too close. RAF Tornado comes within 30ft of mid-air collision.

Don't Watch That, Watch This

fearfulsymmetry — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 07:24:36 -0800

A Critical Appraisal of Madness's Videos The Prince, One Step Beyond, My Girl, Night Boat To Cairo, Bed And Breakfast Man, Baggy Trousers, Embarrassment, Return Of The Los Palmas 7,Grey Day, Shut Up, It Must Be Love, Cardiac Arrest, House of Fun, Driving In My Car, Our House, Tomorrow's Just Another Day, Wings Of A Dove, The Sun and The Rain, Michael Caine, One Better Day, Yesterday's Men, Uncle Sam, Sweetest Girl (Not the official video), (Waiting for the) Ghost Train, Lovestruck, Johnny The Horse, Drip Fed Fred, Shame & Scandal, Sorry, NW5 An Illustrated Guide To... Madness , The Madness Story 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, Official site, Wiki

We're all blue from projection tubes

whir — Mon, 12 May 2008 21:53:47 -0800

UK band The Get Out Clause made their newest video by performing in front of 80 of London's approximately 13 million CCTV cameras, and then requesting the footage via the Data Protection Act. The footage was then edited together into this music video. This technique was apparently prefigured by Irish band The Frames, who used a single camera in a post office to make a £2 video. via.

Boris Johnson for mayor?

bwerdmuller — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 08:18:32 -0800

Stop Boris Johnson ? Boris Johnson is the Conservative candidate for the Mayor of London this May, running against Ken Livingstone. The public generally know him for his apparently likeable bumbling persona, for example on Have I Got News For You, but there is another side ...

BBC launch Flash version of iPlayer

rongorongo — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 06:32:18 -0800

BBC launch Flash version of iPlayer The BBC have developed iPlayer as a vehicle for online distribution of its programs. Originally this involved downloading a stand-alone application for windows users only. This application has had a troubled beta launch and has drawn criticism from Linux and Mac users who were unsupported. The Flash version is an attempt to placate these users (though I believe you have to be in the UK)

NOW how am I going to watch Growing Pains?

SassHat — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 21:24:40 -0800

TV-Links website shut down, site creator arrested. Says David Rock, who awaits charges, "It was just a hobby." Despite not actually hosting the content, Rock has been accused of "facilitation of infringement."