Penguins' progress
March 21, 2014 12:31 PM   Subscribe

 
This is kind of the most adorable thing ever.
posted by chara at 12:36 PM on March 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


The ending is fantastic.

ENORMOUS PENGUIN: Fuck you, rope! I'm HUGE!
SLIGHTLY LESS ENORMOUS PENGUIN: Yeah, that's right! Fuck you, rope, I'm....aaaaaaagh!
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 12:38 PM on March 21, 2014 [36 favorites]


Oddly enough, this also works with hedge fund managers, and members of the House of Lords.
posted by Naberius at 12:40 PM on March 21, 2014 [14 favorites]


I suddenly really miss Opus.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:42 PM on March 21, 2014 [20 favorites]


These penguins have never seen a rope before? How do they lash themselves down in those 100+ mph Antarctic winds?
posted by orme at 12:46 PM on March 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


I am sad that I have no idea how to properly translate "фигня" (save for "thing" or "thingy") but the best way I can relate the title of this video is "Penguins and [the hell is this]?"
posted by griphus at 12:47 PM on March 21, 2014 [5 favorites]


First of all, this is a bit cruel. Put down the camera and help a penguin out, dick.

That said, I love when the big one goes across @1:20 and is clearly as surprised as I was that he didn't trip.
posted by Sys Rq at 12:49 PM on March 21, 2014 [14 favorites]


Such apt prey...
posted by cman at 12:51 PM on March 21, 2014


penguin griefing: the new pig and baby monkey.
posted by echocollate at 12:57 PM on March 21, 2014


I had seen this with the (excellent) title of "Penguin Quality Assurance Team Tests Out A Trip Rope". Made me chuckle.
posted by Brockles at 12:59 PM on March 21, 2014 [11 favorites]


I'm simply going to wait here until someone posts a dubbed version with all the penguins muttering in British accents.
posted by drinkmaildave at 12:59 PM on March 21, 2014 [17 favorites]


Google translates it for me as "Penguins and mysterious garbage" though I suspect that, per usual, the quality and nuance of their translation leaves something to be desired.
posted by axiom at 1:00 PM on March 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


Those penguins are a lot more variable in size than I would have expected for adults. I know the bigger ones are also closer to the camera, but they don't seem to be more than a couple of feet from the smallest ones, so it shouldn't be that distorted. I thought birds mostly grew to about adult size when still fledglings (well, at least, still fluff covered for penguins.) Do king penguins grow in later years? Or do they just differ that much in size?
posted by tavella at 1:07 PM on March 21, 2014


> Google translates it for me as "Penguins and mysterious garbage" though I suspect that, per usual, the quality and nuance of their translation leaves something to be desired.

The adjective неведомый (here in the feminine form неведомая) literally means 'unknown' but often more loosely 'mysterious'; the final noun, фигня, is a euphemism for the very unprintable хуйня 'bullshit, fucking nonsense.'

Thanks for the post, which brightened this gloomy day immensely!
posted by languagehat at 1:08 PM on March 21, 2014 [10 favorites]


Penguin and the Mysterious Bullshit is my new band.
posted by echo target at 1:11 PM on March 21, 2014 [26 favorites]


PRO-RUSSIAN PENGUINS LAND ON BEACHES OF CRIMEA AND CROSS LINE DRAWN BY EU AND THE US.
posted by Kabanos at 1:13 PM on March 21, 2014 [15 favorites]


Didn't Monty Python do this?
posted by plinth at 1:25 PM on March 21, 2014 [5 favorites]


yeah they're all cute and clumsy until you realize they smell like rotting fish.
posted by The Whelk at 1:28 PM on March 21, 2014


1) It's so cute that they go one at a time.

2) My cats would look at this, look at each other and say, "Man I'm I glad we're not so unbendy."
posted by sweetkid at 1:34 PM on March 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


Damn! You beat me to it, plinth!
posted by Flitcraft at 1:54 PM on March 21, 2014


I can't help but think that Polar Bears would find them delicious. If only they could get to the South Pole.
posted by blue_beetle at 2:04 PM on March 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


yeah they're all cute and clumsy until you realize they smell like rotting fish.

They can be cute and clumsy and smell like rotting fish. Neither precludes the other.
posted by JHarris at 2:05 PM on March 21, 2014 [3 favorites]


"That's one... small step for a bird...
One... giant lea—" *faceplant*
posted by Atom Eyes at 2:54 PM on March 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


I was waiting for them to head over to the rafts and peck the shit out of them. Then who'd be laughing camera guy? Then who'd be walking home?
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:02 PM on March 21, 2014 [8 favorites]


Unhappy Feet!
posted by Omnomnom at 3:13 PM on March 21, 2014 [9 favorites]


plinth: Didn't Monty Python do this?

Actually, those penguins sound more like pepperpot ladies than upperclass twits.
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:43 PM on March 21, 2014


They're birds. Why don't they just fly over the rope?

It's quite amazing how well they get around on land, considering they're almost totally adapted for life in the ocean.
posted by sneebler at 3:50 PM on March 21, 2014


You just know all the successful penguins have convinced themselves that they simply stepped over the rope.
posted by klarck at 3:51 PM on March 21, 2014 [3 favorites]


Actually, those penguins sound more like pepperpot ladies than upperclass twits.

What's that penguin doing on the rope?
posted by Sys Rq at 3:52 PM on March 21, 2014


I'm pretty sure the ones that are just standing there staring up into the sky are trying really, really hard to remember how to fly.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 4:14 PM on March 21, 2014 [3 favorites]


EmpressCallipygos, my mind instantly saw Opus doing that "huh--wha--hmm?" head-bob they kept doing.
posted by gusandrews at 4:51 PM on March 21, 2014


Penguins be trippin', yo.
posted by yoink at 4:53 PM on March 21, 2014 [7 favorites]


What's that penguin doing on the rope?

BURMA!!
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:43 PM on March 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


I know it is anthropomorphization, but I love how after the first one makes it over, all the others stand around for a second nodding their heads like "Hmm, yes, that DID seem to work. Well done chap. I shall follow forthwith", right up until the big one starts howling which sounded to me like "Curse you foul gods for tormenting us so, will your trials and machinations never cease?"

Alternative, it could have just been thinking "Motherfucker... this is some bullshit right here."

I think either accurately sum up the situation.
posted by quin at 6:06 PM on March 21, 2014 [6 favorites]


What's with these Russian animal abuse videos?
posted by yonega at 6:19 PM on March 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


Hey, guys? Nobody tell me if 'waddle of penguins' isn't the official collective noun.



**headcanon accepted**
posted by Space Kitty at 6:41 PM on March 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


"Waddle" was accepted as the appropriate collective noun at the 4th International Penguin Conference of 2000.
posted by mudpuppie at 7:02 PM on March 21, 2014 [5 favorites]


Cite.
posted by mudpuppie at 7:02 PM on March 21, 2014 [14 favorites]


...checks link. Okay, that wasn't goofing! And a group of penguins at sea is a raft.
posted by tavella at 7:16 PM on March 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


mudpuppie, you have made my week.

*squee!*
posted by Space Kitty at 7:48 PM on March 21, 2014


(Sea otters in a group are also known as a 'raft.' Because they form what is, you know, kind of like a raft. I object to the idea of penguins-at-sea as rafts. That may just be my own personal hang-up.)
posted by mudpuppie at 8:11 PM on March 21, 2014


There's an international penguin conference?! And it decided on collective nouns?! And it decided on "waddle"?! Thank you, penguin gods. Thank you.
posted by Mizu at 8:11 PM on March 21, 2014 [4 favorites]


"How to overcome barriers in the most ungainly fashion imaginable" would also have been an acceptable title
posted by Redhush at 8:19 PM on March 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


One of the YT comments asked "what if they put the rope at chest height?". That's a marvellous idea and I look forward to the video.
posted by arcticseal at 8:28 PM on March 21, 2014


And this is why humans have taken over the world.
posted by lollusc at 8:50 PM on March 21, 2014


What in god's name was going on in 2000 that they felt the need to have four different international penguin conferences in one year?

It just seems a little excessive is all I'm saying.
posted by Naberius at 8:53 PM on March 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


Naberius: we're approaching peak penguin.
posted by el io at 9:07 PM on March 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


We're not all that stupid, I swear.
posted by azpenguin at 11:05 PM on March 21, 2014 [2 favorites]


They keep discussing over or under, nodding yes, perhaps, over might be better, no whoops, that didn't work, maybe under?
No Clyde, you're to fat.
No, you're too fat. No, you.
You!
YOU!
Oh look, there went Max.
How did he do that?
Ha Ha! Not like that, fool.
posted by BlueHorse at 11:09 PM on March 21, 2014 [3 favorites]


Good news for aspiring penguin ranchers - fencing costs will be minimal.
posted by islander at 11:32 PM on March 21, 2014 [5 favorites]


This video wasn't nearly long enough.
posted by vansly at 12:27 AM on March 22, 2014 [1 favorite]


Penguins are twits?!
posted by markkraft at 12:46 AM on March 22, 2014


One of the YT comments asked "what if they put the rope at chest height?". That's a marvellous idea and I look forward to the video.

Penguin limbo!
posted by orrnyereg at 1:04 AM on March 22, 2014 [2 favorites]


> Unhappy Feet!
Wombo Combo!
posted by Johann Georg Faust at 8:14 AM on March 22, 2014 [1 favorite]


I think they are marginally better than Daleks at this.
posted by stonepharisee at 10:59 AM on March 22, 2014 [1 favorite]


This was crying for Chris Cohen and lo and behold, he delivers! His earlier penguin dilemma is funnier though. (His Cat vs. Printer (NSFW), which has nothing to do with penguins, is however masterful beyond words.)
posted by vac2003 at 2:02 PM on March 22, 2014 [5 favorites]


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