19 out of 20 on a current-ish US Citizenship Test. Damn you Susan B. Anthony, damn you. Via Cynical-C and J-Walk.

The Andy Rooney Game:

Here’s how you play: Using Final Cut Pro, take out everything but the first sentence and the last sentence from Andy Rooney’s latest segment on 60 Minutes. Then you put that on youtube. That’s it! Check it out:

Via Cynical-C and Metafilter.

And thus perished fifty forlorn “pit” kids. When the firemen arrived all that was left was a tuft of green, dreadlocked hair, and a partially melted bellybutton ring. Also, an overwhelming sense of ennui.

Ok, it didn’t really kill any pit kids. I used to park my bike right there, it would have gotten singed… that would have been a true tragedy. This could have been my bike:

More information at Boston.com.

Via Cynical-C.

Asia Quiz.  I got a 79.  Via Cynical-C.

Sweet Home Alabama performed by the Leningrad Cowboys and the Soviet Red Army Choir:

Via Cynical-C.

I’m not the first one to say it, but after recently reading the beginning of the Left Behind series and the entire Christ Clone trilogy, it’s not totally wacky to compare Obama’s rise and public adulation to that of the predicted Anti-Christ’s (at least as described in those books).

Cliff Clavin’s appearance on Jeopardy has always stuck with me:

Via Cynical-C.

The original Darth Vader sounds a lot like Rick Moranis in Spaceballs.

First clip via Cynical-C.

One of the original versions of the Cheers theme song started with the following lyrics:

Singing the blues when the Red Sox lose
It’s a crisis in your life
On the run ‘cause all your girlfriends
Want to be your wife
And the laundry ticket’s in the wash

Also check out the full version of the theme song which includes a few wacky verses and an out of place saxaphone solo.

Via Cynical-C.

Wikipedia has a full list of all the references in Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire.

Via Cynical-C.

I’d never seen this before.  I’m relieved that the news producer was smart enough to figure it out.

Are you left-brained or right-brained? I sincerely doubt that this image can really test which you are, but it’s a scary optical illusion nonetheless. Supposedly if you see the dancer below spinning in a clockwise direction, you’re right-brained and vice versa. Either way, it’s scary as hell when she switches.

See the image after the jump (because it was giving me a headache): Read more »

The Milgram Experiment, which basically showed that Americans are perfectly capable of behaving like Nazis given the right authority structure, was recorded on video and is available on YouTube. I had no idea you could watch these tapes. Check out the subject of the experiment consistently object to what he’s being asked to do but continue, over the screams of his victim, when ordered to do so in an authoritative tone:

Part I:

Aqua’s Barbie Girl never sounded so cello-riffic:

Via Cynical-C.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, from 1910, depicts a slightly different version of the Oz story:

It’s hard to imagine that kids in blackface would play well in an ad campaign in America.

In Germany, however…

Via Cynical-C.

Here we are now, entertain us.

Via a comment at Cynical-C and April Winchell’s Multimedia Page.

Cynical-C points to the somewhat unlikely practice of Tinku, where, according to SFGate, “[t]he locals come down from the mountains drunk, dancing and ready to fight.” It gets better:

On its climactic day, May 4 this year, fighters marched down the hill into town — still dancing, still singing — with their eyes peeled for particular rivals, intent on resolving everything from love triangles to land disputes.

While most fights are short-lived, death is not uncommon; one person was killed at a smaller Tinku in Macha in February. But with more foreigners turning up each year, local officials have brought in extra police to reduce the violence, and even broadcast radio announcements asking revelers not to attack street vendors.

The police immediately took control of this year’s festival, forming an improvised ring in the town square and refereeing the fights. A sergeant selected combatants of equal size and age — women, too — and set a few ground rules (”No kicking!”). Fellow fighters cheered each pair on, while journalists and tourists crowded in, holding their cameras high to catch the bare-knuckle action.

The police ended each clash after only a minute or two, after drunken punches had bloodied one or both of the fighters’ faces.

By late afternoon, the increasingly intoxicated crowd repeatedly overran the ring, hoping to revert to Tinku’s traditional free-for-all. But the police drove them back each time, occasionally popping a tear gas grenade to clear the square.

Foreigners seemed both relieved and mildly disappointed to learn that Tinku had been toned down.

Globalization takes the fun out of everything.