Hodgepodge of European dance moves

by Neil Woodburn on

Here’s a fun little video that shows the universality of travel and the commonality of music. The concept is simple: a team of Samsung employees traveled to ten European cities in ten days (London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Prague, Ibiza, Barcelona, Moscow, Edinburgh and Galway) and asked strangers to dance a little jig for their camera.

20 years ago it probably would have been easy to pinpoint the location of each clip based strictly on the dancers photographed. Today, Europe has morphed into a multicultural soup where it’s now refreshingly impossible to distinguishing a “Spaniard” from a “German” based on just looks and dance moves. It’s only by looking beyond the dancers at some of the iconic European backgrounds that one can tell where these shots were taken.

Sure, “United Europe” is a promotional bit for a Samsung phone that plays music, and yes, I’ve fallen victim to its viral marketing goals by forwarding it on. But nonetheless, it still remains a short, happy clip of Europe in a nutshell.

New Mexico tourism commercials: good or bad?

by Justin Glow on

Apparently there’s a big debate among tourism officials in New Mexico about a series of new commercials meant to urge potential tourists to visit the fifth largest state in the U.S.

“Instead of highlighting New Mexico’s picturesque desert landscapes, art galleries or centuries-old culture, the ads feature drooling, grotesque office workers from outer space chatting about their personal lives,” according to an article from the AP.

I hadn’t seen the commercials until I pulled them up on YouTube (which you can watch after the jump), but I can see why there’s a debate. On one hand, they are a bit funny and quirky (though still cliché in that funny-because-it’s-weird way), but the aliens are definitely grotesque, not very exciting to look at, and really have nothing to do with New Mexico or tourism other than the catchy “best place in the universe” tagline. Oh, and the whole Roswell thing. But it seems to me they made an ad like this to get people talking… and, well, people are talking.

Watch them yourself, after the jump. Do they make you want to go to New Mexico? Alternatively, do they make you want to do to New Mexico what my father did to Ohio’s page in the atlas when he ran out of toilet paper? I’m indifferent, honestly. And no offense, Ohio. Really.

Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade: a balloon handler’s scoop

by Jamie Rhein on

Maybe watching the Macy’s Parade is one of your Thanksgiving traditions. Maybe you vaguely know what it is. The gigantic helium balloons manned by volunteers who keep them from whacking down tourists like they are prone to do in the stiff gusts of wind that whistle down the streets of Manhattan, are the most famous features. The idea is to have people enamored by a six-story high Sponge Bob, Mr. Potato Head and Dora the Explorer floating by, not scared to death. Then there’s the Broadway numbers, glitzy floats, rousing marching bands and the TV personalities who yuck it up, often commenting on the shitty weather–or like today, gushing about it’s perfection.

No matter how much commercialism is heaped into the parade, the balloons are amazing. Here’s a video of a woman from Alaska who had a dream of becoming a balloon handler, and she did. There’s tips for how you can become a handler yourself. Also, she explains what is involved in actually doing to the job.

For more parade insider scoop, this You Tube video goes into the background of the Macy’s parade. Watch for the section about a girl who learned to play the tuba in less than a year so she could march in it. It’s another heartwarming Thanksgiving tale.

And still there’s more. For another video that gives up close looks at several balloons, check out this You Tube offering. And, here’s a few more to get you in that parade mood: Seuussical the Musical, the Sesame Street Float, a high school marching band from 1987 and the All Star Drum and Bugle Corps.

Flight patterns animation

by Catherine Bodry on

Graphic artist Aaron Koblin created an animation based on 24 hours of flight travel data from across the U.S. The results are hypnotic (as is the music) — although it gets a bit wacky at the end, it’s amazing to watch the country light up from east to west as dawn creeps across and air traffic picks up.

This video is low-resolution; you can view a high-resolution version on Koblin’s website. Thanks to the New York Times for the YouTube video link.

Outside Magazine Castaway Video

by Neil Woodburn on

If you’re the type of person who can’t get enough of Survivor or Man vs. Wild then Outside Magazine has the series for you.

Castaway is an 11-part, made-for-the-web video series featuring Outside writer Thayer Walker. As you might imagine from the title, the participatory journalist purposely strands himself on the Panamanian island of Isla Pargo with just a snorkeling mask and knife to keep him alive. The clips are short, just about two-minutes each, and full of all the life-saving survival tips you’d expect from this genre, like eating raw shellfish, coconuts, and sugar cane while being attacked by ants, crabs and sand flies.

Hey, it ain’t Robinson Crusoe, but it’s still entertaining to watch in short segments when you want to take a break from the cubicle farm at work.