Laughing Squid

Burl, the creative luthier of Burls Art appeared to be feeling rather reflective and decided to build an incredibly sleek Infinity Mirror Guitar. Like his other guitars, Burl first formed a mold that would give the initial shape. he then built a special frame that would hold the mirrors in...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post A Reflective Electric Guitar Built With Infinity Mirrors first appeared on Laughing Squid.

Bradley Montesi of Unsportsmanlike Content created an adorably spooky video about “reverse trick-or-treaters” that come to a boy’s front door. The filmmaker stated that he was inspired by a 2009 comic by Doc Pop, a talented artist, musician, performer, and very good friend of Laughing Squid. Back in 2013, the...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post An Amusing Short Film About Reverse Trick-or-Treating With a Portable Door Inspired by a Doc Pop Comic first appeared on Laughing Squid.

Dominic of ViralVideoLab (previously) silently demonstrated how to make a 9-volt battery walk like a human with the use of two small magnets. Attach the magnets on each side of the battery next to the terminals and place the battery terminal side down onto a steel plate. Once in place,...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post How to Make a 9-Volt Battery Walk Like a Human first appeared on Laughing Squid.

Puddles Pity Party (previously), the honey-voiced clown, and fellow Rain Dog, performed a new wave cover of the Lorde song “Royals”, complete with his very own “keytar”. While Puddles challenged himself in a previous video to perform many different covers of the song, this specific version was performed in honor...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post Puddles Pity Party Performs a New Wave Cover of the Lorde Song ‘Royals’ first appeared on Laughing Squid.

An adorably curious Shiba Inu named Yuki thoroughly investigated a new bed that her humans placed upon the floor for her. The cover of the bed was colorfully decorated like a bag of chips. It didn’t take long for Yuki to deem the bed acceptable. Being that she was tired,...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post Shiba Inu Adorably Sleeps in a Bag of Potato Chips Bed first appeared on Laughing Squid.

When an irregularly shaped, five-story primary school from 1935 became too unwieldy for a downtown Shanghai construction project, the architects decided against tearing the classic building down. Instead, workers set the historic building upon 200 sturdy mechanical supports with robotic legs and literally walked it 65 meters to its new...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post Historic Primary School Building ‘Walks’ Using Robotic Feet to New Location Outside the Shanghai City Center first appeared on Laughing Squid.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Josh Sundquist (@joshsundquist) on Oct 30, 2020 at 1:50pm PDT Each Halloween Josh Sundquist, comedian, author, and motivational speaker, who lost one of his legs to cancer when he was young, creates fabulous custom costumes that specifically highlight his missing limb....Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post One Legged Motivational Speaker Dresses Up as Baby Groot From ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ For Halloween first appeared on Laughing Squid.

Michael Tucker of Lessons From the Screenplay takes a deeper look into the 2009 stop-motion animated film Coraline. Tucker explains how the narrative of the plot borrows from classic fairy tales, grotesques, and ghost stories, each of which has a specific storytelling structure that begins with envy, involves a struggle,...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post How the Stop-Motion Animated Film ‘Coraline’ Borrows Narratives From Classic Fairy Tales and Ghost Stories first appeared on Laughing Squid.

In the fourth episode of the brilliantly animated series Goreytelling, by photographer and filmmaker Christopher Seufert (previously), famed artist Edward Gorey talks about his experience designing a set and costumes for a summer theater production of Dracula. The artist explains that he didn’t consider it to be his best work...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post Edward Gorey Talks About When He Designed Sets and Costumes for ‘Dracula’ in a Brilliantly Animated Short first appeared on Laughing Squid.

In the spirit of Halloween, filmmaker David Friedman of AARP had the opportunity to speak with legendary production designer Claude Paré about how the decade of the 1980s was so believably recreated for modern audiences in the 2017 reboot of the Stephen King film It. It is challenging to make...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post How the 1980s Were Recreated In the 2017 Film ‘It’ first appeared on Laughing Squid.

In the music video for his song “Happy”, a disembodied digital head of the great Danny Elfman appeared against a black background with a sinister look. As he sang about the joys in life, his face (and subsequent body) underwent a series of creepy changes that became even darker with...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post The Disembodied Digital Head of Danny Elfman Sings About Being ‘Happy’ in a Really Spooky Music Video first appeared on Laughing Squid.

In honor of Halloween, talented woodcarver and artist Bobby Duke (previously) created a humorous tutorial in which a spooky voice explains how to carve a simple but really scary face into a pumpkin. In this video I show you how to make a really simple but super scary pumpkin for...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post A Humorously Spooky Tutorial Showing How to Carve a Simple But Super Scary Face Into a Pumpkin first appeared on Laughing Squid.

British architect Suzanne Brewer and her son Jarvis have designed a truly inspired height-adjustable “Walking Wheelchair” that allows users to come up to eye level height without compromising their balance. The wheelbase design is based upon a Segway mover and the design for the body is on an original idea...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post Architect and Son Design Height Adjustable Segway Style ‘Walking Wheelchair’ For Eye Level Conversation first appeared on Laughing Squid.

A team at DisneyResearch in Los Angeles used a proprietary Audio-Animatronics humanoid bust that had responsive cameras in its eyes and subjected it to interactive situations. The goal of this experiment was to learn how to create highly realistic gaze engagement for true character believability in films. The categories of...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post Disney Uses an Animatronic Bust With Cameras In Its Eyes to Create Realistic Interactive Humanlike Gazes first appeared on Laughing Squid.

In a toothsome episode of the Mental Floss series Food History (previously), host Justin Dodd shares the history of candy corn, the origins of corn syrup, and how its inventor George Renninger tested out how realistic his candy was by feeding it to his chickens. During his initial tinkering, Renninger...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post How Candy Corn Became Associated With Halloween first appeared on Laughing Squid.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Obscurest Vinyl (@obscurestvinyl) on Jun 27, 2020 at 6:35am PDT Obscurest Vinyl creates amusing parodies of vintage album covers. The parodied titles can refer to what appears to be happening on the cover itself or perhaps, it’s just some made up...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post Amusing Parodies of Vintage Album Covers first appeared on Laughing Squid.

The marble run enthusiasts of Murmiland built a miniature wooden replica of the Great Wall of China. This petite scale version measured 15 meters long and was the perfect length for a mesmerizing marble run. The marble run “The Great Wall of China” is a project of MURMILAND. via The...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post A Mesmerizing Marathon Marble Run Over a Miniature Wooden Replica of the Great Wall of China first appeared on Laughing Squid.

Artist Paul Jones of DIY Horror and Props shared a rough idea of how to build a giant and really creepy giant spider for Halloween (or any time it seems appropriate to scare the neighbors.). DIY giant spider halloween prop tutorial a rough guide. One person actually made a really...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post How to Make a Giant Spider for Halloween first appeared on Laughing Squid.

Barefoot: The Mark Baumer Story is a feature documentary by filmmaker Julie Sokolow (previously) about an idealistic young man named Mark Baumer who was determined to walk barefoot across the United States by himself to raise awareness around climate change. The film offers a touching glimpse into who Mark Baumer...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post A Touching Film About an Idealistic Young Man Who Attempted to Walk Barefoot Across the United States first appeared on Laughing Squid.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Pet Portraits By Hercule (@portraitsbyhercule) on Oct 21, 2020 at 11:50am PDT A father in West Sussex, England, who goes by the name Hercule Van Wolfwinkle creates hilariously crude, amateurish pet portraits that he sells online in order to raise funds...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post British Dad Draws Hilariously Crude Pet Portraits on Commission to Raise Funds for Ending Homelessness first appeared on Laughing Squid.

Director Alex Winter, who played Bill in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, has realized his dream of preserving the very precious memory of the late, greatly missed Frank Zappa. The result of all Winter’s hard work is a definitive documentary about Zappa’s life appropriately entitled Zappa. The film focuses on...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post The Exceptional Musical Genius of Frank Zappa Explored in a Definitive Biographical Documentary first appeared on Laughing Squid.

An absolutely adorable little cocker spaniel named Charlie defiantly challenged an active leaf blower as it was dispersing the fallen foliage across the lawn. As the blower blew, a determined Charlie tried to bark back at it. Unfortunately for Charlie, however, the machine had a great deal more power than...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post Little Dog Defiantly Challenges a Leaf Blower first appeared on Laughing Squid.

In the final installment of the 2020 reboot of the “Thursday Mashups in October” series, Aaron Brink and Steve Reidell of The Hood Internet found themselves chasing “Waterfalls” to create a “Juicy” 3½ minute dance track of 60 popular songs from 1994. This “Sure Shot” remix won’t easily become “Undone”....Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post A ‘Juicy’ ‘Sure Shot’ Remix of 60 Songs From 1994 That Can’t Easily Be ‘Undone’ While ‘Chasing Waterfalls’ first appeared on Laughing Squid.

The House of Ghosts (“La Maison Ensorcelée”) is a spooky film made in 1908 that features a number of modern techniques for the time period, including jump cuts and stop-motion animation. The film was directed by Segundo de Chomón, an incredibly inventive and pioneering Spanish filmmaker who worked for Pathé...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post ‘The House of Ghosts’, A Spooky Silent French Film Made in 1908 That Features Modern Film Techniques first appeared on Laughing Squid.

Members of the Martin Miller Session Band performed an absolutely remarkable, pitch-perfect cover of the iconic Pink Floyd album Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety. This includes each of the songs, the instrumentals, and the incidentals that made the original album so unique. Guitarist Martin Miller and keyboardist...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post German Band Performs a Remarkable Studio Cover of Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ in Its Entirety first appeared on Laughing Squid.

German musician Carolina Eyck, who previously played an absolutely gorgeous theremin cover of “The Ecstasy of Gold”, performed a glowing cover of “Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. For further effect, Eyck dimmed the lights and tossed around an illuminated object to make it look like a random bee...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post A Glowing Theremin Cover of ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’ first appeared on Laughing Squid.

In the animated short “IN_BOX” by filmmaker Michael Marczewski (previously) commissioned by Adult Swim, a couple of office workers start chatting with each other through email. In this world, emails are personified beings that crawl over to the recipient’s computer, climb inside and then send an alert for new mail....Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post Personified Email Creatures Accidentally Start a War Between Co-Workers in the Animated Short ‘IN_BOX’ first appeared on Laughing Squid.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by OMATCHA SALON (@omatchasalon) on Oct 11, 2020 at 4:57am PDT Omatcha Salon, which has several different locations in Japan, creates beautiful food with Uji matcha tea. Among their specialties is an edible zen garden that uses green matcha powder where sand...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post Japanese Specialty Tea House Creates Calming Edible Zen Gardens Using Green Matcha Powder first appeared on Laughing Squid.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Adrian Wilson (@plannedalism) on Oct 15, 2020 at 5:44pm PDT NYC artist Adrian Wilson, aka plannedalism, who temporarily altered the mosaic at the Van Siclen Avenue stop in East New York, Brooklyn to read “Van Halen Avenue” in memory of the...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post NYC Artist Pays Tribute to Eddie Van Halen With Heartfelt ‘Frankenstrat’ Guitar Garage Door Mural first appeared on Laughing Squid.

Musicians Jack Black and Kyle Gass, collectively known as Tenacious D, played an absolutely incredible cover of the iconic song “Time Warp” from The Rocky Horror Picture in an effort to “Rock-y the Vote”. It’s astounding… time is fleeting… and the 2020 election is here. Time to ROCK-Y THE VOTE!...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post Tenacious D Does Incredible Cover of ‘Time Warp’ from ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ to ‘ROCK-Y the Vote’ first appeared on Laughing Squid.

Maymo the Lemon Beagle and his little sister Penny wanted to vote early, so Maymo packed her up in a shopping cart and pushed around and about the town. The pair stopped in at several locations along the way, making their presence clearly known. When they finally reached their destination,...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post Maymo the Beagle Takes Sister Penny on a Shopping Cart Adventure Around Town on Their Way to Vote first appeared on Laughing Squid.

To celebrate the arrival of autumn, as they every year, the big animals of the Oregon Zoo (previously) enjoy the yummy treat of specially grown pumpkins. The resident elephants certainly were no exception. The giant pachyderms were invited to squash the living daylights out of 1,200 pounds of orange gourds...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post The Elephants at the Oregon Zoo Happily Squash 1,200 Pounds of Pumpkin to Celebrate the Arrival of Autumn first appeared on Laughing Squid.

Mental Floss host Erin McCarthy explains the origins of 22 different cryptozoological animals from folklore, rumor and hearsay. These anecdotal animals are known as cryptids. Among the various cryptids that McCarthy analyzes are the Loch Ness Monster, the Olgoï-Khorkhoï (Mongolian Death Worm), Am Fear Liath Mòr (The Big Gray), The...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post The Origins of 22 Anecdotal Cryptozoological Animals first appeared on Laughing Squid.

In a briny episode of the KQED series Deep Look, narrator Laura Klivans explains how starfish are able to function without a brain. Instead, starfish have thousands of ampulae that are connected to tubefeet. These thousands of tubefeet allow the starfish to sniff out and capture prey. They also allow...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post How Thousands of Independent Feet Work Together to Allow a Starfish to Uniquely Gallop Towards Its Prey first appeared on Laughing Squid.

Joshua Rudder of the animated language series NativLang explains how different cultures and different languages interpret time. Because time is a human construct, there is no one right way to tell it. It can vary according to geography, tradition, and circumstances. Those who live near the equator use the reliability...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post How Different Cultures and Languages Tell Time first appeared on Laughing Squid.

A shopkeeper in Japan installed glass panels into the ceiling of their store so that the resident bodega cats can have an overhead view of the customers from a safe distance. (translated) When a friend modified the ceiling of the store for a cat, it was monitored. ???????????????????????????????? pic.twitter.com/rrHZjb9TkE —...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post Japanese Store Installs Glass Panels In Ceiling For Resident Cats to Safely Watch From Above first appeared on Laughing Squid.

“The Map” is a short documentary by filmmaker Gary Hustwit (previously) that takes a fascinating look into the newly launched, technologically forward New York City Live Subway Map. Filmmaker Gary Hustwit documents the process as digital agency Work & Co creates a new “live map” — one that updates in...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post A Fascinating Documentary Short That Takes an Inside Look Into the Newly Redesigned NYC Live Subway Map first appeared on Laughing Squid.

While a Lidl discount grocery store in Dublin, Ireland was being built, archaeologists discovered the remains of an 11th century medieval home that once stood in its place. Instead of razing the lot, the store decided to preserve the remains and share this wonderful discovery with its customers. The archeologists...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post Dublin Grocery Store Installs Glass Floor So Customers Can View an 11th Century Home Located Underneath first appeared on Laughing Squid.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by @brindabella_the_wombat on Oct 25, 2020 at 9:20pm PDT An adorably wobbly rescued baby wombat named Uschi (Ursulah) tentatively explored the living room couch that she shares with a generous human from ACT Wildlife in Canberra, Australia. The little marsupial had never...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post A Wobbly Rescued Baby Wombat Tentatively Explores the Living Room Couch in Her New Home first appeared on Laughing Squid.

Video editor Adam Maciaszek has impressively remastered the iconic Silly Symphony animation entitled “The Skeleton Dance” from Walt Disney Studios into a 4K high definition version of the 1929 original. Maciaszek also used artificial intelligence to smooth out the choppiness and refine the resolution. He also suggests watching the remastered...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post An Amazing High Definition AI Remaster of the Iconic 1929 ‘Silly Symphony’ Animation ‘The Skeleton Dance’ first appeared on Laughing Squid.

Artist Jason Beck quite remarkably created “The Muppet Maniac Series 1”, images the normally adorably goofy Muppets that were seamlessly transformed into the monstrous characters from classic horror films. This hilariously irreverent series is something that Beck said that this kind of work is right up his alley. I really...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post Artist Transforms Adorably Innocent Muppets Into Monstrous Characters From Classic Horror Films first appeared on Laughing Squid.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by OTOTO Design (@ototodesign) on Oct 4, 2020 at 5:15am PDT Vino by OTOTO Design (previously) is a very clever combined corkscrew and bottle opener that sits atop the bottle neck like an adorably big-eared bat with wings that flap as the...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post Bat Corkscrew Flaps Wings as Bottle is Uncorked first appeared on Laughing Squid.

Thomas Price of TrainDozer who quite humorously remixed footage to create an opening sequence to a sitcom that featured Lieutenant Commander Data in the title role. Price was so encouraged by the reception to his project, that he again remixed and recontextualized stock and blooper footage from Star Trek: The...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ as a 1990s Sitcom About Lt. Commander Data’s Antics on the Enterprise first appeared on Laughing Squid.

Keycap artisan Tiny of Tiny Makes Things very cleverly replaced all of the keys on her computer keyboard with a variety of really detailed, handmade clay food icons. Tiny matched the first letter of the food item to the letter of the standard key that was replaced. She calls this...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post Keyboard With Food Themed Keycaps For Each Letter first appeared on Laughing Squid.

“Kill Your Idioms” by Los Angeles filmmaker Grant Kolton is a wonderfully forthright animation that visually explores the literal denotations of colloquialisms to show how their figurative, connotative usage within the common vocabulary doesn’t always succeed. Literal and figurative worlds collide but only one can survive… Do your idioms live...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post The Literal Interpretation of Common English Language Expressions Visualized in a Forthright Animation first appeared on Laughing Squid.

Doc Pop, an artist, musician, performer and good friend of Laughing Squid has put a unique twist on the classic game of chess by making a One Dimensional version of the game. The PDF printable board (and pieces if necessary) offers newcomers to the game a good introduction and a...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post A Printable One-Dimensional Chess Game By Doc Pop first appeared on Laughing Squid.

Charlie Todd and the NYC comedy collective Improv Everywhere, (previously) who in the past turned abandoned phone kiosks in Manhattan into private outdoor workspaces, worked with Tideland Institute to create “New York’s Most Socially Distanced Office”. This ingenious floating desk, which was equipped with all the proper office acoutrements including...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post Improv Everywhere Turns a Raft in the Middle of The East River Into ‘NYC’s Most Socially Distanced Office’ first appeared on Laughing Squid.

In the spooky spirit of Halloween, sculptor Steven Richter (previously) of Tom Spina Designs created a rather sinister looking Freddy Krueger from Nightmare on Elm Street out of a manipulated faux skeleton and melted crayons. When he was was finished, Richter set a blowtorch to his entire creation for an...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post Spooky Freddy Krueger From ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ Made of Crayons That Satisfyingly Melts Under Heat first appeared on Laughing Squid.

Peter Mitchell of Sound Adventurer created a very helpful tutorial that explains how to play the kalimba, a handheld instrument that is often referred to as a finger piano. Mitchell explains the different keys the instruments come in and how to tune the instrument. He also demonstrates how the instrument...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post A Helpful Tutorial That Shows How to Play the Kalimba first appeared on Laughing Squid.

Author and artist DB Burkeman and designer Rich Browd have created The Sm;)e Book, a wonderful celebratory history of the iconic “smiley face” in all its interpretations, iterations, and designs by artists from all different genres. The book also looks at how the symbol became so universal and how it...Follow Laughing Squid on Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe by Email.The post The Sm;)e Book, A Celebratory Look at How the Iconic Smiley Face Has Impacted Global Popular Culture first appeared on Laughing Squid.