Laughing Squid

The British garden store Argos is selling a clever top-half only Christmas tree for those homes that have either cats or toddlers living within. The tree is six feet tall and sports branches only at the highest levels, discouraging adventurous felines and little humans from climbing and getting caught in the limbs of a traditional...The post A Clever Cat-Proof Top-Half Only Christmas Tree appeared first on Laughing Squid.

While promoting his long-awaited new book of the Song of Ice and Fire series entitled Fire and Blood, author George R. R. Martin offered up a helpful and cleverly animated guide to the best places for pizza in New York City. Martin states that he prefers coal-fired (via dragon) over wood-fired pizza, although he admits...The post George R. R. Martin’s Guide to New York City Pizza appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In the third video of her informative mini-series about American Jazz, video producer Estelle Caswell of the Vox series “Earworm” traces the history of smooth jazz. Caswell digs into its origins, the pioneering musicians who mashed together pop music with jazz, how this particular genre got its name, its skyrocketing popularity in the 1990s and...The post The Incredible Rise of Smooth Jazz in the 1990s appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In a timely episode of the Wired series [De]Constructed, New York City watchmaker Ryan Jewell deliberately takes apart two beautiful Carpenter timepieces – one with Swiss movement and the other Japanese – in order to show the inner workings of each. Today we’re gonna break apart these two watches made by Carpenter watches. The one...The post Watchmaker Takes Apart Two Timepieces to Show the Difference Between Swiss and Japanese Movements appeared first on Laughing Squid.

While Seinfeld has been off the air now for over 20 years, it’s still fun to look back at which celebrities appeared on the show before hitting it big in their own right. Such stars include Debra Messing, Kristin Davis, Courtney Cox, Patton Oswalt, Teri Hatcher, Michael Chiklis and the brilliant Bryan Cranston who hilariously...The post Celebrities Who Appeared on ‘Seinfeld’ as Minor Characters Before They Became Really Famous appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In an auricular video essay, filmmaker Patrick Sullivan explores how the Hanna-Barbera animation studio historically kept their animation very simple and instead emphasized aural components such dialogue, music and sound effects to illustrate the story. Per legendary cartoonist Chuck Jones, they were creating “illustrated radio”. The difference between what we did at Warner Bros. and...The post How Hannah-Barbera Utilized Simple Animation to Emphasize the Dialogue, Music and Sound Effects appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Woodworker Keith Williams shared a remarkable timelapse showing how he transforms flat plywood boards into gorgeous geodesic spheres of different sizes. The large sphere is made of 180 triangles which are made into 12 pentagons and 20 hexagons, while the smaller sphere that rolls by at the end is made up of 60 triangles that...The post Timelapse Showing the Intricate Process of Turning Plywood Boards Into Gorgeous Geodesic Spheres appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In the brilliant 3D CGI animated short entitled “Grow”, the elderly keeper of the last plant on earth braves a brutal storm rolling through the desert wasteland in order to rescue his leafy charge from danger. Not only does he rescue the plant, but he also helps the tiny plant grow into a mighty tree....The post The Keeper of the Last Plant on Earth Braves a Brutal Desert Wasteland Storm to Rescue His Leafy Charge appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In 2016, we wrote about Brian Kane who cleverly hacked a Big Mouth Billy Bass robotic singing fish with an Amazon Echo so that it answered as Alexa. Kane’s idea was so good that Amazon decided to make an official version of the voice activated singing fish. Billy lip syncs with Alexa as she responds...The post An Official Alexa Enabled Big Mouth Billy Bass Singing Fish That Was Inspired by a Clever 2016 Hack appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Expert drone operator Steele Davis and his team at Ethix Ltd. capture amazing, adrenaline fueled FPV (First Person View) footage of high speed rally cars drifting around race tracks at numerous official events across the United States and around the world. via Jalopnik Related Laughing Squid PostsPOV Footage of a High-Speed Racing Drone Chasing After...The post Amazing Adrenaline Fueled FPV Footage From Chase Drones Filming Rally Cars Drifting Around Race Tracks appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Remote control hobbyist Ran D. St. Clair quite ingeniously created the Flex-Plane X-9, a line of nine RC planes attached wingtip-to-wingtip, and successfully set it aloft in the skies above Baylands Park in Sunnyvale, California with a little help from his friends. The line of conjoined airplanes soared smoothly as a single unit, although the...The post Nine Conjoined Remote Controlled Planes Fly as One appeared first on Laughing Squid.

The Laugh-Out-Loud Cats in One More for the Road is the the fourth book of the series by cartoonist Adam Koford. Like his other books, this most recent installment features single panel comics documenting the adventures of a pair of wisecracking hobo cats 11 years after their 2007 debut. Eleven years on the road have...The post The Laugh-Out-Loud Cats Return For New Adventures in Adam Koford’s New Book ‘One More For the Road’ appeared first on Laughing Squid.

While demonstrating the formidable capabilities of the Crew Interactive Mobile CompanioN (aka CIMON) aboard the International Space Station (ISS), the wonderfully prolific and communicative ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst asked the smiling, 3D printed, voice activated assistant to play his favorite song. CIMON responded with “The Man Machine” by Kraftwerk. Cimon weighs around 5kg and has a...The post CIMON the 3D Printed Voice Activated Assistant Aboard the ISS Plays Kraftwerk for Astronaut Alexander Gerst appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Holiday shoppers in Moscow were taken by surprise at the sight of a diminutive owl who skillfully balanced and operated a Segway MiniPRO. The little strigiform rode back and forth across the busy city plaza, adorably leaning in towards the sound of her trainer’s voice. Related Laughing Squid Posts10 MPH, Driving Across the US on...The post Tiny Owl Rides a Segway Across a Moscow City Plaza appeared first on Laughing Squid.

The talented Six-String Soldiers of the United States Army Field Band performed a beautiful 3 piece acoustic guitar and banjo cover of the classic Pink Floyd song “Wish You Were Here” with the last verse of “Time” seamlessly tacked onto the end. Six-String Soldiers perform an acoustic cover of Wish You Were Here live on...The post Six-String Soldiers of the U.S. Army Field Band Play a Beautiful Cover of Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish You Were Here’ appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Russian filmmaker and graphic artist Vladimir Tomin has created “Sketches”, a montage of different very entertaining video clips that show the real world interacting with graphics and computer commands with some wonderfully absurd results. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Vladimir Tomin (@tomin.works) on Sep 20, 2018 at 9:16pm PDT View this...The post A Montage of Computer Graphics Interacting With the Real World With Wonderfully Absurd Results appeared first on Laughing Squid.

David Neevel who has built some incredibly efficient, if not weirdly ingenious machines to assist him at work, has brilliantly combined voice control technology with automation. In doing so, he created the ultimate office assistant that turns on lights, pops candy and ibuprofen into Neevel’s mouth, tosses a beer and opens/shuts the door, all with...The post An Automated Voice Controlled Office Assistant That Turns On Lights, Tosses Beers and Opens Doors appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In 2014, we wrote about artist Don Moyer and his Calamityware, a creative line of porcelain dinner plates with traditional blue-on-white designs that are augmented with flying monkeys, sea monsters and other calamities. In time for holidays, Moyer has created porcelain ornaments that sport the same wonderfully calamitous patterns in the same signature dinnerware blue-on-white....The post Mini Porcelain Dinner Plate Christmas Ornaments With Traditional Designs Enhanced With Random Calamities appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In a technological episode of The Nerdwriter, video blogger and web producer Evan Puschak posits a valid question – “Why Are There So Few Smartphones In Popular Movies?“. He then puts a finer point on his question by tabulating how many characters in the highest grossing films of 2018 used a smartphone and how they...The post A Fascinating Tabulation of the Lack of Smartphone Usage Depicted in the Highest Grossing Movies of 2018 appeared first on Laughing Squid.

3GI, the hosts of the annual “Shrekfest”, asked their attendees to recreate scenes from Shrek in their own unique way. They received clips from over 200 people which were then edited together as Shrek Retold. We got over 200 people to remake Shrek. This is it. for those asking for the songhttps://t.co/Kl1LcCRvar — 3GI ?...The post 200 People Recreate ‘Shrek’ Scene-by-Scene appeared first on Laughing Squid.

“The Watchmaker” is a beautiful, award-winning short documentary by filmmaker Marie-Cécile Embleton about a solitary Iranian-British man named Faramarz, who finds personal peace in the calm order of his craft while a chaotic world goes on around him. Embleton had just moved to London when she came upon Faramarz’s shop in the eastern part of...The post A Beautiful Film About a Solitary Watchmaker Who Finds Order in a Chaotic World by Repairing Timepieces appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In 2017, a pair of very playful red foxes gleefully romped around a backyard in the West Midlands town of Wolverhampton, England while copious amounts of snow down from the sky. The adorable vulpines spent most of their time weaving in and out of a chainlink fence, where they playfully fought with each other and...The post Two Playful Foxes Gleefully Romp Around a West Midlands, England Backyard During a Snowstorm appeared first on Laughing Squid.

The smiling host of Beat the Bush shares how to neatly wrap a gift without tape. Instead he demonstrates how to employ clever folding techniques to securely the wrapping paper together. via reddit Related Laughing Squid PostsStep by Step Instructions Showing How to Neatly Wrap Your Cat for ChristmasHow To Gift Wrap A Cat For...The post How to Neatly Wrap a Gift Without Using Any Tape appeared first on Laughing Squid.

The SmartNudge is a very cleverly designed sensor that attaches to the top of a toilet seat and automatically nudges it closed with a jutting mechanical arm after 90 seconds. This gadget was developed by brothers Michael (in New York) and Petr (in Prague), who both saw a specific niche that needed to be filled...The post A Cleverly Designed Attachable Sensor Device That Automatically Closes a Toilet Seat After 90 Seconds appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In a menologic episode of Dan Lewis‘ new video series Now I Know, host Matt Silverman explains why in 1712, Sweden added an additional day at the end of February. The reason for doing so had to do with the country’s effort to complete their transformation from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, albeit...The post Why Sweden Added February 30th to Their Calendar For One Year to Transition to the Gregorian Calendar appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Colin Furze, the wonderfully creative extreme gadget inventor, created an incredibly heavy duty shredder with double motors that can pulverize just about anything Furze puts through its fierce jaws and mechanized teeth. Mk2 letterbox shredder has power so watch those fingers Mr Postman Furze added a little humor to this invention by mounting it behind...The post A Heavy Duty Mailbox Mounted Shredder That Pulverizes Junk Mail With Its Mechanized Teeth appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Artist April Soetarman has been anonymously decorating the fences of Seattle and around the country with modified street signs that display thoughtful messages of random kindness. Now she is raising funds through Kickstarter in order to reproduce these signs so that others can enjoy this positivity in their home towns. I’ve been anonymously installing these...The post Modified Street Signs That Display Unexpected Thoughtful Messages of Random Kindness appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Just in time for the holidays, ThinkGeek is offering an amusingly sober Rick and Morty Christmas ornament in the distinct cylindrical shape of the salty “Pickle Rick”. Sporting a lovely shade of cucumber green, the ornament coordinates beautifully with Christmas trees of any shade. Additionally, this version of Pickle Rick is guaranteed to remain in...The post ‘Rick and Morty’ Pickle Rick Christmas Tree Ornament appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In a helpful episode of Life Noggin, the animated narrator Blocko (voiced by Pat Graziosi) and pal Triangle Bob (voiced by Michael Reeves) discuss their personal experience with being bullied as a preface to explaining about the long term residual psychological damage that remains even after the bullying itself has ended. Targets of bullying often...The post The Long Term Residual Psychological Harm That Remains Even After the Bullying Itself Has Ended appeared first on Laughing Squid.

As part of their 40th anniversary celebration of the iconic Queen album News of the World in 2015, the band released Raw Sessions, unheard raw recording of the 1977 anthem “We Are the Champions”. The band also released previously unseen studio video, which included footage of the band rehearsing, recording and mixing the song. Also...The post An Inside Look at the 1977 Recording Session of the Iconic Queen Anthem ‘We Are the Champions’ appeared first on Laughing Squid.

“The World of UPA” by Andrew Saladino of the Royal Ocean Film Society, is a three part video essay that tells the history of United Productions of America, the legendary cartoon house known for their edgy, theatrical work. Comprised of former Disney animators, UPA essentially changed the course of animation by departing from the childish...The post The World of UPA, A Video Essay About the Legendary Animation Studio United Productions of America appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Artist and designer Jake Berman of Fifty Three Studio has created a really clever series of prints that diagram the plots of popular films, television shows and theater productions in the distinct minimalist style of the classic New York City subway map. I’m Jake, and I do map design as my hobby. I’ve always had...The post Popular Film, Television and Theater Plots Cleverly Diagrammed as Minimalist New York City Subway Maps appeared first on Laughing Squid.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Michelle Rial (@michellerial) on Nov 27, 2018 at 4:43pm PST Michelle Rial, who creates amusing charts, has drawn a wonderful Venn diagram featuring advice from The Beatles based on their song lyrics. Many of her charts, including this one, are available as prints. Related Laughing Squid...The post Advice From The Beatles Based on Their Song Lyrics appeared first on Laughing Squid.

While appearing on the Howard Stern Show on XM Radio, the legendary Ringo Starr bemusedly recalled the historic phone call from Brian Epstein, who asked him if he wanted to be the drummer for The Beatles. Surprisingly, Starr was a bit reticent at first, as he was touring with another band at the time. Eventually,...The post Ringo Starr Tells Howard Stern About the Time Brian Epstein Called to Ask If He’d Like to Join The Beatles appeared first on Laughing Squid.

While walking in the Docklands of East London, a sharp-eyed passerby captured footage of a lively fox cub zooming in and out of sidewalk bushes in a really adorable invitation to play. The little vulpine hilariously peeked a curious head out of the greenery before zig-zagging back and forth atop the leafy hedgeline. A fox...The post A Lively Fox Cub Zooms In and Out of Leafy London Sidewalk Hedge In an Adorable Invitation to Play appeared first on Laughing Squid.

As a follow up to the first half of their very insightful list of Breaking Bad characters rated in terms of overall wickedness, narrators Debra Minoff and Susannah McCullough of ScreenPrism move on to ranking the seven most evil characters, all of whom are extensions of Walter White in one way or another. Included in...The post The Seven Most Evil Characters of ‘Breaking Bad’ Ranked and Categorized in Terms of Their Deadliness appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Meg Cyprian and her husband of Warsaw, Poland create incredibly cute and very clever cotton socks that look like different flavors of pizza toppings such as pepperoni, vegetarian, capricciosa and Hawaiian. These yummy socks are served either by the slice (1 pair) or pie (4 pairs), then surrounded by a dough made up of beige...The post Clever Pizza Socks With a Variety of Toppings Packaged in Cardboard Pizza Delivery Boxes appeared first on Laughing Squid.

The Earth Puzzle by Nervous System is a wonderfully unique way of viewing the world in through very different eyes. The creators took a standard Mercator projection and transformed it into a flattened icosahedral projection, which shows a planet that has neither edges nor longitudinal direction points. This wooden puzzle can be put together in...The post A Wooden Borderless Infinity Puzzle of Earth With Pieces Shaped Like Animals From Around the World appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In an insightful video essay regarding the economy of storytelling, filmmaker Michael Tucker of Lessons from the Screenplay takes a look at the first ten pages of the script for the 2006 film The Devil Wears Prada and shows how it translated on-screen. He explains how these few pages were able to comprehensively set the...The post How First Ten Pages of ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ Script Comprehensively Sets Premise for the Entire Film appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Japanese artist Monde has created a beautiful series of wooden bookshelf inserts that are the size of a paperback book and depict realistic urban back street alley scenes, complete with pipes, plants, air-conditioning units, stairs and windows. They even have working lights that offer soft, warm hues when switched on. These intricate, handcrafted pieces fit...The post Handcrafted Wooden Bookshelf Inserts Depicting 3D Dioramic Urban Back Alley Scenes With Working Lights appeared first on Laughing Squid.

While out in his Sheffield, UK backyard one day, photographer Simon M. Dell came upon a little family of mice, George, Mildred and Mini, in his garden and decided to build a little house for them. This house was built in the confines of the log pile, keeping them safe from all sorts of threats...The post Thoughtful Photographer Builds Little Log Pile House for a Mouse Family to Help Keep Them Safe and Warm appeared first on Laughing Squid.

During the 21st Annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at The Kennedy Center in Washington DC, comediennes Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson of the series Broad City paid a hilarious tribute to honoree actress Julia Louis Dreyfus. Glazer and Jacobson briefly appeared onstage to introduce a video showing how hard they worked to get...The post Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson Honor Julia Louis-Dreyfus by Performing the Seinfeld ‘Elaine Dance’ appeared first on Laughing Squid.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by City of Kwinana (@cityofkwinana) on Aug 21, 2018 at 12:28am PDT The City of Kwinana, just outside of Perth, Western Australia, has reaped the reward of a very simple, yet highly effective solution of using trash nets that removed all sorts of debris from the city’s...The post Western Australia City Uses Highly Effective Trash Nets to Capture Debris Coming Through Drainage System appeared first on Laughing Squid.

The Latvian company Aerones has introduced their line of heavy duty tethered cleaning drones that wash the windows of high altitude skyscrapers in an efficient manner. These drones are powered with water and electricity that come from the ground, essentially eliminate the human safety risk of such heights and are easily adaptable to different building...The post Heavy Duty Tethered Cleaning Drones That Safely Wash Windows of High Altitude Skyscrapers appeared first on Laughing Squid.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by PerthNow (@perthnow) on Nov 27, 2018 at 9:07pm PST A rather reserved but towering Holstein Friesian named Knickers holds the unofficial record for tallest cow in Australia. Standing at 194cm (6’36”), The appropriately named Knickers stands watch over regular sized steer at a farm in Myalup,...The post Gigantic Cow Whose Immense 6’4″ Height and 3,000 Pound Weight Saved Him From the Slaughterhouse appeared first on Laughing Squid.

The kale forests are almost all gone… Related Laughing Squid PostsPop A Pill And Save Santa!Ambitious Journalist Attempts to Photograph 12,000 Endangered Animals Before They Become ExtinctA Humorous Look at the Typical Rituals and Habits of the Millennial GenerationThe post Stop Vegans, Before It’s Too Late appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In “Who Invented Metal”, music writer Polyphonic traces the somewhat nebulous origins of the constantly changing, ever evolving heavy metal music genre. He examines when the music got heavier, louder and lower in pitch to create what we now know as the signature sound of heavy metal. The sound was initially influenced by American blues...The post The Nebulous Origins of the Heavy Metal Music Genre appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of the release of their iconic song “Bohemian Rhapsody” in 2015, the surviving members of Queen re-released the 2002 documentary Inside the Rhapsody, which takes an in-depth look at the history of Freddie Mercury’s song. The video features interviews with guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and engineer Justin...The post The Surviving Members of Queen Reflect Upon the Genius of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ In Great Detail appeared first on Laughing Squid.

French glazier Alexis Brisacier of Entreprise Brisacier shared a video demonstrating the mechanism behind the VELUX CABRIO, a custom installed skylight that quickly and easily turns into a balcony in just a few steps. Once the balcony is closed, the window sits perfectly flush with the roof. The VELUX CABRIO balcony opens in seconds to...The post A Cleverly Designed Skylight That Turns Into a Balcony appeared first on Laughing Squid.