Laughing Squid

A short documentary by TJ Cooney focuses on AARP Purpose Prize winner Monica Kamal Spaeni, a remarkable woman who lost the use of her legs due to a spinal injury. Eleven years after her injury, a friend opened up a brand new world up to her when he introduced her to an off-road wheelchair, which...The post A Remarkable Woman Who Offers the Free Use of Off-Road Wheelchairs for Everyone to Explore the Outdoors appeared first on Laughing Squid.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lotus (@lotus_the_mainecoon) on Sep 2, 2018 at 11:33am PDT An absolutely gorgeous Maine coon cat named Lotus, who lives in Sweden with beloved humans and feline siblings, is quite a handful, quite literally. This very long, very furry cat takes up a lot of space, particularly...The post A Giant Maine Coon Cat With Big Beautiful Fuzzy Paws appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In 1957, the Cleveland Illuminating Company created a short film entitled “Power To Serve” in order to explain to the community how the electricity they provide makes living in Northeast Ohio better than anywhere else. The film also features different company employees at every level, who work to make life better and more convenient for...The post A 1957 Film About How The Illuminating Company Made Living in Cleveland Better Than Anywhere Else appeared first on Laughing Squid.

View this post on Instagram No haircut, no problems. #streetart #sidewalkchalk #environmentalart #anamorphosis #teen #puffyvest #weedhead A post shared by David Zinn (@davidzinn) on Oct 31, 2018 at 7:04pm PDT In 2014, we wrote about artist David Zinn and his wonderful menagerie of characters he draws on the streets of Ann Arbor, Michigan with chalk,...The post Adorable 3D Sidewalk Chalk Characters That Cleverly Incorporate Surface Cracks, Flaws and Interruptions appeared first on Laughing Squid.

The 2016 pseudo documentary “The Maker”, a short film by by Patrick Kehoe and Andy Corbett featured a man who was deeply passionate making toast. In the 2018 follow up to that film by Matt Sklar, the same man (Andy Corbett) expresses his amazement with the sudden popularity of toast and his role in being...The post A Man Questions His Purpose as an Artist Almost Three Years After Preparing Two Slices of Life Changing Toast appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In March 2013 and in January 2018, we wrote about Canadian photographer Don Komarechka and his incredible work capturing stunning macro photographs of individual snowflakes and of the patterns that form inside. Komarechka, who is the author of the book Sky Crystals: Unraveling the Mysteries of Snowflakes, also created in early 2018, “Winter’s Magic”, a...The post A Stunning Timelapse Capturing the Exact Moment When Soap Bubbles Begin to Completely Freeze Over appeared first on Laughing Squid.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Naomi Beckers & Storm (@haflinger_storm_naomi) on Dec 8, 2018 at 12:34pm PST An absolutely gorgeous nine-year old Haflinger horse named Storm lives in The Netherlands with her beloved human Naomi Beckers and sports a gorgeous mane of blonde curls that match those on Beckers’ head. Over...The post A Gorgeous Horse With a Long Mane of Blonde Curls That Match Those on Her Beloved Human’s Head appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Native Londoner Matt Brown of Londonist Ltd offers a really helpful, guided tour around the historic gates of London. As he reaches each gate, Brown explains the possible origins of the name of the gate, the approximate timeline regarding when it was built and what stands there in modern times. He also posits the question,...The post A Guided Tour Around the Historic Gates of London appeared first on Laughing Squid.

After a disarming false start, the wonderfully informative video blogger and web producer Evan Puschak aka The Nerdwriter digs deeply into the Emily Dickinson poem “Tell All the Truth But Tell It Slant“. Upon first glance the poem very eloquently speaks about the importance of truth, but further analysis reveals Ms. Dickinson’s very clever use...The post Analyzing the Cleverly Contradictory Wordplay in Emily Dickinson’s Poem ‘Tell All the Truth But Tell It Slant’ appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Australian pianist Josh Cohen performed a gorgeously haunting piano cover of the iconic Pink Floyd song “Comfortably Numb” with exquisite grace. Cohen captured this performance in black and white with an overhead camera focused only on his hands moving across the keyboard. This one literally took months to prepare. https://t.co/3EhVWoawCh — Josh Cohen (@joshcohenmusic) December...The post A Haunting Piano Cover of Pink Floyd’s ‘Comfortably Numb’ Captured in Dramatic Black and White Video appeared first on Laughing Squid.

“Coin Operated” by Nicholas Arioli is an award-winning bittersweet animated short about a little boy who wants to go to the moon. After discovering a nickel-operated spaceship in front of the local grocery, the little boy builds a lemonade stand to pay for future rides. Coin Operated is an award winning 5 minute short animation...The post A Boy Builds a Lemonade Stand to Fund Future Trips on a Spaceship in the Animated Short ‘Coin Operated’ appeared first on Laughing Squid.

While visiting the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand, Australian surf photographer Dylan Brayshaw flew his drone over the water and captured the remarkable sight of an Orca pod, consisting of a mother and two babies, coming up alongside a woman who was doggedly swimming against the tide. The playful whales repeatedly encircled the swimmer without...The post Drone Footage of Playful Pod of Orcas Swimming Alongside a Brave Woman at a New Zealand Beach appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Slovakian filmmaker Majo Chudý has captured in two different videos, the gorgeous sight of different flowers blooming in gorgeous timelapse photography. In “Flowers Blooming”, Chudý took 24000 photos over the course of six months. In “Flowers Blooming 2”, he took more than 40,000 photos over the course of nine months. [in “Flowers Blooming”] Orchid had...The post Gorgeous Timelapses of Flowers Quickly Blooming appeared first on Laughing Squid.

“Belly Flop” is an award-winning short film by Jeremy Collins and Kelly Dillon of Triggerfish Animation Studios that features an adorably persistent little girl in a striped bathing suit named Penny who fearlessly tries to teach herself to dive. Her inspiration is a snobbish, but talented blonde girl who effortlessly executes complicated dives at increasingly...The post A Persistent Little Girl Tries to Teach Herself to Dive by Copying a Snobbish But Talented Diver in ‘Belly Flop’ appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In a brief but informative clip from behind-the-scenes of the Coen Brothers Netflix film The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, score composer Carter Burwell explains how he stitched together the Oscar-nominated soundtrack of the film in order to create a unified sound amongst six very different stories. Sometimes the music plays the the hopes and dreams...The post Composer Who Scored Coen Brothers Film ‘The Ballad of Buster Scruggs’ Briefly Explains the Soundtrack appeared first on Laughing Squid.

I thought he was the greatest. Why was he left behind? The Leonardo DiCaprio documentary Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski, which is based upon the book of the same name, takes a deep dive into the masterful art, ideas and life of sculptor Stanislaw Szukalski. Szukalski grew up in Poland and moved...The post A Powerful Netflix Film About Stanislaw Szukalski, A Brilliant But Obscure Sculptor & Self-Proclaimed Genius appeared first on Laughing Squid.

The School of Life offers an insightful look at the way modern society perceives luck, particularly noting how luck is really the antithesis of individuality. Instead, many believe that they are in charge of making choices within their own lives and therefore responsible for both the consequences and the benefits of these decisions. Though some...The post How Modern Society Views the Concept of Luck appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In 2016 we posted about a beautiful series of color coded maps of the river basins around the world created by Hungarian cartographer Robert Szucs. Since that time Szucs has completed a river basin map of the entire world with the same gorgeously lush effect. …after years of data hunting, then weeks of processing and...The post A Beautiful Map Featuring Every River Basin in the World Highlighted In Bright Rainbow Colors appeared first on Laughing Squid.

This is a really grout pun… via reddit Related Laughing Squid PostsHow The West Was Pun, Solo Art Show by Hanksy at Gallery1988 in Los AngelesI Am FrootA Woman Bravely Demonstrates What Happens to Her During Narcolepsy and Cataplexy AttacksThe post I Am Grout appeared first on Laughing Squid.

A helpful eagle owl named Yolka politely waited at Nika Zubra‘s window to deliver a letter. The helpful strigidae was first a bit reluctant to let go of said bounty, but eventually handed it over without complaint. Perhaps it was an eagerly awaited acceptance letter to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. View this post...The post A Helpful Owl Politely Waits at the Window to Deliver a Letter to the Human Inside the House appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In a valorous episode of the incredibly insightful video series ScreenPrism, narrators Debra Minoff and Susannah McCullough talk about how the character of Captain America (Cap), as portrayed by Chris Evans, embodies the spirit of the country’s best self by sticking close to his unbending moral code. As the character evolves on film from an...The post How Captain America Embodies the Spirit of the United States’ Best Self Due to an Unbending Moral Code appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In the short animation “Lost and Found” by Australian filmmaker Goldy, a crocheted green dinosaur woke up from a good night’s sleep and blew a kiss to its longtime love, a crocheted fox who was tossing stones into the well. Unfortunately, a moving feature of the well knocked the fox fell off the edge and...The post A Determined Crocheted Dinosaur Unravels Himself to Save the Love of Its Life From Drowning in a Well appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Musician Marc Martel, whose voice is so highly reminiscent of the legendary Freddie Mercury that his vocals were featured as Mercury’s in the biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, performed absolutely incredible versions of the classic Queen songs “We Are the Champions” and “Bohemian Rhapsody” with just himself and his piano Back in 2011, Martel performed “Somebody to...The post Freddie Mercury Soundalike Marc Martel Performs an Amazing Cover of ‘We Are the Champions’ on Piano appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Video editor Louis Plamondon aka Sleepy Skunk has released his annual movie trailer mashup for the year 2018. This year’s mashup is incredibly seamless and quite mesmerizing at times, particularly due to the soundtrack. Some of the film trailers Plamondon used include Alpha, A Quiet Place, Hereditary, Mortal Engines, Avengers: Infinity War, Mandy, Beautiful Boy...The post A Mesmerizing Mashup of 2018 Movie Trailers appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In honor of the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 8 launch, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine shares the story of this historic mission, which took astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders “round the moon and back” during Christmas 1968 and for the very first time in history. This historic mission launched on December 21,...The post The Story of How Three Astronauts Aboard Apollo 8 Went ‘Round the Moon and Back’ on Christmas 1968 appeared first on Laughing Squid.

“David’s Voice” by Chad Carbone and Graham Hill, is a truly touching, thought provoking short film about David Worobec, a classically trained vocalist who, despite his remarkable talent, has trouble finding his place in the world. With the help of his dedicated mother, Worobec creates masterfully elaborate miniature stage performances with action figures specifically cast...The post Touching Film About a Talented But Anxious Man Who Creates Tiny Stage Performances With Action Figures appeared first on Laughing Squid.

The always traveling Tom Scott visited with Vanessa Fleisch, the proud mayor of Peachtree City, Georgia. Peachtree City is a planned community 20 minutes outside of Atlanta, that sports miles of small asphalt paths that are the perfect size for golf carts, the preferred method of transportation amongst the citizens. The mayor happily showed Scott...The post Atlanta Suburb With Miles of Asphalt Paths Encourages Use of Golf Carts as a Primary Means of Transportation appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In the third episode of Wired Masterminds, puzzle expert (cruciverbalist) and magician David Kwong explains and demonstrates the deliberate process that he uses in order to create challenging crossword puzzles for The New York Times on a regular basis. A crossword puzzle is a type of word puzzle where there’s always an across and down....The post The New York Times Puzzle Expert Demonstrates the Deliberate Process Behind Creating Crossword Puzzles appeared first on Laughing Squid.

On August 20, 1977, the NASA Voyager 2 Probe launched into space to study other planets. After passing through the orbits of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune over the past 41 years. On December 10, 2018, the spacecraft exited the protective heliosphere bubble and entered into the deep region of interstellar space, a feat performed...The post The NASA Voyager 2 Probe Exits the Heliosphere to Enter Interstellar Space 11 Billion Miles From Earth appeared first on Laughing Squid.

While making a delivery to the Chicago home of Amanda Atkins, an unsuspecting UPS driver named Oscar Luciano was happily dancing in place when a friendly squirrel popped out from the the side the porch and jumped onto his shoulder, then onto his back. The little sciuridae then popped up above the drivers head before...The post Friendly Squirrel Jumps Onto an Unsuspecting UPS Driver in the Doorway Who Was Delivering a Package appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Life is not fair…when you’re a dog. via reddit Related Laughing Squid PostsWoman Decorates Her Prosthetic Leg with Christmas Lights for the HolidaysA Happy Plate of Food Meets an Untimely EndCompassionate Woman Reads ‘Biscuit and the Pup’ Aloud to a Rescue Dog at the Pittsburgh Humane SocietyThe post Christmas Hypocrisy: Dog Edition appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Hey look, someone on TV is wearing a Santa hat, drink! via reddit Related Laughing Squid PostsCharlie the Venus Flytrap Dons a Santa Hat, Googly Eyes, and a Beard to Celebrate ChristmasHow the LOLcats Saved ChristmasSecret Santa Recipient Gets a ‘Gift Not Included’ for ChristmasThe post Christmas Drinking Game appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Gus Johnson sings a heart-wrenching song about why Christmas in Los Angeles sucks. Related Laughing Squid PostsSkeletor Sings a Sinister Remix of Mariah Carey’s Song ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’Bing Crosby Sings a Death Metal Version of the Classic Christmas Song ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’Krampusfest 2014, A Los Angeles Celebration of the Demonic...The post Christmas in Los Angeles Sucks appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In celebration of the 2018 holiday season, the very talented multi-instrumentalist Jeremy Hunter of Skatune Network performed a badass cover of the Vince Guaraldi Trio instrumental “Linus And Lucy” from classic animated television special A Charlie Brown Christmas based on comic strip Peanuts. You’re a rude boy, Charlie Brown! ??? https://t.co/hVy2Yz9EdJ pic.twitter.com/ozH400qXkX — Skatune Network...The post A Badass One Man Ska Cover of ‘Linus & Lucy’ appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Musician Davidlap who, like bassist Davie504 asks his fans to challenge him through social media and like Rob Scallon enjoys finding unusual ways to play his instruments, quite amusingly put on a pair of brightly colored toe socks and proceeded to play a nice blues jam with his hands on a guitar and a bass...The post Musician in Toe Socks Plays a Walking Bass Line With His Feet While Playing a Mean Guitar With His Hands appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In this plentiful season of “Bohemian Rhapsody” covers, musician Michael Charles Smith and three students from the Marimba Lab after school program at Riverdale Grade School in Portland, Oregon, performed a soft, soothing version of the classic Queen song on marimba. The gorgeous dulcet sounds of the instrument turned this iconic rock song about a...The post A Soothing Cover of the Queen Song ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Gently Played on a Four Person Marimba appeared first on Laughing Squid.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by OWL paperlamps (@owlpaperlamps) on Jun 28, 2017 at 4:09am PDT Owl Paperlamps, based out of Lisbon, Portugal, creates DIY lamp kits that employ the principles of origami and geometrically fold into adorable papercraft animals, such as a little barn owl, a colorful parrot or two, a...The post Lamp Kits That Fold Into Geometric Papercraft Animals appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Researchers Harpreet Sareen and Pattie Maes of the MIT Media Lab has created Elowan, an incredible cybernetic robot that is powered by bio-electrical signals generated by a simple photophilic house plant via metal electrodes that were placed into the soil in order to encourage dialogue between plant and machine. The results were self-evident as the...The post An Amazing Robot Powered by Electrical Signals Generated From a House Plant Reacting to Light appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Video editor Joseph Lindquist quite cleverly recut the Chantix commercial that features actor Ray Liotta talking about how he quit smoking and merged it with numerous scenes of Liotta playing Henry Hill in Goodfellas, an iconic mob film from 1990. The results are seamlessly hilarious. I cut Goodfellas into that Ray Liotta #Chantix Ad: https://t.co/0xgBqHkwoR...The post Ray Liotta’s Chantix Commercial Cleverly Recut With Numerous Scenes From His Role in ‘Goodfellas’ appeared first on Laughing Squid.

An Anatolian shepherd named Madison faithfully waited at the site of his former Paradise, California home for his human Andrea Gaylord to come back. Unfortunately for Madison, his home was at the epicenter of the horrific Camp Fire. Madison somehow survived the fire and bravely stayed there to protect the property while Gaylord searched in...The post Brave Dog Who Waited at Site of Home Burned During California Wildfire Reunites With His Beloved Humans appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Renowned film writers such as Bryan Woods and Scott Beck from A Quiet Place, Ashleigh Powell of The Nutcracker and The Four Realms, Micah Fitzerman Blue from You Are My Friend, Jac Schaeffer of Timer and Charlie Wachtell and David Rabinowitz of BLACKKKLANSMAN plus a few others, each shared with Variety their favorite movie line...The post Screenwriters Share Their Favorite Movie Lines appeared first on Laughing Squid.

On May 5, 2018, the NASA InSight Lander was launched into space with a highly sensitive seismometer onboard. Just a few days after making landfall on the surface of Mars, the seismometer picked up the beautiful sound of the blowing winds coming off of the Elysium Planitia, a broad plain that straddles the planet’s equator....The post The NASA InSight Lander Documents the Sound of Wind Upon the Surface of the Mars Elysium Planitia appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Jewish A Capella group six13, who previously musically celebrated the overlap of Thanksgiving with Chanukah in 2013, sang a festive a cappella adaptation of the iconic Queen song “Bohemian Rhapsody” in its entirety, substituting in Chanukah-themed lyrics in place ofThe post A Festive Chanukah-Themed A Cappella Adaptation of Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Performed In Its Entirety appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Peter Shukoff (Nice Peter) and Lloyd Ahlquist (EpicLLOYD) of Epic Rap Battles of History hilariously put on their best Silicon Valley tech-bro faces in a legendary faceoff between wunderkind Elon Musk and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (as he looked appearing before Congress). Each billionaire was able to zing the other right where it hurt, so...The post Elon Musk Challenges Mark Zuckerberg in a Silicon Valley Tech Billionaire Style Epic Rap Battle of History appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Gus Johnson, a comedian with a really goofy sense of humor, takes a hard look at the U.S. version of The Office using the same professional techniques employed by legendary script supervisors. In doing so, Johnson spots a number of errors that went previously unnoticed. These errors include cast looking directly into the camera, the...The post A Humorously Tough Scene Dissection of Various Episodes From the U.S. Version of ‘The Office’ appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of The Beatles’ legendary White Album, the fast talking musician 12Tone, who happily uses doodles to explain difficult concepts, shares exactly what makes the George Harrison song “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” so incredibly brilliant. He points out the descending bass line cliché in the intro, the initially passive...The post Comprehending the Musical and Lyrical Brilliance of the George Harrison Song ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Multimedia artist Daniel Gourski and DJ Jonas Appel have created “Docks”, a brilliant, highly rhythmic music sample made entirely from abandoned industry equipment. Gourski and Appel creatively banged, scraped and knocked at the waterside equipment with all sorts of objects, without causing any damage while recording this piece. Against our fast-moving world, in which media...The post A Brilliant Highly Rhythmic Music Sample Created From Abandoned Industrial Equipment on the Docks appeared first on Laughing Squid.

View this post on Instagram This week: a handy map of every city in #europe. #travel #maps #cartophilia A post shared by Itchy Feet Comic (@itchyfeetcomic) on Oct 7, 2018 at 8:00am PDT Illustrator Malachi Ray Rempen of the travel and language-themed comic Itchy Feet has hilariously plotted out a fair generalization of the typical...The post Hilarious Illustrations That Generalize the Typical Layout of Cities Across Europe and the United States appeared first on Laughing Squid.

A trio of musicians perform a uniquely beautiful cover of the internet’s favorite song aka “Africa” by Toto on a traditional Japanese koto, with a Tsugaru-shamisen and steel drum as accompaniment. The koto, which is the official instrument of Japan, has 13 strings that are plucked with 13 movable bridges that affect tone and timbre....The post A Uniquely Beautiful Cover of ‘Africa’ by Toto Performed on a Traditional Japanese Koto appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Part of the journey is the end. In the trailer for the upcoming Marvel Studios film Avengers: Endgame, an unarmed Tony Stark finds himself alone on Titan and calls Pepper Potts through his demolished suit in order to say goodbye. Down on the ground, the surviving superheroes, stunned by the sudden loss of so many...The post Avengers: Endgame, Tony Stark Says Goodbye While Surviving Superheroes Scramble to Save What’s Left appeared first on Laughing Squid.