Endless Parade of Excellence |
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A blog by Rob Cruickshank.
Go to robcruickshank.net for links and contact info.
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Saturday, December 30, 2006
Friday, December 29, 2006
I get a lot of search engine hits from people looking for the Landmaster. If any of you live near San Francisco, you can go see it. Labels: vehicles Thursday, December 28, 2006
Codex Seraphinianus as a Flickr set. My sister brought a copy of this now impossible-to-find book home from the library once, and I think it did permanent brain damage. This film reminds me a lot of it. (via grow-a-brain) Labels: art Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Google's patent search is the latest black hole of free time. Here's Seton Rochwite's patent for the Stereo Realist camera. Labels: geek Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Friday, December 15, 2006
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Thursday, December 07, 2006
The folks at CocaCola and Mentos, no doubt tracing the source of the spike in sales, have given the mad scientists at eepybird more supplies. Yay capitalism! Yay science! (via Grow-a-Brain) It's that time of year again. The Lindsay brothers are adding 60,000 LEDs to the mix this year. That's right, adding. If you see Niagara falls slow to a trickle, it means they thrown the switch. Check out the "making of" video. Wednesday, December 06, 2006
This blog just turned 4. That's like 80 years old in blog years. Thanks for reading, and sending me crap, all of you. Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Japanese Surf Versions of Classical Themes. These would be great soundtracks for surf-style skateboard movies. Saturday, November 18, 2006
Friday, November 17, 2006
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Bolex Collector. (via coudal partners) If anyone has a fan for one of these lying around, let me know. The weird thing is that I used to have glasses just like the guy on that page has. Edinburgh Time Gun Map (via kottke.org) This is the problem that the time ball solves. If you've ever watched New Year's Eve at Times Square, and wondered, "hey what's up with the ball, anyway?", that's what. Tuesday, November 14, 2006
"Construction of the Pinetree Line commenced as a joint Canadian (RCAF) and American (USAF) project in the early 50's. These radar stations were constructed and strategically located to counter the Soviet air threat against North America, and initially, they were fully manual early warning or aircraft control and warning (AC&W) systems which were established into geographical sectors." The Pinetree Line Home Page. The slideshow is not to be missed. (via Jannx's photostream on Flickr.) SparkMuseum: Vintage radio and scientific apparatus. (via MeFi) And via the Mefi comment thread, The Cathode Ray Tube Site. Monday, November 13, 2006
Unlike most girls her age, instead of playing with dolls, Lily dresses up and plays with lizards. With her uncanny ability to “relax” and “hypnotize” them, Lily began dressing the lizards in costumes and creating whimsical scenes. (Thanks, Michael!) Sunday, November 12, 2006
I went to see Thicket 1: the Voyage, by Sally McKay and Von Bark on the weekend, and it reminded me that I've been meaning to post another great "cats piloting spaceships" work: It Did It, by Peter Brinson. It's one of my favorite short films. (embedded quicktime, long download, worth it) Friday, November 10, 2006
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
I don't think I will ever be able to suppress a smirk when the topic of Euler's Identity comes up, thanks to this. Monday, November 06, 2006
Sleepy Kitty! Sleepy Kitty! Sleepy Kitty! Sleepy Kitty! (All youtube, all sleepy kitties.) Ron and Corinne, you've got me staring down a bottomless well of sleepy kitty videos. And I was going to get things done! Monday, October 30, 2006
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Saturday, October 28, 2006
YouTube is slowly starting to pull copyrighted stuff. I hope it takes them a while to yank all the Fall videos. Friday, October 27, 2006
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Mike Jittlov's The Collector on Youtube. (you can go get a coffee while the Micheal Landon intro runs, hang in there) Despite being a card-carrying stop-action geek,I'd never actually seen this film before. Also ran across Mike Jittlov's own web page. And, of course wikipedia. Sunday, October 15, 2006
Small but interesting gallery of pet food labels. Might not want to feed them too much of this, by the looks of it. (Via Exclamation Mark) Thursday, October 12, 2006
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Friday, September 29, 2006
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Komaneko- A little stuffed cat who wants to be Jan Svankmajer. My new favorite thing! (via Coudal partners) Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Not too many kids' activity pages on the web have pictures of kittens playing with yarn, and brains being dissected. This one does. (via MeFi) Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
A live audio stream from a modular synth. (Via Matrix Synth) By the way, the Matrix Synth link on the sidebar was broken for a while and I didn't notice. It's fixed now. Monday, September 18, 2006
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Friday, September 15, 2006
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Why not milk pigs? (Thanks, Kat!) Update: I'd like this in a pig version, please. (youtube and earworm advisories in effect) Friday, September 08, 2006
Warren Bolster has died. Back in the day, we didn't have skateboard videos. Heck, the VCR hadn't even been invented yet*. But we had Skateboard Magazine, and we hoped one day to actually see a giant irrigation pipe, or an empty swimming pool. Didn't really know it at the time, but most of the pictures that got us so stoked were taken by one guy. You can see a PDF excerpt of the recent, long-overdue book of his work here. *OK, not completely true. Thursday, September 07, 2006
Office Supply Ninja Stars, to not throw around the office. We made a larger version once, by putting a nut and bolt through the holes in the ends of three Olfa blades. It was painful to even look at, but threw well. Also those little pointy x-acto blades make nice tips for paper airplanes. We had one we called the Sammy Davis Jr. Special. (Thanks, Michael!) Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Army Worm Wine Wine. Made from caterpillars. From the state that brought you Husker Du, Prince, and Peanuts. (via Athanasius Kircher Society) Saturday, September 02, 2006
Somewhere out there, someone is drawing hot anime chicks, and getting a stream of my weird googly-eyed fish in return. (via b3ta) Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
It amazes me how gaudy and just plain ugly most quarter-milion dollar watches are. However, I have to admit to being completely mesmerized by this. (An article about it here) Hurry up, China, and make a cheap knock-off! Sunday, August 27, 2006
Saturday, August 26, 2006
"Little hand painted people, left in London to fend for themselves. They'll do ok, the cheeky little fuckers." (via The Cartoonist) Friday, August 25, 2006
Hey kids, do you know what time it is? An interesting article about another time hobbyist's collection here.(PDF) If your pockets aren't deep enough to pick up a Riefler at Sotheby's, well, you're just going to have to make your own. Thursday, August 24, 2006
Coop calls this clip the single best thing ever uploaded to YouTube. It's got a midget, a piglet, gunfire, the guy who wrote Mambo Number 5, and a hand grenade. He could be right. Prepare to spend the rest of the day looking up other Spike Jones clips too. "When the controllers are drawn from the holsters of the dress, if not before, everyone understands the invitation to play Pong in its arguably most erotic variant." (Via WMMNA) Monday, August 21, 2006
The little darlings would start spinning the thing at 5 AM. Otherwise I'd build this tomorrow. God knows they need it. Saturday, August 19, 2006
Friday, August 18, 2006
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Wondering where you can get a big bug in a can? Problem solved. I like how "weird food" and "canned insects" are separate categories. (Thanks Michael!) Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Jennifer Sharpe has just put up a set on Flickr of Coyle and Sharpe photos and ephemera, and released a CD/DVD set. This stuff is sheer genius, and I laugh myself sick every time I hear it. Sunday, July 30, 2006
The internet is not a "a series of tubes". Capsule Pipelines are a series of tubes. Update: Don't miss these amazing pictures of a system in Prague. Saturday, July 29, 2006
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Calder's Circus, part one. Two. Three. Four. Essential viewing for fans of the Sideways Circus. Which is up until July (9th, so if you haven't seen it, you'd better hurry up.) (via MeFi) Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Friday, June 23, 2006
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Friday, June 16, 2006
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Sunday, June 11, 2006
That adorable little towel elephant that they left in your room? Is it possible that his trunk has been in your housekeeper's mouth? And here I was thinking that would be just the thing for drying out the ears after a swim. Saturday, June 10, 2006
Sexed Robots. NSFW if you are a robot. (via Sharpeworld) (You can read a brief description of an earlier exploration of this idea, Them Fucking Robots, by Laura Kikauka and Norman White, here.) Don't be fooled by the chocolates. Disney Cruise Towel Animals are really just towel rabbits in disguise. (via Grow a Brain) Watch world cup soccer via telnet. (you can telnet directly to ascii-wm.net 2006) (via Eyebeam Reblog) Thursday, June 08, 2006
Imagine going to the grocery store only once every 6 months. Imagine paying less than a dollar per meal. Imagine never washing dishes, chopping vegetables or setting the table ever again. It sounds pretty good, doesn't it? (via BoingBoing) Sunday, June 04, 2006
As I headed to the subway today, I saw this on the front page of a newspaper. This is what I was carrying. Discuss. Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Customers who bought this product also purchased Pheidologeton diversus, Pheidole pallidula, Polyrhachis dives, Camponotus ligniperda, Rhytidoponera metallica, and Tetramorium impurum. (via Grow a Brain). Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Monkey Automata: One,two, three. (Thanks, Veronica, for the first, others via Jalopy Junktown) Oh, this too. My generation had the coolest toys. I still have my SSPs! I think the T-sticks are all wrecked though, that was the weak link in the chain. (via boing boing) Thursday, May 18, 2006
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Grant, knowing the sorts of things I like, sends a video of a wheel standing schoolbus. Now, every toluene-sniffing kid in the 70s either had this, or wanted it, but I had no idea anyone had ever built one for real. That would be crazy. Ah, unless it was "only" 20 feet long, with a fiberglass and aluminum body. Still impressive, but at least possible without alien technology. Update: It's coming to Toronto June 24! Saturday, May 13, 2006
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Thanks, everyone who came out! Boy, did I sleep well last night. Keep an eye on my Flickr stream in the next little while. Saturday, May 06, 2006
Friday, May 05, 2006
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Monday, May 01, 2006
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Saturday, April 29, 2006
ka-bala. I actually remember this, but until now I had somehow mixed up the memory of it with that of Green Ghost. What the hell do I know? I was afraid of the dark. And that eye kinda freaked me out. Monday, April 24, 2006
In the spirit of the Tiger manual , and the Norden bombsight manual comes PS magazine Online, a preventative maintenance magazine in comic form from the US army. (PDF files.) Dumb humour, anthropomorphic weapons of mass destruction, and hot nerdy cartoon chicks. Who could ask for more? It's like a Howttoons for grownups who kill people. (Thanks, Dan!) Saturday, April 22, 2006
"I hope this is useful to you. I am a good general pathologist with an interest in forensics. My primary focus is pathology education, and I am also a hobby computer programmer." Dr. Ed's Time of Death Applet. Sunday, April 16, 2006
It's true. You just can't have any fun any more. Despite being an expert in hazardous pastimes, i'd never heard of of Turbonique before. Holy crap. (via Positive Ape Index) Saturday, April 15, 2006
They're not kidding when they say "This is not your average rotary mulcher." It's like a weed whacker. For whole trees. Show this movie to a hippy and watch them cry. (via Things Magazine) Friday, April 14, 2006
Bamboo Bicycle. I think pretty much anything can be made out of bamboo. Even towels. I have some, and they're insanely soft. Sunday, April 09, 2006
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Friday, March 31, 2006
If the black and white talking cat didn't make you laugh, then the bat dog surely will. (Thanks, Ken!) Thursday, March 30, 2006
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Read the following carefully. If you click on a link that says "giant centipede eating a mouse" you will see exactly that. And in the spirit of fair warning, it must be must pointed out that: A) The giant centipede in question moves like greased lightning. B) The giant centipede grabs the mouse early enough in the clip, that if you do decide to watch it, you will have only a second or so to change your mind. You will probably be too late. C) Once you see something, you can't un-see it. D) Mice really do go "EEEE EEEE" when bad things happen to them. (via EyeBeam ReBlog) Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Darn. Nikki Sudden is dead. I was totally thrilled when Swell Maps' record were finally re-released. At least he lived long enough to see that. (Via MeFi) Sunday, March 26, 2006
Ron says there is some creepy stuff here, and he's right. Entomogenous Fungi Of Kyoto. If you are freaked out by photos of fungi parasitising insects, you'd better go here instead. Friday, March 24, 2006
This page is an electronic archive of images of people proving theorems while wearing sarongs. (via Grow A Brain) Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Astounding footage from a Russian tunnel, complete with wonderfully innapropriate soundtrack. I can't stop watching this; the song is hopelessly stuck in my head, and I will never again feel safe in an articulated bus. (Thanks, Dan!) Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Interesting unsecured webcam. Seems to be some kind of game parlour, and I see several small children runing around. Anyone have any clues about what we're looking at? Update: Ron tells me that these are automated Mah Jong tables. Sarah says that it looks like an old-folks home, but I just looked again, and them ain't old folks playing. Racetrack totalizer history. Reading this led me to to go googling for this. (One of the companies that financed the makers of ENIAC after they formed their own company was a manufacturer of these devices). Sunday, March 19, 2006
Friday, March 17, 2006
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Ivor Cutler has died. Lots of recordings here, including my favorite, Pussy on the Mat. (Real Audio, sorry) Monday, March 06, 2006
Yet another justification for having high-speed internet. This would have taken hours to download on dialup. (via Beware of the Blog) Sunday, March 05, 2006
Friday, March 03, 2006
Last time I saw Danielle Dax, she shoved me in the back hard enough to almost knock me over. True story. Thursday, March 02, 2006
The Compact Vacuum Cleaner is one of those pieces of gear that they got right on the first try. If you can find one, grab it. Monday, February 27, 2006
The manual for the German Tiger tank. A fundamental rule of technical documentation: If you can find a way to portray the subject of the manual as a naked chick, people will actually RTFM. (via Coudal Partners) Saturday, February 25, 2006
Friday, February 24, 2006
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Monday, February 20, 2006
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Great moments in e-commerce web site design: Who do you think is going to click the "add to my wishlist" button on this page? (oh ok, maybe a charity or something...) Thursday, February 16, 2006
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Garfield is one of those comics that I avert my eyes whenever I see it, to avoid being exposed to intense suckage. However, a strange thing happens if you remove all the thought balloons. (via coudal partners) Monday, February 13, 2006
I'll be conducting a Toy Hacking Workshop this Wednesday at YYZ Artists Outlet. See the Cheesebird and various Potentianimals. Also a roboticized Barbie, and a diorama that's sure to offend. You really don't want to miss it. Friday, February 10, 2006
Crabfu Steam. This is about as cool as it gets, as far as I'm concerned. It may spark a run on old Mamod engines. You can't have mine. No way. If anyone needs me, I'll be down in the workshop. (via Make:blog, among others) Wednesday, February 08, 2006
I'm sure i'm not the first person to think of using Flickr for a yawn game, but how long can you keep from yawning while looking at this? (inspired partly by this) Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Thank you, Minnesota, for Bob Dylan, Prince, Charles Schulz, Husker Du, and the Minnesota Association Of Rogue Taxidermists. And thank you M.A.R.T. for Beast Blender. "A head doesn't always have to be up front" Monday, February 06, 2006
Norman White on Mistakology. Would have loved to have been there- Norm is one of the wisest people I know. Sunday, February 05, 2006
Friday, February 03, 2006
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Watch out for Bathtub Cheese. I defy you to say "Large Haul of Bathtub Cheese" and "Arnold Schwarzenegger" with a straight face. (via Grow a Brain) Monday, January 30, 2006
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Saturday, January 28, 2006
People sometimes laugh at my Pong obsession. Especially the ones who can kick my ass at it. Pong is important, like the Gutenberg press is important. Now they're starting to get it. (Via WMMNA) Thursday, January 26, 2006
On Feb 15th, 2006, I'll be doing a Toy Hacking Workshop at YYZ in Toronto, as part of Art and Activism. See wonders like the potentianimals, and cheese bird! We'll learn how to hijack the buttons and motors in cheap toys to make kewl stuff. Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Friday, January 20, 2006
Harry Porter's Relay computer. Now that we have vacuum tubes, it's no longer neccesary to make computers out of relays, but it's still a lot of fun. (via MAKE: blog) Thursday, January 19, 2006
An Inexpensive Video Panorama System. Check out the video. Also, that page links to this, which is good for a whole afternoon. Wednesday, January 18, 2006
If you're in Montreal, check out Nicholas Stedman's show at Oboro. I never get sick of watching the blanket movie. Monday, January 16, 2006
A cat wearing a giant-squid baby hat, together with instuctions for knitting same. (via grow-a-brain) Saturday, January 14, 2006
Friday, January 13, 2006
"Disclaimer: Despite what bush-mad physicians may get up to on their private islands, CMAJ by no means endorses this particular application of the Super Soaker Max-Whatever. Do not try this at home." (thanks, Kat!) Thursday, January 12, 2006
"They are the only ones that are green from the inside out. Even their heart and internal organs are green, they say." (via /.) Sunday, January 08, 2006
Saturday, January 07, 2006
JustALittleGuy. Cute animals, and lots of swear words. Just the sort of thing we like around here. (thanks, Sally) Thursday, January 05, 2006
For those in Toronto, I'll be doing visuals at the Ambient Ping with Methuselah this Tuesday, the 10th. Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Draw something in the box, and Retrievr finds photos on Flickr that resemble what you drew. (via Kottke.org) Sunday, January 01, 2006
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