1984 For The New Millennium?

This ad, purportedly by Barack Obama's team, may be one of the most memorable (and vicious) campaign ads in memory. I say may be because, unfortunately, there are two problems... First, it doesn't actually use the logo that Obama is using (the "O" in red, white and blue), but rather a vaguely Apple-ish looking "O" with a leaf on the top; and second, I can't find any information on it on the senator's '08 campaign website (which is barackobama.com, if you want to go looking for the ad there yourself).

Voice... err... Video Overload?

The obligatory link: Videos have Net bursting at the seams

Essentially, we have people saying that the 'net is going to explode due to the fact that we're all YouTube addicts, hogging the bandwidth. I'd link the Daily Show clip of "The Internet Is A Series Of Tubes" here for added levels of sarcasm, but that's been pulled due to copyrights (as expected). That's rather aside from the point, though.

Here's the meat:

Having monitored Internet growth for a decade, Odlyzko said he sees parallels now to earlier ploys from telecom executives. Nearly five years ago, when computer users started to hold voice conversations using Internet telephony, industry insiders fretted that bandwidth demands would exceed capacity, he said.

People have a bad habit of going broke underestimating the resilience and expansion of computing power over time. Until we actually see the internet browning out from overuse of linking YouTube videos, I'm not buying it. Until then, please follow this link and watch every video that's still up.

Some Humor To Brighten The Lunch Hour (or any other time of the day)

The following is a rather amusing video... more so if you are musically-inclined, but it's not a requirement. Anyway, it's a stand-up comic holding forth on why he "hate(s) Pachelbel's 'Canon in D' with a passion". Language warning applies, though he's certainly not as foul-mouthed as some comics I could name.

And yes, when you stop and think about it, they really are all named Johann... (Well, mostly.)

Tattooed Monks?

I actually saw this yesterday linked off of the Volkswagen Polo ad. It's the cute short story of a young boy who goes to a monastery to train. Anyway, with no further ado, here's your link.

Just Vicious

I'll be the first to admit, I have a wicked sense of humor. Well, apparently, so does whoever came up with this ad for the Volkswagen Polo. Note that I watched it without sound, so I can't say whether or not it contains non-worksafe language.

Found on Youtube, linked from Boortz under the title "German engineering versus Arab technology."

Cyril's Fish Tank Trick - A (Rough) Translation

Yesterday, on Constitutional Public Radio (listen here, 3pm-5pm Eastern), a link to a rather impressive magic trick was given. Normally, that would be the end of the story. However, this particular clip happened to be in Japanese... so, taking an interest in it, I translated it, at least so far as my current skills and ability to weed one voice out of another (that darned announcer keeps talking over the magician...).

This is very much in the nature of a quick and dirty translation. I certainly can't guarantee 100% accuracy, but I've tried to mark the points of speculation to make that clear. Hopefully, it's at least readable. A short guide to it: Text in parenthesis is translated from Japanese speech or text. Anything in parenthesis following a double dash (--) is a translator's note, which ends with a (- Trans.).

With that in mind, please enjoy.

Text: 八景島のシー　パラダイス　が　サプライズのステージ (Hakkeijima's Sea Paradise is the stage of the surprise.)

セロが務っかたのはアクア　ミュセアム海の生き物かも (Cyril's trick may have something to do with the creatures kept here.)

たくさんの海洋生物そしてかそく？？の似合うこの氏族かんべい　（カンベイ？） (The announcer is going on about the many creatures there. - Trans.)

Text: 前代未聞　空前絶後のサプライズが幕を開ける！！　(The announcer says the same thing. - Trans.)
Translation: Unprecedented First (and probably last!) unveiling of the trick!! (Kuuzenzetsugo is a noun meaning "so marvelous or horrible that it may be the first, and probably the last.)

Cyril: Hello. Konnichiwa. Bikkurishinaide kudasai. (Hello. Please don't be surprised.) Hello, hello.

Narrator: Okyaku-san wa atsumeru Cyril to iuma ni hito bakkari ga... (Cyril gathers up all the people in the area and...)

Text: 水族館にいるお客さんを集める (Gathering the people at the aquarium)

Narrator: 一体何を始めようというのか？ (Just what is about to happen?)

Text: 衆人環視の中　一体何を始めようというのか？ (In the midst of all these people, just what is about to happen?)

セロ：　これから僕の一番好きマジックをここで披露したいと思います。(I would like to display my favorite magic trick here.)

Text: 一番好きマジックを披露します (Displaying his favorite trick.)

セロ：　So, what's your name?

ゆこ：　Yuko.

セロ：　Yuko. Nice to meet you. Yuko, カード五十二枚あります。　一枚、どれでもいいです、選んで下さい。 (I have 52 cards here. Please, pick whichever of them you would like.)

セロ：　Which one? Which one? Three of clubs. みつばの三です。 (The three of clubs.)

Text: 「みつば（クローバー）の３」です (The three of clubs. (Lit: The three of clovers.))

セロ：　ゆこ、おねがいします、もって下さい。　名前を大きくかいって下さい。 (Yuko, please hold this, and write your name on it in large letters.)

Text: カードを一枚選び　名前を書かせる (One card is chosen, and she writes her name on it.)

Narrator: カードを一枚選ばせ、そして名前にかかせるセロ (She chooses one card, and writes her name on it as Sero requests.)

セロ：　Great! これを書いたこのによくてせいかいで一枚しかないゆこさんのカードになりました。　ゆこ、もって下さい。　ではそんなところでストップ(something)。 (Great! Now, this otherwise normal card has been turned into Yuko-san's card. Yuko, please hold it again. Tell me to stop moving the cards at any time. -- the last line is mostly a guess based on the action in the video. - Trans.)

ゆこ：　Stop.

セロ：　もういってください。 (Please put it there.)

セロ：　みなさん、ゆっくりお見ます。ゆこさんのカードです。まずは真中(something about shuffling the deck). (Everyone, please look closely. This is Yuko-san's card. First, I'm going to shuffle the deck.)

セロ：　Okay? これからちょっと面白い方法を使って、ゆこさんのカードを探したいと思います。 (Okay? Now, using a slightly amusing method, I'm going to search for Yuko-san's card. -- The text on-screen is the same. - Trans.)

セロ：　ゆこ、おねがいります、たのむちょっとカードをシャッフルとして下さい。 (Yuko, would you please shuffle the cards a bit?)

Text: セロが言うおもしろい方法とは？！　(What is Cyril's amazing method? -- The narrator says essentially the same thing. - Trans.)

セロ：　正確水族館にきてんので今日はこの水槽を使って、ゆこのカードをさがします。 (Now, starting in this aquarium, I'm going to use this fish tank to find Yuko's card.)

Text: 水槽を使って探します。 (Using the fish tank to search.)

セロ：　じゃ、みなさん、(Now, everyone... (drowned out by the narration.))

Narrator: 360度全方位？？水槽を使うセロ、このちゅうしんにちゅうもくさせる (Now Cyril, surrounded on all sides, will perform his trick with the fish tank.)

Text: 360度全方位に観客がいる状況 (The spectators are all around him.)

セロ：　You ready? いきます。 (Here I go.)　One. Two. Three!

セロ：　みなさん、一枚のカードはこの水槽のまなかにすいてしまいました。 (Everyone, one card is inside the fish tank.)

セロ：　ゆこさんのカードです。　(It's Yuko-san's card.)

セロ：　取ってめくって下さい。 (Please, try to remove it from the glass. -- Text says the same. - Trans.)

セロ：　取れない。 (You can't take it.)

セロ：　じつはきついただけではなく、じつは水槽の中に入っています。　(In truth, it isn't stuck to the outside of the tank. It's actually IN the tank.)

Text: 水槽の中に（カードが）入っています (The card is in the tank.)

Narrator: セロが飛ばしたカードは水槽の中に入ってしまった。(One of the cards that Cyril sent flying actually entered the tank! -- Text says the same. - Trans.)

セロ：　Yuko-san, may I have your hand? ここをついてきて下さい。　みなさんがよかったらうしろの方にもって、　このカードを見て下さい。(Please follow me this way. Everyone, if you would, please come to the other side of the tank and look at the card.)

Narrator: 本当に彼女が選んだカードなのだろうか？ (Is it really the card that she chose?)

ゆこ：　すご～い　(Wow!)

セロ：　ゆこさんのカードです。 (It's Yuko-san's card.)

Narrator: 彼女が選んだカードはクロバーの三。　そしてセロが選んだカードもクロバーの三。 (The card she picked was the three of clubs. And the card Cyril picked was... also the three of clubs.) そして、セロはそのカードは水槽の中に行ってしまった。 (Furthermore, the card that Cyril picked has entered the fish tank.)

Narrator: しかし、セロのサプライズはこれで終わりではなかった。 (However, Cyril's surprise did not end there. -- Text reads the same. - Trans.)

セロ：　But wait. Wait. みなさん、もう一つどうしても見せたいんです。 (Everyone, there is one more thing that I'd like to show you.)

セロ：　とうぞ見えないの方こちらの方にきて下さい。 Come over here. 見えない方 (Please, would the people on the far side of the tank come over here. Come over here. -- I assume he repeats himself again in Japanese at this point, but the narrator talks right over him again. Can't really understand one bit of what either of them are saying at that point. - Trans.)

Narrator:　。。。じょうきょうでわれわれは奇跡の瞬間を目撃する！！ (What kind of miracle are we going to witness now?)

セロ：　このナプキンで拭くとどうなるか分かりますか？ (Do you know why I'm wiping the side of the tank with this napkin?)

セロ：　窓（ガラス）はきれいになります。 (So that the glass will be clean.)

セロ：　Okay. じつは窓はきれいになるだけではなく、じつはこするとガラスが柔らかくなってきます。 (Okay. Really, I'm not doing it just so the glass will be clean. The truth is, I want to soften it up just a bit.)

Narrator: ガラスが柔らかくなるとは？ (Soften it up a bit? -- Text is the same. - Trans.)

Narrator: いったいどういうことなのか？ (What does he mean by that?)

Narrator: いけんするとガラスはふつうのかたいガラスにしか見えない。 (However you look at it, the glass looks like normal glass.)

セロ：　Now watch.

Narrator:　かみナプキンを水槽のガラスにかむせい、セロが上からガラスを？？はじめ。　するとガラスを？？？ (Placing the paper napkin on the glass wall of the fish tank, Cyril begins pressing on the glass from above. -- The next line has to be about him making headway into it. - Trans.)

Narrator:　なんと水槽の中にセロの手いちのガラスを入ってしまった (Somehow, Cyril has put one hand through the wall of the fish tank!)

Text: 水槽の中に手を入れてしまった (One hand in the tank.)

Narrator:　よくから見えとたしかにセロの手が水槽の中に入ってがくりんできる (Certainly, looking at it, Cyril has stretched one of his hands into the tank.)

Narrator:　手をどんどんと中にいれ、水槽のはんたいのガラスへ。。。その一枚のカードを手に取る。　やっぱり、カードはガラスをかんたんに水槽の内側に入っていた！ (He stretches his hand out slowly towards the far side of the tank... and takes the card in hand. As expected, the card was stuck to the inside of the glass wall of the tank!)

Text:　　カードは水槽の内側に入っていた (The card was inside the tank.)

Narrator: そして、カードを手にしたもら手はふたたびそとのせいぞう (And, card in hand, he pulls his arm safely back out of the tank.)

Crowd: すごい (Wow!)

Narrator: (Now, let's see that one more time. And recap it, naturally. - Trans.)

A Cold Knight In London

I'm sorry, I know that was bad. Here's the obligatory link: U.K., Russia clash in a different kind of cold war

Following the link, there's a video of the game, including the very cool-looking (should be, they're ice, after all...) chess pieces. Unfortunately, you'll be treated to a thirty-second commercial first... Not much to be done about it.