Observe The Banana

Watch this video of a slow moving performance artist exploding bananas on his face. Go ahead, watch it, you know you want to . . .

Found on [BoingBoing]

On September 21 activist groups around the world temporarily took over single parking places on city streets and converted them in to small public parks complete with grass, trees and benches. Many of the groups accomplished this feat using only human powered vehicles (bikes) to carry in supplies. They pay the meter for one hour and get to work, then everyone is invited to enjoy a little green space until the meter runs out. Then they pack up and are on their way. 47 parks in 13 cities. Whether you consider this a “protest”, public performance art, or just a random act of kindness, this is totally awesome! Things like this make the world a better place to live.

This cat likes to drink from a running sink. Nothing too unusual there. But he has an unusual way of getting the water to his mouth. No cat I have known would do this. Very funny video, thought it is really too long, you can get the whole idea in the first minute.

Number one: a doormat, named Mat

Number two, a wonderful visual pun that speaks for itself (original source unknown):

Number three: a hilarious 20 second video pun, Obama’s Elf:

Just makes me laugh, every time I see them.

Here is a nice tribute to bananas I came across on YouTube. Some cool, fun images here. Enjoy!

Here is a wonderful banana sighting from Japan. Dole has started an ad campaign there featuring a Bananaman who sprouts CGI bananas from his head and hands and even shoots bananas from his nose to cheer up sad women in the park.  Bananas consumption has apparently surged in Japan with the popularity of “The Morning Banana Diet” and Dole has decided to capitalize on the trend with these bizarre commercials. Hey maybe this guy should try to get a job at Dole? Enjoy the Banana filled goodness below.

[Consumerist]

I was a little skeptical at first, but after watching it I couldn’t describe it any better than my brother did when he sent me the link:
“Ah, Sheesh . . . I laughed, I cried . .. its the feel-good hit of the year . . . if you’re a sucker for schmaltz . . . you’ll not regret investing the 16 min!”

Watch it with someone you love. Try to spread a little happiness to everyone you meet.

“You paid for parking . . . for me?”

The students at Ohio Northern University put together an ice cream serving system with two Kuka robots and an Allen Bradley Micrologic 1500 PLC. While this kind of educational automation project may be common in university robot labs across the country, being a big fan of both ice cream and robots I thought I would give a nod to these students’ excellent work. They report that it took 26 students and 5 weeks to fabricate the system including writing all of the code and machining custom effectors. It takes 2 minutes to serve a cup of ice cream complete with spoon and toppings of choice. The students did not want to speed up this cycle time so the user could enjoy “an experience watching the system” and not just get fast ice cream. A nice touch is the way the robot arm moves a little, then lowers the cup under the soft serve machine to produce a nicely shaped point on the top of the ice cream serving. Watch it in action below.

[Dvice via TechEBlog]

Every year the University of Minnesota Morris (UMM) holds a student film festival (video making contest) they call the UMMys. The entrants vary widely in quality and subject matter and tend to include a lot of teen angst and zombies. Several years ago one entrant stood head and (large metallic) shoulders above the rest. It was called “Rumspringa! The Musical” and was about an amish girl going on her traditional rumspringa to the city and falling in love with a recently unemployed phone answering robot. All songs are written (except the Electric Slide) and performed by the students and it is clever, funny and totally worth watching, cheesy robot costume and all.   Sadly the entire 30 minute production appears to no longer be available on YouTube, but two of the best (IMHO) musical numbers from it are still available for your viewing pleasure.

Your robot overlords command you to click the play buttons below…

Every film needs an internet trailer…..

[Rumspringa! The Musical on MySpace]

This guy has redirected the water output from a jetski through nozzles on a jetpack. This is an amazingly awesome idea that I am surprised no one else had come up with yet (or had they?). I think you could do the same thing on land using a firehose or some other high pressure water source. This video makes it look like SO MUCH FUN, a jet pack that doesn’t run out in 30 seconds. Who cares if you can only go 25 feet high or so.





[ Reddit via Crunchgear]

Remember this fun viral video of the guy doing his goofy dance around the world? Put a smile on my face.



You can learn more about the original project at Where The Hell Is Matt? And see his dance videos from other years.
Now some clever person has extended the meme into the world of video games. I like the wide scope of the games, from Frogger to World of Warcraft. Enjoy!



[WeGame via BoingBoing]

Here is another video of some amazing maintenance workers / daredevils.  These men maintenance live high voltage power lines from a helicopter using a fire retardant “hot suit” made with metal fibers to act as a Faraday cage. Once they clamp on the line, their body, and the entire helicopter, are raised to the same electrical potential as the wire – 500 thousand volts. They remain safe as long as there is no path to ground. Even without the high voltage, just stepping off a hovering helicopter on to a little seat on the top of a pair of relatively thin wires strung high over the ground is quite a bold feat in itself. Nice mellow video, pleasant music and the guy has a sense of humor about it.

“I don’t give two hoots and a holler about flying inside a helicopter. Put me outside, that’s where I want to be. On a magic carpet.”

via [BoingBoing]

Video reported to be from Straight Up: Helicopters in Action.

Here is an interesting video showing a Eurocopter EC135 being used for maintenance operations on giant offshore wind turbines in the UK. Gives a good perspective on the massive size of these turbines. Around here they work on land based turbines by just opening the door at their base and climbing up a bunch of stairs. These guys in the video appear to be part mechanic, part coast guard helicopter rescue diver. Considering how often these things usually need maintenance (at least monthly I believe) this looks like it could get expensive fast and reveals a potential downside to the otherwise excellent idea of offshore turbines which I have always believed in. Enjoy the video, although I recommend muting the poorly chosen soundtrack.

From Flight Global via Gizmodo

The Muppets have apparently been  making a come back on YouTube. I have always loved the Muppets, from watching them in prime time decades ago, to sharing them with  my son on DVD, they are classic family entertainment true style and the list of big name celebrities that were guest hosts is truly staggering. Here are two delicious Muppet version of classical music to enjoy with your family and loved ones.

Ode to Beeker




Classical Chicken



These put a new light on all the new solo acapella chorus YouTube videos out there recently.

[BoingBoing]

Here is another cool little drumming robot. Named the Lil’ Drum and Bass Bot, this robot has his own little pill bottle drum to beat on with two sticks, or can be converted to one larger stick to play out riffs on objects it detects in its path. It even has its own little tone generator music maker to accompany itself. A nicely executed and clever idea. His little writeup on the project includes some development information and reveals that he spent about $50 and 16 hours on this project which is uses a Picaxe 28×1 controller.



[Let’s Make Robots via Make via Gizmodo

Previously on ObserveTheBanana: Little Drummer Bot

Today’s YouTube banana sighting – Dr. Bunson Honeydew is tickled pink to announce his solution to “the banana problem”. And here I didn’t even realize there was a “banana problem.”




Goodbye forever to dull bananas!

Some time ago I posted about the Ripsaw tracked vehicle. Well now it has apparently come up in the world as a real military vehicle. They have some big budget funding and are now developing the Ripsaw MS1 as an unmanned attack vehicle for the US Military.

Built by twin brothers, Geoff and Mike Howe of Barwick, Maine, the Ripsaw can careen at high speed over obstacles that would leave a vehicle’s crew dazed and bruised.

It is fast, it is agile, it is dangerous. It is not armored, but can carry a remotely operated M240 machine gun. The makers hope it can help troops in Iraq deal with roadside ambushes. In one of their videos they say that in over 6 years of extreme testing they have never once thrown a track. They did once manage to break a shock mount, but the vehicle continued to operate fine.

Howe and Howe Ripsaw MS1 and more videos from Howe and Howe

(via Defense Tech via Crunchgear)

A few videos from their site pulled over to YouTube. Some show the earlier manned version:

The crazy crew over at Top Gear decide to help the London mayor choose which style of bus is best. A mad race ensues as only they could pull off. To their credit, they do make it almost one half lap before making contact with each other, and then it is all down hill form there. I just love watch that long “bendy bus” wag its back half around high speed corners, and the double-decker managed to stay upright (though often on two wheels) longer than I thought it would. Watch all the bus smashing goodness below.

from TechEBlog

Another Roomba fan



Link icanhascheeseburger

Wouldn’t the world be a better place with more chickens keeping the peace? I love the end where I can just hear that chicken saying, “Now don’t make me come back here again!” as he walks away.

I have had this song stuck in my head for days now. A fun little ditty about a man trying to clean up his life with a robot vacuum cleaner. Starts a little slow, then takes off. The dancing is fun, and I like how he really belts out those lyrics. Enjoy!

“I got a robot vacuum! Cleaning up my life!“

I got a kick out watching this hexapod robot dance the mambo. The head is a little creepy, but its got some rocking dance moves

I wonder if they did anything fancy to sync the moves to the music, or just hit start on program and play on the music and the same time.

Apparently my message has reached the American public. It’s a movement people!

A guest post from Uncle Jack

Last night on the tube I saw an ad for the new Journey to the Center of the Earth movie. Brendan Fraser movies are generally a plus in my book [he is George of the Jungle!], and I had read that some of the movie was shot in Iceland –prob’ly places I never saw– so I was interested. I had also read the Verne novel when I was a kid, and was curious as to whether the new movie includes the Snorri Sturluson angle.

So far, Snorri seems to be left out. The IMDB cast listing is only six names long and no Snorri. Next I check the “Official Site.” There I’m greeted by bombastic theme music and the rest of a typical official movie site stuff, much of which doesn’t work. Of note is the Vernian Log that links you to the “Asgeirsson Institute for Progressive Volcanology,” and a “polar opposites” widget. The first has me wondering if this movie’ll be the Indiana Jones of hard geology –I’ve gotta look up my college neighbor and ask– and the second purportedly finds one’s antipodal location on the globe.

The widget was fun for as long as it took for me to notice that everybody I know lives opposite the Indian Ocean. I s’pose that you enter your global location as a US zip code should have tipped me off. Determined to test the limits of this widget’s powerful technology *heh, heh* I look up zip codes in Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. Interestingly, Kotzebu, AK is still opposite the Indian Ocean [near Antarctica], but Hanalei, HI is opposite somewhere along the Namibian/Botswana border [not Madagascar] and San Juan, PR is opposite somewhere outside Helen Springs, Australia. Methinks the widget’s algorithm is a wee bit off.

I come out of this adventure feeling a little robbed ["No Snorri! Crappy widget!"], but at least it was educational. I now have a better idea how large the Indian Ocean is, and I found a locality check tool that is much more fun.

Addendum:
According to IMDb, the 1959 JTTCOTE [hereafter pronounced "Jaitey-coat"] had Pat Boone [yes, that Pat Boone] and James Mason scampering around Lone Pine, CA pretending it was Iceland.

I guess watching time lapse video of rocks can be interesting after all, you just have to wait long enough

Das Rad