cultural observation
grrlscientist | July 20, 2010tags: The Secret Powers of Time, time, hedonism, future orientation, education, personality type, popular psychology, society, culture, lucifer effect, teenage pregnancy, Philip Zimbardo, Royal Society of Art, RSA, streaming video
In this video animation, Professor Philip Zimbardo conveys how our individual perspectives of time affect our work, health and well-being. Time influences who we are as a person, how we view relationships and how we act in the world.
Learn more about RSA Animate.
grrlscientist | July 18, 2010tags: Late For Work, jobs, employment, humor, funny, comedy, fucking hilarious, social observation, streaming video
It's hot, you were up late drinking with your friends and now it's Monday morning -- again! Unlike some videos that I share with you, this one gets straight to the point -- a point that we've all achieved at some time during our lives.
grrlscientist | July 18, 2010tags: Mormonism, religion, cults, mind control, Magic Mormon Underwear, moron, offbeat, humor, funny, comedy, silly, beliefs, insanity, education, streaming video
I've lived among mormons for more years than I care to think about, and yes, the magic underwear was one of those mysteries that us kids speculated on when the adults weren't around. As if they were flies upon the walls of my childhood, the Thinking Atheist has made this video that discusses the the Mormon church's most famous "secret."
grrlscientist | July 17, 2010tags: Brother Sam Singleton Atheist Evangelist, Atheists at Prayer, prayer, atheism, agnosticism, humor, funny, comedy, fucking hilarious, satire, streaming video
This video features the colorful language and thoughts of my new boyfriend, Sam Singleton Atheist Evangelist as he discusses prayer-time etiquette for atheists.
grrlscientist | July 16, 2010tags: The surprising truth about what motivates us, tasks, simple tasks, complex tasks, commissions, innovation, mastery, economics, financial rewards, purpose motive, blog writing, making the world a better place, RSA, streaming video
This video is really interesting for two reasons: first, it's a hand-drawn animation that evolves in front of your eyes, and second, I think it explains why scientists like to write blogs for the public about science -- for free! Adapted from Dan Pink's talk at the RSA, this fascinating video illustrates the hidden truths behind what really motivates us at home…
grrlscientist | July 15, 2010tags: When Ideas Have Sex, imagination, innovation, group intelligence, exchange of ideas, cumulative ideas, evolution, sexual reproduction, technological specialization, free trade, Matt Ridley, TEDTalks, TED Talks, streaming video
At TEDGlobal 2010, author Matt Ridley shows how, throughout history, the engine of human progress has been the meeting and mating of ideas to make new ideas. It's not important how clever individuals are, he says; what really matters is how smart the collective brain is.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference…
grrlscientist | July 12, 2010tags: Orientation Day in the MSM, journalism, mainstream media, humor, streaming video
This video is a rather .. interesting ... look at the challenges of working as a journalist in the mainstream media in these technologically challenging days.
grrlscientist | July 11, 2010tags: Top Catholic Priest Accused of Sexually Abusing His Own Sons, ethics, religion, catholicism, Catholic Church, television, criminal activity, news, pedophilia, child rape, Pope John Paul, Marcial Maciel Degollado, streaming video
This video explores the question; "how much money would you want in exchange to be raped and sodomized throughout your childhood years?" This is a question that I also would like answers to. Any thoughts?
On one hand, I am completely sympathetic to this guy's situation, but on the other hand, I cannot help but wonder how a man who was raped as a child by his…
grrlscientist | July 10, 2010tags: Stephen Fry on Catholicism, Intelligence Squared Debate, religion, catholicism, Catholic Church, poverty, sexuality,homosexuality, AIDS, HIV, condoms, pedophilia, child rape, culture, Stephen Fry, streaming video
Stephen Fry provides his very articulate and thoughtful opinion on Catholicism and the Catholic Church at the Intelligence Squared Debate.
grrlscientist | July 9, 2010tags: 1945-1998, nuclear weapons testing, Multimedia artwork, Isao Hashimoto, streaming video
This video documenting worldwide nuclear weapons testing and use is a multimedia artwork that speaks to all of us, regardless of which language we use. It's fascinating and horrifying at the same time.
Multimedia artwork by Isao Hashimoto [contact: hashi123 [at] amy [dot] hi-ho [dot] ne [dot] jp].
2053: This is the number of nuclear explosions conducted in various parts of the globe (excluding both tests by North Korea, on October 2006 and May 2009).
About this artwork [paraphrased]: This piece of…
grrlscientist | July 8, 2010tags: What Do Disappointed Idealists and Tampon Commercials Have In Common?, social commentary, television, advertising, market research, mass media, manipulating the masses, satire, funny, humor, streaming video
It's rare when I see a video that, in a short 30 seconds, sums up the level of cynicism I currently feel, and leaves me with a smile. Okay, I have a sardonic smile at the moment, but it's a smile, and that's a start.
grrlscientist | July 6, 2010tags: Paul the Prognosticating Octopus Oracle Sez, soccer, football, World Cup 2010, fun, offbeat, weird, news
Paul the Prognosticating Octopus Oracle has disappointed his German fans by choosing Spain over Germany in tomorrow's World Cup Football match. Paul is a two-year-old English-born octopus of unknown species who has lived in the aquarium in Oberhausen, Germany since shortly after he was born.
Image: Mark Keppler / DAPD
This is a bummer for all those German fans who believe in tooth fairies and Santa Claus, because Paul the Prognosticating Octopus Oracle of Unknown Species (PPOOUS…
grrlscientist | July 5, 2010tags: The Tiger Next Door, documentary, film, ethics, social commentary, exotic pets, wild animals, large cats, Dennis Hill, streaming video
This interesting video is a trailer for a documentary, "The Tiger Next Door," the story of a man named Dennis Hill who has been breeding and selling tigers from his backyard for over 15 years. Hill's dream is to breed a stripeless white tiger -- but at what cost to the animals, and at what risk to the community?
As the film begins, Hill has 24 tigers, 3 bears, 6 leopards and one cougar. But after a surprise government inspection, he loses the license…
grrlscientist | July 3, 2010tags: Federal Officials Suspend First Amendment Rights for Coverage of Gulf of Mexico Disaster, First Amendment Rights, Gulf of Mexico, BP, oil spill, oil spill clean-up efforts, relief efforts, disaster relief, US Coast Guard, Admiral Thad Allen, mainstream media, streaming video
What. The. FUCK. As BP makes its latest attempt to plug its gushing oil well, mainstream news photographers are complaining that their efforts to document the slow-motion disaster in the Gulf of Mexico are being thwarted by local and federal officials -- working with BP -- who are blocking access to the sites where…
grrlscientist | July 3, 2010tags: Fast Lane -- Shopping Carts, SuperMarkt Shopping Carts, Einkaufszentrum, Berlin, fun, silly, your inner child, entertainment, volkswagen commercial, television, streaming video
Just a quick shopping trip? Here's a great invention: Some shopping carts -- "trolleys" for you Brits -- are pimped with a skateboard in a shopping center in Berlin, Germany. Up for some extra shopping fun?
grrlscientist | July 1, 2010tags: Following The Mercury Trail, health, environment, ecology, pollution, PCBs, DDT, heavy metals, red tide, human sewage pollution, Stephen Palumbi, TEDTalks, TED Talks, streaming video
There's a tight and surprising link between the ocean's health and ours, says marine biologist Stephen Palumbi. He shows how toxins at the bottom of the ocean food chain find their way into our bodies, with a shocking story of toxic contamination from a Japanese fish market. His work points a way forward for saving the oceans' health -- and humanity's.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks…
grrlscientist | June 30, 2010tags: Zombies Like Turtles, ScienceBlogs' Zombie Day, humor, funny, silly, streaming video
Today is Zombie Day at ScienceBlogs .. and oooo, do you see the zombified me, pictured over there on the right? Moochas smoochas to my pal, Joseph, for my portrait! ...
Ahem. This is an unofficial day at ScienceBlogs intended to celebrate silliness in a world filled with a shitload of mayhem, disaster and despair. So in honor of this day, I wasted half the fucking day spent hours watching silly videos before I finally settled on this particular one as being vaguely appropriate, since it ties the zombie…
grrlscientist | June 29, 2010tags: Fútbol Deporte Nacional, Tango y Fútbol, Argentina, Germany, World Cup 2010, soccer, football, Fútbol, satire, streaming video
If the Argentinian fútbol team plays as skillfully and as gracefully as this couple dances the Tango (and the implication is that they will), I think it's no contest: the Germans will lose on Saturday ... just sayin'.
grrlscientist | June 28, 2010tags: Konzerthaus-Musiker spielen Brahms und Ravel, Vuvuzela-Konzert, Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra, Berlin, Germany, Helge von Niswandt, vuvuzela, vuvuzela concert, humor, satire, funny, silly, fucking hilarious, your inner child, music video, streaming video
Those of you who think Germans can't laugh have not lived in Germany. Die Zeit (The Time), a left-leaning German weekly newspaper that is highly respected for its quality journalism, has recorded a vuvuzela mini-concert. In this charming video, three brass players from the Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra, led by "ensemble abrassador," Helge…
grrlscientist | June 26, 2010tags: Best Church of God Vs. An Atheist, religion, cults, faith, funny, humor, comedy, social commentary, Greg Epstein, books, streaming video
A silly video about a bunch of wackaloon religious wingnuts and an atheist humanist discussing religion and how god forces people to live moral and decent lives. (The video is silly, but the protest signs are rather amusing).
The Best Church of God takes on heretical "humanist" Greg Epstein, famed author of the controversial book, "Good Without God."-- edited by Aemilia Scott