Ünnecessary Ümlaut

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A surplus of geekery by :: Fred Abercrombie

Happy July 4th: PEZ, PES, and MP3s!!!

The Indian Chief and Uncle Sam PEZ are from the Bicentennial Series PEZ released in 1976, which also included a Pilgrim, Indian Brave, Betsy Ross, and Wounded Soldier. Buy ‘em here.

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PES, the Michel Gondry of stop motion, created this for last year’s 4th of July. Check out his Yule Log Fireplace Screensaver.

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HAPPY 4th OF JULY:

Violent Femmes “American Music” from Add It Up

Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers “American Girl” from s/t

Elliott Smith “Independence Day” from XO

Bruce Springsteen “Darkness On The Edge Of Town” (live)
from Winterland, San Francisco 1978-12-15

Neko Case “Star Witness” from Fox Confessor Brings The Flood

Hjaltalín “Goodbye July / Margt Ad Ugga” from Sleepdrunk Seasons

Wilco “Ashes of American Flags” from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

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Rock out with the Umlaut every Friday.

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Remix: Star Wars Kid YouTube Vid

This charming lil’ re-mixsketch of the Star Wars Kid has a real A-Ha Take On Me vibe.

May I suggest the Twelves remix as soundtrack? Or the squeaky Manualist version?

Read the rest of this entry »

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World Cup: Lego Reenactments of 2010 Matches

When you can’t wake up at 4 a.m. to watch, or don’t have the patience to sit through a match at any time, LegoFussball will fill you in with reenactments of pivotal highlights. The accuracy makes up for their delayed production. And there’s something funny in seeing the smiling minifig face on England’s Robert Green. He won’t be making that face for a llllong time. (Thanks, Fluxcapctr!)

See France vs Germany:   Read the rest of this entry »

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Stop Motion: T-Shirt War and Human Flipbook Video

Wow. Rhett & Link changed shirts over 100 times each, not to mention design each one in the first place. See the Making Of T-Shirt War here. Nice work, guys.

It’s like a hyper-evolution of the video Colle+McVoy did in 2007,
The Human Flipbook for Erbert & Gerbert Subs & Clubs:

BONUS: JUSTICE “DANCE” VIDEO

RELATED:
Time Lapse: My Hairy Commute / Readying For Whiskerino
Colle+McVoy: “Moneystache” TV for Minnesota State Lottery
Stop Motion: Sorry I’m Late and Chalkpipe
Awesome: 8-Bit Trip Stop Motion Lego Video
Video: Modest Mouse “Whale Song” by Nando Costa
Whoa: COMBO Collaborative Animation by BLU and David Ellis

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Stop Motion: Yule Log Fireplace Screensaver by PES

As you (hopefully) step away from your computers for the holidays, here’s a little something to have cracklin’ onscreen.

» Download the free screensaver from PES

RELATED:
MP3: The Top Last Christmas Covers
Stop Motion: Fireworks by PES

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Stop Motion: SpongeBob SquarePants Anniversary Intro

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of SpongeBob SquarePants, Nickelodeon brought in Screen Novelties to do something very special. Which they did.(via Adland)

FYI, Screen Novelties are the same stop motion wizards behind the zombie Corn Pop spot, The Spooning for Leo Burnett:

RELATED:
Time Lapse: My Hairy Commute / Readying For Whiskerino
Adv: Burger King Spongebob’s Got Back
SF: Honk If You Love Zombies
Stop Motion: Sorry I’m Late and Chalkpipe
Awesome: 8-Bit Trip Stop Motion Lego Video

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Video: Modest Mouse “Whale Song” by Nando Costa

There’s a lot goin’ on in this. And it’s all pretty captivating. Nando Costa with Bent Image Lab directed this video for Modest Mouse.

Dig the visuals? See production stills and final stills on Flickr.
Read the story behind the visuals on Nando’s site.

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Time Lapse: My Hairy Commute / Readying For Whiskerino

Every day, I take the bus from Petaluma to San Francisco. Every year, I grow a beard for the Petaluma Whiskerino contest. This time, I thought I’d combine the two.

I shot most every workday for 2.5 months, except for the days I drove. Not an exact, or smooth, science. But hope you enjoy.

Time Lapse: My Hairy Commute on Vimeo.

RELATED:
Video: Petaluma Pete Does Whiskerino
Time Lapse: Beard Growth While Walking Across China
Whiskerino: Postcard Peeps at the Great Handcar Regatta 2009
Whiskerino: Jack Passion Does Regis, NYC
Ukelele: Moustaches of the World
Video: Word On The Street? “Moustache”

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Whoa: COMBO Collaborative Animation by BLU and David Ellis


Lotta planning (and talent) went into this. Amazing. (Thanks, Rich!)

David Ellis’ site. BLU’s site.

BLU’s “MUTO” from last year:

RELATED:
Stop Motion: Sorry I’m Late and Chalkpipe
Awesome: 8-Bit Trip Stop Motion Lego Video
Time Lapse: Beard Growth While Walking Across China

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Awesome: “8-Bit Trip” Stop Motion Lego Video

Over 1500 hours of video and photography went into this music video for rockin’ Swedish duo, Rymdreglage. Not sure how many Lego pieces. Either way, this is fantastically impressive.

Be sure to check out the band’s site. They’ve got lots of MP3s to download and some seriously oddball eye-candy. (via Laughing Squid)

 

RELATED:
8-Bit: Tom & Jerry Nintendo Style
Brick: Lego Foosball Table 
Augmented Reality: Lego In-Store “Digital Box”
Music: Weezer, The 8-Bit Covers
MP3: Super Mario Covered By Grupo Falso Baiano
Anamanaguchi Makes Music From Hacked NES

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Stop Motion: Coldplay’s New “Strawberry Swing” Smells Like “Sorry I’m Late”, “Her Morning Elegance” and “Fly Guy” Refried


One part: Oren Lavie “Her Morning Elegance”

Two parts: Tornas Mankovsky “Sorry I’m Late”

FlyGuy

Add a whiff of Trevor Van Meter “Fly Guy”

Put ‘em all together and you’ve got Coldplay “Strawberry Swing”. Maybe I’m stop-motion jaded. Or maybe I’m Coldplay-jaded. 

Meh.

RELATED:
Stop Motion: “Sorry I’m Late” and “Chalk Pipe”

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Stop Motion: Fireworks by PES

Über-creative, stop-motion artist PES just uploaded this to his YouTube site. Made years ago, it’ll get you in the mood for this weekend. Happy Fourth. (via Laughing Squid)

MORE STOP MOTION:
“Rubikcubism” Video by Invader
Post-It Notes “Deadline”
“Sorry I’m Late” 
Stop-Motion With Wolf & Pig

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Stop Motion: Post-It Notes “Deadline”

Bang Yao-Liu did this for his senior project at Savannah College of Art and Design. I’d say a congratulations are in order.

RELATED: Post-It Note Mario at Yahoo!

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Stop Motion: Sorry I’m Late

Kind of like a cross between Pes and Michel Gondry. Check out the original and see the making of. A lot of work went into this charming little piece.

BONUS VIDS: Read the rest of this entry »

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Video: Stop-Motion Motion With Wolf & Pig

Stop motion photos filmed in stop motion. Love the elevator and winding stairs. (Thanks, Dylan)

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