Random videos

[Tony Bandiera Jr]

And keeping with the Christmas theme today, here's some cool info about Cousin Eddie's RV in "National Lampoons Christmas Vacation":

[Tony Bandiera Jr]

Here is a video of a song I first discovered on the "Merlin" series BTS videos (Second video in this post) by an Australian artist named John Farnham. I have listened to this song many.many times, and the lyrics, his voice and the production still gives me chills. If you go down the Farnham rabbit hole as I have, there are even videos of him performing this LIVE at age 70 (!) and he STILL has the voice! Watch for the mic stand toss at 3:36 and notices he catches it ON THE BEAT! A few minutes after, he picks it up with a toe kick. Epic.

The lyrics also have a lot of meaning with the way things are today as well.

Here is the clip from "Merlin" where I first heard of the song:

And if you get a "bromance" vibe from this video, you are correct. The series creators originally penned it as a love story between Merlin and Arthur, but the BBC forced them to back down. But Bradley James (Arthur) did metaphorically give the middle finger to the BBC in the finale where at one point he says to Merlin (Colin Morgan) "I love you" which was overdubbed in post with "Thank you". Bradley had said in many interviews that it was totally a romantic love, and in one funny moment when asked "Romance with Gwen or Bromance with Merlin" he, without even a second's hesitation, responded "Bromance with Merlin"

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

I first saw those in the Western States about ten years ago. Mostly on similar trucks as in your video, but also on larger construction vehicles... The weather can be very flakey at certain altitudes and ice can develop at a fast rate. I never talked to anyone that has driven with them, but it is sure seems like a good safety addition...

[Frank Cox]

I saw this (or something very much like it, at least) for the first time on a delivery truck today. I thought it was so cool I had to look up how it works.

[Helmut Maripuu]

Tesla in Sweden and Finland.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DG9Izqp6WWU

.

[Frank Cox]

Soda box art turns heads at B.C. grocery store

[Frank Cox]

https://youtu.be/6vib77CUxNM

[Leo Enticknap]

I'm bowled over at how eloquent and incisive the commentary is...

Still, an impressive display of the laws of physics: that train was so heavy and had so much stored kinetic energy in it that it was barely (if at all) slowed by the initial collision with the turbine blade.

[Leo Enticknap]

Kitties!

Newly arrived at a zoo near me...

One of them even slow blinks at the camera operator, suggesting that they're pretty much domesticated and not likely to last long in the wild. Glad they're safe.

[Frank Cox]

Inside Canada's first dementia village

[Frank Cox]

the most moving piano piece you will ever hear

[Randy Stankey]

Knowing that a grand piano weights in about half a metric ton, that's a pretty daring operation...

Nah, the guy just wanted to play an upright piano!

Just hope he didn't damage the piano too badly. A basic black Steinway-D will cost at least $125K to replace, these days. Apparently, from what I was able to translate from the comments page, this was supposed to be some kind of historic piano. The damage is probably repairable but it won't be cheap!

I find that organ lift a bit odd, too. Every motorized lift, hoist or similar stage equipment that I've ever used required the operator to keep the control button depressed. Some of them even had a second button for a deadman switch.

I think it's dangerous to have a lift like that which can't be stopped at a moment's notice and reversed if necessary. Even in a concert hall, as opposed to a legitimate stage, it would be easy for a person to get a hand or foot stuck in the mechanism, accidentally. Some of the concerts I worked, a lot of people walked around with their heads in the clouds, not paying attention to things going on around them. (Hey, they are musicians, they've got other things to think about.)

Regardless, when you're working on a stage, operating any kind of equipment, motorized or otherwise, it's the operator's duty to always look to be sure the area is safe before pressing any button, pulling any lever or hauling on any rope!

[Frank Cox]

The Eagles - Hotel California - Reimagined on the Traditional Chinese Guzheng

[Marcel Birgelen]

Yeah, there are quite some oddities concerning the raising-table's control interface. The least of the security features you could expect, which is also the most low-tech of them all, is that you need to keep pressing the button to keep the thing moving.

[Leo Enticknap]

The organ console likely weighs about the same. Presumably the piano was positioned where it was because that is the acoustic sweet spot on the stage. But unless there were architectural restraints (e.g. limitations on where conduits for control cables can be run) it was a blunder to put the retractable console in the same place. Organists are very used to not being able to hear themselves play as the audience would, due to delays, the swell or choir ranks being enclosed, but the great not, etc. etc.; so having the console on the side of the stage should not have been problematic. You would have thought that a venue with a retractable console on the stage like that would either have a cast iron rule that nothing goes on top of it, or a rigid protocol for when it does (e.g. two switches must be operated to raise it, both far enough apart that two people are needed, with both verifying that top of the retracted console is clear before proceeding).