Cowboy Bebop is a great series, and if you’ve watched it, then you’re ready for this video, which is a kickass performance of the intro. It’s definitely different, but amazingly faithful to the studio version.

From wikipedia for Tank!:

“Tank!” is the opening song for the popular anime series Cowboy Bebop. The song, written by Yoko Kanno and performed by The Seatbelts, has an extensive alto saxophone solo played by Masato Honda, as well as a fill part at the end. The song is a big band jazz piece in a hard bop style with a rhythm portion that combines a double bass and bongo drums.

“Tank!” is primarily an instrumental piece, though it does feature some spoken male vocals in the introductory portion of the song, thematically jazz in style. The vocal portion provides a lead-in to the instrumental portion, and its final lyrics, “I think it’s time to blow this scene. Get everybody and the stuff together. Ok, three, two, one let’s jam,” signal the beginning bursts of the majority, purely instrumental end of the song.

It has been featured on the soundtracks to the series and as the original opening theme it is somewhat iconic, one of several popular pieces which are still closely associated with the Bebop series. It has also been occasionally used as background music for some international commercials, such as a preview for My Own Worst Enemy.

RTFA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-TAxm00jOg

From Souvenir of Tokyo. Part 1/5.

Fantastic video. Antarctica is the least hospitable, most inherently psychedelic environment on earth, and this guy has used a sky-tracking telescope mount to capture some eye-poppingly unreal time-lapse shots. He claims to have destroyed several cameras in the process, and based on some of the scenes, I can imagine how this could be.

RTFA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TemK6CF6lF0&eurl=ht…

Time-lapse video filmed in Antarctica, in and around McMurdo Station and Scott Base.
Each year the sun is below the horizon for 4 months in the middle of winter, and above the horizon for 4 months in summer. During the couple of months in between we have more-or-less normal days.
Includes shots of auroras and the very rare polar stratospheric nacreous clouds, which form when ozone depleting gases crystallize in the upper atmosphere in the intense cold.
Summer population is about 1200 people, winter about 200.
This is just a small sample of an ongoing project to collect time-lapse imagery of Antarctica. I have taken over 1,000,000 individual photos and worn out a number of cameras that make up the collection of footage I have gathered so far over the last 6 years. Eventually a film will be released, keep an eye on my user page for more info in the future.
Check out my other videos as well for more of life on the Ice.

RTFA: http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=_GabHGlGm14&feature=…

A big broccoli ocarina can have been done. The tune is “Angels We Have Heard On High.” My wife is accompanying it.

Okay – here’s an ALL BROCCOLI instrument. The carrot from the previous post has a clarinet mouthpiece, but that’s totally lame compared to the ALL BROCCOLI instrument.

RTFA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I9v0EdhwlM&eurl=ht…

it’s time for the annual RTFA Mech Halloween Costume roundup. I scored based on the look of the costume, but also on the appropriateness. Bonus points for mobility, and points taken away for parents who made costumes for kids. If the costume looks like it won’t last more than 5 minutes, that’s going to cost ya.

Without further ado, the entries:

5. Baby Chicken Walker

HAHAHA! This costume is *WAY* beyond the league of that kid – what is he saying while he’s walking? I predict the night ends with the costume destroyed, the kid crying, and a deflated parental unit carrying a heavy load home: the kid under one arm, a sack of candy in the other arm, and the costume wreckage lying in the gutter. This link via boingboing.

Costume Grade: B A – clever components, great look! After review, extra points added
Deployment: D – never going to work with the kid

4. Mech bling, crew included

Vastly over-reaching, deadly serious, and destined to destroy every doorway it meets.

Costume Grade: B – looks great, probably cost a fortune/took forever to make
Deployment: D – needs support crew

3. Cardboard and timelapse

A better Battlemech costume. …too bad this kid didn’t make it for himself. Also, the video is sped up – I suspect mobility is limited, but it will probably last for a few hours. Meh… Looks good!

Costume Grade: B – looks great, good reuse, not made by the kid him/herself
Deployment: B – timelapse, video is painfully long

2. Hipster Mech perfection

Here’s a well-done chicken walker, which is in zen-like balance with its wearer. Simple is great, in this case!

Costume Grade: A – fake legs bonus!
Deployment: A – this guy can walk in the costume. Amazing, but that’s a major point in this contest.

1. Genius working transformers

Working transformer costumes! These aren’t “mech” costumes, but they just blow the others out of the water. These peeps probably made the costumes themselves, they are totally mobile, and the costumes ACTUALLY TRANSFORM.

Costume Grade(s): A+ – these are home-made, they look great, and they totally work
Deployment: A+ – real-time transformation. That is all.

I love 2008!

RTFA: http://www.villafanestudios.com/pumpkins.htm

On October 26th 2008 at 8:00 pm EST you can see me featured on the popular Food Network Show “CHALLENGE” where I tackled pumpkin carving on their “Outrageous Pumpkins” episode. I was fortunate enough to be one of four carvers invited to compete in Denver for 10,000.00 cash!! I will also be updating this page with additional pumpkins in the coming weeks. Anyhow, if you interested in seeing the carving process unfold in real time, mark your calendars, should be cool.

Via Boing Boing, I saw this great pumpkin and was immediately reminded of Max Cannon’s Red Meat cartoons.

Inquiring minds want to know: is this the inspiration?

At any rate, great work!