THE LAST OF THE BIG-TIME LOSERS

This is a short rotoscoped music video made from footage of a live Tom Waits concert. The animator, John Lamb, was known for his animated surf films as well as his work on Sesame Street.

FUN FACT #9

If you're a Harry Nilsson fan like myself, then you're probably already very familiar with The Point!. There's the album version, which Nilsson narrates himself, and there's the movie version, which is narrated by Ringo Starr. But what most people aren't aware of is that there are three other versions of the film. In it's original airing, the film was narrated by Dustin Hoffman.


Due to contractual reasons, the Hoffman version could not be used in later airings and had to be re-dubbed.

The second airing featured Alan Barzman, who is pretty much an unknown other than providing the voice for one of the penguins in Beakman's World.

The third airing featured Alan Thicke, AKA the dad from Growing Pains. It was only the VHS (and eventually DVD) release that used Ringo.

BONUS FUN FACT!!!!
A 1977 stage adaption of The Point! featured both Mickey Dolenz and Davy Jones of The Monkees.

RED AND WHITE

The pug dragon is a bit on the cute side but this video rules.

The sequel to the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark

WIZARD STOMP

NERDS ONLY

If you've ever actually played D&D you're going to love this. If not, I'm sorry.

FORCED MILK

MARIE CLAIRE REMIX

BAD SHROOMS

And if you like this video, be sure to check out Jim Dirschberger's excellent but short-lived Forest City Rockers series.

POTATO SPACESHIP

BOX WITH A SECRET

Does anyone speak Russian?

Well that's pretty cool, I guess.

New Ghoul video made by Ezra and Aesop Dekker (who are also responsible for the Crud Wizard and Cosmic Hearse blogs).



I get poisoned at 1:15

Terrence McKenna's "Stoned Ape Theory"

If you're not already familiar with Terrence McKenna, you should be. McKenna was a philosopher/spiritual leader/psychedelic explorer/speaker/author/hash smuggler who experienced popularity with the counter-culture movement in the 80's and 90's. His most famous work is a book called Food of the Gods which introduced his "stoned ape theory." There's a lot of crazy-ass ideas being thrown about by "counter-culture" types, but this is one of those that sorta seems plausible, especially if you've done many psychotropic drugs.

Humans evolved from apes incredibly fast. Our brain size doubled in less than two million years. According to McKenna, this all happened because of psilocybin mushrooms. He began forming this theory when he observed wild baboons in Africa turning over cow pies looking for grubs. And ya know what else grows on cow shit? That's right, psychedelic mushrooms! It is entirely possible that apes would have unintentionally ingested these mushrooms along with their bugs.

Okay, so we've got a bunch of stoned apes but what does that have to do with evolution? First of all, very small doses of psilocybin greatly improve visual acuity. A monkey that sees better is going to be more successful with hunting and gathering. Therefore, the stoned ape is more likely to survive than his square brother. In slightly larger doses (we're still talking about very small amounts) the mushroom acts as a sexual stimulant, so the stoned ape breeds more too. The mushrooms also help to break down social boundaries so it's likely to help diversify (and thereby strengthen) the gene pool.

As the doses get even heavier (now we're cookin!) our ape begins to experience synesthesia. Sight and sound are all mixed up and linguistic thinking begins for the first time. Suddenly we've got a bunch of tripping, fucking, talking monkeys on our hands. Before you know it they've started a band:

Ah, fuck it. Let's just watch a cartoon.


Hear it (and much more cool shit) in McKenna's own words here.

AMERICA

WHISKEY EYES

Yet another video from Oakland's best band, Shannon and the Clams. This one is made by Owen Cook who is also responsible for the Pinecone Police Log.

Shannon and the Clams - Tired of Being Bad

No hair!!!! :) Now What?

Devin Flynn also makes rad music videos for shitty bands.

SURREALIST ANTI-CAPITALISM

PAINBOW

This little gem was picked up by Adult Swim a few years ago and then dropped before it made it past the pilot. Apparently it was "too expensive" to produce, whatever that means.

A MAN WITH A MECHANICAL ARM

These were made by the same guy who went on to do Celebrity Deathmatch. Go figure.

THIS FILM WILL MAKE YOUR PEE SMELL FUNNY

Part 2 features the most psychedelic blowjob since Behind the Green Door.