Note to family: Under no circumstances must Colin be allowed to see this video.
Quite aside from the chances of horrendous damage to the piano and the god-awful noise, our beagle would turn in its metaphorical grave upon seeing the title of this video.
“Buddy Mercury”? Really?
The dog’s name is Buddy, but you couldn’t think of a better choice of musical individual to put in the title than Freddy “Buddy” Mercury*?
If only there had been an actual famous musical star with the first name Buddy.
Then you could have used that name instead and it would have been ever so much better.
* I take this back unreservedly if the annoyingly-voiced lady recording this is called Mrs Mercury, obviously.
The Saturn V rockets were the workhorses of the US Space Program [sic] in the late 60s and early 70s. And the subject of a great Inspiral Carpets song in the mid 90s. They were huge things – 111 metres in height (that’s the equivalent of a 36 storey building) and with a mass of 2.8 million kilograms (that’s the equivalent of about 470 elephants).
With great size and great escape velocity comes great fuel requirement as well:
The Saturn V rocket’s first stage carries 203,400 gallons (770,000 liters) of kerosene fuel and 318,000 gallons (1.2 million liters) of liquid oxygen needed for combustion.
At liftoff, the stage’s five F-1 rocket engines ignite and produce 7.5 million pounds of thrust.
But what does that actually mean? Sometimes, figures are difficult to interpret without context. That’s why I used the 36 storey building and the 470 elephants above.
In fact, it worked so well, I think I’m going to use the elephants again:
Yes. That’s a quick mock up of Saturn V fuel consumption expressed in elephants. And it’s a lot of elephants.
Incoming beagle news from the… the… ag, I don’t actually know what it is he does really. Some say he’s not too sure either.
But I digress… often.
Here’s the clip he sent – it’s a beagle called Mia, adhering to the rules of the Global Beagle Management Crisis, namely that there are no rules, and if there are, then you should break them. Mia – running a timed and assessed dog agility course at a dog show – finds plenty of rules and regulations and then promptly and effectively breaks them all.
Seriously, who enters a beagle in anything competitive that requires any sort of obedience? What on earth was she thinking? Those things are for clever, agile dogs: collies and terriers. Not beagles.
Beagles are good at winning the Westminster Dog Show by looking noble and such (naughty language on that link). They’re not good for agility courses. It’s like getting a toddler to do the Olympic high jump, or putting a jellyfish in goal in ice hockey’s Stanley Cup, or asking a bunch of carrots to [that’s enough now. Just get on with it – Ed.]
As the commentator tells us before we even reach the 11 second mark (demonstrating not just the reputation that precedes the beagle, but the speed with which it reverts to type once asked to do anything vaguely taxing):
Don’t be a beagle. Don’t be a beagle. Don’t be a beagle.
Also, don’t get a beagle.
[What? Three times? No, once is… it’s not a difficult concept: they’ll understand.
We really don’t need to… oh… ok, whatever…]
Also, don’t get a beagle. Don’t get a beagle. Don’t get a beagle.
Not Dineo – the one that’s blowing through the Mozambique Channel right now. It’s not gentle and technically it’s a tropical cyclone, anyway.
Accurate low pressure weather system nomenclature. S’important.
No. I’m talking about the upcoming Elbow single, Gentle Storm:
Wait a second – wasn’t that Benedict Cucumberbeagle? Yes. Yes, I think it was.
This is a kind of updated, faster, more unsettling version of MJ’s Black and White video. It’s a really, really good song as well.
I have yet to post the review of the Little Fictions album, I know. It’s one of those that I just can’t stop listening to. And it’s fitting that on this day of love, I should mention it, since the whole thing is basically all about Guy Garvey falling in love.
But… more of that on a day with fewer hearts and flowers.
Here’s PetaPixel to explain this difficult-to-grasp concept:
Now that the Internet is saturated with timelapse and drone videos, one of the next big frontiers may be combining the two. Timelapse photographer Artem Pryadko shows what’s possible in the gorgeous 2-minute “DroneLapse” above.
I know, I can also like to be confused.
Fortunately, Artem himself is here to assist:
It’s a new direction in shooting time lapses — time lapse using a drone.
Nope. Sorry. I’m still lost.
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/203419162]
Anyway, it is quite nice to look at. Even if I can’t work out how it was filmed.
How did he get so high up? Long arms?
