Love This Video Of People Tricked Into Giving Speech At Fake Graduation

This impromptu graduation speaker broke
into his song during his address in this
Improv Everywhere scene.  

I love a New York group called Improv Everywhere.

They prank people and put the videos up on YouTube.

I know, a lot of people do that, but unlike most of these videos, the Improv Everywhere stuff is not insulting to the people who they prank.

There's no meanness.  Which makes their videos fun instead of aggravating.

Plus, Improv Everywhere, whose motto is "We Cause Scenes" have more elaborate setups than most videos.

Their latest prank, video of which is at the bottom of this post,  involves a college graduation ceremony in Bryant Park, New York. The graduates of some college are there, ready to get their diplomas. College administrators are there.

But where's the commencement speaker? He missed his flight, so the "college dean," one of the Improv Everywhere actors, wades into the people enjoying the park on a nice day and asks them to step in and be the substitute commencement speaker.

Some people seem to know this is a joke but cooperate anyway, so why not? Others have no idea this is fake, but give really good speeches.  

Improv Everywhere created a fake college
graduation ceremony that was desperate for
a speaker. The results were tons of fun. 

One New Yawker with a thick Brooklyn accent tells the "college graduates," "You're are all going to kick ass in real life, just go for whatever you want."

Loved her.

And this delightful non sequitor from a young woman who addressed the crowd thusly. "Just last year I was standing in your seats."

One guy breaks into song. Another person gives the speech in Spanish but in reality speaks fluent English ("You tricked me, so I tricked you," she later told the Impro Everywhere people.

Here's Improv Everywhere's delightful college graduation video:

Robot Dog Vs. Real Dog Battle It Out

Boston Dynamics' robot dog isn't nearly as
pleasant and tag waggy and fun as a real dog
but it is a nifty piece of technology  

It's come to this: We have real dogs playing with robot dogs now.

I'm rooting for the real dogs, but still.

In a video posted a to YouTube a few days ago, we see a robot dog (named Spot, of course) playing with a real dog, named Alex.  You can see the video at the bottom of this post.

Alex does not quite know what to make of his metallic robot new friend, with it's fairly accurate dog movements, but he gives it a whirl.

The robot dog was created by Boston Dynamics, the same outfit that caused a bit of a stir last week when they unveiled their nifty humanoid robot that could do lots of physical things that robots could not previously do, like navigate like a human around obstacles, keep its balance, and get right back up when somebody pushes it over.

Apparently, these things would be good in warfare, as it will be machines killing each other rather than humans, goes the theory.

The robot dog can also easily get up and walk away after lying down, it can walk over curbs and rough terrain, and can walk in a variety of different ways.

Impressive robotic work, but I still prefer the real furry companions. Yeah, my real dogs Jackson and Tonks sometimes have accidents in the house, bark at inappropriate times, make a mess and get sick, something that robot dogs won't do.

Robot dogs are cool, but I'd MUCH rather hang on to
my two real furry companions, Tonks (left) and Jackson. 

But you can't replicate the excitement the real dogs Tonks and Jackson bring when you come home from a long day at work.

Robots can't really replicate the laughs you get in a tug of war game with flesh and blood dogs, and they can't comfort you the way a warm dog sits on your lap contentedly when you want to relax and chill out.  

Still, a couple Christmases ago, my young nephew Jonas from Minnesota received a toy robotic dog for Christmas that follows simple commands and "learns" the habits of its human to help make the pair friends.

While not nearly as nice as a real dog, Jonas' robot dog was oddly endearing.

Boston Dynamics' dog is not endearing at all, but obviously that's not the point. The company was just showing off its nifty robots and what they can do.

But, if you're into that type of thing, you can watch the video of the robot dog and real dog cavorting in a parking lot, below:

Awesome, Passive Aggressive Windshield Notes

I've always resisted leaving notes on car windshields of people who act like jerks when they're driving or parking. Why bother with the ignorant.

Another one of Buzzfeed's windshield notes

But, the notes are fun sometimes, as noted by BuzzFeed the other day when they ran a series of photos of notes on cars.

Two of my favorites: "My name is Jack. I accidently hit your car & someone saw me, so I'm pretending to right (sic) down my details. Sorry, Jack."

Another: "Fxxk your car alarm and fxxk you. You're ruining peoples's lives. Expect a brick through window."

Click on the BuzzFeed link for more fun.

People To Be Totally Impressed With, But Don't Try This At Home

I absolutely love the "People are Awesome" series that's been rattling around YouTube for the past few years. Just search that term to see what I mean.

The video from that series in this post has been up for a bit and shared by quite a few people on blogs and other media, but I have to put it here, too.

The obvious appeal is watching people do stuff that we are completely incapable of doing and would never dare try.

But the cinematography, photography and music combine to make the whole thing a visual poem honoring the possibilities us humans are capable of.  Here it is, and there's another impressive video below this one:



  

Our second video has more of a winter theme, in keeping with the season. A few of the stunts are more fails than anything else, but most are almost as impressive as those in the first "People Are Awesome" video.  Time to start adding some of these to your bucket list:

Today's Time Waster: Fun, Nasty Passive/Aggressive Notes From the Neighbors

I found this excellent time waster the other day. It's photos and texts of really strange, passive aggressive notes, usually left from one neighbor to another, often for a ridiculous dispute.

Passiveaggressivenotes.com is a hilarious window into what peeves people the most. The annoyances are often illogical. Or if they're actually vaguely logical, the notes take things to ridiculous heights. At least some of them are creative.

An example from
passiveaggressivenotes.com

I wasted some time on this site, too, and found these favorites:

Scrawled in red spray paint on a suburban garage door was this missive: "I don't have a meth lab (never, ever) Leave me alone!" 

Too bad, what's a neighborhood without a meth lab in somebody's garage.

Somebody moved into a neighborhood and posted this note: "1. We don't need any new friends. We have enough. Don't try to stop by for small talk. 2. Don't park in front of our property. 3. Keep your pets quiet and we'll all get along."

I bet there won't be any small talk at this person's house, but I bet there's LOTS of small talk among the rest of the neighbors about the new people on the block. At least they don't appear to have a meth lab.

Politics always enters the fray with these passive aggressive notes. Here's one, found on a car in a busy parking lot: "Dear Friend: Someone defaced your car with an Obama sticker. Just thought you should know. Hate to see you look like an idiot."

Yeah, you don't want to look like an idiot, like the idiot who left the idiot note.

Here's another political one from a Boy Scout canned food drive for the needy: "This is the last time I will donate anything to charity. It's Obama's problem, not mine."

So, Obama is supposed to donate canned goods to the local Boy Scout troop? I'm confused.

People who leave passive aggressive notes don't often like charity. Along the lines of the Boy Scout note, he's one from a fed up resident: "Please stop feeding the homeless in our neighborhood. You are doing harm to those of us who live here. Take it to your own back yard."

Personally, I'd rather people stop feeding the pigeons, but that's another story.

Horror House Photos are Funny for Halloween

I found a series of photos on Buzzfeed of people in a Buffalo, New York haunted house that are too funny. 

The Haunted House, the Nightmares Fear Factory in Niagra Falls, Canada, snaps photos of a particularly scary corner of the haunted house.

People look funny when suddenly spooked, don't they? I just had to show a few of the photos to get you in the proper Halloween mood.

If nothing else, the faces on these people might give you ideas as you carve your Jack 'O Lanterns.