I came across some really cool videos on Parkour and Freerunning. Parkour is basically the skill or sport of clearing objects and moving quickly when chasing or running away. Parkour is basically about various vaulting techniques, landing safetly from very high drops, and landing precisely on very small surfaces. Freerunning is Parkour, except instead of trying to use the most energy efficient techniques, they try to make it look cooler by adding spins and flips, etc.

This is a good video to give you a taste:

And this is a good video to give you an idea of how they practice:

It reminds me a lot of the jumping games we used to play as kids, but taken to extremes.

Security camera footage.

There is this great Japanese TV program that seeks to answer ridiculous questions. The first time I saw a clip from this program it revolved around the question of whether a Samurai sword could really deflect .50 bullets. I was sure that no sword could do that, but it turns out that they can if the bullets strike the sword on its edge. Admittedly this effect only lasts for a couple of bullets before the sword is fatally weakened. But that is still pretty impressive.

The program below seeks to answer the question of whether the world champion fast walker would run or walk if his life was in danger.

This YouTube clip perfectly captures the kind of ingenuity that is necessary to be a good in the trades. Sadly, it is also a good example of why I am not a particularly handy tradesmen. The stunt below would never even occur to me. And even if it did, I don’t think I would have Click Here to continue reading.

According the comments on this site, the Queen was not pleased that the military choose to play Darth Vader music for the Saudi King.

You only need to watch the first part of the clip to get the joke. The rest is just blather.