Brandon Todd is 5 feet 5 inches tall. He wanted badly to be able to dunk a basketball, which is hard enough for basketball players who are much taller. Todd wanted it so bad that he trained for three years, inspired by Russian power lifters, and gained 85 pounds of muscle. The inspiring story is told in this film from 522 Productions. -via Metafilter
You are about to watch young men and women perform stunts that were once only seen in circuses. This is a music video from CheerSounds, a company that produces custom music for cheerleading squads, with video recorded at StuntFest 2013. The song is called "Decitona."
Oh, these gymnasts are impressive, but also frightening from a parent's perspective. A recent study in the Journal of Pediatrics confirmed a trend that cheerleading is the most dangerous sport for female Americans. So I feel I must say, "Don't try this at home." You have to wonder about the stunts that didn't make the cut. -via Daily Picks and Flicks
You may have noticed that the average young male athlete won't consider doing Olympic-style gymnastics, maybe because the style and scoring are extremely rigid and the uniforms are weird. But if you make it freestyle and call it something else, like breakdancing, parkour, tricking, or martial arts, then they are quite willing to jump right in. There's a lot of talent out there! Watch scenes from the Red Bull Kick It 2013 Taekwondo competition in South Korea. -via Viral Viral Videos
When people get used to seeing a bagpipe-playing, kilt-wearing, unicycle-riding Darth Vader, you've got to step up your game. Brian Kidd, the Unipiper, did just that by adding flame to his pipes! He's doing his part to keep Portland weird. -via Tastefully Offensive
See also: previous stunts from the Unipiper.
World-record distance swimmer Diana Nyad first tried to swim from Cuba to the U.S. in 1978. It was not successful. Just a few minutes ago, at age 64, Nyad reached Key West, Florida, successfully completing the 103-mile swim in her fifth attempt. She swam for 52 hours and set a world record for a distance swim without a shark cage.
Link | Official website
-via Metafilter
(Image credit: Women's Sports Foundation)
Ethan Schlussler has a treehouse 30 feet up. To get to it, he constructed an elevator out of a bicycle and a pulley system. Sweet! -via Tastefully Offensive
An American has won the 2013 Air Guitar World Championships, which took place in Oulu, Finland, over the weekend. Eric "Mean Melin" Melin bested the competition, including fellow American Doug "The Thunder" Stroock in the final matchup.
Air Guitar World Championships 2013 was a tight twist to two Dark Horses. Thursday's victorious Eric "Mean Melin" Melin (US) also nailed both of his performances in the Friday's World Final - after being challenged by his countryman, Doug "The Thunder" Stroock. As a result, The Thunder's oozingly sexual air guitar moves couldn't compete with Mean Melin's straight-forward rock charisma: the Kansas-based Dave Grohl lookalike is inevidably going home with the World Title of Air Guitar and hand-made Flying Finn electric guitar.
Americans took four of the top give final rankings, but many other nations are represented in the finalists. Link -via Laughing Squid
(Image credit: Maiju Torvinen)
Continue reading to see a video of Melin's winning performance.
Friday night, voice teacher Sarah Horn went to see Kristin Chenoweth and the L.A. Philharmonic perform at the Hollywood Bowl. Part of Chenoweth's show is a duet of "For Good," a song from the Broadway musical Wicked, and an audience member is selected to sing it. When they asked who knew the song, Horn volunteered, and was brought on stage. Here is an alternate video with a better view, but more audience noise. From the reaction backstage afterward, Horn may be destined for bigger things.
Paul Geller, Production Director at both the Hollywood Bowl and the Walt Disney Concert Hall pulled me aside afterward. He said that the production staff is very picky about the quality of performers that they allow on their stage and that what was produced in that song was better than anything they could have planned. He took down my contact information because at some point during the last three songs, he got a phone call from the LA Times wanting to know if I was an audience plant and asked my permission to pass on my contact information for them to speak to me directly, if needed.
Horn tells the story of that night at Broadway World. Link -via Metafilter
It's hard enough to march in formation and play an instrument. The Dutch Army Bicycle Band does it on bicycles! Most of them play with one hand and control the bike with the other, but what about that fellow playing the snare drum? He's awesome! -via Metafilter
The Korean dance group Morning of Owl shows off some innovative moves at the 2013 R16 dance battle in Seoul. You can see the entire sequence, with their competition Slavic United, in a longer video at Laughing Squid. Link
Photos: Scott Eisen
Escape artist Anthony Martin locked himself in a casketand had it thrown out of a plane at 14,000 feet. It's a good thing that he managed to pick the lock and escape ... but if you think about it, even if the trick went south, he's already in a casket ...
Martin said the escape was exhilarating but that he was disoriented because the plywood casket whipped wildly from side-to-side while he picked the locks, and he struggled to open the door.
"I didn't feel any force, but what I felt was a lot of jostling," he told The Associated Press. "It seemed to me like I had a glimpse of the ground for a second then it (the door) came back and I had to give it another push."
Martin, who began teaching himself to pick locks at age 6, somersaulted out of the box as he pushed his way to freedom.
"I didn't know where I was ... but I was hypnotized as I watched the box falling behind me," he said.
Andrea Thomas of the Associated Press has the full story: Link
Video clip below:
Who says you need a man and a woman to sing a duet? Watch Reggie Ramirez channel both Lionel Ritchie AND Diana Ross by singing Endless Love
at Philippines Got Talent in this YouTube clip.
... Glamamore/Mr. David lipsynch to With You I'm Born Again
by Billy Preston and Syreeta at Circus Night at Trannyshack, 2006:
Professional skateboarder Bob Burnquist named his backyard "Dreamland." In this video, you'll see why. The moves become more insane as the video progresses -especially at the 6:30 mark. Um, don't try this at home. -via Metafilter
Rhythmic gymnast Shin Soo-ji threw out the first pitch at the game between Doosan and Jamsil on Friday. I think she made an impression with the crowd! If you don't believe what you see, wait for the slow-motion replay from a couple of different angles. -via Gorilla Mask
The puppeteer/dancer who goes by the single name Christopher welcomes us to Las Vegas in style with his new Elvis video. You might recall his recent Dancing Queen video. Continue reading to see the most notable of his earlier puppet performances. -via Laughing Squid
