In this edition of People Are Awesome, we see many women (and a few girls, and a even a baby or two) show amazing strength, skill, agility, grace, and overall athleticism. In other words, they are awesome.
Yeah, I'm impressed …and maybe a little bit envious, although I realize that these women have put in many hours, or even years, of work and practice to achieve these things. -via Tastefully Offensive
In an epic showcase of strength, skills, balance, and bravery, Jose Angeles demonstrates what happens when you combine parkour and skateboarding. There are stunts where he defies the laws of physics, but to head off any accusations of shenanigans, there's a sequence in the middle showing some falls. You don't get this good without making a lot of mistakes along the way.
This video was produced by Devin Supertramp, with an obvious sponsor. The music is "Queens and Kings" by MALAKAI (Featuring Fingazz). -via Geeks Are Sexy
Nathan Marshall banned bottle-flipping in his 6th grade class, because after all, that kind of thing is distracting. But what his students didn't know was that Marshall was determined to master the sport. At the end of the school year, he showed this video to his students.
He certainly got the bottle-tossing skills down! However, his Photoshop skills could use some work. As an aside to the students -Marshall did all this in his spare time, not during class. -via reddit
Ben Ketola had the bowling alley to himself, and rolled twelve strikes in a row for a perfect game …in only 86.9 seconds! That's a world record.
Ketola, of Cortland, New York, bowls about 50 games a week. He's been practicing this stunt to get his time down.
"It was fun to do. I honestly wasn't expecting to do it," said Ketola, a 225-average bowler who works and bowls at 281 Bowl. "I just wanted to see how quickly I could get across the house and get strikes."
While there is no official speed category in the official United States Bowling Congress' record books, Ketola wanted to attempt the unusual feat after watching a 2015 YouTube video posted by pro bowler Tom Dougherty. In the video, Dougherty fired 12 strikes over 12 lanes for what was billed at the time the world's fastest 300 game in 1 minute, 50.99 seconds.
In case you're wondering, he used eight of his own balls and two alley balls. -via SB Nation
The 1970 Black Sabbath song "Iron Man" is a heavy metal classic, no pun intended. Or maybe it was intended. Anyway, you can't get any further from the popular concept of heavy metal than the angelic music of the harp. So of course, Camille and Kennerly Kitt, known as The Harp Twins, had to play the song on harps.
In case you're wondering about the fascinating backdrop, this was recorded at the Sanfilippo Estate in Barrington, Illinois. See more videos from the Harp Twins. -via Digg
Oh yeah, it's easy to tie your yoyo string in knots. The real challenge is to get it untangled without dropping the beat! The European Yoyo Championship was held over the weekend in Bratislava, Slovakia. American Evan Nagao took first place in the open finals division, and deservedly so.
We might not know exactly how intricate these tricks are, but the crowd is full of yoyo experts and fans, and listen to how impressed they are! -via Tastefully Offensive
The 2017 WindGames were held in Spain last weekend for competition in indoor skydiving. The winner of the freestyle category was 14-year-old Kyra Poh of Singapore, who was competing against adults for the first time. Here's her winning performance.
While the acrobatics were amazing, that ending was super-impressive. Poh also won the solo speed category, in which competitors must complete a series of specific moves in the fastest time possible. You can see her solo speed performance here. -via Metafilter
People Are Awesome looked back at all the great videos of folks doing impressive things over the past year and put them all together together for you. These athletic young people show off amazing skills while having the time of their lives.
The activities themselves are pretty offbeat. There are two guys playing ball while skydiving. A fellow hits a golf ball, aiming for his buddy's mouth. Several people, unaware of each other, use inner tubes as targets of one sort or another. Some I can't figure out what they're doing, but they are all awesome. -via Tastefully Offensive
These guys traveled all the way to Switzerland to throw basketballs. But it paid off when they landed a basket from 493 feet above and set a new world record! Australian trick shot artists Brett Stanford, Derek Herron, and Scott Gaunson, together known as How Ridiculous, took turns tossing a ball from the top of Mauvoisin Dam in Valais, Switzerland in September. Herron had the third shot, and it went in the basket at the bottom of the dam!
How Ridiculous had actually held the world record twice before for the highest basketball shot, but were outdone by Dude Perfect last year. Now that they've reclaimed the title, it will be hard for anyone else to find a place to even attempt to break it. Read more about the stunt at the Guinness World Records site. -via The Daily Dot
In his workshop in Hakone, Japan, a master craftsman shows us the art of Yosegi-zaiku. You really should watch the video before you read the Wikipedia article on it, because you'll enjoy discovering what it's all about as he goes through the process.
Also, the video itself is beautiful and soothing, with lovely music. If you spot any finished Yosegi-zaiku products in a shop, or maybe in a friend’s home, you’ll be glad you can explain what goes into it. -via reddit
Mike Phirman does a snake puppet that lip-syncs (if a snake had lips) to the song Sterling Holloway sang in The Jungle Book. Actually, he doesn’t even have a puppet -he’s using just his two hands!
It’s a trick that’s as mesmerizing as the animated sequence, simply because he’s so good at it. -via reddit
This guy is amazing! He doesn't need rope or hooks. He moves so quickly up the enormous tree that his method looks more like running that climbing. And since he's been caught on camera doing it, he'll have to submit to the government in keeping with the Mutant Registration Act.
-via Geekologie
The Packard Brothers are simple men. All they want on a hot summer day is an ice cold beer. So they turn to each other and say, "Hey, pass me a beer." Then they deliver cans of beer in extraordinary ways.
We've previously seen their acrobatic beer passing. Now they're back with more trick shots featuring a summer fun theme to promote Old Milwaukee Beer.
-via Tastefully Offensive
At least I assume that this gentleman in China is using telepathy or magic. It's got to be one of the two. He flips what appears to be cookies over and into patterns with phenomenal skill. Each one moves precisely where he wants it to. Like many street cooks, he's as much a performer as a chef.
-via Atlas Obscura
America’s Got Talent is going through the audition round for their new season. This guy comes out with tape over his face, so they can’t talk to him. He’s a mime. There’s not a lot of market for mimes these days, but he puts a clever twist to what he does, and he does it well.
It’s a real hoot, but it's one of those acts that delight you when you see it -once. You have to wonder how he’s going to step it up to remain competitive over time. -via Viral Viral Videos
