Just a little something to spice up your work week. Whereas people in most countries clap on beats 2 and 4 when listening to a song, German people clap on beats 1, 2, 3, and 4! This video offers some proof from popular German television shows (can you say kitsch?)…

What happens to the 705 residents of Crawford, Texas when George W. Bush moves to town?

Though I missed the much-talked-about screening at Netroots Nation in July, the good folks at Live Action Projects were nice enough to send me a preview copy of their excellent new documentary film Crawford.

The film is an wonderfully intimate portrait of a small Texas town as it rides the ups and downs of the Bush presidency. And with represention by Submarine Entertainment (Spellbound, Super Size Me, Control Room), Crawford is sure to get its fair share of attention.

From the website:

Crawford’s characters are by turns bizarre, entertaining and tragic. Shoved into the spotlight for political stagecraft, their insular town explodes, pushing a progressive teacher and her student to the brink — and beyond. Invaded and abandoned, Crawford booms and busts, like the Presidency itself.

Told through the eyes of Crawford’s characters, this is a fun, funny, and ultimately moving story. CRAWFORD is a microcosm of the Bush era — a feature-length documentary that offers a new and colorful way of looking at the last seven years.

For more information visit www.crawfordmovie.com and join the facebook group here.

This just in via the Hollywood Reporter: Intel is working to create an animated short by combining social networking and computer animation. According to Carolyn Giardina’s report,

The Mass Animation project, which begins in the fall, will be produced and directed by Yair Landau, former vice chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment and president of Sony Pictures Digital.

Intel is sponsoring the launch of a Facebook page where animators will be able access a collaboration application built on the platform. Established and aspiring animators will be able to work together to create the animated short.

“You can think about ‘American Idol’ in terms of the process,” Landau said. “Everyone will get a chance to participate and vote. … It is a filtered collaboration so that we will have the best possible work at the end.”

Landau is developing the story. Discussions are under way to get the finished film a theatrical release.

Creative tools will be provided. Participating animators will be able to download an evaluation version of Autodesk’s Maya Unlimited 3-D computer-animation software. Reel FX Entertainment animation studio will use proprietary tools to convert selected videos to final-quality animation frames for posting and sharing on the Facebook page. Aniboom will supply the content management infrastructure.

For more information, including how to receive a notice when collaboration begins, visit www.facebook.com/massanimation and become a fan of the page.

The latest animated short from PES (New York-based filmmaker Adam Pesapane), Western Spaghetti is a delicious study of everyday objects. Read more about his work here and here.

Chris Tackett at Treehugger just sent me this article about a guy who is getting rid of his SUV but wants your help to decide what to do with it. So, whether you think he should blow it up, take it apart, cover it in graffitti or throw it off a cliff, let him know at onefewer.com.

The peerless You Tube surfer Vanessa Roanhorse has just drawn my attention to a new video from Venezuelan-American folk rock musician Devendra Banhart (whose website is super fun to play with). The song, Carmensita, is from his latest album, Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon and the video stars none other that Natalie Portman . I’d be curious whether any Hindus find it offensive…

After seeing The Dark Night yesterday evening (yes, it does in fact live up to the hype), I was thrilled to come across this gem of an animated short this morning. Baman Piderman is the perfect antidote to the slew of over-produced superhero films coming out this summer. The video was made by artist Alex Butera who readily admits on his blog,

Animation is my life. I eat it for breakfast, have some for lunch, and usually go out to a movie for dinner. If I’m working on a project, whether it be solo or with my amazingly talented girlfriend, I can’t wait to get onto the next one.

According to the YouTube description: “Dis baman an piderman dey is fwends.”

By now you’ve probably heard of colony collapse disorder but it’s not on your major list of things to freak out about (like the economy, climate change and food shortages). BUT the disappearance of honey bees is such a serious matter that it might actually effect all those things. In an effort to raise awareness, Haagen Dazs (why them?) has created helpthehoneybees.com, a sweet interactive flash site and a companion viral marketing video:

No, bees do not wear pants. And if you think this is weird check this shit out.

We just want to take this opportunity to commend Ray Tintori, a 24 year old director from Brooklyn, on his fabulous music video for the song “Time To Pretend” by MGMT. The video has been described as “a low-fi, epic, psychedelic 3D odyssey”. We prefer to catagorize it as “a neon explosion of carnal delight with a Lisa Frank and Lord of the Flies-meets-Dune aesthetic”. Since the video has been blocked from embedding you’ll have to click here to see it.

Ray Tintori also directed MGMT’s interactive music video Electric Feel which is similarly rad.

One man who takes recycling to a creative and unusual extreme…