It's the Friday video post! The Oceanmaker

This is a delightful little CGI short set in a post-apocalyptic world where most of the water has run out (a la Mad Max).

Instead of cars, it's all about planes – and getting hold of that precious wet stuff.

It's the Friday video post! Electron microscope slow-motion video of vinyl LP

If you've ever wondered what a phonograph needle looks like when it moves through the grooves of a record, this is the video for you.

When you think about it, being able to hear stereo music all because of microscopic grooves in a thin piece of circular plastic is pretty amazing – even in today's world of digital downloads and music streaming. In fact, there's something vaguely magical about the whole thing, and the fact that we can't normally see what's going on with our own eyes makes it even moreso.

Thanks to electron microscopy, however, we can see that it's not actually anything particularly mystical.

But it's still cool.

Needtobreathe

My good friend Jon recently introduced me to this great band, Need to Breathe.

They're Christians, but don't let that put you off – they've got some great music with soulful lyrics. I highly recommend them.

A bit more s'mores

Having recently posted about the American phenomenon that is 's'mores' elsewhere, I am pleased to report I have images of some s'more bars that I made:

Unfortunately I messed up the butter quantities somehow and put too much in (there's a lot of butter required to make them in the first place), but they were still OK – apart from being a bit oily. I dread to think how much fat was in them.

We also ventured out into the wild to make hot dogs and do proper s'mores, the way they're supposed to be done. Here's our British version:

Two digestive biscuits (chocolate chip digestives no less!), a roasted marshmallow and some Milka chocolate (I guess it should have been Cadbury Dairy Milk to make it authentically British, but I'll do that next time). 

Oh, and here's a scene from Toy Story 2 with a little joke about this unhealthy snack:

It's the Friday video post! Tilting the Streets of San Francisco

This is such a simple idea - and lots of fun!

Follow me on Twitter (please!)

This is a shameless plug for my other bit of social media presence. Twitter – in case you've been living underground with wart-covered trolls for the last decade – is basically a lot of people shouting stuff they think other people would find interesting. Or something like that. It's also where politicians and celebrities go to embarrass themselves or do their best to get sacked. I know, sounds brilliant.

I just happen to do my fair share of 'tweeting' to the masses, and you can follow me here (http://twitter.com/justinchaloner) if you don't already (you will be pleased to know that if you follow me I will almost certainly follow you back).

Thank you!

Shameless plug over (for now).

It's the Friday video post! The Leviathan

The Leviathan is a short proof-of-concept teaser trailer which looks like a sort of sci-fi Moby Dick. Looks amazing, and I think Hollywood is talking to the director about making a full-length feature which will be interesting.

Oreos and S'mores - S'moreos if you will

A new variety of Oreos are coming out in the States: Oreo S'mores.

If you read my blog you may be aware that I have a certain weakness for anything Oreo. They truly are my Kryptonite. When we visited New York in February I was dismayed that I couldn't find a decent supermarket stocking the vast range of Oreo varieties and returned to the UK empty handed and a little dead inside. Ah well.

Another thing I wanted to try when I was in the States was S'mores, which I'd heard a lot about. Turns out, they're not actually a branded product, but a treat constructed from crackers (biscuits), melted marshmallow and chocolate traditionally eaten around a campfire.

Many food products have their own S'mores version (including Pop-tarts and Hershey's chocolate), and now it seems Oreo are getting in on the action too. Mmm, they do look nice.

Our American trip inspired me to make some S'mores of my own (making use of Marshmallow Fluff which we bought over there), and I tried a recipe from, er 'Love in the oven' (http://lovintheoven.com/day-11-smores-cookie-bars/) which was pretty awesome. Here's the British version (with metric quantities):

340g butter
50g brown sugar
100g caster sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
150g plain flour
65g plain digestive biscuits (crushed)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 x 180g Bournville Dark Chocolate Bars
200g Marshmallow Fluff

So basically, you mix together the butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, flour and biscuits to make a thick dough. Spread half of it onto a greased baking tray, then layer the chocolate on top. Spread the marshmallow over the chocolate and then put the biscuit dough on as the final layer (this is the trickier bit as the marshmallow is quite soft). Chuck in the oven until brown on top, then leave to cool a bit before dividing into squares.

I don't know how easy it is to find Marshmallow Fluff here in the UK but I'm guessing you can just use normal marshmallows.

Needless to say, this recipe is highly calorific and has no redeeming qualities nutrition-wise, but these s'mores taste so good, you just want to have - ahem - some more (geddit?).