Before this video even has the chance to prove it’s ‘fucking awesome’ in rolls a Delorean. Wait, what? But it gets better. Macklemore rocks some serious second hand furs and footie pajamas while spitting out the glories of thrift shopping. Admittedly, the clothes featured in this video do err on the outrageous(ly awesome) side. But, when you look this hipster chic, who cares if your wearing granddad’s clothes (they ‘look incredible’).
Just 124 miles south of the Arctic Circle, super-enthusiastic air guitar players from all over the world gather in Oulu, Finland – aka the “Capital of Northern Scandinavia” – to compete for the prestigious title of Air Guitar World Champion, all while promoting world peace.
Another thing is clear after watching these performances: if you have ever said the only instrument you play is the air guitar, you lied.
So, ladies and gentlemen, without further ado give it up for the first female* Air Guitar World Champion, Aline “The Devil’s Niece” Westphal from Germany.
If you think you got better moves than the Devil’s Niece or this guy or this guy and don’t care about looking like a fool all over the Internets, then get your act together and mark your calendars for next year’s competition. All of those hours you’ve spent in front of your mirror acting like a rock star could finally bring you the fame you deserve…and “end war and climate change and make all bad things disappear.”
*Dave C. brought it to my attention that there is another woman who holds the record for 1st female Air Guitar World Champion, Sonyk-Rok. On Wikipedia it’s reported that she tied for 1st in 2004, but is listed under the silver medals: “Sonyk-Rok…went on to Finland, where she tied for first place, becoming the 2004 World Air Guitar Co-Champion.” So, perhaps the more accurate title for the Devil’s Niece would be the first “sole” female gold winner.
Thanks to the HSA crew for having me this month! Let’s ROCK!
So I’m gonna be totally honest here: I only have a very slight idea what’s actually going on in the above video. All I know is that it looks like living liquid metal, and living liquid metal – when it’s not hunting you endlessly through time in an effort to reduce the human race to nothing more than a somewhat Kardashian obsessed memory – is awesome.
The prefix “Ferro” generally involves magnetism, so we’ve got that, but how it goes from “rotating spikes” to “melty thing” to “hedgehog having sex with a viking helmet,” I have no idea. So I’m going to avoid falling back on the “fucking magnets, how do they work?” joke and just copy shamelessly from the description:
A steel sculpture with changing magnetisation is coated with ferrofluid.
The fluid is pulled in the direction of increasing flux density and forms peaks, which become smaller in higher flux density. At an accumulation of fluid at ridges, the flux density at the surface decreases. The flow and the distribution of the fluid can be observed at several characteristic locations.
…
The crown has horizontal cavities that discontinue the gradient of flux density. On the way to the top the fluid is accumulated until the cavities are bridged by fountains. On the way back the fluid falls in large drops over the gap. The horizontal cavity at the ridge of the hexagon remains filled at the retreat. With increasing magnetisation the fluid at the ridge rises steeply as the flux density on the hexagon is slightly higher than at the other side of the cavity.
Parkour is impressive in a “holy shit that looks cool, why don’t I look like that when I try it?” way that will almost inevitably lead to looking like an idiot.
By complete coincidence, this is also how I feel about drawing. I never had that gift of translating mental images into anything visually cohesive or recognizable aside from “blob,” “squiggle,” and “Personal signature that my bank still calls me to verify almost every month for the past seven years.”
So combine both of those things that I find impressive (and completely impossible) with elements of papercraft, flipbooks, and a giant wall, and I find myself shaking my head, smiling, and hitting “replay.”
Here's Some Awesome 