“THAT’S METAL!” — BUT IT’S NOT MUSIC (NO. 102)

 

(Old-timers at our site will remember our old friend Phro, whose frustration at the infrequency of our That’s Metal! series has led him to take matters into his own hands.)

One of the few bright spots in my week is waking up Sunday morning, after passing out following a rousing evening spent fighting zombie wombats for the last packet of crackers, and reading a new edition of That’s Metal! Sadly, though, the (not-so) esteemed Islander apparently no longer feels like entertaining me with all manner of entries that are metal in one way or another.

A lesser human would whine and moan about it while waiting a year to get new entries — and that is exactly what I did last year, until we received a new installment in November! But now the jerk has gone off and been a lazy ass again, so post-zombie-wombat-battling Sunday mornings are once more sad and boring. But to hell with waiting another year! Here’s some metal-ish stuff that’s not music I found all on my own. Please enjoy them.

Prince Rupert drop

I imagine this isn’t really new to many of you — it seems these bits of glass have been made since at least the 17th century! (If you can believe Wikipedia.) They’re pretty cool looking bits of glass — kind of like a giant piece of sperm frozen as it rocketed through space Silver Surfer-style.

But looking pretty isn’t all these bits of glass do — they’re also insanely strong in the globular section while simultaneously being incredibly fragile in the tail section. In fact, it turns out that the entire piece of glass will shatter in spectacular fashion if the tail sustains enough vibration — but the front bit can withstand a bullet fired from a rifle at point blank range, provided the tail doesn’t start going crazy.

But it’s really something you need to see to appreciate, so here’s some dude shooting a Prince Rupert drop with a rifle at 150,000 frames per second!

 

 

And here’s a video that explains more of the science behind these weird little piece of sperm glass.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birds are metal!

Yes, birds are metal. I mean, owls fly silently through the night, snatch up mice, and eat the shit out of them raw, so that’s pretty metal, but in this case, I’m talking about something slightly different.

Yeah, flying is awesome, but it’s not inherently metal unless you’re strapped to a rocket like John Glenn…or Xavi Bou is on the scene. Then it gets insanely metal in a Lovecraftian, what-the-shit-is-that kind of way!

As Wired explains: “Bou snaps hundreds of photos of birds in flight and stitches them together in Photoshop, compressing several seconds of movement into one frame. The photos in Ornitographies are as stunning as they are haunting. ‘[It] shows the hidden beauty of nature,’ Bou says.”

Here are a few more images from his Bou’s Facebook page. You can see more photos there and in the Wired article above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take a ride on my (barber) pole

I’m sure a lot of readers will be familiar with the history of surgery and barbery due to how gory it is. While we mostly go to barbers now to get a shave or haircut or to hire Luke Cage, at one point, it turns out people went to them for everything from removing warts to bloodletting. (I guess Luke Cage could do some bloodletting for you if you ask nice enough…)

Of course, barbers back in the day needed a good hook to draw customers in, so they did what any sane person would do — they put bowls full of blood out for everyone to see! Who needs Don Draper when you have bowls of blood? So what does that have to do with contemporary barber poles? Let medical historian and writer Dr. Lindsey Fitzharris explain! (Also, how awesome is her opening sequence?)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baby owls!

Okay, we’ve done a lot of learning now, so let’s take a breather and check out some cute baby barn owls — oh, god, kill it with fire and napalm!!

 

 

 

 

 

Literal metal spear is metal!

Look, I suck at headlines but this dude is going to not quite impale himself on a spear and then spin, all for your entertainment!

Andrew Stanton is the Las Vegas performance artist in the video below. One of his tricks is apparently balancing himself on a metal spear and then spinning. He says that, based on how narrow the spearhead is and how much he weighs, there are about 400 pounds of pressure on that point. Which is about 399 pounds of pressure more than I want poking me in the stomach…

 

 

Check out SwingShift SideShow, the group Andrew belongs to, here.

 

 

 

 

 

Anathema Photography

Finally, we have the work of Danielle K L Anathema, a photographer from Alberta who produces incredibly graphic photos of all manner of horrific things covered in blood. I’m not sure how much is creative editing and how much is real effects and makeup, but I really like the end results!

I actually don’t have much to say about the photos since they definitely speak volumes on their own. You can find more awsome photos on the Anathema Photograpy website and Facebook page.