Oh, this one’s simple. It’s obviously just some kind of magnet at the top of the ramp that is drawing this obviously magnetized balls up towards it. Sure, it’s kind of strange that someone would be able to get a small magnet of that power, especially when it looks like the rest of the project is made entirely of cheap paper. But, you know, I’ve seen stranger things in life. Like Eraserhead. Or a man with two cocks. (Thanks for that one, Internet.) Or a one-legged man hopped up on crack masturbating directly onto my car. (Thanks for that one, 5th floor apartment with a view of where my car was parked.) But this? This one’s simple. It’s obviously magnets …

Wait a second.

Why is it rotating like that?

…

What the bloody fuck!?!?!

The video is the winner of this year’s “Illusion of the Year” contest for the Vision Sciences Society. In other words, the coolest yearly contest ever. Head over this way to see the other Top 10 finishers.

This is important stuff, people. If you need to watch it over and over a few times to make sure you understand, feel free.

Last week, if you were anywhere near the sports blogosphere or pretty much any news station, you saw this incredible clip of Brian Kowacki rounding third base, going airborne and jumping right over the opposing catcher in order to score at home:

But that’s merely one of the many crazy plays at home plate we’re going to compile in a gallery for you fine readers today. First up is a similar move in a game fro 2006 that’s so minor the camera angle is some kind of strange stationary camera from, like what, short center?

Next up we have Fernando Perez on the Durham Bulls (the Tampa Bay Rays minor league affiliate) pulling some insane rope-a-dope on the poor catcher:

Meanwhile, here’s a catcher being an asshole to the umpire behind him:

And to close it out, here’s that famous video of Izzy Alcantara taken offense to a pitch thrown a bit too inside and retorting by drop-kicking the catcher before going after the pitcher. Ask us, and that’s just a smart move. One less person to hold you back.

Also, seeing as I was in Vegas this weekend and am currently hung over, I really don’t have much else to add to this. Simply sit back, press play, and enjoy.

In conclusion, what are the scientists hiding from us anyway?!?!?

By now we know the above video for what it actually is: An attempt to get something to go viral that worked completely.

Now, usually these attempts to go viral don’t end up working for the obvious reason that Internet users can sense when something is trying a bit too hard. If someone tries to make something extremely wacky and out there for the purpose of simply getting a shitload of hits, people tend to ignore it. But in this case, they disguised their completely out of this world concept (kids performing Scarface) by masking the obvious intent of this video with a few basic elements that made people think (at least for the first few days it went online) that maybe this thing’s for real. Maybe someone actually did stage a Scarface play with kids.

To do this, they used the same conventions that have been all over the place since The Blair Witch Project hit the mainstream: Go lo-fi.

By throwing in hand-held technology, getting a few fake “parents” silhouettes in the audience, and just giving the whole thing an amateur look, they were able to trick people into thinking this sucker was real. Just imagine if someone simply did a shot-for-shot remake of the movie but with kids: That would be fun and all, but wouldn’t be the viral phenomenon that this is.

In the same way, the fact that the clip is only 2 minutes long (perfect Internet video length) and is sold to the viewers as a “portion” of the actual play, that lends an element of mystique to the whole performance. Viewers thinking this is just part of the whole play gives it another “holy shit” moment that it would lose if it was staged like a normal parody video.

The whole point of this, kids, is if you’re going to try to get something to go viral, the same concept applies that has pretty much always applied in the movies, even before Jaws made this idea even more mainstream: More is less.

Class is dismissed.

I still can’t believe this man is currently my Governor.

This stuff usually is hit or miss, but this is a pretty big hit on all accounts. (Am I the only one around who thought Kimmel came out best in the whole Leno/Conan debacle that was going on a few months ago?) I’m not going to spoil who the celebrities are who make appearances in the club – the reveal is part of the fun of the sketch – but I will say that there is a notable missing member of this club: How can you have a club of handsome men without Jon Hamm being present?

Things start to devolve (as they tend to do in baseball fights) at around the 2:00 mark, becoming just a bunch of people standing around and what-not, “holding each other back”. But those first two minutes are special, with the best obviously being the pitcher running like the dickens away from the batter charging at him with his bat.

The fight occurred in Cuba and, well, that’s all I can really gather by the video’s description because I don’t speak Spanish. (I speak American!) If anyone can decipher more about this, please, have at it. Until then, I’ll assume this is just  an everyday occurrence in the Cuban baseball league. (Suddenly, El Duque’s inherent badassness would make more sense.)

Now we don’t normally get over-serious in these parts, but every now and then we feel that it’s out duty to use this platform to help change the world. Which is why we are presenting the following video, with no commercial interruptions, to our readers. Please turn down the lights, turn up the sound, and give it your full attention. Thank you in advance for watching this video.

(Of a man exploding bananas on his face.)

So, yeah. What the fuck?