Palindromic video

Posted by Mark Frauenfelder, April 20, 2009 2:37 PM |

If, after watching this video, you want to see it played backwards, don't bother. You already did! (Via The Agitator)

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Discussion

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#1 posted by codeman38, April 20, 2009 2:48 PM

Is anyone else reminded of the "Backwards" episode of Red Dwarf?

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#2 posted by dagfooyo, April 20, 2009 2:55 PM

Michel Gondry did something similar a few years ago - one of my favorite music vids of all time:

http://www.mtv.com/videos/cibo-matto/46392/sugar-water.jhtml

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#4 posted by joncro, April 20, 2009 3:02 PM

doh!
beaten to it by seconds..............

but the MTV canot be sen outside the USA so the rest of us can view it on Daily Motion

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#5 posted by dagfooyo, April 20, 2009 3:07 PM

Great minds think alike, eh Joncro? Or twisted minds perhaps. FWIW I can view the MTV and am in Italy. But the dailymotion loads faster...

Also, Red Dwarf rocks, and that is one of the classic episodes.

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#6 posted by Antinous / Moderator, April 20, 2009 3:20 PM

If that's the national headdress of Palindromistan, I know where I'm taking my next vacation.

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#7 posted by alisong76, April 20, 2009 3:20 PM

Gave it a go, but I can't handle eating noises.

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#8 posted by sophos7, April 20, 2009 3:51 PM

With #7... yeah. I work with a guy who eats his lunch like that every day... He hasn't caught on that I close my office door every day when he takes lunch...

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#9 posted by Beta_Bates, April 20, 2009 4:16 PM

With #7 and #8... Eating noises drive me up the wall. Glad to see I'm not alone in this.

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#10 posted by argelesplage, April 20, 2009 4:16 PM

A palindrome reads backwards the same way it reads forward, i.e. "Yo, Banana Boy", or "a dog, a panic in a pagoda".

Playing audio backwards is a different thing. Maybe it even has a name. Call this clip what you will, but palindromic it ain't..

Yes, Red Dwarf rocks, big time...

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#11 posted by Snig, April 20, 2009 4:46 PM

This is great, but many people do not know that the written out lyrics of the entire song catalogue for the band "They Might Be Giants" is one long palindrome. It's not obvious as they are not halfway through, and it'll be a few years before they start the second half of their songs, which will be considered less accessible and clever and kind of odd and garbled sounding compared to the first half of their songs.

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#14 posted by apoxia, April 20, 2009 5:27 PM

that cibo matto video has broken my brain.

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#15 posted by A New Challenger, April 20, 2009 5:59 PM

Sugar Water broke my brain when I saw it a couple years ago, too.

Also of note, Douglas Hofstadter's Crab Canon, as well as Bach's version which it refers to.

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#16 posted by Anonymous, April 20, 2009 6:10 PM

You're wrong, Argelesplage.

Frauenfelder's headline does not call this video/audio a palindrome but describes it as "palindromic."

Your pedantry aside, a transcript of the audio would read the same backwards and forward and would itself qualify as a palindrome.

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#17 posted by Anonymous, April 20, 2009 6:46 PM

Was it a rat I saw?

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#20 posted by KyleTexas, April 20, 2009 9:44 PM

That's not a Palindrome movie. *THIS* is a palindrome movie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbkNxYaULBw

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#21 posted by Anonymous, April 20, 2009 9:57 PM

thinkin' of the man from another place and laura palmer...

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#22 posted by Anonymous, April 21, 2009 1:00 AM

Gah! The eating noises are just too much! I had to turn it off after a few seconds.

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#23 posted by Anonymous, April 21, 2009 1:11 AM

Dimitri Martin would get such a boner over this.

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#24 posted by Kobie, April 21, 2009 1:51 AM

Great video - I especially love how at the beginning the backwards guy agrees by saying something sounding like 'Yes', but at the end we hear it forwards & find out he was actually saying 'See'. Really really clever.

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#25 posted by Anonymous, April 21, 2009 9:29 AM

this was pretty cool

after playing Braid, i had to resist the urge to hit the shift key and reverse everything

also i think that the Red Dwarf writers were the first to elaborate on the idea of a traumatic reverse-toilet experience, but i might be wrong

also, i have the tshirt he/they is/are wearing, and that pleases me for some strange reason

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#26 posted by hackedbychinese, April 21, 2009 9:57 AM

i only got as far as noticing i have that same shirt (urban outfitters).

but then SMACK SMACK CHEW GURGLE SLURP *VOMIT* video closed.

so gross.

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#28 posted by Anonymous, April 21, 2009 1:49 PM

Here's another "palindrome" movie.

http://daveuhler.com/?q=node/93

Rather than just being bunch of visual tricks... it attempts to tell a story. Unlike the video above it takes into account that people talking in reverse directions can't understand each other... but inevitably effect each others progress in time. Underneath the clip is a link to see it backwards if you wish. Please leave a comment.

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#29 posted by Anonymous, April 23, 2009 1:56 AM

John Callaghan says:
You are to be congratulated. By me. Very cleverly scripted and executed!

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#30 posted by Anonymous, April 23, 2009 2:16 AM

John Callaghan again. It occurred to me that one of my videos might appeal to those who've enjoyed yours:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSNJe7Hk5RQ

All the best with your future projects!

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