So apparently there was some controversy and feelings of betrayal swirling around this ridiculously amazing video, when it was discovered that it was actually created by a rich and powerful (and, one assumes, soulless) ad agency, and not in fact by a group of suburban teenage geniuses.
Whatever.
I just discovered this sublime slice of so-coolness 15 minutes ago, and I don’t care who made the damn thing, I’m just glad somebody did. Hell, I’d sell my soul to be able to make something this good. If only all corporate art was this transcendent.
Let me start off this rant/review by saying that I love Stephen Sondheim. I have followed him to the ends of the earth, or rather through many S/states, both literally and artistically. Each time I go to the theater for one of his shows it’s basically a pilgrimage to the savior of modern musical theater. To me, he is akin to Alfred Hitchcock, both masters of their genre, both great artists throughout long careers and most importantly, they both created some lesser work, as all artists do, that I still sit through and never feel like a moment of my time was wasted, because even at their worst, they are better than most.
Now I could be completely bitchy and say that this all changed last night, but that’s not true. Back in 2003, I was fortunate to see the world premiere of Sondheim’s newest show at the Goodman Theater in Chicago entitled Bounce. It was not one of the best nights in the theater, interesting of course, but a bit of a train wreck. The saving grace of that evening was a simple and honest performance from Richard Kind as Addie Mizner. His humor and light touch kept the clunker of a show moving. Not too long after, the show moved to Washington DC and then planned to make a bow in NYC, but never did. Despite losing much traction, Nonesuch released a cast recording, and as a devotee of anything ever recorded that bears Sondheim’s name, I purchased it.
I’m not going to front. I fucking LOVE Moby Dick. It’s probably my second favorite book (after East of Eden, of course). The trick is to skip the nautical chapters and stick to getting inebriated off the prose, starting with the second line of the book- the first might be the most famous, but the second is enough to make a believer out of any Lit major. It’s also an immensely quotable book. The last time someone pissed me off, I told them “ from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee.” That showed them.
Anyways, I went through a Moby Dick phase a couple of years ago. I couldn’t get enough- after I devoured the book I was renting sperm whale documentaries, reading up on Nantucket- it was bad. What wasn’t bad, what was actually pretty amazing, was reading Nathaniel Philbrick’s In the Heart of the Sea- the true story that inspired Moby Dick.
The story that inspired Moby Dick is far more interesting than the actual plot of the novel. It makes you wish Melville had stuck a bit closer to fact.
Right after the accident Questlove was able to send out an email / blog detailing the crash.
It’s long, but seriously enthralling. There are movie references to “Back to the Future” and “Spice World.” If he had discussed the null-g battle room in “Ender’s Game” I might have had to single handedly create “Pop Ten Blogawesome Awards” and hand one out. I’m someone who is ridiculously afraid of crashing, car, bus, plane, subway, you name it I’ve played the whole “ball of fire ripping through the subway car” secenario in my head far too many times (I blame “Speed”). I’ve been in one car accident (knocking) and the thing that I remember most vividly is drinking diet coke and looking at the can because it was errupting all over me… I kept thinking, am I shaking this can? Why is this happening? Maybe it’s a fluke? Oh no my clothes are all wet! Then looking up and seeing the world spinning around me…
After the jump read you can read Questlove’s blog (via Perez via Okayplayer). Everyone, do me a solid, and drive safe this Holiday Season.
Unfortunately, I’m already dreading the next chapter for all the Obama supporters. A lot of them are going to keep obsessing. And it’s going to get on my nerves. (not that I haven’t been one of those annoying Obamaites myself for the last few months)
I was in the airport the Monday after the election, and I saw an US weekly with Barack and Michelle on the cover. A day later, I saw a Daily News at the grocery store with the Obama daughters next to Miley Cyrus. Somehow, this has gone from “Holy Shit, how did this possibly happen,” to “Wow, we just elected Brangelina”
I’m not ready for my President to show up on Access Hollywood. I can’t tell you how annoying it is to see those celebrity columns with pictures of Sarah Jessica Parker doing “normal” things. Guess what! They take out the trash! No shit. They make movies too. I sometimes watch those movies. This does not mean I should care about whether they ordered a non-fat venti machiatto this morning.
As a favor to The Man, I want to make sure he never worries about my thoughts on his choice of coffee. (And yes, Obama is officially The Man now. The Man the hippies used to talk about.) Think about it - if you’re one of those diehard people who followed every poll, you really don’t want to start tracking his toilet paper brand. If we sic the Paparazzi on Obama, he’s gonna have to waste a lot of time worrying about every single stupid decision he makes…
I think he has more important things to take care of right now.
But then again…
After the Jump, Misgivings about my burgeoning annoyance…
Lifehacker recently pointed to two UK lists of the top ten most irritating (and clichéd) phrases in use today.
But I feel like these lists are too UK-specific and also a bit too general. I feel like most of us buzzword-weary guys hear far more irritating phrases than these lukewarm ones.
I’ll list my ten (and Oxford & BBC’s) after the jump- what are yours?
Oh the old “movie out of a book” thing! As far as I can divulge from internet gossip and TV trailers “Twilight” is “Buffy” if you were born in the early 1990s. Complete with blue undertones and hair that’s way longer than any you have ever seen on an actual teenager. I’m already exhausted seeing people read the 1000+ page books on the subway, the cover of which is an apple and a hand, or a ribbon… I guess an homage to Snow White? Don’t remember any vampires there, just dusty dwarves. This is totally a re-hashing of the “Harry Potter” thing where kids who were never reading before are now immersed in novels bigger than their heads, which is fine, I’m all for reading. Although, as always, I am content to skip the time consuming part read and the wikipedia entry. I’ll summarize for you, and save you the time:
Blah blah blah
“Although she was inexplicably attracted to him even when she thought Edward [the vamp, obvs] drank human blood, she is much relieved to learn that the Cullens choose to abstain from drinking human blood, and drink animal blood instead.” [pfew!]
Blah blah blah Insert *action* insert *vampire chases*
“Upon returning to Forks, Bella and Edward attend their prom…”
The end!
You know, I don’t throw out the “G word” often because to me, most people who are called genius these days, just have moments of ingenious behavior. But few are actually geniuses! I know, I know, what makes me the authority on who is a genius and who isn’t?! The same thing that governs this genius welfare bank that everyone else seems to withdraw from. Nothing at all! Not a damn thing! But…I do have a formula…or at least a theory. To me, a genius is a person who has somehow found a balance between the apex of soul, and the apex of science. For instance, Jimi Hendrix. Trained musician. Knew all his notes, and the science of the guitar. But clearly he played heavily by soul (also known as instinct.)
Another piece of criteria, is the ability to create. You cant just mimic Flight of the Bumblebee when you are six years old, and suddenly be a genius. A prodigy maybe, but a genius, naw. A genius must create!
In 2008, there are, though few, some geniuses. See Exhibit A below: Mystery Men, by Gnarls Barkley
Note: This is the only exhibit in this post…just in case you work looking for ten exhibits…ain’t no exhibit J.
If you’re itching to ROFLMAO, and you are one of the ten people on earth who doesn’t know about FAIL Blog (I ashamedly admit I was one of the ten until a few minutes ago)… This site had Chris, Juan and I ROFLMAOing all over Juan’s cement basement floor. 100% lollers.
If you tire of passive entertainment and want to dive into the online universe of Flash games, I’ve found no better guide than this, the 150 Best Flash Games. You can actually play Contra, Super Mario World and Smash Bros (Lite) online!
And if you’re just itching, read this article- turns out scientists have NO IDEA why we itch or scratch. But they have found an itch-gene. So one day we’ll pick little Billy’s hair color, eye color, level of aggression AND itch-free lifestyle.
10. When your most respected senior detective is one day away from retirement, saddle him with an untested rookie partner and a dangerous serial-killer investigation.
9. ALWAYS pair a world-weary, by-the-book detective with a reckless loose cannon.
8. When confronting a wild young officer about his most recent tally of wrecked police cruisers and damaged civilian property, remind him that you worked with his father: a good cop who played by the rules, goddammit.
1. WEB The 404
Maybe it’s because I work from home by myself that I just enjoy having the sound of other people’s chatter, but if I had to choose the chatter, I would definitely go with the guys at The 404. This live video stream of a radio show covers pretty much any topic you can think of, pop culture to current politics to obscure trivia and the trivial. There is both humor and intelligence to be found here every weekday at 11am EST. It’s kinda like listening in on those slightly nerdy guys in the cubicles next to you that are actually pretty funny (at least that’s how I imagine the work place environment).
2. ALBUM ShineEstelle
Aside from offering the beyond enjoyable pop tune “American Boy,” which graced this column a couple of weeks ago, the album as a whole has proven worthy of a mention. While nothing is quite as infectious, the album has incredible musical merit as Estelle pulls us through multiple genres with the greatest of ease. There’s lots of classic hip-hop, the Lauren Hill-esque “No Substitute Love” (ripping the melody of a George Michael classic) and some of that UK style hip-pop that Lily Allen has made a career of. Enjoyable from start to finish.
3. EDITORIAL NY Magazine: Recession Index
Documenting the shifting numbers of our current world by comparing statistics from a couple of months to a full year ago, this column demonstrates the everday realities of recession life in NYC. My favorite recent comparison concerned the amount of PBR (disgustingly cheap beer) sold at the bar Max Fish in July versus October in which the number literally doubled! These statistic can shock, they can terrorize and they can make you laugh, something we could all use right about now.
I am trying to transition from being a raving angry liberal to a dumbstruck happy liberal. It is not an easy task, as I have to admit I had lost so much faith in this country that I was stealing my nerve to rebel if our man had lost. Thank goodness my faith in this nation was restored, because that was a scary path I didn’t want to explore.
Now that we can get back on the right track I know right where to start. We need to reassess this ceaseless war on terror. It will be our downfall. When we drop our nation’s manure all over the world we give our enemies fertile soil to sow the seeds of hatred. Think of all the countless people who were first labeled terrorists who later broke the chains that bound them and claimed the name hero. My top ten terrorists who turned out to be heroes after the jump… More on page 273
You remember when Tom Cruise was in Minority Report? There in police HQ he had pretty much the most amazing screen for getting through information. He was pulling documents up from the ether, and we were all amazed at the possibilities. Well… the person who made that idea up has now begun the first step to putting it into practice. Check this out, and be awed by how futuristic humanity is these days.
We’ve all heard of some pretty nutty, wildly unethical, and all around awesome-sounding psychological experiments. Most of us are familiar with the Stanford Prison Experiment, Little Albert and the infamous Milgram study (if not, click on ‘em!) BUT there are other, far more bizarre social experiments that were cooked up before all those pesky ethics got in the way. Here are a few of the oddest…
URINAL PERFORMANCE ANXIETY
All of us hombres have been there- we race into a urinal after a movie, have to stand inches away from two fratty/cowboyish gentlemen, and suddenly can’t get the machinery working. Well, in the name of science, Middlemist, Knowles & Matter (1976) designed an experiment to test how invasions of personal space affected the speed and flow of men’s urination in a public restroom. (Why? Because inquiring minds want to know!)
As if conducting a normal experiment wasn’t enough, the scientists did a pilot study. A college student was positioned at a public restroom mirror for hours, surreptitiously recording the social habits of college guys trying to get their pee on. Joe Universitario would stand by the mirror looking like he belonged there, with a stopwatch, listening for the length of time between zipper pull and urine flow. As we’d all expect, guys took a bit longer operating the hose when they were in the close company of men.
Intrigued by the pilot study, the scientists decided to invest in a periscope and assign a grad student to get all Red October in the men’s room. Grad student numero dos would spend his days standing in adjacent urinals as college guys peed.
The results mimicked the first, the scientists felt elated at the landmark find, and three unfortunate college students’ lives were never the same.
Alright so here is the really cool news. Victor and I have officially made it into the list of press bloggers. We’re now a few of the people who get to go to movie premieres, test out new board games & video games, and generally get fun stuff in the mail. We feel like minor VIPs! With our new powers we got the chance to check out Quantum of Solace (press edition). A thoroughly fun and mediocre Bond flick. I was hoping for the intelligent plot line to continue on from Casino Royale’s slam dunk, but unfortunately it falls short. However, a couple of the action sequences are inspired, and deserve being seen by fellow Popcornites.
THE RAW SCORE: 7.2 out of 10.
So where to begin… Well standing in line for popcorn sounds like the best way to go. The cinema was a buzz with two big premieres of Quantum happening in parallel theaters. The people in line all were carrying little laptops and pocket keyboards and all kinds of journalistic gear. They all knew each other from the hundreds of other screenings they’d all been to in the last few years, and they all had bracelets of varying colors to signify their extra worth.
I protested for the first time today! I walked down Broadway from the high 60s to Columbus Circle… I’m not by definition a protester, in the early 2000’s when people were blowing whistles and walking out of NYU classes to protest the war, I stayed back. I believe strongly that the way to change the world is to do it from the inside. I believe in volunteering to start, making small differences in people’s lives and working up to making big differences.
But I remember years ago saying that the only things I really feel comfortable protesting, the things that I feel are infallible but are for some reason up for grabs, are abortion rights and gay rights. (I’m not going to talk about how I believe that marriage is a civil right, and how I believe that minority rights is not something that should be put to a popular vote, and how I cannot understand why anyone would actively, monetarily, physically support something that promotes hatred, and howI do not see how any God could not want happy families…) but! I will say, that standing alone with hundreds of people you don’t know, and running into old friends you love, yelling and screaming for the rights of your best friends, of your family, of Americans, it feels pretty good!
Ever since I first saw it creasing out jokes in Kotaku and Boing-Boing posts, I knew I had to make it mine. I had found the text formatting equivalent of a half-dried pencil eraser a soulmate.
Yes, I’m in love with completely in love with the strikethrough.
Winter is coming, my friends. While speculation that HBO would be bringing “A Song of Ice and Fire” - George R.R. Martin’s epic (and as yet unfinished) fantasy series - to life has been circulating for well over a year now, the official greenlight has just been given to produce Season I, which will be entirely devoted to the the first book in the series, “A Game of Thrones.” Yes my nerdling brothers, HBO is planning to devote an entire season to each installment in the 7-novel arc, and the TV versions will be written by Martin himself, along with feature writers David Benioff (”The 25th Hour,” “Troy) and D.B. Weiss.
This is of course assuming that R.R. deigns to ever actually complete the effin’ series. More after the jump.
He did it, yes he did, yes we did, change, change, change- amen. There were tears in my eyes and an overwhelming sense of euphoria that stayed with me for days. And now that we’ve all accepted this Best News Ever, it’s time to turn our heads to the next issues at hand. The failing economy, the deplorable state of climate change in the US, and the headache we’re going to have in 2012 or 2016.
See, possibly the most amazing thing about Obama is his ability to step into our living rooms and make us all subconsciously believe that we have dinner with him on a regular basis. And let’s face it, his continuous Yes We Can has infused us, inspired us, and made us all a teensy bit delusional about ourselves. So there are a ton of us out there who suddenly think we have a decent shot at the presidency.
