I Forgot What Comes Next

One of my favorite Sesame Street clips from childhood.  And of course, my family called ME John John too.

John John and Herry Monster Count to 20

See him watching the puppeteer at first instead of the head?

Bad Things Man

Not sure how I got Dennis Hopper's early 90's Nike Football commercials in my head.

Bruce Smith: Bad Things Man



That's Junior Seau's Footprint!



Sterling Sharpe:  Like a Freight Train!  Chooo Chooo!  Chooo-choo Baby!



Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin:  They Have ESP Man



Hardy Nickerson: Act Casual

Civil Rights

So the 2008 election season has come and gone without me writing about it.

I'll say this, I spent election night dancing at Atomic Ballroom and trying not to follow things too closely once I realize that Barak Obama had won Ohio and Pennsylvania in early ballot counting.  Then heard that Prop 8 was passing in California and started paying attention again.

The people of California voted to amend the state constitution to disallow marriage for same-sex couples.  That's shocking and horrifying to me.  To a certain degree, I've been viewing this idea through the lens of my friends' experiences as liberal Mormons or ex-Mormons.  So it's been a lot about the pain of people grappling with their church's position instead of the pain of people who are being targeted for bigotry.

Yeah, bigotry.  I remember being horrified at the racism bubbling to the surface of the country during the West Virginia primary:



I laughed.  Laughed that this kind of bigotry still exists in this country.  And that people feel comfortable enough with it to expose themselves as such on camera.  And cried a little inside.

And now, as we've seemingly faced down our history of racism, we've made it clear that we haven't overcome anti-gay bigotry by a long shot.

Californians will look at themselves in the mirror years from now and have to justify this vote.  Or just be honest.  "I was a bigot."

Maya Lin's Wave Field

Maya Lin's Wave Field (hat tip, my mom)

Very cool series of installations blurring the lines between art, earth, and water.

Making Out

A friend recounted a story of an intimate moment interrupted by his partner suddenly asking a question about lyrics.

"And then we both thought of you. Because of your misheard lyrics posts. Not because of anything weird."

Awkward pause.

Clearly the next logical question was...

"What song?"

I wasn't familiar with it, and upon hearing it, was puzzled.

"That's a bit faster than anything I'd play during an unspecified intimate moment."
"Um, well, it has a good beat."

I refrained from further questions.

But it did remind me to review my make-out playlist. It's an odd thing. I have no idea what I was thinking on some of these tracks, which clearly belong on a "sex it up" playlist, not a "make out" list.

And just to randomly drop some tracks on you,

"Clouds Up" - Air




"You Do" - Aimee Mann



"Les Professionnels" - Air

JUST THE FIRST TWO MINUTES!!!



"Sleepwalk" - Santo & Johnny



"Wicked Game" - Chris Isaak




"Ain't No Sunshine" - Bill Withers




"Justify My Love" - Madonna




"Something's Gotta Give" - Beastie Boys
(well, until I watched this video, anyway)

Curl Up With A Warm Cup Of Crazy

Make sure you're not drinking anything when you watch this.  It might end up ... well, everywhere. (h/t MeFi)

The crazy really kicks in around 1:14.  Next gear, 3:55.  And finally, 6:30.  Soooooo amazingly horrifying.

Volvo Is Not Subtle

You might be trying to be subtle, but you're...
Not.  Subtle.  At.  All.

Entire commercial, but especially the logo at the end.

"Buy this car, and a hot woman like this will stroke you.  Men buy Volvo's."

Goddamn Metafilter

Seriously, I'm Working

Seriously.  Stop sending me this stuff.  I have stuff to do.

Doogie!

pilgrimsteps is in the hospital, so this one's a shout-out to her.

My Friend Jeremy Is a Huge Dork

I've got nothin' but love for ya!

Cash That Check

From the Freakonomics Blog:

What kind of people use check-cashing places? How do they work?
[...]
In their video “Checkmate,” the Internets Celebrities, a.k.a. Dallas Penn and Rafi Kam, explore these questions ...

I hardly ever use cash, carding everything, then paying my balance at the end of the month.

The ancillary business surrounding the check cashing places are really creepy to see.

Your Daily Awesome � Ira Glass on Storytelling

Ira Glass on Storytelling (hat tip to Your Daily Awesome)

Fred Rogers Earns $10M in 10 Minutes

Hat Tip to dunceuponatime.com



"Well I'm supposed to be a pretty tough guy, and this is the first time I've had goosebumps in the last two days."

I'll admit to listening to it twice, and tearing up a bit the second time I heard Fred Rogers say, "I like you just the way you are." Put me right back in my childhood.

Annoying Dew

OK, this is a personal failing, but I really find this Mountain Dew commercial annoying.



I hate made-up retro. Especially when the real thing is so much less cool. It really tickles my innards.



But it's also about the mismatch between today's positioning of Mountain Dew as a young, hip drink, while my embedded memories from the 1980's have it positioned as the "redneck outdoorsy" drink. "Dewin' It Country Cool" indeed!



Oh, not redneck enough for you?



[EDIT: Hey, I just noticed that professional skateboarder Tony Hawk is in this commercial! If you pause at 0:24, you can clearly see that it's Tony Hawk. But if you go back, he's everywhere (I'm basing that on matching his clothes). He's the very last skater at 0:11 (out of focus). Looks like his legs doing the flip at 0:13, and all the tricks from 0:16 to 0:21. I am SHOCKED to find out that there wasn't really a huge cowboy-skateboarder revolution during the 1980s!]

Oh, still not redneck enough for you?!



That's right, they progressed from serious "hick" positioning (tickling' yer innards)



to extreme indy teen behavior:



No hint of the "mountain hick" origins at all. So I figured I'd tell all eight of you who read this. :-)

SSC 22

Short Shameful Confession:

Sometimes someone will mention a brand name and I'll sing a snippet of the 1980's commercial jingle that no one else remembers. And everyone will think I'm insane.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DB9GxrcjUQ

Is Cash Best?

A friend of a friend entered this PSA in a contest for PSAID, Public Service Announcements for International Disasters:



I thought it was pretty darn effective. I actually checked out the site to read more about the justifications, so figured it deserved my vote in the contest.

Can't Sleep

I've been tossing and turning for a couple hours now.

What's in my YouTube "to watch" queue?

Mozart a la Bass Guitar

The Best!

If you've ever met me, I've probably bullied you about watching "The Wire," perhaps the best show on television. Ever. Fuck probably. It's the best show it's ever been my privilege to watch.

The Sopranos? I admit that I only watched the first three seasons, and there were some brilliant episodes. But it couldn't begin to approach the scope of The Wire.

The West Wing? Brilliantly written dialog, and some terrific episodes. But ultimately, it was episodic television with some interesting story arcs. The Wire didn't have quite the same level of dialog, but kicks ass in the characterization and story arcs. You couldn't expect an episode to end having wrapped something important up. It was a 10+ hour story. Maybe a 60 hour one.

On the surface it seems like a cops vs. gangs show. But really, it's about the drug trade and the city of Baltimore. Fascinating. The story of the city is a tragedy, but the story of the show is a triumph. The ratings were never high, like The Sopranos, but it was critically acclaimed and a growing audience.

P never watched it, and I've had fun seeing it all over again with her. We're in the middle of season 3. But at the same time, I've been watching Season 5 as it's been broadcast. And today, I watched the series finale. Yes, the final season is done. My TiVo recorded it on Sunday, but I didn't want it to be over.

I admit it, I was tearing up at the end. And I didn't even feel the need to do any push-ups after. They were very manly tears.

If you're a Wire rookie, Netflix the first disk of the first season, set aside 3 hours or so to watch the first three episodes straight through. There's a "hook" point somewhere in there. Probably the "fuck" scene. No, not a sex scene, a crime-solving scene. But some language and dead body nudity:



As long as I'm posting my favorite scenes:

"I robs drug dealers."
"Day at a time, I suppose."



Snoop buys a nail gun.



Weebay and Stinkum execute their plan to kill Scar.
"Ayo! Lesson here, 'bay..."
By the way, that tune is "The Farmer in the Dale"



For you "Airplane!" fans, here's State Senator Clay Davis in a scene I'll call "Major crimes? Golly!"



Also, the desk shot:



Oh man, I could go on for ever.

Best. Fucking. Show. Ever.

Dunk

I think these Dunkin Donuts latte commercials are hilarious. And maybe just a bit too late. By 8 to 10 years.

"It's a Large"




"Fritalian"