Amusing: September 2008 Archive Page
September 19, 2008
Geek Music for Geeks Who Don't Really Like Music
When I went off to college (late 80s) I bought a handful of very cheap classical music cassette tapes, simply because I needed some music I could listen to on headphones to drown out the noise in the dorms. I've also got a CD of classical marches, but again the reason is practical -- I put it on when I have to clean up old papers or my e-mail in-box, and the music helps me stay focused.
But I don't really like listening to music.
But I don't really like listening to music.
On my voice recorder, I have an MP3 of the Battle of New Orleans (to amuse my Civil-War-obsessed son), and a very poor MP3 of Daughter (to amuse my headstrong daughter). I lifted both from the soundtrack of YouTube videos. I also have some traditional music that I recorded during a visit to the Thunder Montain Lanappe Powwow. In all cases, I put this music on my recorder because of my kids.
My wife doesn't care much for the Internet, but in the last few months she has discovered YouTube music videos, so sometimes after I've put the kids to bed I'll come down to the study and find her bopping to pop music (some retro, some neo-retro).
While I don't go out of my way to listen to music, I will say that some songs have made me listen up and pay attention. And they're all very geeky.
So here you go, with links to YouTube videos.
Songs
My wife doesn't care much for the Internet, but in the last few months she has discovered YouTube music videos, so sometimes after I've put the kids to bed I'll come down to the study and find her bopping to pop music (some retro, some neo-retro).
While I don't go out of my way to listen to music, I will say that some songs have made me listen up and pay attention. And they're all very geeky.
So here you go, with links to YouTube videos.
Songs
- Make the Logo Bigger (Burn Back)
Heavy metal web design in-jokery. - The Humans are Dead (Flight of the Conchords)
"Finally, robotic beings rule the world!" - Code Monkey (Jonathon Coulton)
Willy Loman as a cube slave. Heartfelt and irony-free. - I Have the Password to Your Shell Account (Barcelona)
"You should be less obvious / I don't think you're smart enough." - It Is Pitch Dark (MC Frontalot)
"You are likely to be eaten by a grue!" - White and Nerdy (Weird Al Yankovic)
When this first came out, four people e-mailed me to tell me about it. - My Way (cover by William Shatner)
"I can do Star Wars!" - I Feel Fantastic (Jonathon Coulton)
"And I feel fantastic / And I never felt as good as how I do right now / Except for maybe when I think of how I felt that day / When I felt the way that I do right now, right now, right now." - Elements Song (Tom Lehrer)
For the science geeks. A spoof of the Major-General's Song, which paints British naval officers as a kind of humanities geek. - Conjunction Junction (Schoolhouse Rock)
For the grammar geeks.
- Ballet Mechanique (George Antheil)
"Premiere of all-robotic version of George Antheil's infamous Dada piece for 16 player pianos and percussion orchestra." - Typewriter (Leroy Anderson)
Warning -- video shows explicit Jerry Lewis content. - Powerhouse (Raymond Scott)
You'll recognize the middle movement from Warner Brothers cartoons that feature factories or complex contraptions, but the whole piece is worth a listen. - The Blue Danube Waltz (Strauss) and Also Sprach Zarathustra (Strauss )
Both pieces are strongly associated with the 2001: A Space Odyssey soundtrack.
Categories:
Amusing
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Cyberculture
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Personal
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PopCult
September 16, 2008
Crazy song
Good editing skills and random, candid video = 2 minutes of awesomeness. This is why I love the internet.
Takes just a tad too long to get started -- give it about 45 seconds before you decide to bail out. You'll be hooked by the second time you see the flip-flops. Via.
"Ah-ah-ah ooh, ah-ah, ah-ah-ah-ah ooh!" I'll be humming it all week.
Takes just a tad too long to get started -- give it about 45 seconds before you decide to bail out. You'll be hooked by the second time you see the flip-flops. Via.
"Ah-ah-ah ooh, ah-ah, ah-ah-ah-ah ooh!" I'll be humming it all week.
Categories:
Aesthetics
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Amusing
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Art
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Cyberculture
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Design
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Media
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Modding
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Social_Software
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Technology
September 5, 2008
Andrea Mitchell vs. the Balloons
Great little vignette highlighting the perils of live TV reporting.
NBC's Andrea Mitchell demonstrates the perils of live television as she gamely tries to report from the Republican National Convention during the midst of a major balloon drop in this clip that's amusing the chattering class the day after the two-week convention marathon has come to an end.
Categories:
Amusing
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Current_Events
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Journalism
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Media
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Politics
September 2, 2008
High Chance of Blowhards
I'm always amused when the TV reports from storm landfalls are peppered with statements such as, "There's nobody here but reporters." Who needs fairness, objectivity, and nuance when there's a storm a-brewin? Who needs balance, when you've got a pole to lean against? Oh, the drama of the live storm stand-up!
TV correspondents bellowing while taking facefuls of driving rain? Got it. Reporters hunched and squinting in the teeth of hurricane-force winds? Got that, too. Reporters dressed in the standard uniform of the intrepid weather correspondent -- colorful-but-flimsy network-logo jacket and ball cap -- to dramatize the effects of the driving rain and hurricane-force winds? Oh, yeah, got that, too.
It's not enough to report on a storm by showing TV viewers its impact. Dramatic as it is, the standard B-roll footage of pounding surf, wind-whipped palm trees and mangled power lines serves as a mere palate-cleanser. On storm stories, TV reporters are required to interact with the weather and become, potentially, human sacrifices to it.
This makes weather reporting different than every other kind of breaking TV news story. No one covers a house fire by rushing into the burning building, or reports on a war by doing stand-ups in the middle of a tank battle.
With the weather, however, participation is mandatory. -- Paul Farhi, The Washington Post
Categories:
Aesthetics
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Amusing
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Journalism
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Media
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Nature
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PopCult
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Psychology
