A couple of days ago, I randomly decided to watch the mockumentary “Confederate States of America,” which depicts how our nation would’ve been shaped if the south had won the Civil War. The documentary parts are…meh…but the fake commercials that come in between are extremely offensive, but funny in a Chappelle’s show kinda way. Whilst the credits role, we come to find out that “ZING! MOTHER FUCKERS!” the products were all actually promoted in the united states…for real. Yikes…suddenly the movie is less funny and more scary.
More fake commercials from the movie after the jump:
The sound of Dexys Midnight Runners before “Come on Eileen” was more ska, less hobo, but still has the alot of the catchiness and strange British affectations about its vocals. “Geno” captures the bouncy flavor that made Dexys so popular, without the political messages that flood many of their other tunes. There are a couple other songs that you can find on the youtubes from their debut album, but listen to this one first, it’ll make you happy (or you’ll just make fun of me for saying something positive about ska)
So…grad school makes it hard to post (especially during finals) but I have found some spare time to inform you of songs you should know, but haven’t yet had the opportunity. This tune by the Kinks is especially tasty. Most know them for “you really got me,” but there is a plethora of wonderful Kinks material to saturate your “ear buds” with. This will hopefully be another thing that anyone with an Elitist attitude (I’m looking at you Barack Obama) can add stuff to.
Ok, so this one might be stretching it a bit when it comes to it’s “Greatness”, but what the hell. Being a dumb-ass american, I could easily put anything from the hispanic hip-hop genre up here, but this tune is truly challenged when it comes to the spoken word. It may not be great, but it is catchy, in a mumbling sort of way. And if that wasn’t enough, it did of course inspire this. (and yeah, I did link to the same video twice in a row. I’m going for a record.)
This video might be a little boring at first, like a large bee with dog legs, but watch the whole thing. It’s cute and scary all at the same time. (note how life-like it is at 0:36 and 1:24)
Yeah…now your words of cuteness have been replaced by an awe of fear. If this video of eminent destruction has scared you, watch this to remind you of the other benefits of modern technology.
“you know uh….was wonderin…if..if you could keep on…cause the force…has alot of power… and…you…you make me feel like…you make me feel like…WOOOOO”
I’ve listened to this song for years, and I honestly love it. But damn that spoken opening section still kinda creeps me out. The force has alot power? Is MJ a fucking Jedi? Who is he talking to? Anyway, besides the opening, I can’t really tell what’s going on in this tune. The chorus sounds like “Keep on..when the pump stuff” and as for the rest of the song I just guess while singing in a strong falsetto. Just use a lot of vowels and occasionally say “WOOOO” or “OOOOOH” and you will appear to be making an admirable sing-through.
I have often pondered why there are so many songs in the popular vernacular that are simultaneously hard to understand. Many of them have a singable tune about them, for which I attempt to sing along. Upon such encounters, I realize that I have no fucking idea what i’m trying to sing, just a jumble of syllables and an occasional “Baaaaby!” at the end of a phrase. This realization has inspired me to create a new series of posts that honor these instances in popular confusion.
The first honoree is not a very well known song by a band who is very well known for their one-hit-wonder “Come On Eileen”. ”What She’s Like” by Dexys Midnight Runners was on the follow up album to Too-Rye-Ay, the album known for their one hit. The new album flopped, the band dissipated, etc., but what most people don’t know is how fucking sweet the album actually is. ”What She’s Like” is one of the shining gems from the band’s last album and has a video that is almost as confusing as the lyrics (see Dexys frontman literally floating down the streets of Manhattan). As you have probably figured out, the song is damn hard to understand without the help of lyrics by your side. And I honestly fucking challenge you to try and listen to the songs with the lyrics, you’ll still be grasping for realization of whatever he’s trying to say.
The Writers Guild of America has asked it’s members to ratify the new contract deal and END THE STRIKE. After three months of “Deal or No Deal” (which I was starting to like) the light at the end of the tunnel is visible. “The Office”, “Scrubs”, and possibly a full 16 episode season of “Lost” (as opposed to the 8 episode heart attack version we were supposed to receive this spring) are in our nearish future.
The news of the strike ending has conjured the question of how we pop-culture enthusiasts survived the decay of thoughtful television and the rise of “people doing stupid shit fo’ real” (see the new AmericanGladiators). I have personally been watching a preponderance of material “on the online”, such as full seasons of “Curb your Enthusiasm”, “Lost” and various other shows that I have longed after for some time now. Others may have lost themselves into the abyss of “Celebreality” that Video Hits One can crank out even faster without writers. Being reeled in by the question of which gross-ass ninja-turtle-ass fake-ass “hussy” has never been my cup of tea (I’m lying, how can I quote Chance from “I Love New York” without watching it, damn), but it is understandable why we would subject ourselves to this in times of famine.
I’ve been gone for a while, so I’m back with a cool video of a guy who figured out how to make a VR head attachment for the wii. You really have to watch it to understand.
If nintendo actually made something like this (which would require owning two wii remotes) there could be some really fun results. This is all assuming that you’ve forgotten that the Virtual Boy was in existence.
