So This Blog Happened

laughingsquid: New York City Plans a Ban on Large Sugared...

Thu, 31 May 2012 10:12:15 -0400

New York City Plans a Ban on Large Sugared Drinks

Oh my. Not that I’m running to 7-11 to grab a giant jug of Coca-Cola anytime soon, but this is a little much. A little common sense and self-control can really go a long way. I’m guessing anybody who indulges in giant bathtubs of sugar drinks probably partake in lots of other terrible food habits, like using glazed donuts for deodorant and using french fries as chopsticks (if you take an accidental bite of these chopsticks, woops! Delicious!).

Just… really, everyone. Just calm down with the giant sugar bomb drinks, and we won’t have to hear about His Highness wasting his time with things like this.

Also, if you’re a sicko who needs their 7-11 soda swimming pools, you’re going to just buy 2 (or 3) smaller sodas and get your fix anyway, aren’t you?

What Songs I Was Loving: 1/21/11 What follows is the posting for...

Wed, 30 May 2012 10:53:12 -0400

What Songs I Was Loving: 1/21/11

What follows is the posting for the playlist I put up the week of 1/21/11. As I mentioned last week, I’ll be re-posting these in scattered fashion over time as I catalog the playlists within on Spotify.

This week, Built to Spill is the rollover band, with the 18-year-old Nowhere Nothin’ Fuckup, the Fiery Furnaces want you to keep them in the dark, and The Dismemberment Plan tell you what time it is in frantic, stuttering fashion (literally).

Seriously, I couldn’t possibly sing along to Girl O’Clock. I still miss The D-Plan even though they just reunited on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon and are currently on tour, because I’m very confident we’re done seeing new music from them. I guess there’s a chance they feel da funk and get back to it, but I highly doubt it.

If you haven’t heard a song by The Black Keys in the last year, it’s only because you made a conscious effort to avoid them. TV commercials, Saturday Night Live, and various other appearances such as their standoff with Vampire Weekend on The Colbert Report helped The Black Keys reach a new height of popularity. This gritty song that most people probably know as “something that isn’t Tighten Up” insists that she’s long gone, because buddy, you never had a chance.

As a video bonus that won’t win you double your money in the Cash Cab, we have Atiba Evans by Panda Bear, which isn’t yet available on Grooveshark. The song is named after the director of the video of the video it soundtracks, which you can read more about over at the great Stereogum. The song’s actually less than 5 minutes long, as the second half of the clip is credits. If this is any indication of what Tomboy’s going to sound like, sign me up.

ATIBA EVANS Panasonic GH2 Skate from skatefairy on Vimeo.

iPhone thief takes photos, doesn't realize their uploading said photos to owner's computer with Photo Stream

Sat, 26 May 2012 15:14:08 -0400

iPhone thief takes photos, doesn't realize their uploading said photos to owner's computer with Photo Stream:

By now, I’m assuming we’re all familiar with Apple’s Photo Stream feature. It’s the service that automatically uploads photos you take on your iPhone (or iPad) to all of your other Apple device for easy cataloging. No need to sync the photos or transfer them; they’ll be there.

Anyway, someone stole an iPhone during a Disney Cruise, and apparently wasn’t aware of this feature, else they wouldn’t be taking so many photos with. So what does the original owner do? Why, make a separate, fantastic Facebook photo album of those photos entitled “Stolen iPhone Adventures.” It’s the ultimate dick move of revenge against someone who made a dick move stealing that iPhone in the first place. Fantastic.

For no real reason, I figured I’d share a desktop...

Sat, 26 May 2012 13:42:50 -0400

For no real reason, I figured I’d share a desktop wallpaper that I love. It was made by Michael Moreland, so direct all praise to him. Click the source to get the full-size version; I posted it in a low resolution here to encourage everyone to get it from the proper place.

"By the time he turned 5, Michael had developed an uncanny ability to switch from full-blown anger to..."

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:21:00 -0400

“By the time he turned 5, Michael had developed an uncanny ability to switch from full-blown anger to moments of pure rationality or calculated charm — a facility that Anne describes as deeply unsettling. “You never know when you’re going to see a proper emotion,” she said. She recalled one argument, over a homework assignment, when Michael shrieked and wept as she tried to reason with him. “I said: ‘Michael, remember the brainstorming we did yesterday? All you have to do is take your thoughts from that and turn them into sentences, and you’re done!’ He’s still screaming bloody murder, so I say, ‘Michael, I thought we brainstormed so we could avoid all this drama today.’ He stopped dead, in the middle of the screaming, turned to me and said in this flat, adult voice, ‘Well, you didn’t think that through very clearly then, did you?’ ””

- This kid is a total sociopath. (via newsweek)

Sleep tight.

theatlantic: In Focus: The American West, 150 Years Ago In the...

Fri, 25 May 2012 10:55:16 -0400

theatlantic:

In Focus: The American West, 150 Years Ago

In the 1860s and 70s, photographer Timothy O’Sullivan created some of the best-known images in American History. After covering the U.S. Civil War, (many of his photos appear in this earlier series), O’Sullivan joined a number of expeditions organized by the federal government to help document the new frontiers in the American West. The teams were composed of soldiers, scientists, artists, and photographers, and tasked with discovering the best ways to take advantage of the region’s untapped natural resources. O’Sullivan brought an amazing eye and work ethic, composing photographs that evoked the vastness of the West. He also documented the Native American population as well as the pioneers who were already altering the landscape. Above all, O’Sullivan captured — for the first time on film — the natural beauty of the American West in a way that would later influence Ansel Adams and thousands more photographers to come.

See more. [Images: Timothy O’Sullivan/LOC]

Click the link above to see those shots. Wow.

It’s the Summer of Gimmicky Playlists: Commercials and...

Fri, 25 May 2012 09:32:00 -0400

It’s the Summer of Gimmicky Playlists: Commercials and Their Songs, REDUX: 5/25/12

This week, we Fly Emirates, Galvanize, and come to the realization that I seem to recall commercials for alcohol more than others like some kind of lush or something.

If you’d like to guess what ads these songs belong to, go ahead and listen to the playlist first, then read all them words below. That could be fun, right?

Let’s get to it.

The song: The Chemical Brothers - Galvanize

The product advertised: Budweiser Select

Not exactly the most brilliant TV ad ever, the basic premise is that if you believe that there’s anything appealing about Budweiser Select, you’ll start to see their logo in every day objects, I guess. Right? Yeah. It’s a crazy fun product, you see, because it causes people to do some odd things, such as dancing near their floor-to-ceiling windows alone, and owning a mounted swordfish.

Galvanize, the song featured in the ad, is a tune about 2 minutes too long by The Chemical Brothers, featuring Q-Tip and a sample of a song named Hedi Kedba Bayna, by Moroccan singer Najat Aatabou. Q-Tip has some advice for everyone. Don’t hold back! The time has come to galvanize! Et cetera! So get out there, go “buck wild” as the kids say and drink some Budweiser Select, which I’m 100% sure I’ve never seen in a store or a bar.

The Song: Rival Sons - Get Mine

The product advertised: Jeremiah Weed alcoholic beverages

Oh, this commercial, and the testosterone that just drips from every seam of it. Even the still frame has two guys arm wrestling. I mean, just watch the damn thing. It makes you want to FLEX AND WHATNOT. You might be grabbing a can from the 7-11’s beer fridge, but next thing you know? Heh, well…. next thing you know, YOU’RE KISSING A GATOR. EATING A HUGE ASS BURGER. LIFTING A KEG OVER YOUR HEAD THEN SLAMMING IT DOWN. RAHH, LIGHTING SHIT ON FIRE BRAH. This commercial’s ridiculous, and I can’t help but think it’s impossible to confuse who they’re trying to sell this alcoholic tea and cola to.

As for the song by Rival Sons, I’ve heard worse out of the straight-up modern rock genre. The lead singer tries (and fails) to imitate Robert Plant, it would appear. The best part of this song? The pre-chorus. The worst part? The chorus.

The song: The Kooks - Shine On

The product: Michelob Ultra, fruit-ified

From Konk, Shine On is a delightful ditty featuring The Kooks at their sunny best, so it’d make a lot of sense for it to be used in an ad featuring lots of sunshine, fruit, and light, fruit-flavored beer. Once again, pretty sure I haven’t actually seen this beer anywhere.

Now, I don’t know what’s going on, but between this list and the last time I did this, it seems like alcohol commercials have dominated. Is it because I tend to better remember commercials featuring alcohol? Do the marketers have a formula for picking popular and catchy music that gets people wondering what those songs are, thereby having them inadvertently look these ads up again? I’m going to bet on a combination of the two. Well played, big alcohol.

The song: Alex Clare - Too Close

The product: Internet Explorer 9

Google goes DIRECTLY for the heartstrings with their TV ads, showing artist-types, children, and folks sharing their It Gets Better messages meant to inspire. It’s an extremely effective campaign, and I’m personally pleased that Chrome has FINALLY, MERCIFULLY overtaken Internet Explorer in market share. But enough nerd-pride. Microsoft’s marketing department says FORGET THAT. They’ll hit you with the dubstep, man. And Cut the Rope. In actuality, this wasn’t a bad piece of advertising. The song is aggressive and grabs your attention, while images of apps and culture you presumably consume all the time are shown. The aforementioned Cut the Rope. Iron Man (the moment when he’s revealed is really an in-your-face moment of this ad). Bing, with animated wallpaper.

Alex Clare has a very interesting album which is a little bit out of my musical comfort zone, which most definitely “pops.” It’s a pop-sounding vocalist opting to ride the wave of modern aggressive dubstep-y beats. The final product is something I don’t altogether hate.

The Song: Spencer & Antfood - Trek

The product: Fly Emirates

An ad featuring world travel, starting in Dubai, and that features a sentimental song named Trek? Makes sense. It’s a pleasant song paired with a pleasant if not totally unoriginal ad. I actually don’t have all that much to say about this one except that I like the song. So there you go.

I’m about to bend the rules of the vow that I made here personally last week and bring up Beach House again BUT JUST FOR A SECOND SO HOLD ON ‘CAUSE IT’S RELEVANT.

There are a couple of songs and ads that I would’ve featured, but which remained on the cutting room floor. One is the ad featuring Kurt Vile’s Baby’s Arms for Bank of America, and the other is an ad for Volkswagon, featuring a total bastardization of Beach House’s Take Care, something they did because Beach House wouldn’t license their own song to them. Click here to read about that little tousle, and click here to read about Kurt Vile’s mini “Bank of America” controversy.

Carrying on.

The Song: Everest - Let Go

The product: Corona beer

Probably my second favorite song of the week (the favorite’s coming later), Let Go is featured in this ad for Corona beer that doesn’t do much to mess with the formula of their recent ad campaign. Take a sip of Corona (limes conspicuously absent, because without lime Corona’s a little gross), and hey, you’re at the beach! I haven’t, in my numerous scientific tests, been able to prove the teleporting ability of Corona Extra. But that’s OK, because I’ll keep trying until I get it done. Also, yes, this is another ad for alcohol.

Anyway, the general haunting sound of Let Go is what I found so gripping, even when we’re being comforted that:

I know we’re gonna make it tonight,

Tomorrow we’ll be alright.

Let go.

The song: Chairlift - Bruises

The product: iPod Nano

It is crazy to think that this ad is already 4 years old. The iteration of the iPod Nano featured in this ad already seems so very, very old, but even saying that about a product that’s only been around for 4 years really talks to just how quickly Apple keeps dumping all these new doohickeys on everybody’s heads. My iPod Classic seems ancient and huge, and it’s only about 5 years old. That thing’s a brick.

To comment on the song, it sounds like it was recorded on a Casio keyboard, which is OK. The result is a very pleasant, airy sound that does nothing to offend or challenge, but invites all to come to the pop party.

The song: Johnny Cash - Hurt

The product: Prototype 2

Alright, I’m going to say it: this ad is pretty great. As Johnny Cash says

I hurt myself today,

To see if I still feel,

we see a man, a war veteran, struggling with memories of his presumably deceased family jumping to his death. It’s very easy to glean the story of this game from the commercial. Man comes home from war only to find his family dead after being infected with a virus that’s taken out most of New York City. He can’t handle it, so he tries to kill himself, except he can’t. He’s cursed with this virus not killing him, but mutating him into a monster who now seeks nothing but revenge for what’s happened. And again, these images are set to freakin’ Johnny Cash’s Hurt! One of my favorite covers of all time. If it was a movie, would you not be totally curious to see it? It’s just as effective for a video game, even if it probably wouldn’t be as nuanced. What I’m trying to say is this ad is so good. It helps that it’s also the one that features what’s easily my favorite song of the week.

Next week: We’re dusting off the time machine. Something tells me we’ll be “lost in time” for a little while (WINK).

theavc: Why did Dan get let go from the show? We’re not made...

Thu, 24 May 2012 11:09:51 -0400

theavc:

Why did Dan get let go from the show?

We’re not made aware of why staffing changes take place but I will always be grateful to Dan for his great work on the show and wish him only the best. We’re also excited that we’ll be back on NBC’s schedule in the fall and are looking forward to working on those episodes.

Here’s the thing about nerds Sony. We don’t have a lot of people, but we’re extremely loyal to the people we do have. So if you’re thinking about sending a memo to the Community staff telling them what to say about Dan Harmon, you might want to reconsider.

Oh hey, wonderful! “Here’s your answer to that question, automatons. Now go forth, and be corporate-friendly!”

/winds up giant key in Donald Glover’s back

When there’s not enough caffeine in the world to wake me...

Thu, 24 May 2012 11:05:55 -0400

When there’s not enough caffeine in the world to wake me up, I want one of these.

Canada's CBC will offer an alternate audio channel directed at women who watch the Stanley Cup Finals. What?

Thu, 24 May 2012 10:21:48 -0400

Canada's CBC will offer an alternate audio channel directed at women who watch the Stanley Cup Finals. What?:

CBC, a Canadian broadcast network, have announced that they will offer an alternative audio channel for people (specifically, women) to listen to if they were so inclined as to watch the upcoming NHL Stanley Cup Finals (which I REALLY hope includes the Rangers, but I digress). So, what does this mean? I’ll let the commentators of that audio channel give us a clue:

Thanks guys, but if we really wanted to, we could probably figure out how to analyze a five-on-four situation. In all seriousness, there is no shortage of talented female sportscasters out there who we respect. We just think it’s more fun to talk about why so many gorgeous players come from Welland Ontario and why they all skate around with scotch tape holding up their socks.

I’m confused. So this is going to be play-by-play and commentary that don’t actually talk about the action, to make it more enjoyable for women? Am I missing something. Digging just a little bit deeper, the two women who’ll be providing this audio are from a web site called While The Men Watch, “where girl talk is a sport.”

They cover stories that ask the hard-hitting questions, like which celebrities should Jeremy Lin shack up with, and what would their combined celebrity name be (actual examples: Katy Perry + Jeremy Lin = Jer-Per and JLo + Jeremy Lin = JLin)? Also, sex on game day: a boon, or a curse? And ladies, since you can’t possibly be fans of March Madness basketball, and since you’re forced to watch by those meatheads you date, here are 10 March Madness terms you should learn to fool everybody into thinking you know what’s going on onscreen.

I’m just failing to understand what the purpose and message is here. Is there an assumption that women are sitting with their boyfriends in front of a televised sporting event, calling a touchdown a homerun, and are waiting in quiet desperation for the game clock to strike 0:00?

As the hosts of While The Men Watch point out in the quote above, there are numerous respected female sports commentators in the industry who, and I can’t believe I even have to point this out as it should go without saying, are quite capable at analyzing our favorite sports.

I’m just confused by the whole thing. Someone help me out here.

laughingsquid: A Slinky Continuously Running Down a...

Thu, 24 May 2012 09:18:29 -0400

laughingsquid:

A Slinky Continuously Running Down a Treadmill

Good morning. So this happened. Just LISTEN to that music. Looking forward to the Michael Bay adaptation of this.

Welcome to your new favorite Tumblr of All Time of The Day: MOVIE SIMPSONS

Wed, 23 May 2012 13:47:37 -0400

moviesludge:

It exists for one simple, glorious reason: to pair Simpsons clips with the movies they reference.

So This Blog Happened Classics: What Songs I'm Loving This Week: 1/14/11

Wed, 23 May 2012 11:25:53 -0400

So This Blog Happened Classics: What Songs I'm Loving This Week: 1/14/11:

daverosado:

Thanks to the awesome guys at Grooveshark, you’re able to make a customizable widget with as many full-length songs as you want that you can embed on your web page. I don’t know how long you’ve been able to do this, but I only learned about it yesterday morning, so it’s news to me!

Anyway, now that I’ve discovered this gem of a feature on their site, I’ve decided that every Friday, I’ll put together 5 songs that I’ve been loving the past week. There’s no rhyme or reason to why I chose these songs, as they’re not necessarily new or noteworthy; they’re just songs that I’ve been in the mood to hear this week, or that hit me just the right way at the perfect moment the past few days, so I decided to share them with you guys. The source to these posts will always be Grooveshark’s site, as I recommend it to everybody I know who likes to discover new (or old) music on a regular basis.

This week’s short list includes an old Animal Collective song, an even older Built to Spill song, and those funny We Are Scientists fellas insisting they don’t bite, maybe.

Maybe I’m just too easily impressed, but I love that you can make the music widget as tacky as you damn well please. See?

Here’s my very first “Songs I’m Loving” post to this here blog, made all the way back in January of 2011. The lists were much shorter then, as were the posts. January 2011 was, on a personal level, quite a different time. Some simply great things have happened since then.

I’m reblogging this today (and will, eventually, reblog lots of other old lists) because a lot of the old Grooveshark widgets I posted of these lists don’t work anymore, and I wanted to retrieve them for personal, Spotify-cataloging purposes. I figured, what the hey, let’s share the posts again. By the way, it says something that Spotify, an application and product that’s only been available in the States for about 10 months, feels as if it’s been around so much longer. I only started using it here in July.

I was so young and silly back in January of 2011, recommending Grooveshark to everybody. Oh, the old days…

Anyway, here’s the music*:

*I’m not sure why the Built to Spill song isn’t in the embed below, at least for me. Click the link just above to get the full list on Spotify. It’s in there for sure.

There’s an eerie ghost town in New York City you might not...

Tue, 22 May 2012 14:58:00 -0400

There’s an eerie ghost town in New York City you might not have known about; here’s a small peek

This is but one photo (click the source to see the rest) of a 5-block stretch of a border neighborhood between the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. It’s inhabited by very few (if you don’t count the stray dogs and wild plants) because of its location; it’s 30 feet below sea level. It floods each and every time it rains. And it can’t be hooked up to the city’s sewer system. There were plans to develop housing there, but it never happened. Instead, nature claimed the area for itself.

Definitely click the source link to see more.

"The reality of New York City is that people are willing to pay more for a parking spot than the..."

Tue, 22 May 2012 09:20:08 -0400

“The reality of New York City is that people are willing to pay more for a parking spot than the average person in the country pays for a home.”

- A Dickhead (via bestrooftalkever)

One time, and this is a true story, I was on the N train going over the Manhattan Bridge towards the borough of the same name. I was standing, listening to my music and minding my own business, when a woman got bumped fairly hard by a much taller man seeking standing space by the doors. The woman, rightfully annoyed, said “Excuse ME,” and the guy said, he seriously said, “Yeah, well, welcome to New York, lady” and settled into his new standing spot, smirking. After saying this, he put on a pair of shades. I’ll never forget it.

He must be friends with the above dickhead.

newsweek: Everybody on the Internet hates Garfield. I…...

Mon, 21 May 2012 16:22:02 -0400

newsweek:

Everybody on the Internet hates Garfield.

I… what? Click the link to read more Garfield hate, which I for the life of me can’t understand. Are these people confusing Garfield for Heathcliff? Because fuck that filthy mongrel. But Garfield? C’mon! These must be people young enough to only know the Bill Murray movies.

Ron Burgundy asks “Hey America, did you miss my hot breath...

Mon, 21 May 2012 13:21:00 -0400

Ron Burgundy asks “Hey America, did you miss my hot breath in your ear?” in quite possibly the best teaser trailer I’ve ever seen.

entertainmentweekly: There’s a movie based on Battleship — so...

Fri, 18 May 2012 15:33:19 -0400

entertainmentweekly:

There’s a movie based on Battleship — so why not adapt any of these 12 board games as well?

We put together a dozen fake posters for board game movies we’d like to see — as well as plot summaries and casting suggestions for each flick. (For Connect 4: “In Connect III, Reg Caldwell pulled one last job and thought he was out of the life for good. He was wrong. Again. With only four bullets in the chamber, he takes on syndicate boss Milton Bradley (William Fitchner), who has kidnapped Caldwell’s sister. Luckily, sis (Gina Carano) is known to be pretty sneaky herself.”)

Most excellent.

The Village Voice have begun announcing which bands will play...

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:43:01 -0400

The Village Voice have begun announcing which bands will play its annual 4Knots Festival

The spiritual successor to The Siren Festival at Coney Island, the second (annual?) 4Knots Festival will hunker down at South Street Seaport on July 14th. And so far, I’m pretty excited.

The Drums will be headlining, and Hospitality will be one of the earlier acts. For those two alone, I’m there.

Remember: It’s a free show, open to all ages, and the Seaport sells alcohol outdoors. Outdoor afternoon summer drinking!

theatlantic: The greatest humble brag of all time. “Oh,...

Fri, 18 May 2012 11:46:17 -0400

theatlantic:

The greatest humble brag of all time.

“Oh, this? No big deal. Just this little pet project of mine, that I’m telling you all about using said pet project of mine, that you’re all members of because to not be means you’re a weirdo or something. By the way, tell me everything about you so we can load up some custom ads. Thanks! Also, I’m just dirty with money.”