Bet That

I just found out about last night's coin toss and I wanted to check it out on youtube. In less than a day, someone already turned it into a viral video. Even though I can't see the coin itself, I get the point and it's kind of funny. What's funnier, is that I often find myself saying, "it all comes back to Seinfeld" and it's true. Even though it's not my favorite show, it all comes back to Seinfeld. Always.

Still Ain't Changed

Last Monday, we had our year-end CD Mix Club meeting. We hadn't met as a whole in several months so it was great getting everyone together. We dealt with the cramped space and freezing climate in my anteroom, and had a good time catching up, talking about music and exchanging CD's.

Here's the track list and blurbs for my "Best Of 2008" mix. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out even though I made last minute changes. I could have spent more time on the sequencing and specific song selection but it was a tough task narrowing things down in the first place. I'm thinking several exclusions might show up on a "Best Of 2008 Volume II" mix in the near future but for now, one volume will do. Feel free to click on the links. Some of these songs have pretty good videos too.


1. All City - SF Anthem

All City is San Francisco's own San Quinn, Big Rich and Boo Banga. Quinn is my favorite SF rapper and Big Rich is pretty good too. I don't really know anything about Boo Banga but I do know that he holds his own on this song. I also know that Traxamillion sampled Scott McKenzie's hippie anthem and turned it into a great Bay Area rap song. "I rep my city."

2. Lyrics Born - I Like It, I Love It

Even though Everywhere At Once wasn't as solid as his earlier work, LB is always good for at least one really funky, really fun track per album and this one definitely qualifies. "Girl you look so cute, men be gettin' at me just to get at you."

3. Charles Hamilton - Jeezy Hamilton

There's something about Charles Hamilton that keeps me coming back even though he isn't that good at rapping. He's like Lil Wayne in that his voice can go from being his best asset to his worst feature in the matter of a couple of songs. Although is back story is interesting and his moderate fame is somewhat deserved, his cockiness isn't justified. Even though some of his songs/lines/hooks are god-awful garbage, there's something about this Young Jeezy-sampling track that kept me coming back. Maybe it's the beat, maybe it's the Jeezy... "you tryin' to outrun a cheetah in a rat race/but even cheetahs need a CH, this cat's great."

4. Young Jeezy - Put On (feat. Kanye West)

In the year of "featuring Kanye West", this is one of the few "featuring Kanye West" songs that doesn't feel like a Kanye West song. Sure, Kanye provides a nice introspective change of pace but this is definitely Jeezy's track. "me, I'm in my space ship, that's right I work for NASA."

5. Wale - Hey... Mr. Carter

I like that Wale gives props to Jay and Wayne, seeing as he is using the beat from their song to maintain his buzz. Usually, I don't like it when rappers spend the time between verses explaining a so-called clever lyric from the previous verse. In this case, I don't mind a bit because Wale uses "wikipaedia" as a verb to teach fools about obscure ex-NFL players. He just loves rapping about football players... "the game is a store, I'm the male Winona Ryder."

6. T.I. - Like I Do (feat. The Dream)

This is one of the stronger Paper Trail leftover cuts. Sure, it's your typical rap song about the ladies but The Dream's smooth vocals and T.I.'s effortless, um... swagger, make this so much more. It probably wouldn't have fit on Paper Trail, but then again, it's much better than "Porn Star." "Bright lights, rollin' through the city..."

7. The Cool Kids - What Up Man

I still haven't heard a song by The Cool Kids that I didn't like and a lot of that has to do with the beats. This song is all about "talking" the beat. I think you know what I mean. "did you know I made this beat with my mouth and a bell?"

8. Santogold - Lights Out

I wrote about this song earlier. Twice in fact. "I keep just one step ahead/there's no place to run."

9. Annie - I Know UR Girlfriend Hates Me

Sometimes I wonder if I listen to Annie just because she has some indie/Internet cred but then I realize that she writes catchy songs backed my excellent pop production and she hasn't been force-fed down my throat by the media. She's also super cute (as opposed to trashy, like some other pop stars) but that shouldn't matter... "Who's wearing your trousers now?"

10. Girls Aloud - Miss You Bow Wow

Part two of my Euro-pop portion of the mix is a song by the British version of O-Town or Danity Kane. Aside from the reality show aspects, Girls Aloud fall under the same category as Annie. However, even though they aren't without a little manipulation and doctoring, they have much more impressive vocals than Annie does. "20 hours in the twilight zone, only lovers in the world that night."

11. Kardinal Offishall - Gimme Some (feat. The Dream)

Over past couple months, I've been going through a pretty strong "The Dream" phase and it was all sparked by this song. The deep dancehall-esque rapping of Kardi seem to fit nicely with the synthy beat and calming hook by The Dream. "They said I can't do, that's why I do it to death."

12. KiD CuDi - Embrace The Martian

Not since Nelly was relevant has rap-singing been as good as it has been this year. Kanye, Lil Wayne, T.I., Jay-Z and several other rappers are testing their chops. It's probably too early to tell but if he keeps making music this good, CuDi is destined to be on the same level as those artists. He's off to a good start anyhow. "All I ask of all y'all is to please, embrace the martian."

13. Kanye West - Street Lights

I fall into the group of Kanye fans that think 808s & Heartbreak is a good album. Sure, it's chock full of autotune and "woe is me, even though I'm filthy rich and monumentally famous" lyrics but it's really solid. I don't want to give it credit for being new or different, because it's niether of those things, but I can listen to it and enjoy it just as I could any good record. And by the way, the linked Dallas Penn unofficial video is far better than any official video Kanye has put out for an 808s song. "See I know my destination but I'm just not there."

14. Vampire Weekend - Oxford Comma

VW was probably my premier "find" as a result of the mix club. Sure, I would've probably stumbled upon them on my own (eventually) but Matthew put "A-Punk" on last year's "Best Of" mix, so kudos to him. I think "Oxford Comma" is better than "A-Punk", but I know it's debatable. "Why would you lie about something dumb like that?"

15. The Hold Steady - One For The Cutters

The Hold Steady have quickly become one of my favorite bands. Everything you hear and read about the superb musicianship and incredible storytelling is true, but it's Craig Finn's voice that often gets overlooked. He really is more narrating than singing but his rugged voice comes off as strained and experienced, which only adds to the overall brilliance of the band. This song is the cautionary tale of a party girl that is made all the more eerie by harpsichord keys that remind me of Dracula for some reason. "When one towny falls in the forest, does anyone notice?"

16. Tilly & The Wall - Alligator Skin

I like indie pop bands with female and male vocals, and Tilly And The Wall fit the profile. In addition, I like indie pop songs that are so catchy that I don't care what the song is actually about and this song is just that. Seriously, what is this song about? "Rubber-necking, oh yeah you know that's how it is."

17. Lykke Li - Let It Fall

Lykke Li is the indie "it" girl of 2008. I'm guessing we're a few months away from her gaining a following among rappers, and the whole wide world, like Feist did last year. Good for her. "Let It Fall" is not only one of my favorite LL songs but it might be my favorite happy-sounding sad song about crying. "So happy, so happy, I won't stop until my tears are all shed."

18. She & Him - Sweet Darlin'

Even though M. Ward is one of my favorite singer-songwriters and I really like Elf and Almost Famous, it took me a while to get around to acquiring She & Him's debut. I finally picked it up a month or so ago and I regretted not getting it sooner. "She" can carry an album surprisingly well and "Him" did a good job revealing influences and spanning genres without spazzing all over the place. It has hints of classic country, 60's rock, folk and as in this track, girl group pop. It's really good. "Now that I know what I want, see, i think it haunts me, I want you too much."

19. Shugo Tokumaru - Button

I don't remember how I got turned on to Shugo but he was one of my great discoveries of 2008. He makes entirely pleasant and enjoyable bits of pop by playing all the instruments and recording the songs in his Tokyo apartment. He even got school children to provide backing vocals. "Button" is one of many standouts off of EXIT. If you have a few minutes to kill, check out his youtube page. All of his videos are as fantastic as the "Button" video. "Sukoshi."

20. Kitty, Daisy & Lewis - Going Up The Country

Would you ever expect three British teenage siblings to make music that sounded like this? I don't know why they do it, but they do it well. This is the first single from their self-titled album. The rest of their songs sound similarly retro and do a bit of genre-hopping as well. And if you think their music sounds "old", it's because they record on actual 1940's and 1950's equipment without the use of digital format or computers. "I'm going where the water tastes like wine/I'll jump in the water and stay drunk all the time."

21. Calexico - The News About William

It's interesting and great how almost all Calexico songs feel like the desert. With "The News About William", they constructed this grim song with heartbreaking instrumentation and tragic lyrics, and when I hear it, I envision an endless, hopeless desert highway going nowhere. There's just something about it. (Sorry about the live video, but it was all I could find. The sound is actually decent though.) "The music box broken that once was his soul/its sad little song spinning out of control."

22. Mason Jennings - In Your City

I don't know what it is about Mason Jennings but I'm still not sick of his music. I've outgrown or grown tired of several acts similar to him over the past few years but I still think he's one of my favorites. "In Your City" is simply Mason and a piano, a welcome deviation from his usual guitar-based work. I love the parlor piano outro in this track, an effective way to end his album and this mix CD. (This time, sorry about the crappy live video.) "How you gonna say what's never been said? I'll tell you how it's done..."


So there's my mix. It took a while to get this post up so let me know if any links are bunk or if I made any typos, spellings errors or grammar blunders. I'll let you guys know if I get around to Volume II...

This Is It

I was catching up on Kanye's blog this morning and I noticed this really cool video. Apparently, it was made for the 25th anniversary of 4th Estate but I don't know if it's supposed to advertise or honor or just entertain the company. It's really pretty awesome though.

Watch Out Now

Don't have time to watch it right this second but once I get home...

Slash Ya

This morning I got a random email from some studio or something that said the trailer for the Wolverine movie got released online, so here it is. I think it looks decent but it could very well suck. I guess it could just as easily end up being great; it's hard to tell from the trailer. Either way, this trailer release is awesome for two reasons. First off, just this weekend I was asking a friend about the movie because I recently finished Origin, so the timing was perfect. Secondly, after finishing the book I re-watched the first X-Men movie. That reminded me of how I wanted the writers to introduce Gambit into the X-Men series and it looks like they did. Cool.

Next Year

With 2008 winding down, the usual things have been going down. On the music front, "best of" lists are starting to trickle in and I've been using those to check back on releases I missed out on the first time around. I won't link them all but Pitchfork, Paste, Popmatters, Stereogum and amazon have all started rolling in their end-of-the-year content. It's always great seeing the similarities and differences between the editor and customer lists at amazon.com but I really enjoy seeing where my favorites fall on those lists.

Some of wrapping up the year in music relates to the mix club. I'm struggling through completing my own 2008 mix cd (like I did last year) and a lot of that has to do with differentiating between songs that are consider my favorites and songs that might make for a better, more wide-ranging cd. Basically, how do I play to my tastes while keeping things interesting? And I won't lie, it's always nice dropping something somewhat obscure in there to turn people on to new things. Right now, I've got about 70 tracks I need to whittle down to around 18 or 19, and that could be a long road...

But this has temporarily gotten my mind off of 2008 and caused me to get really excited about 2009:



News of this album have been popping up here and there but I never took much notice until I heard about a track with Kanye, Santogold and Lykke Li. Nahright just posted it, which reminded me to do some N.A.S.A. research. The acronym stands for North America/South America, as the project sees primarily US rappers/singers/musicians do their thing over Brazilian-based beats. Basically, it's like DJ Zegon and Squeak E. Clean got together and made an album specifically for me, on paper anyway. As you can see in the video, somehow they managed to gather a who's who of some of my favorite rappers and indie singers and the beats they threw down sound really fresh. Now, compilation albums and DJ/producer albums aren't usually that great but I have high hopes for this one based on the talent and scope of the project.

Check out an old poston Ricky Kim's Evil Monito for more info, including a tracklist. N.A.S.A. has a myspace page too, but I haven't actually looked at it yet.

Put Me On Blast

Like a lot of folks, sometimes I think Jordan could be more philanthropic. Well, part of me anyway. I mean, he can do whatever he wants with his time and money. Who am I to judge? On the other hand, he does have a lot of money... And influence... Anyway,I won't get into now because I'm too lazy to put any thoughts together. Just watch the video. Jordan looks uncomfortable after Sir Charles "puts him on blast", as the kids say.

By the way, Barkley is awesome. (MJ is too but Charles is in another league.) In addition to countless hilarious and insightful quotes, this excerpt from his book, which I haven't read in its entirety, stood out and proved Barkley is more than just a guy who runs his mouth:

"... I'm not overly concerned about people disagreeing with me. I'm concerned with the response in that I want to get people talking, get the discussion started. I'm going to say what's on my mind. Dan Patrick of ESPN, who I like very much, introduced me once as 'Charles Barkley, who makes you think, makes you mad, but sometimes doesn't think before he talks.' And I said, 'Hey, wait a minute. I know exactly what I'm saying. I may say something some people consider controversial or outrageous, but I've thought about it before I said it.' I always know what I'm saying, and I'm always prepared for the reaction."

You may not agree with everything he says but you have to respect someone who makes controversial (and sometimes ridiculous) statements and is willing to stand behind them.

Surely Finish Last

Against CuDi's wishes I'm posting the video for the Crookers remix of "Day 'n' Night". I have to say that the video is kind of cool but I much prefer the original version of the song over this clubby, techno-y track. The slow rolling beat and laid back delivery are what makes the song great and the electro synths of the remix don't seem to match quite right.

Click the link to see CuDi rant about the video. While I understand his frustration, two things stick out. One, it's like he's doing his best Kanye impression by airing out issues he has with the industry, temper tantrum-style on a blog. I suppose that makes sense, seeing as Kanye is his boss and he collaborated on 808's but people compare the two artists enough as it is. And two, CuDi it's unfortunate that chooses to emulate Kanye blog commenters with his writing style. All those "dat's" and "cuz's" are somewhat forgivable but ALL CAPS? No.

Don't get me wrong though. CuDi was one of my favorite discoveries this year and I do feel mildly bad about posting the video. Not that I have many readers but I just think the more exposure for him, the better.

I Don't Believe That Anybody Feels The Way I Do

I guess it all starts now, the week after Thanksgiving. End of the year lists. Yes! Pitchfork posted up their music videos list. As usual, I liked a lot of the videos they chose (Feist, Santogold, The Mountain Goats, VW and of course my favorite of this year, The BPA) and I noticed a few omissions (My Morning Jacket, Common, The Cool Kids. And I would have chosen different Kanye and Gnarls videos). Also, it would have been cool to have a small blurb accompanying each selection, like this:


Jay-Z: "Wonderwall" (live at Glastonbury)


Who could have predicted that it would take the best rapper alive to remind us that "Wonderwall" is a great song? Here Hova sings incredibly off-key (and pretends to play the guitar) but the crowd keeps the energy going by doing most of the singing for him. This might be the best worst-sung "eff you, hate on me now" cover performed by a rapper at Glastonbury in the history of the universe. Take that Noel Gallagher!

Homeboy

Videogum loves Damon Weaver and I'm starting to see why. I thought his interview with Biden was good and his non-interview with McCain was kind of awesome (staged maybe?) but this one takes the cake.



Well, maybe the first two videos were better but this one was good too. Not only did Mr. Weaver prove he's more articulate than his reading teacher, he held his own with Dwyane Wade and reduced Shawn Marion to an "um uh..." guy. Can this kid make it beyond Internet stardom?

I Made It Happen

I'm late on this because I'm late on blogs, late on websites, late on email, late on the things I do on the computer. Wale was late too, seeing as "Nike Boots" came out like a year ago. Anyway, it's a dope video for a dope song, and I think "flyer than the rest of 'em" is one of my top ten "I'm cooler than you are lines."

Sell Out With Me

I know several of my friends, and others, will scream "sell out!" but I disagree. I still don't think selling out actually exists and besides, this video is kind of funny in its own ridiculous way. Wayne Coyne (and his heroic guitar) is in on the absurdity and he thinks it's ridiculous too.



While you're here, check out what I found on Nahright. It could be that Santogold and M.I.A. wanted to make the most hip hop sample-friendly music ever but I think it's more that after dropping S.L.U., Kanye and Jay don't want the comparisons between Santogold and M.I.A. to ever stop. Ever.

The Difference

Whether or not you like Bill O'Reilly, whether or not you agree or disagree with his politics, you should know that San Francisco is not like this. He is wrong about this city.

Head To Toe

Nike soccer commercials are always the best. This one features Ribery and some pink shoes, both of which are awesome, just like the commercial.

Congratulations I'm A Playa

I'm beginning to think I need to start watching Chelsea when she has good guests on the show. Or maybe just when she has good rappers on the show. Or maybe just good Atlanta rappers.

Pretty Please

I laughed so loud at this that I had to show it to my entire office this morning. All two of them...

I guess these are the types of people that watch American Idol. I always wondered and now I know. The best is the girl who said, "He should have won. Everybody voted against him because nobody likes him!" Yes. Yes, that is how voting works.

I imagine there will be some video editing done to this thing soon. It'll be something like the new Star Wars kid or the new N64 kid. I imagine there will be some Palin remix and possibly an edit that has something to do with a reality TV show, like The Bachelor, Flavor Of Love or My New BFF. Please don't be responsible for a My New BFF remix. I'm begging you.

Videogum suggests we not laugh too hard at this... Actually, that post will probably lead to an election mash-up. I'm sure of it.

Better Days

A few weeks ago, my TV mentor, Alan Sepinwall said the first two episodes of the upcoming season of Scrubs are good. I'm glad because after the last two seasons, I wasn't sure if I cared about the show anymore. Somewhere along the way, it lost it's zing; JD became waaaaay too much of a pansy, the episodes weren't as multi-dimensional as they once were, and the jokes just got lame. Anyway, I just hope we get more of that outlandish comedy balanced with emotion and heart, like we had in the first few seasons. And I hope we get more scenes like these:

E-yes!


I didn't think I liked the musical episode that much but these songs are hilarious.




The air band episode is definitely in my top ten.




Nerdy and great.


By the way, when I was looking for a few clips to post, I ended up spending a good forty five minutes watching Scrubs scenes online. Gotta love that youtube...

Walk With Me

This Videogum post reminded me that a few years ago I used to really like c-walking. I probably would have liked it a whole lot more had I seen this video... C-walking really is the "gangster Riverdance."

Sink Or Swim

Part of me is a nerd but not in a cool way... This post is proof positive.

I'm not really focusing on the Batman voice, like most of the Internet. What I am focusing on is how incredible this trailer looks and how awesome this movie is going to be. It'll either the best graphic novel adaptation ever or thousands of comic book nerds will cry themselves to sleep at night and dream about inflicting bodily harm on Zack Snyder. But no, that's not an option. This is going to be good.

Maybe Sunshine, Maybe Rain

These guys do things that I wouldn't have thought were possible for people without the ability to see.

The Coldest Story Ever Told

The art direction/graphic design for Kanye's albums has always been really great, and the artwork for 808's & Heartbreak and it's first two singles are no different. With his college trilogy completed, Kanye has moved away from the Dropout Bear and opted to go a more basic route, using a deflated heart-shaped balloon, unobtrusive font and subtle color scheme. I'm not good at articulating my thoughts or feelings when evaluating art (even if they are just album covers) but I will say that there's something striking about the simplicity of the design.





Following the same theme is this new ad for the album release date. The restrained, beating (or dancing?) heart is brilliant, in a way.



If you want a sneak peak at the album, check out The Hip Hop Chronicle for a track-by-track review of 808's & Heartbreak. The write up also has a few notes from a Q&A session with Kanye that are kind of interesting.

True Dat

Too Shy

ESPN (and THE WORLD) are hyping Rubio like crazy and I couldn't agree more. After watching the Olympic finals and several youtube clips after that game, I'm convinced this kid is going to be sick...

And on a partially related note, whenever I read or hear about young phenoms, I can't help but think of this quote from The Office's Ryan Howard(whether or not they are actually douchey):

"People keep calling me a "Wunderkind"; I don't even know what that means. I mean, I know what it means, it means very successful for your age, so I guess it makes sense, but... it's a weird word."

Indeed.

Funny How

Dave Chappelle is truly funny and James Lipton is truly weird. This might be worth watching.

Like A Pimp

Let me break it down for you. John Stewart shows a funny clip from Paul Rudd's new movie. Paul Rudd does a funny dance. John Stewart calls Paul Rudd a pimp. Paul Rudd gets confused because he gets lost in John Stewart's eyes. John Stewart does a funny dance. Paul Rudd promotes his new movie by telling people not to see it. John Stewart talks about turtle sex. That's about it.

They Don't Know

Yikes! Kanye has made two consecutive sub-par videos. But similar to "Love Lockdown", I really like the song even if the video isn't that great.

Embrace The Martian

Back when I first got KiD CuDi's mixtape from earlier this year, I was sorting through a ton of new albums at the same time, so I didn't give it a proper listen. In revisiting it over the past few days, I've discovered that it's a really solid mixtape with several standout tracks. I'm looking forward to his official release, which comes out on Kanye's label who knows when. But in the meantime, listen to a few of my favorite tracks from the mixtape...

"Day N Nite"


"Down & Out"


"Embrace The Martian"

My Lambo's Blue

The Game Is Over

I've watched this clip maybe ten times since yesterday.

So Necessary

If you haven't been to the house in the past several months, you probably don't know about our tricycle project. I'll save the details for a separate post but 1) it's probably my favorite thing in the house and 2) it's in definite need of this stylish, "indestructible" little trike... Ummm, seriously? A $2,500 tricycle? During a recession? Really?!?!

Amazing

Go to youtube and search "Sungha Jung" or click here. And be sure to watch "Smells Like Teen Spirit" especially...

I Get That Bunny

This morning I found these songs on OnSmash. They're pretty awesome.

Ghostface Killah - Computer Love

Justin Timberlake - Magic

Let's Play House

Although this episode wasn't hysterical, this web show has promise. Mindy Kaling is hilarious and I'm guessing there is high potential for cameos by other funny people from The Office.

Rubber Band Man

I've always thought that Chelsea was just as annoying as she was funny but this is pretty awesome. Sure, she talked up T.I.'s album and his chart topping songs but she pretty much made fun of him for 6 minutes straight, making him crack up the entire time. I'm glad that Clifford showed he has a sense of humor, unlike some people...

As You Can Now See

Ever since the Japan trip, I've been listening to m-flo. I'll tell you their deal later since I'll probably be posting a few of their videos in the coming weeks, just because. For now, I leave you with "Lotta Love - m&M Mix" because it's brilliant in the same way that "Sky's The Limit" is brilliant.

m-flo loves MINMI


The Notorious B.I.G. (feat. 112)

Booty Doo

Is SNL funny again, even when Tina Fey isn't making fun of Sarah Palin? I think so...

Even If It's Free It Ain't Cheap

Wow, I haven't heard Mos sound this good in a looooong time. Yes, the beat has a lot to do with it but mainly, I think he sounds fired up, and that's a good thing. No more of that "V-8 strong" nonsense...

So Good

How good is the Mad Men opening credits? It's good enough for me to bother posting an entry about it. It's good enough for me to watch (and listen) to it almost every episode even though I could easily fast forward the DVD. It's good enough to be one of the best TV intros I've ever seen.

First off, the visuals are dope, like a graphic design masterpiece. It perfectly compliments the aesthetics and themes of the show. It oozes cool while demonstrating a sort of helplessness that is evident in most of the show's characters. Secondly, the music is on point. It ties together the whole intro with an almost "neo-retro" vibe. I just found out the song was done by rjd2, which I should have known seeing as it has his signature sound. Anyway, this credit sequence is excellent and definitely does the show justice. So good.

In related news, Best Week Ever posted some pics of a similarly awesome Mad Men intro spoof that The Simpsons did for this year's Tree House of Horrors episode. I haven't watched that show in ages but I might have to in a couple Sundays. Check it out.

Been A While

I hadn't checked out pitchfork.tv in a while...

Been meaning to check out the Fleet Foxes.


Just watch. And listen. For real.


Still haven't heard a Cool Kids song I don't like.


Good stuff!

System Overload

Yesterday, several music sites/blogs posted this DJ Earworm mash up of Kanye and Radiohead. It's one of the better, straightforward "A + B = C" mash ups I've heard in a long time.


Also, the video for "Reckoner" (originally a fan vid) is really cool.

Out Of Control

Last night we watched the Angel Island fire for about 45 minutes. Thomas and Jamie tried to grab some pictures without a tripod. These were the best of the bunch.


It was kind of peaceful watching the blaze from our neighborhood. Luckily, no one got hurt.


You can see how fast the fire spread. When we headed home, the fire had been going for about an hour and a half.

No One On The Corner

... has swagger like us. This is what your shower curtain would look like if it was as cool as ours.

I Will Never Lose

Some awesome things to note from this montage of the pre-taped awards acceptance speeches by Flight of the Conchords:

- It's great how in New Zealand a folk parody album won "Best Album" of 2008. It's even more great that Jemaine doesn't accept the award.

- I'm glad they're filming season two of the show (which is why they needed to tape their acceptance speeches). Even after last season fizzled out near the end, it was a great first season. I think they just ran out of really good songs, so hopefully they come back with something fresh.

- "We finally broke through." and "Just, just off screen."

- I don't know if videogum is right in that these are funnier than all the new Fall tv shows but I wouldn't doubt it. I've seen some pretty horrendous commercials for shows so bad that I can't even remember their names.

- Watching these reminded me how awesome Murray the band manager is, which reminded me that NBC political analyst Chuck Todd (who I've seen on the recent debates) looks exactly like him. Apparently, other people think so too.

Even Share My Government Cheese

Live With Regrets

Read about Mail Goggles, gmail's new little feature. It's kind of funny that Google would even make an app like this and I have two opposing thoughts on the topic. First, I think people should be responsible for whatever the hell happens when they drink. If you get drunk and do something stupid, live with it and maybe be less of an idiot next time. And second, I think this security feature would made more sense on cell phones. I've found drunk emails funny and tame, whereas drunk dials and texts can just be disastrous.

The Vibe Is Wrong

This is one of Kanye's worst videos yet (but I still think the song is awesome). It's not terrible but it's just bizarre. It's got dancing tribesmen. It's got neon body-painted dancers. It's got Kanye brooding in a kitchen. It was premiered on Ellen. (But I guess with Rap City and TRL closing up shop, where else would a rapper go?)



As a side note, this video is an ideal candidate for a "this is what is happening" literal video remix a la the a-ha video I posted the other day.

Move Your Behind

The Neptunes should produce all of Commons songs. I guess Kanye can do some tracks too but Common is a lot more fun with Pharrell and Chad.



Is the robot effect going to catch on like autotune?

Band Montage!

Straight from videogum to TYS. This is pretty great.

Bounce That

Trailer mash ups are the new, um, song mash ups... only slightly less awesome.





Why? I don't know.

Help!

Please bring back The Wire. Pleeeease!!! Somebody, anybody, bring back The Wire. Or at least a Michael Lee spinoff show. Help the kid out.



And people, don't watch anything with Jessica Alba or the short girl from Heroes anymore.

I Put Ooooooonnnnn!!!

This is more weird than funny... Actually, it's not really funny at all. It's just weird. What would be funny is if I had an autotune microphone/speaker device that I could use to speak in autotune whenever I want. I would use it all the time and it would annoy the crap out of everyone. It would be awesome.

Go

I borrowed Robert's rollers and have been using them when I'm too lazy to go out for a real work out. Riding the rollers has made me realize four things: 1) I really need a pair of cycling shorts, 2) I sweat like crazy riding with no wind, 3) I'm not very fast and 4) it's pretty easy to ride off the rollers if I'm not paying attention. On the plus side, it's nice getting to watch DVDs while riding my bike and any ride is better than no ride at all.

Speaking of rollers, check out the top two finishers from a Rollapaluza race this summer. Yeah, it's old news but it's worth a watch.

Chris Hoy won 3 golds in Beijing but couldn't win here:


This guy didn't make the cut for the Great Britain Olympic team but he won the rollers race:

Tiger Woods Y'all

At lunch, I watched this video and ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.


I forgot that Chris Rock is funny because he's been in a bunch of bad movies. I might have to watch his HBO special.

Guess Who's Back?

Last night's season premiere of The Office was pretty good. It's nice to see that writers were able to use the momentum from the end of last season to keep things heading in the right direction. (The finale was excellent but in general Season Four was weak. It had it's moments but most of it was mediocre, especially compared to earlier seasons.) Anyway, with the exception of Jan (more annoying-crazy than funny-crazy), Darrell (seriously under-used!) and Angela/Andy (unlike most characters on the show, I've never felt any sympathy for either of these two), all the characters have good story-lines and are being well used, maintaining a decent balance of plot development and comedy.

It's too bad Amy Ryan is only going to be around for another 5 episodes (but on the bright side, Holly leaving for whatever reason might mean that Toby comes back. I'm not sure if that's an even trade but it might be) because she fits right in. It's almost as funny watching Michael trying to tone it down around her as it is watching him act like an idiot all the time. It's definitely less annoying anyway. And pretty much every scene with Holly is funny. Aside from Holly thinking Kevin is retarded (and finding out he isn't retarded), there's the rap. I have no idea why Michael and Holly would rap for the cameras but it's awesome. I think Alan Sepinwall said it best:

"Holly beat-boxed! She beat-boxed, people! I don't care if there was nothing else remotely funny about this episode, because I'm a little in love with both "The Office" and Amy Ryan right about now."

Anyway, I'll post a video when I can find one. So far I've only seen it on EW but it's at the end of a set of clips from yesterday's TV shows. (It's worth watching anyway, especially for Pam's g-check (what up 2-1-2?) and for some dude on Survivor making fun of old people.)

Got It From My Dad

At least some of my unintentional tendency to be music know-it-all can be attributed to (or blamed on) my dad. In addition to naming random songs on TV and the radio, he used to always let us know his favorite songs. Something would come on and he would say, "This is song is one of my Top Five Favorite Songs". Always. More than once we had to tell him that his "Top Five" list probably had about thirty or forty songs in it. Eventually, he started saying "Top Ten" instead, but by that time the list may have been 100 songs long.

I have a similarly difficult time narrowing down my favorite songs of all-time. Maybe a week ago, my friends and I were talking about how we probably couldn't do it. I struggle naming only five songs when thinking of my current favorite songs, or my favorite songs of a certain genre, or even my my favorite songs by a particular artist. The thought of coming up with my Top Five Favorite Songs of All-Time is just too much.

Unlike most of us, Max could come up with his Top Five and here they are (I think he may have made a last minute call and replaced Nelly Furtado with something else but I can't remember it):











Anyway, for no real reason whatsoever, I'm going to start a list of my favorite songs. It'll jump past five songs really quickly but I'm going to try to narrow it down a bit as things develop. If you can come up with five, I commend you for being decisive and devoted to those songs (or maybe I feel sorry for you for not loving more music). Either way, you should post them in the comments section. It'll be interesting, maybe.

Roll With The Winners

I know it's only the Carling Cup but Arsenal completely dominated Sheffield United yesterday. I've been excited to see what Vela, Ramsey and Wilshere can do and judging by the highlights, they delivered. Arsenal have been scoring goals like crazy as of late and currently sit atop the EPL. It's still really early in the season so hopefully they keep this momentum going.

Sweet

Good stuff from the season premiere of HIMYM.

Time To Get Paid

This could either be kind of okay, like "8 Mile" or entirely awful, like "Get Rich Or Die Tryin'", which I haven't actually seen but I assume is awful because 50 Cent is a terrible actor, I'm guessing.

Cruisin' Down The Street

Here's the latest short by the Mash guys, which posted last week on their new website. It's a quick vid of their visit to Austin where they got to ride with Lance. It's pretty cool how their minor, "underground" celebrity status got them in a position to meet the face of american cycling. Check out the video (and other videos too) in better quality at MashSF.

What Up!!!

T.I. had a brief but kind of awesome cameo in last night's Entourage:

If they actually made "Black Sabbath", I'm pretty sure I'd go see it and I'm pretty sure other people would as well.

T.I. aside, last night's episode was the best of the three Season Five episodes so far. Ari's bitch slap, the return of Shauna and her assistant, the absence of some lucky and entirely unlikely plot twist to save Vince's career, several hilarious Lloyd moments and some Mrs. Ari screen time were all nice to see. And once again, the music was great, well some of it at least (Santogold, Charles Hamilton and Franki Valli & The Four Seasons).

Nobody Has To Know

This video begs hundreds of questions, such as "What really is the definition of 'teenage'?" and "What the hell has R. Kelly done in his lifetime to get 'blackmailed a billion times'?" and "Do automatic teller machine machines really exist?"

Yeah, Yeaaah! Yeah, Yeaaah! YEAH!!!

Paul Scheer doing a one man Entourage show. Funny.

We Had A Promise Made

One of my favorite songs right now is José González's cover of The Knife's Heartbeats. I hadn't heard the original, so of course I had to check it out. Damn, The Knife's version is fresh. It's not quite as good as the José track (because that one is so calm and moving) but it's great in a different way. I'm digging the looped skate clips in the video too.

And oh, here's a video of the cover:

Bomb First

Adam Kimmel presents: Claremont HD from adam kimmel on Vimeo.

I recently stumbled upon this video, on a fixed gear website of all places. It's worth a watch, especially in HD, so I recommend clicking on the link.

When I was a senior in high school, my friends and I took a trip out to the Berkeley Hills to do some group riding. We actually skated that exact Claremont run with Patrick, one of the guys in the video, and other up-and-comers and former pros. At the time, I think Patrick was an 8th grader or something but the kid killed it, as you can probably imagine after watching the vid.

One of the best parts about the ride was getting to skate with really, really good downhillers. It was the first time my friends and I had skated with people that were better than us and it was amazing. Just riding with those guys (on some of the craziest hills we had ever bombed too), took our skills to the next level. I probably improved more that day that in the two or three months leading up to that.

The ride was organized by Cliff Coleman, a downhill legend (and yo-yo champ). I think Cliff was in his 50s back then but he was still going strong. Apparently, he still is too. Here's a video he did with some college students earlier this year.

Certified Certainly

Most of you probably don't care but I do:

It's Tricky

My boy Theo Walcott bagged himself a hat trick in World Cup Qualifying yesterday. He's done well in the EPL and Champions League so far and hopefully, he keeps up this top form as Arsenal's campaign moves along.



It took me a long time to track down this clip, so don't blame me if youtube pulls it down.

Whip It Good!

This leads me to believe that at least some of the genius of Chappelle's Show can be attributed to Neal Brennan:

Roll Out! Roll Out!

As I'm trying to forget about the Bucs' loss, it's nice to see that DeSean Jackson had a good debut:

My Beats Travel Like A Vortex

I had forgotten about how funny it is to watch Triumph The Insult Comic Dog.

Noticing You, Noticing Me

He's been around for a while (recently rapping about chickenheads on Estelle's latest album). His new album comes out tomorrow and features several people that murder hooks, such as Akon, T-Pain, The Dream and Rihanna. I usually shy away from dancehall-style rap but it's really good. Maybe it's the beats. Maybe it's the hooks. Or maybe it's that he's Canadian.

Without A Doubt

I'm pretty sure I want to see this movie:

The Flan In The Face

Because three of my top several favorite Radiohead songs weren't on the set list at Outside Lands...







I admit Radiohead was as great live as most people say they are (even though I didn't get the full experience because I couldn't see the stage all that well). I don't know if I should say I like them more now, because I might have just been reminded of why I liked them in the first place.

Got Her Feelin' Popular

Because:

1) I actually like this song.
2) When I was considering whether or not to blog this song, one of the "pros" was "it's not featuring Lil' Wayne," and then he started rapping... That's kind of funny right?

-and-

3) Cassie is really, really nice looking.

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We've Been Had

I like this song, bizarre video and all. It's the latest by the band that did the catchy song in that Saturn commercial with all the kids.

I Don't Want to Fall Asleep

It takes a pretty awesome fake trailer to convince a movie studio to make it into a real motion picture:



Vulture!