Here’s a wild one, courtesy of Wired’s Danger Room: what happens when an aerial drone from Georgia (the one in the Eastern Hemisphere) runs afoul of the Russion air force?
Observations: 1) the Georgians have unmanned aerial vehicles??? 2) A MiG on your 6 is just as bad today as it was in Vietnam. Freaky stuff. At least it wasn’t a pelican — those suckers are REALLY dangerous.
– cpd
Add comment April 25th, 2008 Trackback Bookmark on del.icio.us
Some may disagree, but I have truly found the best YouTube video ever — it’s funny, it’s clever, it’s cute, it has a good song, it’s well edited, it’s short, and it anesthetizes or distracts small children (specifically, my two sets of toddler nieces when they’re on the verge of exploding). Finally, a real use for YouTube! If you have not seen it before, and even if you have, allow me to ask you to consider the artistic validity of the following, the legendary Kitty Cat Dance:
Seriously, it’s been seen millions of times now, CONTINUES to pick up views and notice more than two years after its release, and it has to be among the most successful YouTube clips so far. Listen to the song: it’s tight, develops well, is a little twisted in parts, and the punkish chorus is genius, since it helps keep the whole piece from becoming too repetitive or too cutesy. And the use of stills works great, since it lets you edit super-tightly to the music while also creating that immediate sense of unreality. You can learn a lot about what works on the web from watching this one. Again and again and again and…
– cpd
1 comment April 4th, 2008 Trackback Bookmark on del.icio.us
The good folks at Slate have found a revealing pop culture/political culture connection: by mashing up a clip from the movie Election with footage from the current Democratic race, they find Hillary Clinton’s inner Tracy Flick and capture what it must feel like to have some young upstart come along and steal your moment. Even if you haven’t seen the film, I bet you’ll get the point.
Nice! Thanks to Alicia LaPorte for the suggestion.
– cpd
Add comment January 25th, 2008 Trackback Bookmark on del.icio.us
Friday Fun comes a day early this week, with a terrific video mashup courtesy of the CamPain2008 YouTube channel. Excellent work! It doesn’t tell us much about the political world, but that does nothing to detract from a standalone piece of genius.
Well, let me take back what I just wrote, because this video DOES tell us something significant about the political world: that it’s no longer an isolated part of our discourse, standing apart from the other endeavors with which we distract or enlighten ourselves. Politics is a part of pop culture, so a guy like Barack Obama can become a pop culture icon. Of course, you’ve got to have the right je nais se quois je ne sais quoi — can you imagine a similar piece featuring Chris Dodd or Tom Tancredo? Sure, but only with a healthy dose of irony. Via How The World Works.
Update: Jo Lee with Green Machine PR writes in to say:
A friend told me that the song is called “Chori Chori Gori Se” and it’s a love song. So, I guess it’s a take off on the Obama Girl video.
And…
A friend found a Chori Chori video with English subtitles. This song has a
lot of versions, remixes etc. It’s also in an english movie called the
Guru.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Co1J2FiP1dQ
I guess Obama’s hotness transcends national boundaries
Indeed.
– cpd
7 comments December 6th, 2007 Trackback Bookmark on del.icio.us
In honor of my brother’s flight to Tokyo today, let’s take our own little trip to the always-worth-it world of Japanese TV, in this case a game show that features live-action Pac-Man. Thanks to Danielle Kriz for sending along this Laughing Squid find:
Japan: once again, winning the award for most bizarre industrialized culture on the planet.
– cpd
Add comment November 16th, 2007 Trackback Bookmark on del.icio.us
Many things in life benefit from a little parody, but some cultural artifacts are so extreme on their own that there’s no over-topping them. The silliest ’70s retro party you ever went to has NOTHING on the real thing, as you’ll see in this excellent little gem from 1977:
Who knew that you could do so much with terry cloth! It’s a goddamn miracle, and it’s also only the beginning — polyester and chest hair in immense quantities await you at the site 15 Minute Lunch, and I must implore you to scroll all the way down to the matching his-and-hers bathing suits. Yowza! Now THAT’S hotttttttttt. BTW, my parents got both the Penney’s and Sears catalogs throughout that glorious decade; who knows what works of art lurk in the backs of their closets.
– cpd
1 comment November 2nd, 2007 Trackback Bookmark on del.icio.us
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