things i found amusing on the given day
***
january 22, 2012
portlandia, yes
the small arms, a great fun band from portland, oregon
grass hut, art toy gallery in portland
arbito, toy artist
Luke Ramsey, artist and zine maker
medicine for the people, band based in oregon and hawaii
march 9, 2011
dump.fm/chat & my profile, here
interview on rhizome with zach gage
september 8, 2010
philip glass: wichita vortex sutra
felicity fenton's digital landfill
april 27, 2010
waves in a box, by nahana schelling
april 18, 2010
april 13, 2010
david foster wallace interviews
april 7, 2010
band of the lost (specifically, the star wars 7,8,9 mix tape.)
february 26, 2010
january 11, 2010
december 11, 2009
december 7, 2009
"The City That Does Not Sleep," by Federico Garcia Lorca, 1930
"Civilization," by Marco Brambila
The Vonome, by Alejandro Crawford
july 10, 2009
june 12, 2009
june 1, 2009
secretariat wins the preakness in '73 - check out the streak in the back stretch, crazy amazing
april 29, 2009
april 1, 2009
sunday, february 8, 2009
friday, janury 30, 2009
monday, january 19, 2009
friday - january 16, 2009
friday - january 9, 2009
wednesday - december 10, 2008
monday - november 17, 2008
thursday - november 6, 2008
pee wee on letterman, halloween in the 80's
O Superman by Laurie Anderson - this is my election special for you
friday - october 31, 2008
saturday - october 18, 2008
revival - a video by john larson
auguries of innocence - october 2008 la chappelle opening at shafrazi gallery
time to pretend - by MGMT
saturday - august 9, 2008
saturday - december 29, 2007
sunday - december 23, 2007
Ze Frank on Scrabble - if you like this check some of his others
saturday - november 17, 2007
mr. rogers talks to the U.S. senate
tuesday - november 6, 2007
Daniel Johnston on "the cutting edge"
monday - october 29, 2007
bittersweet symphony cover - i don't think this is supposed tobe funny, but the aesthetic, the hair flips, and the whole thing is too much
last day of our acquaintance cover - ok, maybe i'm going bananas, but i like this one, kind of (wait, i watched it again and i don't like it), and it made me want to also share, again, the real thing (one day i hope to meet sinead)
smokin in the boys room - not a cover
weird fake axl rose thing - just weird
kermit sings creep - that's a show stopper, good night.
tuesday - october 9, 2007
pearl jam grammy's - is it lame that i post pearl jam links? just let me know.
somewhat fake report on cindy sherman - i think this is pretty interesting actually, although i didn't watch the whole thing.
the zaks - get past the opening song and it's pretty good
how do you follow that? with this: UNDO Animation - you think he dies at the end, i think he busts out. good night.
saturday - october 6, 2007
wednesday - september 19, 2007
reverse graffiti - watch to the end when they spray it down. oh, authori-tay, why must you be so authoritative?
video by the black angels for "black grease" - great song
a little fall of rain from les mis
your song cover - holy hell that dedication is awesome
tuesday - august 14, 2007
article about dash snow's nest - i have to admit, i like this.
saturday - august 4, 2007
wiremap 256 - rudimentary - homemade 3D projection setup
brief clip of marilyn monroe - answering some questions
rodney king beating - and for some reason in a video game re-enactment
marc jacobs fall 2007 runway - do you love the hats? contrast/compare marc's show with junya's, here. i'm going to need a few days to ruminate before i cast my metaphysical ballot as to what i hope to see more of come fall.
wikiquote for mike tyson - i looked at this after seeing this video, which is crazy. (language may not be suitable for kids, or, maybe, for you.)
will farrell, chris kataan do air supply - this is even funnier after watching the real video, here.
friday - july 20, 2007
Lawrence Welk meets Velvet Underground - that's a warmup for this, a velvet underground documentary
modern romance by the yeah yeah yeahs
wednesday - july 18, 2007
sent to me - tricky by run dmc
beastie boys - so what'cha want
beastie boys perform with elvis costello
monday again - july 16 still, 2007
Unabomber documentary - i caught a PBS show about Lucy Parsons tonight, and even though Lucy Parsons was an activist and not a terrorist, it got me to thinking about terrorist acts that have occurred on US soil. The conspiracy theories about timothy mcveigh are kind of interesting. from my perspective, on the surface, it seems obvious that there must have been some other people involved besides the two guys who were found guilty. i looked at some other things too, but if this stuff interests you, you can tinker around on your own.
Unabomber's Manifesto - complete text
monday - july 16, 2007
"the cruise" - part 1 of 11. check them all out. speed levitch is an interesting character. in fact, i recall that one of the first things i linked to on my blog was an article about or by speed. the links at the bottom of his wiki are all worth checking out if he intrigues you.
wednesday - july 11, 2007
200 Dollar Car Project - my first YouTube video!!! Check it out.
monday - july 9, 2007
sunday - july 8, 2007
sent to me - nirvana performs seasons in the sun
liquid dance the guy in the orange is wild
district 13 opening scene if you've never heard of parkour, check this out
smurfs - i have to admit, i watched this whole episode. not exactly sure whether or not there are explicit political and even religious parallels, but there must be something in there
saturday - july 7, 2007
the wiki on evel - interesting life. here's an example: While in Las Vegas, Nevada, to watch Dick Tiger fight a middleweight title fight, Knievel first saw the fountains at Caesar's Palace and decided to jump them. To get an audience with the casino's CEO Jay Sarno, Knievel created a fictitious corporation called Evel Knievel Enterprises and three fictitious lawyers to make phone calls to Sarno. Knievel also placed phone calls to Sarno claiming to be from ABC-TV and Sports Illustrated inquiring about the jump. Sarno finally agreed to meet Knievel and the deal was set for Knievel to jump the fountains on December 31, 1967. After the deal was set, Knievel tried to get ABC to air the event live on Wide World of Sports. ABC declined, but said that if Knievel had the jump filmed and it was as spectacular as he said it would be, they would consider using it later.
hacky sacker - this seems to go with the DDR clips. some of the others are good too, like this one. hacky sack seems like an ancient thing. having things horizontal to the ground has probably always been sort of inherently important? maybe?
routine traffic stop - watch and listen to all 22 seconds
waking life clip - ah, the always forgotten upside of existentialism
thursday - july 5, 2007
interview with mitch hedberg - also, if you haven't seen his standup, check some of those lcips too
rodney on johnny carson - he had an entire set of material ready for the interview. wow. johnny just let him go. i wonder how much longer he would have let him go. you can see he is really on a roll at about 2 minutes or so.
the wikis on rodney and mitch.
wednesday - july 4, 2007
NYC bike messengers - this is pretty rad. i choose the word "rad" carefully. i use it in a mid-90's way, when it was already retro to use it, but in the right crowds it was as though it never left the regular vernacular.
standup: arab american comedians - i watched all these clips last night. pretty good stuff. often deep. very political. someone commented, "very now. it's so now."
star wars meets boogie nights - now that's rad
wonderwall, cover - by oasis. i watched a few of these covers. several were covers of ryan adam's cover of the song. the link i have here is of the oasis version. i don't know about you, but this person, to me, looks like they could easily be the future of rock'n roll. i really like this. is that weird? SHE IS THE WINNER.
an original song! - by the rad chica who did the wonderwall cover. this is the first time i have linked to an original song by someone whose cover i was drawn to via the direction of YouTube. this one is going to be famous. where can i invest? she's a cross between that teddy kid and conor oberst. (i know they're both guys and she's a girl, but that makes it all the more likely that the world is ready for a girl to sing sad soft sorrowful acoustic songs for a change, eh? (just don't go stabbing yourselves in the heart ladies.))
note - there are people in the world doing this right now.
don't look back in anger, oasis cover - truth: when i saw this video in the first few seconds of the singing i realized and remembered the important truth that the music is not so much about about the singer as it is about the song. you know? throw fame out the window and sing the song. aloud. (on this video, if you can make it to the 4th minute of the song you'll see that this girl is indeed singing as though no one is watching.)
wonderwall, cover - or, maybe this is the next famous kid. hah. in any case, there's so much talent in the world.
when i'm gone, by phil ochs performed by ani difranco
pitseleh - i thought "buttercup" was a sad song. this one is sadder. "i could never be the puzzle pieces."
another lonely day - this one is a bit sad as well.
lost cause, cover - a song by beck. maybe the saddest song of all time.
day is done, nick drake - cool video, another sad song, sung with a mystical voice.
just the way you are, billy joel
elephant love medley, moulin rouge
good night
p.p.s. goodbye yellow brick road, elton john
p.p.p.s. lastly - the way you make me feel , michael jackson - ah yeah. watch this again, for the first time.
monday - july 2, 2007
sent to me - chris burden and some of his projects, 1971-1975
1981 world series of poker - i actually watched all 7 parts tonight
sunday - july 1, 2007
sailing vocabulary - starting off with a non-video post here, but give it a chance, peruse the list. i think it's fun.
everything i do, i do it for you - anyone who watched MTV for a total of 20 minutes in the year 1992 saw this video, twice.
always look on the bright side of life
pink floyd - wizard of oz - clip 3 - beautiful. if you haven't heard of or watched 'wizard of oz' with pink floyd's 'dark side of the moon' to accompany it, it's kinda neat. you can actually do it on youtube, start on clip 1. also, here's a list of potential synchronicities that kind of helps to notice the little things, if you wanna.
the making of dark side of the moon - i didn't watch this whole thing today, only watched part 1, but might get back to it. looks interesting.
francis bacon on life, death, and gambling - also, this is an interesting clip of bacon's work too (don't forget to hit the pause button!) though as with most painting you really need to see his work in person. also, here's the extensive wiki on bacon.
an australian tv show's take on radiohead's OK COMPUTER - this show, chasers war, i think it's called, has other interesting clips too
tribute to the movie starship troopers - this is pretty good.
eddy grant - electric avenue - watching this made me curious about eddy grant, so here's the wiki on eddy grant
saturday - june 30, 2007
sent to me - marlon brando on larry king - the person who sent this to me added this: i've never fallen for the brando aura. his acting in apocalypse now, the godfather, and even superman seems labored, pretentious, and phony. the thing that i think he had that most actors don't, is an acute self-awareness. every scene he's in belongs to him and it's often hard to determine if he's mocking the script, the movie, the character he's portraying, or even himself.
thursday - june 28, 2007
lazy eye by the silversun pickups - again, i almost hate to admit it, but i'm hooked on this song
an amusing top 5 list - bizarro
cool trick - my grandpa actually taught me this trick when i was little, and so i do it all the time in retaurants - give it a try. (and how about that accompanying song, eh?)
lazy eye cover - so, the amount of time it takes to share something with the world, and for them to learn it, and then to project it back is now virtually a few minutes. seconds. i foresee a project in the near future where someone like david bowie will set up a contest where he plays a brand new song on youtube, and then asks anyone in the world to cover it and post their version asap. winners of the contest will be based on quality and creativity perhaps, but also on the speed of return. and for the distant future, it's easy to think of the benefits of this type of information transfer, but also very easy to think of the scary aspects of it.
lazy eye by the silversun pickups - another version
karma police, cover 2 - watching this guy it just hit me, and in the context of the thoughts above, i am infatuated with these covers because, essentially, as cheesey as it might be, i do wish i could do what this guy does.
bill hicks clip - ever heard of bill? this is from 94. bill died before 9/11 and the current "war on terror."
wednesday - june 27, 2007
PHILOSOPHY DAY, and fran lebowitz
zizek on the reality of the virtual
monday, june 25, 2007
sent to me - smile contest - this was the show i grew up watching. it was mainly cartoons, but ramblin' rod hosted a studio of kids and they did the famous smile contests every morning. i always wanted to be on that show. well, from ages 5 to 8 anyway.
sent to me - the mighty boosh
sunday - june 24, 2007
sent to me - lidsville - bizarro
sent to me - shoes - bizarro times ten
young folks - i have to admit, i like this song. a trend that will pass? who knows.....
che - brief clip on the beastiality of imperialism
friday - june 22, 2007
sent to me - leaping shampoo
apocalypse 2012 - list of ten indications that the world will have some trouble in late 2012
thursday - june 21, 2007
first day of my life, bright eyes cover, 1 - this is my new favorite cover. i love this kid, and the red car on the right and the boxes on the left and the garage.
video for first day of my life, bright eyes - ah, such a nice music video. (the people alone on the couch made me sad though.)
we are nowhere, bright eyes - when i saw this song on tv, i said, ok, i'll be a conor oberst fan too
bicycle kick soccer goals - these clips make the bicycle kick look common. it isn't.
wednesday - june 20, 2007
sent to me - spiderman intro, 1977
sent to me - cocktail - tom cruise
sent to me - marcel duchamp fountain - SFMOMA
now, ok, my contest for you:
who's better?
a) we both go down together, cover 1, pink floyd poster - decemberists song
b) we both go down together, cover 2, striped shirt no eyes - decemberists song
c) neither - this one (include link)
email me your response: pink floyd, no eyes, neither - this one (include link) - symplvision@gmail.com
tuesday - june 19, 2007
trailer for "once" - looks to be a nice irish film starring the lead singer of one of my favorite bands, the frames
two headed boy cover - song by the neutral milk hotel
miami vice - gas station scene, powerful stuff
johnny cash on little house on the prairie
no rain cover - song by blind melon. this is one of my favorite covers i've come across so far, and yes, because of those bongos!
matthew barney VS madonna - not sure what i think of this, but i guess it's kind of interesting
madonna on letterman in 94 - classic
monday - june 18, 2007
noam chomsky on the u.s. media - this is noam IN lebanon in may, 2006. wow. if you have never listened to noam, do yourself a favor and give him a few minutes.
noam on afghanistan - it's good too
whoopi goldberg on o'reilly - she makes some nice points that bill doesn't want to see from her angle
cyndi lauper's 'time after time,' take 1
cyndi lauper's 'time after time,' take 2 is that will farrell? no, but thinking about that question makes it funnier.
cyndi lauper's 'time after time,' take 3 - this is a classic piece of pop music video history folks
cyndi lauper's 'time after time,' take 4
sunday - june 17, 2007
younger jon stewart on letterman in 94
female comedians talk about life and comedy - i was totally engrossed by this and watched all three episodes in one sitting
bob dylan 4 part interview, 1986 - starts off bitter but then goes on to talk about fame, songwriting, and predicts that music will experience a big change in the next 4 or 5 years. (also, dylan always seems to be speaking in code, as if to say to listeners who might be able to read between the lines the following, "you really shouldn't be that interested in this."
wikipedia entry on visigoths - the late comedian linda smith referred to visigoths in one of he interview clips from the female comedy thing link above, on which she was very funny. she said something like she thought of her father as a comedian at a young age at the trainyards where he worked when he would cross out the graffiti, "vandals" and write in "visigoths." naturally, i looked it up on wikipedia.