Filed under: Television | Tags: Billy Mays, bloopers, infomercials, mighty putty, Orange Glow, Oxi Clean, R.I.P., Zorbeez
What is going on with 50 year-old icons? First, the King of Pop. Now, the King of Infomercials. Tragic.
Check out the lighter side of Billy Mays…
Billy falls into a bathtub.
Billy hits up the McDonald’s drive-thru.
Billy Mays challenges Slap-chop to a sell-off on Adam Carolla’s radio show.
Billy falls again.
A young and dapper Billy shows off the amazing properties of OxiClean.
Filed under: Boxing, Music, Sports, Video Games | Tags: dance-off, dead, Fight Night 4, game face, leather jacket, legend, Michael Jackson, Muhammad Ali, tribute
Man, what a surreal couple of days.
Yesterday as I was reveling in the joy of seeing my face in Fight Night Round 4, I heard the news… the King of Pop was dead. Sort of went like this:
“What?!!!”
“It says here Michael Jackson died from cardiac arrest”
‘”No way. What website is that?”
“Perez Hilton”
“Check something more reputable”
Sure enough, it was true. It was all over the tv, the radio, the internet. I was shocked. I quickly sent a text to R & S co-founder and Michael Jackson fan, Cbet, to which he could only reply, “I heard. Fucking brutal”. The out-pouring of respect for Michael Jackson over the past day since the news broke has been incredible. Logging into Facebook for the first time in weeks earlier today, I was greeted by numerous status updates from people of all different ages and backgrounds conveying their grief and disbelief over the loss of a legend.
The fact of the matter is this. Michael Jackson was truely an icon, the likes of which my generation had never seen before him and will probably never see in our lifetimes. Obviously we could appreciate the grandeur of Elvis and Marilyn Monroe, but Michael Jackson was more tangible. If someone were to tell me that they hadn’t ever heard of Michael Jackson, I would no doubt look at them as if they were an alien. In fact, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that I’ve probably never met a single person who couldn’t easily conjour up a personal story in some way involving Michael Jackson or his music. I can think of 3 favorites just off the top of my head:
1. When I was about 5-6 years old (1985) I had a replica of the jacket Michael Jackson wears in the Thriller video. I wore that jacket everywhere. I remember dancing around listening to the record. Those were good times.
2. A friend was at a party and there was a dude there who was some kind of Michael Jackson super-fan. He dressed and danced sort of like Michael Jackson, even though this wasn’t a costume party. Part way through the party, the dude reached into his pocket and pulled out a Michael Jackson CD. Without considering anyone else’s interest, he walked over to the stereo and threw the CD on. Everybody was into it for the time being. The problem was, the dude put the CD on 4-5 more times! Anytime someone would put music on, Super-fan would vito it and put Jackson back on. Classic!
3. An inpromptu dance-off that took place between 2 Michael Jacksons one fateful Halloween night in Calgary.
It’s unfortunate that over the past 20 years Michael Jackson has turned into more of a circus act than anything else, but his contributions to music and popular culture can not be overlooked. Music lost one of the greats.
OK, now back to Fight Night Round 4…
This game is excellent. I took the time last night to create my Fight Night photo game face and the results are pretty good.
The side view is pretty accurate, especially the Debi family nose.
This game face feature opens up a whole new world for created players. Any boxer not in the game can be easily created. Created fighters can be uploaded onto the EA servers for other network users to download and apparently there will even be some updates from EA. Here’s hoping someone makes a nice Jack Johnson.
The career mode has been greatly improved also. The training modes are engaging, making it fun to climb the ranks from bum to (hopefully) legend. I’m only 4 fights in to my career but I don’t see myself losing interest in this game the way I have in previous Fight Night games.
What a great time to be a fan of boxing games, with Punch-Out and Fight Night Round 4 being released within a month of each other. No matter what system you rock, there’s a top-notch boxing game available to you.
Filed under: Music, Videos | Tags: dance, india, Jacko, King of Pop, legend, lego, Michael Jackson, MJ, opera house, prison, R.I.P., Thriller, train, wedding, world record, zombies
Now I know what our parents felt like when John Lennon died. Michael was one of the most innovative, daring, influential, charismatic and loved performers in modern history.
I can remember so many moments in my life that are tied to the music and dancing of the King. And seriously, who doesn’t like Thriller?
As a tribute to Michael Joseph Jackson, here is a look at Thriller and its colossal influence.
Watch the 14 minute version of the video here.
And here MJ kills it live.
Now for the influence…
My favorite (and yours)… Goalie Ma
The Thriller dance on the train
Thriller Down Under… in front of the Opera House
Lego Thriller
The Wedding Dance Thriller
Video Game Thriller
Filipino Prison
The most people to dance to Thriller in one place World Record holders
Keeping morale up
Filed under: Athletes F'ing Up, Comedy, NFL, Sports, Television | Tags: Diss, Joanna Krupa, Maxim, remix, shut up, Superstars, Terrell Owens
I Tivo’d the first episode of The Superstars tonight, just to see what sort of shenanigans T.O. got up to. And he didn’t disappoint.
His supermodel partner, Joanna Krupa, got fed up with Terrell’s ineptitude on a kayak and then lost it on him when he got stuck on the obstacle course. He was easily the softest pro athlete on the show, and Krupa got off a few great blasts on 81. She wondered “what he got paid millions for”, told him to “shut up” and even blasted him with a “You made the NFL? So what”. Classic.
Update: Joanna Krupa on the cover of August Maxim. Oooh la la.
Filed under: Hip-hop, Links, Movies, Music, Videos | Tags: Cut Chemist, DJ Shadow, Download, Eclectic Method, Kutiman, mashup, Mike Relm, music videos, Quentin Tarantino, remix, Rip: A Remix Manifesto, Temptations
Let’s be straight. I’m well aware that the mash-up concept reached it’s apex a few years back, with DangerMouse’s “Grey Album” and almost anything by Z-Trip motivating countless heads to come-up with their own “unique” combos. Now you can find Jay-Z rapping over anything. So the style is quite played. But the video mash-up is a much more stunning and cerebral version, and it is now being incorporated in the live shows of visionaries like DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist, Mike Relm and more.
Check the Eclectic Method for example. Their Temptations video (embedded above), which was commisioned by Motown Records themselves to help commemorate the labels 50th anniversary, hits you not just on a sonic level but on a visual level as well, allowing for a more complete musical experience. If you didn’t get that experience from watching the Temptations vid, check this out. It is the Eclectic Method’s tribute to one of my dopplegangers, Quentin Tarantino.
You can watch it with no video and be impressed by the audio. Or you can go vice versa, and also be impressed. But watching AND listening makes it one of the most creative forms of musical art around. I highly recommend checking out more from the Eclectic Method by perusing their website. They have tonnes of amazing videos, with the king being Lock Up Your Videos, a 45 min+ collection of music videos mashed up for maximum enjoyment. Download it for free (or pay what you’d like a la Radiohead), kick back and enjoy.
I’ve sang the praises of the video mash-up before on this blog, primarily with an earlier post on the Israeli wunder-nerd Kutiman and his amazing ThruYou YouTube project. Advocates for this most creative art form are sprouting up everywhere, and this advocacy is most apparent in a new movie entitled Rip: A Remix Manifesto (trailer below).
In Rip, filmmaker Brett Gaylor explores the mash-up and its increasing relevance on modern music and popular culture. He looks at the art form itself, the inherent copyright issues and argues for the validity and viability of this truly new medium. It’s a great movie and can be viewed for free or downloaded using the pay what you want model (US only). If you appreciate Eclectic Method, DJ Shadow, Kutiman, Girl Talk, Z-Trip or any other artist that is experimenting with video this way, do yourself a favor and check out the movie.
Filed under: NBA, Playoffs, Sports | Tags: 2009, champions, Elie Seckbach, highlights, Joey Buss, Kobe Bryant, Lakers, Mark Madsen, NBA Finals, parade, Playoffs, Vic the Brick, who let the dogs out?
Today, the great city of Los Angeles will be celebrating the Lakers 15th NBA championship that, due to the city of LA’s dismal finances, will be paid for primarily by the Lakers themselves and local donations. You can watch the parade coverage live by clicking here.
Everybody loves a good parade, and we can only hope that Mark Madsen will make a cameo appearance for some “Who let the dogs out?” action.
This entire post is going to be a tribute of all things Lakers, but I want to get this first video out of the way. It is some great footage of Sunday night’s riot, featuring none other than Laker super-reporter Elie Seckbech:
Now that such ugliness is behind us, let’s concentrate on the great 2008-09 team. The NBA is all over YouTube, putting up video gem after video gem. First, we have Kobe Bryant’s Top 10 plays of 2009:
And now a recap of the Lakers run through the Western Conference:
Don’t forget about the culmination of the entire season, the trophy presentation. For some incredible comedy, go straight to the 1:01 mark for a great interview with the son of the great owner and playboy Dr. Jerry Buss, Joey Buss, who is almost as stunned as Mark Madsen.
And no Lakers season recap could be complete without the messmerizing Lakers philosophy of bball guru Vic the Brick. Feeling you!
Filed under: Comedy, NBA, Playoffs, Sports, Television | Tags: Beetlejuice, Late Show with David Letterman, NBA Finals, Ron Jeremy, Steve Nash, Van Gundy
Nasty is the best. The best part is when he asks Beetlejuice Jeff Van Gundy if his brother, Ron Jeremy Stan Van Gundy ever got laid in high school.
Filed under: Comedy, Hip-hop, Music, NBA, Sports | Tags: Amazing, Caucasian, Chris Kaman, Cunninlynguists, Kanye West, Kno, NBA, white
The QN5 crew are at it again and master beatsmith Kno has his own take on the NBA playoffs theme song, “Amazing” by Kanye West. He flips it into a tribute to white ballers everywhere.
This is some funny shit.
And if you haven’t peeped the new CunninLynguists album yet, do yourself a favor.
Filed under: Comedy, Television | Tags: Friends Forever, Jimmy Fallon, Petition, reunion, Saved By The Bell, Zach Morris
Sweet Jesus, this is one of the funniest things I have ever seen on Jimmy Fallon’s show. MPG (Marc-Paul Gosselaar) just kills it, and his rendition of “Friends Forever” with The Roots almost brought a tear to my eye.
If you were a Saved By The Bell fan like me, click here to sigh Jimmy’s petition for a Saved By The Bell reunion. Word is Screetch is holding out, guess he’s too busy doing absolutely nothing.
Filed under: Comedy, Hip-hop, Music, NBA, Playoffs, Sports | Tags: feeling you, Finals, Kobe Bryant, Lil Wayne, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA, Playoffs, Vic "The Brick" Jacobs
After the Lakers game 1 demolition of the Orlando Tricks, everyone is pilling on the Lake Show bandwagon, including Young Weezy. I’m not a big fan of Lil’ Wayne myself, but as one of the world’s biggest Kobe apologists I have been bumping this track all morning.
For more on Kobe, check out my man Vic “the Brick” Jacobs, the greatest Kobe fan in the world. Feeling you!
Filed under: Clips, Music, NBA, Playoffs, Predictions, Sports, Television | Tags: Don Cornelius, Earth, Finals, Los Angeles Lakers, Magic Johnson, Michael Cooper, Norm Nixon, Soul Train, Wind & Fire
Lakers in 5. Believe it.
Filed under: Music, Television | Tags: Backspacer, Conan O'Brien, Got Some, live, new, Pearl Jam, Tonight Show, turtle
To anyone who missed Conan’s Tonight Show debut last night, ’90s Rock gods Pearl Jam unveiled a new song of their upcoming album. It’s a pretty heavy track by PJ standards but it sure has me excited for their album tentatively titled Backspacer. For some rather worthless trivia, Backspacer is the name of a turtle that Pearl Jam has sponsored in the Great Turtle Race, a leatherback turtle conservation project spearheaded by National Geographic.
Brendan O’Brien is set to produce the album, which is huge news because he produced three of Pearl Jam’s earlier albums: Vs., Vitalogy and Yield. He also produced Mirror Ball, which was a collab between Pearl Jam and Neil Young.
Check for the album in September, it will be available on Pearl Jam’s website and low-end Target stores.
