…But Oh. So. Tasty.
I’ve been conspicuous (or not) by my absence, I know, and will probably continue to be so for a while, as daily life does what it does so well.
But I’ve been collecting a few odds and ends that this crowd might enjoy, so I thought I’d offer them up as a peace offering until I can post something that actually has some substance to it. Think of this as the third cotton candy stick you got as a kid, just before it all went pear shaped at the top of the Tilt-O-Whirl.
First up, a truly delightful take on a song that my son has not let me escape in months (Ah, the joys of being well into middle age, and being schooled by your 12 y.o.) Apparently, the thing is authentically what it alleges itself to be, the Royal Engineers living the pop life in somewhat forbidding circumstances:
<div align=”center”><iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/K-ZFKU2O1Zk” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
I feel it really falls to Sarah Proud and Tall to properly describe what must have gone on in the production of that bit, but I can say that my beloved uncle, a career officer in the Royal Artillery, warned me about those engineering boys.*
ETA: Via Daily Kos, here’s a US Army version, equally…how to put it…charming:
<div align=”center”><iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/B_zhaji9eos” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
I’ll leave it to y’all to decide which side of the Atlantic wins this battle of bands.
But back to the engineers –my uncle’s advice allows me to partake of the “not-quite-500-miles-away”** school of segues to take you to one of the latest effusions from a noted engineering school — one that produced what, to my admittedly biased view, is the best of the exploding universe of Gangnam Style parodies.
Which is to say, here is the MIT version. Watch for the cameos — I’m not sure I’ll ever think about genomics in quite the same way after seeing Eric Lander’s performance. But the capper is one I’ll let you discover, if your eyeballs aren’t already bleeding at the thought of yet more PSY coming your way.
<div align=”center”><iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/lJtHNEDnrnY” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
Oh, and open thread too.
*not intended to be a factual statement
**The not-quite-500-miles-away” segue was the term of art applied to the habit of the BBC programme Panorama to feign a link between two segments by saying something on the order of “Not 500 miles away from where Joe Bloggs was trapped in a death embrace with his pet python, Mary Scroggs paused, startled, while watering her petunias.” Or some such.
jeffreyw
Thread needs moar tacos.
TaMara (BHF)
When my dad was in the Air Force, they actually provided him with teeth.
Lojasmo
Will. Not. Watch.
The Ancient Randonneur
Ha! Noam Chomsky-style … nice.
Chris
Chomsky style was a nice edit.
Are you sure that career concerns have been taking you away from the Juice? :)
Maude
@Lojasmo:
Me neither. I am not fond of this type of video, but that’s me. A lot of people like them.
TaMara (BHF)
The Call Me videos really only make sense if you’ve seen the one they are copying: Miami Dolphin Cheerleaders
Equal time I guess for those who prefer the ladies.
JPL
@Chris: with his tea bag. haha
Sarah
Looks like that dadt repeal is working out a-ok!
JPL
Since this is an open thread, I’ll mention that Atlanta is 10-1…
The Sailor
A couple of the Colts’ cheerleaders had their heads shaved by team mascot during the 3rd quarter to raise money & show support for their head coach who has leukemia.
(Sorry, I couldn’t wait for the football thread.)
eta: http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2012/11/25/3689730/colts-cheerleaders-shave-heads-in-solidarity
Roger Moore
@JPL:
That’s a very smooth way of demanding an NFL open thread. BTW, looks like the Broncos have just put away the Chiefs, so they’re 8-3 with a nice winning streak.
Ted & Hellen
I want the one with no teeth.
Baud
@JPL:
I was in the awkward position of rooting for Atlanta to pull it out over TB, since the Saints are chasing TB for the wild card spot. We have a tough game against the Niners coming up, then the rematch with Atlanta on Thursday night. It’s going to be a brutal week.
Corner Stone
Brutal loss by the Stillers.
This isn’t going to help Cole’s hangover at all.
Joel
Nate Silver is at his worst when he panders to the Republicans.
So, losing a state by 5% makes it contestable? I suppose Romney had to win a state, but the way the argument is structured, it sounds like Silver is post-hoc calling Pennsylvania a “tossup”.
Mr Stagger Lee
As Dickie V would say….THE BROWNS WIN..THE BROWNS WIN
BABY!!!! THEY ARE ROCKIN AND ROLLIN ON THE LAKE,BABY!!!! Ok that is out of my system. That is all.
donnah
The Steelers looked better last week in those ridiculous stripes than they did today.
Yay Bengals!
DPS
@Joel:
It does?
Uncle Cosmo
@Corner Stone: Eight, ah said, eight turnovers?? Jeebus cripes, they’s prolly pastry shops in Pittsburgh that don’t make that many turnovers in a 3-hour stretch…
redshirt
LOL. Big thumbs up to MIT Gangnam style. That was awesome!
JPL
@Baud: Last week Matt Ryan threw five interceptions and still won and this week Matt Bryant misses two field goals both make able. Playoffs are going to be fun.
Roger Moore
@Joel:
I think you’re missing what he means by a tipping point state. The idea is that he needed to win some extra states to win the election, and the goal should have been to target the easiest set of states that would get him to 270. Nate is measuring the tipping point state by ordering the states by their vote margin and picking the one with the smallest margin that would give either campaign 270 votes. If the margin in PA was smaller than CO, then PA would be the tipping point state. Being anywhere close to being a tipping point means that it wasn’t completely crazy to spend money there, since any plan to win the election required tipping some set of states that would give Romney 270.
I’m not sure that PA being the tipping point state means that it was a smarter place to spend money than CO, though. The whole argument about the existence of tipping point states is built around the idea that targeting specific states will move them relative to the popular vote as a whole. In that case, the value of a state has to involve both how far it is from switching and how easy it is to move it. Since Colorado is a much smaller state than Pennsylvania, I’d expect it to take fewer resources to move the vote there. Even if the margin in Colorado was a bit bigger, I’d expect the smaller population to make it easier to move the required amount.
Mandalay
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said that the problem with the administration’s response to the Benghazi attacks has more to do with President Obama than with UN Ambassador Susan Rice, during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” even though congressional Republicans, including McCain, have gone after Rice in recent weeks.
McCain, who has said he would not vote for Rice if she is nominated to succeed Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, declined to reiterate that promise Sunday.”
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/mccain-obamas-problem-not-ambassador-rice
So the racist shitstain crumples like a cheap suit, without having the decency or honor to apologize to Susan Rice for his smears and lies.
A special place in hell should be reserved for McCain.
Bobby Thomson
The Merchant Marine one was awfully good but the MIT one predictably has better geek humor.
MikeJ
@Joel:
No, he explicitly says that the only hope for Romney was to have worked harder in PA throughout the campaign and that a last minute effort wasn’t going to be enough. There’s nothing pandering to Republicans in there, unless you consider the statement that a Republican campaign might win over voters if they tried to be inherently “pandering”.
redshirt
I confess I just saw the original PSY video a couple of days ago. I’d heard about this “Gangnam Style” song for a while but never experienced it directly till this week. It’s fun! Is it already expired as a trend?
So old….
Fun fact about the MIT version – PSY went to Berkley School of Music for a bit, which is like a mile away from MIT and easily reachable on the 1 bus via Mass Ave.
Ash Can
That MIT vid cracked me the hell up. Extremely well done. So far that and the Naval cadet ones are my favorites. And I expect SPT to be here singing the praises of those delightful Royal Engineers any time now.
PurpleGirl
@redshirt: I posted this earlier this morning, take it however you want:
It’s official. You Tube says Psy’s “Gangnam Style” is the most-watched video of all time — 812 million views as of Saturday night. (Added: Sunday at noon: 817 million.) Pretty incredible considering it’s only been up four months. … (Justin Beiber is second with 804 million views for Baby ft. Ludacris, which has been out almost two years.)
Jinx
I thought this version of Call Me, Maybe was cute:
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=lEsPhTbJhuo&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DlEsPhTbJhuo
It’s Jepson, Jimmy Fallon and the Roots backstage playing the song on school instruments (I.e. triangle, Ukelele, melodica, kazoo, etc;)
BruceFromOhio
@Mr Stagger Lee: Brownies D and the steaming hot plate of TURNOVERS: ARF ARF ARF ARF ARF! As Jim Donovan so aptly put it, a win over the Stillers is like 10 wins.
Xecky Gilchrist
@redshirt: I’d heard about this “Gangnam Style” song for a while but never experienced it directly till this week. It’s fun! Is it already expired as a trend?
Not just yet! I saw a dance recital at the local university yesterday and the troupe did a surprise Gangnam Style segment right in the middle of a Viennese waltz. Impressive.
redshirt
@efgoldman: My Psy studies have just begun, so perhaps I read it wrong. I thought I read he did not graduate from Berklee – too bored.
I lived/worked next to Berklee/BU/Northeastern/MIT/Harvard for close to 20 years. And only now that I’m gone do I appreciate it, of course.
Raven
Last night at the beach. Beautiful but cold say. I got all set up to fish and when I waded out to the first sand bar to throw my rig I saw the jelly fish invasion. What I thought were chiggers may be sand flea bites, tons of them on my legs. Reality bites!
redshirt
@Raven: That would work as a poem if you typed it as such.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@efgoldman:
This is pure speculation on my part, but I wonder if BU had general education course requirements that might be tough for someone to keep up with if his first language was not English. I’m assuming that Berklee is pretty much 100% music education and doesn’t require a lot of non-music related courses.
Raven
@PurpleGirl: Trying to find the clip from Do the Right Thing where Coconut Sid, ML and Sweet Dick Willie complains about them motherfuckin KO RE ANS!
Gangham Style
Stephen1947
I’m sitting in 12-133, having completed last meeting of the day with a student in need of essay revision assistance, and I double check my blogs before heading home. Thinking I’m the only one in the building I click on a video you’ve posted, and a minute later another writing adviser pokes her head in the door wondering what all the noise is. This also happened a couple of weeks a.go on a Saturday when you first posted the MIT gangnam video. You’re giving me a flighty reputation among my fellow workers, and so far I haven’t mentioned your name as an excuse for my juvenile behavior – but next time…
IowaOldLady
We saw “Lincoln” this afternoon. Every seat in the theater was full because it was only in one theater in one of our two movie complexes. It’s really worth seeing, a simultaneously inspiring and horrifying look at how the 13th Amendment was passed. They were actually buying votes for it. Talk about watching the sausage being made.
I thought there were reverberations with today’s politics too.
redshirt
@efgoldman: Heh. Loony Tunes. I got street lights put up directly across from their former location. Through a letter writing campaign. For ten years that stretch of Boylston St was a dark oasis of possible trouble.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
Stopped off at Panera Bread for a bowl of soup on my way home from Joann. Very interesting to be riding my bike with a pillow form sticking out of my pannier.
Dee Loralei
My son wants to go to Berklee. Damn is it costly. I’m gonna have to rob several banks or win the Powerball on Wed.
MIT Gangnam style was cute. My fav Call Me Maybe was the MidShipmen at Annapolis so far.
And I am really really sick of both of those songs, but watched all 3 videos dutifully.
Scuffletuffle
I will never be sick of them as long as they involve gentlemen of the military persuasion, clad and unclad…
JPL
@Dee Loralei: If you win the powerball, you can have a car elevator. just sayin
the Conster
@IowaOldLady:
Me too – just got back. Yes, it could have been made in March of 2010. The more things change….
Odie Hugh Manatee
Hmmm… the ice cream truck just cruised through the neighborhood playing its tune to attract the kids. Lessee… yup, it’s almost the end of November.
Actually, it’s nicer now here on the south Oregon coast than it was this summer.
ThresherK
Coupe Grey Cup kickoff in minutes.
I think Toronto wins this one over Calgary.
Remember, this is for entertainment purposes only. I predicted BC & Montreal in this space last week, and it turned out to be quite an entertaining comment.
Downpuppy
@Dee Loralei: Seems to me any kid that goes to Berklee should be out earning at least a few nickels towards their way – whether it’s playing weddings, Ramones covers at the Middle East, or the Symphony – if they don’t want to perform, why are they there?
Anyhow, hoping your son can find himself in a good place between starving in artistic purity & Miley Cyrus.
phantomist
Coupe Grey Cup kickoff in minutes
At seven P.M. a main hatchway caved in; he said,
“Fellas, it’s bin good t’know ya!”
Gordon Lightfoot at halftime
Ted & Hellen
@Downpuppy:
I don’t know…perhaps to focus on their studies and practice and recitals?!
Snarla
Thank you for posting these videos. Seeing those soldiers having fun like that really reminds me that people are generally better than I give them credit for.
Dee Loralei
@Downpuppy: He mostly wants to compose. But he’s writing some pop stuff now so he can do the band thing for cash hopefully. But yea, even if I did win the biggest lottery ever, he’d have to contribute something to his education, just so I’d know he was truly serious.
handsmile
@IowaOldLady: , @the Conster:
We saw “Lincoln” yesterday afternoon at the neighborhood movieplex in Astoria, NY. Most every seat was filled, with a wide age range, in the 350-seat theater. On Friday we had been unable to see it at the much larger Union Square megaplex as all four afternoon screenings had been sold out.
Extraordinary film, with one of the best screenplays I have ever encountered. Emotionally gripping as well as quickly paced. Among its very impressive features, the film did not waste time spoon-feeding exposition on the major characters, their relationships, and the key issues. It actually demands the audience’s attention.
On “Up! with Chris Hayes” on Saturday, Hayes related that he found the film so powerful and persuasive in depicting the necessary machinations of legislative compromise that he gained a deeper appreciation of the Affordable Care Act.
This film should be required viewing for every American high school student. And most every adult. (But in such a world, everyone who wanted a pony would get one.)
J. Michael Neal
The Gophers are 16-0 and have now outscored the opposition 98-10. At some point this stops being a hot streak and the team is just this damned good.
ThresherK
@phantomist: Yep. Looking forward to it, especially how Gordo and Justin Bieber will mesh together.
The Guess Who vocalist Burton Cummings sang the anthem. And it looks like there won’t be a Bryan Adams or Anne Murray this year.
(PS I can’t forget the hockey movie epic “Power Play”, with Eugene Levy as the proto-Lightfoot Canadian folkie <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeN3-Uq3iVI" Murray Eagleson.)
I am not a kook
Have they sent those videos to Taliban yet?
henqiguai
Absolutely off topic (assuming there’s a topic in play, since this is a hit&run)…
Watching Einstein’s Brain (2008) on History International (or History2; not sure which it really is), and guess who keeps popping up with cameo commentary, Mr. Levenson? I point and exclaim and my wife blithely continues folding laundry and ignoring the TV. Non-techie non-geek. Remind me, again, why I got married? Oh yeah, never mind.
the Conster
@handsmile:
Every seat was full at Large Cineplex where I saw it, and you could have heard a pin drop through the entire thing. It was a masterpiece. I saw the Tony Kushner interview on Up, and for such a densely argued exposition on the passage of the amendment, it was as gripping as any thriller screenplay, with the added benefit of being true, with the good guys winning. Until the very end. They should just give Daniel Day-Lewis the Oscar now, and spare everyone else the exercise in futility.
eric nny
OMG I need a new joke.
Old one was, “how do you get a Browns’ fan to stop masturbating? Paint his dick black & gold and he’ll never beat it again.”
Seriously, 3rd string playing. It will be fine next game.
Stephen1947
@the Conster: Same goes for Sally Field – I think it will be unfair to all the other female actors to get their hopes up by nominating them.
When I saw it, my audience burst into spontaneous applause after the scene in which Lincoln explained to his cabinet why the Amendment would be more permanent than his Emancipation Proclamation – I believe that it was the screenplay getting the applause.
PurpleGirl
@henqiguai: It’s H2 for History 2. They stopped using History International about a year ago. (They also stopped having the 7 A.M. show be mostly in Spanish, which I really liked even though I don’t understand Spanish. They had really good speakers and the Spanish was so lovely sounding and soothing.)
hildebrand
@handsmile: I think I may be getting overly sentimental, but I cried when the 13th amendment passed. And of course after Lincoln died. Had to sit and collect myself before I could leave the theatre with my son and his girlfriend (both of whom enjoyed the movie thoroughly).
I also thought of how damned concerned I am for the President’s safety – especially now that the extremists can’t defeat him at the ballot box.
jl
Dude, I come back from a very traditional, nay, even All-Amercian family thanksgiving, I see this weird stuff. What the hell is this about?
I’ll scroll down and look for some posts on turkey or football, or Pilgrims, or something. I assume there is at least one of each.
Jeesh.
the Conster
@Stephen1947:
Yup – I haven’t been as educated, inspired, moved, and entertained by a movie in forever. I will never believe, either, that the South will ever consider itself committed to the idea of The Union.
Mr Stagger Lee
@IowaOldLady: Some good performances all around in that film, I liked the performance from Walton Goggins from The Shield and Justified, was good as the the defeated congressman from Ohio who gets pressured to vote for the Amendment.(big fan of those TV shows)
handsmile
@the Conster: , @Stephen1947:
Yes, one would have to expect that Mr. Lewis and Ms. Field will each be adding a third Best Actor/Actress Oscar to the trophy cabinet. (Hard not to feel a bit sorry for the other candidates the Academy will inevitably nominate.)
But I’d be disappointed if Tommy Lee Jones is not honored as Best Supporting for his astonishing performance as Thaddeus Stevens. Two scenes alone-at the White House reception line with Mrs. Lincoln and in his office browbeating the quavering Democratic congressman-should earn that trophy: polar opposites dramatically and each one masterful.
@hildebrand:
You and me both: through a number of scenes, tears were rolling down my face. As for the second paragraph of your comment: yeah, me too. A lot.
IowaOldLady
@handsmile: I cried too. Felt sappy. Did it anyway.
The celebration in the House chamber reminded me in tone of Grant Park in 2008. History had happened in an almost unbelievable way.
SiubhanDuinne
@Xecky Gilchrist:
N
I would like to see the Vienna Philharmonic do that at the Musikverein on New Year’s Day.
Citizen_X
@the Conster:
Well, I did just see that movie get roundly applauded.
In Texas.
(PS: no, not in Austin.)
Mystical Chick
@Jinx: The clip of Fallon, the Roots and Carly is my all-time favorite happy place. Nothing beats a bunch of brothers jamming out to a little pop ditty. There’s not a time I play that it doesn’t cheer me up immediately.
Richard Fox
I too was greatly moved by “Lincoln”. It saddened me deeply to see what the Republican party once was, and now is. I would have happily rallied behind Honest Abe. The film itself… was definitive. Brilliant screenplay, and not a bad acting performance in the bunch. Better than superb.. And the look of the film, the lighting! Dim rooms that seemed true to life, given the way interiors were lit then. Folks in my audience also applauded at the end. Did my heart good to see such a film, coming at the end of an ugly campaign season. Renews my faith, and I heartily recommend it to everyone.
Richard Fox
One more thing about the film on Lincoln. I wish that the idiots that are pledging secession from the Union would drink in the film, drink deeply at the images of all the dead, and the true import of what seccession signifies– not some abstract principles dimly understood, but raw in your face revelation as to what they are now wishing for. Even then they probably would not get it. Such idiocy in our country……
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@Mystical Chick: This one is a close second:
Jimmy Fallon, Christina Aguilera & The Roots Sing “Your Body” (w/ Office Supplies as Instruments)
cosima
My daughter just sent me this via text. Where the F does Fox find these delusional awful women? Is there a factory that makes them? Do they have orphanages where they raise them to be this stupid & misguided? This “opinion” — and I’ll use that term very loosely — is every Fox guy reader’s wet dream…
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/11/24/war-on-men/
elftx
to Mandalay at #25 re: McCain..yeah he is folding this hand but they will still fight Rice..and her involvement with Rwanda..because they want Kerry so they can run Brown (?) for senate
also too..gotta give the Call me Maybe video to the Army..when he ran his hand along the ammo..just cracked me up..and then they blew off a mortar round..cracked me up again..guess I am more hawk than chicken but it was damn funny
Ramalama
Bit of trivia: Noam had a sore throat the day they were shooting him for the video so his assistant made him drink some tea with honey.
Svensker
@the Conster:
Every review of this movie seems to be glowing. Did you really like it? I have never seen a Spielberg movie that wasn’t a piece of shit, so I’m really scared about this one. But, really, you liked it and thought it was good? I just can’t believe it.
Gretchen D
@TaMara (BHF): I thought the best “Call Me Maybe’ video was the Olympics swim team. Those kids are great!
the Conster
@Svensker:
Loved it. Every so often it has a little whiff of Spielberg about it, but it’s in service to the words of Lincoln and the country he’s so deeply committed to saving. Daniel Day-Lewis’ performance will be legendary. It really must be seen. The political arguments made, and the idea of a more perfect union just gave me that pride in this country that all the tea baggers in the world can’t diminish, try as they might. There’s a lovely exchange between Thaddeus Stevens and Lincoln about purity v. pragmatism that mimics the firebagger v. Obot skirmishes that we have here on this blog. This movie is the antidote to all of that nonsense. Really.
Mnemosyne
@Svensker:
Really, you hated both Catch Me If You Can and Minority Report?
ETA: I’m a little nervous about Lincoln because Spielberg has some annoying twitches when he makes An Important Film, but some of his latter-day stuff is better than what he was making in his supposed golden age of the 1980s.
YellowJournalism
@Svensker: So I am going to assume you haven’t seen Jaws. Damn near perfect movie for its genre.
Sarah, Proud and Tall
Heavens. When did all the boys get to be so gay?