Shirtgood is cool

so there is a cool t-shirt shop called Shirtgood. Lots of t-shirts, crew necks, sweatshirts (are those the same thing?) as well as dad hats, mugs, aprons and more.

Check it out. Also on Instagram and Facebook.

The Blues

so I was fooling around on Youtube and discovered something that in hindsight should have been obvious: a lot of the jams I like were covers of old blues songs. Some of the blues songs are better, I think, like "Going Up Country."

For example, "Black Betty" by Ram Jam. Or Leadbelly: vs

"House of the Rising Sun" by the Animals, and also Leadbelly vs

And "Going Up the Country" by Canned Heat and Henry Thomas vs

Funniest video I've seen in a long time: NSFW

so this is pretty great. It was related to some other video, God knows why.

Don't watch it at work, unless your work is very progressive.



I am glad these guys exist. They're like the Vengaboys crossed with Yin Yang Twins. Crazily, they're also Berry Gordy's son and grandson.

North Korean army getting funky

so here is the North Korean army getting funky.

Music Jam: Lana Del Rey is awesome

so the other day I asked a friend what music she was listening to, and she suggested Lana del Rey:

hot chick
raspy voice
sings about whiskey
i love it
she's my spirit animal

To me, that is a pretty good recommendation. So I checked her out, and she is great (and also the hot chick part is accurate.)

"Video Games" is my favorite so far.




"Kinda Outta Luck" has a very 60s vibe to me.


Somebody on Youtube suggested that she should do a James Bond theme song, which is a great idea.
She also kind of reminds me of the National.

I am officially out of touch

so I think that time has finally arrived: I'm out of touch. This person who I've never heard of has a song I've never heard, and it has 135 million views on Youtube. One would assume that means she's a big star?



I don't see why. The song is pretty blah. But I wonder if there's something else? Does her 135 million views mean she's more popular than artists with fewer views? That seems impossible. Maybe Youtube is so popular that it's basically like listening to radio for people, especially since MTV doesn't play videos anymore. Maybe there's people who are on here watching her song over and over. Or is there some way to cheat the system? That would be a pretty clever thing to do if you're a record company.

In any case, I like this video better.

Awesome new Beastie Boys video

so here's a new video from the Beastie Boys; or really, more of a short film. It's for their new song "Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win" from an upcoming album. I could watch a full movie of this. There's a bigger version on their site if you want to watch it in all its glory.

On smugness and religion

So not to talk about religion, but I was at coffee a minute ago in my building and overheard some young, overly confident dude in a suit debating at (rather than with) some colleagues. They didn't really seem to care.

He was going on and on about how the Catholic Church is the true church and Catholics are the chosen people, how so many wars have been fought against the Catholic Church, how all atheists are smug assholes, and how the church has never, ever made a mistake in dogma. Of course, it's hard to say somebody else is smug when you just said your religion is correct and has never made a mistake.

And I'm kicking myself that I didn't ask what about that whole thing where the Earth is the center of the universe and Galileo was convicted of heresy for saying otherwise? Maybe you could make the argument that it wasn't officially dogma, but I mean, close enough.

Hipsters on video

so for some reason, this 9 second video I made is one of the most popular one I have on Youtube, even more than ones that I consider way more awesome, like Massanutten Extreme, snowboarding down 13th Street, and Teddy getting tackled by a wolf at the Presidents Race.

It's of hipsters in Williamsburg. Enjoy?

On photobombing

so I just discovered my new favorite website, This is Photobomb, dedicated to, what else, photobombing. It's a hilarious site and a hilarious thing to do: even celebrities like Nathan Fillion and the dudes from Mythbusters do it. I went through and found a few photos of me on Facebook photobombing friends, check them out:

at bocce

on Halloween

hiking

and finally, EPIC TRIPLE PHOTOBOMB!

1860s tributes vs. today's tributes

So I was browsing Wikipedia and saw the above odd image in the discussion page for Abraham Lincoln. It's called The Apotheosis and was done in 1865 (after Lincoln's assassination) by an unknown artist. It reminded me of the terrible crying eagle pictures that appeared after 9/11, also by anonymous artists. Funny to see how corny sentiments continue through all eras. Although in my opinion the Lincoln/Washington is a bit more touching and less dumb than the eagles.

Music Jam: John Talabot - "Families"

so John Talabot is a Spanish techno guy, and I love this jam.Via Pitchfork.

JOHN TALABOT / Families (Ft Glasser) by Young Turks

Lots of what I've heard of him is good, it's sort of mellow, interesting electronic music. Great for putting on at work and cranking on stuff. Check out his Myspace too -- I like "Sunshine" and "Afrika" a lot.

It's baseball season

So here's a bunch of pictures of Pedro Serrano from Major League.

New York City no wave and post-disco

so I'm getting into the New York no wave/post-disco stuff from the late 70s and early 80s: ESG, Liquid Liquid, Bush Tetras, Konk etc. I made a playlist on Youtube if you are so inclined, below.

Any other jams you'd suggest? I didn't put on anything like A Certain Ratio since they aren't from NYC, but still are awesome.

I tend to like the more up-tempo stuff that isn't so jazzy. I want to have a dance party and play it all.

Discovering samples: Pharoahe Monch = Destroy All Monsters

so I always think it's fun when I'm listening to music or watching something and I notice that it's sampled in another song: better so when I'm not expecting it. It's like putting together a puzzle. For example, the other day I was watching Destroy All Monsters, one of the Godzilla movies where aliens take control of Godzilla and his monster buddies. I noticed that the main, recurring theme from the movie is sampled in the Pharoahe Monch song "Simon Says." Check it out. (There are some bad words in the Pharoahe Monch song.)

Chromeo - "You're So Gangsta"

so this isn't really a video, but it's the best I can find. I am loving this jam lately. Chrome-o-o-o-o-o.

Rant: I hate ads about surprise cars with bows

You suck, Lexus

So I hate ads about cars with bows. Supposedly, people buy a car for a loved one and surprise them with it, often involving some elaborate or (supposedly) cute trick, like kids opening a giant box or lifting a giant Christmas stocking to reveal the car with a giant bow. There's so many of these ads on TV, and they suck.

The entire premise is bogus. They're trying to make it seem like it's this common, normal thing, everybody gives surprise cars with giant bows -- but they don't. They're too big and complicated for that, there are so many decisions you'd need to make for it to be the perfect car for the recipient. It's hard enough to buy clothes as presents, but a car?

What if you spent $30,000 on a surprise car, but the person really wanted another car, or another color, or another year, or some other option you didn't get? You'd have to talk to the recipient endlessly about what they want in a car, and then it'd be pretty obvious that they're going to get a car, which would thus ruin the fun. You'd need to check all the different reviews of the cars too, but you wouldn't be able to tell or ask the person what the good things and bad things about the car are ahead of time.

And anyway, who spends $30,000 on a Christmas present? Or are they just marketing to rich people?

Why not just go to the dealership together and pick one out? The only time I'd ever think a surprise would work is for an old or classic car. This guy loves red '67 Chevy Impalas, so I bet he'd be happy with a present of one. However, all these ads are for new car surprises, not old ones.

The giant bows are also bogus. I don't think anybody actually puts a giant bow on their surprise car present, assuming they actually exist. And where would you even get one? There are some web sites, of course, but it looks like they're mainly aimed at car dealers. (Related, that website is for a company based in Wapwallopen, Pennsylvania. What a weird name.)

The entire premise is dumb. They're trying to create this fake tradition to sell cars. No thanks.

I Watch Every Ski Movie, Episode 3: Ski Wolf

so continuing my quest to watch every ski movie brings me to Ski Wolf. I've watched about a dozen and Ski Wolf is one of the worst.

It's barely a movie. It's basically a group of friends with a camcorder goofing around on ski slopes. In fact, there's not even an IMDB page for it, to show you how homemade it is.

The movie comes from Low Budget Pictures, which is sort of a knock-off (reallllly knock-off) Troma, with other titles like Teenape Vs. The Nazi Monster Apocalypse, Terror at Blood Fart Lane, Moist Fury, and so on. Some of the characters in Ski Wolf are in the other movies too. An example is Marge, a 20ish girl who wears 80s glasses, a wig, has a pillow under her shirt and talks in a weird voice. Apparently that's the character, not the character pretending to be in costume. Which gives you an idea of the level of this movie.

The plot, if you want to call it that, is that a few friends go to a ski resort somewhere to hang out with their uncle, who is clearly the same age as everybody else). The uncle is being forced to sell the place to a jerky guy. One of the friends turns into a wolf, who everyone thinks is awesome for some reason, and in the end he kills the jerky guy.

In between the guy turning into a wolf, a bunch of things happen for no reason. For example, a couple of ogre-looking guys show up for no reason and do nothing, a couple of bands play (including ska), and there's a very awkward 10-minute sex scene with the wolf and a woman, who are joined mid-way through, again for no good reason, by two of the other characters. (The Making Of feature on the DVD, which is longer than the movie itself, reveals the woman in the sex scene to be an internet porn star.)

And throughout the entire movie the characters do and say things that make no sense and usually aren't funny. My friends and I were saying "what?" "why?" and so on out loud about every 30 seconds

That's basically it. If you watch the Making Of (we were very bored) you sort of get the sense of the personalities of the people in it, which helps a bit, but still, it's really terrible.

That said, it's still better than Ski Trippin', at least because this movie used microphones and was fairly well-lit, and they actually ski (a little).

But really, don't watch it. The only way I can think think this would be watchable would be if you are under the influence of illegal drugs, but I would hope you have something better to do in that case. Like sleep.

And here's the trailer, for whatever reason.

Music Jam: Pomplamoose

so my friend Kate told me about this band, it's a unsigned duo from the Bay Area called Pomplamoose, a play on pamplemousse, the French word for grapefruit. They're kind of girly, but undeniably catchy and fun and stuff. And it helps that the lead singer has a great, jazzy voice and is pretty gorgeous. I bet so many dudes fell in love.

Here's one I like, and there a ton more on their Youtube page.



They do little stories after the songs too. Here's their Myspace, Twitter and Wikipedia page.

My new favorite record label: Turquoise Jeep

So my friend sent me this video, for "Lemme Smang It" by Yung Humma ft. Flynt Flossy. Amazing.



I like how the words appear on the screen in different fonts. One of the best Youtube comments is "dude's got permanent rapeface on." And the record label is called Turquoise Jeep Music. Amazing. (Flynt Flossy appears to be Charlie Murphy, Eddie's bro.)

They have a bunch of other awesome jams too. For example, "Sex Syrup" by Slick Mahony ft. Yung Humma:



"Cavities" by Flynt Flossy, Pretty Raheem, and Whatchyamacallit.



Love Pretty Raheem's hair.

"Fried or Fertiziled" is another good one, as is "Stretchy Pants." Here's the commercial for their album, which I will 100% buy.



Pretty much all the other songs are amazing too.