The New iPad

So Conan recently unearthed a little promo video for the iPad. Yeah I think Apple is getting a little cocky too Conan....

I love the 'non-specific ethnic accent'.

Prank on a Call Centre

I wonder if someone can duplicate this with the Bell call centre here in Kanata. This is an insanely elaborate prank on a Belgian call center which is apparently notorious for it's poor customer service. Stick around for the ending - it is priceless.

Remix the News: Part 2

A couple posts ago I listed a bunch of "music" videos that spawned from a remix of a news story by the Gregory Brothers.

Well they are at it again. Here is the original news story.


and here is the Gregory Brothers Remix:

The Bed Intruder Video Evolution

If you have been living under an internet rock over the past couple weeks you may have missed this latest internet meme. So I will attempt to keep you up to date because it keeps getting funnier.

Here is the original video which is actually quite serious:


Then some guys added some auto-tune and introduced music and voila, a the bed intruder song:


They invited everybody to do parodies of it and people responded instantly

The indie-folk version:


The piano version:


The Japanese guitar version:


And naturally the full band version:

Making Fun of TV MegaChefs

Here is a Youtube chef poking fun at TV Megachefs while showing us how to boil an egg.

She has got all the bases covered.

Thank You, Internet

Has anybody else heard of this Zach Anner guy? Apparently, he posted a video on Oprah's website to pitch a TV show for a contest she was financing. Thanks to on-line voting and the power of forums like Reddit and Digg his pitch is now in the lead by a good margin.

Here is a video of his thanks to the internet.


What a funny guy!

Fresh Prince of Middle Earth

Some guy doing an Ian McKellen impression of the Fresh Prince intro. Does it get any better than this?

This guy is good!

Water Consumption vs Gold Medal Game

Here is an awesome graph showing water consumption in Edmonton during the gold medal hockey game a couple weeks ago. I wonder if some people's toilets refilled a little slower than usual although you can guarantee that nobody would have been to concerned about that at the time.

Can't you just imagine a whole nation of people holding it in till the end of the period?

Why we love to hate CSI Miami

Here is a great montage of Caruso one-liners.

This is all you need to see from this show. The rest of the show is all filler, these are the scenes that matter.

ps I'm off to the States today for a church leadership conference.

2nd Annual Enjoyment Awards

It is the new year and I figure that I should continue my annual tradition which was started last year. This are my most enjoyed random stuff of the 2008 year.
Once again, I am not confining my list to music and it is not necessarily only from this year. My list is all about the stuff I got the most enjoyment out of in 2008.
Anyways, here it is:

My most enjoyed artist of 2008 was:
Justin Rutledge because he seems like a real cool guy who happens to make fantastic indie folk/country tunes. I even got to meet him.

Some runners up were Sufjan Stevens (he will probably always be close to winning in this section), Stars and Fleet Foxes.

My most enjoyed album of 2008 was:
It is a tie between Swift Feet for Troubling Times by Ohbijou and Asking for Flowers by Kathleen Edwards.

Some runners up:
Man Descending by Justin Rutledge
Cease to Begin by Band of Horses
Oh, My Darling by Basia Bulat
Where the Bungalows Roam by Jim Bryson
Fleet Foxes by Fleet Foxes (I am still really into that one)

It's just so hard to pick.

My most enjoyed song of 2008 was:
Nothing really is catching my attention here. Apparently my enjoyment was spread over so many songs this year. If I had to pick (and I don't have to because this is my blog and nobody is forcing me) it would be between Royal Wood's Julia or Gonzalez, Working Together.

Runners up:
The Other Side by Ohbijou
Scared at Night by Kathleen Edwards
In the Night by Basia Bulat
Clear the Crowds by Jim Bryson

My most enjoyed live performance of 2008 was probably Radiohead in Montreal because we were so incredibly close to the stage and the after party, jumping out of windows from bar to bar until 5:00 in the morning with a great bunch of people was so fun.

The runners up would have to be Kate Maki at the Black Sheep (with Nathan Lawr and Jim Bryson) or even Royal Wood also at the Black Sheep. Basia Bulat also put on a great show on Canada Day at Jazzfest but it wasn't quite intimate enough as the last time I saw her open for Great Lake Swimmers.

My most enjoyed Local Band (Greater Ottawa Area) of 2008 was:
Kathleen Edwards and her bandmate Jim Bryson.

Runner Up:
Ohbijou and their album compilation with Ottawa band The Acorn.
If I moved out of the Ottawa area I wish I could pick Library Voices (who won a Bucky Award for their band name) but I haven't listened to them enough to really pick them.
Also, I wish Forest City Lovers were from Ottawa so I could pick them too.

My most enjoyed music venue of 2008 was:
Black Sheep Inn, Wakefield QC hands down. I have a feeling it will win every year. It is just too perfect if you get there early enough to snag a seat in front of the stage.

I also nominated it for CBC's Searchlight contest (as did many other people) for best small club for seeing music. I hope it wins and I really think it has a good chance.

My most enjoyed beer of 2008 was:
This is so hard to pick. Probably that smoked beer that I had at Pub Italia in Ottawa’s little Italy or that McAuslan Cream Ale that you can only get on tap in a few places (including the Black Sheep).

Runners up would be the Danish strong beer Faxe or the white beer Hoegarden or the many cervezas we had in Spain (many because of location though, not the distinctness beer). Spain did have the best sangria though as I am sure it always will.

My most enjoyed TV show of 2008 was:
Fringe. I know maybe it's a bit cliche but I still really love the sci-fi craziness. It also has a healthy dose of conspiracy. It is made by the same guys as Lost but unlike that show it is actually understandable.

Pushing Daisies is also a great show but there just wasn’t enough new episodes.

My most enjoyed movie of 2008 was:
I just can't think of anything....I don't watch enough movies I guess. Nothing really stands out. Maybe I could pick the Wallace & Grommet shorts that we re-watched during the Christmas holidays.

My most enjoyed technology of 2008 was:
Linux Ubuntu because it has changed my computer expectations forever. I will never use Windows Vista.

My most enjoyed purchase of 2008:
Without a doubt it was the Vespa.

My most enjoyed city of 2008 was:
San Sebastien, Spain.

Madrid and it's sourrounding towns are close runners up though.

My most enjoyed sport of 2008:
Definitely snowboarding since I went once a week in the winter. This year we aren’t going quite as often it seems but I don’t have any other sports.

And last but not least my most enjoyed person of 2008 was:
Irene - she wins again!?! amazing!!!!

Fleet Foxes on SNL this week!

I rarely watch SNL but if I remember then I may want to watch it this week just to see the Fleet Foxes.
Fleet Foxes are one of my favorites of the moment. Check out this Pitchfork video/review of them at SXSW. It is pretty cool when they are doing vocal practices under the bridge. Those guys have some phenomenal voices.

I love The Office

The Economy according to Michael Scott of Dunder Mifflin

Here's the thing about this so-called "financial crisis," if it were really bad, people would be jumping out of buildings on Wall Street. No one's jumping out of buildings, so it's probably just the media scaring us again, just like it did about birds catching the flu and cows getting mad. But there is a problem and in order to make things right, the government needs to start printing more money and lots of it. Now I know it takes money to make money, but I sell paper and you can get a couple hundred sheets of it for a buck, thousands if you buy in bulk. If the government bought some quality Dunder Mifflin paper to print new money on, believe me, they'd make a huge profit on the deal even after the cost of ink. So if anyone knows Barack Obama, please forward this to him, and make sure he knows we're having an incredible special on Hammermill Great White recycled copy paper-99.99% jam free! But if the government insists on continuing to get ripped off by the big box chains, there are other fixes. When it comes to stocks, they should start buying low and then selling high. I hear that's a good way to maximize profits. They should also consider focusing more on "transparency," "sustainability," and "stabilization." Those appear to be good things. At the same time we should avoid "recessions," "speculative bubbles," and "asset-liability mismatches," because according to Yahoo Answers, those are really bad things. Plus, they could cut or raise interest rates depending on the situation. I think if we take these simple steps, all our economic troubles will probably just go away, like global warming did after Al Gore made that really boring film.

*excerpt from Dunder Mifflin Newsletter