It’s Not the Venue

For a variety of reasons, this might be the one media I remember most from the past year.  If there’s a funnier thing on the internet, I haven’t found it yet:

HHH and SICGOOMH

At some point around mile 20 my trusty ipod just stopped working.  The night before I had even gone and loaded up a bunch of podcasts and music that I had been dying to listen to but had been putting off for just this occasion.  So now I was stuck with the reality that I was not only going to have to ride 100 miles, but I was going to have to pay attention to the fact that I was riding 100 miles.  I can’t even begin to describe how much harder that made things.  So without any new inputs, you know what is bound to happen, right?  That’s right, I got one song stuck in my head and repeated it over and over and over until nearly screamed out loud.  That song was Boston by Augustana.  Definitely not the worst song in the world, but I could have probably done with about 3 or 4 less hours of it in on repeat.

Things would have been so much better if I had managed to learn the words to my newest obsession before I got out there:

Dispatches from London X-Home Edition

So as you can imagine, Texans have a somewhat, uh, unique relationship with London.  For a while we had our own embassy there when we were our own country.  (Ya’ll do know that we were once our own country, right?).  Since then, Texans have loved and hated this place.  (Unlike NYC which we pretty much just hate).  Anyway, in honor of my return, I offer the following song and lyrics.  You can see the video here and the lyrics are below (and they’ll explain the picture).

LONDON HOMESICK BLUES by Gary P. Nunn
Well, when you’re down on your luck,
And you ain’t got a buck,
In London you’re a goner.
Even London Bridge has fallen down,
And moved to Arizona,
Now I know why.
And I’ll substantiate the rumor that the English sense of humor
Is drier than than the Texas sand.
You can put up your dukes, and you can bet your boots
But I’m leavin’ just as fast as I can.

Chorus
I wanna go home with the armadillo
Good country music from Amarillo and Abilene
The friendliest people and the prettiest women you’ve ever seen.

Well, it’s cold over here, and I swear
I wish they’d turn the heat on.
And where in the world is that English girl
I promised I would meet on the third floor.
And of the whole damn lot, the only friend I’ve got
Is a smoke and a cheap guitar.
My mind keeps roamin’, my heart keeps longin’
To be home in a Texas bar.

Chorus

Well, I decided that I’d get my cowboy hat
And go down to Marble Arch Station.
‘Cause when a Texan fancies, he’ll take his chances.
Chances will be taken, that’s for sure.
And them Limey eyes, they were eyein’ the prize
That some people call manly footwear.
And they said you’re from down South,
And when you open your mouth,
You always seem to put your foot there.

Repeat chorus ’til the cows come home.

MJ

Yeah, okay, he was weird.  But all we have to say is that if your body and mind could do the things his could and you lived as abnormal a childhood as he did, chances are you wouldn’t turn out to be quite as normal as you are.  Let’s put it this way, if you’re such an amazing performer that could invent the freaking moonwalk and not have it show up until 1:45 into a 6:00 video of your best live dance moves, you are operating a different level than the rest of us and it should come as no surprise that regular conventions don’t quite apply to you.  Watch below and be prepared to have your mind blown.

Things I Learned At Camp

This past weekend one half of STN returned to visit a camp he used to work at.  At the same time I was there, the camp was having Environmental Education week for elementary school children.  As the students were doing their chores they could be overheard singing a popular Ting Tings song.  So what did we learn?  6th graders and I have the same taste in music.  Awesome.  That’s not my name!

No Mo’

In addition to the totally obvious awards for worst lyrics and most unwatchable video, this totally wins the following awards:

least interested back-up singer
worst hair for a back-up singer
worst fitting suit for a lead singer
most awkward physical combination of lead singer and back-up singer
worst dancing
worst combination of food items (Lucky Charms and Iced Tea?)
most racial stereotypes ever unintentionally displayed in one song.

I double dog dare you to watch the whole thing.

[via H]

Coolest. President. Ever.

From the Telegraph comes 50 things about Obama you might not know.  Here are the two most pertinent:

• His favourite music includes Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Bach and The Fugees

• He took Michelle to see the Spike Lee film Do The Right Thing on their first date

OMFG.  Seriously.  Has there ever been a President as cool as this?  Take a second to let that list of artists soak in.  Miles Davis.  Bob Dylan.  Bach.  [Freakin' Bach!].  The Fugees.  Now that’s street cred.  I predict that this list of bands will do more to raise our international image than any other single thing he does over the next couple of months.

In related news, the White House service staff are already reporting that it will be a nice change from the endless loops of Veggie Tales songs and Dennis the Menace cartoons.

Well It’s About Fuckin Time

www.mtvmusic.com

So this only comes half a decade late, but finally, MTV (in a move that has effectively rendered my wife single) has put their (entire?) catalog of music videos online.  In retrospect, maybe it’s a good thing this didn’t happen earlier.  I would never have been able to write a dissertation if I’d had this to distract me.  On a completely unrelated note, I just re-did all my syllabi.  I’ve decided it will be best to turn the rest of the semester over to watching the full series of Roots in all my classes.

See, I told you so.

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003872663

Renewing Minds, Renewing Spirits

Please, we implore you, stick around to watch the dance solo at the end.