Sorry boys & girls, it's been a VERY long day today and, quite frankly, I can't be bothered to type up anything. I'm feeling tired and grumpy, and it's occasions like this when I normally tell people to piss off. BUT, since you're (mostly) all fun and I like you, I'll stick to the YouTube. Besides, I could use a laugh myself. We have here two classic skits from everyone's favorite British comedy troupe. Both of these start out strong and then kind of tail off, but no matter, they're still well worth it. Enjoy, and see you tomorrow.
Errands and a desire to get into bed at a reasonable hour prevent me from posting anything of length tonight. However, it's times like this when Boing Boing and YouTube save the day.
We have here two rather rare videos of blues artist Josh White, whom I'm familiar with from my days working the board during the late night Blues show at my college radio station. Watching/listening to these bits makes me wonder why I didn't pay more attention to him at the time.
This first video is one of him singing 'John Henry' (no, not the current Red Sox owner) with Burl Ives (he of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and 'Holly Jolly Christmas' fame), Will Geer & Winston O'Keefe. Some great video/sound quality for a YouTube video, much less one that was originally filmed in 1941.
Sadly, I'm not able to embed the next clip in the blog - I can only link to it - but trust me, it's a good'un (and also where I got the post's title.) Josh White singing 'One Meatball.' Some more excellent stuff.
I love these old timey musical performances - particularly those of blues and jazz musicians. Netflix will be shipping me the Ken Burns' Jazz series soon which I'm hoping will be chock full of them. Although, Disc 1 seems to have gone mysteriously missing on their end so I might have to get it from the public library.
Anyway, if you're into this type of stuff too, you might want to check out 'The Real Blues Archive' also located on YouTube. It contains over 600 videos of live Blues performances - many of them utter gems. Enjoy.
This is currently making the rounds as the "funniest video on the Internet." Personally, I don't see what makes it that amusing, but given that I can be a bit of a grump on even my best days, I guess I won't argue with the masses on this one. And, while I won't agree with those who give it the above mentioned title, even I'll admit it's worth a chuckle.
Oh, and one other thing. People seem to incorrectly be calling this little guy a chipmunk. I know what a chipmunk looks like, having seen my Dad spend countless hours trying to catch them in his backyard. THAT, my friends, is no chipmunk. Prairie Dog, maybe. Chipmunk, no. But, we can always imagine.
Crazy couple of weeks here in Eric's world, and although posting has been the last thing on my mind, I figure I'd try to get back in the swing of things again. What better way to do that than with a little YouTube clip and commentary?
You all know where I stand with Sesame Street - or at least, those of you who read this blog regularly do. Fantastic show. Unfortunately, however, I can't remember the last time I saw it on TV. I was probably just a mere youngin'. When my two sisters had children of their own (two girls for one, two boys for the other - deuces wild!) I figured I'd get a steady dose of the stuff. Not so. I don't think my nieces and nephews have even the slightest idea of what Sesame Street is. They're too busy watching Dora the Explorer, Thomas the Tank Engine, J.J. the Jet Plane, Barney (oh, the horror), Caillou (let me know if you can pronounce this), and whatever else, and quite frankly, I feel like they're missing out. A childhood without Grover, Oscar, Snuffleupagus (and I want to go on record as saying Snuffy should NEVER have been 'discovered' by the adults in the mid-80's - I'm still angry about that one), Big Bird, and Cookie Monster is a deprived one. And fine, so I'm a 31 year old male who pines for Sesame Street. All I can say is, watch it sometime. It's just as funny now as it was then. The Muppeteers (Henson/Oz et al.) did a wonderful job of making the show enjoyable for both children and adults.
And it's with that in mind that I present this next clip - Coffee Break Machine. Your first thought upon seeing it might very well be, "Wait a minute - Cookie Monster doesn't have any teeth", and you'd be correct. He doesn't have green fur either. In fact, the monster featured isn't Cookie Monster at all, but his predecessor - a monster named Wheel Stealer.
From Wikipedia: "The book Jim Henson's Designs and Doodles explains Cookie Monster's origin as follows: "In 1966, Henson drew three monsters that ate cookies and appeared in a General Foods commercial that featured three crunch snack foods: Wheels, Crowns and Flutes. Each snack was represented by a different monster. The Wheel-Stealer was a short, fuzzy monster with wonky eyes and sharply pointed teeth. The Flute-Snatcher was a speed demon with a long, sharp nose and windblown hair. The Crown-Grabber was a hulk of a monster with a Boris Karloff accent and teeth that resembled giant knitting needles.
In 1967, Henson used the "Wheel-Stealer" puppet for an IBM training film called "Coffee Break Machine". In the sketch, the monster (with frightening eyes and fangs) devours a complex machine as the machine describes its purpose and construction.
Two years later, Henson pulled the puppet out of the box again for three commercials selling Munchos, a Frito-Lay potato chip. This time, the puppet was called Arnold, the Munching Monster. After the three ads were produced, Henson had the opportunity to renew the contract. He chose not to, because at that point he was working on Sesame Street — and that monster puppet was moving on to the next stage in his career. Cookie Monster, still unnamed, made his Sesame Street debut in the first episode, interfering with Kermit the Frog's "famous W lecture" by eating a model "W" bit by bit (turning it into an "N", a "V", and finally an "I", to Kermit's frustration)."
Interesting facts for you the next time you play Trivial Pursuit: Sesame Street Edition. And, as someone who works with computers for a living, I can fully appreciate Wheel Stealer's actions. Computers.... ahm ahm ahm mmmm...!! (last sentence provided courtesy of Miss Goofus.) Have fun. This is a lost classic, this is.
I may get yelled at for posting this next clip, but I don't care. It's in keeping with the recent other clips I've posted, and besides, these things seem to be a cottage industry on YouTube these days.
However, it just so happens that this next clip comes from the Goof's favorite film (not to mention a favorite of several other people I know - including the woman who introduced the two of us) and for me to post a re-cut trailer which completely mangles it's essence (in a deliciously negative way) might cause a few arched eyebrows and ruffled feathers.
Fortunately, I don't hang out with anyone who doesn't have a sense of humor, so I'm not all that worried about it. Still, if someone re-cut a trailer for, say, Trainspotting, and decided to make it look like a total rom-com chick flick, I might be a little nonplussed.
I first saw the "real" version of this film last August in New Orleans (at Goof's insistence) and very much enjoyed it. Funny, charming, if slightly dated - and having heard so much about it, I knew what to expect. Had I seen this trailer for it, however, I suspect I wouldn't have waited so long. Enjoy.
