The Rumors of My Blog's Death Have Been Somewhat Exaggerated

This post is dedicated to the 44 of you out there who, for some reason, still hold hope that I will be updating my blog. More likely, it is for the 44 of you who forgot you were even still subscribed.

As the year ends, you may have noticed that I have let the blog go silent since September. What you may not have noticed is how active my Twitter feed has been since. As seems the path of many other bloggers, it is time to fully move on and lay my blog to rest, giving it the respect it deserves, while giving the full attention to the infamous 140-character updater that is lately all I have time for.

With two kids, a loving wife, a full-time job and a freelance side business, the portability and lightning-fast-ability of Twitter is perfect for those precious moments of down time, while still remaining a useful way to provide good links and the personal commentary and perspective that you 44 appear to appreciate. From a purely numbers standpoint, it seems silly to write to 44 people in blog format when 186 people want to have it in Tweets.

I'm working on a redesign of my home page right now, and it will incorporate this blog only as a sidenote to let people know what I am up to professionally, and while I will keep the old content archived for the search bots, it will not be linked from anywhere important. This should keep the people happy who, to this day, are desperately searching for images of Joey Gladstone and screencaps from old episodes of The Apprentice.

So it is with 51% reverence and 49% embarrassment that I now send this out, marking my last official post of this old blog format. It's been very fun, and thanks for taking part in whatever way and for however long, but with all due respect, it's 2010 and it's time to let go.

Did You Know 4.0

In an update to their much viewed Shift Happens video from 2007, XPLANE Visual Thinking has released a new bunch-of-amazing-earth-changing-statistics-set-to-motion-graphics-and-ethereal-music-type video, with a focus on social media and connectivity. It's good, and at the very least, you can sit back and watch, be amazed by it, and then continue on with your 2272 text messages a month.

Mysterious Broom Stands Up

There is just so much to say about this news clip, and yet there really isn't anything to say at all.

BLT on NBC

Further to free Degrassi on iTunes (it's still there if you missed it), there's a promo for Jay Leno's new primetime show out now that, besides being fairly weird, features a cop played by who I'm almost 100% sure is Dayo Ade, none other than Bryant Lister "BLT" Thomas from Degrassi High. See for yourself...



Via BrandFreak.

Free Degrassi Junior High 101

The angst, the agony, the acne, and the acting: this is not the time to discuss the merits and memories of eighties classic, Degrassi Junior High. Just go right now to iTunes and get the very first episode, "Kiss Me Steph", absolutely free while you still can.

It's available on the Canadian iTunes Music store here, but I can't confirm whether or not it's available to international students.

Hot Pepper

Whatever kind of day you are having, it is about to change.



Needless to say, I have watched this a zillion times, can't get the song out of my head, have no idea what I am singing, and am loving every minute of it.

For the diehards, like me, who can't get enough of this little diddy, there are some alternate versions of varying length and content here, as well as a pretty swell extended remix here. Also, if you're wanting to delve deeper into the mysterious origins of this earworm, it's an ad for a local Japanese newsmagazine called Hot Pepper, and it features a J-Pop artist named Kaela Kimura, who really has some sweet dance moves.

(originally found via videogum)

Clutching the Bumper of the Arcade Fire Bandwagon

Minifig Bands # 7: Arcade Fire, originally uploaded by minifig.

In the month since my last post, I've been catching up on culture. Since my wife and I had our second son last year, we've been a little behind in all things entertainment-related, and between the TV season ending and our boys sleeping through the night, are just now attending to the backlog. Case in point: we just saw Dark Knight for the first time, we just finished the second season of Arrested Development, and I'm just now getting into a little band called Arcade Fire.

When I'm up with my son on the couch at night, I can't watch normal TV because I will never go to sleep. Thus I started TiVo-ing "television's longest-running concert music program", Austin City Limits, with the intention of the PBS-powered uninterrupted music lulling me to sleep. When I was a kid the show was a weird mainstay in the TV listings, and almost always had country artists, but now is surprisingly diverse and often quite indie-focused. While the show went through its regular scheduled programs, it worked in putting me to sleep. Then came the Arcade Fire episode.

I've always known of Arcade Fire, heard some of their music, appreciated their impact on the indie music scene, and respected their elevation of Canada as a talented musical community. Now, however, I have just really got into them, in no small part thanks to the powerful Where the Wild Things Are trailer, but mostly because of their intense performance on ACL (as the cool kids seem to call it). If you've never seen them live, try to imagine ten people on stage switching places with a hundred different instruments (including a pipe organ, accordion, hurdy-gurdy, and a car alarm), literally beating the music out of them and the whole time playing their hearts out. PBS has only one of the performances online, in really low quality, and it's one of the tamer ones from the show, but it will give you a small taste.

The following is recommended watching for anyone who, like me, is desperately trying to clutch the bumper of the Arcade Fire bandwagon, which has already had a few years head start, but all the while enjoying the pursuit.

- The entire band together in an elevator playing Neon Bible, utilizing ripped magazines and the roof for percussion:




- A live performance of Wake Up with David Bowie, which the YouTube user publishes with the disclaimer "If you don't cry watching this, you are dead inside":




- A fan-edited music video for My Body Is A Cage using clips from a spaghetti-western classic (thanks for this one, Peter):




- Lastly, an interactive music video, also for Neon Bible, that you need to point and click on to make come alive.

SBTB FTW!

Here I was, going to post some things about the big Apple WWDC keynote yesterday, when news from Jimmy Fallon's Saved by the Bell reunion blew the importance of new iPhones right out of the water.

There is so much SBTB goodness in this interview that I can't even summarize it in a witty way. Let's just say that Jimmy Fallon has secured both the kingpin, and someone thought to be the hardest to convince, for the "class reunion", and he does it in true Bayside style. As a SBTB fan, you could not ask for more.

But if you're still hoping for some WWDC coverage, Jimmy's got your back for that too.

You Say You Want A Rock Band Evolution

Some of my favourite announcements from the E3 Conference are all the new musical releases. While Guitar Hero 5 has announced an impressive list of artists (everybody from Cash to Kiss to Coldplay), and Lego Rock Band seems interestingly entertaining, The Beatles: Rock Band sounds (and looks) the most amazing. With a keen attention to detail, a genuine rags-to-riches storyline, and of course that music catalog, it's sure to be a successful gaming experience.

Take a look at the trailer here, and notice the addition of multi-vocal harmonies, bonus sayings like "fab" and "double fab", and the care with which they've reproduced the locales (both real and imagined) as well as the varying hairstyles of the group.



via Raihan Sangherra