Apple Pie Cowboy Toothpaste

If you listen closely to "Apple Pie Cowboy Toothpaste" (starting at 2:38) from Fenix TX's self-titled album, the otherwise standard pop-punk song becomes a tribute to this scene from the 1984 smash hit Revenge of the Nerds.

Garry Shandling Movie Poster Project

Re-posted from every single blog on the planet:

Tim & Eric's Tim Heidecker has posted a bunch of movie posters photoshopped to include Garry Shandling on his blog.

Situations About to Go Horribly Awry

Here are 23 situations about to go horribly awry.

Brought to you by the good folks at Cracked.com.

Star Wars Sneakers

Do I want the new Adidas Lukes? Yep.

Apparently in 2010 Adidas will have an entire catalog of this stuff. See it HERE.

Geen Day on Broadway

Looks like Green Day's American Idiot is actually making its way to Broadway.

Oddly enough, the first released recording from the play is a track called "21 Guns" from their newest album, 21st Century Breakdown. Says Billie Joe, "We wanted to record '21 Guns' because it represents a pivotal moment in the show when the lead character ... realizes he needs to get his shit together."

You can stream the song, HERE. It's pretty good stuff.

Tony Luke Jr.

Most Philadelphians know Tony Luke Jr as the proprietor of one of the city's most well liked cheesesteak shops. What they may not know is that ever since he found success as a business owner he's been searching for a sweet piece of side success with his first love: acting. Up next for Luke? A starring role along side Tony Danza and William Forsythe in The Nail: The Story of Joey Nardone. From imdb:

After high school, while performing in local theater, Tony's interests swayed more and more toward music. Tony began to get more involved in the writing and singing of music in the 80s. He wrote songs for Brandi Wells and Motown artist AC Black. He also wrote and performed songs in his own groups such as "Off The Streets", "AJ Spats", and "Too Cool Project". In 1992 he opened up a sandwich shop in South Philadelphia, with his father, Tony, and his brother, Nicholas, called Tony Luke's. While doing local commercials for his store, Tony was once again bitten by the acting bug. In 1997 Tony decided to pursue his acting career again.

So, there's that. You may also remember him as "Guy with Cape at tryouts" from 2006's Invincible.

Check out this impressive acting resume'.

Bob Ross

The Joy of Painting was a show on PBS that ran between 1983 and 1994. In it be-afro'd painter and former US Air Force medical records technician Bob Ross taught regular Joe's like you and me how to paint "happy trees" and other magnificent American landscapes. For some reason my mother's parents would play this show on a constant rotation whenever they babysat me, and Bob's soothing voice never failed to put me to sleep. On second thought, maybe that was the reason. It wasn't that his paintings were shit. Maybe they were, maybe they weren't. It was just that I could care less about painting and much more about finding ways to fall alseep. In the time since Ross's death in 1995 I've sometimes wondered whether tapes of his show existed. I figured I could use them for those awful sleepless nights where you look for the most boring show you can find just to help you sleep.

Well, it turns out Bob Ross, Inc. is way ahead of me, selling all kinds of Bob Ross instructional media. They even sell the entire "Bob Ross library" in one convenient box set for the low low price of
That's right. For just $1,376.50, you too can own the Bob Ross DVD Legacy. I wonder how many of those have ever been sold. I'm going with zero. Individual 1 Hour episodes cost $16.95 each, which seems much like much more than I'd ever need.

Rest in peace, happy little painter.

Poker Face

Hey, is that Christopher Walken "performing" Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" the way that only he can? I believe it is.

End of the Century

I'm glad to see the Ramones documentary End of the Century making the Showtime and "On-Demand" rounds, because I think it has some interesting and little known insights into one of the most prolific punk bands of all time. If ever there was a band who, in real life, was nothing like its on-stage persona, it was definitely the Ramones. Even Dee Dee was smarter than you might think. Definitely give this a chance if you ever happen across it.

Here's Dee Dee, not Joey, singing Wart Hog. I believe this was before his rap career, but most definitely during his lifelong heroin addiction.

Dead Man's Tour

It's official, I have secured 2 tickets to see Ryan Gosling's band Dead Man's Bones at the First Unitarian Church on October 16th. I first thought about going just to get out of the house and see something new. The girlfriend would get to see Ryan Gosling in person and I would get to listen to some live music and see a show at the church where some of my punk heroes cut their teeth and a place I've still managed to never see a concert. Then some things happened that made me purchase the tickets almost 2 weeks in advance for fear it would somehow even sell out and be something I regretted missing.

1. The entire album became available for pre-retail release listening on the band's myspace page, and it's good. I mean purchase good. Ashley and I are both pretty stunned by how much we like the music from top to bottom. Not that I absolutely feel the need to hand money over to two Hollywood actors, but I'll buy it hoping the Silverlake Children's Choir who perform on every track on the album will see a piece of the action or something.

2. The review(s) are in, and the consensus? Not your ordinary actor trying to be a musician. Gosling and his best friend Zach Shields seem to avoid actor-band doom by embracing their pasts and actually incorporating their acting chops and behind the camera skills to not only the musical direction but also any of the media used to promote the band. I mean the whole thing is a little surreal and yet it also feels sincere. Though they benefit enormously by Gosling's fame, the project seems less pretentious than say...30 Seconds to Mars, where Jard Leto seems to be constantly acting a part that will sell rather than something he really identifies with.

3. Lastly, but most importantly, I'm pretty sure I stumbled upon the coolest thing ever by getting tickets to this thing. From pitchfork:

When Ryan Gosling and Zach Shields bring their Dead Man's Bones project to your town, they aren't coming alone. Oh no. On their very first tour, scheduled for this October, the actor/musician duo will bring the songs of their debut album to life with the help of a local choir in each of the twelve spots they're hitting. As Gosling and Shields explained to us, their self-titled debut (out October 6 on Anti-) was recorded with the Silverlake Conservatory Children's Choir. But they can't bring all those kids on the road with them. Hence, a new group in every city.

To make the experience even cooler, the opening act for the shows will be a talent show, organized by the band and featuring local talent in each city. Wow.

And who wouldn't want to see that?

Flip Flop Flyball

Craig Robinson is an English artist and designer who has made a career out of miniature pixel art like that which you see here. He hosts a career's worth of creativity at his website Flip Flop Flyin'.

Recently he started to apply his other, non-pixel related talents to the world of sports (mostly baseball), by making various charts and other visual aids to help explain fun sports facts. Above is a picture, also available here, that visually explores how often the regular season's best baseball team actually goes on to become world champion.

The website, Flip Flop Fly Ball, is full of a lot of other cool stuff, too. Check it out.

Doug Glanville

I feel like I'm the last person to find out that former Philadelphia Phillies CF and University of Pennsylvania alum Doug Glanville frequents the op-ed section of the New York Times with his own column, usually about a combination of life and baseball. But in case I'm not, please check them out here. I think you'll find that you're surprised by the quality and engagingness of his work.

Paul F.Tompkins on WFMU

I've probably looked like a goofball walking around corporate campus laughing solo to a podcast of "The Best Show" on WFMU, a New Jersey based listener-supported radio station. The show is a comedy/call-in/talk hybrid show hosted by Tom Scharpling whose wikipedia bio says he produces Monk, though that fact has nothing to do with his hosting of the show.

The particular episode I've been enjoying is from July 21 and includes comedian Paul F.Tompkins as special guest. The two are a hilarious match. Paul is always funny of his own accord(perhaps my favorite comedian aside from Louis CK), but when given a partner and the topic like this, the Gathering of the Juggalos, all hell breaks loose and hilarity ensues. They are hilarious in their brutal mocking.

Listen to it here. If you don't have 3 spare hours, the Gathering of the Juggalos bit starts at 1:09:23 and pretty much lasts for the remainder of the show. Also of note, there's a funny bit mocking Abbott and Costello at the 34 minute mark.

State Highway Signs

While driving down to Baltimore for a bachelor party over the weekend, it occurred to me for the first time ever that each state has its own unique design for their state highway designs. Here's a website that proves it.

It's a little disappointing to see both of Pennsylvania's neighbor states New Jersey and Delaware among the 5 states also including Iowa, Kentucky, and Mississippi that all apparently totally lack any type of individuality when it came to making these signs. They each use the same bland white circle inside a black square.

I personally like any of the states that chose to incorporate color into their sign, and of the black and white models I'd have to give creativity points to Washington. Simple, yet so cool.

Buzz Aldrin

You might be wondering what Buzz Aldrin is doing sitting alongside Snoop Dogg in this friendly photograph.

Turns out, the photo was probably taken during one of the production sessions of Aldrin's new rap song called "Rocket Experience," which was produced by Snoop, Quincy Jones, and Soulja Boy. And yes, it's entirely real.

Boom Goes the Dynamite

For the weekend, here's one of the worst recorded sportscasts of all time, though in this guy's defense he did create a popular new catch phrase and, against all odds, landed a real news job in Texas.

The video is old by hilarious internets videos standards, but worth revisiting and archiving on this site nonetheless.

Philly Origins: Phanatic

There was a great article in the Wall Street Journal a few days ago detailing the origins of 8 sports mascots, including Philadelphia's own Phanatic. I found this bit especially interesting:

The Phanatic has since become one of baseball's most popular mascots, but since this is a Philly sports story it can't have a totally happy ending. Former team vice president and current part owner Bill Giles wrote in his autobiography that he made a key blunder when commissioning the design. Given the option of buying the Phanatic costume alone for $3900 or the costume and its copyright for $5200, Giles didn't shell out the extra $1300. This decision turned out to be an expensive mistake: five years later Giles and a group of investors bought the team and eventually purchased the copyright from Harrison/Erickson for $250,000.

Check out the article online HERE.

Deltron 3030

Deltron 3030 is considered a supergroup even though its 3 components are not household names. They are the rapper, Del tha Funkee Homosapien, the beat master, Dan "the automator" Nakamura, and the turntablist, Kid Koala. Together in 2000 they crafted their self-titled masterpiece that PopMatters calls an essential record. More importantly, it took me 9 years to finally check it out despite my brother's urges, and now I cannot stop listening to it. Listening to this album makes me walk with an extra hitch to my step, smiling and bobbing my head. And it's essentially rap..which I've often documented my dislike of.

What you have here is futuristic and bizarre music that works like a film score to Del's nerd-rapped story about outer space in the year 3030, in which he's a super hero named Deltron Zero in a galaxy run by a select, superwealthy oligarchy who have enslaved the masses and let them rot away. And also Deltron Z has can inflict pain on people with rhymes in literal rap battles. Even with that brief description of the album, you begin to see why critics have largely praised it. There's obvious room for Del to make criticisms of modern times from his spacey comfort zone, and he does it well enough that the album feels deep as well as catchy and well crafted.


Also, guest stars aplenty, including a heavy dose of Blur's Damon Albar, who would later work on Gorillaz material with members of Deltron as well as Sean Lennon.

This track sums the album up best. You'll remember Del's voice as Russell in the popular Gorillaz song "Clint Eastwood."

	Deltron - Positive Contact
	Found at skreemr.com

Awkward Family Photos

"Never before has birthday cake photography been so chilling."

I'm linking to the website Awkward Family Photos because 4 people have now suggested I check it out. So now it's my turn to spread the love. The site is predictably hilarious and apparently updated with new pictures every day. I'm sure this site gives us all a reason to keep our photos as far away from a scanner as possible.

Laugh or Die

While seeing Star Trek last night an ad for this, the Glenn Beck Comedy Tour, flashed across the screen. Turns out that against all odds this is an actual event that's going to happen. This man who has no comedic experience aside from the ironic comedy we derive from his idiocy is going on a six location comedy tour that you can catch at a participating movie theatre. From the Huffington Post:

Beck calls his act a "poor man's Seinfeld" and intends to mix topical humor with his modern-day reimagining of Thomas Paine's 1776 pamphlet "Common Sense."

There's a lot wrong with this, and yet I can't help but think that maybe Glenn Beck is the new Andy Kaufman.