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.

Wu-Tang Vs. The Beatles

If you're snowed in this weekend like I am, why not take the opportunity to give some new music a chance. Even if that new music involves Wu-Tang.

Enter the Magical Mystery Chambers is the best mash-up album since Danger Mouse made the Grey Album six years ago. In it, Wu-Tang lyrics are set to Beatles songs and covers of Beatles songs, with some interludes thrown in which are full of poignant interview snippets.

Appropriately, ODB's (AKA Dirt McGirk) "Got Your Money" is set to "You Never Give Me Your Money."

Great Forgotten Songs

Squirrel Nut Zippers - Hell

Squirrel Nut Zippers - New Music - More Music Videos

Hands down the best thing to happen in 1997. As a 12 year old lad this video scared the hell out of me. Wish these guys would resurface with some more weird music.

Great Forgotten Songs

Harvey Danger - Flagpole Sitta

Flagpole Sitta @ Yahoo! Video

What the hell happened to Harvey Danger? "Flagpole Sitta" could possibly be one of the greatest songs of the 1990s. So, let's all take a moment today to remember these guys.

They also did a fantastic version of The English Beat's "Save it For Later."

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.

New Team / Old Helmet, Pads

The only thing in pro hockey rarer than the penalty shot is the awkward game or so in which a recently traded goalie is forced to wear his former team's colors on his pads and facemask until he has time to order new gear.

Above you see new Maple Leaf goalie Jean-Sebastian Giguere clearly wearing a facemask that supports the Anaheim Ducks.

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.

Web Sheriff 2

Since my musical tastes are officially on Web Sheriff's radar, I thought I should make another statement about it. This is the last time I'll mention it.

This blog does not have a large population of regular readers. It exists only as a cathartic, creative release and a log of things I find particularly awesome and worth sharing with whoever may be out there reading. I don't advertise the blog anywhere or even talk about it or acknowledge its existence amongst anyone other than my girlfriend. My facebook profile lists it as a favorite website but nothing more than that. But while I do not know (or particularly care) who or how many people are reading it, I can guarantee that a person accessing this page will discover something new, however useless that information might be. Mostly this new information comes in the form of me talking about music and then posting a streaming example of the band in question. These are streams that exist for public use on various websites, some more dubious than others. I'm not condoning these websites, nor am I teaching anyone how to download pirated material, but I do find streaming full mp3s to be the only logical way to promote a band I like, and sometimes the only way to accomplish this is through websites like Skreemr or Grooveshark. I think free streaming music is so important that every band should make new albums available for streaming in their entirety before, during, and for a time after the album goes to market. If record companies want us to buy their product, they need to make the product a known quantity. You shouldn't blindly buy Taylor Swift's album because you heard "You Belong to Me" and are keeping your fingers crossed that the rest of her album will be just as good. You should buy it because it's good and therefore you'd like to own it. You get the point. This should include giving fans the ability to share as well as a way to compensate the artist for streams. Right now, literally none of this happens, but Grooveshark sort of gets it, so I'll continue to use their service. The labels still don't get it though.

I mention all of this because while Web Sheriff is being awfully nice in thanking me for "plugging" the artists it represents, make no mistake that his little notes of thanks are in fact thinly veiled threats on behalf of of Columbia records, and I shouldn't have to worry about something like that for being a fan. Specifically, it's lines like this that are confusing:

thanks, also on behalf of the label, management and artists for not posting any pirate links to unreleased (studio) material.

This bit was confusing because as far as I know, Columbia and Monotone do not yet have licensing agreements with Grooveshark, so in essence I WAS posting a pirated link by embedding the song. I have no idea who or what uploaded the Broken Bells song to Grooveshark, so it could very well be an illegal file. My point is that it shouldn't matter. Should I worry because I informed my friends about a band they would not have otherwise known? This type of free promotion can only help Broken Bells or any other band, and so I wish their dogs would be called off. It's a losing battle they are fighting, and the worst part is that I'm sure the members of the band wouldn't stand for it if they had the choice.

If you want to know more about Web Sheriff or just the relationship between labels, fans, and the artists and all else having to do with our rights as consumers in the ditigal age, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has been the absolute best source of information. I suggest you start with this article, which deals with exactly what I've just written about.

Broken Bells

I heard a great song today during my morning commute that just wouldn't leave my brain. It sounded like The Shins', but when a simple Google search couldn't match "Shins" and the lyrics I had written down I was afraid the song might stay unidentified until, by chance, I'd heard it again.

But a last ditch Google search using the name of the singer (James Mercer) turned up a new band going by "Broken Bells" consisting of just Mercer and Brian Burton AKA Danger Mouse (Gray Album, Gnarles Barkley, Gorillaz). Seems like a formula for success if you ask me.

Here's the song that's making the radio rounds:

#1 - Paul F Tompkins

I can't lie. The fact that Paul F Tompkins is from Philadelphia brings bias into the equation, but not much. He's certainly been a funny enough stand up in my mind to earn the #1 spot, and he must be doing a lot else right too having landed roles in both The Informant! and There Will Be Blood. Besides that you may have seen him in various roles on VH1s Best Week Ever and before that all over the place writing and acting on HBO's Mr.Show, The Daily Show (pre-Stewart), and Real Time With Bill Maher. Also, if there's a comedy podcast that exists, chances are Paul is a regular on it. Examples include The Best Show on WFMU, Never Not Funny, and Comedy Death-Ray.

The reason I love Tompkins' stand-up is his versatility. Sometimes he relies on his unparalleled ability to make funny that which could not possibly have otherwise been funny, which is to say his delivery and preparation of pre-written material are incredible. But he can also be funny on the spot as can be heard on those podcasts, which I think is an underrated skill.

Here's an example of making funny a story that is, by nature, not. In this set he talks about his mother's last days alive days and her contemplation of religion during that time. Which..obviously doesn't sound funny at all..but is. Just listen.