Archive for August 2006

And more stuff to watch:

• Ten seasons of South Park,
• Four seasons of Family Guy,
• The 10 Best Will Ferrell Skits from Saturday Night Live. My favourite: Dale Sturtevant ‘Dissing Your Dog’ Neil Diamond.

Just remember to eat.

Bank Holidays can be pretty dull, so here are a whole truck load of different videos that I’ve been meaning to post for a while.

Funny Videos

• What happens when you combine 200 liters of Coke and over 500 Mentos mints? You get rather sticky
• David Brent (Ricky Gervais) talks about his business expertise to a Microsoft employee (Stephen Merchant) in a faux-inspirational videos for the Evil Empire. (about 38 minutes long)
• The Vader Sessions have been doing the rounds for ages, but a must-see if it’s passed you by (Hello, Dave is quite funny too).

Music Videos

Someone has put together a fantastic list of 1980s music videos on YouTube. Little tip: if you’ve got a few 30-something friends staying, fire this site up when you stagger back from the pub. Last bank holiday I had Tracker, Ralph, and Troy here, and we were laughing our arses off into the early hours with some of the videos. To whet your appetite, here’s a little taster of the range on offer:

• Don Johnson - Heartbeat (a power ballad so packed with emotion that the only way Don can express himself is with the classic double clenched fists)
• Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Mercy Seat (hadn’t heard this for years, blinding track)
• My Bloody Valentine - You Made Me Realise (probably their finest moment if you ask me)
• Dinosaur Jr - Freak Scene (just how good was music in the late 80s?)
• Mr T - Treat Your Mother Right (part public information film, part hip-hop classic)
• The Sundays - Can’t Be Sure (brings back memories of a traumatic four hour long drive from Cardiff to Bristol to watch them play)
• Johnny Hates Jazz - Shattered Dreams (promo vid acting par excellence)
• Dead Kennedys - California Uber Alles (super live version)
• This Mortal Coil - Song To The Siren (the link from that page is dead, but it’s still up on YouTube - both the video and a live version. Still manages to send a shiver down my spine and a tear to my eye)
• Ryan Paris - Dolce Vita (also brings tears to my eyes, but in a different way)
• Belouis Some - Imagination (full 8-minute, raunchy version - is it a pop promo or is it art?)
• Godley & Creme - Cry (Si and I are planning to perform this in the karaoke tent at Glastonbury next year)
• The Monochrome Set - Jacobs Ladder (posted because I had a funny night out with a guy from the Monochrome Set in about 1990, but thinking about it, it’s an anecdote I probably ought not to share here)
• Wang Chung - Dance Hall Days (one of my Vice City favourites)
• John Parr - St Elmo’s Fire [Man In Motion] (Amazing natural phenomenon, amazing film, amazing song)

If you prefer a bit of 70s music, then how about this brilliant Stevie Wonder performance of Superstition on Sesame Street? Or Lynyrd Skynyrd playing Free Bird and Sweet Home Alabama in Oakland in 1977 (The Best of Lynyrd Skynyrd has been my album of the summer!)? Finally Bill Withers performing Ain’t No Sunshine (such a lovely, lovely song, beautifully performed - and with Presuming Ed from Withnail & I on the drums) and Curtis Mayfield doing Keep On Keeping On.

William Shatner

For all-round entertainment, there’s no one greater than William Shatner. Of course he’s mainly known for his manly wrestling with aliens in quarries, and for slapping down bad guys in TJ Hooker, but there is so much more to the man.

For example, watch the trailer for Shatner’s 1965 film Incubus; possibly the only movie ever made where all the spoken dialogue is in Esperanto.

Or his informal-yet-informative commercial for the Commodore Vic20.

And then there’s Shatner’s musical talents:

• The classic 1978 cover of Rocket Man,
• Singing about “flying so high when I’m stoned”,
• Teaching us How To Handle A Woman,
• A lovely version of It Was a Very Good Year,
• Someone’s put together a video for Lucy in the sky with diamonds (the image of Shatner in a Sgt Peppers outfit works surprisingly well),
• And the contemporary Common People with Joe Jackson and Ben Folds.

Saving YouTube or Google Videos

If you’re using Firefox, install the VideoDownloader Firefox Extension. Then, once you’re on the Google Video or YouTube page with a video you want to save, click the icon in the bottom right of your browser chrome. In the window that appears, right-click on the ‘Download Link’ icon, and hit ‘Save Link As…’. The video will be saved as [page_name].htm - simply rename it as {whatever].flv (Flash video). You can then watch it with VLC player (the best all-round media player), or convert it to a different format with a program like Super ©.

Bit of a spanner in the works as far as the redesign of World of Badger is concerned; I had the bright new colour scheme and layout done, but made the mistake of using the same colours in a mock-up when showing a client some ideas for their new site. I didn’t think for a minute they’d actually go for such daring colours — just a case of showing them something conservative and something a bit funky, and expecting them to pick a look in between the two — but fair play to them, they liked the super-colourful version. So now I’ve got to come up with a new design for this site…

Still tinkering with the starter motor, but I’ve got time for a quick hand-cranked post: Legofesto’s take on Abu Grahib. Very effective. (via)