Wednesday, April 29, 2009

The Post With Rhyming Comments

A poem written while I am away,

Track Listing For Gimme That Old Time Music

01 - Are You Hep To The Jive? - Cab Calloway [someguy]
02 - Lulu's Back In Town - Fats Waller [someguy]
03 - Tiger Rag - Art Tatum [someguy]
04 - Chinatown, My Chinatown - Louis Armstrong [someguy]
05 - Serenade To A Poodle - Slim Gaillard [someguy]
06 - Cabbage Greens, No. 1 - Champion Jack Dupree [someguy]
07 - It's A Long Way to Tipperary - Albert Farrington [chefc]
08 - Pack up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bags - Helen Clark [chefc]
09 - We'll Meet Again - Vera Lynn [chefc]
10 - The Sinking of the Reuben James - Woody Guthrie [chefc]
11 - I'll Be Seeing You - Billie Holiday [chefc]
12 - Destroyer Life - Oscar Brand [chefc]
13 - After You've Gone - Django Reinhardt [splotchy]
14 - Reckless Night on Board an Ocean Liner - Raymond Scott [splotchy]
15 - A Survivor from Warsaw - Arnold Schoenberg [splotchy]
16 - Honky Tonkin' - Hank Williams [splotchy]
17 - Keep On The Sunny Side - The Carter Family [splotchy]
18 - Rhapsody In Blue - George Gershwin [splotchy]
19 - Heartaches - Ted Weems [dad]
20 - Sentimental Journey - Les Brown [dad]
21 - Near You - Francis Craig [dad]
22 - Peg Of My Heart - The Harmonicats [dad]
23 - Careless - Eddy Howard [dad]
24 - In The Mood - Glenn Miller [dad]
25 - T-Bone Shuffle - T-Bone Walker [domboy]
26 - Where Did You Sleep Last Night? - Leadbelly [domboy]
27 - I Just Can’t Help It - Washboard Sam [domboy]
28 - Hard Time Killing Floor Blues - Skip James [domboy]
29 - Good Morning Little Schoolgirl - Sonny Boy Williamson [domboy]
30 - I Don’t Want To Set The World On Fire - The Ink Spots [domboy]
31 - Sweet Lorraine - Frank Sinatra [sf]
32 - Lovesick Blues - Hank Williams [sf]
33 - My Little Maid of Oz - Frederick Chapin [sf]
34 - Georgia on My Mind - Django Reinhardt [sf]
35 - La Mer - Charles Trenet [sf]
36 - Brazil (Samba) - Charles Woolcott and His Orchestra [sf]
37 - In the Pines - Bill Monroe [bubs]
38 - Drunk - Jimmy Liggins & His Drops of Joy [bubs]
39 - Wreck on the Highway - Roy Acuff [bubs]
40 - Knock Me a Kiss - Louis Jordan [bubs]
41 - Lost Highway - Hank Williams [bubs]
42 - It's a Good Day - Peggy Lee [bubs]

Sacred Spaces: Roman Catholic

It's been over a year since I did my first sacred spaces post. It's time for another, I reckon!

FranIAm was nice enough to answer my questions. Thank you, Fran!

First, some background information:

  *****

Fran was born and raised Catholic, and promptly removed herself from faith practice at the age of 14.

She spent many years seeking, and while never losing faith, she did not follow any typical faith practice, but studied Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism.

Somehow, by age 32 she wandered, albeit reluctantly, to the faith of her youth. At age 51, she remains there, fully immersed in life, work and study... recalcitrant and rebellious as ever, but still at the table.


  *****

Splotchy: What religion will be talking about?

Fran: Roman Catholic



S: In this religion, is there a concept of sacredness? Of the holy?

F: Yes, a most profound sense of sacredness and holiness and in particular around churches and shrines. And even with in the church, there are the truly sacred spots.



S: Is there a concept of a sacred space? A location that that has been imbued with some properties of holiness?

F: The worship space - or main body of the church is called the sanctuary is where the community gathers for liturgy and worship also known as Mass. This is a holy place. There is a tabernacle which may be somewhere in the main sanctuary or which may be held in what is known as a Reservation Chapel; that is where the consecrated bread is kept, which is for Catholics the Body of Christ. This is the holiest place and requires reverence and silence.

The altar table in a Catholic church is supposed to have a relic in it, meaning some object of a saint. It could be a bone, a tooth, some hair - that is built within. I don't know if modern altar tables have this. It does imbue a certain sense of ancient holiness to some and is meant to be a link to the past.




S: How is a space imbued with holiness?

F: This is my own opinion - I think when any place is a place where people have gathered to celebrate, to mourn, to pray - that a sort of patina forms and it is holiness. I had a great sense of this in the Holy Land where there are often "duplicate" locations of some holy moment.

As far as commissioning a church or holy space, it is with prayers and rituals that have been used in the Roman Catholic church over time. These rituals must be executed before a space can be used for worship.




S: Are there instances where a sacred space is deconsecrated, where its holiness is removed?

F: The holiness itself is not removed per se, but rather the ability to celebrate sacramental worship there. And yes - this happens when churches are closed.



S: How is a sacred space deconsecrated?

F: There is a ritual, the altar table and tabernacle are removed.

  *****

Thank you very much to Fran for answering my questions!

I Love You, Santi

Santigold - L.E.S. Artistes

You Know Things Are Bad When I Miss An Unconnected Tuesday

Hi folks,

It's been pretty crazy goings-on at the Splotchy house.

We've been getting ready for the sump pumpening of our basement, and we're taking a family vacation tomorrow that we have just started to prepare for, and that's just half the stuff I can tell you about.

So, this blog will be a little light for the remainder of this week.

However, fear not -- I have an idea to keep you entertained here in my absence. Check back later today.

Friday, April 24, 2009

10!

1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 5 x 6 x 7 x 8 x 9 x 10 = 3,628,800

Road Warrior, The Musical - Just Walk Away


Another entry in my new musical -- The Road Warrior.

"Just Walk Away"

Sung by: Humungus
Description: Humungus gives the villagers a chance to turn over the oil-producing outpost.

Humungus rules the Wasteland
This barren Valley of Death
You can try to convince me otherwise
But you'd be wasting your breath
Listen to these words
Or lose all that you have left

Just walk away
Just walk away

We've come to make a deal
We're done with playing games
Give us all your gasoline
Or see it up in flames
After we have finished
You'll never be the same

Just walk away
Just walk away

This is your last chance
Tomorrow we attack
Think on this tonight
When you stare up into the black
You can leave here unharmed
With the clothes on your back

Just walk away
Just walk away



(h/t to Tim for the idea of this song, posted as a comment on the first RW the Musical post)

FAIL Meme FAIL

I think I saw the first FAIL pictures very soon after they started popping up on the web (a year ago? a year and a half?).

I thought the first ones I saw were sort of funny, but then these kinds of pictures started appearing everywhere.

Next, a few sites sprung up, devoted to all things FAIL.

I really started disliking the whole business, because:

1) Most of the time, it wasn't funny.
2) It was often mean-spirited.
3) I'm tired of people lazily shitting on other people/things for a cheap laugh.
4) I'm tired of people lazily shitting on other people/things in general.


It's okay to make light of others on occasion, etc. (hey, it must be okay if *I* do it!), but for something to have sneering at anything and everything else as its sole purpose -- well, it's just too much for me to take.

For this, FAIL meme, you fail.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Gimme That Old Time Music

I don't want to give anyone whiplash, but since the last volume of the Green Monkey Music Project, The Unheard Monkey, focused on music that was released 2005 and later, I thought it would be interesting to make Volume 19 of GMMP focus on older music.

Much older music. I would like to only use recordings that are pre-1950. If you have a newer recording of an old song that you would like to include, we can always negotiate, I suppose.

There will be a total of seven participants (six open slots), each of which can select up to six songs.

Sign up for the mix by leaving a comment.


UPDATE:

Participants:

Some Guy
Bubs
SamuraiFrog
Chef Cthulhu
Domboy
Splotchy
Splotchy's Dad

If Domboy wants to join in, he is certainly welcome (he had expressed interest in an earlier post of mine).

Yes, my dad is joining in on this mix. He is an avid collector of jazz 78's, and he has agreed to contribute some magical selections this time around.

Another Dormant Splotchy Project Awakens

Lulu sent me some ripping good pics of negative space signage that she took in Bangkok, so I have *got* to post them on The Signage Of Negative Space.

I have been noticing negative space signage in the siesta I have taken from my sister blog (no posts since September of last year!), but just haven't been documenting them.

I realize that I might have some pictures others have submitted, and will try and publish these soon as well. Hope no one took offense at my little signage vacation.

I Still Want To Do A Comix Week

I was going to do a comics week on my blog last year, where for a week the posts would all be drawn instead of typed, but ran out of time, etc.

I still really want to do this. I have been sitting on a wonderful strip by SamuraiFrog for a long time that I really want to publish.

Anyways, I might again bug the people that said they'd be interested in doing a piece way back when. If anyone new is interested, leave a comment here.

I think it might be better for me not to announce the dates for Comics Week, and instead cobble together enough pieces for publishing. That might take the pressure off anyone who might be interested, but who might not have the luxury of time to complete a comic before some arbitrary date.

Who Is This Dude, And Why Does He Want To Gmail Video Chat With Me?

Unconnected Tuesdays

Hello Kitty

Space Station

Monday, April 20, 2009

Movie Quote Quiz For A Doodle!

Hi,

Here's a movie quote quiz. The person who gets the most answers right first gets to suggest a doodle idea that I will doodle.

No Googling the answers, please.

01. "Three of a kind, let's do this!"

02. "Nothing. No matches on prints, DNA, dental. Clothing is custom, no labels. Nothing in his pockets but knives and lint."

03. "If we don't deal with this now, soon little, uh, Gambol here won't be able to get a nickel for his grandma."

04. "Don't talk like one of them. You're not! Even if you'd like to be. To them, you're just a freak, like me!"

05. "Do I really look like a guy with a plan? You know what I am? I'm a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it."

06. "You squeezed them, you hammered them to the point of desperation. And in their desperation they turned to a man they didn't fully understand."

07. "Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn."

08. "Well, you look nervous. Is it the scars? You want to know how I got 'em?"

09. "It's all there, black and white, clear as crystal! You stole fizzy lifting drinks. You bumped into the ceiling which now has to be washed and sterilized, so you get *NOTHING*! You lose! Good day sir!"

10. "I'm a twenty-year man. I can tell the difference between punks who need a little lesson in manners, and the freaks like you who just enjoy it."


UPDATE:

Since this was a stinky quiz, anyone who commented can request a doodle.


For Kimizzy: "Ok the doodle I want is one of a sea turtle! I effing love them."



For Beckeye: "Willy Wonka kicking the Dark Knight in the ass."




For Domboy: "A unicorn disguised as Charlie Chaplin."

Yes, I Am Still Working On My Movie

I'm being all slow and stuff about it, but I still am working on my movie, Streaking For The Shy.

I did some foley work at my friend Lance's house -- mostly footsteps, rustling clothes, etc.

We are planning on doing car sound effects next weekend.

I'm trying to get my crap together and finish this movie, already.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Trees And Signs #6

I haven't done one of these in quite a long time. Seeing the trees start to bud made me want to do another.

This picture was taken early last fall during one of my bike rides on the lovely Salt Creek bike trail.

I spent about ten minutes on the line drawing.

Tree #6
Click on pic for larger image

Sign #6
Click on pic for larger image

Friday, April 17, 2009

A Change To How Blogger Parses Comments

You may or may not know this, but you can do limited HTML markup in comments on blogs that run on the Blogger software (*.blogspot.com websites).

I will occasionally use <i> </i> tags (you can use lower-case or upper-case i's, it doesn't matter) to italicize text in a comment. I like to do this to another person's text that I am responding to, so it's clear the text wasn't written by me.


Example:
What I type:
<i>Hey, how's it going, Splotchy?</i>

Fine, thanks for asking!


The text above gets displayed in the comment as:
Hey, how's it going, Splotchy?

Fine, thanks for asking!


Well, I noticed when I tried to italicize some text in a comment earlier this week that things are a little different. When I previewed the comment it looked fine, but when I actually published the thing there were no line breaks.

Instead, the comment appeared like this:
Hey, how's it going, Splotchy?Fine, thanks for asking!

Icky, eh?

Previously, Blogger was converting my line breaks into HTML line breaks, which are represented by the <BR/> tag. Now, it appears that they have modified their software. If Blogger now sees an HTML tag included in a comment, it no longer converts line breaks to the <BR/> tags recognized by browsers.

A little sidenote for those who want to know. A line break in an HTML source file does not equal a line break in a browser. Blogger does the heavy lifting of converting the line breaks that you make in your blog posts to HTML line breaks (<BR/> -- case doesn't matter here -- it could just as well be <br/>).

So, you have the option of giving up your use of italics in comments, or you can be a little amateur HTML coder and add a <BR/> to force a line break yourself.


Here's an example how to do it:
What I type:
<i>Hey, how's it going, Splotchy?</i>
<BR/><BR/>
Fine, thanks for asking!

Which will display in a comment as:
Hey, how's it going, Splotchy?

Fine, thanks for asking!


Anyways, I'm a geek. Happy commenting! Feel free to give this a try on this post, you nice people, you.

Try it with and without the <BR/> tags if'n you don't believe me.

Ad Quiz: What Is This Woman Advertising?


And how can I avoid it?



UPDATE:

I fruitlessly tried to get the shitty banner ad this woman was on to reappear so I could get a wider snapshot of it.

I am pretty sure it was for Dove soap. I have no idea what the hell her expression had to do with that product.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Please Go Away, Old Man In Online Advertisement


UPDATE:

In case you didn't think I was serious, I have added a sidebar item and a GO AWAY hit counter.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Please! Hammer! Don't Hurt 'Em!

The Internet Challenge Is Over!

The Internet Challenge is over!

Let's get to the prizes!

Jin wins the ROBOTIC BUG with a staggering 52 IC Points!


With a last minute submission of celebrities-eating-hotdogs pics, Bubs comes in second place with 25 IC points, scoring a DVD of THE WICKER MAN!




The Imaginary Reviewer, coming in third with a respectable 23 points, will have all the time in the world to enjoy his BOTTLE OF SPICY MUSTARD!



Winning contestants, please email me an address where I can send the prizes.


Thanks to all who participated. No one goes home empty-handed! Please pick up your award!

Splotchy's Contribution To The Unheard Monkey Mix

Here's a discussion of my selections for The Unheard Monkey, Volume 18 of the Green Monkey Music Project.

When Allen first told me the idea for his guest-hosted mix, I'll admit I panicked a bit.

I have not been listening to much new music. I used to love going to my neighborhood record store and browse the used bins, just picking stuff up on a whim. I found a lot of good new music that way.

But, when my twins were born in 2003, my musical tastes stagnated. I didn't go to the record store any more, didn't listen to much music, etc.

My musical tastes got rejuvenated with my membership to the late Oink's Pink Palace, and I started exploring lots of different music. Except, this time around, instead of listening to a lot of new music, I tried out music from the past -- genres like Tropicália, soul, disco funk, that stuff. Hey, did you know that Wilson Pickett is SUPER AWESOME? It's true.

So, Oink went away and my musical tastes once again stagnated. This is actually a pattern I have noticed in my music-listening habits.

Anyways, I saw Allen's mix as a challenge to familiarize myself with a lot of the new music you crazy kids have been listening to. Since I didn't have a lot of time to ferret out music that I liked, I pretty much used the annual Best-Of lists that the popular music site Pitchfork puts out.

Some of the selections here I was already familiar with, and some I just listened to for the mix.

Some artists that didn't make the mix that I did listen to:

Fleet Foxes
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
The Mai Shi
Santogold
The Blow
The Knife
MGMT
Panda Bear
The Mountain Goats
Feist
Cut Copy
Hercules and Love Affair
Vivian Girls
Okkervil River
Cymbals Eat Guitars
Viktor Vaughn

(phew!)



Here are the selections that made it---

Solid Gold - Eagles Of Death Metal
So, this artist is not new to Allen. I actually first heard of these guys through the song "Cherry Cola", a selection of his for the ROYGBIV mix. I could see how someone might be annoyed at this song, with its constant refrain of "Sweat!", but I think this is just pure fun rock 'n roll. I smile every time I hear it.






Golden Age - TV On The Radio
I actually saw TV On The Radio do this song on SNL. I was blown away. This is a great song off a great album. TV On The Radio is the current band on my Who's In Charge Here blog, and it's not a mistake I put their musical genre as "Delicious".







Fucking Boyfriend - The Bird And The Bee
MizSplotchy actually turned me onto this group. It's nice and mellow, kinda Europopish.







Trance Manual - John Vanderslice
My friend Andy is a big John Vanderslice fan. He's 6'4". Sorry, I can't help myself with that stupid joke, but Andy is tall. He does like Vanderslice a lot. I went with Andy to a concert at the Portage Theater in Chicago, where Vanderslice was opening up for The Mountain Goats. I was not familiar with either artist before I went.

They were on their "Gone Primitive" tour, which basically meant it was Vanderslice and John Darnielle (the main guy behind the Goats) playing acoustic guitars without any band accompaniment.

I remember liking the song "Trance Manual" a lot. It was kind of weird hearing the song for the first time in a manner that was different from its recording, which I listened to later. Okay, maybe it wasn't that weird after all.





The Skin Of My Yellow Country Teeth - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
This was totally something I just listened to because I found a review of it on Pitchfork. The singer has a little David Byrne wavery quality to his voice. Though the song isn't as "Delicious" as TV On The Radio, it's still pretty damned good. From what I could tell, there might have been a little backlash to CYHSY's first album -- first people say it's great, and then other people say uh-uh it's not that great, and then those first people say well it's pretty good, to which the other people say, yeah I'll give you that one. I agree with the final assessment -- pretty good.




Good Days Bad Days - Kaiser Chiefs
Hey, this is a band I knew about before the mix! I listened to their previous album Employment. I think I did this because I wanted to hear some of the bands that were playing the Pitchfork Festival in 2006 I attended, though now I'm not sure if KC played there. Either way, I knew about them, dammit.

I could have picked the very energetic "Never Miss A Beat" or "Can't Say What I Mean" but I thought I'd end the mix on the happy, almost marchable "Good Days Bad Days".




Thanks to Allen for shocking my musical tastes into the 21st Century!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Presenting The Unheard Monkey Mix!

Volume 18 of the Green Monkey Music Project is completed and available for download!

If the participants of this mix want to discuss their own selections, please feel free to do so! I'll put a pointer on this post if you end up posting about it on your own blog (or you could always just add comments here, I suppose).


============================
THE UNHEARD MONKEY
============================

Rules and Theme Details

The Participants Discuss Their Selections:
Allen!
Beth!
Barbara!
Splotchy!

The Songs:
All of Allen Lulu's songs
All of Grant Miller's songs
All of Tim Russell's songs
All of Beth's songs
All of Barbara's songs
All of Splotchy's songs


Track Listing
01 - Jukebox The Ghost - Hold It In [allenlulu]
02 - Elbow - Some Riot [allenlulu]
03 - Against Me! - Borne On The FM Waves Of The Heart [allenlulu]
04 - The Thermals - Here's Your Future [allenlulu]
05 - The Fratellis - For The Girl [allenlulu]
06 - Nightmare Of You - The Days Go By Oh So Slow [allenlulu]
07 - Crystal Stilts - Crystal Stilts [grantmiller]
08 - Parentheses - The Blow [grantmiller]
09 - Time to Pretend - MGMT [grantmiller]
10 - Skinny Love - Bon Iver [grantmiller]
11 - Gimme The Awesome - Endless Boogie [grantmiller]
12 - Young Adult Friction - The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart [grantmiller]
13 - It's You - Animal Collective (feat. Vashti Bunyan) [timrussell]
14 - The Atomium Part 2 - Stars Of The Lid [timrussell]
15 - The Atomium Part 3 - Stars Of The Lid [timrussell]
16 - Jessica - Kaki King [timrussell]
17 - He Lays In The Reins - Iron & Wine [timrussell]
18 - Something's Going On - Lambchop [timrussell]
19 - River, Sea, Ocean - Badly Drawn Boy [timrussell]
20 - 7 Women (A Guy Can Dream) - What The...? [beth]
21 - Hit Parade - Beretta76 [beth]
22 - Right Hand On My Heart - The Whigs [beth]
23 - Nite Beat - The Selmanaires [beth]
24 - Real To Me - The Good Graces [beth]
25 - Speak Or Spill Down - Tin Cup Prophette [beth]
26 - Cries Of The Dead - Chad VanGaalen [barbara]
27 - Hotline Operator - The Constantines [barbara]
28 - Means Of Escape - Brian Borcherdt [barbara]
29 - This Is The Dream Of Win And Regine - Final Fantasy [barbara]
30 - Just One More - Jon-Rae & the River [barbara]
31 - Fingers and Tongues - Elliott Brood [barbara]
32 - Solid Gold - The Eagles Of Death Metal [splotchy]
33 - Golden Age - TV On The Radio [splotchy]
34 - Fucking Boyfriend - The Bird And The Bee [splotchy]
35 - Trance Manual - John Vanderslice [splotchy]
36 - The Skin Of My Yellow Country Teeth - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah [splotchy]
37 - Good Days Bad Days - Kaiser Chiefs [splotchy]


Three cheers to Allen Lulu for guest-hosting this mix!

The Master Tally of Internet Challenge Points

It's a neck-and-neck race for 2nd Place.

The Imaginary Reviewer submitted something nifty about Vancouver, while Bubs submitted three new celebs eating hot dog pics (check out the awesome one of John McCain).

Who will win The Wicker Man, and who will win The Spicy Mustard?



THIS IS THE LAST DAY OF THE IC, PEOPLE. IF YOU WANT A PRIZE YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO STEP UP.

OR IF YOU'RE JIN AND DON'T WANT A PRIZE, YOU WILL HAVE TO SOMEHOW STEP DOWN.


The Internet Challenge is an arbitrary contest I have started wherein I give my readers tasks to complete online in exchange for Internet Challenge (IC) points.

Punctuality is rewarded in this contest. The first person who completes a challenge will receive an additional IC point.

All contestants are competing for exciting prizes.

Jin: 52 points
Bubs: 25 points
The Imaginary Reviewer: 23 points
Flannery Alden: 16 points
Beckeye: 15 points
Chef Cthulhu: 11 points
Some Guy: 8 points
Gifted Typist: 8 points
p0nk: 7 points
SamuraiFrog: 5 points
Randal Graves: 3 points
Distributorcap: 2 points
Mommy Lisa: 1 point
Domboy: 1 point
Comrade Kevin: 1 point
DGuzman: 0 points

A Doodle You Want? A Doodle You Shall Get.

Haven't done a 60 second doodle in a while. First commenter with a doodle idea gets that idea doodled.



UPDATE:

For Jin: "The scene from outside your window. "


Great idea for a doodle, Jin!

Sorry it's not very colorful - the minute went by very quickly. The second tall building from the right is the Sears Tower. I am not sure if it's entirely clear, but the top of the building is enshrouded in fog.

Sorry to Isaac for missing out on your doodle idea, but in some ways I am glad you weren't first. I'm afraid of what hell a zombie Easter doodle of mine would unleash on this plane of existence.

A Question For GMMP Interested Parties

Hiya.

The Unheard Monkey will probably be published Wednesday or Thursday, and consists of new musicks (2005 and later) selected by some heavy-hitter musically-minded participants.

I was thinking it might be nice to go the other way for the mix after Unheard, wherein the only rule is that all the selections are recorded pre-1950.

However, I don't know that I can find people to do this mix -- I'm not sure if people have 5 or 6 older songs they would be able to select.

If there are people that are able and willing to do the mix, then great. If not, I'll pick another theme (I have a couple in mind). I was hoping to find at least four other people. Leave a comment indicating you're interested if this sounds fun to you.

Unconnected Tuesdays

Fog

Mitochondrian

Monday, April 13, 2009

Major Domo

Conrad Bain - Major Domo

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Internet Challenge #20 (Final Challenge!)

Per The Imaginary Reviewer and Jin's brilliant suggestions, please find me clips of TV shows that were cancelled after one episode.

Note: The Internet Challenge will be over at the stroke of midnight (CST) of April 15th, 2009.

GODSPEED, contestants!

UPDATE:

Dr. Zaius: "How about shows that should have been canceled after one episode?"

Okay, Dr Z. I'm now allowing shows that SHOULD have been canceled after one episode as well. I have to agree with your assessment about the show to award a point, however.





Holy cow, I am quite surprised this challenge was doable! I am going to take back my original concession to Dr. Z.

Only videos of shows that appeared for one episode will result in the awarding of an IC point. But please, don't let that stop you from submitting your favorite clip of Small Wonder!


Bubs gets 6 IC points for being first to give us five shows for the ages:

Australia's Naughtiest Home Videos

Emily's Reasons Why Not



Heil Honey I'm Home



Secret Talents of the Stars



South of Sunset (Ladies and Gentlemen, the acting prowess of Glenn Frey)


Jin gives us two quality entries for 2 IC points! Sorry I am backing out on my easing of the rules for your other submissions -- but you should be sorry for dissing Homeboys in Outer Space.

The Rich List U.S.


Rosie Live

Track Listing For The Unheard Monkey!

Here is the track listing for the latest Green Monkey Mix, The Unheard Monkey!

01 - Jukebox The Ghost - Hold It In [allenlulu]
02 - Elbow - Some Riot [allenlulu]
03 - Against Me! - Borne On The FM Waves Of The Heart [allenlulu]
04 - The Thermals - Here's Your Future [allenlulu]
05 - The Fratellis - For The Girl [allenlulu]
06 - Nightmare Of You - The Days Go By Oh So Slow [allenlulu]
07 - Crystal Stilts - Crystal Stilts [grantmiller]
08 - Parentheses - The Blow [grantmiller]
09 - Time to Pretend - MGMT [grantmiller]
10 - Skinny Love - Bon Iver [grantmiller]
11 - Gimme The Awesome - Endless Boogie [grantmiller]
12 - Young Adult Friction - The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart [grantmiller]
13 - It's You - Animal Collective (feat. Vashti Bunyan) [timrussell]
14 - The Atomium Part 2 - Stars Of The Lid [timrussell]
15 - The Atomium Part 3 - Stars Of The Lid [timrussell]
16 - Jessica - Kaki King [timrussell]
17 - He Lays In The Reins - Iron & Wine [timrussell]
18 - Something's Going On - Lambchop [timrussell]
19 - River, Sea, Ocean - Badly Drawn Boy [timrussell]
20 - 7 Women (A Guy Can Dream) - What The...? [beth]
21 - Hit Parade - Beretta76 [beth]
22 - Right Hand On My Heart - The Whigs [beth]
23 - Nite Beat - The Selmanaires [beth]
24 - Real To Me - The Good Graces [beth]
25 - Speak Or Spill Down - Tin Cup Prophette [beth]
26 - Cries Of The Dead - Chad VanGaalen [barbara]
27 - Hotline Operator - The Constantines [barbara]
28 - Means Of Escape - Brian Borcherdt [barbara]
29 - This Is The Dream Of Win And Regine - Final Fantasy [barbara]
30 - Just One More - Jon-Rae & the River [barbara]
31 - Fingers and Tongues - Elliott Brood [barbara]
32 - Solid Gold - The Eagles Of Death Metal [splotchy]
33 - Golden Age - TV On The Radio [splotchy]
34 - Fucking Boyfriend - The Bird And The Bee [splotchy]
35 - Trance Manual - John Vanderslice [splotchy]
36 - The Skin Of My Yellow Country Teeth - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah [splotchy]
37 - Good Days Bad Days - Kaiser Chiefs [splotchy]

Friday, April 10, 2009

NOT AN EXIT

Internet Challenge #19

Your challenge -- come up with an idea for the final Internet Challenge, #20.

Submit as many ideas as you like. I'll choose one person's idea. The person with the winning idea will get 20 IC POINTS.

Deadline for this challenge is sometime tomorrow, probably late-ish in the day.

Oh, just so you know, there isn't a deadline on any of the other challenges (that is, until the contest finally ends).

I am happy to see more pics of celebrities eating hot dogs, terrible fan fiction, politicians dancing, etc., and will award IC points for them.


UPDATE:



Hmm, I could have sworn I updated this already to reflect the winning entry to the challenge, but I guess it didn't take.

As you can see from Internet Challenge #20, I'm doing clips of videos of shows that only lasted one episode.

I thought that Jin and The Imaginary Reviewer's ideas were close enough to each other that I split the 20 IC points evenly between them.

Congrats, you crazy kids!

Simplify, Simplify

Witnessed while walking from the train station to work -- a station wagon with a bumper sticker of a quote by Henry David Thoreau - "Simplify, Simplify".

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Internet Challenge #18

We're nearing the end of the Internet Challenge! After this one there will only be two more.

This challenge: find me videos of politicians dancing.



UPDATE:





A total of 3 IC points to Jin!

Obama!


Putin!


1 IC Point for Some Guy!

Yeltsin!



Jin dips into the well for several more dances:


Dubya!


Dubya Again!


Hillary!



Bill and Hillary!




Chef Cthulhu provides some dancing clips. Sorry, can't count the Schwarzenegger one, but the Barry and Giuliani ones are quite lovely!

Marion Barry!


Rudy Giuliani!



Flannery, as much as I would love to have Hitler on this blog, I can't count the clip you found.


Distributorcap gives us two clips for two IC points!

Condi!


Karl Rove!

Your WLNY-DT News Team

An Observation

In those Before/After pictures of women used to sell weight-loss products, I usually find the Before woman more attractive than the After woman.

Sorry, After Ladies!

My Suggestion For A New Crayon Color

Yapple Dapple
 



















Internet Challenge #17

Answer the questions posed by commenters here.

Currently there are five questions, but if more questions come through that aren't obviously an attempt at rigging the system, you can answer them as well for more pointage.

1 IC point for each reasonably lucid answer (each person limited to one answer per question). Quote the question and leave your response to it in a comment on this post.

First person to answer one of the questions gets an extra IC point.

There can be more than one correct answer, so please feel free to tackle a question that has already been addressed.


UPDATE:





6 IC points for Bubs!
5 IC points for Jin!
5 IC points for Chef Cthulhu!


Another IC point for Bubs/Jin/Chef Cthulhu!

5 IC points for Flannery!

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

ASK ANOTHER BLOG POST

Leave your questions in the comments.

A Copy Of My Business Card

Freefall Happenstance

Stephen Root - Freefall Happenstance

Internet Challenge #16

Another challenge!

I have absolutely no idea if this exists, but find me some pro bowling smack talk (from pro bowlers, or fans of pro bowlers)!


UPDATE:





Flannery Alden, with 2 IC points for some pro bowler smack talk!
Big names absent, but smack talk isn't!
"Some bigger-name bowlers are missing on both sides for the first time in quite awhile," Wheeler said. "Sorry, Peoria. Wait 'til next near, or the next . . . or the next.

"The Cup will stay on the Pekin side of the river!"

Peoria captain Mike McBride also likes his team's chances.

"Unlike the Cubs, we'll be able to seal the deal this year," he said. "The new players will be able to fit in pretty well, and there's enough leadership and experience on the team that's going to pull us through."


So the article title actually contains the words "smack talk", and the bowlers are ripping on the Chicago Cubs as well. Oh, you rascals!



Randal G scores an IC point for an article on Pete "Crotch Chop" Weber.
Brash, raunchy Weber is just what bowling needs
He's introduced trash talk to bowling on TV. He trash talks his opponent. Trash talks the pins. And he's given raucus attention to the fans, whipping them into a frenzy in bowling centers across the country. Just check some of his highlights (or lowlights, depending your perspective):

— Yelling in upstart pro Michael Haugen's face after icing a title match in December: "There's no way he's gonna get his first (title) against me. No way!"

— To classy, Hall-of-Fame bowler Parker Bohn III before a TV match: "You are going down!"

— Screaming after several big strikes on all his TV appearances, all accompanied with fist pumps: "What do you think about that one?!"

— Psyching himself up after nailing down a win against Jason Couch on Sunday, but with a few more frames to go in the match: "Bury him."

— After winning his first title of the year, he addressed the home audience directly: "I am P-D-W! And I am back!"





I can't count the additional submission from Flannery, or the one from Imaginary Reviewer, as they don't quite qualify as pro bowler smack talk.



I'll give one IC point to Beckeye for the following video. I can't award points for the other videos, as I don't think they are pro bowlers, nor do they appear to be talking smack about pro bowlers. Come to think of it, I don't know if the bowlers in this video are pros either, but I'll assume they are based on their athletic physique.

Monday, April 6, 2009

New Green Monkey Mix Underway!

Please visit -------> here <-------- for the details.

Internet Challenge #15

Find me fan-created Kurt Cobain drawings and paintings!

UPDATE:






The Imaginary Reviewer, 3 IC points (1 for being first)!






Flannery Alden, 3 IC points!







Holy crap, Jin found seven pictures, and one video of someone painting a picture! 8 IC points!