The Post Anything and Win 2009 PoF Song-Off!

Ok, so I realize my postings have dwindled to a nearly non-existent trickle. Hello billable hours! Anyway, I just looked at the date and realized we have exactly one day to get a 2009 song contest in. So here it is. Post a song, any song. It must be an original recording. If you post something truly kick-ass, I will even provide a kick-ass prize. Anything goes folks, after all, sometimes the bare minimum is enough.

Had enough this holiday season?

Not yet, you haven't.



The poor-quality video above is just a small sampling of what you can expect from the 30th Anniversary Dean and Company Christmas Special! Here's the "promo" and you can view the entire spectacular extravaganza here (just click on videos). Those of you following along at home may recall that excerpts from the Dean & Company Christmas Special of 2007 was posted here by Matt at my behest. More info here and here.

The dean family and their variously-named relations are essentially folks with too much money and time on their hands. Their show has lost some of its earnestness recently as attention from from folks like Rick and Bubba have made them realize that folks have been laughing at them over the years rather than with them. The Deans appear to have embraced this new role and ham it up with the best of them. I, for one, am glad that the Deans chose to spend their fortune and free time producing three decades of truly mesmerizing and completely awful local access programming.

Even though the Deans are now playing along, they still have an amazing capacity for unintentional dissonant brilliance. Just check out their unbelievably terrifying website complete with dead baby doll guide and a virtual shooting gallery where you take potshots at children and their families in a deeply unsettling Victorian carnival ground.

Enjoy.

'Twas The Night Before Christmas by Tay Zonday

Deconstructing The Phantom Menace

For all of us who need to kill an hour or so over the holidays instead of killing our relatives.

Full story and parts 2-7 here.

Merry Christmas from PoF and Wham!

Um, stand up for Jesus?

Btw, in case our reader thinks that the PoF cabal meets secretly to come up with posting themes, let me assure you that mine and James' pee-related posts are purely coincidental. Our secret meetings have much more important matters as their focus...

Via Justin.

It's all pipes

I'm probably playing with fire by posting an environmentalist promotion on a libertarian blog, but I have to give the Brazilians points for style and practicality. I was green before it was cool.

Want

Via Reason.

Accenture cancels revised Tiger ads

PoF News: Accenture announced it is breaking up with Tiger Woods, but it's a difficult break-up. In fact, the company even briefly toyed with launching a new ad campaign that would reflect the changed atmosphere around the beleaguered golfer. Thanks to the same folks who raided email accounts to bring us Climategate we have a sneak peek at this ill-conceived effort:



Thanks, Charles!

Then how about a smile?

In a culmination of my hopes and dreams, I've now become a POF Blogger. And so, I'm pleased to give all of you a Christmas present, straight from the heart.

Via AV Club

Customers love new laptop steering wheel desk

The AutoExec WM-01 Wheelmate Steering Wheel Desk Tray attaches to your steering wheel for easy access to a writing and drink storage surface.

Here's an excerpt from one satisfied customer's review: "I use it as a 'mini-bar' when the friends and I go out to the bars. I can quickly fix multiple shots of tequila for myself and the friends as we drive from one bar to the next. We also discovered that if you place a pillow on top of it and turn on the cruise control you can catch quick naps on the interstate."

Via Ze Frank.

Give it a ponder.

Ok, so I'm a sucker for viral ads.

Are you a traceur, too?

Via Kent.

Becoming Batman

Last year author E. Paul Zehr released Becoming Batman, a training manual for how an average joe could achieve the physical transformation necessary to be a superhero. Earlier this year, a trailer debuted on YouTube for a new feature film documenting just this process.

Thankfully, though, you don't have to wait on the movie to come to your local theater. You can watch all of the episodes leading up to this point here.

All politics is local

Independent endorsement of Birmingham mayoral candidate Patrick Cooper. Yeah, that's how we roll down south...

"The Palin man isn't a person. It's an idea; it's a philosophy..."

via Justinian.

Just in Time for Turkey Day

via the irrepressible Mike J.

Batmobile Smart Car

Somehow not as cool as the original.

Luke Skywalker on a Tauntaun

Read all about it here.

The Mightiest Beard of All

Words fail me.

Via Shaun

Awesome

Ramona Falls "I Say Fever" from Barsuk Records on Vimeo.

More

Via the talented Mr. Lowery

I'm sorry for posting this

And surprised it has not been seen round these parts before if our trusty search function is any indication:



Evidently this was a staple on Letterman for a while. It's practically a gift for late night comedy.

Yes, let the mighty eagle soar. John Ashcroft, we knew ye far too well.

Where the Dirty Hipsters Are

The real question is: where aren't they?

Drunk Ewoks make for good tv

Via Warming Glow: "The hosts of 'The Today Show' dressed up in Star Wars costumes for the typical 'here’s how you can decorate for Halloween' segment, and they hired a couple people to be in Ewok costumes, which was a nice touch. An even nicer touch? This email from a friend of mine: 'For what it’s worth, a friend who works at the Today Show confirms that they were both midgets and drunk.' *looks skyward* Thank you, God!

"It takes a while for this video to get going, but the payoff provides all sorts of unexpected delights. Ewoks fighting, moonwalking, leg-humping… If George Lucas had made the Ewoks like this in Return of the Jedi, it totally would have justified their existence."

Happy Halloween!

via HitandRun.

The Best of The Worst Tattoos in Mugshots

Via Chicago Now: "In this week's fun post, I give you the tattoos of people who apparently make a lot of bad decisions in life. They've all gotten arrested and they've all gotten some amazingly bad ink. Enjoy"

Thanks, Brian!

Swedish Chef Carves Pumpkins

"Painfully honest and epic"

I couldn't agree more:


Be sure to watch the making of as well. If i'm ever in the market for a mobile home, i'll be sure to visit Cullman Liquidators.

Full story.

Klenginem - SuvwI'pu' qan tu'lu'be

Eminem's "Without Me" in Klingon. Not much of a video, but you can't beat nerd-determination.

Reason Interviews Cuban Punk Rocker Gorki Aguila

Living with First-Person Shooter Disease

Via Kevin.

Trent Reznor shakes a mean tambourine

No other instrument better captures the essence of nihilism (except maybe maracas).

Mark Gormley sings

Via ze frank.

John Denver, USA

Improbable movie trading cards

Trading cards from Annie Hall, Silkwood, Schindler's List and more - see them all here and here.

Via Kent.

The 10 Worst Celebrity Courtroom Sketches

You can check out the rest of the gallery here.

Via ze frank.

Drinking is Just as Good as Yoga

More yoga poses here.

The Marshmallow Test

Oh, The Temptation from Steve V on Vimeo.

Snoop does Bollywood

Singh is King!

Via Justinian

RIP Norman Borlaug

Borlaug’s groundbreaking work began in 1944, when he was put in charge of a joint project between the Mexican government and the Rockefeller Foundation to try to boost grain production in Mexico.

Within two decades, he had developed a high-yielding, disease-resistant variety of wheat.

He then worked to put such cereal strains into mass production across South America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, at the same time as pressing governments to introduce farmer-friendly economic policies.

Many experts believe that his efforts averted a widely predicted global famine in the second half of the 20th century and saved up to a billion lives.

Whisker Watch Alert!!

Via the always excellent and sometimes disturbing: Everything is Terrible!

2-3 year wait on SweeTango

The clear superiority of the Honeycrisp apple has been highlighted on PoF before (as has the unholy experiment known as the Grapple). Now, University of Minnesota apple breeders are preparing a successor to the Honeycrisp - the SweeTango. They claim it's an improvement. Unless you live in Minnesota, you're unlikely to find out for yourself until 2011-2012. Oh, how you tease us, science!

"SweeTango and Honeycrisp were developed at the University of Minnesota. The new apple has Honeycrisp's crispness and juice but kicks up the flavor and adds an intriguing note of fall spice. It was made by crossing Honeycrisp with Zestar!, another University of Minnesota variety.

"'It inherited Honeycrisp's texture, and that's a rare commodity, and it actually has more flavor than Honeycrisp,' said David Bedford, the university apple breeder who helped develop Honeycrisp and SweeTango."

New Eels video - E gets a date

Via Spinner: "'I've never been comfortable sharing my private life with the public, let alone letting a camera crew document it. But I'm willing to try anything once. I met Padma Lakshmi when we appeared on 'The Late Show with David Letterman' recently. I thought I had a shot with her. Then she met my dog, Bobby, Jr.'

"Bobby, Jr., who has a birth-defected backwards leg and a German Shepherd's full-size torso on little Basset Hound legs, made his first appearance on the 2005 Eels album 'Blinking Lights and Other Revelations,' singing the solo on 'Last Time We Spoke.' He has since gone on to have cameos in several Eels videos and has his own line of merchandise and MySpace page. His star has continued a rapid ascent that threatens to eclipse that of his master's.

"'I regret the whole thing now. I was so nervous, I was sweating. While it's a long-standing tradition for rock singers to date beautiful, famous women, it doesn't always go according to plan. I was in over my head. I always dreamt of dating someone as beautiful as Padma Lakshmi. I should probably just go back to dreaming.'"

Because it's been a long time

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Sesame Street Gangsta Rap:



Via: ER

Worst movie tattoos ever

"Tattoos of movies that aren't as cool as expected..."

Thanks, James!

FIREBIRDS light

Via Kent: "This started as an experiment to see what would happen if I cut down FIREBIRDS (Nicolas Cage's TOP GUN) by using only the shots of Nic Cage (cause he's so awesome) but it was a bit too surreal and actually too much Cage (if you can believe that). So I trimmed it down further and I cheated a little by adding a few extra shots to help the storytelling out. I invite you to fall into a Cage-coma. Viva la Bunkdance!"

The Ballad of G.I. Joe

The Ballad of G.I. Joe from Olivia Wilde

Better casting and far more entertaining than the actual movie (plus bonus Alan Tudyk!).

Hippie Weirdo Yoga Farmer

The Quick Brown Fox Kicks Ass

CNR

Smell your fruit

Not too long ago, Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution posted a blog entry on Richard Wrangham's How Cooking Made Us Human. Cowen highlighted the following memorable quote from the book:

"Instinctotherapists, a minority group among raw-foodists, believe that because we are closely related to apes we should model our eating behavior on theirs."

That's really just the tip of the instinctotherapy vignette, though. Here's a bit more:

"In 2003 I had lunch with Roman Devivo and Antje Spors, whose book Genefit Nutrition argues that cooked food provides an unhealthy diet to which we are not adapted. They were lean and healthy. They were clear about their preference, which was to eat all of their food not merely raw but without any preparation at all. They politely declined a salad because its ingredients had been chopped and mixed. The natural way, they explained, is to do what chimpanzees do. Just as those apes find only one kind of fruit when eating in a given tree, so we should eat only one kind of food in any meal.

"To illustrate their habit, Devivo, Spors, and a friend had brought a basket containing a selection of organic foods. They sniffed at several fruits, one at a time, to allow their bodies to decide what would suit them best."

The story goes on to mention how the friend scooped out bone marrow from a buffalo femur for lunch. The threesome are apparently experienced enough at this point to avoid following their own advice to blindfold themselves, a procedure recommended in Genefit Nutrition:

“It may be beneficial to close your eyes or use a blindfold when choosing. Have a friend hold each fruit for you to smell without looking at them. In doing so you will not be influence by your mind [sic]. The results are often surprising.”

Interested in more surprises? Check out the website.

Moment of clarity

AC/DC + Celine Dion = Thunderstruck

Thanks, Craig.

Buzz Aldrin... Nuff Said.

Happy Mooniversary!

Fancy Fast Food

Taking real fast food ingredients and turning them into actual food (or at least fancier looking food)!

Super President!

Cleveland viewers say bear recreation is too real for comfort

Via The Unusual Times.

United Breaks Guitars

Yet another reason to love the good folks in Canadia [sic], they complain peacefully and creatively:)

Dean Glenn Hubbard 's I'll Be Watching You

Ok, maybe there are some redeeming qualities to Columbia Business School.

"Being a big guy certainly has its advantages"

"And its disadvantages"

We PoFers like to think of ourselves as ardent supporters of freedom and trade, but i'm not sure i want to live in a world where anyone actually purchases a Comfort Wipe.

Words fail.

Via Kevin.

David Lynch's A Goofy Movie

Asian Poses

One of the primary goals of this site is to spread the knowledge of Asian poses so that people would start trying them out. When I start seeing people do these poses, it brings a feeling that can only be described as self-actualization.

I learn something new every day. Via Presurfer

Turbo Heather!

Busey Does Point Break Live

Actor Gary Busey made a special appearance at the Dragonfly on Friday night for the May 22 performance of Point Break Live!, the wildly popular punk-rock stage adaptation of the 1991 action flick Point Break that starred Busey as seasoned FBI agent and general badass, Angelo Pappas, opposite Keanu Reeves' Johnny Utah.

By far, the best and least-crazy thing Busey has done in years.... except for maybe this - which is a really great reason to buy a TomTom. But add in Mr. T, Kim Cattrall, and Dennis Hopper - and I may just end up circling the block for days.

Han Solo, P.I.

Three Wolf Moon!

It's not too early to start thinking about Christmas and I know 3 bloggers who could use a badass t-shirt or actually 3 badass shirts because otherwise we'd have to...nevermind.

Here is the video nestled in its original environment among nearly 100 pages of reviews at Amazon for the aforementioned shirt. Here are the guys behind it, the spot this phenomenon earned on ABC News and the proud manufacturers in Keene, New Hampshire.

Via bunbun

Best. Video. Ever

Via Justinian

Is Obama "The Mysterious Stranger"?

In his unfinished work, "The Mysterious Stranger," Mark Twain wrote of a figure named simply No. 44. According to the text, "everybody was anxious to know him and talk with him." Could he have been predicting the 44th president?

You be the judge.

Surviving the World

'The usual punchline is "One's a scum-sucking, dirty bottom dweller, and the other's a fish!" but any way to bring in cannibalism is usually funnier. Kind of like how you can start off the normal joke, "How do you stop a clown from laughing?" and burst in with the wrong punchline, "Bash him in the face with an axe!" Ah, good times.'

I think the PoF crew would get along famously with this Dante Shepherd fellow. Learn more valuable life lessons at Surviving the World.

Via Virginia via Shaun

An Illusion From Zefrank

HardTime :: Illusion from ze frank on Vimeo.

Genius.

Placenta recipes

Via the Virtual Birth Center:

Placenta Recipes (Mothering Magazine, September 1983, Vol. 28, pg 76)

Editor's note: I have not heard of anyone who routinely makes a habit of eating placenta... it would be an 'after-the-birth-only' type activity. Many animals, including herbivores routinely eat their placentas, as it replaces vitamins and minerals lost during the labor process. Many women who have tried it swear they feel better faster, and they do not suffer from postpartum depression because of the nutrients the placenta has given them. It has been called a 'harmless' meat, as no creature is killed to procure it. Placentas should only be eaten fresh, if this is something that appeals to you.


Each placenta weighs approximately 1/6 of the baby's weight. Cut the meat away from the membranes with a sharp knife. Discard the membranes.

Placenta Cocktail:
1/4 cup raw placenta
8oz V-8 juice
2 ice cubes
1/2 cup carrot.
Blend at high speed for 10 seconds

Placenta Lasagne:
Use your favorite Lasagne recipe and substitute this mixture for one layer of cheese. In 2 tbl. olive oil, quickly saute meat of 3/4 placenta, ground or minced; plus 2 sliced cloves of garlic, 1/2 tsp. oregano, 1/2 diced onion & 2 tbl. tomato paste, or 1 whole tomato.

Placenta Spaghetti:
Cut meat of 3/4 placenta into bite size pieces, then brown quickly in 1 tbl. butter plus 1 tbl. oil. Then add 1 large can tomato puree, 2 cans crushed pear tomatoes, 1 onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 tbl. molasses, 1 bay leaf, 1 tbl. rosemary, 1 tsp. ea. of salt, honey, oregano, basil, and fennel. Simmer 1 1/2 hours.

Placenta Stew:
Meat of 3/4 placenta in bite size chunks, 1 potato (cubed), 1/4 cup fresh parsley, 2 carrots, 3 ribs celery, 1 zucchini, 1 large tomato, 1 small onion. Dredge meat in 1 tbl. flour mixed with 1 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. paprika, pinch of cloves, pinch of pepper, 6-8 crushed coriander seeds. Saute meat in 2 tbl. oil, then add vegetables (cut up) and 4-5 cups of water. Bring to full boil, then simmer for 1 hour.

Placenta Pizza:
Grind placenta. Saute in 2 tbl. olive oil with 4 garlic cloves, then add 1/4 tsp. fennel, 1/4 tsp. pepper, 1/4 tsp. paprika, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. oregano, 1/4 tsp. thyme, and 1/4 cup of wine. Allow to stand for 30 minutes, then use with your favorite home made pizza recipe. It's a fine placenta sausage topping.

Placenta Roast:

All "food" should be properly cleaned prior to cooking, and all "food" should be properly cooked prior to eating.

This is a good recipe for placenta, which should NOT go to waste:

INGREDIENTS:

1 to 3 lb. placenta no more than 3 days old
1 large onion
1 large green or red pepper (green will add color to the presentation)
1 cup tomato sauce
1 sleeve of saltine crackers
1 tsp crab or shrimp seasoning
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp white pepper
1 clove garlic (roasted and minced)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Chop onion and green or red pepper in small cubes. Place in large bowl. Crush saltines into crumbs and add to onion and pepper cubes.

COMBINE IN LARGE BOWL:

Placenta, seafood seasoning, pepper, garlic, and tomato sauce. Place into aluminum loaf pan. Cover and bake for 1 and 1/2 hours, occasionally pouring off excess liquid. Retain liquid for gravy base if desired.

I've Been Asleep at the Blog

You're probably much hipper than I am, so I'm not telling you anything new when I tell you to go check out the Black Cab Sessions.

Jozin z Bazin!

This Memorial Day, let's all take a moment to remember Joseph and the Bog.

Be sure to note the many tributes: Techno Viking, Prison Break, The Prodigy and the Scat Man.

Ventura Pwns Hasselbeck

Between Two Ferns

Between Two Ferns With Zach Galifianakis

Eurovision 2009

Alexander Rybak wins Eurovision for Norway and smiles a lot.

Notre Dame v. Obama Coming Soon to a Theater Near You...

I don't have very strong feelings about the issue one way or another, but I do recognize good production value when I see it. This round definitely goes to ND.

Shoot the Banker

I don't consider this anti-capitalist, just anti-corporate welfare. So have fun shootin'!

Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Video

"The Cleveland Tourism Board gave me 14 million dollars about 8 months ago to make a promotional video to bring people to Cleveland. As usual, I waited till the last minute and I ended up having to shoot and edit it in about an hour yesterday afternoon. I probably should have invested more time."


Second attempt.

Via Steve-O.

Hospital Food: The Blog

More unappetizing fare here. Via Cynical-C and Boing Boing.

Turn Around.....

Total Paperclips of the Heart - watch more funny videos

Digilegs

For all your "look at me, I'm a centaur!" needs.

No Substance, But Much Better Form!

Honorary PoF blogger John has radically upgraded the site so that it is now compatible with all the Blogger/Google whirligigs! Site is now in CSS and the template is point-and-draggable. Try not to total the car on your first night out, kids.

Pure Filler

John refuses to help me fix the blog layout because of the repulsive chicken in a can picture. So here you are:

Whole chicken in a can

Via I Hate My Message Board: "And the taste? There really wasn’t any. The white meat was a bit more cottony than the dark meat, but it all tasted like all the flavor had been cooked out. Sort of like the little bits of chicken in condensed chicken noodle soup.

"BTW, I am pleased to announce you can get a six pack of Sweet Sue whole chicken in a can for only $49.99 and $30.70 shipping from Amazon."

As Amazon reviewer Skepchick observes, "I think this is a superb idea for quick last-minute meals. However, I will wait for what I believe will be Sweet Sue's next venture: an entire cow in a can." By the way, Skepchick also provides a helpful review of The Ghost Meter EMF Sensor.

Facebook Manners and You

A simple, 5-step guide to avoiding some of the most common social networking miscues.

Via s.logan

Lost and Found

Via BOOOOOOOM!: "Here’s a great little short called Lost & Found (1:30) by Philip Brink, Rogier Cornelisse, Floris Liesker, Hugo van Woerden. Philip informed me that it was the winner of an international short film festival, and I can see why. Enjoy."

Seinfeld with Nunchucks t-shirt...

...and more Brandon Bird classics are now available for pre-order thanks to TopatoCo.

With Mother's Day just around the corner, you can't afford to miss this opportunity.

PoF Becomes Eclectic

The Boxer Rebellion recently gave their first U.S. live radio performance thanks to KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic. If that's the sort of thing you're into and you missed it, you can still catch the video:



If you're in the mood for something a bit heavier, the new album from Isis, "Wavering Radiant," is now streaming on their MySpace page.

I might watch the news if it were like this...

Via Bill G.

I want to meet this Craig fellow

He's like the Banksy of typed signage.

Via BunBun.

Who Needs a Movie?

And a whole bunch of other stuff you might have missed at You Should Have Seen This.com.

Seriously, Who is Tyler Perry?

Funny Videos | Funny Cartoons | More Video Clips

Nick Cage endorses Pachinko

Instantly reminded me of this.

Kafka International: World's Most Alienating Airport

Prague's Franz Kafka International Named World's Most Alienating Airport

Via Julian

Fun with sheep and LEDs!

via Crooked Timber

Chris Cornell, Timbaland, and the law of diminishing returns

"Diminishing returns is an economic or financial term that refers to less than proportional increases upon the addition of more resources beyond a certain point.

"Diminishing returns is not only inherently financial in nature. Some skills, learning curves, and other items may display diminishing returns. For example, in learning a new language, an individual may reach a point at which studying that language with the same effort for the same amount of time will no longer provide the same increase in comprehension as it had in the past."

Whatever you think of Justin Timberlake's music, he has sold quite a few albums and helped earn Timbaland a "Midas Touch" reputation for his producing skills. As Weezer notes in the song "Pork and Beans," "Timbaland knows the way to reach the top of the charts. / Maybe if I work with him I can perfect the art."

Anyway, Duran Duran's "Red Carpet Massacre," an attempt at a hip-hopified comeback via Timbaland, fell flat - just to mention one example. Earlier this month, Chris Cornell of Soundgarden and Audioslave fame released his Timbaland effort "Scream." According to Timbaland, the recording sessions were "The best work I've done in my career." He predicted that Cornell will be the "first rock star in the club".

You be the judge:

Gigapan

Gigapan allows users to upload, share, and explore gigapixel panoramas from around the globe.

Via Wired NextFest: "You don't have to be a world-class photographer (or Photoshop expert) to take a brilliant panoramic shot. The product of a two-year collaboration between Carnegie Mellon and NASA, GigaPan is a robotic tripod device that mounts to your digital camera and can capture thousands of images from all different angles, then weave them into a uniform high-resolution picture with more than a billion pixels. It's compatible with almost any model and will be priced to own at about $200 (or less). According to project leader Illah Nourbakhsh, it can be used to bridge cultural divides by contributing to a global network of community images — or just to produce a breathtaking memento of your next trip to the ballpark."

David Lynch Coffee: Hard to describe

Curious? Get yours here. Props to Mac for coming up with the slogan "He'll put his caffeine in you."

Long Before the Carlton Dance...

...there was "Breakin' and Poppin'."

Are You Professional?

A Mai Shi tribute to Christian Bale and his emotional outbursts.

How Israel sells arms to India

From the YouTube description:

"The Israeli arms firm Rafael displayed this Bollywood dance number-based marketing video at the recently held Aero India 2009 in Bangalore."

Via Marginal Revolution from whom I also stole the headline.

The smell of impending doom

"Genki Wear, known for its licensed science fiction jewelry and perfumes, has produced what might be the most unusual Star Trek product ever: Star Trek colognes and perfume based on the original 1960s television show.

"Genki’s 'Red Shirt' cologne celebrates the sacrifices of those often nameless crew of the USS Enterprise. Described appropriately as a cologne for those with a 'devotion to living each day as it could be your last' the cologne has top notes of green mandarin, bergamot, and lavender, with base notes of leather and grey musk."

PG Porn

PG PORN: Nailing Your Wife | Girls | SPIKE.com

When some of my most favorite people get together (James Gunn, Nathan Fillion, and Alan Tudyk), apparently the result is pure, unadulterated sexless porn.

I am the real Santo Gold!

Delve into the bizarre story of Santo Gold, "a jeweller, filmmaker and infomercial-based salesman" whose powers of self-promotion and lack of shame defy comprehension. His "film" Blood Circus (1985) is characterized thus: "The movie is a wrestling-themed science fiction flick, with aliens from the planet Zoran fighting the US and USSR. It was, perhaps unsurprisingly, never released."

The above quotations are from this Guardian piece, which relates the latest chapter in an otherwise obscure and strange chapter in American cultural history. Santo Gold sued electro-rapper Santogold, who was born Santi White, last year for trade name infringement. Santogold the rapper is now know as Santigold and Santo Gold the crazed Baltimorean (Will, what other horrors are lurking in Baltimore?) wrestling-film promoter has cut an "album" to protect his trade name. The video above contains the title track. Here is Santo Gold's press release on the matter.

In the interest of fairness, here's Santigold:



More on the Santo/Santi kerfuffle here and here.

More on Blood Circus here and scenes, etc. here and here.

The above information provided as a public service by PoF.

Via Kevin

C-C-Catch the Wave: We Made a Page on Facebook!*

Eat your heart out PepbSuber, Coke has just taken the advertainment crown with this genuinely funny video co-starring and written by Hillsdale alum Michael Jedrzejewski. Check it:



Full Disclosure: This blog receives no funding from Coca-Cola or from any other corporation as far as I know. But now that they know how clever and awesome we are here at PoF, I expect we'll be seeing offers any day now...

*No PoF does not yet have it's own FB page, but our crack team of internets specialists are hard at work on that.

Fourier analysis solves rock mystery

Evidently, the first chord in the Beatles' "A Hard Days' Night" has proved a conundrum for musicians and music publishers for decades. You'll be relieved to know that mathematician Jason Brown has finally put this conundrum to bed .

"Four years ago, Jason Brown was inspired by reading news coverage about the song’s 40th anniversary - so much so that he decided to try and see if he could apply a mathematical calculation known as Fourier transform to solve the Beatles’ riddle. The process allowed him to break the sound into distinct frequencies using computer software to find out exactly which notes were on the record.

"What he found was interesting: the frequencies he found didn’t match the instruments on the song. George played a 12-string Rickenbacker, John Lennon played his 6 string, Paul had his bass - none of them quite fit what he found. He then realized what was missing - the 5th Beatle. George Martin was also on the record, playing a piano in the opening chord, which accounted for the problematic frequencies."

Perhaps this will be part of the quantitative curriculum for the new Master's of Beatleology degree "programme" at Liverpool Hope University.

Ode to a yellow cup

Last night, March 4, 2009, my wife informed me that she was no longer comfortable drinking from our big yellow plastic cup. It had something to do with bacteria, I think.

In any case, I believe that this is a watershed moment in our relationship, and perhaps our lives. It is a turn of events that merits remarks equal to the occasion. This is my humble attempt.

Goodbye, yellow cup

Before my daughter was born, you were there

Before I married my wife, you were there

Before I had my first job, you were there

Have you always been there, yellow cup?

You lived with us in Ohio

You lived with us in Arkansas

You lived with us in Indiana

In what other fantastic places have you lived, yellow cup?

Sting says that if you love somebody you must set them free

Am I setting you free, yellow cup, or is it you who frees me?

Goodbye, yellow cup

Goodbye.

Stimulus Flair!

How can the average citizen keep track of all the new boons the magic stimulus is bringing our way? Why stickers of course! Er, ahem, I mean "emblems".

Seaborne & Roach: Taxes and Chicken!

Seaborne&Roach Ep5: Taxes and Chicken


More.

Via Tom Palmer

2009 Pieces of Flair Draw My Cartoon Contest

In the tradition of the highly successful PoF Cheap Perfume Song Contest and the PoF T-Shirt Art Contest, PoF is proud to announce the first ever PoF Draw My Cartoon Contest!

Here are the rules: Readers will view and vote to determine the winner. Whoever makes the cut will be profiled on the site, will walk away with a free version of the cartoon on an official PoF t-shirt, and - most importantly - will bear the title of Winner of the Pieces of Flair 2009 Draw My Cartoon Contest.

Interested contestants may send their original submissions to Matthew via the email addresses located in the PoF Bloggers link. Entries should be in JPEG or PNG format. The deadline for entries is noon on Saturday, March 28, 2009 EST. Let's get artsy!

The proposed cartoon is a standard three-frame format:

Frame 1: Two guys are seated in a restaurant booth in front of a large window. One has a full head of hair and is eating a hamburger and fries, the other is balding and eating a salad. Hamburger guy says, “Man, I’m beat. I’d have given my left lung for an extra hour of sleep today.”

Frame 2: Hamburger guy’s face now rests on his plate. Salad guy is looking out the window, where a smiling Jesus is floating on a cloud beneath a banner that reads, “Free Wish Day – Everybody Gets One.”

Frame 3: The cloud has floated on by, and hamburger guy remains in the same position. Salad guy is stealing a fry and now has a full head of hair.

Beer in a bag!

Above image from Neat-o-Rama's fun facts about beer. I guess you just punch a hole in the bag and chug. Also, St. Arnold is the patron saint of brewing--good to know. (Link via BunBun)

Oh, I get it! I get jokes!

The above is quite funny by itself, but Lady Thatcher wasn't quite sure that anyone would get it or whether this Monty Python "fellow" ought to be trusted in the first place. Writes her former Private Secretary:

Finally, we got to the day of the speech. The text was finished, it had been typed up on to the autocue and we had completed the final rehearsal at which she practiced her delivery and the inflexions of the speech. However, as we waited for her to go on to the stage to deliver the speech, she was still worrying about the passage and looking for reasons that it might not work. Just as she was about to go on, another doubt arose in her mind. She looked at me and said anxiously: ‘John, Monty Python – are you sure that he is one of us?’

To try to explain to her that Monty Python did not really exist would have been to risk disaster. I therefore did not even try and instead said to her: ‘Absolutely, Prime Minister. He is a very good supporter.’

As recorded in: Margaret Thatcher: A Tribute in Words & Pictures by Iain Dale

Barely relevant headline allusion here.

Via here by way of here.

Needless products, pet edition

Do you spend an inordinate amount of money on your dog? Have we got vehicle accessories for you! Check out the entire line, including a ramp for the Laziest. Golden.Retriever.Ever.

Backseatsmen are people too!

This Valentine's Day, give financial security

"Valentine’s Day is a time when many people’s thoughts turn to love, and how to best express that love. First Investors believes the most meaningful, long-lasting present people can give their loved ones is not flowers or candy, or even diamonds. It’s life insurance.

"There’s no better way to say, 'I love you' than a gift that can help protect a family’s future, even in the most unexpected of circumstances. Purchasing life insurance is truly a sign of selfless love."

According to the Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education, "75% of women would give up celebrating Valentine's Day altogether 'in exchange for greater financial peace of mind.'"

Powerthirst 2: Re-Domination

You may have seen the first excellent edition of Powerthirst, a drink that makes Red Bull or even Brawndo look tame by comparison. I was recently alerted to the second, slightly sacrilicious and entirely awesome, Powerthirst ad by my friend David. Here it is in all its glory:

This is why you're fat

Post your own nasty goodness where dreams become heart attacks.

Via Travis.