Felicia Day acts like a retarded person on camera.

I found this hilarious little youtube video of Felicia Day, one of Joss Whedon's many acting groupies, testing out some wiiesque interactive remote-free videogame-thingymajig called "Natal" for the Xbox 360.

The game itself is not all that important.

What IS important is this: Felicia Day looks like she is psychotically kicking and swatting at invisible flies and spiders. It looks like she's being attacked by a whole host of unseen critters. Or maybe she's just having a playful imaginary catfight. I dunno.

Okay, granted, Felicia Day is a lovely and talented actress, I liked her a lot in Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. And granted, whatever this "Natal" business is received a lot of hype and good reviews at E3 and actually looks kinda cool.

Again, that's not important.

What IS important is this: You MUST completely mute the volume on your computer to experience the full hilarity of this short little video. Then just watch her. Ignore the silly game in the background. Don't think about what she's actually doing. Just WATCH.

Seriously, guys. It's cute. It's adorable. It's ROFL. It's priceless.

(Felicia Day acts like a retarded person on camera)




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Black Cab Sessions - Cabbies Never Had It So Good

A few days ago I was catching up on a bunch of the music blogs I follow on Google reader, and one of them mentioned some band or another being featured on some website called the "Black Cab Sessions." I was intrigued, so I checked it out. And wow. Just wow. This site is the best little slice of indie pie since Daytrotter, and that, my friends, is saying something, something serious. When I first happened upon the the site, I spent a good hour just cramming and cramming as much musical goodness as I could handle in one sitting. And now I keep coming back for more.

So, what are the Black Cab Sessions? Well, in their own words:

"THE SESSIONS ARE ALL ABOUT GREAT MUSIC AND THE VENUE STRIPS THIS TO ITS ESSENCE."

What, then is this great venue? Why, the back seat of a little black cab, of course! What these people do is this: they get in touch with some of the best (and I mean the best) up-and-coming indie bands and catch them just before or after they play a gig. Then they share a cab ride to wherever the bands are headed, and along the way they record the artists as they play a one-song one-take stripped-down acoustic session. I am always in favor of 'stripping down' a set. I figure if a song is really good, then the live acoustic version will probably be even better. That's the Black Cab Sessions' above-mentioned philosophy: stripping a song down to its bare and beautiful essence. And let me tell you, they have be-a-utiful songs to start out with. I mean, Fleet Foxes, Peter and the Wolf, Death Cab For Cutie, Bon Iver, Dawn Landes, Calexico, Daniel Johnston, Spoon, My Morning Jacket, The New Pornographers, Damien Jurado, Doves -- these are just a few of the amazing artists with whom they've shared a taxi. Hell, it almost makes me wanna become a taxi driver just for the off chance that I might get the opportunity to see some of these guys perform some of their best material just a foot away from me. In fact, it makes me go "Oo0o00oOOooO0Oo00OoOoh!"

Long story kinda short, you should go there. Nowish. In fact, you should go RIIIIGHT NOW.

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"Yooouuutuuube" -- another solid choice in addicting time-wasters

"Yooouuutuuube" sounds like something Craig Ferguson would say during his opening monologue (accompanied of course by Salvadore Dali's crazy portrait and obligatory "OOooOooOOOooh!" noise), but it is in fact a real website, albeit a strange, psychedelic sort of website that defies most descriptions.

If you follow the first link, you will be asked to enter a youtube video URL or a youtube word search. You can also simply click for a random video. Then you choose what height and width you'd like to see the videos in, and choose the "shuffle" effect or the "spiral" or neither. Then just click the big ol' "DO THIS" button at the bottom, and you're done. What happens now? Well, now yooouuutuuube turns the video or videos you've chosen into a quirky, fascinating, and often stunning collage of stop-motion footage. It doesn't work well with every single youtube video, but given the right kind of video and the proper parameters, and yooouuutuuube can produce something truly beautiful. It's the kind of thing that makes a straight arrow like me see the appeal of certain eh...... "pharmaceuticals."

To demonstrate this, here are the links to a few new yooouuutuuube videos created by Yours Truly:


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"All Souled Out" - Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band


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"Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?" - She & Him


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"Summer Grof" - The Spinto Band


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"Pork and Beans" - Weezer


If you make any compositions of your own, please post the links in the comments. "I want to see your skills of an artist!"
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Movie Titles Brainteaser - one hell of a way to waste your day

Empire made this fun and engaging little quiz in honor of its 20 year anniversary. I gotta warn you, though... it's very addicting, and it can take a while. Once you start you have to finish! (It does however have a "Save" feature so that you can return to it another time)

There are 50 movie titles hidden in the picture; some are obvious, some are not so obvious, and some are just plain ridiculous. (Hint: the three cheerleaders' title has absolutely NOTHING to do with cheerleaders, cheering, or anything related to them. At all. Whatsoever.)

I personally got to about 33 or 34 on my own before I broke down and went to this little forum desperate for help.

Anyway, y'all should definitely have a go at it. If you want any subtle hints of mine (since the forum's hints are often not so subtle...), just post your questions in the comments.

Cheerio!
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Superheroes Are ALL The Rage!

This is an old post that never made it; I was going to publish it a month ago, but I sidetracked for some reason.

Anyways, over at the Hero Factory, you can design and download your own superheroes. It's quite an enjoyable little time-waster, and as an enthusiast in the sport of procrastination, I highly recommend it. The only annoying thing (besides the music in the background) is the fact that you can't name your superheroes; the game makes up one up based on the powers/gadgets you gave them. Still, it's a fun bit of silliness.

Wanna see MY gallery of superheroes? Well, too bad! I'm going to show you it anyway.



(See a bunch more after the jump.)



















Create your own hero HERE.

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Evening Buzz: Zooey Deschanel and Burger Beds and Dresses

Ingrid Bergman wants you to join her in lighting up the collective pop culture cigarette. Here is your Evening Buzzzz!


!!BUZZ!!
Well, first off, Fox has picked up the remaining Narnia movies since Disney copped out. I'm glad C.S. Lewis's books are being adapted to film and not TV, 'cause we all know how Fox treats its best shows (*cough* Arrested Development *cough*cough*).

!!BUZZ!!
Are you a big fan of He-Man? Yeah, I'm not gay either. But apparently Warner Brothers, Joel Silver, and John Stevenson are teaming up to remake "Masters of the Universe". Actually, I suppose it's not bad timing, as Skeletor is being nominated for an Oscar this year.

!!BUZZ!!
You should watch the trailer for "500 Days of Summer", an indie film starring Joseph Gordan Leavitt and Zooey Deschanel. I liked Leavitt a lot in "Brick", and I'm straight-up in love with Zooey Deschanel. I've loved her ever since her bit in "Elf", and she's just wowed me more and more in each new flick (not to mention her musical work with the brilliant M. Ward, especially her band She & Him!). Apparently, 500 Days of Summer has blown everyone away at Sundance. Yay!

!!BUZZ!!
Here's some more good news: Neil Jordan is gonna direct a live-action movie adaption of Neil Gaiman's "The Graveyard Book" (a ghostly retelling of The Jungle Book). I have to say, Neil Gaiman is winning me over; I'm coming around to his Sandman comic books, Coraline is shaping up to be really good, and now this.

!!BUZZ!!
Amy Poehler's new government sitcom finally has a name -- "Public Service". This will be one to watch; besides the presence of the ever-funny Poehler, it's from the creators of the Office, and will also feature Aziz Ansari and Rashida Jones (of Office fame). Public Service airs in April.

UPDATE: It's called "Parks and Recreations", and the pilot was BAD. Here's hoping the show gets a looooooot better.

!!BUZZ!!
And finally, here is a fun, provocative, and even -- dare I say it? -- yuuummmyy dress. Hint: It's a HAMBURGER dress. This is the best thing to happen to hamburger-themed non-hamburger products since The Hamburger Bed!
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