Courtesy CollegeHumor.com comes video of a South Dakota elevator that just refused to implode.

Recommended soundtrack, from the German band, Einstuerzende Neubauten*, "Kollaps."

*Collapsing New Buildings. One of the first performers of "industrial music."

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:31 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

March 14, 2008

Friday Follies: Food Fight

A short film by Stefan Nadelman, "Food Fight." As the Tourist Pictures page for the film explains:

Food Fight is an abridged history of American-centric war, from World War II to present day, told through the foods of the countries in conflict. Watch as traditional comestibles slug it out for world domination in this chronologically re-enacted smorgasbord of aggression.

Extremely well-done exercise of a clever concept. The initial humor fades quickly enough, though.

(Hat tip: Instapundit.)

P.S. You can watch the trailer here.

Posted by Carter Wood at 8:27 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

March 7, 2008

Friday Follies: Used First in Teapot Dome Hearings

Here.

Not a great line for a first date, though.

(Hat tip: Fair Game with Faith Salie, a very good public radio magazine show. This story about a robot bouncer in Atlanta is hilarious.)

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:36 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

February 29, 2008

Friday Follies: Anchorman 300

The movie "300" must have produced more mash-ups, video satires and tributes than any film since "Star Wars." Every week we happen upon a new one.

This week it's "Anchorman 300," using scenes from the Will Ferrell comedy with the soundtrack from the "300" theater preview. And darn it if it doesn't work. Thank goodness for that street fightin' scene.

And from "300" to 3000, Andre 3000, that is, we have a link to the preview for Ferrell's latest, a basketball epic, "Semi-Pro." Andre 3000 of Outkast costars.

Finally, and again, The Fall doing Sparta FC,this time live at Leeds. As the band would say, "Hey!"

Posted by Carter Wood at 6:47 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

February 22, 2008

Friday Follies: Jaws, Done By Cartoon Bunnies

With the Oscars upon us, and Roy Scheider having danced, swum and acted his way off this mortal coil, we bring you this week's Friday Follies, a tribute with "Jaws in 30 Seconds with Bunnies."

Not the best of the bunnies' work -- you can't beat "The Exorcist" -- but it serves.

And sorry to see Scheider go. RIP, Roy.

P.S. You want real follies, watch the Jaws' sequels. Awful, awful films.

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:34 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

February 15, 2008

Friday Follies: Weezer and the Muppets

Dug a dry hole in the search for a Friday Follies video, but decided to keep fishin' anyway, and found Rivers Cuomo's latest video from his new CD of sonic flotsam, "Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo." Trouble is, the video, "Blastoff," is just odd, family movies from his wife's Japan plus a vocoder.

So back to an old favorite, "Keep Fishin'," as Weezer appears on The Muppets Show (reincarnated). Another brilliantly conceived and humorous video...and the Swedish Chef!

If you're new to Weezer videos, start with Buddy Holly and check out Perfect Situation -- a 3 minute "Star is Born," with Rivers in the Judy Garland role. That's Elisha Cuthbert as James Mason. You know, Kim Bauer, still whining.

Posted by Carter Wood at 6:53 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

February 1, 2008

Friday Follies: Stairway to Gilligan's Island

We looked not so long and not so hard for a good satire of "Lost," since the season premiered last night, considered Bowling for Soup's Gilligan Island theme song as a close alternative, but then gave up.

Well, "MadTV" had a Lost satire, but it's arch.

But then, wonders of wonders, a video tribute to the great lost version of Gilligan's Island, the supressed and censored Little Roger and the Goosebumps' number, "Stairway to Gilligan's Island."

Huh. Well...It was funnier in 1978. Still, it makes more sense than "Lost" ever does.

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:12 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

January 25, 2008

Friday Follies: Scientists for Better PCR

Clever sells, just no doubt about it. In this week's Friday Follies we have not just clever, but smart and well-produced, too. It's a music video, The PCR Song, a "We Are the World" satire on behalf of Bio-Rad Laboratories' 100 Thermal-Cyclers, used in Polymerase Chain Reaction testing, that is, DNA tests. You know:

PCR, when you need to detect mutations.
PCR, when you need to recombine.
PCR, when you need to find out who the daddy is.
PCR, when you need to solve a crime.

That IS the real Huey Lewis, isn't it? Guess we'll have to check his DNA.

And, of course, this leads us to a Jonathan Coulton song, as do so many things -- "That Spells DNA," with inspirational lyrics:

Guanine met Cytosine, fell in love
And then Thymine got busy with Adenine
They sent the messenger-RNA
To the ribosome to make more protein

It's catchy! Coulton has a link to download the song here. And a March 7th show at the Birchmere in Alexandria.

There. That's enough geek humor for today. (Hat tip: John Derbyshire.)

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:51 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

January 18, 2008

Friday Follies: The 305

The satires of 300 keep coming, nearly a year after the release of the big screen dramatic tribute to King Leonidas and the 300 Spartan warriors who died fighting the invading Persians. Now, through addition, a parody of "The Office" at the Battle of Thermopylae:

It is known to many of the Spartan 300 army, soldiers taught on the battlefield that death is the greatest glory that they can achieve in their lives. But this Is not that story. This is the story of a goat gate, and the five brave souls chosen to defend it – the 305.

The great thing is, this low-budget parody spread via YouTube has generated a real DVD deal for the clever originators. (Here's some more of their work.) Congratulations...especially for the killer carrot.

Hat tip: Andrew Sullivan.

P.S. Special bonus, gratuitous music video: "Theme from Sparta FC" by The Fall. After a 30 year recording career, Mark E. Smith and his 300 band members have earned a gratuitous salute.

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:20 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

January 11, 2008

Friday Follies: 24, the Unaired 1994 Pilot

Jack Bauer's life would be a lot harder if he were stuck on a dial-up modem, but that's the world the anti-terrorist warrior faced in 1994.

From one tension-building scene:

Nina: Jack, the schematics file is too big to e-mail!
Jack: How big?
Nina: Three floppies!

This pilot promo comes you to the smart-alecks at College Humor.com. And what with Kiefer's legal troubles and the writers' strike, who's to say we won't be seeing it soon on Fox?

Bonus Follies: With French subtitles.

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:50 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

January 4, 2008

Friday Follies: Tex Williams, Smoking...

Since we've started down the path -- you know the one, Tobacco Road? -- with the post on Maryland's cigarette taxes, let's derive just a little amusement from that filthy habit with today's Friday Follies, country swing great Tex Williams doing an early music video (kinescope, actually) of his hit, "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! That Cigarette."

Big, big song in 1947, and one of the finest choruses in American popular music history.

Smoke, smoke, smoke that cigarette Puff, puff, puff until you smoke yourself to death. Tell St. Peter at the Golden Gate That you hate to make him wait, But you just gotta have another cigarette.

And yes, we know Tex died of lung cancer in 1985. He made it to 68 years old; the song (written by Merle Travis) lives on.

And since we're doing cigarette songs, here's Bryan Ferry singing "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes." The folly? Um...Eno leaving Roxy Music?

P.S. Jeanette Macdonald did "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes?" Boy, do tastes change.

Posted by Carter Wood at 8:22 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

December 21, 2007

Friday Follies: Aimee Mann & Mr. Grinch

Aimee Mann wrapped up her Christmas concert tour this week at the Birchmere in Alexandria, running through a very funny variety show with a comedian, Paul F. Tompkins, hilarious songstress Nellie McKay, rapping Chanukah Fairy, a movie, etc. Much fun, even with her voice being shot, although the choice to mock fan Michael Chertoff was curious. Rude, really... (Pretty good review here.)

A talented band, of course, with a great Mann-Tompkins duet on "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch." So this week's Friday Follies is a year-old version of the tune from last year's Conan O'Brien show, with Grant Lee Phillips doing the narration. Definitely more cheerful than her "I Was Thinking I Could Clean Up for Christmas."

Posted by Carter Wood at 11:47 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

December 14, 2007

Friday Follies: Podsafe Christmas Song

We return to our Christmas theme this week with another Jonathan Coulton tune animated with World of Warfare graphics by Mike "Spiff" Booth, "Podsafe Christmas Song." Inspirational lyrics, well actually, all the lyrics, except for the David Seville-and-the-Chipmunks-like dialogue:We want a podsafe Christmas song
We want a song that's safe to play
Don't think us rude, we don't want to get sued
By the thugs at the RIAA
We have been good the whole year long
Santa don't delay
Give us a podsafe Christmas song
To celebrate Christmas dayFunnier than the new Chipmunks movie is likely to be, seems safe to say. And we like the RIAA!

One note: Gratuitous curseword.

Also, Booth has just produced a new animation for "Chiron Beta Prime," another Coulton Christmas song. Check it out here. Kinda gruesome for the season.

UPDATE Amusing cautionary note on the Wikipedia entry for "Alvin and the Chipmunks": "This article or section may fail to make a clear distinction between fact and fiction."

Posted by Carter Wood at 8:15 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

December 7, 2007

Friday Follies: The Kinks and Father Christmas

Continuing with our festive follies we bring you on its 30th anniversary the Kinks (seasonal) hit, "Father Christmas."

It's a cynical number, a little sour even, no "Waterloo Snowfall," what with the introduction:

When I was small I believed in Santa Claus
Though I knew it was my dad
And I would hang up my stocking at Christmas
Open my presents and I'd be glad

But the last time I played Father Christmas
I stood outside a department store
A gang of kids came over and mugged me
And knocked my reindeer to the floor

Weird music video, too, filmed to make it really hard to watch.

Still, the music's awfully cheerful, the Davies brothers seem to be having fun, and who can frown at a glockenspiel?

And for an even upbeater, upper-beat, er, more upbeat Christmas tune, here's a 30-second clip from "Everything's Going to Be Cool this Christmas," by rock's No. 1 ironist, E. (Mark Oliver Everett) of The Eels. Look for the tune on the B-sides and rarities "Useless Trinkets" collection, coming out in January. A great Christmas gift for the ironist in your house.

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:12 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

November 30, 2007

Friday Follies: A Chiron Beta Prime Christmas

Time for this year's advent of the Christmas-season follies, musical and video tributes to holiday spirit. We return, yet again, to a Jonathan Coulton song, the very festive, "Chiron Beta Prime."

This year has been a little crazy for the Andersons.
You may recall we had some trouble last year.
The robot council had us banished to an asteroid.
That hasn’t undermined our holiday cheer.
And we know it’s almost Christmas from the marks we make on the wall.
And that’s our favorite time of year.

Merry Christmas from Chiron Beta Prime,
where we’re working in a mine for our robot overlords.
Did I say overlords? I meant protectors.
Merry Christmas from Chiron Beta Prime.

The animated video illustrating the song is the work of Tom Ellsworth, a professional illustrator who took advantage of Creative Commons licensing of the Jonathan Coulton project to put together the piece. Good job!

And nice synthesizer solo, Jonathan.

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:28 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

November 23, 2007

Friday Follies, The Canadian Grey Cup Edition

So if Canada's Thanksgiving is the second Monday in October, is today not their Vendredi Noire? And do they start playing Christmas carols all that much earlier in the stores?

That way lies insanity, eh? So instead we'll just celebrate Sunday's Grey Cup, the Canadian Football League championship game in Toronto. It's a big deal for the Prairie Provinces; for the first time in the competition's 95-year history, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are facing the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

For Friday's Follies, then, we join vicariously in the SCTV Tribute to John Candy hosted by Dan Akyroyd, part of the week of Super Bowl-like festivities.

The embedded clip is John Candy and Eugene Levy as the Schmenge Brothers performing their classic, "Cabbage Rolls and Coffee Polka." That's funny but even better is their interview with the back then still-good-humored David Letterman, talking about their retirement and touching, just briefly, on their scandalous relationship with the Lemon Twins. And here, wonderful highlights from their original TV variety show, with special guest star, Linsk Minyk.

But to avoid any doubt about our sporting loyalties, here's Jonathan Coulton singing "Curl," with the classic verse.

His team is there and ready
Though the coffee’s warm, their breath hangs in the air
They hit the ice
No one’s there to see it
There’s no press or paparazzi and that’s OK
But it’d be nice if someone noticed
That they’ve all been working hard
Pushing these rocks around
Trying to gain some ground
Got the keep the Canadians down
And all they got to do is curl

Go Roughriders!

Posted by Carter Wood at 6:15 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

November 16, 2007

Friday Follies: Leningrad Cowboys

Oh, those wacky Finns. Here is the Finnish rock group, the Leningrad Cowboys, in 1994 performing Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" with the Red Army Choir.

Gee, what's next? Finnish tango?

Actually, here's what's next: Leningrad Cowboys doing the Lou Reed ballad, "Perfect Day," a classic tune of regret and self-loathing turned into a heavy metal romp (with a drumming homage to Reed's "Hey, Jim.") Very, very silly.

By the way, we're sensitive to the appalling trend of Commie Chic -- especially with the commercialization of the sociopathic murderer, Che Guevara -- but this is the post-Soviet Red Army.

With accordions.

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:51 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

November 9, 2007

Friday Follies: The 10 Most Addictive Flash Games

Shoot zombies? Defeat invaders who move across your desk? Avoid crashing your helicopter?

Hey, it's all in a day's work, or rather, a day's no work, thanks to online Flash games.

CNET UK, the online computer publication, has collected the top 10 most addictive games that use Flash software for their active content. You've got some old favorites -- Yeti penguin-batting -- and Japanese bizarreness -- Neopets Hassee Bounce, and a few that were new to us, like Portal (depicted in the embedded graphic).

Thanks to Jonah Goldberg for the link, part of his tireless campaign to encourage office timewasting.

To play the Flash games, start here.

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:52 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

November 2, 2007

Friday Follies: SCHIP - Care Enough to Smoke?

A little detour today into political commentary as humor, a YouTube video by Nicolai1951, mocking the financing of SCHIP by tobacco taxes.

A disgusting habit? No, an act of charity. For the children.

Nicolai1951, a recent user name at YouTube, is being described in the blogosphere as "the mysterious Nicolai1951," raising the image of the lonely video pamphleteer. Eh...looks awfully well produced (good lighting) for an amateur product.

In any case, a very clever use of humor in politics. Not enough to sway the Senate to kill the bill on the second go-around, but still...

To watch this week's Friday Follies, click here.

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:16 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

October 26, 2007

Friday Follies: The Big Boom

Just in time for Halloween, a new production out from Mike "Spiff" Booth, the Adobe program manager who uses World of Warcraft software to create videos for the songs of Jonathan Coulton, singer/songwriter/satirist/Internet marketing genius.

The song is "Big Boom," your basic tale of apocalypse that starts with the destruction of Michigan (Philadelphia didn't scan) and moves from there. The video -- featuring WOW characters from previous Spiffworld videos -- is fun but gruesome in a video-game way, so probably not appropriate for the kiddies. (Although the Washington Post tells us that ghastly gruesomeness has overtaken Halloween.)

The song also includes another report from the Zeitgeist: "And the infrastructure's coming down/And the government went underground/gone for good." Ah, infrastructure makes another musical appearance.

The embedded video's a little small, so to see the original "Big World" head over to Spiffworld . And for the encore, a live video performance of "Sweet Caroline" -- a great sing-along. Ba, ba, ba!

P.S. It's just so timely, we offer another gruesome, satirical (about media exploitation) but not quite so funny video, Bad Religion's "Los Angeles is Burning," from their 2004 album, The Empire Strikes Back. Watching a report about Suzanne Sommers' tribulations amid the California fires, the lyrics came to mind: "So many lives are on the breeze/Even the stars are ill at ease."

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:48 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

October 19, 2007

Friday Follies: What If the Beatles Were Irish

Know nothing about this guy, Roy Zimmerman, but happened upon this video at the College Humor website and thought it was funny. Straightforward musical satire, with a fair if broad take on what constitutes cliched Irish singalongs.

And then, after checking out his multifaceted website, Royzimmerman.com, realized his satire can also be quite subtle.

Down toward the bottom of the site, encouragement to sign a petition to have Pete Seeger awarded the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize. That's very, very amusing, in a united front kind of way.

Good job, Roy!

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:36 AM | 1 comment; click here to read it or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

October 12, 2007

Friday Follies: Happy Birthday, Pac Man

What's the English translation for the Japanese term, "paku, paku?" It's "wocka, wocka," of course. And it's the sound that the ghosts make in Pac Man, which celebrated its 28th birthday this week"

"Now knocking on the big 3-0, the classic munching circle was first released in Japan on October 10, 1979 by electronic games company Namco, way back when his name was pakku-man – paku-paku describing the sound of the mouth movement when "widely opened and then closed in succession".

The hungry little critter is a worldwide symbol of 80’s pop-culture and is ranked as one of the classic arcade games of all time. In fact it’s credited as the single most popular game of all time by the Killer List of Video Games - klov.com."

This week's Friday Follies is a human recreation of the game, acted out by the smart-alecks at the University of Michigan, the UMPatriots. (Are we allowed to mention the University of Michigan here?)

To watch the video, either click the embedded clip or click here for the larger version.

And a hat tip to James Lileks, who has other Pac Man homages and Charles Boyer, too!

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:00 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

October 5, 2007

Friday Follies: Rowdy Hogan Fieger

Suppose this is old hat to cable subscribers, but an acquaintance just brought to our attention the Robot Chicken segments on Adult Swim. After four hours of research, we found this "Hogan's Heroes" bit to be clean enough to post (badly bleeped cursewords). Colonel Klink meets Hulk Hogan.

And that's apparently Rowdy Roddy Piper's real voice. Piper, the pro wrestler, starred in a fun science-fiction movie back in the late '80s, "They Live." (See the trailer here.) A hilarious, entertaining b-movie involving aliens who have conquered the world through oppression, bread and circuses, and manipulating the mass media. A dark conspiracy of mind control...

Just happened to think about that movie after reading the latest bizarreness from Geoffrey Fieger. Does he have the truth-revealing sunglasses that no one else has? Nah...

Posted by Carter Wood at 6:28 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

September 21, 2007

Friday Follies: Jonathan Coulton Via Spiffworld

Much set-up to this Follies, but it's SO interesting what goes on in today's Internet viral marketing/fan universe...

Jonathan Coulton is a singer/songwriter with a nice voice, an adept guitar, and a gift for lyrics that match heartbreak with humor, bringing monsters and science fiction space creatures along for the ride. He used to write software; now he's the zombie fighting troubador for Popular Science magazine.

Coulton licenses his songs through something called a Creative Commons by-nc license, which allows people to make free use of his songs as long as they properly attribute them and don't intend the product for commercial use. Fans take his songs and create music videos for them, posting them at YouTube and elsewhere, which draws more attention to Coulton's songs, which he then sells via website downloads.

For example, a program manager at Adobe named Mike Spiff Booth uses software from the World of Warcraft online role-playing games to make Coulton-song videos at his website, www.spiffworld.com. If you like them, you can send some money his way via Paypal, and 50 percent goes back to Coulton. None of which would have made any sense 15 years ago.

The most recent project is a video to Coulton's "The Future Soon" -- the embedded clip above -- another tale of love unrequited and cyborgs.

I'll see her standing by the monorail
She'll look the same except for bionic eyes
She lost the real ones in the robot wars
I'll say I'm sorry, she'll say it's not your fault ...
Or is it?

Thanks to Moe Lane for starting us down this path, which also involved a sidetrip to "The Legend of Black Heaven," rock 'n roll anime.

To watch this week's Friday Follies, "The Future Soon," click here. Plus an amusing extra, "Betty and Me," click here.

BTW, Popular Science has a good piece on the hard science of video games: "Today’s videogames draw on sophisticated science like biomechanics, fluid dynamics and computational geometry to be lifelike and exciting."

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:23 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

September 14, 2007

Friday Follies: Corazón Valiente, Nino Bravo, Beatles

Last week, we had strange Spanish motion-captures of El Ratón Mickey, Bugs Bunny and Donald Duck. Comical, yet disturbing...and compelling.

This week we return to the works of the YouTube poster Dr. Legua, who heads from Iberia to Hibernia with a Braveheart in 3-D tribute, which really doesn't make much sense. (A recurring theme.)

We also have Nino Bravo, a Spanish, oh, Engelbert Humperdinck, singing America Libre, and the grand finale, the Beatles in 3-D, doing Let it Be. Looks like Dr. Legua's early, more primitive work. Either that or Blue Oyster Cult.

Enjoy...

Posted by Carter Wood at 8:06 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

September 7, 2007

Friday Follies: El Ratón Mickey Es Muy Loco

That's a screen-capture, not an embedded YouTube to the left there, but oh yes, oh yes, we'll provide the link.

The video appears to be a tyro's effort at creating the animated adventures of El Ingenioso Ratón Mickey. It starts off slow and then enters increasingly bizarre worlds of bizarreness. The wedding scene is a killer.

The link to the YouTube video of the animated Mickey is here.

It comes to us via Lileks.com -- read him! -- who got it via a Cartoon Brew post, Worst.Mo.Cap.Ever., which has similar pieces featuring a hopped-up Bugs Bunny and a bill-less Donald Duck, commended to him by Jeremy Bernstein from Dreamworks. That's the way this viral stuff plays out.

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:24 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

August 31, 2007

Friday Follies: The LA County Fair

Alas, here in D.C., we have no state or county fair to attend.*

But another unlikely jurisdiction, L.A. County, does, and darn if its promotional spots aren't the funniest thing we've seen since visiting the rabbit barn in Minot.

Here's a 30-second commercial depicting a culture clash, sheep versus denizens of Rodeo Drive. And another, how many carbs in cotton candy?

And to the left there is a video from a previous year's advertising campaign. That's one creative advertising firm.

Oh, and the entertainment line-up is pretty good, too. Monster Trucks and the B-52s. A smart pairing, if fraught with potential ironic distance.

*Most scholars believe that it would take a constitutional amendment to achieve a D.C. State Fair, although activists insist a simple act of Congress would do.

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:14 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

August 24, 2007

Friday Follies: 24, the Interns

Janeane Garofalo? Is going to be on next season's 24?

What, Ben Stiller wasn't available?

And is she going to wear makeup to cover all her glorious tatoos, or will they be digitally erased? Or written into the plot as belonging to a previous assignment's mufti?

Ah, well, although one might describe her casting as a folly, Garofalo isn't such a bad actress. She was good in the Larry Sanders show. Or maybe it was the Larry Sanders Show that was good.

In any case, to pass the time until this season's premiere of 24, here's the real Friday Follies, "24: the interns." Judging by internal consistency and production values, it's an internally consistent and well produced video. And mildy amusing.

From Funny or Die, one of the few PG rated videos on the site.

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:53 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

August 17, 2007

Friday Follies: Sarbanes Oxley

This isn't laugh-out-loud funny, but rather more a dry, satirical fun-poking at Sarbanes Oxley. And tatoos. From the good folks at the Competitive Enteprise Institute.

And ...What's this? There's a studio movie, "Sarbane's Oxley," just waiting for wider release? The catch phrase: "What happens when you mix a little corporate misconduct with a lot of misconduct of your own? ...Mistresses, Mergers & Mayhem!" That's IS funny, in a cultural moment kind of way. Bonfire of the Vanities updated. The trailer is here.

And Hoofy & Boo's news report, on Sarbanes Oxley...

A whole genre of humor we had no clue about. Amazing.

Not that funny, though.

Oh, but you know what's funny? A montage of squirrels from Mark Trail! (Hat tip: The Comics Curmudgeon, which is very funny but too scabrous to get any play around here. Definitely R rated.)

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:06 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

August 10, 2007

Friday Follies: You Are the Wind Beneath...Stop!

You have to love the epithet, "Big Wind." It's used by Jason Jones in his 180° segment from The Daily Show, a hard-hitting, 60-Minutes-like expose of the Cape Wind project and its threat to destroy the fragile Nantucket Sound viewshed -- not to mention the mental equilibrium of the eco-minded elite. Clean energy? No contribution to man-made global warming? Ick! Can't you put it someplace closer to the hoi polloi?

The controversy -- the real one -- is interesting and revealing, and the legit Cape Wind project site provides a lot of useful background information on the project, only controversial because those who would impose radical lifestyle changes on the masses do not want their horizons sullied by even a mote, a spot, or a turbine blade far, far away.

In any case, the video is hilarious.

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:04 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

August 3, 2007

Friday Follies: London Calling

Follies on a Friday? Yeah, just look at the two economy-strangling energy bills that will be on the House floor today. Talk about folly. Unfortunately, they're no joke.

But for a bit of video fun -- and since British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was in town this week -- a tribute to Brown's predecessor, Tony Blair. Singing the Clash. "Should I Stay or Should I Go." Asked and answered, your honor.

And since we mention the Clash, how about their 1981 performance on Tom Snyder's show, "The Magnificent Seven." Tom Snyder booked great acts on his show. RIP, Tom. And the Clash doing hip hop? Folly.

Posted by Carter Wood at 8:19 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

July 27, 2007

Friday Follies: The Skeletor Show

He Man and the Masters of the Universe is to the 1980s what, well, what's the best analogy? Space Ghost was to the 1960s? Race Bannon?

Anyway, He Man was an obviously cool cartoon show -- to kids, at least -- who is now recalled fondly but also a fit topic for satire. And the world's leading Masters of the Universe satirist is Daniel Geduld of Flying Squid Studios and author of "The Skeletor Show," a series of cartoon mash-ups available on You Tube.

We caught The Grammar Lesson, over at The Corner -- hanged not hung! -- and hunted down the rest. There's Skeletor's take Frank Langella and more! Bjorn, I'm tellin' ya, this is going to be the Best Westchester Kennel Club ever. (Episode 9.)

Some of the episodes have bad language, but they're all pretty darn funny. So this Friday, our Follies are The Skeletor Show. It breaks reality.

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:39 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

July 20, 2007

Friday Follies: Daft Punk and Bionic Hands

Well, this is definitely from someone who has too much time on their hands, a bit of video hand jive, "Daft Punk Hands."

Takes a little while to get going, but shows some pretty impressive dexterity and imagination once it does (even when performed to mundane Daft Punk electronica).

And, since we're reaching hands across the ocean, here's a nice -- not funny or folly -- video report on a bionic prosthetic hand, developed by a Scottish NHS worker. Its users speak highly of it.

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:34 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

July 13, 2007

Friday Follies: Hey, Uke! Hey, Angie! Hey, Ya!

Mark Steyn, the transcontinental humorist and social critic, found the electrified nature of the "Live Earth" puzzling. Amplifying on the theme, he asked, "Why couldn't Snoop Dogg demonstrate his commitment to the environment by having the entire sound system removed and announcing he'll perform 'Gangsta Walk' accompained only by himself on the ukulele?"

Which prompted a reader to send Steyn this link, a video of the Wellington (N.Z.) International Ukulele Orchestra performing Outkast's "Hey Ya." Now, any ukulele performance is by its nature a folly, so the International Ukes hereby qualify for today's Friday Follies.

But a bonus to boot, space boot more precisely, another version of "Hey Ya," Napoleon Dynamite dancing to a cover version by the raucous Arizona band, the Supersuckers. It's OK, especially since rock 'n roll records aren't selling this year. Plus an angry accordion version by Jason Wembly. And since we're doing accordions, might as well pay tribute to the great North Dakotan, Angie Dickinson, set to Outkast. (As it happens, there are lots of Ukes in North Dakota, indeed, many are out near Dickinson. But not the stringed-instrument kind.)

Which brings us back to "Hey Ya Charlie Brown," the first and best of the Peanuts tributes. Shake it like a Polaroid picture, Lucy.

All of this? Pure folly. But it's Friday. The 13th.

UPDATE (12:10 p.m.): Happy 60th birthday, Roky Erickson.

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:02 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

July 6, 2007

Friday Follies: Bettie Boop, Cab Calloway, a Walrus

Figured now that Will Ferrell has started up his comedy video site, Funny or Die, there'd never be that Thursday afternoon struggle to find a humorous post for Friday Follies. Just click over there, catch something, steal it and voila.

But darn it, they're all so dirty. Most of the videos we watched in a heavy afternoon of research were foul-mouthed, unnecessarily so.

Kids, you don't need to work blue.

So we'll revert to the tried and true today, a Bettie Boop cartoon from 1932, "Minnie the Moocher." Who knew that Bettie Boop's parents were German or German-Jewish? (Although, with "Max Fleischer presents," makes sense). Anyway, this seven-minute short brings you Bettie running away from home with Bimbo only to be confounded by a dancing walrus/Cab Calloway and swarms of ghosts. Bizarre and brilliant. To watch "Minnie the Moocher," please click here.

(Well that was a belabored set-up, wasn't it? For something punchier, watch Batman. 36 seconds.)

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:15 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

June 29, 2007

Friday Follies: The Riverdance Rap

The Smithsonian's Folklife Festival has started up on the Capitol Mall, with one of the three grand cultural/historical/culinary/economic themes being Northern Ireland.

So to keep in step (but sans arm movements) with the events we offer as this week's Friday Follies, the Riverdance Rap, a goof of Michael Flatley with a breakout rap from L.L. Bean O'Reilly, the lyrical leprauchan. (Or is that not a Northern Irish icon? We'll find out this weekend.) Cheers!

P.S. Got this from Will Ferrell's new comedy website, Funny or Die, which got a nice write-up this week from The Washington Post, although a lot of content providers work blue. We'll spare you a link to the potty-mouthed toddler.

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:33 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

June 22, 2007

Friday Follies: Obama Girl & Fred Thompson Crush

The web-jockeys at JibJab set the standard for online political satire in 2004 with their "This Land" music video poking good-natured fun at President Bush and Senator John Kerry, and we can expect to see a flood of such Internet comedy as the 2008 elections near. (Not necessarily all in good nature.)

The latest is a sassy video on the Barelypolitical website from Obama Girl, "I Got a Crush on Obama," in which the OG sings and swoons over the Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. Senator from Illinois. Sample lyric: "You're into border security, let's break this border between you and me." It's gone totally viral.

Obama has even commented on the music video:

“It’s just one more example of the fertile imagination of the internet,” Obama said to The Des Moines Register. “More stuff like this will be popping up all the time.”

Right you are. Even the candidates are into the online humor game, as Sen. Hillary Clinton's Sopranos homage demonstrates.

Obama Girl is very,very cute and the tune is even catchy. However, please note that there are lots of innuendoes, double entendre and tight T-shirts. Definitely a PG-13 entry, and definitely smart PR. Which would make it PR-13.

However ....in the interest of bipartisanship, we also offer this G-rated "I've Got a Crush on Fred Thompson's Politics" video, a rockabilly revival piece with a bit of the Subterranean Homesick Blues tossed in. Long live the land of the free. (Hat tip: Jim Geraghty.)

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:54 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

June 15, 2007

Friday Follies: Piracy and Music Downloads

No, no, no. By picking Weird Al Yankovic's "Don't Download This Song" as this week's Friday Follies, we are not negating all of the good work the NAM does to fight product piracy and counterfeiting.

It's just that we can laugh at ourselves, laugh at Weird Al's satire -- stylistically evoking "Take On Me" by Aha (and see this clip from "The Family Guy") -- and laugh at the idea of a simple music download leading to a life of crime. Besides, any performer whose tour includes the Corn Palace Festival in Mitchell, S.D. is worth a plug. (Question: Have tickets for the Corn Palace gotten more expensive because of increased, fuel-related demand for ethanol?)

And hey, he's playing at the Warner Theater just across the street from NAM HQ in August. See you there!

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:25 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

June 8, 2007

Friday Follies: The Dancing Cadet

See, back in the old days of college pranks, you had maybe a little short-sheeting, a bucket of water over the door, something like that. Laugh like a loon and then move onto other things.

But nowadays everybody's got a videocamera, including cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy. So back in 2005, Cadet Brian Stoops decided to have a little fun at his roommate's expense by videotaping Jeff Pelehec's private dorm-room dancing. Think a cooler Napoleon Dynamite, with short hair.

The video went viral, may even have helped define the term "viral" -- or so says this Wikipedia entry. Yes, Pelehec has his own Wikipedia entry.

Anyway, here's the video. It IS pretty funny.

But why now, two years after the fact? Defense Secretary Robert Gates mentioned Pelehec during his speech to the Academy graduating class of 2007 last month.

"To learn about the dangers of dancing in your dorm room (laughter) and yes, I've seen the video," joked Gates. "So the next time your mirror beckons you to bust a move, remember the dancing cadet."

Fame and follies...It's Friday.

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:35 AM | 1 comment; click here to read it or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

June 1, 2007

Friday Follies: Farewell Follies

Thanks to the NAM's Monica Clark for sending this one along upon learning of the blogger-in-chief' impending departure -- said something about it put her in mind of him. We'll let you decide for yourselves.

Thus far, we've pretty well steered clear of baby videos, but we did think this one was pretty funny, And of course, it's an ad for a good manufactured product -- one that's ubiquitous for parents of children of a certain age.

So as the blogger-in-chief rides off into the sunset (Crikey -- isn't he gone yet...?!?) we offer up this week's Friday Follies. Click here to see a Follies/farewell all wrapped into one. Don't worry, be happy.

Posted by at 7:20 AM | 1 comment; click here to read it or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

May 25, 2007

Friday Follies: The Landlord

This one made the rounds last last week, but we thought maybe the use of the "b"-word (rhymes with "witch") might scare off some of our more sensitive readers. But then this week we figured, what the hey -- why not? It's the blogger-in-chief's second to the last Follies, so let's go with it. And, you've probably already seen it. Anyone who's turned off by that word -- or by small children exploited for humor's sake -- ought not proceed any further.

But if you're strong, give it a try. "The Landlord" is a video by Will Ferrel featuring his young daughter Pearl in the title role, coming to demand the rent. It really is funny, but as with most films (long or short) the outtakes are even funnier -- especially to anyone who's ever tried to get a 2 year-old to do anything on cue.

So click here to see "The Landlord" and click here to see the outtakes from this very funny video.

Posted by at 7:29 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

May 18, 2007

Friday Follies: How a Mouse Works

Regular ShopFloor.org readers have come to expect a weekly Saturday video of Cool Stuff Being Made. But this week, we'll get a jump on Saturday, mix it up a little bit by combining the regular Friday Follies feature with a video of how things work.

Take the ordinary everyday mouse. You know the one -- you spend your day with your hand on it, left clicking, right clicking, sliding around your Joanie Loves Chachi mouse pad, opening, saving, sending, forwarding and deleting. Well did you ever wonder what goes into the inner workings of a mouse? We've taken the bottom off of ours a time or two (when it stops working), taken out that heavy little ball and cleaned the Joanie shavings off of all the twirly things. But you may not know what's really in the guts of the thing, what makes it go.

Thanks to one of our two absolutely most loyal readers (she's in Pittsburgh, that's all she'll let us say), we now have a secret video, smuggled out from a mouse plant in China somewhere that for the first time shows to the outside world how in the heck this thing works.

If you're into the magic, don't watch, but if you're really a fan of manufacturing, fascinated by what makes things work, click here to unlock the mystery and give it a spin.

Posted by at 7:14 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

May 11, 2007

Friday Follies: 'I'll Sue Ya'

Thanks to the reliably goofy Weird Al Yankovic (his mom must've know he was destined for goofiness when she named him, "Weird Al"....) we have this week's "Friday Follies." Can't remember who sent this to us a week or so ago, but it's an animated video to a Rage Against the Machine-style Weird Al original entitled, "I'll Sue Ya", an homage to the lawsuit-happy culture in which we live. Except for a gratuitous shot at the Cradle of Civilization, it is pretty funny, and all too true.

"If I sprain my ankle while I'm robbin' your place," raps Al, "If I hurt my knuckles while I punch you in the face, I'm gonna sue, sue, yes, I'm gonna sue..."

Considering we spend more each year on lawsuits in this country than these countries spend on their entire economies, maybe it's not that funny after all.

Click here to see this week's Friday Follies.

UPDATE (By Carter Wood, 9 a.m.): The hat tip for sending us the Weird Al video goes to Bret Jacobson at Laborpains.org, an invaluable resource for those interested in organized labor's many transgressions.

Meanwhile, a reunited Rage Against the Machine is hot, hot, hot. The funk/punk stylings of revolutionaries preaching overthrow of the capitalist system. So why aren't they on the bill at "Live Earth?"

Posted by at 7:16 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

May 4, 2007

Follies Bonus: Lewis Black On Celebrity Earth Day Hypocrites

Another Earth Day has (blessedly) come and gone and with it the usual parade of preachy celebrities -- they of the massive carbon footprints -- telling us how to become more green. Heck, even notoriously hypocritical better-than-us Laurie David is now saying she thinks of Al Gore as "a father figure", adding, "By the time I was done working with him, I was begging him to adopt me." Ewwww.

Fans of the usually-liberal Daily Show know Lewis Black, a very funny guy. Here's a short bit he did on the many celebrities who were busy preaching on Earth Day last month. "Advice on how to save the planet," he calls it, "From a bunch of people who couldn't even save Planet Hollywood."

Click here to watch the clip.

Posted by at 7:27 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

Friday Follies: 'Best Response of the Year'

This one made the rounds this week at the NAM, might have reached your workplace, too, was just too priceless to resist. If you love lawyers, this is probably not for you, but then if you loved lawyers, you probably wouldn't be reading this blog.

This purports to be the partial transcript of a cross-examination of a policeman in a criminal case. We cannot vouch for its validity but we can attest to the fact that it's funny. You see the lawyer try to undermine the police officer/witness' testimony. The officer had relied on a fellow officer's description of the suspect.

"Do you trust your fellow officers?," asks the lawyer. And that's where it gets interesting.

So here's the link to Jib-Jab, repository of many wacky things. It is truly the best response of the year.

Posted by at 7:14 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

April 27, 2007

Friday Follies: My Generation

For those of you who haven't already seen this one, it's priceless. We of a certain age remember the rock anthem by The Who, "My Generation." The mood, the angst of the entire generation was summed up in one famous line: "Hope I die before I get old."

Well, now a British, uh, rock group called The Zimmers -- featuring 90-year-old lead singer Alf Caretta -- has recorded a cover of that famous anthem in no less holy a place than Abbey Road Studios in London. They are to be featured in a BBC documentary by Tim Samuels due out next month. The average age of the band members (there are about 40 of them) is 78, which means they must have some real young 'uns, to offset ol' Alf.

In any event, for those of you who remember Daltrey, Townshend, Entwistle and Moon, this will really entertain you, put a whole new spin on the song. Hey wait -- maybe that is Daltrey, Townshend, Entwistle and Moon....

Click here to watch this week's Friday Follies. The kids are alright.

Posted by at 7:31 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

April 20, 2007

Friday Follies: The Gettysburg PowerPoint

Today finds the blogger-in-chief in Orlando, Florida, speaking to the Association of Independent Corrugated Converters. Some time this morning, these nice people will sit attentively and hear the blogger-in-chief bloviate with the help of some infernal PowerPoint slides. Poor souls. How many of us have suffered through death by PowerPoint?

Somebody tipped us off to this, a PowerPoint version of the Gettysburg Address, delivered on November 19, 1863, a little over four months after that historic battle. What if Abraham Lincoln had access to PowerPoint? How might it have looked? You need only click here to see it. And, if you click here, you can see the "Speaker Notes," containing the full text for those of you who haven't memorized it yet.

If you want to know how to wreck a memorable speech, look no further. A cautionary tale for all who rely just a little too much on the cursed laptop and slides.

Posted by at 7:34 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

April 13, 2007

Friday Follies: How to Dance Properly

The blogger-in-chief's on vacation this week (Can't you tell? The writing's improved!), but attended a small lunch on Tuesday hosted by the good folks from The NewsMarket and featuring former CBS head Andrew Heyward talking about the use of video on the Internet. Heyward said a lot of smart things (we'll write on that later), but along the way also showed a few very funny websites.

One of them was this one from Ze Frank entitled, "How to Dance Properly." Regular readers will recall "The History of Dance" that we posted here for Follies almost a year ago. We're dance maniacs, after all. Ze Frank's is just a series of clips showing some pretty excellent dance moves that you might be able to use this weekend. And even if not, you can try some out around the office and impress your co-