Monday, April 30

The Offspring Have New Music

We here at A Hot Cup are huge fans of The Offspring, and news dropped last week that their album Days Go By will be coming out on June 26 in the States (TBD for the rest of the world). And thanks to the power of the Internet, and well, I guess the radio too, a pair of singles have been released. "Days Go By," is the lead single in the U.S., Canada, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Meanwhile, "Cruising California (Bumpin' In My Trunk)" is hitting airwaves throughout the rest of the world.

The two songs are pretty radically different. "Days Go By" reminds me very much of "Can't Repeat" in a "let's look back at the memories we've made but also understand that we still have a life to live so let's not spend TOO much time looking back at said memories" sense. There's also been quite a bit of an uproar that it sounds like "Times Like These" by the Foo Fighters, especially the live version. I can definitely see a resemblance, but they tailored up the studio version so the similarities aren't too out of control.

On the other hand, "Cruising California" is one of the joke songs The Offspring have perfected over the years, this one a satire on the current state of popular music. It's stupid, it's lazy, and it's poppy as hell, but I really like it. Definitely a nice little summer number to bump in your...well, car, but maybe it'll make its way to your trunk.





Sunday, April 29

Ranking the Pokemon: #94- Tentacruel

If this was just a ranking by stats, Tentacruel would certainly be a lot higher. Its Speed and Special are both quite good, and its other stats aren't terrible, either. Cruelly also learns some okay moves, though most are by TM or HM (Ice Beam, Mega Drain, Surf, etc.).

So why is Tentacruel so low? Because I absolutely HATE jellyfish. They are useless creatures whose main goal in life is to sting humans. Actually, I don't know if that's true, but I am fairly certain that jellyfish have no real purpose. They don't help the ecosystem grow, they don't provide anything (besides painful, irritating rashes), and you can't even really eat them. Although I bet they'd taste terrible anyway. Tentacruel could have all maxed stats and I still wouldn't rank it much higher than this, simply because jellyfish are the worst critters in the sea.

Battling Grade: C+

Previously: #95- Gloom



Friday, April 27

Andrew Eisen Makes an Old Spice Parody



Andrew Eisen, one of those Nintendoers with the golden voice, is clearly not satisfied with the release of Xenoblade Chronicles for the Nintendo Wii earlier this month. No, he wants more games that have been released in other countries to also come out in the states. We'll see if he gets his way, but in the meantime, enjoy this Old Spice parody commercial he's made.

A Hot Cup of Joey = Internet Star?


It could very well be me! You may have been asking yourself where the heck I've been this week. Well, I've been doing the shooting for a show that will debut on the YOMYOMF YouTube network in the next few months. It's a search for the next "Internet Icon" with all sorts of fun goodies along the way. Of course, I can't really talk about the show, but I will say there are a ton of talented people out there, and I'll be sure to link you to the episodes once they're up. Just wanted to give an update on why posting may be slow over the next couple of days. Thanks for understanding. Boom.

Ridin' Dirty


Because sometimes you just need a little entertainment in your life.

Tuesday, April 24

SuriTV- Combining Siri and Your TV

YouTube group dontbethatguyfilms recently made a nice little parody of Siri--SuriTV, with the tagline that it's "Almost Ready to Revolutionize Television." There are still some few hilarious kinks to work out. I don't own an iPhone, so I haven't used Siri myself, but every time I see her in action, the user is invariably frustrated over the lack of voice recognition, having to repeat him or herself multiple times. That frustration is perfectly captured in the video below.

Ranking the Pokemon: #95- Gloom



Gloom just reminds me of a lazy fraternity brother. Drool coming out of the mouth, unkempt hair (even though they're leaves and not actually hair), and eyes crusted shut. That's not an image you want to portray yourself as, and Gloom does it quite well.

Slacker image aside, Gloom isn't horrible in regards to its stats. It has a strong Special and pretty good HP and Attack, and can learn all sorts of Grass and Poison attacks to damage Water, Ground, Rock, and...well, that's about it, since Poison attacks are only good against Bug types, and ANYTHING does heavy (or at least decent) damage against Bugs. Also, most Poison type moves back in Generation I didn't  actually attack, they just poisoned your foe, with limited success. So while Gloom's Grass type works out well, the Poison type does not, and just adds more weaknesses where you didn't need any. And I also just cannot get over how dumb it looks, so Gloom, you lose.

Battling Grade: C

Ranking the Pokemon: #96- Nidorina

OK, I was wrong, Nidorina doesn't have better stats than Nidorino. They're just about the same, except the male has better Attack and the female has better Defense. Everything else being equal (which it is), I'd rather take the better Attack.

That being said, let me contradict myself by saying why Nidorina is higher. As I alluded to in the last post, "ladies first." Also, Nidorina is a little less unsightly on the eyes than Nidorino, so she gets the nod there. Otherwise, it's the same crappy moves as her male compadre. Sometimes Game Freak just gets lazy.

Battling Grade: C-

Previously: #97- Nidorino

Ranking the Pokemon: #97- Nidorino

Nidorino just looks like something I don't want to touch. He's all spikey, angry, and probably slimy, too. It's also frustrating because he has fairly good stats, with everything being at least above average, and solid Attack and Speed. But, once again, it's that type that kills him. You can probably guess by his color (and my general disdain in the last sentence) that he's a Poison type. He's also ahead of his time by being, along with his female companion Nidorina (and all of the other Nido-lutions), the first "gendered" Pokes. So I can say "he" with Nidorino and not be sexist. Excellent. He's also slightly behind Nidorina because if I remember correctly the female evolution is like a little bit better. But if not we'll just say it's because of "ladies first."

Anyway, Nidorino's nice stats mostly go to waste on its horrible level-up moves, so you may as well go ahead and evolve it as soon as possible. Which you can do in no time at all, since all you need is a Moon Stone and 'rino turns to 'king like it ain't no thing. Then you can use TMs to teach it a ton of sweet moves, and you have yourself a nice little special or physical sweeper. As it stands, though, Nidorino can still learn some good Special moves via TM (Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, etc.) but...it learns Double Kick naturally as its final, "super duper" move at Level 50. Double Kick give Nidorino a fighting chance (because it's a Fighting type move, get it?) against...I don't even know what, because it's terrible. It would be like me kicking an elephant twice. You get over the fact that you're attacking twice by realizing it's not doing much damage either time, and you're going to get demolished soon after.

Battling Grade: C-

Previously: #98- Machop

Monday, April 23

Metta World Peace Reverts to Ron Artest with a Horrible Elbow

The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Los Angeles Lakers are two of the favorites to come out of the Western Conference this year, so it's only fitting that a game between them would have lots of energy, emotion, and tension. And when you put those things together, chances are the artist formerly known as Ron Artest, who's been suspended 13 times already in his career, is going to do something crazy. That craziness unfolded late in the second quarter, when World Peace had a nice throwdown over Serge Ibaka, but then went way too far with his celebration.

World Peace jumps up and down after scoring (as any teenager might do), and then cocks his arm back and unleashes an elbow right into James Harden's head, knocking the bearded one to the ground. Harden remained on the floor for several minutes while World Peace got into a verbal scuffle with Ibaka and appeared to almost go into a fighting stance. Harden suffered a concussion and World Peace is definitely getting a multi-game suspension for this, which means each of these Western Conference stalwarts will be missing a piece come playoff time. Check out the nastiness below.

Dog Sidesteps On Treadmill, Doesn't Seem to Care



Goodness, sometimes dogs are just too adorable. Even better when they don't give a single care about what's going on around them. Check out this dog--a puggle, which is a mix of a pug and a beagle--sidestepping on a treadmill. His hind two legs are getting a workout while his front two are just chillin'. Awesome.

This Man's Golden Balls Strategy Is Unique

Hmm...looking at that title this could definitely sound dirty. It's not supposed to though, so get your mind out of the gutter!

Golden Balls is an exclusively British show I believe, and the concept is simple: earn money throughout the show (isn't every game show kind of like that?). But at the end, the two contestants can choose one of two balls: one with "Split" or one with "Steal." They both pick "Split;" they both split the money. If one picks "Split" and one picks "Steal," the one who stole gets the entire pot. If they both pick "Steal," no one gets the money. Watch as the guy on the right uses a different strategy than what's typically employed on this show.


Saturday, April 21

LaMarr Woodley, Pittsburgh Steelers Joker


Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley is certainly keeping himself entertained this off-season. He pulled a few NFL buddies together and had them take part in a weird GQ Russia photo shoot. As an avid fan of striking GQ poses myself, I understand why Michael Turner, Steve Breaston and Marcedes Lewis would be interested in doing this. But...still, it has its questionable moments where the participants probably should have realized something was amiss. Regardless, it's quite entertaining, so take a look.

Friday, April 20

Ranking the Pokemon: #98- Machop

Machop is part of the best Fighting type evolutionary line in the game. I always thought its picture in the game looked like a gingerbread man, too, so seeing it made me hungry. I don't know if that's a plus or not.

Anyway, Machop has absurdly high Attack, and its the weakest of its chain. If you're in an all unevolved battle I'd be willing to bet Choppy has the highest Attack of anyone eligible to be in said battle. Its HP is pretty impressive, as well, so kudos for that. Sadly, though, its Speed and Special, in particular, are pretty weak, which means it still could go out in one hit to, you guessed it, the most popular type in the game: Psychic. Fortunately, though, the high HP may let it survive a turn or two, so you could get in some mega-powerful hits.

Choppy can learn, via TM, a few Ground type moves and one Rock move to go along with its plethora of Normal and Fighting type attacks, so that helps it against other things that aren't Normal types, which is all its normally strong against. Essentially, it does at least solid damage against everything, and when you look at it like that, you could do a lot worse. 

Battling Grade: C+

Previously: #99- Psyduck

Daily Dose of Cute: Squirrel Eats Rose, Child Comments On It

Thanks to my buddy Chris for sending this one over. Sometimes adorableness is just too easy. Watch as a squirrel eats a rose, and then a small child walks by and points out that, yes, in fact, that squirrel is eating a rose. It's phenomenal. And really presh. If squirrels weren't filled with disease they'd make awesome pets.

Thursday, April 19

Andre Iguodala Moves Louis Williams' Chair, Hilarity Ensues

The Philadelphia 76ers have been struggling quite a bit lately. Once leaders of the Atlantic Division (which would secure home court advantage for at least the first round of the playoffs), they may now end up as low as the 8th seed. And guard Louis Williams might know a bit something about feeling low. Watch as Andre Iguodala pulls the chair seat back so that Williams eats it as he goes to take a seat. The announcers are on point with their reaction, but my favorite is the guy in the row behind the bench, who's just like "whoa there!" Beautiful.

Wednesday, April 18

Ranking the Pokemon: #99- Psyduck



I'm not entirely sure why Psyduck has always kind of irritated me. Golduck is one of my favorite Pokes of all time, so you'd think its evolutionary predecessor would also be a favorite. But it's not. I think it's because it looks like its head is constantly seizing. Maybe it is, and I shouldn't be making fun of it, or maybe Psyduck is just cold all the time. Or maybe it's the fact that it has "Psy" in its name, yet can only learn Confusion, the weakest of all Psychic attacks (except Psywave, but anyone who uses that in the first place is just silly).

Anyway, Psyduck's stats are all relatively the same--it's just a very average Pokemon. And sadly, average gets you a pretty good ranking, since there are a lot of crappers out there. It gets some fun things to play with in addition to Water moves, like Dig, Ice Beam, and some Fighting type attacks. Which all do decent damage because, again, Psyduck doesn't excel in any one area, but it doesn't struggle in anything, either. And that's A-OK with me.

Fun fact: Psyduck's one of the few Pokes you can enhance with Pokemon Stadium. If you do some absurd thing (I forget what exactly...maybe get all 151 Pokemon into the Hall of Fame?), you can get a Psyduck with Amnesia, which raises Special, and makes those Water, Ice and/or Psychic type attacks all the more powerful. Beautiful.

Battling Grade: C

Ranking the Pokemon: #100- Butterfree


Ohhhhhhhhhh babyyyyyyyy. We're finally at the Top 100. It's taken us quite awhile to get here, but if I can churn out one of these every day (and two on some days), I can still make my goal of getting all 151 done within a year. So they'll be flying out fast and furiously. Just like the movie. Except without cars or Vin Diesel.

Anyway, #100 shouldn't really be a surprise, since the early stages of Butterfree and Beedrill have been sticking by each other throughout this list. But the 'free bird...er, bug gets the slight nod here because being Bug and Flying type is better than Bug and Poison, if just barely. Butterfree is still weak to an uncomfortable amount of attacks, but it has good Special and pretty good Speed, so it should be able to get a hit or two in before it faints.

Interestingly enough, Butterfree cannot learn any Bug moves (in this generation, at least), and makes its living off Psychic moves and those annoying Grass moves, like Stun Spore and Sleep Powder. Hopefully you can paralyze your opponent or put 'em to sleep, and then maybe get in a Psychic or Psybeam. If you're lucky. And since I'd rather have Psychic moves than Bug moves, Butterfree gets the nod over Beedrill. It also wins for being "switched at birth" by conspiracy theorists, who suggest that, based off appearance alone, Venonat should evolve into Butterfree, and Caterpie/Metapod should evolve into Venomoth. Chaos, I say.

Battling Grade: C-

Billboard's First Look Concert Rocks the House

Radical Something led off with a very California sound. It was
somewhere in the realm of reggae and rock. And pretty catchy.

The good folks at Chevy Cruze and Billboard put on a nice little show at The Avalon in Hollywood last night: Asher Roth headlined with up-and-comers Radical Something and Capital Cities kicking things off. And I had a VIP access look at the madness. Let's review!

Free food and drinks? Yes please!
The show started with Radical Something coming out and quickly getting the crowd engaged. Being the hometown band always helps with that. They said they've only been around for about ten months and were about to embark on their first "real" tour, which is pretty awesome. Interestingly enough, the trio did not have a drummer--instead opting to use a computer to supply the beats, while a bassist did his bass groove and the two singers/rappers jumped around a lot. They also had a nice crowd interaction moment by coming into the crowd to take a group picture, something they said was a staple at their shows. Overall, a very solid opener. Highlight song: "Long Hair, Don't Care"
Trumpeter FTW!
Capital Cities came out next--these guys were a fivesome, again with two singers, and again with no drummers. This seemed to be a disturbing trend.

Was this drum kit ever going to get touched?
They did have a horn player, though, who seemed to have a solo on nearly every song. He was great, though, hopping all around the stage and standing on whatever he could to make himself super tall. We also loved the bearded singer (Sebu Simonian), who looked like the San Francisco Giants' Brian Wilson from afar, but who we met after the show and sounded like he was Middle Eastern or something similar. Really nice guy, though, and his dance moves were unmatched.
Kudos to Sebu and his crazy dance moves.
The group had a sound that reminded me of INXS or Tears for Fears or something similarly 80s, but some of their songs were mad catchy. While I think I enjoyed Radical Movement's music a bit more as a whole, Capital Cities' performance was far superior. Highlight Songs: "Safe and Sound," "Chartreuse"
Finally...the drums are being played!
Asher Roth wrapped things up. And since I don't really follow his career, I was only familiar with "I Love College" (like nearly everyone). I also know he had a guest rap on this song by The Constellations that was in NBA 2K11, but I doubt he'd play a song where he's just the featured guest. And I was correct. Asher was probably the worst of the three, just because any time I see an artist where I only know one song of theirs, I'm impatient until I hear that song. He did have great crowd interaction, though.
Time for a "blunt cruise."
Roth was the only performer not from California, but the Philly native said he was thinking of moving out to L.A., he just had to find the right area, and suggested Santa Monica or Venice, to the cheers of the crowd. He complimented L.A.'s sports teams for "killing it right now," and shocked some Philadelphia Phillies fans in front by saying "I'm a San Francisco Giants fan," and adding "that should be common knowledge, dawg" when there were audible gasps in the crowd. Or maybe they were cheers. It's tough to tell. Either way, he brought up some fans for a "blunt cruise," which is apparently one of his songs; they acted like they were in a car and listened to a few hip hop classics before Asher started going into his own creation. The guy on the left in that picture above was loving every minute of being onstage, and may have gotten the most crazy during Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy." Fantastic.
Anyone could come onstage, but you had to dance!
Towards the end of his show, Asher invited anyone to come onstage, but he made a rule that they had to dance, or else...well, I don't know what would happen. At some point, "Apache" by The Sugarhill Gang came on, and it was dancing like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air all around. 

All in all, this was a really entertaining show, and I discovered some new music to enjoy (I guess that's why they call it "First Look"). I'm just sad I didn't win the Chevy Cruze that was being auctioned off, because, you know, having a car would be nice. Props to Chevy and Billboard on this one.

I'm 24


YouTuber PatStansik has made a song for "everyone born in 1988...or I guess late 1987. That works too." That's right--he's talking about the trials and tribulations of being 24. Words like "for good measure" creep into his vocabulary, drinking becomes a rare occurrence, and he reads for pleasure. While I'm not quite at his age yet, a lot of this rings true. And that's a little scary. I also enjoy his friends awkwardly doing the embellishments/random shouting in the background (like echoing "24"). Good times.

Tuesday, April 17

When Parodies Go Right: "We're Not Young"


Yahoo's SketchY comedy series has delivered a nice little parody on "We Are Young," that infectious, catchy tune by Fun. The satire follows a group of people in their 30s, as they go through standard midlife crises, such as wanting to join a Yoga class, but instead watching Modern Family, or...ahem, starting a blog. While some of the lyrics don't flow as well as they do in the real song (and the singer is not nearly quite as in-tune), there are some fantastic references in here, so it's worth checking out.

Will the Real Mitt Romney Please Stand Up?

This video is a few weeks old, but since Mitt Romney has recently locked up the Republic nomination for the 2012 election, I figured it was appropriate to bring it back out. YouTuber Hugh Atkin came up with the lyrics for a song that utilizes Eminem's "Will the Real Slim Shady Please Stand Up?" And the ENTIRE thing is edited together using a ton of clips from debates, interviews, and other public appearances by a plethora of presidential hopefuls and media (and of course, Obama himself). I can't imagine how long this took to finalize, so kudos to Mr. Atkin for doing it.

Ranking the Pokemon: #101- Beedrill


Look at this picture: Beedrill doesn't seem very strong, does it? No, it does not, and you know why? Because it ISN'T strong. In fact, the most powerful move it can naturally learn, Twineedle, has a base power of 25. For comparison's strength, Hyper Beam, one of the most powerful moves in the game (if not the most powerful) has a base power of 150. And an average move is in the 70-100 range. Yet Beedrill learns very few strong moves, and all of them have to be learned by TM. So the bee gets a strike for lackluster moves.

Next, let's look at Beedy's stats. It has above average Attack and Speed, and...um, well...it has symmetrical stripes. I guess it gets a decent amount of HP, as well, so we'll give it that. Thinking about it, actually, Beedrill may have some of the best stats in the game for a Bug type. Which just goes to show how weak the Bug type is. And that gets me to my third point.

Beedrill is in fact, a Bug type, and I'm sure I've mentioned that Bugs are the only thing Psychics are truly weak against in this generation of games. Never mind that Bug moves are the weakest type (again, the strongest move does ONE-THIRD the damage of an average-power move), most of them also are dual Poison types. Beedrill is no different. And if you've read one of my many rants on the Poison type (here's one, for example), you'll know that it's the second worst type, behind Bug. So, in essence, Beedrill is the two worst types in the game. Good luck using your weak Bug attack on that Psychic staring back at you, since any sort of Psychic attack at all will do heavy damage. Oy.

Battling Grade: C-

Monday, April 16

Holographic Tupac Performs at Coachella

If you're a fan of Tupac (or even if you're not), you're probably aware that he died fifteen years ago. But he's not about to let a silly thing like death get in the way of taking the stage at one of the biggest music events in the United States. During a Dr. Dre/Snoop Dogg performance, the duo brought out another titan in the rap industry when a holographic Tupac came out. He performed "Hail Mary" and "Gangsta Party" to a raucous crowd, many of whom I'm sure were on some kind of hallucinative drugs. Which probably only made this even more surreal for them.

Ranking the Pokemon: #102- Vulpix


Let's be upfront: Vulpix is not very good as a battler. But LOOK AT HOW ADORABLE IT IS! I'd want this to have as a pet, let alone use it to blow fire on things. If you're a guy trying to convince your girlfriend to play the first generation of Pokemon games, first of all, way to be fourteen years late; second of all, show them a picture of Vulpix, and then lie and say all of the Pokes are this cute. But don't show her the rest of this list, because then she'll know you're a liar. And liars never prosper. Nor do cheaters.

Anyway, Vulpix has pretty good Speed and Special, although its HP, Attack and Defense are abysmal. The most effective way to use it is to pull out a Confuse Ray, have the opponent attack itself a lot, and intermittently burn it with Flamethrower. You can be super annoying and keep using Double Team, which raises your evasion, so that when the opponent CAN attack, it'll miss. Vulpy learns an exorbitant amount of moves that don't do any damage, so your best bet for that fourth move is either Dig or Toxic. Neither of them are very good, but you need something against things Fire is weak against.

Battling Grade: C-

SNL Digital Short Featuring Gotye



Josh Brolin hosted Saturday Night Live over the weekend, and there's a plethora of hilarity in the episode (which makes back-to-back quality episodes, what with Sofia Vergara's solid run last week). We were treated to TWO different digital shorts, including one where Andy Samberg and Taran Killam invade Gotye's dressing room back stage. It's pretty amusing, and has multiple references to Gotye's mega-popular hit "Somebody That I Used to Know," which is always a plus.

Robot Heart Stories: Laika's Journey

Robot Heart Stories: Laika's Journey from Reboot Stories on Vimeo.


There's an entire story on the above video (which you can read here), but sometimes I just like to put an adorable video and let you watch. That's what I'm doing here. Check it out

Sunday, April 15

G-Male + Siri = Love Story?

YouTube group Comediva created this little sketch about Gmail ("G-Male") and Siri falling in love. It kind of seems like an internet version of 500 Days of Summer, but since I really enjoyed that movie, this works too. There are a ton of other internet service cameos in here too, so check it out below.

Ranking the Pokemon: #103- Omanyte


Omanyte, along with Kabuto, is one of the Pokes you can get from a fossil early on in the game, although you can't convert the fossil to a Pokemon until pretty late in the game. If you pick the Helix you get Omanyte; the Dome gets you Kabuto. Great trivia, no?

Omastar (which Omanyte evolves into) might be better than Kabutops (which, if you couldn't guess, Kabuto evolves into), but I always liked the Kabu evolutions better. I think it's because Omanyte has tentacles, and that reminds me of jellyfish, which I HATE. Even though I guess Omanyte would be more of a sea mollusk or something like that. Or you could think of that blue region as a bushy mustache. Either way, I'm not a huge fan of it.

Omanyte is a Rock/Water type that learns absolutely no Rock moves, so basically all that gives it is additional weaknesses, specifically to Fighting, Grass and Ground types. In fact, Grass now does 4x its normal damage, since Water is also weak to Grass. That's not helpful for Omanyte. Fortunately, it does have...ahem, rock solid defense, and very good Special Attack, too, so Water type moves do some damage. Of course, there are other Water types that DON'T have those additional weaknesses that can do just as much damage, sooo...Omanyte loses some points because of that.

Battling Grade: C-

This BMX Bike Sounds Like a DJ


Why, you may ask? Because it is! Japanese group COGOO turned a BMX bike into a DJ toolkit, so now jumps and other tricks become the various parts of a beat. The sounds are transmitted through an iPod or iPhone to create some really sick grooves. Check out the video to see it in action.

Saturday, April 14

Ranking the Pokemon: #104- Voltorb


Voltorb was one of the first Pokemon I had ever heard of, so that gives him a bit of a bump up the list. But not too much, though, because Voltorb has nothing going for it, other than an insane Speed. It's the fastest unevolved Pokemon (and Electrode, which Volty evolves into, is the fastest Poke in the game), and...um...it's, uh...mistaken for a Poke Ball in the game sometimes. Like when you think you're about to pick up a Poke Ball, and you run into a Voltorb instead. So that's a...cool ability?

No, it's not. But it's all Volty's got, in addition to that speed. Its HP is bad. Its Defense is bad. Its Attack is HORRIBLE. Its Special is average, which is a big step up from the others. Here's how a general battle using Voltorb will go:

Voltorb used Thunder Wave, opponent is paralyzed->Opponent uses a physical attack, either knocking Voltorb out or almost causing it to faint->Voltorb, with nothing left to do, uses Explosion and hopes to do some damage to the now paralyzed opponent

Moral of the story? Voltorb's only good moves are one that paralyzes an opponent and one where it self-destructs. But it's still undetermined if Voltorb also self-destructs if you toss it like a Poke Ball.

Battling Grade: D+

How to Pour Cereal

Once again, our lame self-promotion will come through. The YouTube channel I'm a part of, Jay Kay Creations, made a video on how to pour cereal. It's the first of hopefully multiple "how-tos." Check it out below, and feel free to subscribe if you like it!

This Music Video is Made From an iPad App

Most music videos nowadays seem to have budgets of hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars. Art Decade, on the other hand, recently debuted their song "Western Sunrise," which was made almost entirely using the $5 iPad app Procreate. The director of the video, Whitney Alexander, used Procreate and some other tools like After Effects (just another reason I'd love to get that program). And it's pretty awesome. Check it out below, and if you have any fantastic simple art projects or videos, feel free to submit!

Vince Carter Has Funky Breath

As we move toward more and more cameras in every NBA game, basketball players are going to have to worry about some of their actions, lest a stray derogatory term is picked up by one of the lenses. Other times, you just get funny things, like this. Vince Carter walks up to Rudy Gay as Gay is inbounding the ball. Whether he burps or just says something to him...it doesn't smell very good, and Gay lets us know that. Fantastic.

Friday, April 13

Hey Arnold: The Movie...With Adult Characters

YouTube channel DrCoolSex decided to reimagine the popular Nickelodeon cartoon Hey Arnold, except now Arnold, Gerald, Helga and company are grown up. Helga's still insane, Phoebe's still a nerd but helpful, and Arnold's head is...well, it's not football shaped anymore. Because no person actually has a head that's shaped like a wide football. I give applause to the Stoop Kid reference in here, but otherwise I didn't find this particularly funny. Amusing? Perhaps, but you can be the judge of that.

Thursday, April 12

Ranking the Pokemon: #105- Hitmonchan


Oh, Hitmonchan. The inferior of the two Pokemon you get from the Fighting Dojo, this Jackie Chan namesake is the "punching" Pokemon, while Hitmonlee (who will not be too much further up this list) is the "kicking" one. And neither of them are that good, because, let's be real, Fighting types, outside of Machamp, were not very good in the first generation of Pokemon games. And we all know why (or you should, if you've read the previous entries in this series): Psychic types OWN this game, and Psychic types OWN Fighting foes.

But Hitmonchan does have the advantage of boxing gloves and a dress, so its Attack is OK, and its Speed is aight. Its Special, though, is HORRIBLE (in Gen. II and on, its Special DEFENSE at least becomes really good, even though the Special Attack still sucks). Even the weakest Special attacks (like Confusion) can still take it out, and the Chan-Chan struggles with an otherwise intriguing moveset because of its abysmal stats.

You see, Hitmonchan learns the three elemental punches: Ice Punch, Thunder Punch and Fire Punch. Which theoretically would mean it can hold its own against Rock, Ground, Grass, Flying, Ice and Bug types. And since Fighters are normally weak against a lot of those types, that seems like a great deal: put those three punches on, and then throw some Fighting move like Submission or a Normal move like Mega Punch to utilize that high Attack. But since that Special stat is SO BAD, even with a super-effective hit, you'll do like 25 damage. If you're fighting Level 4 Pidgeys, that's great; otherwise, Hitmonchan is really frustrating.

Battling Grade: C-

Previously: #106- Doduo

Wednesday, April 11

The Filtered Network


The Filtered Network - watch more funny videos      


Oh, those jokers at Funny or Die are at it again. They created a parody of The Social Network called, appropriately enough, The Filtered Network, referencing the billion dollar purchase of Instagram by Facebook earlier this week. And you know you're getting quality with lines like "A billion dollars isn't cool, you know what is cool? A bazillion dollars." Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic.

TNT in Belgium is Awesome



Check out this awesome promo TNT did for its launch in Belgium. It placed a big red button in the middle of the street on "an average Flemish square in an average Flemish town" and invited passersby to push the button with a "Push to Add Drama" sign. Of course people are going to push the button. And the drama is quite entertaining.

Tuesday, April 10

9-Year Old Kid Makes His Own Arcade, Flash Mob Takes It Over


This seriously might be the best thing I've seen in awhile. It's a story about Caine Monroy, a 9-year old boy who created his own cardboard arcade in his father's auto shop during summer vacation. While other kids were out running around and eating popsicles (kids still do that, right?). Since his dad's auto shop is in an area of East LA that doesn't get a ton of foot traffic, business was slow. 

Until one day a man named Nirvan came in and saw this incredible arcade. He asked Caine how it worked--it was $1 for four plays, and $2 for a Fun Pass, which gave you 500 plays in a month. Nirvan smartly took the Fun Pass. Nirvan recruited some people to come and give the arcade the grand opening it deserved.

Please watch this video--it's worth the 11 minute runtime. And if you're ever in East LA, make sure to visit Caine's Arcade!