Friday, April 26

Pentatonix And The Evolution of Music



Those beat-boxin, a cappella-in' kids from Pentatonix are at it again. This time they've done an Evolution of Music, jumping from the 11th century all the way up to present day. While a few of these songs are terrible and make me disgusted with how bad pop music can be, at least they sound okay when they're only voices and last for about 5-8 seconds. So that's cool. Otherwise, give it a listen!

Sunday, April 21

NBA Inner Monologues



Sometimes, it's fun to delve into the innermost thoughts of folks. And when those folks are NBA players? Even better! Enjoy the latest installment of "Inner Monologues."

Thursday, April 18

Ship Your Pants



I don't shop at Kmart often, but my goodness is this a fantastic commercial. I honestly cannot tell that they're saying "ship" on a few of these occasions, but just...just watch the above. Cool feature, too.

Wednesday, April 17

Steph Curry Makes Gary Neal Look SILLY



This is seriously one of the best crossovers I've ever seen. Steph Curry makes the Spurs' Gary Neal look ridiculous three separate times with this move. And of course, he sinks the jumper to cap it off. Otherwise it's not a good move at all. Get it, young buck! 

Stephen Colbert Responds to Boston Marathon Bombing



The Boston Marathon was marred by an unspeakable tragedy on Monday. But perhaps even more spectacular is the outpouring of support and courage shown by those in and around the city. Stephen Colbert sums up that spirit quite nicely in this video.

Friday, April 12

How Animals Eat Their Food



This is genius. And must have resulted in quite a bit of food needing to be cleaned up off the floor. MisterEpicMann shows us what it looks like when different animals eat. My personal favorite is the whale, but these are all very good. Enjoy!

Thursday, April 11

Ranking the Pokemon: #65- Seaking


Seaking is one of those Pokemon that's just kind of generic. It doesn't do anything too great, but it's not THAT horrible. And I just learned that Seaking's name was originally Neptune in Pokemon Red & Blue beta-testing. I did a school report on the planet Neptune one time, and it's pretty cool. So that gets Seaking a few brownie points, even if its Neptune is from the god in Roman mythology. Oh well.

Seaking makes it possible for you to get through later games without ever finding HM07 (which is Waterfall, although in Generation I Waterfall was never an HM, so it's pointless to even mention that. Sorry). That baby horn also makes Seaking able to learn Horn Drill. Any move that can kill an opponent in one hit is A-OK in my book, even if the accuracy is dreadful. Sometimes it's your only line of defense. Throw that along with Surf, Blizzard and Agility, and you have an okay fish. It's a fish out of water, but it's still okay.

Battling Grade: C


Man Catches Foul Beer in His Beer, Attempts to Chug Said Beer, Fails



The Seattle Mariners don't really have much to get excited about this season, as they're projected by nearly every expert to finish second-to-last in the AL West. The only team that's supposed to finish behind them? The Houston Astros, who just beat Seattle twice in a row.

The second game did have a highlight for the home team, though. This fan catches a foul ball in his beer, then proceeds to chug the beer. Never mind that most of his drink ends up on him rather than in his mouth; the enthusiasm his buddy shows makes up for it. And it probably tasted leathery. Good stuff.

Tuesday, April 9

Ranking the Pokemon: #66- Golbat



Freakin' Golbat. You don't see these things quite as often as Zubats, but they're still out in full abundance in almost any later cave you go into. And, much like Zubat, they're just as easy to kill with any basic Ice/Electric/Rock/Psychic-type attack you want to throw out there. Golbie's stats are all fairly average, with pretty good Speed and meh everything else.

One of the more interesting moves this bat learns is Haze. In the first and second generations of games, Haze resets all stat levels of both Pokemon to 0, and removes any status ailments of your opponent. So it's actually more beneficial to the Pokemon you're fighting against, rather than Golbatta-batta. My favorite thing about Haze, though, involves frozen Pokemon and the move Hyper Beam. Since Hyper Beam attacks and then requires a turn to recharge, if a Pokemon becomes frozen during the recharging turn and then Haze is used, that Pokemon will be unable to attack until it faints or is returned to its owner. 

Golbat also looks like that carnival game where you through a beanbag or baseballs or something equally stupid into a clown's mouth and try to knock its teeth out. By my estimation, you still have four shots left, since Golbat still has four teeth. And it's weak against four types. Coincidence? I think not. Well played, Game Freak, well played.

Battling Grade: C

Monday, April 8

Brutus the Buckeye Gets Absolutely Rocked



College football spring games were happ'nin' over the weekend, and Brutus Buckeye is probably still feeling the effects. The Ohio State mascot took a snap from the shotgun, and tried to pick up some yards by scrambling downfield. Linebacker David Perkins would have none of it, though, as he completely levels the young buck(eye). Brutus is a champ, though, and hops right back up, albeit after fumbling. Good stuff.

Friday, April 5

Bob Costas Quotes Ludacris



Bob Costas quoted Ludacris on the MLB Network the other day. I wish I had more to add, but the clip speaks for itself. The top comment when I first saw this video was "We, as a species, will never top this. Might as well stop trying." Well put, bobtheplumer687. Well put.

Wednesday, April 3

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon Spoofs Abbott and Costello



Late Night with Jimmy Fallon has created a sequel to the popular "Who's on First?" sketch that Abbott and Costello perfected all those years ago. While it's not overtly creative, it's cool seeing Billy Crystal and Jerry Seinfeld make appearances. Good stuff all around!

Tuesday, April 2

Watch, Read, Listen

Welcome to the first installment of what I hope will become a regular feature of this blog: "Watch, Read, Listen." It's pretty dang simple: I understand that you can't read what I write 24/7, so I offer up some other ways to amuse yourself. And since they has my stamp of approval...well, you know they're fantastic. Le'ggo!

Watch
Stony Island - Anything that has to do with Chicago gets a plus in my book, and when it's exploring the jazz scene of the south side of the city, you know you're going to hear some great music, too. With legendary musicians like Richie Davis making appearances, follow the story of a group that must come together to release their debut album. Check out a trailer here.

The NCAA Final Four - It shocks me that I even have to mention this, but the Final Four is right around the corner, for both men and women. The women will have a new champ with the Baylor Bears getting knocked out yesterday, while the men have the two darlings of the tournament--9-seeded, angrily-playing Wichita State, and top-seeded Louisville, who saw their own Kevin Ware suffer a gruesome broken leg in their Elite 8 win over Duke--on the same side of the bracket. And don't worry; that video doesn't show the actual injury. If you haven't seen it, I'm not sure you want to. Either way, there's plenty of intrigue to be had, so make sure you're enjoying some of the best ball the NCAA has to offer from Saturday through Tuesday (4/6-4/9).

Veep - The second season of the hilarious HBO show kicks off April 14. Julia-Louis Dreyfus is set to be funnier than ever as Vice President Selina Meyer. And hey, she won an Emmy for her work last season, so the bar's set pretty high already. It's also got Tony Hale (Buster Bluth from Arrested Development) and a host of other folks you'll recognize, and then laugh at. Best of all, the show is only half an hour long, and Season 1 only had 8 episodes, so you can easily get caught up to speed.

Read
Pop Kids - AFI frontman Davey Havok has always had a penchant for creating beautiful, if disturbing lyrics, and it's no different as he releases his first novel. Delving into the minds of teenagers, Havok takes a look at the younger generation's obsession with things like social networking, Internet porn and drugs. Of course, with Havok's background in music, there's plenty of references to it, and the singer has even included a soundtrack at the end of the book, which is pretty cool. (Black Candy Publishing; April 4, 2013; $20, popkidsbook.com)

Winners & Losers: Rants, Riffs & Reflections on the World of Sports - When you're a sports columnist, administrator, and trial lawyer, you see quite a few things. Bob Latham's been generous enough to chronicle all that he's come across in the sports world, and it's a really unique perspective. When he's describing walking the 17th fairway at St. Andrews or viewing the "de-wussification of America" by attending a Bears/Packers game (which, sadly, ended in heartbreak for my Bears), Latham puts you right in the action. Since I probably won't be attending the Australian Open anytime soon, this is the perfect substitute. (Greenleaf Books; $24.95)

Mixing the Contemporary with the Classics in Paris - This is a cool little article by Sam Lubell on the New York Times. I've only been to Paris once, but there's no denying the architecture in the country is some of the finest in the world. Lubell takes a look at some of the highlights, both well-known and unknown, and gives me a little taste of one of my favorite obscure computer games, Lost Leonardo, in the process.


Listen
Nora Jane Struthers & the Party People - It's funny...ever since moving to Austin, I've found a newfound appreciation of folk and bluegrass music. Nora Jane Struthers & the Party People could certainly fall into that group. With banjos and violins blazing, the group just has a knack for creating music that makes you feel good. And you can't go wrong with that. Check 'em out here.

Adrienne Pierce - With a soulful voice that pierces through soothing music, Pierce's album My Heavens is a great throwback to some of the girl groups of old, as well as some other 50s/60s artists like Buddy Holly. Since we can really use more of that kind of sound, this one gets a thumbs up from me.

Freekstile - It's no secret that Brooklyn has produced a great number of musicians, especially in the hip hop scene. Freekstile is the latest to toss his hat into the fray with his mixtape "The Xommon Mixtape." After his mother gave him a notebook when he was 9 to express himself, Freekstile, born Lydon Samuda, has channeled that into his music. The message isn't anything complex (Freekstile himself labels it as: "Story of my life. Video Games, Anime, Weed, Lean, Japan & Spanish chicks. Welcome to Vigilante"), but hey, it's fun to listen to, and that's all you can ask for. Here's a stream of the mixtape.


Monday, April 1

YouTube's April Fool's Day Prank Fools YouTube



This is pretty maniacally genius. YouTube announced yesterday that the past eight years have all been a contest to find the best video on the Internet. And effective April 1st, it's no longer accepting submissions. The judging process will take ten years, too, with the winner being announced in 2023. Good luck to all those who entered!