Why I Love MTV and you should too.

This morning I have been watching AMTV. Its where MTV still shows videos other than MTV Jams and MTV Hits. MTV still plays music videos and lots of them they just also give us amazing shows like The Jersey Shore and Fantasy Factory, which got Big back this season and is the best show on television right now. I wish MTV would bring back MTV News and put it on for an hour at 7 and go head to head with E! News, I'd DVR both and love it.

Also, Lil Wanye's new song is not at all what I expected and I love it.


-jv

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Michelle Soulbama

 

"Honky looks like a bichon frise...shit."


jc

Justin Timberlake is better than Mozart

Justin Timberlake is just better than anyone else. This past weekend he hosted the season finale of SNL with the highest ratings in seven years, with a little help from musical guest Gaga.

Below is a scene from the dress rehearsal, that didn't even air. Probably because of the Beiber joke near the end...so funny, but maybe too funny for tv.

 


 -av

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First Look at Bane

I think Tom Hardy is gonna be amazing as Bane because he was great in Bronson.

-jv

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First Look at Katniss

First of all, if you haven't read the Hunger Games Trilogy, get on it.  I gave my copy of the first book to BK eighteen months ago and I haven't seen it since because it's been handed off to at least 10 people since then, everyone loved it, and it's still being passes around.. 

Second, I'm nervous about the movie. But seeing this picture of Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss makes me a little less nervous.

Even though i always pictured our MC as Katniss, this chick is working it. Hopefully they can work a miracle on that Peeta wannabe and he'll look more like Hunter Parish.

-av

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SCIENCE

Alright folks, It's time to get rid of your electric guitars and drum kits.  The Future of Music is here.

So the other day I was watching The Sorcerer's Apprentice starring Nick Cage and although THAT is a story in an of itself, I want to focus on something cool I learned from seeing that movie:

SCIENCE IS MAGIC.

Now I had always been aware of this fact but it took seeing a scene in The Sorcerers Apprentice where the main non-Nick Cage character woos his sweetheart in a metal cage while Tesla Coils send serpent lightning arcing around the entire impossibly bohemian New York City underground lab space causing the sheer force of the vibrations generated by the currents of electricity to play the notes to a cheesy emo song to make me realize that science is truly magic as well.  And that i watch too many Netflix.

The point is; Here's a video of some dude playing the Dr. Who Theme Song Using Tesla Coils, followed by a performance where he channels Zeus to rock our socks off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuV4fL4Yqvw

-Eroc Ramm

Pendulum Dance: Cinderella's Ball

Natural Science Lecture Demonstration team, basically a group that makes awesome show and tell things for Harvard, made this amazing pendulum device that from the side angel looks like a huge dance scene. I can totally see people doing this dance. In fact I'll keep a eye out for a version with people.

For now feast you eyes on this. The sequence starts at :27 and lasts exactly 60 seconds, you can see it begin again at 1:27. Amazing.



-av


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Muzak

Lately, I've been pretty obsessed with the song 'Bizness' by tUnE-yArDs (apparently they never grew out of the middle school phase of wacky case usage, but listen to the song before you judge them directly) and when I got around to watching the music video I knew it was blog worthy.



and as an added bonus I give you balls and magnets:


INDUCTANCE - Physalia from F5 on Vimeo.



-bjk


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48 Hour Film Fest - Boston

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A guy I work with at redbones needed some more ladies in his film project and asked me if I would help. I'm not sure who won the competition but here is our humble project...

Only 6 days to the 21st.


Know Tomorrow

-sct

Goldeneye Spawn Patterns: Stack

Stack was the third level that I learned the spawn pattern to. Like before the top of the screen is the hunter and the bottom is the hunted. As long as you do not stand too close to where the person you are playing is going to spawn next the pattern will go on without a hitch. If you are too close your opponent will skip onto the next spawn point in the pattern.

 Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

-jv

Silence is Golden.

Imagine what a silent film based in the 20's filmed in modern day would be like.

This past week, Cannes gave us just that.



-awm

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Amazon for the Boy Scouts of America

Hey y'all!
If you didn't know, I'm a Boy Scout in Westford, which is cool, and I know how to tie knots and make awesome fires, but to do this my troop needs to have money.

So, my troop is doing a fundraiser where if you use Amazon to buy excellent things, you can go to Amazon through my troop's webpage and they get 2% of your purchase's to help me learn how to make even better fires and tie even better knots!

So, if you shop at Amazon and like Boy Scouts, or at the very least like me, go to this link and click on Amazon Store in the left hand corner and go shopping!

Thanks!

jb

Great Television

I love television and I've been a fan since Sesame street and Barney. But as times have changed so has my taste for quality television. I follow this podcast called The Nerdist which stars stand up comedian Chris Hardwick and his two friends, Matt and Jonah, as they discuss nerd society and all things related to that. They have had great guests in the past (Joel McHale, Donald Glover, Colin Hanks, Kevin Smith, Jimmy Fallon, etc.) but I bring it up because of episode # 85 starring Damon Lindelof. Damon Lindelof, for those not in the know, executive produced Lost and wrote the Star Trek movie. The conversation that takes place is great for any of us who have wondered what the fate of television is going to be in regards to the new Kevin Spacey series on Netflix and google tv being launched and what our society has become in regards to ingesting entertainment. Also if your a fan of Lost it is great for that too. This podcast is amazing and free, check it out.

 - sf

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Sourcemap: Fascinating and Slightly Unsettling

Sourcemap is all about helping people find out where products come from, and what exactly they contain.

You can browse existing sourcemaps or create your own. Maps also display a given product’s carbon footprint… which is a cool feature, but personally I have NO idea what 0.14 kg CO2e for a bottle of Fiji water means. Relatively good? Bad?

But the site is definitely worth checking out. It’s pretty interesting to see exactly what you’re consuming when snacking on an AriZona Arnold Palmer Iced Tea and some Oreos. It slightly horrified me to find out that my favorite 99¢ beverage is sweetened using Splenda, and that Oreo cookies are manufactured in Indonesia using palm oil from Malaysia.

Sourcemap also breaks down an iPhone 3GS and Domino’s Pizza. 

-id

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Wine-chillas in Love

Just because... I think chinchillas are adorable.
-id

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Most Adorable Puppy Ever

Klein family's new puppy Morocco aka Rocco and Mo Rocca. I'm obsessed.
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Shiz My Students Write

Just came across a pretty hilarious tumblr called Shit My Students Write. Teachers submit unintentionally funny lines their students write anonymously, and though some are just typos, I couldn't help but laugh out loud at how idiotic some of this kids seem.

I bet FP & AV could add some good entries. Here are some of my favorites:

Indians, the other dark meat, were saved from extinction by the humanitarian, Andrew Jackson.

Before the days of colonization, America was like a young, untouched child.

I’ve lived my whole life on the west coast and to me, the civil war seems like a really really long time ago.

Like a woman seduces a horny man, Hitler captivated the people of Germany.

Macbeth couldn’t have loved Lady Macbeth because he was crazy and too busy hallucinating witches and stuff. Also, crazy people can’t do it without going crazy midway through.

-id

all about those pearly whites

It's spring. Skies are blue-ing, birds are cooing, and ghostly pale legs are showing their skins.

Let's face it, love is in the air and not only that, but something else too. Anyone else feel like they're smiling a whole lot more? Sunshine and smiles must have a direct correlation, in my well-studied mathematical opinion (ha! yeah right!).

This got me to thinking about smiles, and about excellent smiles, and about INCREDIBLE smiles.

First to come to my head were my older brothers, because when they smile they look like different people, like a new gentle face spreads from the upward lift of the mouth. And then of course, the guys I've dated- chocolate eyes smile, little boy sparkly blue-eyed smile, and eyes-that-disappear-but-he-wasn't-asian smile. But there's also wide-grin smiles (think Julia Roberts) and dimply smiles (heya EvD) to not forget about. Basically, smiles are about as unique and varied as eyes.

So can we all post our favorite smiles, with possibly a picture?

The first ones to come to my mind:

Heath Leger-crinkly mouth AND eyes. plus he can have a sneaky, trickster glint in his eyes too.

and for a girl: it was hard to find a picture that captures the Zooey smile I like best (not to sound stalker/creepy but it's true) which is the little girl, kind of awkward smile that you see a lot in (500) Days of Summer and Yes, Man. She closes her eyes a bit when she does it. This is close.

also, anyone in need of excellent snack combos: my fav right now is to get a 4 pack of cheesey rolls/biscuit things and chocolate milk=perfect afternoon snack, goes well outside with a good read.

also, my birthday is in a week and I realized that I haven't had a rootbeer float in at least the 8 months I've been in Europe. I have successfully located rootbeer in one store in Vienna and will be making rootbeer floats in only 8 days. Any other birthday snack suggestions? We're having a picnic and the only plan (so far) is to drink beer all day (it's my 21st) and go out dancing.

-lab
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This is way better than studying for finals.

BJK has been nagging me to post something so here I am. I thought I would start off with one of my favorite youtube videos ever, Sassy Gay Friend. This one is about Romeo and Juliet but the ones on Hamlet and Othello are equally as awesome. I apologize if its been posted before, but really its worth seeing again.

Also I'm going to Vietnam in like, a week so I'll post some cool stuff about that later.

- the littlest klein, MK

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Best Dance Scene Ever Filmed

So you think you can dance, America's got talent, dancing with the stars, the 'step up' movies; all of these show case broad realms of dancing in contemporary culture. But, to be honest, these guys in this film kick the tar out of anybody else from our modern times. Fred Astaire even said that these guys were the best dancing duo out there. I believe that this fact is still true today.




 - sf

Bikes Bikes Bikes

           Now that there isn't snow, ice, and five months worth of sand on the streets, I've been riding my bike a lot more. Riding my bike is pretty much my favorite thing to do ever. Its fun, its great exercise, and since I live in a city, its literally the fastest way to travel. The only downside (besides the fact that I'm in a city and not out riding my bike ANYWHERE else) is that it can get a little dicey sometimes. There's cars, people, red lights, other bikers, and sometimes they like to switch the bike lane to the other side of the road (where comm ave intersects mass ave, anyone!?) not to mention Boston roads aren't the greatest.

           So, for all of these reasons and above I begrudgingly support the wearing of all helmets whilst riding a bike in the city. It sucks, I know it sucks, they mess up your hair, make you sweat more, and they look dumb, BUT its just worth it. And when all the cool kids at school make fun of you for wearing a helmet you can show them these videos of wicked extreme biking (and they're all protecting their cabezas!) 

-bjk

ps - this is funny almost immediately. and lastly, a big EGG

a tribute

to my homeboy, John Denver. While "Country Roads" may overshadow most of his other songs due to the  common occurrence of drunken frat boys singing it at parties and barbecues, let us not forget the other great tunes he gave the world. Especially the song that would later be the concept for one of the cutest scenes (in my opinion) in movie history.

with that said, here's the cute man first:

and the cute scene second:

just wanted to throw a bit of sunshine out there, in light of serious matters being taken care of by serious people.

-lab

It's like EVERYONE just won the Superbowl!

-DMc, West Coast Correspondent

Tall Paintings

so i'm new to this and you probably don't know who i am! but i'll leave that up to your imagination for now, because that's more fun.

tall paintings, watch the video. the music is nice too, added bonus. yay art!

cs (lewis)

Slam Poetry

Does anyone know who this is? I think you all should,, and if you don't, you should find out because he is powerful and he is moving and he does it all by speaking words.

I love slam poetry. I don't think a post has ever been made about it, but I think it's long overdue.
I could give you a good definition from an on-line dictionary, or I could give you mine, so I'll give you a combination:

Slam poetry is a genre of poetry deriving from a mixture of spoken word and theatre where the poem is read with the intent of being spoken. The feelings, emotions, and all other aspects are intended to be understood through hearing. It is a poem with or without a central beat, and it usually covers topics having to do with race, politics, current events, and gender or economic injustices.

Basically, it's that happy medium for everyone {who loves poetry but isn't used to rap yet} to find because then they will get used to rap AND still love poetry. And love slam poetry, win-win-win!

Kanye West???

Robert Frost!!!<3<3<3

                                


At least, that's what happened to me

So, I've compiled for all y'all my favorites over the two years that I've explored slam poetry. Feel free to comment with slams that you find or whatnot, I love hearing new things.


PS, you might notice that half of them are from a man named Anis Mojgani.

That is simply because Anis Mojgani (the lovely man above at the top) is undisputedly one of the best slam poets of our generations. So, yeah.

So, without further ado, go crazy-

Anis Mojgani:
the branches are full and these orchards are heavy

direct orders, here am i, shake the dust

For Those Who Can Still Ride An AIrplane For The First Time

George Watsky(Emerson Alum):
S is for Lisp

Lost Count: A Love Story:
Lost Count: A Love Story

Saul Williams:
Coded Language

Ernest Cline:
Dance Monkeys Dance

Listen and let your mind run wild.

< ! 3jb

White House Correspondents' Dinner Follow Up

Following up av's post about the White House Correspondent's Dinner here's the clip of Obama's speech. This guy is a G.

-SD

Seth Meyers destroys Donald Trump

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Comedy has become a huge force in the political discussion, which is probably why Seth Meyers, Head Writer at SNL and host of Weekend Update, was asked to give a speech at this year's White House Correspondent's Dinner. The 20 minute speech has a lot of great jokes and insights about the current political landscape and the media that cover it.

But the best part is when he rips into Donald Trump's bid for Republican candidacy. The jokes are decent, but what's better are the quick cuts to the table Trump is sitting at. Trump looks like he's been turned into an unhappy stone statue of a bald man in a tupee, and the people right next to him look unamused. But the people who have even just a one person buffer are covering their entire faces to hide the body shaking laughter.


Also terrific is the part of the speech when Seth talks about how much Obama of today would love Obama of 2008. Obama at least can laugh and smile while being mocked. Though it's pretty clear, Obama's favorite joke is "Donald Trump say he has an excellent relationship with the blacks, but unless the Blacks are a family of white people, I bet he's mistaken."

Let's hope Seth Meyers and the other political satirists can keep Trump out of the running, because if he's elected JV and I have promised each other we'll move to Canada. So unless you want to visit us in Prince Edward Island, vote for anyone but Trump.

-av

*better* book titles

Ian McEwan, Atonement

Allen Ginsberg, Collected Poems

Jack Kerouac, On the Road

for more, check out  www.betterbooktitles.com
-lab