quarterempty

Gothamist

This Daily Mail story from earlier this week about a cat who takes the bus “several mornings a week” in London. Really. A blue-and-green-eyed cat takes the Walsall to Wolverhampton bus to an row of a shops (including a fish and chip shop). A passenger said, “He sat at the front of the bus, waited patiently for the next stop and then got off. It was was quite strange at first but now it just seems normal. I suppose he is the perfect passenger really – he sits quietly, minds his own business and then gets off.”

a new feature i’m gonna try out here is linking to three videos every sunday. i generally don’t like linking to videos, i know i rarely watch videos on the blogs i read, they’re usually posted in the excitement of finding them, and upon reflection are maybe not worth really linking to, or they’re already overexposed elsewhere. but as with everything on this blog, i’m trying to link to things that aren’t covered on the a-list blogs. i’m also hoping to cut out the dross by limiting myself to three videos a week

ricky gervais in africa for comic relief via tvsquad

the first couple of minutes are slow, but it’s a strong finish (8:46)

underground bands – ronnie johns half hour

the ronnie johns half hour is a sketch show out of australia. the youtube pickings are voluminous, but seem to make the show focus almost exclusively in taking a piss on “chopper” a beloved australian psychopath and crime novelist immortalized by eric bana a number of years ago in an appropriately-named film, “chopper.” it is hardly required viewing, same for ronnie james, though i did like the finger sketch. (1:32)

will ferrell in the landlord

via funnyordie

sorry i can’t embed, wordpress is dumb that way. still, the actress who plays the landlord is definitely going places. what a ball of talent!

classic clip

letterman works the drive-through at taco bell

i’ve long thought letterman was a bit of a hack. it bothers me when hosts talk about how awful their shows are (i’m looking at you stewart, conan) but it’s even worse when the show really is unfunny. there is a long thread at aspecialthing (initiated by jessie thorn of tsoya) about letterman and how great he is. apparently what some appreciate in letterman is that he dares to be unfunny. that he is willing to make people uncomfortable. especially in the days when he followed carson, who was so universally loved, the best way to set himself apart was to be unlovable, to allow moments of comedy where you might not expect it and get guests to do or say things they might not otherwise commit. and that i get. he’s not supposed to be likeable. okay, so he’s not a hack. but i still don’t like to watch his show. still, if you’re doing a show every day for ___ years, you’re gonna have some gems, and letterman working the drive-through at taco bell is definitely one. (7:32)

“The “Coin Operated Scientist” booth, seen here at a Melbourne street fair in February, is a “mini research laboratory with a coin slot in the front,” explains writer Matthew Page. “Inside, a ’scientist’ sits slumped and motionless. When people make donations, he conducts experiments until he feels the money has run out. By inserting money to keep the scientist working, the spectators have an incentive to donate and they achieve an instant sense of satisfaction.” The scientist is actually a Multiple Sclerosis Australia volunteer doing a three-hour shift, but he can’t totally fake it; he must “practice simple science experiments, designed for 10-year-olds and up, before he starts the performance,” says Page. The booth will raise as much as $150 an hour at a busy event, but the key consideration is “it consistently draws crowds and generates interest.” Flyers providing more information on MS research and donations are, as you’d expect, handed out at the scene.”
from: adcritic.com’s print&design e-mail (no longer online)
alternate links: ads of the world, adrant
agency: Cummins & Partners (no reference on website)

gapingvoid

so this week i am temping at a national magazine that provides a guide to television listings. there is very little for me to do, so i’m planning to clear out the thick pile of links i’ve been meaning to post.

but first i have to complete this project they gave me. apparently the lead star of a popular franchise police procedural soap opera* will be on the cover of next week’s magazine and they have a practice of having someone email all of the fan websites and forums and let them know our magazine will be featuring their cream dream on the cover. i didn’t think this would be a big job but believe it or not, a certain mr. someone, despite his obvious limitations as an actor, is quite a popular fellow.

 * update: I’ve never actually watched an entire episode of any of the CSIs but I read through some plot descriptions, and given the suspension of disbelief required, i think “soap opera” is more appropriate.

Ugh. I have been waking up each morning for the past week with a sore throat and all this, to put it kindly, “blockage”. I’d been trying to take it easy, but Saturday I went on this long walk all over manhattan and it was colder than I thought it would be and Sunday I woke up with sick body. I hardly left my apartment Sunday but to go get soup, which didn’t really help.

But I did watch all of the first part of the sixth season of The Sopranos. I had downloaded in a while ago, but put off watching it, mostly because I wanted to wait until it was all over, but also because I once I start, I can’t stop watching. I don’t think there is a season of the sopranos I’ve watched in more that a single weekend. Maybe it would take me a full week when I was watching on dvd and had to switch disks (I have a policy that if it’s after midnight and you’re still watching a show, you can’t get out of bed to switch discs.) which prevents me from watching until 3 in the morning, which is what I did Saturday. I finished Sunday and, while it wasn’t as action-packed or even surprising as previous seasons, it was still laugh-out-loud funny in parts and completely cringe-inducing in others. Even the dream sequence, which I have actually fast-forwarded through in the past, was engaging. And there is a great arc involving another character, a more of a background character, that they go deeper into than any other background character ever. Even though it had been some time since I watched season 5, I still followed along pretty easily. To that end, after I finished episode 12, I did my traditional lookup on wikipedia to see what I missed, and came across this amazing piece of editing.

 

7 Seven Minute Sopranos – a “whacked out” refresher

It’s surprising how bright and colorful the first season is, I’d watch it again, but memories how hard it was to listen to tony’s mother whinge and hearing him whinge on and on about her are so frustrating, I doubt it will happen soon. But this clip is totally worth seven minutes of your time before the new season starts next Sunday (April 8). I’m looking forward to downloading the last nine episodes week after week, I’ve only ever watched the third season live and it’s the one I feel most familiar with. But the difference between live and dvd is an essay for another post.