Tag: video

awesome music video with infectious dancing

I just came across a crazy Indian music video called Tunak Tunak Tun.   For some reason, this reminds me of the ’80s… but in a funny way.  I would like for you to watch it, then let’s talk about it.   🙂

Please watch the video before continuing reading, to get the full experience.  It starts a little slow, but then it jams, and these guys have some funky-fresh dance moves.  🙂

I have to wonder, would it be better if you could tell what they’re saying?  And speaking of that, do any of you have any idea what this video is about?  Every time I try to figure that out, I’m just speechless…

I did some research* and this was the first Indian video to use a blue screen.  And apparently the Tunak Dance is popular, and there’s even a parody of it in World of Warcraft.  I also found another video of it, where someone put the lyrics on the screen.  That’s helpful, because it’s kinda hard to interpret what they’re saying.

* That is, I browsed YouTube.

Here’s the version with some lyrics on the screen.  I know, you just watched it, but it gets funnier each time you watch it.  Trust me.

Have you watched the second video yet?  If so, let’s continue.

Okay, so the lyrics might have been an interpolation rather than an interpretation or translation.   But at least now we know it has something to do with bears.

Are any of you curious to what the actual lyrics are in English?  Well, I found a link for you.  But before I reveal that, remember that curiosity killed the cat.  Although I don’t think any of my regular readers are cats.  (If you are, e-mail me because I have a secret mission for you.)  If you really want to know the translated lyrics, you can read them here.  And by read, I mean read them as subtitles to the music video.  Yes, you have to watch it again!  MUWAHAHAHA!

Actually, this video gets funnier each time I watch it.

Burris is adamant about being transparent

I was watching the news on TV for a few minutes yesterday, and I saw part of a press conference with Senator Roland Burris of Illinois (D), where he was answering questions about his controversial appointment to fill Obama’s vacant Senate seat.  He was appointed by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who is in some deep trouble right now.  Burris has repeatedly said he’s innocent and he’s been transparent, but it’s not looking too good for him, either.   We’ll find out when the taped phone calls are released.

Anyway, I found this video online so you can laugh at it, too.  I wouldn’t ask you to watch it all, so here’s what to skip forward to.  At certain times, Burris has a friend / lawyer / bodyguard / somebody answering questions for him.  Around 10:42 in the video, his friend is explaining how they’ve been “transparent”, and Burris keeps repeating that word after him.  To me, it was funny, because it looks like he’s trying way too hard.   Reminds me of a Shakespeare line, “Me thinkest thou protests too much.”

Also in the video, at around 11:20, his friend says, “We cannot speak to that.”  A reporter asks, “Why not?”  And the guy responds with, “Because I said we can’t!”  I was surprised by that.   When you’re a parent telling your children what they can’t do, you might be able to get away with that line.  But facing a group of professional reporters, that line just doesn’t work the same way.

Here’s the link to the video: Burris defends remarks to committee.

While searching for this, I also found when Roland Burris had said this a while back: “We are hoping and praying that they will not be able to deny what the Lord has ordained.”  Someone should tell him if the Lord ordains something to happen, it will happen.  But he should be careful that he’s not just saying that.  God doesn’t like it when folks falsely speak on His behalf…

weird McDonald’s commercials

You’ve probably seen the commercials with the Burger King King, right?  Well, for those of you who think he’s creepy (and he is), take a look at the first ever McDonald’s commercial, featuring Ronald McDonald.  He’s quite creepy here, in his original form.

Man, that was terrible!  He’s wearing his food, and his dancing is not cool / hip / trendy, even for back then.  Anyway, let’s move on.  I’ve found some other old McDonald’s commercials that you probably don’t remember.  (I know I don’t remember them all, because some were aired before I was born.)  BTW, this post may look long because of the video links, but the commercials aren’t very long, so hang in there.  This may be more amusing than you expect.

Here’s a McDonald’s commercial from 1971, featuring McDonaldland, which got shut down because of a lawsuit.  Poor Mayor McCheese, never to be seen again!

Did you notice Ronald’s afro?  It was the ’70s, I guess.  Was he wearing bell bottoms?  I’m not gonna watch it again to see, because that music gives me gas.

In this next video, Hamburglar has the Magic Touch to turn everything into cheeseburgers.  It’s definitely stupid, and you might want to watch it for nostalgia’s sake, but then you’ll realize it was really lame, and you’ll wonder why you ever thought the Hamburglar was cool, except that he had a cool name.

Plus, in that video, notice the Hamburlgar brought out a big plate of burgers, and they weren’t even wrapped.  Do you know why they weren’t wrapped?  Because he stole them!  That’s what he does!  He turned to a life of crime, to steal hamburgers from McDonalds.  But do Ronald and Grimace care?  Apparently not.  After all, he is sharing his stolen hamburgers with them.  Which would make Ronald McDonald a criminal, because he becomes an accomplice.  So he shouldn’t be selling products to kids!  Crazy stuff…

In this next video, we learn that Grimace is an evil criminal also.   His name is E. Grimace, and apparently the E is for Evil.  He stole all the cups from McDonalds, meaning kids can’t have cokes or triple-thick shakes.   So what does Ronald do?  He tricks (deceives / lies to) Grimace to distract him so they can steal the cups back and take them back to McDonalds for use.  Something just doesn’t seem right about that.  And speaking of what ain’t right, what kind of creature is Grimace?  He’s a blob with several arms / legs / appendages.  He’s kinda creepy in this video, and looks obnoxiously dumb.

This next commercial is a departure from the McDonaldland theme, where workers sing about how clean the “burger machine” is and how much fun it is to clean and scrub the floor.  Sorry, but this just isn’t realistic…  Of course, I did no research on such things back in 1970 (because I wasn’t born), but I doubt fast-food restaurants were ever that clean nor that workers actually enjoyed cleaning them.

Do you remember the McNuggets from 1985, and how they could talk and sing and bounce around and even play the drums?   If you do remember without watching the video, you should overwrite that wasted memory with something productive.  Anyway, this is lame.  And watch out for bad puns!

You might have noticed a pirate near the end.  That was Captain Crook (whose parents really pigeonholed him into a career with that name!).  He tried to steal Filet-O-Fish sandwiches while avoiding capture by Big Mac, the chief of police in McDonaldland.  I reckon the producers figured you could have different characters stealing different types of food.

Well, that concludes our journey into the history of McDonald’s commercials.  Did anybody learn anything?

Thank you, drive thru…

the ultimate birthday cake

A lot of people are making birthday cakes with video game themes these days, but this one I’m about to show you really takes the cake.  (That was a really bad pun, wasn’t it?  Nonetheless, I refuse to apologize because some of you deserve it.   You know who you are.)   The design of this cake comes from the Nintendo Wii game Super Mario Galaxy (which is one of the best games ever, in case you didn’t know).  Not only is it cake, but it’s also animated.  There’s cake and Rice Krispy treats, but also electrical wiring, motors, MP3 players, a wooden frame, fiber optic lights, and so forth.  (Obviously it’s not all edible, at least for normal people.)

For starters, here’s a picture of it:

super-mario-galaxy-cake

But that picture is not a good representation of it.  At the creators’ homepage, you can see a lot more pictures of it, up close and from different angles.  (Just scroll past the text, unless you’re interested in that.)  But they also have a video of the cake in motion, as well as a few behind-the-scenes shots.  For your convenience, here’s the video:

I read the FAQ by the cake’s creators, and they’re not professional cake-makers.   In fact, they make just 2 cakes a year, or 3 if they volunteer one for a friend.  In the FAQ, someone asked them why they don’t start a cake business, because someone would pay a lot of money for that.  The creators said they don’t want to make it a business, though if someone offered them “a lot of money” they would build them a cake.  However, no one has ever offered them money for it.

The same people have made numerous cakes, with themes like Elmo, Halo, Wheel of Fortune, and so on.  That’s a lot of work for a birthday cake that gets destroyed rather quickly.   But, then again, there are sites that are talking about it (such as this one), so they are getting some publicity.  Maybe they feel famous.

I think it’s pretty safe to say I never got a birthday cake like that… but that’s okay, because I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and people like me.   I don’t need any fancy cake to tell me I’m special.