Nardwuar nails The Gossip

I’ve never been a big follower of Nardwuar, but I won’t deny his wonderfulness. His interviews with people who just don’t get it are the stuff of legend:

But it is when the interviewee plays along that the magic happens. Watch as he totally blows the mind of this band by knowing more about them than they know themselves.

He’s good at that, and some of his interviews, such as the ones with Snoop Dogg, are legendary.
(via Vancouver Is Awesome!)

Random street corner Led Zeppelin song

“I love this city,” someone says near the end. I'll say.
(via this isn’t happiness.™.)

Dirty Soap

This is great, so it will probably be all viral by tomorrow, but I saw it this morning, thanks to Jed Cohen.

The Helvetica Magna Carta

Merlin Mann bitched about something, and then Jason Permenter turned that complaint into something incredible. (Larger size at the latter link.)

Ivar lives on

Here’s a piece about the latest ads for Ivar’s Acres of Clams, a Seattle seafood joint that is perhaps more famous for its crazy ads and PR stunts than the quality of its food. Although founder Ivar Haglund passed away 25 years ago, current ownership continues to honor his spirit with odd commercials suggesting that he erected billboards for submarine passengers many years ago.

The screen grab in this YouTube is excellent - Ivar’s “Keep Clam” fake-stamp prank that actually earned him a visit from the Secret Service. (I’d like to hope that some smart employee at KING-5 actually knew how to make this happen on YouTube, rather than it being a complete fluke.)

(I wrote about the legendary “Chariots of Clams” commercial back in May – it’s well worth checking out if you have never seen it. Great local advertising.)

Comedy Death Ray Christmas

Wow, I suppose if I had already listened to last Friday’s Comedy Death Ray podcast, I would have been aware that this amazing video was out, but because I haven’t, I was totally taken by surprise when I steered to Vimeo on other business and this was on the front page. See how many of your favorite comedians you can identify before clicking through for a complete cast list!

Absolut Vancouver

I’m not much of a vodka drinker, but I may still have to rush out to buy a bottle of this special Vancouver-themed edition of Absolut Vodka. That logo is striking.

I'm not sure what Absolut stands to gain out of it, but they’re also holding a contest to give $120,000 to a deserving local artist. So, well done, Absolut.
(via Vancouver is Awesome.)

Could you paint me a duck?

I’m sorry, but God looks kind of sketchy in this video. It’s the hair, I think. It makes him seem less than infallible. And that ain’t right.
(via Robert Popper.)

The Good News

"Happy Ending", The Good News - Live at the Suicide Club from The Suicide Club on Vimeo.

28 Years in the Implicate Order

(via BOOOOOOOM!)

Pearl Jam as Devo do “Whip It” for Halloween

I’m more of a Devo guy than a Pearl Jam man, but I can really appreciate this version on several levels. The main one being that “Whip It” is a really good song. Which it always has been, haters.

Also, hats off to whomever recorded this on their… smartphone? It’s hard to tell anymore. Nice blocking. Is this an inside job that just looks spontaneous?
(found via clicking the “next blog” button on this very blog.)

The most amazing Taco Bell picture ever

(via this isn’t happiness.™)

Evidently Chickentown

The Awl links to an excellent long profile/interview in The Independent of John Cooper Clarke, who’ve I’ve always thought was the under-appreciated comic and poetic genius of the punk era, and it turns out he transcends those days; he’s not an act, he truly is an Important British Poet.
I started looking for JCC stuff on YouTube a couple of years ago, and the pickings have always been slim. It’s improved lately, but I just don’t think the guy performed for the cameras very much, which seems borne out in the interview.

Car Lords

Has anybody other than me ever heard of the Car Lords of Oglala? They used to run cryptic classified ads in national newspapers.

Their Google presence is absolutely zero, which blows my mind. I guess that makes this post Ground Zero for any future discussion of the Car Lords of Oglala.
(Mainly an excuse to post this amazing picture from Ffffound!)

Go meat!

Wow, this Hillshire Farm bit is kind of insane. And it’s only 15 seconds long, leaving you plenty of time to wonder what the hell it was you just saw.

YOU WILL PAY THE PRICE.

Over at True/Slant, Stephen C. Webster spotted this ad above the pump at his local gas station and writes about what it means. Good stuff.

He had me when he referred to:

…how utterly brazen they are in claiming that I will be forced to pay for their refusal to take responsible steps toward protecting my environment.

This is funny?

If you don’t follow the Comics Curmudgeon, you really should, because he’s a smart, funny guy who reads the shitty comics “so you don’t have to.”

The one he highlights here is truly horrific. General Halftrack is only able to drink himself into oblivion for the first two hours of his wife’s diatribe? Then what happens? She chokes the humor to death with her enormous forearms?

Ways to make extra money

There are a lot of squirrels in my neighborhood. Surely they can be turned into some sort of profit model.
(via Mostly Forbidden Zone.)

Fractured Fairy Tales

Hey, I remember Fractured Fairy Tales!

A segment of The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, in which an ancient folk tale is turned on its head, for comical effect, via the modern age. Told by Edward Everett Horton, whose plummy-meets-noir tones should be familiar to anyone over a certain age, they are screamingly sarcastic and not afraid to mock current affairs.

At about the two-minute mark, Red is seen preparing to fire a bullet into her own temple. You don’t see that sort of implied violence on kids’ TV any more; not that most kids aren’t fully aware of it anyway.

What’s the latest sharp programming for kids, like Rocky and Bullwinkle was back in the day? Kids today are even more media-savvy than we were at their age; surely there’s a market for a sort of Kids’ Daily Show!

The next great American religion?

I love this trailer, which starts out a little cheesy, moves into mockery, then finishes with what seems to be a serious consideration of this new cult. This could be a really good movie.
(via Mick Farren.)