This video is by the same people who made the sushi video I posted a long time ago. It shows you the correct way to express your shame in various situations, including bumping into someone in public or violating the Code of the Ninja.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4bMM73-qHo&
Here's the Count from Sesame Street singing a song. It's been edited in a very minor way by Neil Cicierega (of "Potter Puppet Pals" fame), with interesting results.
I won't say more, except to warn you that it's probably best not to play this at work unless you're wearing headphones.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AXPnH0C9UA
I know I'm not the only Jane Austen fan here...we're a bunch of librarians, after all.
This music video made me smile. :)
This video had a high slot on The Onion AV Club's "Videocracy" site. It's undoubtedly the funniest Web 2.0 themed Billy Joel parody I've ever seen.
"Here Comes Another Bubble"
A friend of mine who's doing her Master's in music passed this along to me. It's a rant by Rob Paravonian, former cellist turned comedian/musician about why he hates Pachabel's Canon in D. And Pachabel's Canon must hate him too, because it follows him wherever he goes, trying to drive him mad...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdxkVQy7QLM
I wrote this song a while back, and have been saving it for a special occasion like THANKSGIVING! It was inspired by my first experience shushing a patron, a girl who was yakking away very loudly on her cellphone in the middle of the main floor of the library. I had to banish her to the foyer.
I used this "The Office" music video to help me write new lyrics for the song. Please imagine me dancing just like Michael Scott as you read.
Shushin' Back
I'm bringing shushin' back.
These little patrons don't know how to act.
I heard a ringtone, what's behind your back?
And none of that now while you're in the stacks.
Take it to the foyer.
[Bridge]
Chatty babe,
You see these glasses?
Baby, act your age.
You better watch it if you misbehave.
Library's not where you act this way.
Take it to the foyer.
[Chorus]
Come here, girl.
(Go ahead, get shushin' it.)
Come to the stacks.
(Go ahead, get shushin' it.)
VIP.
(Go ahead, get shushin' it.)
Just like Dewey.
(Go ahead, get shushin' it.)
Let me see what you're shushin' with.
(Go ahead, get shushin' it.)
Look at those lips.
(Go ahead, get shushin' it.)
Don't crack a smile.
(Go ahead, get shushin' it.)
Go ahead, child.
(Go ahead, get shushin' it.)
And get your shushin' on.
(Go ahead, get shushin' it.)
Get your shushin' on.
(Go ahead, get shushin' it.)
[6X]
Get your shushin' on.
I'm bringing shushin' back.
These little patrons don't know how to act.
Some peace and quiet are the things we lack.
Cause you're acting up, you better shut it fast.
Take it to the foyer.
[Bridge]
[Chorus]
Get ready! [3X]
I'm bringing shushin' back.
Hey little patrons, watch while I attack.
If that's your cell, you better watch your back.
Cause you'll get a shush from me, and that's a fact.
Take it to the foyer.
[Chorus]
Get ready!
{record scratch, music stops}
SHHHHHHHHHHH!
Get ready!
{record scratch, music back for end of song}
Here are a few of my recent favorites, courtesy of YouTube.
Citizen Kane: Tha Remix -- I don't know if this will be as funny to people who haven't actually seen Citizen Kane, but I was literally LOL over this one. I rarely laugh over things I see on the Internet, even if they're really funny, but the scene with the dancing girls cracked me up. Thank you, film class!
Alex DeLarge's Day Off - A Clockwork Orange as an Eighties teen comedy.
Blood Labyrinth shows us how recent drama Blood Diamond would look if it had starred young Jennifer Connelly and a bunch of Muppets.
And speaking of the Muppets, House of 1000 Muppets shows us what it would look like if Rob Zombie directed a Muppet movie. I always knew there was something "off" about that Dr. Teeth...
The Nicholas Cage remake of cult horror favorite The Wicker Man wasn't too successful in theaters. Maybe it would have done better if they'd made it a comedy about beekeeping among the Amish.
In honor of the new season of "The Office", and the fact that my office has been getting on my nerves recently, here's a selection of the best "Office" vids I've seen on YouTube recently:
It's Getting Hot in Here: Scranton Style -- I was really impressed by the editing on this one, and the way the creator managed to match the lyrics with such fitting clips
The Office 300 -- Dwight rallies Dunder-Mifflin Sparta against the Persians. "Tonight, we dine in hell!"
For some reason the idea of Jim being murdered has inspired several clips. Poor Jim. See The Office re-cut (crime film) and The Death of Jim Halpert.
We've already had a Lego "Thriller", but this one may be even stranger.
Indian zombies!
Check out this ultra-cool "Read a Book" video! Caution: Headphones recommended as there are some naughty words.
I was afraid we'd seen the last of Chinese-based YouTube sensation the Back Dorm Boys when they graduated from college last summer. But they have released a couple more videos. Judging from the first one, they also seem to have discovered drugs.
"We Will Rock You" -- not the original Queen version, but some weird cover. This isn't the BDB's best work in terms of lip synching, but must take the prize for sheer weirdness. (Watch all the way to the end for an especially bizarre epilogue.)
"O Yi O Yi A" -- since their graduation the BDB have landed a real recording contract, and released a new single of an original song that they actually sing rather than lip sync to. This is the official video for the song. (Sorry for the poor quality, it's the only copy I could find.) The director seems to have been inspired by the opening credits to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
O Yi O Yi A" again -- yes, they've used their Webcam to make a lip synched version of their own song! That's postmodernism, that is.
Sadly, they still don't kiss in any of these videos. I keep hoping that one day they will, but they never do. It's rather pathetic, really.
Now that I've finally (FINALLY!) got Internet access in my new apartment, I'd like to share a few more examples of my favorite form of YouTube humor, remixed movie trailers.
Scary Mary (Poppins) - she's coming for your children!
Taxi Driver - romantic comedy about a big city cabbie.
Big - the story of a man with a BIG secret involving his relationship with a young boy.
Silence of the Lambs - a chick flick about a woman who develops a special relationship with her mentor.
I have previously (like just last night) made the assertation that anything involving Sir Mix-A-Lot's hit "Baby Got Back" is automatically funny. A quick look at YouTube today proved that I was mistaken. Many people have managed to produce videos so inept and uninteresting that even the presence of "Baby Got Back" fails to make them at all amusing.
However, this is not the case with the video that I have linked to, which is a most entertaining reworking of a scene from The Pirates of Penzance. Enjoy!
This is the greatest thing I've seen on YouTube in a long time.
Be sure to watch all the way to the end of this great cover of "My Generation" by The Zimmers. Trust me, you don't have to be a Who fan (even though I am) to appreciate this.
I'd like you all to imagine that this song is being performed by a somewhat bitter cardiac nurse. (She should also be crudely animated using 1980s style CGI, as per the link.) This wasn't my original plan for the song, I just needed a good rhyme for "refrigerator" and the next thing I knew the lyrics were from the perspective of a health care professional. But it seemed to make sense, as nursing is another "pink collar" occupation whose membership might well feel that librarians have it easy.
Money for Nothin' (And Your Books For Free)
(I love my library...)
Now look at them bitches,
That's the way you do it,
You push the book cart in the library.
That ain't workin',
That's the way you do it,
Money for nothin',
And your books for free.
Now that ain't workin',
That's the way you do it,
Lemme tell ya, them gals ain't dumb.
Maybe get a blister on your shushin' finger,
Maybe lose a pencil in your bun.
We got to install cardiac pacers.
Medication deliveries.
We got to move these defibrillators,
We got to move these central IVs.
See the little spinster with the glasses and no makeup,
Oh baby, does her own hair.
That little spinster got her own Ford Taurus,
That little spinster, hasn't got a care.
We got to install cardiac pacers.
Medication deliveries.
We got to move these defibrillators,
We got to move these central IVs.
I shoulda learned to do the book talk,
I shoulda learned to catalog.
Look at that shelver,
She got books on tape and DVDs, man!
She must have some fun.
And she's up there, what's that? Digital records?
She's bangin' on the keyboard like a chimpanzee.
Oh, that ain't workin',
That's the way you do it,
Get your money for nothin',
And your books for free.
We got to install cardiac pacers.
Medication deliveries.
We got to move these defibrillators,
We got to move these central IVs.
Listen here!
Now that ain't workin',
That's the way you do it,
You push the book cart in the library.
That ain't workin',
That's the way you do it,
Money for nothin',
And your books for free.
Money for nothin',
And your books for free.
Get your money for nothin',
And your books for free.
Look at that, look at that!
Get your money for nothin',
(I love my, I love my...)
And your books for free.
(I love my library.)
Get your money for nothin'...
A March of the Penguins style documentary about the semi-annual migration of the American librarian.
Note how the narrator points out the "facial plumage" of the rare male librarians. I'm glad I'm not the only librarian-watcher to have noticed this feature.
I've been amusing myself recently with looking up Japanese music videos on YouTube, to see if I can find the songs and artists that were popular when I was in Japan three years ago.
This may be due to some hidden masochism on my part, because as much as I like Japanese history and culture and the Japanese people themselves, I hate their pop music. You can judge for yourselves, but personally this was the one thing that always made me proud to be an American.
Still, I decided to share the following clips because they do provide a window into real, mainstream Japanese pop culture (it isn't all scary porn cartoons over there), and some of them are pretty entertaining in their own right.
1. Mr. Children, "Karumi" -- If you watch just one of these videos, choose this one. The song is nothing special, but I think it's a great video. It depicts the rise of fictional pop group "Mr. Adults". Only the young guy at the end is an actual member of Mr. Children. (Is it just me, or is "Mr. Children" the most subtly unsettling band name ever?)
2. EXILE, "Choo Choo TRAIN" -- this was a BIG hit in 2003, and it turns out it was actually a remake of a song that had been a hit in 1991. That explains why my slightly older coworkers liked it so much. My boss was particularly good at the dance that went with this song. Notable for both scenes of a real Japanese nightclub and the inclusion of a team of breakdancing, dreadlocked youngsters.
3. GLAY, "Yuuwaku" - GLAY is still popular today, but this looks to be an older video, maybe late '90s. I think the scrawny white woman is supposed to resemble Mila Jovovich. I chose this video because the obligatory random English lyrics are actually intelligible and coherent. Also, the (male) guitar player seems to be wearing a miniskirt.
4. Ayumi Hamasaki, "Startin" --Ms. Hamasaki is the Queen of Japanese Pop Music, sort of like Britney Spears a few years ago, or Mariah Carey a few years before that. This is a funny video that's also a nice example of the Japanese perception of American pop culture.
I was happy to finally find this video on YouTube -- I actually own it on DVD myself, but since I have a slow home connection this is the only way I can share it with you all.
This cover of Toni Basil's "Hey Mickey!" was the #1 hit of the summer the year I was in Japan. I remember I'd be walking around and I'd hear "Hey Mickey!" playing, and it would take me a second to realize there was something...different...about it. Like...it's in Japanese.
Of course, if you're watching the video the major difference is immediately apparent. But I'll let you discover that for yourselves.
I'm sure you all remember Bonnie Tyler's 1983 worldwide hit "Total Eclipse of the Heart", or at least the 1994 Nicki French remake. What you may not remember is the original music video. Actually, I should say "what you may not have seen", because this is the sort of thing that sticks in your mind.
Not quite as good as "I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper", but definitely memorable -- if only for the chillingly literal interpretation of the line "turn around bright eyes".
Oh yes, and the video also appears to be set at the Neverland School for the Sexual Exploitation of Boys.
And there's a brief scene with ninjas (!) about 1:15 minutes in.
