Excellent Cover

Greg had a musical surprise for me last week, I hope you enjoy it as much as I have been:

Lil Wayne Documentary

A few nights ago we watched this documentary about Lil Wayne (Tha Carter Documentary) that Greg stumbled upon (I was surprised to learn that you can have videos that are longer than 10 minutes of YouTube!)

Now we aren't Lil Wayne fans and after watching the doc I haven't warmed up to him anymore. But it was interesting to watch. If you have some time to kill or are in the mood for a look into a bizarre man's life check it out (as you might assume this documentary has lots of offensive language, heads-up):

Allergy Hilarity

While I am a fan of the musical Les Miserables I am not a fan of allergies. I am lactose intolerant and a number of other foods (which I haven't been able to pin down) seem to wreak havoc on my system.  

This video combines Les Mis and the ridiculousness of food allergies in a super funny way. It's a take on the musical's One Day More and I need to thank Weighty Matters for bringing it to my attention:

And despite this being a spoof of Les Mis, I couldn't help but get excited for the movie version that comes out this Christmas:

New Tunes & Covers

The Shins are releasing their 4th album, Port of Morrow, next month. Their first single, Simple Song, is pretty catchy and has a Wes Anderson-esque feeling video.



In response to Jay-Z and Kanye West's Ni**as in Paris Yasiin Bey (formally known as Mos Def) created a wicked song: Ni**as in Poorest.  There a number of excellent lines in the song and it really makes the original seem like 4 minutes of unnecessary name dropping. Don't get me wrong, I really like the Watch the Throne album, but Mos Def puts the most recent single to shame:

(Heads up - there are swears in this song)


This popped up in my Twitter feed this morning from the CBC Radio 2 Morning show. It's Willy Nelson covering Coldplay's The Scientist:

Merry Muppet Christmas

I think the Muppets best sum up this time of year, I've compiled a few of my favorite clips to festive-up the blog.

One More Sleep 'Til Christmas - that's actually today! Just in case you forgot, from the Muppet Christmas Carol:



BELLS BELLS BELLS BELLLLLLLS!



Important things to remember this time of year, care of Big Bird:



Beaker being Beaker, Ode to Joy:



My favourite Muppet song, ever:



The Most Wonderful Time of the Year with a Muppet sing-a-long:



We Wish You a Merry Christmas, from A Muppet Family Christmas:

23.5 Hours

To some of your exercising for 30 minutes a day might be the norm, but for others it might be a challenge. This less than 10 minute visual lecture by Dr. Mike Evans gives you a variety of reasons (physical health, mental health, overall happiness to name a few) as to why you should try your best to get those 30 minutes in each day.



Thanks to Suzanne for sharing the link on Facebook.

The Muppets

Have you watched the Muppet movie? Well if you haven't I highly recommend, particularly on Tuesday nights where admission is only $6

I tried to find a clip from the movie to show you the BEST Muppet song ever, I really couldn't stop laughing. But I couldn't so here's the audio portion, it's still really funny but when combined with the video AND knowing the other types of roles that Jason Segel has played it's even better.

Here is still from the song, it's Jason Segal (Gary) with the Muppet version of himself:

Source

"a Muppet of a man" could you get a more hilarious line from a Muppet movie!?!

(Almost) Animals in Music Videos

I'm late on this one, I'm sure most of you have watched this video but I'm in love with it!! That elephant somehow tugs at my heart strings, although I totally know it's Chris Martin.

Anyway, if you haven't watched the video for Coldplay's single Paradise take a few minutes and do it now:

Wise Words from William Shatner

Now, I haven't really thought of deep fryer fires at Thanksgiving being a concern, but perhaps that's just because it's not as common in the Canadian celebration of Thanksgiving as it is for Americans. Or perhaps it's because deep fryers are not part of the Hutchings family Thanksgiving tradition.

Whatever the initial reason for people deep frying their turkeys William Shatner has some wise words to share about safety while conducting this fat infused meat preparation, take note:



I have also learned from this week's episode of New Girl, that it is also unsafe to thaw a turkey in the dryer. I normally would never have attempted such a crazy act, but it's good to know it would just ruin the turkey.

Hunger Games Trailer

I'm pumped:

Fun Friday (Music) Find

I'm not sure how I stumbled on this band, I was listening to terrible pop music on youtube and it came up as one of those 'recommended songs' so why not give it a go!

They are called Cocoon and sound super cute - nothing like boy-girl harmony to peak my interest!

Here are a few adorable covers:

#1 American Boy (Estelle):



#2 Empire State of Mind (Jay-Z & Alicia Keys):



#3 Rehab (Amy Winehouse):



And because their own music is cute here's one called On My Way:

Muppet Fun

I LOVE the Muppets! A Christmas isn't Christmas without watching at least 1 but preferably 2 Muppet movies.

Perhaps you've already watched this new edition of the Muppet Show Theme Song, but just in case you missed it, here you go:



I hope you laughed out loud like I did!

CBC Hip Hop Documentary

Love, Props and the T.Dot is a documentary CBC put together about the history of Canadian Hip Hop.

Perhaps you are like me and don't have reasonable access to CBC (I have a TV with super fuzzy bunny ears) or you missed the first airing of the doc, OR you hadn't heard of it until now.

Well thankfully CBC Radio 3 posted the ENTIRE documentary to YouTube, all 44 minutes and 45 seconds of it so you can watch it whenever is convenient for you:



I highly suggest you check this out. I certainly learned a ton about where Canadian hip hop has come from and more about the 'major players'.

Ridiculous!

Britney Spears' new single (I Wanna Go) has been in my head for the last few days, it's so catchy but I must say I'm getting tired of every single pop song having obvious computer generated vocals. Can't people just get back to the singing?

Back to Britney, her new video is a mash up of inspired by all kinds of videos (Avril Lavigne, Michael Jackson, to name a few) but strangely enough has stolen a scene AND an actor from the film Half Baked.

Here is the scene from Half Baked (heads up - there are swears!!):



Not something you'd expect to see in a Britney video, but nevertheless, here it is:



The actor from Half Baked, is Guillermo Diaz. And as you can see from the video he saves the day for Britney.

So strange!

Animated Animals

Thanks to Kirsta for sharing this on Facebook.

These 30 seconds put a smile on my face:



It also reminded me of Pingu (Noot Noot!):




Oh Pingu:

Dan Mangan in Fredericton

This show happened way back in April (during a busy internship), but given the awesomeness of the show it deserves a post.

Two excellent Canadian musicians on the
SAME poster - almost too much to handle.

Two bands opened for Dan Mangan, both were also awesome: The Crackling and Aidan Knight. I highly suggest checking them both out. Aidan Knight was a dash of incredible musician and a dollop of hilarious comedian. If he's ever in your town go see him!

At different parts of the show all three bands played together at some point. It was great to see that much collaboration between the openers and the headliners - it was like a big party.

To end the show Dan Mangan et. al headed to the centre of the room and led a group sing along. Here's the video that I took:

Musical Flashback

Blackstreet's No Diggity popped into my head today, I'm not sure what prompted it but I'm happy that it happened.

To refresh your memory:



I never got why they used a puppet, any insights?

Bust a Move

I love Beyonce, I mean really how can you not? Even if you don't like her music you have to appreciate her dancing AND singing ability.

I didn't initially like her new song, but it's grown on me. Perhaps because I've watched the video a few times to see the choreography alone.

Here is the video for her new song, Run the World (Girls):



And here is an AMAZING preformance at the 2011 Billboard Awards (for the actual music skip to the 3 minute mark):

Mumford and Sons

Not that this is news, but Mumford and Sons are an amazing band!

As I'm emerging from my internship bubble I am back to realizing life exists outside of school - crazy, I know!

This has been a band that I have been meaning to really listen to for awhile. Turns out their album Sigh No More is an excellent selection while doing homework. My other favorite homework album is In the Reins by Calexico + Iron and Wine.

If you are unfamiliar with their tunes here are a few to check out (PS. They like swears from time to time)





And for good measure, here is the opening track from In The Reins:

Interesting Piece

I'm not one to preach a political view over another, nor am I a Harper basher (not that I'm a fan) but this piece is an interesting perspective with a unique voice you should take a minute to watch.

Wasted Vote by Shane Koyczan.

Thanks to Emilie for posting this on Facebook: