posted September 6, 2019 #
That
Raccoon yap is completely unrelated to anything but, damn, if it isn't pleasant.
Short and busy week. Here's to a laid back weekend.
- David Fincher: Invisible Details - I've been watching Mindhunter lately and it reminded me of this video essay on the insane amount of CG that Fincher uses; often in very subtle ways. If this entertains you, watch the Mindhunter VFX breakdown.
- NES Music Inspiration - don't love the narration here but this is a pretty fascinating piece on NES composer Koji Kondo's inspirations. Everything is a Remix.
- Supergrass - Alright - it was recently announced that Supergrass would celebrate the 25th anniversary of their first album by reforming for some shows. I have decided to use this as a valid excuse to revisit their fantastic catalog. Here's a playlist of their final setlist back in 2010.
- Ashley O - On a Roll - I find myself singing this ridiculous version of "Head Like a Hole" from the Miley Cyrus episode of Black Mirror. It's absolutely terrible but also an earworm.
- Don't Anger the Goose - stupid. perfect.
- Signs, Aliens - stupider.
- Stone Jack Jones - I'm Gone - a gentle reminder to watch this new Stone Jack Jones video. It's not fast paced or steeped in Internet Stupidity (which is why I assume you come here) but it is worthwhile. I think it's a beauty, even if it does require a little patience.
- Homer, Katrin and Janine Eat Their Way Through New Orleans - I don't know if this is legitimately entertaining or should be considered an Endurance Challenge. The Venn diagram overlap is deep.
posted August 30, 2019 #
This weekend is
Dragon Con down in Atlanta. I'll be there and, ideally, constantly picking my jaw up off the floor at all the costumes and masses of people. Watch the ole
#dragoncon tag for treats. I'll probably post to my
Instagram along the way as well.
As such, my hunting and gathering time for Friday Videos is short. Here's a few selections to take you through the weekend.
- Wosop - it takes a solid 45 seconds for this to really start but once you're in, I am confident you'll be in the duration. Via Baldwin.
- Last Ninja 2 (C64) [Oscilloscope View] - Davis hipped me to this Commodore 64 game soundtrack that is bonkers good. The video isn't standard Friday Video material but maybe you'll enjoy some incredible songs from 1988.
- Raccoon Pool Party - this delightful tweet led me down a very rewarding YouTube rabbit hole.
- Fifth Element Talent Show - I mean, what could be more appropriate before heading to Dragon Con?
- The Forbidden Music - this meme is taking over my Reddit's and this is absolutely the best version of it. Accept no substitutes.
posted August 28, 2019 #
@yewknee glad to keep the blog on life support. it's truly some of my best RSS content any given week and every time friday videos shows up in my feed i get a little happier.
posted August 23, 2019 #
I don't care much for the ax thowing craze going on right now but see
Gritty crush it really brought me back around to a refreshed enjoyment of All Things Gritty. Please let there never be a scandal with him.
Busy week! Busy past FEW weeks actually. Overwhelming you might say. But who's to blame but myself? Enjoy some distractions.
- Empire State of Mind - Lizzo has been on YouTube since at least 2010 and published this video where she crushes a flute solo to accompany "Empire State of Mind" - I doubt there's anything else you need to see this week.
- Bleary "Bug" - I quite enjoy this band and have been quite enjoying this ongoing series of studio sessions. Give it a listen.
- Love After Lockup: Unlocked - I don't watch much trash tv but when I do, it's Love After Lockup, Life After Lockup or 90-Day Fiance. Okay, so maybe I watch a good amount of it. BUT, regardless, WeTV started a recap show where Jamie Bradley is one of the hosts; and it's written by Ashley Spurgeon. So, as far as I'm concerned, this is a Hott Minute product.
- 3rd Times the Charm - I have been this person.
- Super Cat Bros Ultimate - stupid, loved it.
- The Great Mattress Migration of 2019 - it's that special time of year when all the mattresses make their way to a new home for the Fall and Winter.
- Beach Umbrellas - which of course reminds me of this gem, which I can never watch too many times.
posted August 16, 2019 #
It crept up on me but the past few weeks have been an absolute onslaught of work and random projects. I'm a bit overwhelmed to be completely honest so, if you're waiting on an email from me - please be patient.
Despite that, I must find breaks for sanity. Here's a sanity break for you:
posted August 9, 2019 #
Yes, another Garth Brooks GIF as our cover image. Are the videos below related to the above Shruggie? Only one way to find out.
- Thought Diaries "Enjoying Stuff" - Adult Swim often does small little short films but they generally lean into the "wow, that was weird" category. This one is shockingly optimistic. via Davis.
- Purple Mountains - Darkness and Cold - David Berman passed away this week. He wasn't an artist that I had much of a connection with but he clearly meant a lot to a lot of people. Sad to see someone go so early. I take it as a signal to dive a bit deeper into his back catalog of Silver Jews work. This song / video are fun, albeit clearly melancholy.
- Green Shirt Guy - During a bit of a ruckus at a Tucson City Council Meeting (voting on becoming a Sanctuary City, which some residents, apparently, didn't care for) this man in a Green Shirt is highly entertained. He is a silver lining of goodness in these dark times. Seriously.
- You've Been Struck By - ahhh, stupidity.
- Next Level Cinematography - I understand that this is an ad so I take bits of it with a grain of salt but it's undeniably cool.
- Jonathan Frakes Interrogates You - really buring the lede here. These supercuts continue to be among my favorite things.
posted August 2, 2019 #
Y'all, my Chris Gaines obsession is hitting critical mass. I bought a radio promo CD off discogs recently because it
might contain a little known dub remix of one of the first Gaines singles. I don't really even care that much about the music but I'm continuously fascinated by the world surrounding it. I'm going to stick with this and see where it leads.
In the meantime,
enjoy these GIFs I made or
find them on Giphy. I'm really contributing!
On to the distractions.
posted July 26, 2019 #
Announced a new addition to the yk Records roster today - go check out
The Medium. More importantly, watch their creepy video for "Good ol' Days" and then, maybe, pre-order their
new record. Thanks!
Up next... distractions!
posted July 19, 2019 #
Slow week on the ole yewknee blog. Been neck deep in work projects and other things! Like,
releasing podcasts,
dropping hints, helping get
new things out into the world. This all plays in to my constant contemplation about the role of blogs. Ideas are still forming around this but if you have thoughts on blogs, please
get at me.. that is, assuming you see this here on the blog.
Anyway, here's some funs.
- Where Are All The Bob Ross Paintings? - great mini-doc piece from the NYT investigating where the thousands of Bob Ross paintings went and why you can't buy them. Good to see Aaron Byrd pop up in there.
- CATS trailer - I was fortunate enough to see CATS on Broadway and, lemme tell ya, this is the correct way to make a movie of it. Absolutely insane mixed with unbelievably self-serious.
- Watching the CATS trailer - how you should feel
- A Spacesuit Ballet - this week was the 50th anniversary of the Moon Landing. Doing some research on the original space suits reveals that many companies bid on the job and came up with some pretty amazing designs. This ridiculous video compiles many of them.
- We Fixed the Worst VFX Shot Of All Time - these pieces from Corridor Crew have been popping up in my YouTube feed a lot lately and I'm bizarrely into them. They spend some time here re-working the infamously awful CG shot of The Rock as The Scorpion King.
- Bump It - I hate that I laughed.
- The World's Worst Translator - I didn't think I'd like seeing Arturo Castro as anyone except Jaimé on Broad City but his show on Comedy Central has been consistently entertaining.
- Bern Your Omission works every time.
If you didn't hear it, try out this
Endurance Challenge. Let the auto-play roll after it's over, pretty nice rewards for making it through.
posted July 12, 2019 #
Many thanks to
Collin Martz for the
Cat Wind-Up cover image... what a delightfully skilled little beast.
Been thinking a lot about
blogs lately. What is their relevance in 2019? Are they largely just a holding ground for social links? Should they be more immersive? I know there's no rules but I constantly think about the walled garden of interaction from a site like this, particular when compared to something like Twitter where feedback is so instaneous. Maybe I'm falling prey
to dangers I'm aware of.
...Aaaand that's my Marc Maron ten minutes at the top of the show. Enjoy some distractions!
Oh, and this is deserving of it's own post, but please don't miss out on
Popup Trombone.
posted June 28, 2019 #
Been a minute since I've posted Friday Videos! That's unheard of! I apologize for missing a few weeks of this but travel and
life events pre-empted my ability (and willingness) to post anything. Whoops!
Happy Pride! If you haven't heard the
My Fantasy Funeral episodes with
Tiffany Minton and
Trevor Mikula; carve out some time this weekend to make it happen. Lovely people doing great things for the LGBTQ community here in Nashville.
Have a great weekend, here's some weird distractions from your life:
posted June 7, 2019 #
Sometimes you load up Giphy.com looking for a gem and, occasionally,
Giphy provides. I don't even want background info on what I'm seeing, I'm just into it.
Nashville residents, please come out to
Vinyl Tap Nashville on Sunday, June 9th, for
Bill & Ted Day, presented by
San Dimas Today; the podcast I help produce. It's gonna be a relaxed, good, time.
Here's some quality distractions!
- The The Deer Tonight - audio perfection.
- Huckabee Korn - Brian "Head" Welch goes on Mike Huckabee's show and they have themselves an old time jam.
- MAKRO | Microsoft Excel Stream Highlights - fantastic update from the inside world of competitive Excel spreadsheeting. See you all at Balmercon 2019!
- SNL Blooper Reel, Season 44 - I love a good blooper reel and this one delivers.
- A Cat Explains DNS - Look, I don't know anything about Nil, the creator and star of this video, and I hope there aren't awful skeletons in this closet. There is so much going on here it's hard to even begin to summarize it properly. Watch it, know that everything he's saying is 100% accurate, and then give his other videos a deep dive.
- Quasi "Paint It Black" - have always enjoyed this cover from Quasi and recently revisited it. Maybe you'll enjoy it too.
- Godzilla Dance - pure entertainment.
Yes, you probably also should see the
Helicopter Rescue from Hell but it's such a mixed bag of hilarious and awful feelings, I couldn't include it here.
Instead, enjoy
this weirdo.
posted May 31, 2019 #
Two important bits here at the end of the week. First, if you haven't watched
Fleabag, Season 2, you're doing yourself a disservice. Generally, if a show breaks the fourth wall, it's obnoxious (see Saved by the Bell, House of Cards) but it's a device used ever so perfectly throughout this show.
Secondly, if you're a Nashville area resident - come out to the
The 5 Spot tonight; the lineup of bands is great.
New Man,
Jasmin Kaset and
Smart Objects are sure to entertain.
That's it! Enjoy some things I found.
- Bill Hader impersonates Schwarzenegger [ DeepFake ] - generally, an interview with Conan wouldn't be quite enough to make it to Friday Videos but this DeepFake replaces Hader's face with Arnold's and it's insanely realistic. Hard to look away.
- Garth Brooks - The Red Strokes - I was recently reminded of the existence of this video and it's... something! Garth playing in a completely white room that gets consumed by blood is not a pitch I would have thought would make it into production but here it is!
- Pikachu + Key + Peele - where Key & Peele impersonating a prior dance or was that original choreography? How deep does this meme go?
- A Flock of Metal - the same guy that does the Smooth Jazz versions of Metal songs will also make pop songs into Metal versions. I'd not seen this Flock of Seagulls rework and it is legit good.
- Great Day - The Lonely Island recently released their visual album for Bash Brothers over on Netflix but, honestly, I just want to watch this sketch over and over.
- News Bloopers 2018 #4 - One of my best friends had twins yesterday. So, if he finds himself with a free moment I'm posting this here for his enjoyment. Congrats, buddy.
Lastly, my
pettiest tweet also seems to have the most likes of all my tweets. Is this a sign I should be more petty or just a signal of what the platform prefers?
posted May 24, 2019 #
I've
no idea what's going on with this
Keanu Gif and I'm perfectly comfortable with that.
Speaking of Keanu, the boys at
San Dimas Today (the Bill & Ted podcast I help produce) are having a party in Nashville on June 9th for
Bill and Ted Day. Yes, that's actually a thing. If you're in the Nashville area,
come by.
If you need a real quick distraction, go
enjoy this, then dive in...
- TobyMac answers your questions - maybe it was my mood at the time but this video struck me as hilarious. Is this serious? I think the answer is a resounding yes.
- Buckcherry "Head Like a Hole" - I managed to watch this whole thing and I'm just speechless. It's odd enough for them to cover this song but even odder that it seems no one in the audience even knows the song.
- Twen - "Holy River" - a nice shoegaze-y pop song paired with a bafflingly weird video. I like it but I can't say I understand it.
- News Bloopers, 80's and 90's - yes, it's ten minutes and, yes, you will watch the whole thing. Then you will know that Heidi Godman is legend.
- The Angelic Initiative, #998 - I should devote more insight into exactly what The Angelic Initiative is but, quite frankly, I don't think I could articulate it. At it's core, these two are mediums; channeling something but it registers as total gibberish. It's as bizarrely soothing as it is grating and weird. They may have some questionable beliefs mixed in there too but, hey, it's YouTube!
- HWAT!? - don't know what it is. Don't want to know more. Just want to enjoy.
posted May 17, 2019 #
Happy Friday! If you're in the general Nashville area this weekend, please come by
Grimeys on Saturday at 5pm to see
Patrick Damphier play songs off of
Say I'm Pretty and
then come by
The Basement during the evening hours to see
The Mute Group play selections from
Sinister Hand. It's a mini
yk Records weekend, get into it!
If you're not in the Nashville area, just go listen to those two records. Please and thank you.
- The Mute Group - "Wuthering Heights" (Kate Bush) - in promotion for the show (And celebration of hitting 3,000 views on another one of their videos), The Mute Group posted this cover of a Kate Bush song. Pretty much perfect.
- Kate Bush - "Wuthering Heights" - have you heard the original version of that song? Bush's vocals are so bizarre but also entrancing. Her dance moves are pretty stellar too.
- Vicky reps Dusen Dusen - John Early has been in a lot of sketches and I randomly encounter a new one that I've never seen. A real treat.
- Beatle Barkers - We Can Work It Out - on paper, I should find this unbearable but, honestly, I kind of love it and have listened to it more than I'd like to admit.
- MarbleLympics 2019 E3 - a combination of Shuffleboard and ASMR; marbles simply rolling down a path. At first I thought this was a fun joke video but, turns out, there's a ton of them and it's no joke. It's delightful.
- Aldous Harding - The Barrel - this video is a slow burn but worth your investment. Take 5 full minutes of your day and just enjoy the entire thing. Great song with a perfect video
- One Star Reviews - new VICE series where the host visits one star reviewed spots on Yelp and finds out how horrible they actually are. This one is for a haircut but the plastic surgeon episode is nuts.
- dragon.gif - this 20 seconds embodies the Internet. It's delightful, it's weird, it's fun and then, for half a second, it's questionably idiotic.
posted May 10, 2019 #
First and foremost, let's remember that Tony Hale is a national treasure and should be appreciated as such.
Got some new irons in the fire with
yk Records this week. A handful of releases on the horizon I'm really excited about and looking forward to sharing. Not much to tell beyond that but once you put a schedule down on paper, it really starts to feel real.
If you didn't hear it already, go check out the
the Spotify playlist from
The Mute Group. It's a wild ride.
Here's a smattering of distractions to really drive you into the weekend.
posted May 3, 2019 #
Look at that regal cat in that hat! What more do you need to slide on in to the weekend and give yourself a much needed break? From whenever you see this until Monday morning, treat yourself like royalty. Thanks.
If you need
just one more, enjoy this
disturbing Hidden Valley Ranch commercial.
posted April 26, 2019 #
I woke up at 5:30am this morning, completely unprompted and entirely refreshed. Is this an anamoly or have I entered the 40+ era of existence where your body just compels you to awaken as the sun is rising? Will 6am now be considered "sleeping in"? I guess what I'm asking is, What Is Happening To My Body?
Enjoy some distractions from life's hard questions...
Nashville residents, you
must watch this. Avoid downtown this weekend, unless you're a True Masochist™.
posted April 19, 2019 #
I'm fairly confident I've used this
GIF before on Easter weekend but it's just so damn appropriate, why not do it again?
I'll be totally real, I don't have a ton this week in terms of distractions. I need a few myself so lemme see what I can rummage up...
posted April 12, 2019 #
I've been in Las Vegas all week working the Vimeo booth for the NAB conference. It was a refreshing week of talking to Customers and being offline. Much to my surprise, I don't hate standing around all day and talking to people about our product. However, it does mean that I haven't browsed in many many days so offerings this week are gonna be slim.
That being said, here's a few oddball enjoyments.
- Doug Henning, Easter Parade - Henning was a close-up magician in the 70's that embraced the wild outfits and general hippie aesthetic to the nth degree. This clip from an Easter Parade broadcast is unbelievably bad quality - so much so that it crosses over into a Vaporwave feel.
- The Uncle No Rules Show - a full-length kids show brought to you by Brooklyn art kids with an aesthetic that merges Pee-Wee Herman, HR Pufnstuf and modern day acid trip. It's a strange but amusing thing to watch. You can always start with a clip.
- The Super Massive Black Hole - a deeper dive into that new Blackhole image.
And if you needed it, here's your daily reminder that
Trump is a corrupt liar. Never forget.
