Dynamite Cupcakes

Cupcakes are awesome. And even Jack Bauer knows it.

Check out this great commercial from Acer computers: 

Top 5: Songs that Name Drop Celebrities

I don't know how you get through your work day, but I have to have music on in the background to help keep me focused. Honestly, I'm not sure how I got anything done before Pandora. I have the site open almost the entire time I'm at my desk,  constantly churning out song after song (two of my favorite preset stations are Summer Hits of the 90s and Today's College Indie, I highly recommend starting with them!). The other day the song Tonight Tonight by Hot Chelle Rae showed up in rotation, and the song always makes me laugh for mentioning Zach Galifianakis. Did they ask him first? Does he get royalties whenever the song plays? Did they have to look up how to pronounce his last name? Not to mention he's a completely random celebrity to include in song lyrics. It got me to thinking about other songs that mention celebrities in them, and it turns out there are a lot more than I thought - below are the videos for my top 5.


5. Manic Monday by The Bangles 
    Celebrity: Rudolph Valentino 

    This song constantly gets stuck in my head, it's definitely infectious.

4. Clark Gable by The Postal Service
    Celebrity: Clark Gable

    I'm still a little sad that this group will never make a second album.

3. Buddy Holly by Weezer
    Celebrities: Buddy Holly, Mary Tyler Moore

    I already loved Weezer, and then I learned they made a video where they sang on Happy Days. 

2. One Week by Barenaked Ladies
    Celebrities: LeAnn Rimes, Bert Kaempfert, Harrison Ford, Sting

   This is one of those weird songs that is still entertaining even almost 15 years (!) later.

1. Vogue by Madonna
    Celebrities: Greta Garbo, Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich, Joe DiMaggio, Marlon Brando, Jimmy Dean, Grace Kelly, Jean Harlow, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Rita Hayworth, Lauren Bacall, Katharine Hepburn, Lana Turner and Bette Davis.

I'm pretty sure she named every major actor/actress from the golden age of Hollywood.

Top 5: Shows to Watch Someday When I Have Netflix

I know it's not true, but sometimes I feel like I am part of only 1% of the nation that doesn't have a Netflix account. I live out in the country, and for some reason the local cable companies have refused to bring cable out to our road. We live on a road between two state routes - both of which have cable - but since we didn't have access everyone signed up for satellite, and now that everyone has satellite they won't bring us cable. We're stuck in a catch-22. And since there is no cable, there is no high-speed internet - and no Netflix streaming.

Someday, when I'm able to live in the city and have my own internet hook-up, I'll sign up for Netflix. And when I do, these are the 5 shows I am most anxious to see:

5. Angry Beavers

Don't laugh at me, but I love this stupid show. I used to watch it with my sister all the time back when it was on Nickelodeon, and when she recently got Netflix she found that they have lots of episodes and sent me a video clip of our favorite one. I've been jealous ever since.





 4. Downton Abbey

I'm really curious about this show. It's got a lot of hype lately, since it stars greats like Maggie Smith, and is set in Victorian England, which just sounds fantastic. It must be like getting to watch a Jane Austen novel for an hour each week.





3. Firefly

How was I not watching a space western starring Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk? Probably because it was only on air in 2002, when I was a sophomore in high school and spent all of my free time doing homework. But someday I am going to watch all 14 episodes and the accompanying movie and finally be able to talk to all the Joss Whedon fans out there.



2. Freaks and Geeks

This series launched the careers of Seth Rogen, Jason Segal, James Franco, John Frances Daly and Busy Phillips. So basically it was a Judd Apatow series staring some of my favorite comedians. How did this not last? Why do all of the most awesome shows get cancelled after only one season? I remember it being on TV and wanting to watch it, and actually had an English professor in college recommend that I check it out. It looks awesome.



1. Doctor Who

I feel like a complete failure as a nerd for having never seen an episode of this show. And it has been on the BBC since 1963 which is completely insane. People keep telling me how much I will love it, and how amazing the show is, and making references to the show, which just makes me sad since I am not able to watch it. But as soon as my Netflix account is confirmed, you can bet that I'll be streaming all the revival seasons starting back in 2005. 

25 Days: Annual Commercials

Have you noticed that there are certain commercials that come back every single year? You can tell it's the holiday season because after Thanksgiving those advertisements that are older than I am return to the air. Do you have a favorite perennial commercial?

Hershey's Kiss

 

I remember this coming on TV when I was younger, and thinking it was the most clever commercial ever. Like the YouTube comments say, it just isn't Christmas until you've seen this at least 30 times. 

Campbell's Soup Snowman

 

As far as I can tell this commercial was made in the 80s. Which means that kid is at least 30 now. I wonder how much money he makes off of this commercial every year? 

Eat 'N Park Christmas Star

 

I love this commercial! It's so cute. I'm not sure why it plays here though, we don't have an Eat 'N Park...

Top 5: 100

This is my 100th post! When I was in kindergarten, we spent all year learning to count to 100 and had a special celebration on the 100th day of school by bringing in 100 of something. I brought 100 buttons from my grandma's sewing box. My best friend that year, a little girl named Ashley, brought in her collection of 100 pencils and let me keep one! It's blue with white snowflakes, and I still have it somewhere. I don't have gifts to send to all of you, but I'm dedicating my Top 5 list today to things with the number 100 in them in celebration! (I considered doing a Top 100 list but that just seemed too time consuming.)

5. Billboard's Top 100 of the 2000s
We all know that Billboard keeps a running total of the Top 100 songs, which is why this is relegated to last place on my list. Although instead of linking you to the current Top 100, I'm sending you to the best of the last decade. For me, 2000-2009 encompasses parts of junior high, high school, and college, which means a lot of these songs remind me of prom.

4. IMDb's Bottom 100 Movies
If you love torturing yourself by watching horrible movies and laughing at them, or just want to see how bad movies can be, then this list is for you. IMDb asks their users to rank movies on a scale of 1-10  and the bottom 100 includes films with average reviews of 2.5 and under. You can contrast this with their Top 250, whose highest-ranking film is The Shawshank Redemption with a glowing 9.2.

3. 25 Celebrated Saul Bass Title Sequences in 100 Seconds



I know that I'm a nerd because some of my fondest memories of college are the essays I wrote and presentations I delivered. I'm that weird person who enjoys researching and always had a knack for picking quirky topics that somehow still fit into the assignment (case in point: I once wrote a paper making the claim that Willy Wonka was a Marxist). One of my favorites was a group presentation for my History of Graphic Design course on the topic of title sequences in movies, which is how I first learned of the site Art of the Title, where this video is from. Acclaimed graphic designer Saul Bass is known for fantastic title sequences - see if there are any you recognize!

2. All-TIME 100 Novels
Time Magazine compiled their list of the top 100 novels, or more precisely, the top 100 English novels published since 1923, when Time began. Even with those parameters it's a great list and includes novels from all genres and audiences, such as young-adult classic Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret, graphic novel Watchmen, historical fiction Gone With the Wind, and recent masterpieces published less than 10 years ago. I used this list when compiling my 2010 reading list.


1. 100 YEARS / STYLE / EAST LONDON

 

Posted by the Westfield Stratford City shopping center in London, this video reviews 100 years of fashion in one long choreographed scene. It's great to see how style changes over the years and subtly morphs into something completely different. And not just fashion, but hairstyles, dance styles, and even music transition from decade to decade from the early 1900s to present. I don't know if this was a commercial or just an online campaign, but whoever came up with the concept is a genius. Watch for the moment in the 1940s when the man dons a British uniform and heads off to war!

Top 5: Songs About Years

Have you ever thought about how many songs are named after certain years? I didn't google it to find out a number but I know there are a lot. These are the videos to my favorites, plus the lyrics where the title comes from. What's your favorite song with a year for a title?


5. 1983 by Neon Trees

I've been on my knees and crawling/Back to you, it's coming all back to me/1983

4. 1901 by Phoenix

Girlfriend, oh your girlfriend is drifting away/Past and present 1855, 1901

3. 1985 by Bowling for Soup

Her two kids in high school/They tell her that she's uncool/But she's still preoccupied/With 1985

Fun Fact: My sister and I saw BFS in concert at the State Fair. They may be a totally random band to include on this list, but their show was super fun!

2. 1999 by Prince

They say two thousand zero zero party over, oops, out of time/So tonight I'm gonna party like it's 1999

*Bonus!* This is the Pop-Up Videos version, enjoy!

1. 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins

Shakedown, 1979/Cool kids never have the time

"Alma"

Alma from Rodrigo Blaas on Vimeo.

Beautifully animated. I love this style of video!

Logorama

I'm not even going to attempt to count the logos. So far my favorite cameo is Slurm!

Brian Jonestown Massacre

I’m a sucker for stop motion film, especially with Legos.

Sesame Street

Big Bird paints with Chuck Close!