Cool Shit 12/24

When it comes to music, 2013 is so 2013. It's all about anticipating what's coming out in 2014.

Find out if you're a psychopath with this obviously completely 100% legitimate test.

Oh sure, you might be ok with ghostbusters taking care of spooky ghosts in your house or place of business, but what if that ghost was a relative, or a friend? Ghosts have rights!

The best stuff on Pinterest from 2013. I think we're scraping the bottom of the barrel when we're creating best of lists for sites that are, essentially best of lists already.

Oh it's a joke now because we giggled with anticipation watching Amazon PR blast the concept of drones delivering us goodies from their warehouses (a complete fabrication in my opinion), but give it a few years and you'll be wanting to identify and hide from the many drones that populate our sky.

The history of last meals.

Finally, do you think you're ready for the Tiger Train? Because I don't think you're ready for the Tiger Train.

Cool Shit 6/11

You might not think you want to watch a 6 minute video about a small pickle company, but you'd be wrong.

The McClures from Dark Rye on Vimeo.

That Jose Canseco, he's quite a character. Some might say he's trolling all of us.

Have an internet connection and some free time? Here's a list of 50 great movies you can watch right now. Legally!

Room 237 is a documentary about the bizarre interpretations some people have about Stanley Kubrick's movie, The Shining. Spook Central is possibly(?) a spoof of the movie Room 237 looking at Ghostbusters? Seriously, if it's real, it's crazy. If it's a spoof, it's a really well done, subtle spoof, and I love it even more for spoofing such a small movie. Check out the trailer for yourself:



I still hold HBO near and dear in my heart when it comes to its original programming. But I've also been there pretty much from the beginning, back when Wimbledon was shown on it from 5-8 during the tournament, Not Necessarily the News was skewering our culture (why doesn't that get more love?) and Dream On was clogging its airwaves. So when there's talk about a new alien show possibly getting picked up by HBO, I get excited.

I may be the only person somewhat excited for the movie Snowpiercer but I don't mind. And I'm not sure these character posters really will do much to garner more fans but so what. Check out Tilda Swinton!

Cool Shit 3/21

You know when you see them all together like this, it almost seems like Donald Trump's lawsuits are for publicity!

Alright, still looking for some last minute tips to help you fill out your bracket? Check here.

Want to know who played what in every Beatles song? Now you can - in poster form.

Everything is better in slow motion...



If it wasn't in Italian, I would swear I knew who created this replica of the Ghostbusters HQ.



Big Arrested Development fan? Want to do more than just anticipate Season 4? Why not help fund the Arrested Development documentary? (I'd link to the video explaining why the creators need the money, but after watching it, I'm not sure you would donate. So instead, I'll just offer up the trailer).

F/M/K Will Never Get Old

Before today, I had never heard about the column, Sophie's Choice on the Hairpin. Shockingly, I had never been to the Hairpin before. That's not an indictment on me being a male and having an aversion to female-centric blogs, it has more to do with, by my count, there are over 16 blogs on the Internet - way too many for me to individually visit. And, while I surf the 'net at least 18 hours a day, some content is going to slip through the cracks.

Anyway, the Sophie's Choice column, written by Julie Klausner and Natasha Vargas-Cooper, two successful authors with books (not sure I needed to add the "with books" there, but I'm going with it for now), takes 3 famous people with a similar thread, and analytically breaks down who you would "fuck, marry and kill."

Fuck, Marry, Kill is a great parlor game (seriously my aunt actually has a parlor, and boy did the atmosphere of that room enhance gaming), for people to break out at parties, taking turns inserting attractive and unattractive celebrities and struggling over the hypothetical (hopefully) actions you would take with each.

In one of their columns, the two authors take Bill Murray, Steve Martin and Chevy Chase to task. Three men I would probably say at one time or another in my life I would consider to have idol status. Now, I won't divulge their conclusions and reasoning, because you should read it for yourself. It's worth it.

But I did think it was interesting enough for me to reason out within my psyche.

Many people, I believe would start right off the bat and tag Bill Murray with the "marry" label. He's the bee's knees for a lot of people right now, with his off-kilter, non-conformist approach to the way he handles himself. He also is a critics' darling and seemingly picks his roles based on what he wants to do, which goes against what we think normal Hollywood stars and actors do. (To tell the truth, I have no expertise on how stars pick their roles!) So choosing "marry" for Bill Murray certainly wouldn't get you strange looks in the parlor, and would probably receive a lot of agreement.

The same might also be said for "killing" Chevy Chase. Minus his recent semi-resurgence with his casting on NBC's Community, his career trajectory looks almost like the opposite of Bill Murray's. Failed late night shows and bizarre, brash behavior over the years, doesn't help his cause.

And what about Steve Martin? His career has EKG'ed the last 30 years, taking bizarre turns through novels, plays and, most recently, art collecting. His movie The Jerk is considered a classic, but after that what are his huge movie roles? Planes, Trains and Automobiles? Great, yes, but how much of that greatness is shouldered by the late, great John Candy?

Roxanne? A nice little romantic comedy that men can get behind because of Mr. Martin's performance, but no one is going to defend it from being labeled a chick flick.

My Blue Heaven? Again, a great role for Mr. Martin (playing a mob guy? I thought he was brilliant) but again, not the huge, generation defining title a movie like Caddyshack or National Lampoon's Vacation is.

Uh oh. This is a little trickier than I first thought.

The Decision

Ok, right off the bat. I'm going to say I fuck Bill Murray. The more I think about it, the more he seems the perfect candidate for that. Hip, cool, unpredictable, mysterious...all characteristics of a one-night stand. He's the husband every girl swoons over, and can't understand why his wife doesn't seem to share in their weird enthusiasm. (Quick aside - I know men should deservedly be considered pigs when speaking about attractive women when they are together, but not enough has been said about what happens when women do the same. It can be like a group of hyenas achieving a simultaneous orgasm. At least that's what I imagine that would sound like. But I digress...)

I think however, to move Mr. Murray up into the marriage category would be a mistake for everyone. His personality is simply too strange and unique to be harnessed. He can't handle it, and so how can anyone else assume to handle it? And yet of course, there's simply no way I could "kill" him...

So that leaves Mr. Martin and Mr. Chase for the two remaining categories. And that's where it gets tough. So I'll get right to it.

I'd "kill" Steve Martin.

I know. Sacrilegious on about a thousand different levels. And I'm sure, even though I'll say it has nothing to do with it, people are going to think it's because of the recent dustup he had with his art talk. It doesn't. It has more to do with his inconsistent track record of movies. I mean, don't get me wrong, I will always love him for stuff like this...

But then there's this...

It's bad enough to be involved in a remake of a classic movie. But then to do a sequel...I cringe. I simply cringe.

That leaves me with marrying Chevy Chase. And I'm ok with that. Sure, there would be a few rocky patches (The Chevy Chase Show, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Cops and Robbersons), but the good far outweigh the bad (Fletch, Caddyshack, Modern Problems (yes, I said Modern Problems), Foul Play, early SNL stuff, and on and on...). It's for those reasons that I look back fondly on Mr. Chase, and would have no problem marrying him.

Links of Interest 7/9

What? No Addams Family? What is this, amateur hour?

Beck interviews Tom Waits. Yeah, as weird as you might think.

A breakdown of the sexual fantasies R. Kelly would like, based on his new album.

Plan on winning the lottery soon? Here’s a few tips of what you should do.

Don’t be these people when you fly on a plane.

Interview with Jason Bateman.

An argument that Ghostbusters is the best movie ever made?

Baseball players’ superstitions.

The ethics of affecting climate change can hit very close to home.

No, really, where are all the women at?

Links of Interest 6/23

An interview with Harold Ramis.

Flying out of town soon? Try to decipher your new fees.

Old timey temporary ski jumps. These are badass.

Sure it may be ostentatious to own your own island, but c’mon, if you had the money, wouldn’t you at least think about it?

I’m getting vertigo just looking at these pictures, so I can’t imagine riding a bike around up there.

Before you start up your very own Ghostbusters’ company, make sure you have the capital.

A few movies you might not have heard about, but might want to see.

Kinda cool waterslide trick. Video is enhanced because it is from Japan.

Weird stuff that doesn’t act the way you think it should.

Weird, I just read this article in Ad Age saying Burger King ads were working. This one takes the opposite side of the coin. Just goes to show that no matter what the opinion is, there’s always someone out there to oppose it.

And if you missed it from yesterday, the greatest video starring mormon siblings and Paul Lynde.