I'm in training today...have to relearn all the software that was second-nature to me not so long ago. But I'll throw a few fun links up as I find them.
EBERT SPEAKS
He calls it a journal, but Web surfers know better: Roger Ebert now has a blog! The cancer-stricken critic may not be able to speak, but his voice rings out as loud as ever. (Via Web Goddess.)
'WHO LIVES DOWN IN DEEPEST, DARKEST AFRICA?'
A co-worker is wondering: If "Speed Racer" is now a big-screen movie, can "Kimba the White Lion" be far behind? Some of us have fond memories of watching the two cartoons back-to-back. Here's a YouTube link to remind you of Kimba. (Thanks to Denise O. and Paige for the link.) And don't miss our "Speed Racer" quiz.
WHEN IN SCRANTON, STAY AT SCHRUTE FARMS
Did you catch John McCain on "The Daily Show" last night suggesting that he had picked Dwight Schrute from "The Office" as his running mate? It might have worked had McCain known who Schrute was...instead he had to stop, pull a cue card out of his pocket, and read the name as if he'd never seen it before. (Note: The NY Times says McCain IS an "Office" fan. Coulda fooled me.)
You can watch the video on Wonkette. But we "Office" fanatics know Dwight would never settle for the #2 spot on the ticket. His platform? Five portions of beets a day for everyone!
HIGH-GULL, not HIGH-JELL
Our own Courtney Hazlett reports that Katharine Heigl may not be long for "Grey's Anatomy." Personally, I like the Izzie character, though not paired with George -- that was just wrong. The NY Daily News somewhat gleefully trashes the actress, but come on. If someone mispronounced my name (and they do, all the time), I think correcting them is just fine. (Daily News link via TV Tattle.)
Is it just me, or are some of the best programs on TV running on The Discovery and History Channels?
I've always liked those channels, but while I was on my leave, I started to really get into the extreme job/freezing in Alaska/wow-I-could-never-do THAT genre of programming.
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What are the other blogs talking about? Here's a look at TV and entertainment news from around the Web:
Hey, is this thing on?
Sorry to let Test Pattern get so dusty! But I have an excuse, really! The dog ate my homew -- forget it, you'd never buy that.
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No one knew how to leave a party like the children Von Trapp:
So long, farewell, Au revoir, auf wiedersehen,
I'd like to stay and taste my first champagne
LIESL: Yes?
BARON VON TRAPP: No!
I've got to follow the Von Trapp kids' lead. I'm heading out on maternity leave until 2008, but I'll be leaving Test Pattern in very good hands. My colleagues in the entertainment department will be sharing the blog while I'm gone, and I know they'll bring an entertaining diversity of opinion, commentary, gossip, and random goofy linkage to the site.
I've had a blast with Test Pattern so far, and hope you've enjoyed reading it. The commercial contest is always a hoot, especially when applied directly to your forehead (Ad I'm currently loving: The beer commercial where the axe-wielding hitchhiker doesn't want them to pick up the chainsaw-carrying hitchhiker.)
Some of the misheard lyrics we discussed have now replaced the real lyrics to certain songs in my head. (I am convinced "I am a lineman for the Cowboys" is a much better line than Glen Campbell's "I am a lineman for the county...")
Many of you told me that Multi-link Monday helped you ease into your work week, with its random quizzes, online games, and bizarre links. And we've also discussed goofs in movies, "For Better or For Worse," the Aqua Teens shutting down Boston, the intricacies of "Lost," Super Bowl ads, and much more.
Looking for more blogs? You can't go wrong with any of the sites in my links box at right. Plus, MSNBC's Ads of the Weird blog (updated every Tuesday) keeps up the crazy commercial commentary year round; Will Femia's Clicked is not unlike Multi-link Monday in its randomness; and my office neighbor Alan Boyle keeps tabs on the world of space and science in his Cosmic Log. If you want to keep up with me, I have a personal Weblog, Pop Culture Junk Mail.
And if I'm going to start this entry with a pop-culture quote, I'd better end with one, too. What's that Arnold said so famously? "I'll be bahhck."
It seems that it's easy to mishear a lyric in almost any song out there. But some songs, and some singers, show up much more than others. Here are some of the songs that just come out as one big mumble. Call them songs in the key of slur, or maybe the misheard lyrics hall of fame.
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Taking another break from the song-lyric insanity to offer up a Multi-link Monday. Have a cool link to suggest? Post it in the comments.
• Remember when we were trying to find band names in that Virgin Atlantic poster? In a similar vein: Can you find all the "Seinfeld" references in this image? Answers are here. (Via the wonderful PopCandy.)
• Those of us who care about punctuation will either love or hate this site: The "blog" of "unnecessary" quotation marks highlights all those signs that were created by someone who obviously slept through English 101. "Why" do certain people feel the "need" to put "quotation marks" around "everything"? The "world" may never "know." This cake not only has extra quote marks, but completely unncessary parentheses. (Thanks to Kurt for the link!) And I couldn't leave this topic without also pointing out a classic link, the Gallery of "Misused" Quotation Marks.
• Have a song in your head that you just can't identify? If you can upload a sample of yourself humming or singing it to WatZatSong, the site's readers will try and help you figure out what it is.
• I'm terrible at this online game, but it's fun and addictive: See how far you can fling a paper airplane.
• The Warholizer lets you upload your own digital photos, and it turns them into the kind of multi-image, multi-color portrait that Andy Warhol made so famous. Very cool.
The misheard lyrics comments have been hilarious. Two songs especially have started debates -- Keith Urban's "You'll Think of Me" and Toto's "Africa." In Urban's song, he does indeed sing, "Take your CAT and leave my sweater," but a reader comment saying that he hears "take your CAP" has started a bunch of readers buzzing, thinking they've been hearing it wrong all this time. Now I'm no Keith Urban expert, but the "CAT' version is indeed given on his Web site as the correct lyrics for the song. Meow!
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We've been discussing made-up and just plain bad lyrics, death songs, and more, but one topic that keeps cropping up is the lair of the misheard lyric (as in "wrapped up like a douche"). From the numerous versions of popular songs that exist only in our heads, you'd think we were all half-deaf.
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Time for another time-wasting Multi-link Monday. Remember, you can suggest sites for inclusion -- just post them in the comments and I'll check them out.
• Did you grow up spending days poring over holiday catalogs from Sears, Penneys and the like, admiring the pages filled with toys and wishing for that Barbie Dream House/Evel Knievel Chopper Cycle/whatever? Now you can relive those days, because someone with an incredible amount of patience has scanned entire catalogs from our past online. Get prepared to spend hours at Wishbook Web, and share your favorite finds in the comments.
• I didn't discover this until after the Sept. 11 tributes last week, but there is a large, clear Webcam focused on the construction work at New York City's Ground Zero, the former World Trade Center site. One of the sharpest Webcams I've seen in a while.
• If roses took LSD, or hung out with the Grateful Dead and decided to tie-dye themselves, they might look a little something like these Rainbow Roses. Perfect for the bride who can't decide on just one or two wedding colors -- you gotta see them to believe them. (Link via my pal Ann in the UK.)
• I confess, I have a soft spot for Jelly Belly jellybeans and all their goofy flavors, from Buttered Popcorn to Chocolate Pudding. I actually entered their "recipe" contest, in which consumers suggest a number of flavors that, when eaten together, create a fun taste. Mine (Bahama Mama, like the tropical drink) didn't make the cut, but some other interesting ones did. You can read the recipes and vote for your favorite here. Caramel Pear Torte sounds darn good to me.
• Reader-submitted link: Writes Stephanie: "You've probably already linked this before, but I've never seen it and it's pretty cool: The World Clock." We haven't linked it, Stephanie, and it is indeed pretty cool. It tracks way more than time -- temperature, the world population, traffic accidents, diseases, the U.S. prison population, the number of cars made, and more.
