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Don't touch that dial: Test Pattern tunes into television, movie, music and pop culture links, as well as gossip and idle chat from around the Web.

Every week, msnbc.com entertainment producers Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, Denise Hazlick, Paige Newman, Kurt Schlosser and Anna Chan weigh in on topics ranging from TV commercials to movie hype to the latest celebrity blunder. We're not ashamed to admit our love for bad TV or reveal what's on our iPods, and invite you to join the conversation via your comments.



Multi-link Monday: Swatches, sad Kermit, fat cats, more

Posted: Monday, May 12, 2008 3:00 AM by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper
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Welcome back, work Mondays (for me). Welcome back, Multi-link Monday (for you). The concept is simple: I link to five fun sites, usually pure time-wasters, to get your week off to a good start. Sometimes these sites are useful or educational, but mostly they're pure entertainment. You, too, can suggest MLM (not multi-level marketing!) sites. Leave them in the comments and I'll check them out. And happy Monday to all.

SAD KERMIT
Anyone who's ever heard "The Rainbow Connection" knows that Kermit the Frog can be one sad little green feller. SadKermit.com takes that one step further, presenting audio and video of the frog singing heartbreaking modern songs. Proof that this is NOT an approved Jim Henson venture is obvious when Kermie starts sticking the syringe in his arm while singing Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt." Personally, I love his take on "Hallelujah." It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall and the major lift.

FIND YOUR SWATCH
If you had a watch in the 1980s, it probably was a Swatch. Find it on SwatchandBeyond.com. Ah, for the days when a cheap plastic watch was king, so much so that we even wore Swatch Guards to protect (?) them. (Thanks to Emily for the addictive link!)

KIDS' DRAWINGS COME TO LIFE
I can't read a word on this site, but it's pretty clear what's going on. Photographers are taking children's drawings and recreating them with real models. This reminds me of a wonderful MAD Magazine feature where they showed what would happen if kids actually got to design their own toys -- the toys were all misshapen and weird since they were based on children's drawings. (Link via Lisa's Rage Diaries.)

PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE NOTES
I don't know why this site makes me laugh so hard. Maybe it's because I have a bit of the ol' passive-aggressive personality in me too, you know? And because I've also been on the receiving end of notes like these. Reading them over makes me very glad I no longer have roommates. (Warning: Some notes have adult content.)

GARFIELD MINUS GARFIELD
This one's been making its way around the Web, but in case you missed it...the "Garfield" comic strip is so much better when you remove Garfield.

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Comments

I did not have a Swatch.  I had it's even cheaper rip off, which I think was called the A-watch?  The jingle went, "You don't want a watch, you want A-watch, by Armitron!"  It was white with blue plaid lines and it did have some kind of guard, too.

I loved that watch.

Laurah in NY (Sent Monday, May 12, 2008 7:54 AM)

i checked every year & never saw the swatch i had.  i dont think that is a complete list.

fargo, nd (Sent Monday, May 12, 2008 8:36 AM)

I got screwed during the Swatch craze. I wanted one, vlbut a got a cheap(er) knock off instead. It was probably for the best anyway; I wasn't really the Swatch type guy.

Mike, Schaumburg, Ill (Sent Monday, May 12, 2008 9:44 AM)



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