We interrupt this edition of Friday Face-Offs for a brief PSA about our next VP:
Wish I could take credit for “Lake Oshkamagosh,” but it was ad-libbed.
(P.S. If you have a digg account, please digg this as a personal favor for me. Thanks.)
FFO: WEEK 1, Uncategorized
Friday Face-Offs: Umbrella – 3rd Place
Sorry to say I can’t embed this one. “Embedding disabled by request.” I assume she got tired of the marriage proposals?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQmtpJwRcck
I trust you agree: This is championship material.
Best part? 0:12, when the little guy tries to update his facebook account(?)
Another great thing about this performance is how it changes the lyrical meaning of the song. For who is the ultimate umbrella? MOM.
FRIDAY FACE-OFFS!!! WE’RE DOING IT FOR THE MOMS!!!
Only two videos left . . .
FFO: WEEK 1, Uncategorized
Friday Face-Offs: Umbrella – 4th Place
I know, I know: Some Russian art student playing “Umbrella” on the accordion while dressed as a bear . . . been there, done that . . . this is lame.
Oh, yeah? Why don’t you watch 1:43 and get back to me?
And then what about when he shreds the solo?
My favorite thing about this video is the title: “Umbrella Russian version.”
I love that this is the traditional Russian arrangement of “Umbrella,” handed down from father to son over the centuries. MAYBE YOU CAN EVEN SEE IT FROM ALASKA.
FRIDAY FREAKIN’ FACE-OFFS!!!
FFO: WEEK 1, Uncategorized
Friday Face-Offs: Umbrella – 5th Place
Simply put, this is one of the greatest short films ever made.
Here’s what they’ll talk about when they induct this film into the MoMA Museum of Best Films Of All Time That You Love:
1. 0:09 – 0:21.
2. 0:29?!? Pardon me?!? Umm, does that camera pan open up the world of this video very hard? Are we suddenly confronted with the endless possibilities inherit in our universe very hard?!? You thought there was only one guitarist? You thought we would never see the guy with the pizza again? You thought someone wasn’t going to make a silly face at the camera? YOU THOUGHT WRONG. M. Night Shyamalan wishes he could make a movie with this many twists and turns.
3. 0:44 – 0:53. Pure joy. (This is what takes the video into the stratosphere.)
4. The ending. One of the guitarists hit a total clam that disrupts the easy, familial warmth. A subtext of dread intrudes. LOVE IT.
From the user’s youtube description of the video:
“We never get tired of jammin.”
FRIDAY FACE-OFFS. WE NEVER GET TIRED OF JAMMIN.
FFO: WEEK 1, Uncategorized
Friday Face-Offs: Umbrella – 6th place
“There are thousands of acoustic versions of ‘Umbrella’ on youtube. What made you pick this one? Is it really worthy of FRIDAY FACE-OFFS?“
Umm. . . maybe you didn’t notice one little thing. . . that the keyboard player is the baddest kid in the universe? Umm. . . maybe you should notice that?
Maybe you should notice how hard he sets off the beat right from the get-go, then scratches his ear, like “Whatever, I’m holding this beat down like a total bad-ass,” and then at 0:33, he’s like “Yeah maybe I should start dominating this Casio right about now and crush all other keyboard players ever.”
FRIDAY FACE-OFFS. BRING YOUR GAME FACE.
FFO: WEEK 1, Uncategorized
Friday Face-Offs: Umbrella – 7th Place
Anybody mind if this guy programs his own music-box version of “Umbrella” and then sings along in his attic?
I didn’t think so.
By the way: 1:47? It’s all you, son.
From the comments: “You butchered it in a good way.”
FFO: WEEK 1, Uncategorized
Friday Face-Offs: Umbrella – 8th Place
I don’t like the toilet . . . but I like the groove. I think they’re foreigners.
LOL, “You’re still my shining car.”
FFO: WEEK 1, Uncategorized
Friday Face-Offs!!!
Finally.
This is what I’ve been looking forward to.
This is why I wanted to start blogging.
This is the change we need:
Friday Face-Offs.
Welcome to the birth of an internet legend!
This week’s FRIDAY FACE-OFF is: “Umbrella” by Rihanna. Watch the original version here:
When she recorded the ‘ellas,’ you knew it was about to be the jump-off and your life was about to change if you had anything to do with that record.
—Christopher “Tricky” Stewart, producer of “Umbrella”
Check back later this morning for our first contestant.
FRIDAY FACE-OFFS!!!!!!
Uncategorized
Exciting Debut Tomorrow . . .
Tomorrow my blog will advance to the next level of glory. . . the next level of invincibility. . . all other blogs will be trembling and quivering, like Zapatero in the presence of McCain. . .
Tomorrow we really get into it. . .
For tomorrow will mark the debut of. . .
FRIDAY FACE-OFFS.
Uncategorized
TALKING POINTS MEMO: THE FOURTH GOLDEN AGE.
Now that my blog is up and running, I want to say publicly what I’ve been saying privately for weeks:
We are in the fourth golden age of talkingpointsmemo.com.
I will explain everything in minute detail over the next few months; for now, let the record show I was the first to call it:
We are in the fourth golden age of talkingpointsmemo.com!!!
“ANALYSIS OF THE GOLDEN AGES OF TALKINGPOINTSMEMO.COM”
By David Rees, a hot new blogger on the scene.
PRE-GOLDEN AGE ERA:
When the site featured a photo of J.M.M. reading the internet. Old-school. Still finding its sea legs. First web site to use beige color scheme.
FIRST GOLDEN AGE:
Classic nerd TPM (circa 2 years ago), when it was all about local congressional races and “Here’s one thing we’ve been tracking in Delaware’s 9th congressional ward. . . has anybody seen Rep. Miller’s (R, MO-7) statement on Duke Cunningham. . . etc.” Total obscure nerd political news. . . The original golden age, often parodied by me and my friends in emails to each other. . . Classic. . . All hardcore TPM fans know this was the original TPM, never to be duplicated. . .
SECOND GOLDEN AGE:
When J.M.M. brought down the Attorney General of the United States. . . When the site really blew up and they won a big award. . . Basically this took them to a new level that most blogs can’t even aspire to. . . J.M.M. put all other blogs on notice. . . his name started ringing out on the corners. . . like Marlo Stanfield. . . “MY NAME IS MY NAME!!!”
MICRO GOLDEN AGE:
When they made a blooper reel of TPM video outtakes. . . and the reel was twenty minutes long. . . featuring the most banal, boring bloopers of all time. . . total nerd paradise. . . I give this an honorary “Micro Golden Age” rating. . .
THIRD GOLDEN AGE:
When J.M.M. became instantly disgusted with John McCain’s campaign and started calling out the press’s McCain-adulation harder than anyone else. . . This was the Golden Age that made me realize TPM was rapidly moving through a series of Golden Ages that must be documented and analyzed for all posterity. . . This was when I started yelling “Golden Age!” whenever I read a good post. . .
FOURTH GOLDEN AGE, A.K.A. “THE SURGE”:
Basically, an escalation of the Third Golden Age. . . J.M.M. becoming obviously enraged. . . A new, more emotionally intense TPM experience. . . Totally anti-Palin, anti-McCain. . . J.M.M. was never charmed by Palin, not even for one second. . . I knew we were in a new Golden Age when J.M.M. dropped a “WTF” in a recent post. . . I was surprised that a new Golden Age had come so quickly, but I was ready. . . OF ALL MY FRIENDS, I WAS THE FIRST TO RECOGNIZE THIS AS THE FOURTH GOLDEN AGE. . .
FIFTH GOLDEN AGE:
The future is yet to be written. . . . . . TPM Media, recognize. . . .