homage
07/25/2007
Crank dat Soulja Boy with Barney
Some time when I wasn't paying attention, "Crank dat Soulja Boy" seized the imaginations of... well, everyone but me, apparently. Now the Webiverse is crawling with dance tutorials, karaoke editions, and many, many homages.
You got your Soulja Spongebob, your Soulja Naruto... even Winnie the Pooh's kickin it Soulja-style. But for flawless editing, unbridled whimsy, and sheer joyous surreality, you simply can't beat the Barney edition.
Sure, the hours the creator must have spent voluntarily watching Barney might make you worry a bit. And every once in a while you may get distracted wondering what the hell those Barney kids were originally supposed to be doing. (There's one move I've dubbed the Hitlercize.) But the fact is, this is just a beautifully put-together video.
Simply put, this shit is tight, yo.
11/23/2006
Alice’s Restaurant Massacre
Sung by Arlo Guthrie, Alice’s Restaurant is possibly the only 20-minute song that I've ever heard on the radio. Growing up in Massachusetts, this little Mass-a-cre would play on the classic rock station every year; listening to the painfully long broadcast became a family tradition. It's been several years since I left good old Mass, yet I can’t help but scavenge for the song every Turkey Day.
The song, which is more of a ballad, was written by Alro, son of folk legend Woody Guthrie, and released as the entire A-side of his first record in 1967. Based on a true story of warrants and trash-heap hauling, Guthrie’s song was made into a movie in 69.
Since many radio stations have stopped playing the song, this Thanksgiving tradition is honored on the web where the original recording of “Alice's Restaurant Massacre” is streamed on Turkey Day each year. Unable to find the song without buying the entire album, I opted for this festive little mash-up.
And if this cutesy collage is too much, there is also a live recording of Guthrie singing Alice.
