Nothing Interesting Has Happened

I wish I could say I was joking, but I'm not. Literally nothing interesting has happened to me recently, hence my reluctance to write a blog post.

So here's the new Piano Guys video.

Proving That Science Make Everything Cool

Like most of the world, I've been hit with that goofy little song and dance, the Gangnam Style. If you don't know what it is, here's the original video.



It's cute, I'll give it that. But I find the video (not the music or the silly dance that goes with it) rather boring.

That's when I discovered that the folks at NASA's Johnson Space Center made a parody. It is so much cooler than the original. It's a bunch of people geeking out for three minutes. No, really.



I really wish I'd become an astronaut.

Countdown to Christmas Playlist - Day 12

Today marks the final two songs on your playlist. These were, oddly enough, the first two songs I chose for this, and they're the last ones here (I start with how I want things to end. Don't mock me).

We'll start with Bebo Norman. This is one of my all time favorite contemporary Christmas songs. It's called "Come and Worship."



Lastly we have John Denver and the Muppets. This is their rendition of "Silent Night." It includes a brief history of the song.



Tomorrow will feature the entire list complete with album names.

Countdown to Christmas Playlist - Day 11

I'm ba-ack! Two more songs for you.

Okay, this is the last Piano Guys song on this playlist. I promise. I can't help myself. It's "We Three Kings," and I'm pretty enchanted.



We also have Sting. I've been a fan of Sting since high school, and he's done an absolutely fabulous rendition of "I Saw Three Ships." This rendition is specifically from "A Very Special Christmas 3."



Oh, and if you were worried, either because you noticed that the 12th and final installation of this playlist is ending tomorrow - the 23rd for those of you who don't know what day it is - or because you wonder exactly what CD each song is on, don't worry. I'll be posting a full list with all of the info on Christmas Eve.

Countdown to Christmas Playlist - Day 10

Welcome back! I'm at my parents' place now as Christmas approaches. So I have two more songs for your playlist, as usual. Tonight we're going indie. I have two indie bands lined up with some very interesting songs from each one.

The first comes from a Jewish band called The Leevees. Usually they sing about Channukka, but their song "Holiday" is a great little piece for anyone who likes the season.

Unfortunately you're just going to have to trust me on this one. There are not any previews on the internet to be had. That's the problem with indie bands - there aren't a lot of previews because nobody knows who they are.

Abney Park is a steampunk group. They're a bunch of steampunk pirates, and their album "Through Your Eyes on Christmas Eve" is what would happen if a bunch of pirates sang Christmas songs, with understandably hilarious results. (I was driving and almost went off the road while listening to their rendition of "Baby, It's Cold Outside." If you get a chance, listen for what's really in her drink!)

This is the album's title song, "Through Your Eyes on Christmas Eve."



See you tomorrow!

Countdown to Christmas Playlist - Day 9

It's 11pm. I've been packing and getting ready to go home for the holidays all day and I'm getting into bed. Then I go "Oh crap!" and realize I hadn't blogged today. Whoops!

The Piano Guys are back (I warned you - I had more than one song of theirs on this. They rock) with "O Come, O Come Emmanuel."



Then we have another American Idol runner up, Clay Aiken. I am absolutely in love with his rendition of "Hark! The Harold Angels Sing." Also, here's a quick thing about him: He's part of something called the National Inclusion Project which is helping to include disabled children in summer camps, after school programs and other activities. You should totally check it out and support them.



I'll be driving to my parents' place tomorrow for Christmas so I'll do my best to get a post up as soon as I get there. See you tomorrow!

Countdown to Christmas Playlist - Days 7 & 8

Because I totally know my days of the week and thought yesterday was Monday (go figure), I completely spaced posting yesterday. Okay, we'll just play catchup.

Of all the Muppets, Rowlf the Dog is probably my favorite. He plays fantastic music and does wonderful solos and duets. The song is "The Christmas Party Sing-a-Long," but there isn't a good Youtube video for it so here's a link to a page with a short preview clip. It's from "The Muppets: A Green and Red Christmas."

The Christmas Party Sing-a-Long

The next song is by a cappella group Go Fish. They've been a favorite of mine for awhile. We're listening to their cover of "Silent Night." It's not your typical rendition, as a heads up.



A few years ago the American Idol runner up was David Archuleta. He's from Murray - not too far away from me - so being a Utah dweller I can't leave him off the list. His rendition of "Pat-a-Pan" is stunning and included on this playlist.


The Trans-Siberian Orchestra is back with their song "Christmas Jam" on the playlist! Just a little more rock to brighten your holiday.


I'll be back tomorrow with more music!

Countdown to Christmas Playlist - Day 6

Two more tracks tonight! These two have a much more classical edge to them than anything else I've played so far.

The first song is by George Winston. It's his rendition of Carol of the Bells. There are not prettier versions. Trust me on this.



The second song comes from America's choir - The Mormon Tabernacle Choir. In my opinion, it isn't Christmas without hearing them sing Joy to the World. Literally, if you haven't listened to that Santa won't come to your house. It's true.



I'll be back tomorrow with more music! See you then!

Countdown to Christmas - Day 5

Welcome back, everyone! Two more tracks for you tonight.

The first track is from my all-time favorite group ever, The Piano Guys (be aware, they have more than one track in this playlist. I am a Piano Guys fangirl). The track is their rendition of Carol of the Bells. And yes, I totally posted this in last year's Christmas Countdown. I don't care. It rocks.



The second is from Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. Yes, that's the band's name. They've got some pretty great stuff if you ask me. The song is Mr. Heatmiser. It's got a nice groove to it, so have some fun dancing at the next Christmas party.



See you all tomorrow for yet another addition to your playlist!

Countdown to Christmas Playlist - Day 4

Today we start off with one of my favorite bands in general: Trans-Siberian Orchestra. The song is "Wizards in Winter." (BTW, this video rocks in general, not just because it has an awesome song attached to it)



The next song is by the Barenaked Ladies. Their cover of Jingle Bells is... interesting, to say the least. Have fun with it, I know I do.



Tune in again tomorrow for some more additions to your Christmas Playlist!

Countdown to Christmas Playlist - Day 2 and 3

Terribly sorry for not posting last night, but I was struck with a monster headache after work and couldn't even look at a computer screen. So today I'm posting in the morning and you're getting last night's songs and today's songs. And since today's songs are a variation on the same theme, I've probably planned this perfectly and wasn't even trying.

Song number 3 on your playlist will be The Christmas Can-Can by Straight, No Chaser.



Song number 4 is a song that's been repurposed into a Christmas classic: Linus and Lucy by Vince Guaraldi.



Songs number 5 and 6 are both by Mannheim Steamroller. They are two versions of the same song, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.

The first is the classical style variation.



The second is the rock variation.



Tune in tomorrow for more of your playlist!

Countdown to Christmas Playlist - Day 1

Hey, everyone! I'm back, and I've been spending some time building a particularly cool Christmas countdown for this year.

This year I'm going to build you a Christmas playlist, two songs at a time until Christmas Eve. All of these songs can be found on Spotify and I'll provide a link to the playlist  at the end of the countdown.

We'll start things off with the James Dooley arrangement of Carol of the Bells.



We will then move onto a favorite of mine, Hanson's "What Christmas Means to Me."



Hope you guys have fun with this!

Merry Warped Christmas to You

It's getting to be the time of year where I start posting my warped Christmas stuff again.

Thank you Lumberjill of Ravelry for posting this video on a swap chatter thread. It's really, really funny.



Oh, and for those of you who followed along last year, how does a Christmas Countdown 2012 sound?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dear blog: I'm sorry I've been neglecting you. I blame National Novel Writing Month. I'm sorry I'm trying to make up for my lack of posting with a funny video.

Dear blog followers: Please don't do any of these things today.

THE END IS COMING!!!

THE END IS NIGH! THE ALPACAS ARE COMING! ALPACALYPSE 2012! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!!

And Now for Something Extraordinarily Satisfying

You're welcome.

Caine's Arcade and the Power of Social Media

If you are currently unaware of the story of Caine's Arcade, it's really very interesting.

Caine is a 9-year-old boy living in Los Angeles. His father owns a used auto parts store that doesn't get many walk-ins. Mostly his business is online. While Caine was there one summer he noticed that his father's business had a lot of cardboard boxes. So, with a dose of gumption and a double dose of imagination he built a basketball game. Then he built a soccer game and then a claw machine... all out of cardboard and other things he found around his father's shop.

However, he had trouble getting people to play his games. That's when filmmaker Nirvan Mullick stopped by for a new door handle for his '96 Corolla and decided to give the games a try. Caine told him "It's four games for a dollar and two dollars for a fun pass." A fun pass gets you 500 games! That's a pretty good deal if you ask me.

When Mullick discovered he was Caine's only customer, he decided to change all that. To do so, he went to the denizens of the internet.

If you didn't know this, the internet usually a pretty weird place. In some of the darker corners people speak in a strange hieroglyph of memes and funny pictures. You will be trolled and flamed repeatedly and you will need to watch your step because one false move and... BLOOIE!

And yet...

The internet has its moments.

Mullick started a flashmob event on Facebook and got as many people as he could to come and use Caine's Arcade. The event made it to the front page of Reddit (basically like the New York Times of what's happening online, populated by users, for users) and the story went viral.

Thanks to Mullick and the others who fell in love with Caine's Arcade, he now has a scholarship to go to college when he gets old enough.

It's not everyday the internet can say it sent a kid to college sometime in the future or made a 9-year-old Maker of Cool Things' day. Well done, internet. Well done.

Dear Blog

There was once a time where I had many more interesting things to do and therefore many more posts I could write.

Now I'm just forced to do nothing but post funny videos.

Skylar the Dell Laptop Redux

Dear Skylar the Dell Laptop:

I thought I was done with you until my mother phoned me this morning to ask why I fired you from your position as my computer. I was forced to answer honestly.

The reality was, you never wanted to be a computer. Some well-meaning individual at Dell likely told you there wasn't another option. You were born and bred to be a computer. And you humbly and begrudgingly accepted your position.

But the reality was, you always wanted to be a lumberjack.

Adopt First

I'm working on adopting a cat. More than 12 million dogs and cats are euthanized every year because there are simply more animals than there are adopting families. Please consider adopting your next pet.