Remember a decade ago when you used to get so much more work done than you do today? Then along came YouTube and your productivity sharply dropped. In February 2015, YouTube turns ten years old, and what better way to celebrate the last decade than to remember all those time-wasting viral videos.
So, The Daily Conversation has put together a YouTube supercut to remind us of those epic moments we watched on our computers. Some moments were world-changing, while others were just plain fun. Check it out.
What is your favorite YouTube viral video? Leave your two cents in the comments.
We are used to seeing Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy as relatively young men in films from the prime of their career together that spanned 1926-1945. By chance, both did appear as even younger men in the movie The Lucky Dog (1921), although it was before the two became a team. As for after the 1926-1945 period, following the main years of their career together, the two men did appear together in the 1950s before Hardy passed away.
Their last feature film together was an Italian-French production called Atoll K, which was released in 1951 and marketed in the U.S. as Utopia and in the U.K. as Robinson Crusoeland. It had been more than six years since Laurel and Hardy had appeared together in their previous film, 20th Century Fox’s The Bullfighters (1945). Below is the trailer for Utopia (1951).
At the time of the filming of Atoll K/Utopia, the two men were not in good health as the production faced various challenges. Most considered the resulting poorly dubbed film a disaster. If you would like to watch the entire movie, it is available on YouTube.
After Atoll K, around 1954, Laurel and Hardy appeared on the TV show This is Your Life, hosted by Ralph Edwards. The series surprised and honored people by recounting their life and bringing on people who knew them. In this episode devoted to both Laurel and Hardy, the guests included Buster Keaton.
Finally, a silent home video captured Laurel and Hardy in 1956 at the Reseda, California home of Stan Laurel’s daughter, Lois. Stan Laurel had been born with the name Arthur Stanley Jefferson on June 16, 1890 in the United Kingdom, so he was around 66 years old at the time of the video. He would live awhile longer until he passed away on February 23, 1965 in California.
Oliver Hardy, whose birth name was Norvell Hardy, was born on January 18, 1892 in Georgia, so he was around 64 at the time of the home video. Hardy earlier had a heart attack in 1954 and at the time of the video, he only had about a year to live as he passed away on August 7, 1957 in Los Angeles.
So, check out this 1956 home video from the UCLA archives, which may be the last time the two giants appeared together on film. Even without sound, you can see the spirit of the two men as they look into the camera one last time.
What is your favorite Laurel and Hardy moment? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Brian Wilson has released a video for a new song “The Right Time” from his upcoming No Pier Pressure album. And if you prefer more than one Beach Boy, the new song also features David Marks and Al Jardine, who sings lead on the song.
Check out “The Right Time.”
Wilson originally planned to do the album with the Beach Boys, but after a falling out with the band he decided to feature various guests on No Pier Pressure, including Jardine and Marks. The album, which Capitol Records will release on April 7, also features Kacey Musgraves, fun.’s Nate Ruess and She & Him’s Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward.
What do you think of “The Right Time”? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Most of us have watched different movies, TV shows, cartoons, and actors take on Batman through the years. But Jacob T. Swinney came up with the idea to revisit the various incarnations in one video, The Evolution of Batman. Beginning with serials from the 1940s, Swinney takes us on an exciting tour through the years.
Singer-songwriter Lesley Gore has passed away on February 16, 2015 at the age of 68 from complications related to cancer. Gore had a long track record of great hit songs that started when she was 16 years old with the 1963 hit recording of “It’s My Party.”
Other hit songs included “Judy’s Turn to Cry,” “You Don’t Own Me,” “That’s the Way Boys Are,” and “Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows.” All of those performances are easily found on the Internet.
Additionally, she co-wrote the beautiful song “Out Here On My Own,” which was performed by Irene Cara in the movie Fame (1980). I still recall the first time I heard that song in the movie theater. It is the only time I have heard an audience applaud for a song in the middle of a film.
An interesting video you might otherwise overlook is her November 10, 1969 appearance on The Mike Douglas Show. Typically, she gives an excellent singing performance. But then she sits down and discusses the Vietnam War with Barry Goldwater.
Gore’s discussion with Goldwater is a nice reminder how people can disagree on television without screaming at each other. Check it out.
What is your favorite Lesley Gore recording? Leave your two cents in the comments.
, including Jardine and Marks. The album, which Capitol Records will release on April 7, also features Kacey Musgraves, fun.’s Nate Ruess and She & Him’s Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward.
