On Wednesday night, actor Will Ferrell did the introductions for the visiting Chicago Bulls and the home team New Orleans Hornets. The introductions are pretty funny (“he majored in Econ but minored in looove”), and the NBA players seemed to take the jokes in good humor. [Update: Unfortunately the video is no longer available.]
The New Orleans fans had fun, at least through the introductions. The Bulls won the game 90-67.
Was it good fun to have Will Ferrell do the introductions or was it a distraction from the game? Leave your two cents in the comments.
After last year’s excellent “Darth Vader Kid” (“The Force”) commercial, Volkswagen has gone back to the Star Wars films to present one of the few things that can compete with a kid: dogs. Below is “The Bark Side,” which is Volkswagen’s new commercial that like last year’s commercial features the Star Wars “Imperial March” theme music.
The dogs each represent someone or some thing from Star Wars, including the whippet dog as an All Terrain Armored Transport vehicle (AT–AT). Can you find Princess Leia, Luke, and Han Solo? If you are having trouble identifying the dogs, check out this slide show. The VW commercial will air during the Super Bowl like last year’s “The Force,” featuring the Darth Vader Kid.
When I saw the “Bark Side” title, I initially thought we were going to get a cover of Eddie and the Cruisers — I mean John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band. Well, maybe the dogs will cover “On the Dark Side” next.
What do you think of the new commercial? Leave your two cents in the comments.
In case you missed the biggest hits of 2010, this guy (posted as okaysamurai on YouTube) has put together a medley of some of the biggest hits of the year in a video called “Extraneous Lyrics.” The catch is that he changed the lyrics while still getting to the essence of the songs. My favorite is his cover of Cee Lo Green’s “Procreate With Yourself.”
An astute commenter noted that the songs in the video are: (1) “Dynamite” by Taio Cruz; (2) “Love The Way You Lie” by Eminem and Rihanna; (3) “F*** You” by Cee Lo Green; (4) “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga; (5) “Tik Tok” by Ke$ha; (6) “Baby” by Justin Beiber; (7) “California Gurls” by Katy Perry; and (8) “Teenage Dream” by Katy Perry.
One of the highlights from the most recent Saturday Night Live was the “Jack Sparrow” video by Michael Bolton and Lonely Island, the group featuring Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone. The group has had a number of hilarious songs, and they are releasing their album, Turtleneck & Chain, this week. Lonely Island’s work also includes “I Just Had Sex” (feat. Akon) and the classic “Lazy Sunday.”
The new video, “Jack Sparrow,” features Michael Bolton, who does an outstanding job. Whether you are a fan of humor or of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, just watch it yourself.
I enjoy William Shatner’s half-hour talk show on the Biography Channel, Raw Nerve. The show features an intimate conversation with various guests, and I like that Shatner asks each guest to bring an object from home that has some special meaning. William Shatner is not a trained inteviewer, but he is William Shatner and he brings his Shatnerness to each show. Although he interviews a wide variety of guests, a few shows have featured Star Trek alum, and one show revealed Walter Koenig, who played Chekhov on the original series, to be quite thoughtful about his career. It was also interesting to see Shatner struggle with how he has treated other cast members disrespectfully in the past.
William Shatner, who turned 80 last Tuesday, has a personality that has aged well. He makes a good career of mocking his image as a younger man who was full of himself. One of the best things one can do in maturity is to laugh at one’s younger self.
Time Magazine recently did a fun feature of The Top 10 Unforgettable William Shatner Moments, only a few of which involve any scenes from Star Trek. One of my favorite moments is from the 1978 Science Fiction Film Awards, where William Shatner’s performs Elton John’s “Rocket Man.” What is better than one William Shatner? Three William Shatners! The video starts off amazing and just gets better, so make sure you hang around for the second and third William Shatners to appear. Unfortunately, there is no evil Shatner with a goatee but there is a lot of cigarette smoking.
While his performance of “Rocket Man” above is great because it is funny, Shatner’s cover of Pulp’s “Common People” with Joe Jackson is just a great version of of a great song. I have it on my iPod by choice.
“It was fun.” — James T. Kirk, in Star Trek: Generations.
, this week. Lonely Island’s work also includes 
