CNN, Facebook, T-Mobile and the Ad that beat all Superbowl's

I had a bit of a whinge last week about the SuberBowl’s ads. To reiterate: most were pretty awful, with a few stand outs. Well, CNN.com was reporting today ‘Facebook flashmob shuts down station.’ And being my inquisitive self I decided to check this story out. Basically a Facebook group invited people in Liverpool, England to group dance at Liverpool Station replicating a similar event that was actually a T-mobile ad. Furthering my investigation I tracked down that T-mobile ad. And what I found, I think, put most super bowl XLIII ad’s to shame.

The Advertisement:



How It Was Made:

Grammy Award Predictions

The 51st annual Grammy Awards are tonight (8pm on CBS). Me and a friend over at Harris Truth, have played a game to guess which artist, song or band would win each award over the past couple of years (and this year is no different). Usually we stick to the awards we have at least some idea of, a list which has been recreated (and abbreviated) below. Today, before the show, I've made my decisions and expect another post in the next couple of days with reactions to the Grammy’s and the awards.
blue = who I think will win
orange = who I want to win

Record Of The Year
(Award to the Artist and to the Producer(s), Recording Engineer(s) and/or Mixer(s), if other than the artist.)

Chasing Pavements
Adele

Viva La Vida
Coldplay

Bleeding Love
Leona Lewis

Paper Planes
M.I.A

Please Read The Letter
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

Album Of The Year
(Award to the Artist(s) and to the Album Producer(s), Recording Engineer(s)/Mixer(s) & Mastering Engineer(s), if other than the artist.)

Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends
Coldplay
(also want to win)

Tha Carter III
Lil Wayne

Year Of The Gentleman
Ne-Yo

Raising Sand
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

In Rainbows
Radiohead

Song Of The Year
(A Songwriter(s) Award. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.)

American Boy
Estelle Featuring Kanye West

Chasing Pavements
Adele

I'm Yours
Jason Mraz
(also want to win)

Love Song
Sara Bareilles

Viva La Vida
Coldplay

Best New Artist
(For a new artist who releases, during the Eligibility Year, the first recording which establishes the public identity of that artist.)

Adele
(also want to win)

Duffy

Jonas Brothers

Lady Antebellum

Jazmine Sullivan


Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
(For a solo vocal performance. Singles or Tracks only.)

Chasing Pavements
Adele

Love Song
Sara Bareilles

Mercy
Duffy

Bleeding Love
Leona Lewis

I Kissed A Girl
Katy Perry

So What
Pink

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
(For a solo vocal performance. Singles or Tracks only.)

All Summer Long
Kid Rock

Say
John Mayer

That Was Me
Paul McCartney

I'm Yours
Jason Mraz

Closer
Ne-Yo

Wichita Lineman
James Taylor

Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals
(For established duos or groups, with vocals. Singles or Tracks only.)

Viva La Vida
Coldplay
(also want to win)

Waiting In The Weeds
Eagles

Going On
Gnarls Barkley

Won't Go Home Without You
Maroon 5

Apologize
OneRepublic

Resonding: Taken and Returned for no Refund

So I got this review to my last post, so I thought I'd respond.

Anonymous, February 8, 2009 2:22 AM:
You are being completely biased and exaggerating. The action sequences were standard with any other action movie that has come out in the past 5 years. The story was not as predictable as you claim, yes we know how it starts and where it will end but the story of how it gets there is not what most expect. A movie tells a story from beginning to end, if you don't want to know the middle then don't see it and then waste our time with your bias review. And how can you claim that "Liam Neeson is not ... James Bond", comparing apples to oranges is something you should have learned not to do in primary school; Liam Neeson, actor... Jack Bauer, character... James Bond, character played by multiple actors; none should be compared to each other. And fix your spelling and grammar.

"You are being completely biased and exaggerating"
I’m not arguing here, I went into the movie not thrilled with its original premise (which I knew).

"The action sequences were standard with any other action movie that has come out in the past 5 years."
Again, I stated this in the post…so no argument from me here. Thanks for endorsing my point. The action in this movie was completely ‘standard’.

"The story was not as predictable as you claim, yes we know how it starts and where it will end but the story of how it gets there is not what most expect. A movie tells a story from beginning to end, if you don't want to know the middle then don't see it"
We differ here. Categorically knowing the end of a film MAKES it a BAD film. You don’t want to start a book already knowing the end. You don’t pick up Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and know that everything in the book is moving towards awarding Charlie the chocolate factory.

"And how can you claim that "Liam Neeson is not ... James Bond", comparing apples to oranges is something you should have learned not to do in primary school."
I’m sorry that I dumbed down my post so that it conflicted with your obviously high intellectual aptitude. I simply thought that brand names would be more recognizable than a series of actor’s names. Also, apples are red while oranges are orange; both are roundish: compared!

"And fix your spelling and grammar."
Stop being a bitch and hiding behind Anonymous comments.

Taken and Returned for No Refund

Liam Neeson takes to the screen in this big time flop of an action movie. Calling on Jack Bauer (‘open a socket Chloe’), and his Qui-Gon Jedi force powers to reclaim his daughter which he lost sometime in her childhood. The daughter, who appears physically unable to move anywhere without running (or running at all for that matter) is kidnapped by Albanians. Suddenly the family that he lost, and subsequently got shut out of wants him back for use of his ‘very particular set of skills’. Through his disturbing obsession with photographs, he figures out who took his daughter. That person subsequently gets run over by a truck (best part of the movie). Through a unfollowable and inane sequence of events included a jeep race through a god damn huge construction yard, shooting a ex-friends wife in the shoulder, uncovering a bribery scandal in the French police, saving a pop star, trying to buy a hooker, and racking up a body count of at least 30 he rescues his daughter for the sultan.
As an action movie it included the classic characteristics. Action too fast for the eyes to follow. Reliable two car chases. High body count. And voices deeper and more stressed than they need be. Its big downfall was that a) Liam Neeson is not Jack Bauer or Borne or James bond, and b) the plot was too predictable. We knew that he had to get his daughter back, and it was pretty probable that the daughter’s friend would die. Now redo the movie where the daughter dies. That’s a twist I want to see. And make the cause because she can’t manage to run in any measurable form or style.

666 Albums

I don't generally use Grid view in iTunes but for some reason today i was checking it out. I just happened to click on albums, and found out i had 666 albums! spooky, no?Actually,I added another album straight after this...so technically i have 667 now.
(and 481 artists)

5 Best Super Bowl Commercials

Carrying on a tradition I started last year I thought I’d name my favorite commercials from this year’s super bowl. (Why not? As it seems every other internet blogger has shoved their opinions down your throat with a plunger in the past couple of days). Another traditional I’ll carry on is the not liking the commercials. The commercials this year ridiculed the actual game play (the football thing that was happening) by trying to top its pointlessness (side note: who actually cared about Steelers vs Cardinals). Needless to say there were some that stood out in some sort of way, and they’re listed below in some order I haven’t actually figured out, and probably won’t.

5. Doritos, “Crystal Ball”
Comment: ha, he got hit in the balls.


4. Pepsi, “I’m Good”
Comment: ha, he got hit in the ass, back of the head, face, head, head and got electrocuted.


C. Monsters vs Aliens
Comment: its 3D! (Yes we got the glasses)…and no, this isn’t the same 3D as they will use in the actual movie. But who doesn't want to see a movie staring Seth Rogan, Hugh Laurie, Paul Rudd, Kiefer Sutherland, Rainn Wilson, Will Arnett and Stephen Colbert.


TWO: Hulu, ‘Alec in Huluwood’
Comment: dugg for ‘An evil plot to destroy the world. Enjoy.’ …and Alec Baldwin


I. Carreerbuilder.com
Comment: Now I know. Now I know when its time. Now I know when its time for a new job.

Oh Dear God…the Snuggie

I’ve been obscenely opposed to this commercial since returning to America and finding it plastered all over TV (oi vey CNN…I suppose it beats HeadOn). So, imagine my surprise when I read an article today that the Snuggie (the blanket with sleeves!) has sold 4 million units. That’s $40 million in retail sales?!?! So many blankets, in fact, that they are on backorder from the factory that produces them in China.
My objections to this in demand article layered in sarcasm and distaste. I should start firstly with the ridiculous nature of the Snuggie. I’m sorry, get a big blanket and deal with it. Which genius (and where) decided that making a backwards coat would be a good idea if it was made out of fleece. Apart from its awful design that likens to Technicolor Halloween ghost costumes or 14th century monk robes, the fleece itself isn’t actually comfortable. I recently had the displeasure of being in bed bath & beyond this past weekend and snuck a feel at the Snuggie to find it more of a coarse, thin and undeserving material than the advertised ‘ultra soft’. And don’t get me started about the 3 attractive colors that they decided would be good choices. Simple point is, if I catch anyone wearing one of these absurd backwards gowns, I will laugh in their faces firstly for ordering anything from Direct Response TV and secondly for, of all things, ordering the Snuggie.

Other people have the same aversion to this bizarre product:
'the WTF Blanket'

I’m fairly sure Jesus wore one of these.

Getting UP in DOWN Times

Subtitle: Reel Big Fish, Streetlight Manifesto and Tip the Van: Toads Place, New Haven CT 1/23/09

There is no denying that Ska music can be some of the most entertaining, energetic and enthusiastic music around. So was it really a surprise that the 1300 person venue, New Haven’s Toad’s Place (CT), sold out one of the biggest Ska tickets currently touring.
The show opened with Tip the Van, whose home state roots shone through and the crowd vigorously got into their music. The 6 year old Ska group led by two sisters (Nicole and Simone) brought the venue to life and were substantially better than my sometimes musically challenged comrade made them out to be.
Of course, Tip the Van was just the opener to the two bands that made this venue sell out. Streetlight Manifesto took the stage and the crowd took to them. Despite some sound issues during the first couple of songs (given that Toad’s Place’s sound system isn’t that good to begin with) the Streetlight feeling broke though. With songs from both old and new album (almost a year old now) and the always good ‘Point/Counter Point’, ‘Keasby Nights’ mash up. This was the third time that I had seen Streetlight (currently holding the record for most views), and they rock the house every time and this was no different.
With little to no further ado Reel Big Fish was on the stage with a band and launched headlong into ‘Trendy’. Having just released their new album this week, the Fish mixed in some of their new songs from that record (all of which were thoroughly enjoyable), some of the better songs from their Previous Album and the crowd classics that have come to define Reel Big Fish. By the end of the main set they had had both lead singers of Tip the Van back on stage to sing with ‘She has a girlfriend now’, trumpet player from old Tyler Jones (pre Johnny Christmas) and the trombone player from the Mighty Mighty Bosstones to sing along too. With these cameos, their relentlessly animated music and comedic intercourse with your brain the Reel Big Fish showed how to get up and dance when times are down. As always, it seems, the Reel Big Fish take the energy level to new highs and by the end of the night, nearly 2 hours from taking the stage, they had achieved this once again.
Oh, and if you were wondering who started that rousing ‘Ole Ole’ to which the Reel Big Fish answered by coming back on stage playing it in the beginning of the encore, well it was me and 6 other friends in what has become a tradition for Reel Big Fish shows.

Seaworld is NOT Disney

…so why is it trying to be? Seaworld is actually owned by Anheuser-Busch, the same company that owns Busch Gardens, which I guess I didn’t know until getting down to Florida this week. But this has nothing to do with the title save for the fact that Seaworld is not Disney. In fact it’s always been a break from the sometimes overbearing Disney atmosphere. So imagine my surprise sitting down for the dolphin show and being overwhelmed by the imagine-a-fantastic-once-upon-a-dream-magic schemed show reminiscent of any Disney production.
Not cool SeaWorld.
They took what I remember being a fairly sane and informational show mixed with lots of cool dolphin tricks with balls and jumps etc, and replaced it with a few dolphin tricks, dancing, happy-go-lucky orchestral music, parrots, flags, water jets and sprays, trapeze artists, plumes, feathers and the rejects from the USA Olympic diving team.
They did the same thing with the Shamu show too, although for that they kept a lot of the tricks that make an aquatic show great.
So shame on you SeaWorld, I can’t believe what a fantastical mess you made of this show. Also boo for not having Atlantis open yesterday either.
A quick note: Kraken is a great roller coaster and Manta looks like it’ll be good too (summer 09).

POTM: Iced Up

(Picture of the Moment)
A recent storm dumped ice and freezing rain on most of the tri-state area and what resulted, especially in my area was a town-wide virtual skating rink. This is just one path in the back woods where i walk my dogs which had anywhere from a coating to 1/2 of an inch of ice...2 days later.