Old Music Tuesday: GLEE

Here are five guilty pleasure songs that I NEVER would have heard/loved if it wasn't for Glee:


5. Paramore - The Only Exception
From episode Britney/Brittany although the B Spears songs were fabulous this number snuck in and stole the show.  It also was a part of The Glee Project on the episode Believability.

4. Hey Monday - Candles

Performed by Darren Criss and Chris Colfer in the episode Original Song.  It is, simply put, sweet.

3. My Chemical Romance - Sing

I completely forgot this band existed until this song was on Glee and it is just so kickass (but the music video creeps me out and reminds me why I don't like them).  On the episode Comeback this song becomes the perfect anthem for the gleeks (Sue Sylvester even joins in ...only to sabotage them later).  It was also on the episode Generiosity for the Glee Project.  

2.  P!nk - Raise Your Glass

Another great gleek anthem but performed instead by The Warblers starring Darren Criss on the episode Original Song.  I don't ussually give P!nk much of a chance but Glee made me loveee this song.  It is super catchy and just plain fun.  It was also on the finale of The Glee Project.

1. Robin Thicke - When I Get You Alone

Performed by The Warblers on the Episode Silly Love Songs.  It takes place in the Gap which makes it even funnier but this song is CONSTANTLY stuck in my head because it is just that catchy and the background vocals make it even more entertaining.

I know not everyone will like me, but this is who I am so if you don't like it, tough! - Britney Spears

Just Playing With Food...and chalk and legos

I guess art can be anything and here are some real cool pieces of art with no paint required.

After looking at this...maybe you should play with your food:

 Check out the animals, people and other strange food art.  There are a few examples of different types from cake to even little people on food...


Now for some more food art check out Jelly Belly's Art Gallery:
 
They have made everyone from Marilyn to famous works such as Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night to Prince William and Kate Middleton...why? why not!


Now to take you back to your childhood with sidewalk chalk...taken to a whole new level:
Tracy Lee Stum does incredible 3d street painting and chalk art that is even interactive.
 
And to continue with the childhood reminiscing:


LEGOS: Nathan Sawaya makes incredible 3D structures with Legos:
 
He has made sculptures of everything from Conan O'Brien as the Flaming C and Stephen Colbert to a bumble bee and big bear and even a bed set entirely out of Legos.

Apparently playing with food or toys could be a career...




An artist is somebody who produces things that people don't need to have. -Andy Warhol

Keeping it Geeky

Optical Illusions!

Here are a few websites with some classic optical illusions, some cool twists on old favorites and a few I've never seen before.

http://www.123opticalillusions.com/ pretty much the basics but the Glass Tessseract Animation is super cool and here are a few cool updates:
 

http://www.echalk.co.uk/amusements/opticalillusions/illusions.htm this website has some that are a tad more interactive.  They help you see how the illusions work.  Check out the Mona Lisa and the breathing shapes illusion to start.


Finally to get an in depth explanation of how these illusions work on our brain (for the true geeks) check out Mind Lab.




Someone who doesn't take herself too seriously and can be a goofball.  Because everyone's a nerd inside, I don't care how cool you are.  -Channing Tatum

Old Music Tuesday

Here is a very random assortment of catchy tunes from good pop to bad pop, you might not admit it but you love it all.


Sugar Ray - Every Morning:  Sugar Ray, like the mullet (music video reference), was once so cool and not anymore but this song still has a special place in my heart.

Dream Street - It Happens Everytime:  Before he was leavin' and before he found a beautiful soul , Jesse McCartney was the cutest star of Dream Street and this was one of the first songs that won tween hearts everywhere.

Spin Doctors - Two Princes: Because I want two princes kneeling before me, please and thank you.  Also, this is one of the best examples of 90s alt rock.

Christina Milian  - AM to PM:  Although having to perform two dances to this song (dance class AND summer camp) this song is still a great early 2000s jam.  Brings me back to that Let's Get Loud (J Lo) and Jumpin' Jumpin' (Destiny's Child) party sound!

Enjoy!
(I apologize to anyone who was not young enough or old enough to enjoy Dream Street as it was a VERY small age range that was able to experience it in all its glory.)


The end of the animal trade would leave more time to trap or beat to death pop star wannabes.  -Simon Cowell

Websites to get you through Mondays

MUSIC

musicovery.com is the best thing since...well pandora.
you can start with your favorite artists OR you can start by running your mouse over the mood pad which shows you what song you will start with.  Then once you select your mood you can edit everything from decade to genre to hits to discovery (for less known music).  You can still skip and select favorites so it is the best of pandora plus so much more.

maybe this one should be saved for the weekend...
here is a website where you can't pick the music but can pick the background: mitchtrale.com/panodios/
Mitch Trale is an artist who created these Panoramic Dioramas where you can move around in them or let them move themselves.
The best ones with their own music are: New Stripes and Polyhedron...
Ones that don't have music but are still great (just play your itunes) are Disc Box, Check Trap, and Bathysphere.
(here are some screen shots)

 

Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music.  -Ronald Reagan

Bringing Comedy to the Streets

Inspired by my recent NYC adventures, I wanted to share something that is truly New York and truly awesome.

Improve Everywhere, as described on their website, "is a New York City-based prank collective that causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places. Created in August of 2001 by Charlie Todd, Improv Everywhere has executed over 100missions involving tens of thousands of undercover agents."
They put together "missions" where they organize ridiculous scenes or flash mobs that catch everyone by surprise.  Likely you've heard about their No Pants Subway Ride where Subway passengers lack pants in the middle of winter and this past January was their 10th annual ride and also their Even Better than the Real Thing fake U2 rooftop concert.
 

One you should definitely check out is a Carousel Horse Race taking place in Bryant Park from earlier this summer using actors and ..well.. real children:

 I recommend you check out: Spontaneous Musicals and Suicide Jumper but there are soooo many more so be sure to go through them all!

The less you know, the more you believe. - Bono

Dance, Sci Fi, and a Dose of Creepy

...and for some reason I love it!

The third season of The LXD started last week on Hulu and it is just as kickass as the first two seasons.  The LXD stands for the Legion of Extraordinary Dancers and simply put is a battle of good (dancers) versus evil.

I do not completely understand the story line all the time but the dancing is phenomenal, think So you Think you Can Dance without the cheese and flashy costumes.  It is perfect if you don't have the best attention span because the episodes tend to be under 10 minutes.  Some other fun facts: they were on an episode of TEDTalks and also opened for the Glee tour.

Oh and did I mention that Harry Shum Jr. from Glee (Mike Chang) is in it?


If you just want to watch Harry Shum Jr. here is the link to his solo but otherwise check out the whole series on the Hulu link above!



Tina: Mike tries to be into what I'm into.. like his abs!
-Glee

The Glory that is Google: it reads minds

This post should probably instead be called weird things that people Google.
I was perusing happyplace.com and came across "The Most Insane Search Suggestions Ever Seen on Google."   There were pictures to prove it for searches like "my wife l" suggestions including "my wife left town with a banana" or for "is " the first suggestion was "is kevjumba a heterosexual bear wrestler."  Obviously these seem too bizarre to be true so I decided to do my own google searches.

Well I got many of the same results for the "is" search and I did many more searches but will only include ones that are simply strange or entertaining.

I just thought "why did I get married" to be a particularly odd thing to ask google...maybe a therapist would be better?

Seriously..."is it normal to be sexually attracted to numbers"...I do not think it gets geekier than that. 

And finally my favorite "what should I do if a ginger kid bites me" because we all know that gingeritis is a real threat.

Obviously you should try this yourself because I wouldn't believe it either (and because you clearly have nothing better to do)

With Google I'm starting to burn out on knowing the answer to everything. People in the year 2020 are going to be nostalgic for the sensation of feeling clueless. - Doug Coupland

A Few Songs You Hate to Love...or maybe just hate

Here are some wonderful 90s to early 2000s pop songs.  This is as cheesy pop as they come.
These songs are especially fabulous if you are a 90s baby (and I mean the bottle and diaper kind):

LFO - Girl on TV: Saving LFO from one hit wonder status, this song is borderline stalkerish and mentions Scooby Snacks.  What's not to love?

American Hi-fi - Flavor of the Weak: Only because I did not know what too stoned meant.  I figured it was a video game reference I just didn't know.  (I also had trouble with Green Day's Basket Case).

Shaggy - It Wasn't Me: Where else do you find an entire song about a guy claiming that he was not the one cheating with some rando girl in his own house?? Perfection.

JoJo - Leave (Get Out): In case you didn't get the message to leave the first time, she added 'get out' in parentheses.

O-Town - My Liquid Dreams: What list is complete without a song about wet dreams...  One of them even has the PERFECT boy band star name: Ashley Parker Angel.

Hopefully this random sampling of classic music made you think back to the days of butterfly clips!

Carson Daly: (When asked what his secret indulgence is) Probably really bad pop music. I'm kind of a pop whore. Like there's time that I'll just listen to some really cheesy, cheesy pop music really loud and it's really embarrassing. And I pray that no one is watching, but I just have a soft-spot for it. Guilty pleasure.

Websites to get you through Mondays

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