Not happy with Christmas, but feel something is lacking? Then give Festivus a go, and have a “Happy Festivus from the rest of us”
I’m not sure to what degree Festivus is celebrated in the world, beyond Seinfeld, it seems to be based on real events dating back to Feb ‘66.
Take part in;
I implore you to read Scott Adam's Dilbert Blog. It's by far the best and funniest blog around, and the comments as well (except for the idiots who don't get it, and take it all too seriously). Any world problem no matter how big or small can be solved by the Dilbert Blog.
Today we have Purse Pliers for men who don't want to be seen (or infected) by their wife's purse. Brilliant!!
As you know, there is no way to hold a purse in a manly fashion. After sixty seconds of transporting a designer bag full of Tampons and lipstick, your testosterone will be so low that you’ll be playing field hockey and lactating.........
....That’s why I invented the PursePliers ™. They are exactly like regular pliers, but you carry them in your back pocket in all times in case you are asked to hold a woman’s purse. When you hear the call, “Honey, would you grab my purse?” you whip out the pliers and use them to safely transport the purse and its wuss cooties.
An interesting article in The Guardian yesterday, about The Goodies, and comparing them with Monty Python, given that they all came from similar University backgrounds, mixed together, wrote scripts together and could have been dealt into each other's show. We're not remotely bitter
History belongs to the victor. We remember Monty Python better, but if my memory serves my right, The Goodies were far far bigger than Monty Python at the time. Monty Python was a minority sport. The Goodies were mainstream with massive audiences, and "The Goodies were the fifth biggest grossing pop act in 1975" and that's when a hell of a lot of singles were sold.
That's big. It's amazing how people colour history, and with The Goodies not being cool, people forget their impact, and in reality their music!!
Took Georgie (Aged 5) to see Flushed Away yesterday. She liked it. In fact she was the loudest laugh in the cinema.
A very good film. But I fear this type of film is being flushed away.
It seems that DreamWorks who help produce and distribute the film, aren't going to work with Aardman (Wallace and Gromit etc) again - "creative differences".
What that seems to mean is American humour, Big Success = Biggest Cash.
I was shocked to hear a few weeks ago, that making movies isn't about making great movies.
It's about making money. Big Corp movie industry is an investment house sinking in Big Corp money of $100m+ and expecting to double the return. Anything less is failure, regardless of if the film is any good.
You can have both. Shrek3 was being previewed. No doubt it will be very good, and a much better merchandising proposition than Flushed Away.
Flushed Away is based on quirky British Humour. It's like EastEnders on speed. There are lots and lots of in-jokes, just on the genre, as well as other film references. I feel proud to have spotted many of them.
As I've said, it's a very good film, and a must-buy DVD. There's so much going on, it's worth several looks and the kids will play it again and again, without tiring of it. It would be excellent as an iMax movie on a very big screen, because they take advantage of the 3D animation to produce sweeping scenes which are at times breathtaking.
So what next for Aardman if they need $100m but can only generate $150m return!!
Does that mean no more Wallace and Gromit full length features.
I'm prepared to buy the Wallace and Gromit boxers to keep them afloat!
To quote Scott Adams, and the byline for my weblog, "All People are Idiots."
Now I have the proof (via Johnnie Moore).
Cognitive Biases!
We as humans have varying degrees of cognitive bias, which explains a lot, when dealing with fellow humans and my own cognitive biases.
- We base our views on limited proof
- We justify our biases with limited proof
- We act like sheep
- We predict based on over focus of one event
- We want short term gain and satisfaction
- We tend to disregard probability
- We bias towards what is memorable rather than what is best (and make the memorable the best!)
etc etc.
We've come a long way, just a few more thousand years of evolution my sort it out.
But if we took our cognitive biases away, then we wouldn't have humour would we, and we'd by like Spock (well half of Spock anyway).
Q: What do you get if you cross a field, with Julie Andrews?
A: Nothing!
It's an old joke, now illustrated by this clip!!
Hey, why is this Evolution of Dance, so disappointing, when compared to this? (other than the fact you need effing Explorer to run the first video!)
There's something about the context of Judson Laiplly's dance on the stage in the second video, and the fact that he looks and moves like Colin Mochrie, 
that makes it so compelling to play again and again. The NBC interview and dance, ruins the mystique.
I've been thinking why the Chinese Boys - That Way, is so good.
Again there's something about the context, the raw passion, the guy in the background, the broken arm!, the innocence, the Rocket Shirts, the cross swaying, but most of all, I think it's because it's two Chinese guys being very animated in a "Western" way, something you don't expect.
It's the unexpected that attracts, even if you watch it time and time again.
Numa Numa is also compelling time and time again. Why?
(Just reading about Numa Numa on Wikipedia and it's interesting that Gary Brolsma claims he derived it from this Japanese Flash Animation of Numa Numa)
Imitation of the Chinese Boys, Numa Numa, and even the Chinese Boys doing other songs, don't quite hit the mark. Why?
Funnily enough, I explained it myself in my own brilliant(?) writing a few years ago, The Meaning of Life.
The Wassup and Flat Eric adverts weren't made for the products they advertised, the products found them, and set the context for them becoming funny, just as sad imitations of some great viral videos, lose the context.
Which brings me back to why I don't watch TV anymore. It's shit!
Predictable drivel, out of context.
Except for House!
I spend more time watching YouTube than I do watching TV.
A Wank I Think! (of course you need bloody Explorer to see the context (and an understanding of English humour)).
