Herman Cain gets his soundbites from Pokemon

My daughter is presently Pokemon crazy: freaking out when she misses the show on TV, buying the comic books and the cards, reading the fanfiction even.

I didn't get it.

Until I saw this.




Maybe there really is something to be learned from the Pokemon series.

Quick summary : LA Galaxy vs PH Azkals

Here's a quick account of the game, told via words, pictures and post-game press conference.

From Move.PH

I dare you to watch this and not tear up

These Thais sure know how to bring on the tears.

Midas Marquez remixed

The Supreme Court spokesperson has been in the news a lot lately because of the various cases that the court has had to resolve and promulgate. Unfortunately, in one instance Marquez accidentally taps a microphone down and reacts in a totally unexpected manner. Is he gay? If he is and no one but he heretofore knew it, this is a terrible way to be outed. If he isn't, he'll have a hard time convincing people otherwise, especially since the video has gone viral... And with several versions to boot!

Samsung pokes fun at Apple Fanboys

How to dance in a club

I've never been much of a dancer -- and though I probably never will be great at it, I just might have picked up a thing or two about the moves from this video by ashleyslips.

The girl is nuts.

So you want to watch David Beckham bend it?

Image via Wikipedia

It'll cost you big bucks to watch Beckham and LA Galaxy play when they come to Manila on December 3.

Tickets to the friendly match with the Azkals are officially going to burn a hole in your wallets with bleachers tickets costing from Php 10500, 9500, 5000 and 2000 and grandstand tickets costing fro 15500 to 12500. Give your money to Ticketworld.

For the rest of us, there's always free TV.

And eventually, Youtube.

Check out the kind of action you'll be missing with this video of Beckham's free kicks. That's what bending it like Beckham looks like.

Related articles

• You: LA Galaxy Set to Face Philippine Azkals in December (bleacherreport.com)

We must never forget the Marcos years

Journalist Veronica Pedrosa explores her personal history and how it intertwines with Imelda Marcos and the history of the Philippines.

It's a good refresher for those who 'miss' martial law  and who have forgotten what it really meant, as well as an essential video for the young ones who were born after Edsa.

Once you get past the laughable, pitiable figure that Imelda now cuts, remember that she is one half of the conjugal dictatorship, the dictatorship that brought the Philippines deep into a hole out of which it still has not extricated itself.

No one from the Marcos years has ever been punished. Most of what has been plundered has never been returned to the Filipino people. Nor have any apologies ever been made.

Cut to several decades after the fall of the dictatorship and you have the Ampatuans massacring the Mangudadatus and their protective cover of journalists in the worst politically-motivated crime in Philippine history and you'll see that not much has changed: people in power still do what they can to maintain it -- and while justice grinds inexorably slowly, no one has been convicted two years after the deed.

Now the Marcoses are back in Ilocos, Leyte and the Senate. They are on  a slow but sure ascent up the halls of power, all the way to the presidency perhaps. If it happens, it will be because our collective memory has failed us and because our tendency to forgive has outweighed our desire to punish those who have done wrong.

Let us never forget.

Cure for Insomnia: The most relaxing song in the world

A study shows that the song in the video above has the dubious distinction of being the 'most relaxing song in the world'. The song "Weightless" (by Marconi Union) and the study were commissioned by Radox Spa, manufacturers of bubble baths and bath gel.

Give it a listen and decide for yourself.

Here's the promo video:

Related articles

• Band creates the 'most relaxing tune ever' (telegraph.co.uk)
• Motorists Warned Not To Listen To the World's Most Relaxing Song [Video] (gizmodo.com)

Kids can now film crazy car stunts without crashing the family car

It's absolutely possible with the Hot Wheels video racer!

iPod Touch Art!

Seikou Yamaoka has a long daily commute, more than enough time for him to come up with digital artwork like this one. On an iPod Touch running ArtStudio, a 99 cent application. Wow.

Mytho Logique (ESMA 2010)

Mytho Logique (ESMA, 2010) from Gom Poitel on Vimeo.


This is a very entertaining animated mini-movie.

Taylor Swift covers Eminem and Loses Herself

This is like watching a puppy pretend to be a wolf.  It doesn't quite fit what you expect a sweetheart like Taylor Swift to be singing -- which might be the reason why it's so surprisingly cute. Could this be the beginning of Swift exploring more edgy themes and tones in her songwriting? She has to grow up and mature at some point.

If so, this could be a testing of the waters, so to speak. Judging from her audience's reaction: they don't mind at all.

Related articles

• The 15 Best Cover Songs By Taylor Swift (q104.radio.com)
• Taylor Swift Raps To Eminem's 'Lose Yourself' [VIDEO] (socialitelife.com)

The (Accidentally LIVE and on TV) Wedding Proposal

The Tarantino Mixtape

The Tarantino Mixtape from Eclectic Method on Vimeo.

Fantastic job by Eclectic Method!

Dad embarrasses teenage son every day for a year ... and is proud!

Some dads go to great lengths to give their kids priceless memories. Or traumatic ones.

My dad passed away several years ago so he can't pull off any stunts like these for his grandkids.  He would have loved to do it, I think.

Let's just hope my mom doesn't see this and gets inspired to do something like it when my nephew who lives with her goes off to school.

Awesome(-est). Wedding. Proposal. Ever.

Could she actually have said "no" after all that?

The coolest car in the world

When I was a kid, I thought that the Batmobile was the coolest car the world had ever seen. Or that I had ever seen. I was three or four years old at the time. Anyway, many moons later, I still feel the same way.

So imagine my delight when I saw this:



Wheeee!

Coolness, Adam West-style, will set you back a cool USD 150,000. (according to Trendhunter).

I don't have that kind of money, so I can only watch and drool.

In case YOU do, I implore you to dress appropriately when you take this out for a spin. The Batmobile requires respect.

The little monsters really get Lady Gaga, don't they?

Kids react to Lady Gaga's appearance on David Letterman's show. It kills me that the kids totally get Lady Gaga and respond so well to her -- thank goodness Lady Gaga is all for this as well (as evidenced by her Maria Aragon duet a while back).

Anyway, here's hoping that Lady Gaga uses her iconic status for the good. It would be such a waste to lose the faith of the little monsters.

Conan O'Brien's 2011 Dartmouth Commencement Address

Lots of gags wrapped around a few simple but powerful life lessons in this speech by Conan.  Read Conan's speech here if you don't have the patience to watch the whole thing.

From puppy to pooch in 40 seconds

This video was made for Dunder's first birthday party.

I'm kidding. Actually, I don't know. Maybe, right? You never know what loving dog owners will do for their pups.

Coolness: the world's largest and most expensive model airport

This is what a $ 4.8 million model airport looks like.



After you pick your jaw up from the floor, you can read all about it here.

One woman orchestra

Presenting Shara Lin -- a Taiwanese musician who I had no idea about until some random surfing led me to this video. (Here's her Facebook page. It's in Chinese though.)

Now I know what the daughter has to learn after she masters the violin.

My mom will have to hand over the piano though.

How Osama Bin Laden went down: animation

Here's how Time Magazine explains it.

It's true: Obama ordered the hit on Obama

Either she's extremely dumb or she's totally stoned. Either way, she's probably looking for another job now.  (Unless this is Fox News, but since the logo's not there....)

The dating site for superheroes (and villains)

It's hard to find love when you have superpowers. You never know if they're into you for the right reasons.

Enter SuperHarmony.com!

Google makes me shed a tear

Sniff, sniff.

Barack Obama keeps his promises

Eastpak invites you to jump off a building

EASTPAK SPAK - Director's cut from WE ARE FROM L.A on Vimeo.


Check out this new Human Tetris  video from Eastpak -- the bag manufacturer.

 It takes a huge leap of faith to get something like this approved by clients. I suppose the attention and free media it gets will generate enough sales to offset whatever is lost in terms of bad PR.

That being said, this was pretty brave and got my attention. And I ended up showing 5 officemates and posting this on here. So no problems on that end. 

Now whether I'll end up buying an Eastpak next time I need a backpack.... 

What do you think?

Charice sings All by Myself on Glee

I don't have a better video yet -- so just close your eyes.(All the better to appreciate Charice's version of this Celine Dion hit song.)




Somehow though, while her singing is, as always, great -- I can't help feeling that this is no big deal.

Yes, she's the only Filipino to make it onto a current hit TV show ever (correct me if I'm wrong).

Yes, she's probably the biggest news coming out of the Philippines after Manny Pacquiao.

But really, "All by Myself" is the kind of song that EVERY Filipina diva sings. For us Filipinos, that song is normal. Heck, that kind of belting is normal too. Just watch any singing contest whether it's on TV or in a Sunday fiesta in the boondocks and you'll see what I mean.

This is not to put Charice down but rather to emphasize that there is no dearth of singing talent in this country. We have many more like her waiting to be discovered, polished and projected onto the world stage, if only we had enough Oprahs and Ellens to thrust them to.

For now though, we have but one: Charice Pempengco. Great work, Charice! You make us proud. May we have many more like you.

Japan's Tsunami, Up Close and Horrible

The other tsunami videos you've probably seen were long shots from cameras or tops of buildings. This one's from a hill where villagers have rushed up after the initial shock waves. Good thing they managed to get up there as the tsunami literally washes away their homes in a wave of garbage and debris.

One can only hope that this doesn't happen again.

Found via Mashable

Fly along with Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space

Very few people have had the privilege of seeing the Earth from vantage point of Space. And no one can claim to have been the first other than Russian cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, who strapped himself onto a rocket and a by no means certain date with destiny.

We can all fly along his flight path today, fifty years later, in this film made to commemorate the occasion. Shot from the International Space Station on a trajectory and altitude that emulates what he went through, overlaid with the sound of his transmissions to Russian Space Command, you can almost feel like you were there.

Enjoy and be awed by the awesomeness.

Read some more on this topic:

• Follow Yuri Gagarin on the first human space flight (guardian.co.uk)
• 50th Anniversary of Manned Space Flight, Part One: Yuri Gagarin, First Man in Space (rightpundits.com)

Procrastination

Procrastination from Johnny Kelly on Vimeo.


... is a beautiful, inspiring, thought-provoking & expertly-created graduation film from artist Johnny Kelly.


Found via BrainPickings.org

Tractor Gone Wild

This could be a random uploaded video of a tractor run amuck on a parking lot -- or it could be an extreme product demo for this brand of tractor. Could be, given that the tractor shows how powerful and indestructible it really is -- no one could stop it (rather, no one dared to stop it) until it hits a .... well, maybe you should just watch it yourself.

• I found this on Mashable: Driverless Tractor Wreaks Parking Lot Havoc [VIRAL VIDEO] (mashable.com)

The terror and the tsunami

This footage of the tsunami attacking Japan on Friday, March 11, is more terrifying than a disaster movie.

Footage from Al Jazeera.

Charlie Sheen's Winning Hit Song

If you've seen this bizarre interview of Charlie Sheen, you probably thought "Whoah, how can Charlie Sheen get his career back on track after this?"

Sad, really. Such a good actor, reduced to a joke and now a "hit song" (7 million plus views!) by the folks behind Songify This.



You must admit, it's funny in a sad kind of way.

We got Maria on Ellen!

This blows my mind:

One week ago she was an anonymous girl from Winnipeg singing a cover song on Youtube.

Today, she's on the Ellen DeGeneres show.

Next month, she'll be singing on a concert stage with Lady Gaga!

And it all began with this Twitter hashtag: #getmariaonellen

Related articles

• Canadian tyke sings version of Lady Gaga hit for daytime TV's Ellen (video) (canada.com)
• Maria Aragon, Gaga-Covering YouTuber, On "Ellen" (popcrunch.com)
• Our Favorite Little Monster Is Going To Be On Ellen - Today! (perezhilton.com)

Let's #getmariaonellen

Was intrigued by the hashtag  #getmariaonellen on Twitter yesterday and discovered ten year old Filipino-Canadian Maria Aragon.

Here she is with her cover of Lady Gaga's Born This Way:



(Incidentally, that video is now approaching 3 million views -- way, way up from just 700,000 hits yesterday afternoon.)

Could she be the next Charice?

It depends on whether more people see her -- calling Ellen DeGeneres!

How to get 5 million people to read your website

If you've ever  checked out TheOatmeal.com, I'm sure that you've been sucked into it for at least half an hour.

Why is it so engaging and funny and sticky and bookmarkable?

Why does it get five million visitors a MONTH?

Just a few simple rules.

Watch this video and learn from Mr Oatmeal himself -- it's a fun watch -- almost as funny as reading his comics.

The Magical Pop-Up Paper Theatre

Amazing stuff found via FastCodeDesign. I'm sure there are lessons to be learned about this, technique-wise, but for the moment, just sit back and marvel at how a papercraft theater and a projector can bring you to a magical world for a minute or two.


The Ice Book (HD) from Davy and Kristin McGuire on Vimeo.


Read this link to see how they did it.

Darth Vader Jr. discovers the Force

Check out this cute commercial for Volkswagen. It's supposed to be airing for this weekend's Superbowl but has already racked up more than 2 million views on Youtube.

I don't think it will sell more of their cars though.  (Quick -- what car is it selling? Why should you buy this car? See what I mean?)

On the other hand, it does make me want to watch the Star Wars franchise all over again.  The Darth Vader theme ("The Imperial March", if you must know) is just so iconic! Plus that kid is just so cute!

Is this dunk a WIn or a Fail? You decide

On the one hand, he didn't plan to dunk his whole body in. On the other hand, dang -- that was pretty cool, donchathink? In a totally unplanned way, of course.

Kitty Midnight Madness!

The Winnipeg Humane Society invites you to come over and adopt a kitty.



I wonder if that's where this family got theirs.

These crazy Japanese game shows

It's a bit hard to believe that the Japanese in these game shows come from the same race as those gruff, humorless soldiers who terrorized my grandparents  and this nation during World War II. There's a disconnect: where did all of this crazy Japanese humor come from? Was it always in there but submerged under layers of patriotism and Emperor worship? Or is this a reaction to the horrors of the conflict -- a national loosening of the necktie / kimono sash?

This needs to be studied further -- but for now, let me get some more of these videos!

The Evolution of Nicolas Cage's Hair

Everyone goes through bad haircut periods in their lives. For most of us, this was probably in the Eighties. Maybe even into the Nineties. Thankfully for most of us, those days are far away, forgotten, buried in half-remembered memories. Unless you have friends who religiously dig up their old photoalbums and make digital scans and put them up on Facebook, your past hair transgressions are a thing of, well, the past.

Too bad Nicolas Cage can't enjoy the same freedoms.

Related articles

• The History of Nicolas Cage's Hair (patspapers.com)

The weirdest beverage you'll never drink this year

Introducing MeatWater, "high efficiency survival drinks" that come in a variety of non-drink flavors. Like what you ask? How about cheeseburger, Thai beef salad, Caribbean shrimp salad, Peking duck, escargots, Italian meatballs, etc. Check out the rest of the flavors here. Or not.

No indicator on the website whether these things actually have any meat in them -- but I suppose they'd be non-meat really. Otherwise these'd be called soups. Incidentally, they're better taken warm, according to the founder, in an article found  here.

Yech.

RPG Metanoia : A Must Watch Movie

Just came from the movies with my 8 year old daughter and I must say that RPG Metanoia is quite possibly one of the best Pinoy animated films ever made. (That's an exaggeration, I know.)

Plot-wise, it's your classic "kids saving the world" story. But the way it's put together is quite fun. Since I don't want to spoil it for you, you'll need to watch it to see what actually happens.

What I'll do share is how I enjoyed seeing Pinoy life captured on film and immortalized for this generation's kids who need to see things such as the protagonist doing his household chores (seriously, how many kids nowadays still have these?) and Pinoy games like patintero, sipa, tumbang preso, piko, taguan, agawan base (do YOU remember them?). An aside: it was also amusing to see the hero ride a tricycle and to have daing na bangus for dinner! Oh, and I almost forgot, his weapon of choice is a -- get this -- a yoyo (which depending on who you believe, is an ancient Filipino weapon.)

The animation is quite good -- which is to be expected since a lot of foreign companies actually outsource their animation to the Philippines and have been doing so since the 80's. What I didn't expect is the sheer number of scenes in the movie -- that was a lot to animate, and they didn't scrimp or cheat their way out of it. (They took four years to do it, incidentally.)

So having said that, my point is: watch RPG Metanoia with your kids. Buy the merchandise when it comes out. These kinds of efforts have to be supported.  (If you need more convincing, read this review   and this one as well.)

With a film of this level and quality coming from Ambient Media and Thaumatrope Animation, it's safe to say that I wait with bated breath for their next outing. Hopefully, it doesn't have to take another four years.

You know you're a Star Wars geek when...

1. You get excited over a created lightsaber video! (Found this via Gizmodo, btw)


(Pretty cool, yes? Imagine how fun it would be to play with this at home.
Then again, it's not very useful. Which is why this next one might be lightyears more useful for you.)

2. Or a lightsaber umbrella! (Via ThinkGeek)




(But if you just want a lightsaber to play with, without having to go through the trouble of making one yourself or waiting for the rains to come so you can play with your umbrella, there's always Amazon: Star Wars Clone Wars Grievous Spinning LightsaberStar Wars Force FX Lightsaber Darth VaderStar Wars Force FX Lightsaber AnakinStar Wars Darth Vader Force Action Lightsaber )

3. You feel a need to click on some search term or link that says "You know you're a Star Wars geek when..." which is the reason that you got to this page in the first place!

Rocketboom's A to Z of Memes

Which ones did you hear about?