Last month, Indianapolis rapper G-fresh created some buzz by becoming (I'm guessing) the first artist to get a video featuring Haughville showcased on MTV and BET.
But as I learned today - via My Old Kentucky Blog - G-fresh is not one to rest on his laurels. This is evident in a Colts-centric remix of his single "On My Momma," or as I like to call it, "The Greatest Thing You'll See Today."
Word on Twitter has Pitt announcing a jump to the Big Ten. The official word could come as early as Thursday.
Of course none of this is official.
First off, the only reason I can see for waiting until Thursday to make the announcement is to avoid conflicts with National signing day. (By the way, is there even precedence on what a shift in conference would mean to recruiting?) Regardless, I'm not putting much hope in hearing anything official in the coming days, and that includes denials.
But should Pitt join the Big Ten, the magical 6-team divisions would be one of the next major announcement. Looking at football, this would mean that teams would play all divisional opponents plus half of the other division. At present, Big Ten teams have two exempted rivalries permanently on the football schedule. Seeing as Pitt would supplant one of Penn State's rivals, the dominoes fall. It will be interesting to see if any school wants to revisit their choices (a la Purdue's selection of Northwestern).
How then will the new divisions balance rivalries and geography? Here's how they might break down.
East & West
East: Pittsburgh, Penn St, Ohio St, Michigan, Michigan St, Indiana
I believe that buried within the subtext of Martin Luther King's Lincoln Memorial speech, he had a deep a profound hope that one day the citizens of America would unite on his holiday to march in protest of a talk show host getting fired.
This is the only possible exclamation I can deduce from the fact that protests were held in four - FOUR! - different cities today to voice displeasure at NBC canning Conan O'Brien. What possible reason could there be to hold a protest in Chicago for a talk show that takes place in Los Angeles? I have no idea, but I decided to venture down to the NBC5 Tower and see how the crowd was.
I encountered about 150 or so protesters toting signs, home made masks, spray-painted orange mop-tops, and a variety of orange clothing. What was particularly fun about this "protest" was that it essentially consisted of 100 or so people wandering around. Once in a while somebody would start a "CoCo!" chant, or "Masturbating Bear!" chant, which would last about 15 seconds, and then people kept milling about.
My favorite moment was when somebody decided to start this age old protest battle cry:
Guy: "Who do we want?"
Crowd: "Conan!"
Guy: "When do we want him?"
Crowd: "[Indecipherable nonsense, as 1/3 of the people shouted "Now!," 1/3 shouted "11:30!" (the time the show starts on the East Coast,) and 1/3 shouted "10:30!" (the time the show starts in Chicago.)]"
Perfect.
Here's a bit of the footage I threw together to give you a taste of the bizarre scene. If you notice toward the end of the clip, you'll see my favorite sign of the day: Jon Hamm Should Play Captain America. That guy's got a point.
I did it in 2007. I did it in 2008. And, though a bit belated, I now bring you the top videos of 2009 (remember that year, back when Conan hosted The Tonight Show?).
I decided to narrow it down to only 10 this time around (I'm not late and lazy with my blog!). No particular order here.
The first time I saw this, I assumed it came from FunnyorDie.com. This video doesn’t acknowledge its existence as a music video, or even the band, until 2 minutes in. Before that, it’s a collection of VHS dubs from someone who was fascinated by QVC. I’m sorry, TAB. Once the band shows up to hawk their CD, it’s not long before they opt to destroy the studio, for motives unknown. Best line from the host: “It’d look pretty weird to see a guy cleaning.”
Grizzly Bear – “Two Weeks”
Ok. I think the creepiness of this video comes from the eyes being slightly larger than they typically are in proportion to the rest of the face. Sort of like if Simpson characters were actual flesh and blood. It utilizes slow motion, which as you’ll see from this list, I’m obsessed with. AS they video continues, you try to pinpoint what’s going on. Are they angels? Are they just really bashful? Are they radioactive? Oh, of course. They’re robots.
Jookabox – “You Cried Me”
Jookabox = Indianapolis’ next great hope to conquer Europe! This video is the what happen when a Scooby Doo episode, a Charlie Brown special, and Radiohead's “Paranoid Android” video do mushrooms and make a baby. And if you like this, you’ll love “Don’t Go Phantom,” which is what happens when The Nightmare Before Christmas, Pacman, and the opening credits of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse do ecstasy and make a baby.
Matt & Kim - “Lessons Learned”
I listened to Matt & Kim’s Grand quite a bit in 2009. But somehow I missed this video until a few weeks ago. I was slightly fascinated with Kim…..until this video…..that took care of that. I just watch this, imagining the Naked Cowboy watching Matt & Kim do what he’s been half-assing for years in Times Square. Come on, Naked Cowboy. You’re clearly not a cowboy, but everyone can be naked. Oh, and don’t stop watching until you see what happens the last three seconds. It comes out of nowhere.
TC wrote about this one (and a couple others) earlier in the year. All I know is that when I watch it, I’m disoriented. Is the car going backwards? Is the video being played backwards? Are my eyes going backwards? Oh, of course. It’s Jason Voorhees, trapped in an automated car. Doy.
OK. If had to rank one of these my fav, this is it! I’ve got three sweet spots: (1) Lenny Kravitz songs that embrace his Beatles impression, (2) Justice, and (3) Back to the Future!!! Marty McFly guns down some dude, gets the girl, and the credits start rolling….until they get caught on this sleeve. Whu whu what?! Visual gags galore the rest of the way through.
Unkle – “Heaven”
Spike Jonze + slow motion + skaters + dynamite = me willing to sit through a 7-minute song that sounds like Enya.
Carl Sagan – “A Glorious Dawn” ft. Stephen Hawking
I have no idea what’s happening here. But ha! I tricked you into learning about science.
Phoenix - “Lisztomania” (Brat Pack Mashup)
I am confident that Phoenix wrote this song by watching The Breakfast Club on mute and imagining what was in Anthony Michael Hall’s heart. Too bad all the Mannequin clips get in the way. I don’t mind Ducky, though. Try not to smile while watching this. I dare you.
She & Him – “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?” ((500) Days of Summer edition)
I still haven’t seen this movie, but did see JGL (waaaaay more dreamy than JTT) on SNL (he did a flip during the monologue!). The video is reminiscent of Catch Me If You Can starring Christopher Walken and “Weapon of Choice” starring Christopher Walken. Clearly, JGL should have revisited the Continental. Try not to smile while watching this. I double dare you.
And, as a final special treat, I give you the Spike Jonze/Kayne West/Kanye West's weird creature that lives in his belly's "We Were Once a Fairytale." Epic, I say. Let's see Taylor Swift stumble around pretending to pretend to be drunk!
Sunday night, I watched The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special. While it took about 20 seconds to remind me how much I despise Morgan Spurlock, there was some worthwhile content within the program, as well as this clip, which may now serve as a spoiler alert:
Obviously, the internet is tilted in choosing which side to back in the Leno vs Conan war. Anyone online who is actually taking Leno's side is likely doing so from an AOL account in between visits to the Columbia Record Club. I can only speak for myself, but it seems the most impressive thing about Conan's statement today is the backbone he's shown by passive-aggressively calling out NBC and Leno himself. Keep in mind that while it's easy to look at this as simply a "Jay vs Conan" battle, the fact remains that NBC also disrupted the lives of hundreds of Conan's staffers (most of whom are not millionaires!) to have them move across the country, only to change their mind six months later.
That said, I can't help but be curious as to how many of those pledging their loyalty to team Conan have actually been watching The Tonight Show on a consistent basis. Again, I can only speak for myself, but my DVR is set for Letterman every night, and to be honest, the sporadic Conan clips or episodes that I have seen in the last several months have been subpar for the most part. His guests have been mediocre (I swear Bradley Cooper is on once a week), they still don't properly know how to use Andy Richter, and aside from the reliable by-the-numbers "fish out of water" bits, the writing hasn't shown any bite. This is another key reason why Conan's words today seemed so shocking - they had a fearlessness to them that has been missing from his personality on the air.
Hopefully this is just another turning point for Conan. After all, he spent most of 1993 trying to "be a talk show host" and was basically canceled for his efforts; only when he realized that the end was near did he finally show his real personality and succeed. Perhaps this week is another turning point, though this time his success will likely come with another network. For what it's worth, I'd be leery of any involvement with FOX, but if Conan is willing to take a pay cut in the name of freedom, he'd no doubt be able to put together a killer 2-hour block with Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert on Comedy Central.
Then again, the pastures of Spain are lovely this time of year.
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