Tough competition for video of the day

There hasn't been an online video that's really caught my attention since this summer's masterful "Double Rainbow" remix, but today there were two three.

First up is "True Mud," the "Sesame Street" send-up of HBO's "True Blood." Yes, you read that right: "Sesame Street," the children's show, parodied "True Blood," the show where a guy twisted a girl's head around 180 degrees during some hot vampire-on-vampire action. Luckily, "Sesame Street" didn't take on that specific scene:


This episode was brought to you by the letter V and the number 666!

Between this and last week's Katy Perry/Elmo controversy, "Sesame Street" is really pushing the envelope lately. (Although I don't see what the big deal about Katy Perry's outfit was. To quote the old joke, Big Bird's been walking around without pants for decades, and nobody's said a word. And don't even get me started on Mr. Snuffleupagus.)

But for sheer comedic value, this video takes the cake. It really needs no introduction other than to say, "Wayne Brady. Mike Tyson. Bobby Brown."



UPDATE: After I originally posted this, um, post, I happened across yet another awesome video: this 8-bit version of Cee-Lo Green's "F You" with lyrics about Nintendo and Sega:

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Obama on Fox News in Rolling Stone: Why?

President Barack Obama said Fox News is "destructive to [America's] long-term health" in a Rolling Stone interview published today.

I shared the story about Obama's Fox News comments in my Google Reader today with the comment, "Way to fan the flames, Barry." A response implied that it was good for Obama to call out Fox News' partisanship. Without getting too political, I couldn't disagree more. Here's my response to that comment:

Saying things like that accomplishes nothing. No Fox News supporter is going to hear these comments and say, "You know what? He's right! MSNBC, here I come!" And all of us who agree are just going to nod and say, "Yup." It just gives Fox News supporters another chance to bust out the "stop worrying about us and pay attention to the country's real problems" card (which they do kind of have a point on).

Obama's Fox News comments aren't going to paint him in the best light, and if you haven't noticed, his popularity  wasn't exactly skyrocketing in the first place. This was the last thing he needed.

AC/DC Target commercial: For those about to make blueberry pancakes, we salute you

So I was watching "Grey's Anatomy" last night -- OK, you can stop laughing. Seriously, stop. Now. -- and a Target commercial came on. The soundtrack? AC/DC's 1981 classic, "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)."

Yes, you heard that right. It was an AC/DC Target commercial. Showing a woman making blueberry pancakes. Presumably using all products she bought at Target. Don't believe me? See it for yourself:



I know, AC/DC is just below Kiss on the "You want to give us money to use our song? Sure thing!" scale, but still. This AC/DC Target commercial was pretty surprising. As YouTube commenter AnnessainFlorida wrote:

I could have tolerated a car commercial or a beer ad or something, but PANCAKES AT TARGET??? Come on!!!

Come on, indeed. I can't wait to see the next video, in which kids play sports in the backyard while "Big Balls" blares in the background.

I love tabloids

All of the newspapers I ever worked for were broadsheet community papers with typically boring headlines and an overwhelming devotion to political correctness. One time I did a brief profile on a local author, and the main character in his latest novel was a transvestite prostitute, and my editor wouldn't let me use either the word "transvestite" or "prostitute." I was like, "How the hell do you expect me to write about this book -- which YOU assigned me to do -- if I can't describe the main character?" OK, I didn't say that. But I definitely thought it.

Anyway, I don't think I would have had any problems with political correctness at the Philadelphia Daily News, which published this Michael Vick headline on the front page of its sports section today:

On the Wrigley Field bomb plot media coverage

Over on my Dave Matthews Band news site today I posted about the DMB concert bomb plot outside Wrigley Field this weekend. Basically, a terrorist wannabe who was unknowingly dealing with undercover officers dropped what he thought was a bomb into a trash can and was then promptly arrested by said undercover officers.

The Chicago Tribune reported that authorities said the suspect "wasn't motivated by religious or political views but rather by a bizarre desire to undermine the mayor's political support and allow an associate to take control of the city."

But the suspect's name is Sami Samir Hassoun, and he's from Lebanon, so of course we got the fear-mongering headline, "Lebanese man charged in Wrigleyville bomb plot." (Earlier today the headline actually said "Lebanese immigrant" instead.) If the suspect was white, Christian and happened to be from, say, Saskatchewan, would we get a "Canadian immigrant charged in Wrigleyville bomb plot" headline? As Bob from Bob's Discount Furniture would say, "I doubt it."

Louis Klarevas, a professor at NYU's Center for Global Affairs, has an article on The Huffington Post condemning the people on Twitter who used Hassoun's arrest to fuel anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant sentiment and to propagate the "all Muslims are terrorists" stereotype. He's right to condemn these comments, but at the same time, you should come to expect them anytime you grant the masses a public platform. (Call it the "online newspaper comments section" phenomenon.)

You should not, however, come to expect these sentiments from major media outlets like the Chicago Tribune.

Droid Incredible vs. BlackBerry: My first impressions

This is a Droid Incredible vs. BlackBerry comparison based on my recent switch. After two and a half years as a BlackBerry user (and more than a decade as a Sprint customer), I moved to Verizon Wireless and bought an HTC Incredible earlier this month.

Let's evaluate the Droid Incredible vs. BlackBerry in some key categories:

Coverage/call quality: I never had any problems with Sprint service in New England, but all my Verizon friends always said theirs was way better. (I think they just wanted me to switch so I wouldn't count against their minutes.) I haven't noticed much difference in quality of service. In fact, my apartment is in a notorious dead zone, but my Sprint service worked fine here. Verizon, not so much. I did occasionally have Sprint coverage problems when travelling (Chicago and L.A., especially); Verizon is supposedly more consistent nationwide, but I have yet to travel with my Droid. Advantage: PUSH

Data speed/performance: My BlackBerry Curve was totally adequate for surfing mobile sites, but it tended to slow down or even freeze up completely on other sites. I never had complaints about speed, but once I got the Droid Incredible, I saw what I was missing. It's really fast, runs regular sites just as well as mobile sites and lets me run multiple apps at once, which is a huge bonus. The Incredible also syncs with my corporate Exchange account much better -- which is surprising, since that's supposed to be one of BlackBerry's strong suits. When I delete an email on my Droid at night, it's not in my Outlook inbox when I get to work the next morning. What a novel concept. Advantage: Droid

Battery life: Most of the time, this isn't an issue. But when I'm at a conference -- where I need to be Tweeting, IMing, emailing and calling people all day, with iffy access to an electrical outlet -- I need a phone that can make it through the day. The Incredible worries me here, because battery complaints on Droid forums are about as common as obnoxious sports fans in Philadelphia. I've tweaked some settings (turned off GPS, disabled automatic sync and notifications for most apps, etc.), and battery life has improved a little. But I still doubt the Incredible will be able to get me through a full day of heavy use without a significant stay in Chargerville. The BlackBerry Curve was much more dependable in this area. Advantage: BlackBerry

Apps: This one isn't even a contest. I know Apple fanboys will look down at me through their black-framed glasses and laugh at me for lauding the Android Market, but it's way better than BlackBerry App World. The apps that both platforms have, such as Foursquare, are a lot faster, and Android has a lot of games you can't get on BlackBerry, like WordFeud (which I suck at, but is still fun) and Paper Toss. I'll probably end up doing a "my favorite Droid apps" post at some point. Advantage: Droid

Overall: The battery issue is a really big concern for me, but as Yogi Berra would say, I'll just cross that bridge when I'm over troubled water. I was pretty content with the BlackBerry Curve, but the Droid Incredible is easier to use, more efficient and a lot more fun. Advantage: Droid

Four Days in October trailer: So good! So good! So good!

The trailer for "Four Days in October," ESPN's "30 for 30" documentary on the Red Sox comeback in the 2004 ALCS, is now out.

Sure, this year's Red Sox season has been a huge disappointment, and a few of the stars from the 2004 team now have strained relationships with the franchise. But the "Four Days in October" trailer makes you instantly forget all that and takes you back to that crazy week six years ago that we'll never be able to replicate. I especially love the home video footage of Curt Schilling's ankle in the locker room before Game 6, as well as the look on the Yankees fans' faces during Game 7.

"Four Days in October" premieres Oct. 5 at 8 p.m. Eastern. In the meantime, check out the "Four Days in October" trailer and hold out hope that the Sox will sneak into the playoffs this year. 'Cause hey, why not us?

IT media vs. newspapers: Spot news

One of the many things I like about working in IT media is the dearth of what newspapers call "spot news." When you work for a paper, there's always a cloud hanging over your head -- a cloud that will call you, no matter where you are and what you doing, and tell you to go cover a breaking story. Going to a fire scene, for example, is the only way a reporter can talk to the witnesses, victims and officials needed to put together a good story.

In IT, there are no fire scenes. When I get home from work, I don't have to worry about my boss calling me in the middle of the night. It's a nice feeling. But even though there's no spot news, there IS breaking news. And every once in a while I do have to scramble to cover a story when I'd rather be cooking dinner or watching the Red Sox lose.

Such was the case Thursday, when just after 5 p.m., The Wall Street Journal reported that VMware was in talks to buy Novell's SUSE Linux business. (Quick primer: VMware is the biggest company in the virtualization market, they're getting challenged by Microsoft, and SUSE Linux is an operating system a la Windows. An acquisition would have major effects on this feud.) So instead of tidying up the apartment and catching up on my DVR ("House Hunters International"), I spent the next hour-plus frantically writing up a blog on what a VMware-Novell acquisition would mean for the market.

Honestly, I kinda missed the rush of writing a breaking story, which I haven't got to do nearly as often since I left the newspaper business three years ago. But then again, I got to do it all from the comfort of my home office, without even picking up the phone, let alone rushing out to the scene of the action. There wasn't even a scene to go to, and it was quite the happy medium for me.