I have no ambition this morning, so here’s what you get:
Remember that mp3 player I talked about a few posts ago? A much better version is on-sale at Woot.com today only for 32.99.
Via Mental Floss, it’s the 5 Times MC Hammer Changed History.
Beyonce’s little sister Solange covers the Dirty Projectors. Sounds weird when you say it out loud, but the song itself is so totally R&B that it makes perfect sense when you hear it (MP3).
Finally, here are two pretty interesting videos for two excellent songs by Girls and Flaming Lips respectively. Both videos feature copious full-on nudity, so they are certainly NSFW.
The much scarier, sexier, and more bizarre video comes from Lady Gaga.
Why do I like it? I like that so much money was spent on a naked attempt to corrupt today’s youth and their bourgeoning ideas about what’s sexy. Part of it is nostalgia. Remembering my own pre-musical, post-pubescent affection for Madonna and big-budget, soft-porn-suggestive videos like “Express Yourself” and “Vogue”. Arguably, though, Lady Gaga out-weirds the Flaming Lips here by diving right into something most rock and rap musics try very hard to avoid: desire.
There are lots of songs/videos about sex, and fucking, and falling in love. But popular music bores us to death by avoiding hard questions about why we want it so badly. The visuals in “Bad Romance” give you a lot to think about. “Do you think I’m sexy?” (costume change) “What about now?” (costume change) “And now?”
That ability to shift among bizarre, well-lit hyper-motifs, before you even know what you’re looking at, is what’s so great the big budget video. Kinda sad that era is gone, but I’m glad to have Lady Gaga as the exception who proves the rule.
Note that reviews on the quality of refurbished Sansas are somewhat mixed.
I’ve not seen the reviews, but I’ve purchased three of them (two were for gifts) and haven’t had any problems.
I would expect some problems, though.
Fwiw, the stuff about the Lady Gaga video (which I didn’t/won’t watch because I’m a weirdo who likes to not know about popular culture if it’s too much all around and I’ve never seen this Lady Gaga person, ever) is now one of my favorite of your writings, ever.
I have that Sansa MP3 player (bought new), and it’s fantastic. Louder than my iPod, no proprietary bullshit and assloads of battery life. It’s worth $32. Electronics are shit anyway, refurbed Sansas shouldn’t worry anyone too much.
That flaming lips video seems like a total cult thing. And the Girls guy apparently was a member of the Children of God cult known in part for their flirty fishing.
I can’t believe I didn’t know about these Children of God people.
Here’s my favorite Children of God horseshit nightmare: “They take bridal theology further than mainstream Christians by encouraging members to imagine that Jesus is having sex with them during sexual intercourse and masturbation. Male members are encouraged to visualize themselves as women, in order to avoid a homosexual relationship with Jesus. Additionally, TFI publications frequently liken prophecy from Jesus to receiving Jesus’ semen, or “golden seeds,” as a result of oral or vaginal intercourse.” Give me a break. Hulk smash!
Jesus to Peter – “You’re not gay, just imagine you’re a woman. Now spread your ass.”
Further proof that the contents of a post do not well predict the comments.