tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83439072011-08-02T12:33:22.904-06:00It's not easy being me.Kirknoreply@blogger.comBlogger1281100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-12159048674296551172009-07-30T20:58:00.003-06:002009-07-30T21:42:38.373-06:00

I just discovered today that one of my roommates from LCBI passed away a few years ago - interestingly enough, it was just a week after I had mentioned him on this blog. This one's for you, Dave - it might not be your usual style, but I think you'll recognize the tune:Dave's brother Danny passed away shortly after that, and their friends and family have put together a charity called Band of

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-84979209996646624502009-07-01T14:23:00.003-06:002009-07-01T14:29:57.341-06:00

OK, it's not Thursday, but it's Canada Day today, and I just came across this little tune that I just had to post. I don't know much about the duo that made it (Andrew Gunadie and Julia Bentley), but it's catchy, it's cute, and it's Canadian, eh?That chorus is going to be stuck in my head for a while.

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-6075951677595794272009-06-18T23:05:00.003-06:002009-06-18T23:28:42.642-06:00

Last week was a little crazy, so Music Video Thursday got an unscheduled break (oh, who am I kidding, nothing around here is "scheduled"). To try to make up for it, tonight's Music Video Thursday is a double-header "before and after" affair, with Where the Streets Have No Name from U2's classic 1987 album "The Joshua Tree". This video ended up winning the 1988 Grammy award for "Best Performance

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-38543787768457901182009-06-04T18:34:00.004-06:002009-06-04T19:01:53.098-06:00

Ladies and gentlemen, this is Chris Dane Owens, an independent musician from Los Angeles who produced what is possibly one of the most awesome and/or cheesy (I'm still trying to decide) music videos of all time, complete with fireworks, explosions, dragons, a crocodile, sword fighting, magic, ghosts, tall ships, and a mustache reminiscent of Cary Elwes in The Princess Bride. View at your own risk

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-74035177628077426262009-05-28T23:04:00.005-06:002009-05-28T23:40:28.463-06:00

Word association - when I say alphorn, what's the first thing that comes to mind?Yeah, I thought so. Here's Eliana Burki, who's determined to change the way people think about alphorns (volume on this video is a little lower than normal):This is actually pretty impressive - alphorns have no valves (like a bugle or didgerido), so there's only a certain set of notes that can actually be played on

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-84000341585504954032009-05-21T18:13:00.003-06:002009-05-21T18:31:20.442-06:00

YYZ is the identification code for Toronto Pearson Airport. It's also an incredible instrumental piece by Rush, especially when they perform it live with a massive drum solo by Neal Peart:On a related note, a 13-year-old drummer named Sara did a pretty decent cover of it (with a MIDI track for the guitar/bass/synth parts), with some fancy stick moves - but what I like best in this is the absolute

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-7845670521486131102009-05-14T20:14:00.004-06:002009-05-21T18:13:15.339-06:00

Back in October 2006, I did a "Before and After" with "Land of Confusion" as performed by Genesis and Disturbed. Now, well over 2 years later, here's another musical double-shot for you.1980 saw the launch of Ozzy Osbourne's solo career, and his first single "Crazy Train" was a hit, with a very catchy guitar riff that is now a classic (and outlandish outfits that thankfully are not):Fast forward

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-87628427717860343872009-05-07T23:54:00.006-06:002009-05-08T21:38:44.172-06:00

There once was a small town girl who broke my heart, many years ago. I don't know if she knew, but I always thought of this classic Journey tune as "our song", and every time I hear it, even after nearly 20 years, it still brings back memories - good memories, painful memories.And now, here I am in a small town, married to a (different) small town girl, and raising three small town girls (and a

Kirknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-47857056720071109212008-10-08T14:32:00.002-06:002008-10-08T14:50:14.916-06:00

To the editor of "The Outlook":In the October 6th 2008 edition of "The Outlook", I was pleased to find profiles of the various candidates in the Blackstrap riding, but dismayed to see that there was no mention Imre Pallagi, the candidate for the Green Party of Canada. Mr. Pallagi was also not included in the candidates forum held at the Civic Center on October 8th. At that forum, Tim Holtorf

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-14274671344196845702008-05-07T14:10:00.002-06:002008-05-07T16:43:25.881-06:00

You go through life, trying not to cause too much of a fuss. Something comes up, and you think to yourself something along the lines of "That's not right", but it doesn't seem important enough or close enough to you for you to take action. Then something else comes up. And something else. Finally, one day, something happens that pushes you over the edge, from inaction to action. Today might be

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-31117227983666806912008-03-30T18:24:00.004-06:002008-03-30T18:29:51.879-06:00

You know it's nearly time to quit working in the yard when your muscles are all aching and sore, and things are nearly done except to cut down that old stump.You know it's definitely time to quit working in the yard when the chain saw rips holes in your jeans (leaving the skin underneath miraculously intact).You know you picked a good time to quit working in the yard when you drop the axe head (

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-13664461512324670882008-03-17T13:17:00.004-06:002008-03-17T13:20:21.609-06:00

I'm not Irish, but I suspect that my Viking ancestors probably left their mark on the Emerald Isle many years ago, so I'm gonna celebrate St. Patrick's Day here. Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything tacky, like insert shamrock icons everywhere or change the color scheme to a green hue. Nope, gonna do this classy, with the beloved song "Danny Boy":Like I said, classy.

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-55485979461812363702008-02-28T22:34:00.004-06:002008-02-28T23:04:28.969-06:00

Just when I was beginning to lack inspiration for music videos, along comes Eurovision Song Contest 2008! Previous years have seen musical monstrosities, fake celebrities, cross-dressers, and vampires, but I think Ireland has them all beat - they're entering Dustin the Turkey. A puppet. A freakin' puppet. I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry:Bonus footage: Sky News interviews Dustin just before

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-32178681709123115412008-02-23T16:09:00.003-06:002008-02-23T16:20:59.164-06:00

You'd think we'd learn not to go to Saskatoon. Went to town yesterday, unexpectedly ended up having the front brakes on the van replaced - and apparently Kia parts aren't cheap. At least I got some exercise walking from the brake shop to the mall (where I had dropped off the family to go have lunch, see a movie) and back again - I can't wait for things to warm up enough that I can get back to

Kirknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-35954682835603722772008-02-21T23:23:00.002-06:002008-02-23T16:08:24.054-06:00

No video for tonight, just a little nerd-bragging. I'm making this entry on an Asus Eee PC, a very cool (or very cute, depending on who you ask) "ultraportable" computer - one of my client's is considering using them for a mobile sales team, and so I'm evaluating one for them. So far, I like it - the keyboard is actually fairly easy to use (although the tiny right-shift key is a bit of a pain),

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-18433007298250823332008-02-14T17:27:00.004-06:002008-02-23T16:08:15.607-06:00

"Where've you been?" is a question you could be asking me. I haven't posted anything to the blog so far in 2008... and quite frankly, I've been seriously considering quitting. According to Google Analytics, I'm getting maybe a half dozen vistors per day, and half of them are looking for Quick Logger Plus (which, I'm sorry to say, is pretty much abandonware at this point, but that's a topic for

Kirknoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-30590227723658631512007-12-20T22:02:00.000-06:002007-12-20T22:34:30.654-06:00

This will be the last Music Video Thursday for 2007. Here's some Trans-Siberian Orchestra to wrap up the year:Merry Christmas, and see you in the New Year!

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-33748627773713068612007-12-13T20:18:00.000-06:002007-12-13T20:47:02.662-06:00

And yet another "something completely different" - here's something I'm going to call "Riffed Off", where we explore how the songs change, but the riff stays the same... causing endless flamewars about who ripped off whom. Tonight we present a battle royale with Nirvana, Killing Joke, and the Damned. We'll start with Nirvana, with "Come as You Are" in 1992:Listen carefully to the guitar riff

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-30156765267159059952007-12-06T23:35:00.000-06:002007-12-06T23:36:58.291-06:00

And now for another change of pace (are we having musical whiplash yet?) - a little Diana Krall for y'all:Smooth stuff...

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-67647555048196797102007-11-29T18:13:00.000-06:002007-11-29T18:32:54.031-06:00

And yet again, something a little bit different tonight - same band, same song, two different videos. The band is OK Go (of treadmill infamy), the song is "Do What You Want", and here we go...First take: standard rock "party" video, except for what I can only call "visual whiplash":Second take: starring the wallpaper from the first take, with dancers, acrobats, etc. dressed to match:It's a fun

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-13759473327196628632007-11-22T20:53:00.000-06:002007-11-22T21:08:51.588-06:00

This past weekend I took my older daughters to the symphony, along with my parents, where we got to see Angela Cheng perform Beethoven's Piano Concerto no. 3 in C minor (op 37) with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra. It's been a long time since I've been to the symphony, and the first time for the girls, and was a wonderful experience, and I thought I'd take a break from the usual goofy crap that

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-22042388886375121052007-11-15T21:52:00.000-06:002007-11-15T21:56:23.578-06:00

And now for something completely... oh, wait, wrong group:Kids in the Hall FTW!

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-39738042120581104482007-11-08T20:57:00.000-06:002007-11-08T21:09:13.327-06:00

For those of you not following current events here in Flatland, we had an election yesterday, and I was in it. While I didn't win, I think I did pretty well, especially considering that I didn't have any budget for campaigning. The new premier has announced that the next election will be held on November 7, 2011, and I've already found myself thinking about "next time". The Green Party did pretty

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-78218525388337161082007-11-02T23:18:00.000-06:002007-11-02T23:20:57.270-06:00

Head and wrist sweatbands? Check. Mugging for camera? Check. Blocky computer animation? Check. Looks like we've got us a bad case of the 80's again...And for those of you keeping score at home, yes, this is late. Get a life.

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-14978355266174752892007-10-25T21:55:00.000-06:002007-10-25T22:16:54.340-06:00

On one of our family trips this summer, we dropped the soundtrack for "A Knight's Tale" into the CD player, which starts of with Queen's classic stomp-stomp-clap:Little did I know just how much our kids would take to that song:My mother would be rolling in her grave right now, except that she's still alive.

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-87888511747865425002007-10-18T22:20:00.000-06:002007-10-18T22:38:57.383-06:00

What have I gotten myself into? I'm feeling a little overwhelmed, but excited, but tired... it would be nice to just be able to close my eyes, lean back, and just sail away...Tonight's video is courtesy of Warner Brothers - it's a welcome change to see a media company embracing YouTube instead of fighting them. Nicely done, Yakko, Wakko, and Dot.

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-29955618316818407502007-10-11T20:36:00.000-06:002007-10-11T20:42:28.810-06:00

Ordinary spell favorites better office Toronto number, order bulb service. Notebook menu betta disasters compendium, unofficial Unix marathon corridor community:Together exercise pages album? Ready strange recognition.

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-13237441023786068932007-10-04T23:25:00.000-06:002007-10-04T23:34:47.078-06:00

I'm exhausted - spent most of last night fighting with replication between a couple database servers, gave up and went to bed at 5 this morning, got up at 7:30, fought for another hour, back to bed, up again at 10:30, think I finally won around noon... am I sounding incoherent yet?And speaking of incoherent, how about some classic Ozzy?Going back to bed...

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-86843711725813976602007-09-27T22:07:00.000-06:002007-09-27T22:34:28.612-06:00

Once again, Scandinavia provides tonight's music video mayhem, courtesy of Sweden's Familjen and director Johan Söderberg. The video fits the music well - Familjen's loop-based electronic music is matched with loops of film footage from an early tent revival, cleverly spliced and speed-matched to fit the tempo of the music - and in some cases, it even looks like the preacher is the one singing.

Kirknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-70850600690954841372007-09-20T20:51:00.001-06:002007-09-20T22:06:14.778-06:00

Some classic Pink Floyd for you tonight, with a twist of contemplation on the side: I remember singing the chorus when I was a kid, thinking how cool it was, how defiant and rebellious it was to declare that I didn't "need no education". When I was in university, I saw "The Wall" at a midnight showing at the campus movie theater, and thought it was very cool, very interesting, but didn't really

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-25564231678091797522007-09-13T20:37:00.000-06:002007-09-13T20:53:26.487-06:00

The '80s are back with a blast of serious awesomeness in the form of The Timelords (a.k.a. the KLF) with this Gary Glitter influenced musical tribute to Dr. Who:No matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to EX-TER-MI-NATE the '80s...

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-79629601251498183802007-09-06T23:29:00.000-06:002007-09-06T23:47:59.264-06:00

And you thought last week's video was incomprehensible? Try some Sigur Rós:Is it time to bring back the 80's yet?

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-63168096531578673112007-08-30T20:21:00.000-06:002007-08-30T20:28:18.642-06:00

What could be cheesier than the '80s? How about the '70s? How about a bad "Village People" cover from Finland in the '70s? Be afraid... be very afraid...The '80s are looking positively classy again in comparison...

Kirknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-5522198176468377952007-08-23T20:34:00.000-06:002007-08-23T20:45:52.577-06:00

I don't quite know what to make of this video. Christopher Walken somehow manages to look awkward, yet graceful, while he cuts loose to Fatboy Slim - and for the life of me, I can't quite decide if he's actually a good dancer or not:Of course, part of the problem is that even if he is a bad dancer, he still looks like poetry in motion compared to me, so who am I to judge?

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-48668256000637844462007-08-16T19:12:00.000-06:002007-08-16T19:22:00.651-06:00

Again, definitely not the 80's - from 1967, actually, which makes this pretty groundbreaking stuff, both in terms of the music and the animation. Here's Pierre Henry's "Psyché Rock":Note the similarities to the Futurama theme:And, just for fun, here's Fatboy Slim's remix:Next week - still definitely not the 80's.

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-79404032975904702142007-08-09T22:15:00.000-06:002007-08-09T22:21:09.225-06:00

And now for something completely different... and definitely not the 80s. The Chemical Brothers are apparently trying to start a new dance trend. Or something. I can't say as I understand it, but it's strangely compelling...Coming up next week: still definitely not the 80s.

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-14943854379586609312007-08-02T22:23:00.000-06:002007-08-02T22:39:02.595-06:00

It's time to wrap up the "80's Mix Tape" series here - I think I've just about worked the 80's out of my system, at least for a while. There are a couple other videos that I decided not to inflict on you (in case you're wondering, Aldo Nova and INXS). We're ending the way we began - boys with guitars and big hair, making pretty for the camera. Here's Triumph:Coming up next week: anything but the

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-7752107744234516152007-07-26T13:15:00.000-06:002007-07-26T13:26:48.677-06:00

We interrupt Music Video Thursday's "80's Mix Tape" series for this late-breaking bulletin: I'm going to see Weird Al tonight at Credit Union Center! w00t! In honour of my getting seriously "white and nerdy" tonight (no bubble wrap please), I'm taking a quick break from the 80's to present the first take of the "White and Nerdy" video shoot, with Weird Al fronting, and Donny Osmond getting freaky

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-86042499450225066202007-07-19T20:29:00.000-06:002007-07-19T20:34:33.011-06:00

And here's one more piece of evidence in the case against my good taste in music in the 80's - Adam Ant:I'm so ashamed...

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-51943946130255733932007-07-12T18:35:00.000-06:002007-07-12T18:59:43.409-06:00

A lot of the video's for my mix tape have been cheesy. This is cheese that has gone bad. Ladies and gentlemen, in an unprecedented three-peat appearance on Music Video Thursday, I present to you: Twisted Sister!And for those of you who may have found this blog by following my "author" link on the Bethlehem Lutheran Church blog - I promise that you won't hear these songs on the Sundays that I'm

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-90667926396908671232007-07-05T20:42:00.000-06:002007-07-05T21:00:24.451-06:00

Finding videos for all the songs on my 80's mix tape has proven to be a challenge. Some of the songs have appeared here already (here and here). Some of the songs simply can't be found on YouTube (in particular, anything by Loverboy, aside from crappy cell-cam footage from recent concerts, and Kim Carnes' "Crazy In The Night"). Some are just too... for lack of a better word, "yucky", to post here

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-35353980109258817822007-06-28T22:04:00.000-06:002007-06-28T22:51:45.641-06:00

As I've been going through the list of songs on that mix tape, I began to wonder just how bad my taste was in the 80's - cheese, cheese, and more cheese - but then, redemption in the form of Rush. Yes, they've got big hair, they're wearing weird clothes, but they actually look like they're making music, not just prancing in front of the cameras with instruments: I genuinely like this song - not

Kirknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-58792763196727165362007-06-21T19:25:00.000-06:002007-06-28T22:04:41.430-06:00

I'm beginning to have second thoughts about doing a whole series of videos based on an old 80's mix tape. I mean, I know that it's cheesy, but I didn't really realize just how cheesy it actually is, and I'm not sure I can handle that much cheese, you know, like a kind of a musical lactose intolerance or something...But until better judgement overtakes me, we'll keep going on this fantastic voyage

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-10413160888374135072007-06-14T22:22:00.000-06:002007-06-21T19:35:22.157-06:00

A few months ago I stumbled across a mix tape I had made back in the 80's while in high school, and I can't stop listening to it. So, I've decided that I'll inflict it on all of you here - misery loves company, right?The mix tape kicks off with a perfect song for Music Video Thursday - it's from the 80's, it's Scandinavian, the lyrics are wonderfully awful in the way that only non-native English

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-2566483091622893192007-06-07T19:20:00.000-06:002007-06-07T19:27:50.273-06:00

Lasse Gjertsen is back, only this time he's staying behind the camera. He's directed a music video for Italian cellist Giovanni Sollima. It's beautiful music, and fascinating video:Click through each part to YouTube, where Lasse has included some behind-the-scenes notes on the creation of the video, including hand-editing over 4000 frames...

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-89500738897948763942007-05-31T18:53:00.000-06:002007-06-07T19:28:15.743-06:00

It's been a hard week, so I'm going to keep it simple tonight. This one is for Dag, Eric, all those who have left too soon, and those of us left behind to remember:

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-6056515868891230852007-05-24T19:50:00.000-06:002007-06-07T19:28:15.744-06:00

A little something to flush the Eurovision out of our system - here's Nirvana, with the now-classic "Smells Like Teen Spirit":And here's Weird Al, with the not-quite-classic-but-still-good "Smells Like Nirvana":And here's Tori Amos, with her heartbreaking down-tempo piano version of "Smells Like Teen Spirit":And here's... ummm... Paul Anka...And... what the heck?Ummm....Okay, I think that's

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-1235858723514473102007-05-17T21:57:00.001-06:002007-06-21T19:35:42.423-06:00

Well, that was disappointing. The crazy Ukrainian cross-dresser placed second (WTF!?), Bulgaria placed 5th, Hungary 9th, Georgia 12th, and Switzerland and Israel didn't survive the semi-final. As for the winner - imagine the voice of Celine Dion, trapped in the body of Saturday Night Live's Pat, and you've got Serbia's Marija Serifovic, winner of the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest:That's it for

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-83074080386553734372007-05-10T22:31:00.000-06:002007-06-21T19:35:42.424-06:00

The semi-final is complete, and 10 countries have qualified to join the 14 automatic qualifiers on Saturday's final. A lot of strong entries, including some previously profiled here, but one that I especially liked was the Georgian entry. Note that this is the "promo" video - I guess it's still too early for the semi-final performance to show up on YouTube:Next week - the winner!

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-37471111091246057972007-05-03T22:13:00.000-06:002007-06-21T19:35:42.424-06:00

There's an old joke that goes something like this:What do you get when you play a country song backwards?You get your wife back, you get your truck back, you get your dog back...Tonight's video, Hungary's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, makes me think of this joke, only it's not meant to be funny - Magdi Rúzsa's powerful voice underscores the moody video, run in reverse, for a very

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-39104284377702188882007-04-26T22:29:00.000-06:002007-06-21T19:35:42.425-06:00

Tonight has been a manly night. I have been in the garage. I have fixed the rear wiper on my minivan using a socket set. I have replaced the front wiper blades. I have fixed a headlight mount using a wrench and styrofoam. I have topped up my washer fluid. I have grease on my hands. I am man. Hear me grunt. [insert Tim Allen grunt here]And now for tonight's featured Eurovision entry. Here's Verka

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-81615472567143491732007-04-19T21:24:00.000-06:002007-06-21T19:35:42.426-06:00

Eurovision 2007 coverage continues this week with a look at the Swiss entry. Ah, Switzerland, stately home of diplomacy, banking, Toblerone chocolate, and horror-themed dance music. DJ BoBo was chosen to represent Switzerland for the 2007 song contest, and was allowed to write his own song. In February, DJ BoBo unveiled his creation to the world - a dance number called "Vampires Are Alive", with

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-84769519682199925672007-04-12T19:19:00.000-06:002007-06-21T19:35:42.427-06:00

Our coverage of Eurovision 2007 continues tonight with the Israeli entry.While many of the countries participating in Eurovision Song Contest choose their representative artists via popular vote, the Teapacks (warning: MySpace) were chosen to represent Israel by a committee of the Israeli Broadcasting Authority - the only thing up for vote was which song they would perform. The winning song, "

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-17175145685387928932007-04-05T20:01:00.000-06:002007-06-21T19:35:42.427-06:00

It's that most wonderful time of year - the Eurovision song contest is underway again! Last year's contest provided some wonderfully weird musical moments for Music Video Thursday last year (see Lordi and Silvia Night), and while there are a number of bizarre entries this year, I'm going to start off our 2007 Eurovision coverage with a fantastic video from Bulgaria.Folklore singer Elitsa Todorova

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-26776011896371873732007-03-29T20:23:00.001-06:002007-03-29T20:30:34.647-06:00

I'm in a dark mood tonight. It's been a rough day - I'm angry, I'm depressed, I'm worn out. I'm just going to let this song speak for itself:

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-53102689613981027962007-03-22T21:42:00.000-06:002007-03-22T21:57:50.165-06:00

Well, I had full intentions of setting up tonight's video with a "proof" that The Presidents Of The United States are in favor of copyright infringement, going into the whole "pirates and ninjas are natural enemies" silliness, and then pointing out that in the "Peaches" video, the Presidents kick some ninja butt, so therefore (by the "enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend" way of thinking) they must be

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-58291303232821075092007-03-16T18:40:00.000-06:002007-03-16T18:55:49.889-06:00

I'm late, I'm late!Thursday was the Ides of March (March 15th), and someone on Metafilter posted a link to this video. I'd never heard of the band The Ides of March before, but the song is great, the video is a beautiful mix of funky 70s fashion and space-race NASA footage, and it was the perfect day for it. Pity that I couldn't quite make it in time, but here it is, better late than never:The

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-59992678746774609342007-03-08T22:05:00.000-06:002007-03-08T22:16:32.437-06:00

So I missed last week's Music Video Thursday, even though I managed to get one in while traveling even though I didn't think I was going to, because I had such a hard time getting back into my weekly routine, and was forgetting things all the time, and then tonight I was going to start early on my blog posting, but then my son threw up while I was putting the kids to bed, and I had to clean up,

Kirknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-25604445195616445392007-02-22T19:41:00.000-06:002007-02-22T19:55:39.903-06:00

I'm on a borrowed laptop, on a neighbor's unprotected wi-fi connection, somewhere in the south where it's 30 or 40 degrees (Celsius) warmer than home... just walking on sunshine, you might say:And yes, we're back to the 80's yet again - I'm a creature of habit.

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-36256373316525252872007-02-15T19:27:00.000-06:002007-02-15T19:33:54.734-06:00

I'm fighting off a cold, and I'm stressed out. Perfect time for some loud electronica/industrial. From 1992's Tactical Neural Implant, featuring footage from the Japanese sci-fi movie Gunhed, here's Front Line Assembly:I'm on the road next week with limited internet access, so there probably won't be Music Video Thursday next week. See you in two weeks.

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-77265743031388058982007-02-08T18:31:00.000-06:002007-02-01T23:47:40.195-06:00

Angry. Angry angry angry angry angry. Grrrr. Stupid users. Stupid co-workers. Stupid passwords. Stupid co-worker gives stupid password to stupid user. Stupid password now needs to be changed on just about every stupid server and stupid application in the stupid company. Too many stupid co-workers know the stupid password. New password won't be so stupid. New password won't be known by stupid

Kirknoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-12183101416276973842007-02-01T21:50:00.000-06:002007-02-01T22:02:49.662-06:00

And here we go yet again, back to the 80's...I have no idea what it is about this song. By all rights, I should really hate this song. The lyrics make no sense. The title of the album has became one of my least favorite catch-phrases ever. The video is pure 80's cheese, with big hair, scantily clad dancers, white and nerdy guys desperately trying to look cool, a percussionist who only plays

Kirknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-51140463399813649602007-01-25T20:05:00.000-06:002007-01-25T20:49:25.902-06:00

Dread Zeppelin is quite possibly the world's greatest reggae band doing Led Zeppelin covers with an Elvis impersonator. Actually, they're quite possibly the world's only reggae band doing Led Zeppelin covers with an Elvis impersonator, but that's not really important right now."Heartbreaker (At the End of Lonely Street)", a mash-up of Zeppelin's Heartbreaker and Elvis' Heartbreak Hotel, appeared

Kirknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-63085758840020961862007-01-18T23:10:00.000-06:002007-01-18T23:30:55.473-06:00

I'm not sure if I really understand The White Stripes. There's just the two of them - Meg White on drums, and Jack White on just about everything else (but primarily guitars and lead vocals). They claim to be siblings, but they were actually married in 1996 and divorced in 2000. Jack is a very versatile and talented musician, but it seems sometimes that Meg is barely able to keep a steady beat.

Kirknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-9846378977186922572007-01-11T23:23:00.000-06:002007-01-11T23:39:55.960-06:00

Happy New Year everyone! It's 2007, but I feel like I'm stuck in the 80's again - I've got a brand new Apple computer (but a little more powerful than my old Apple ][+), I've been playing Time Pilot (but in MacMAME instead of a dimly lit arcade), and tonight's video has a sort of 80's vibe to it (even though the song is from 2002). Here is Norway's Apoptygma Berzerk, and "Until the End of the

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-49228713837726839422006-12-18T21:34:00.000-06:002006-12-18T22:15:02.533-06:00

It seems like just yesterday that I uttered (well, typed) the words "I haven't missed a Thursday yet". I should have known better. 11 days and 70+ work hours later, here I am, realizing that the "crazy, crazy, crazy week" that I mentioned was merely the warm-up act, and that the main event was still to come. So, with the crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy, CRAZY week behind me now, I've decided that now

Kirknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-38025323079386508682006-12-07T22:52:00.000-06:002006-12-07T23:13:09.521-06:00

It's been a crazy, crazy, crazy week and all I want to do is go to sleep (but that'll have to wait for another post), but I haven't missed a Thursday yet, and I'm not going to drop the ball now.I don't really know much about Faithless or this song, but apparently MTV refused to play the video. It's very powerful, almost hard to watch, and it makes you stop and think about what is happening in the

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-27351686634121433102006-11-30T22:24:00.000-06:002006-11-30T22:41:19.199-06:00

Tonight's video is from a young Norwegian who, although he claims to not play drums or piano, manages to put together a convincing performance via some very slick video editing. Here's Lasse Gjertsen's "Amateur":Also of interest is his earlier "Hyperactive" beat-box performance. It'll be interesting to see what else Mr. Gjertsen comes up with in the future.

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-10963856805825164692006-11-23T23:23:00.000-06:002006-11-23T23:25:39.801-06:00

As you may have noticed, I've decided to do a bit of renovating of the ol' "Home on the Range" - there's these fancy label thingies on the sidebar and on the posts, and I'm experimenting with some different templates, so pardon the dust and watch your step.

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-83367529929120869672006-11-23T21:50:00.000-06:002006-11-23T23:51:05.642-06:00

Surprise! We're not regressing back to the 80's yet again - this is genuine 21st-century music! And these are strange days indeed, where a music group may or may not really exist - depending on how you define existence, I suppose.Gorillaz burst on to the music scene in 2001 with their self-titled debut album. The second single, 19-2000, is a quirky little tune with a video that's got it all -

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-1163741955560928302006-11-16T23:27:00.000-06:002006-11-16T23:39:15.573-06:00

I'm feeling a little frustrated - I thought of the perfect song, and I know there's an official video for it out there somewhere, but I can't find it on YouTube, Google Video, or any of the other video sites searched by VDoogle. I may still have a copy of it on my workstation (I'm a digital packrat), but I won't be able to find it in time for tonight. Maybe next week...But for now, the show must

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-1163138582341616152006-11-09T23:54:00.001-06:002008-04-05T21:05:58.444-06:00

And we're going back to the 80s again - I had a heck of a time coming up with something for today's music video, but I finally found it in the form of Kim Mitchell's "Go For Soda":The only question I have: what the heck was that guy (the guy in the video with the afro, not Kim Mitchell) supposed to be smoking anyhow? He takes a drag off it, next thing you know there's a little guy jumping out of

Kirknoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-1162530006892671742006-11-02T22:32:00.000-06:002006-11-02T23:00:06.903-06:00

We're in the middle of some "emergency renovations" tonight (discovered that a 25 1/2 inch geothermal heat exchange unit doesn't fit through a 25 1/4 inch doorway), so I'm not going into a lot of detail on tonight's video. Here's Bon Jovi, "Living on a Prayer":Ahhh, the 80's - big hair, mascara, and keyboards in hard rock bands... and the hours I spent sitting at the piano, playing "Fantasy", "

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-1161924599080625592006-10-26T22:49:00.000-06:002006-10-26T22:49:59.090-06:00

OK Go does more than dance around on treadmills - they're also good at blowing stuff up:The album is fantastic, by the way - I just got a copy... ummm... that is, a friend loaned me his CD. Yeah, that's it - from a friend. Ummmm... his name... Biff... yeah, Biff Torrance, that's his name, yeah...

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-1161309781200072562006-10-19T20:02:00.000-06:002006-10-19T20:34:53.873-06:00

I told my wife my choice for this week's posting, and her response was "Bad day at the office, huh?" Guess she knows me pretty well...It's cheesy 80's fun today, with Twisted Sister, the world's ugliest band (lead singer Dee Snider is quoted as saying "We should be called 'Hid' [instead of 'Glam'] because we're hideous."). Ask yourself this - "What do you wanna do with your life?!?""I wanna rock!"

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-1160717957958444372006-10-12T21:59:00.000-06:002006-10-12T23:39:18.590-06:00

This week, we have a double shot of music videosity for you with Before and After - one song, two renditions. If this isn't a complete disaster, this will become a semi-regular feature of Music Video Thursday. If it's not so successful... well, you'll probably still be able to find the Google cache of this post."Land of Confusion" was originally written and performed by Genesis on their 1986

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-1160093740639957972006-10-05T18:13:00.000-06:002006-10-05T21:54:47.373-06:00

Those crazy Scandinavians are at it again (and by "again", I'm actually referring to 2001, if you catch my transcendental chronometry). When they're not busy crashing Eurovision or being misleading about their origins, they're busy trashing apartments - musically, that is: This short film is the product of Sweden's Kostr-film, and won a number of awards from various film festivals. Other than

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-1159507477481628922006-09-28T22:42:00.000-06:002006-09-29T00:13:24.646-06:00

"Weird Al" Yankovic has long been a favorite of nerds - from "The Saga Begins" (Don McLean meets Star Wars Episode I), to his geeky flamewar rap "All About the Pentiums" (my favorite line: "You're just about as useless as JPEGs to Helen Keller"), to his recent satiric take on the battle between the recording industry and P2P networks "Don't Download This Song", Al has shown that he understands

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-1158904601043320752006-09-21T23:36:00.000-06:002006-09-21T23:56:41.070-06:00

I lost my grandmother this past Sunday. We just got back today from Frontier, where her funeral was yesterday, and I'm exhausted emotionally and physically. So instead of my customary background and history regarding the choice for Music Video Thursday, I'm just going to point you to the Wikipedia article for "JCB" by Nizlopi, and let the video roll:It feels like this song is what I needed today

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-1158213063043837182006-09-14T00:09:00.001-06:002009-07-30T21:44:39.416-06:00

Ahhh, memories. Grade 11, fall of 1987, LCBI dorm, my room-mate Dave. Late nights staying up, listening to music, drinking Jolt, eating O'Ryan's "au gratin" potato chips. When Dave was choosing the music, it was almost exclusively Metallica. His side of the room was covered in Metallica posters, plus a glow-in-the-dark "Ride the Lightning" t-shirt that kept me awake at night the first week or so.

Kirknoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-1158156437867773192006-09-13T07:25:00.000-06:002006-09-13T08:10:49.530-06:00

About 6 weeks ago, I posted a little utility online called QuickLogger Plus. I got a fair bit of feedback, pretty much all positive, and a fistful of feature requests. I started plotting and planning... and then nothing happened. I don't think I even replied to most of the comments or e-mail.I'm happy to say that I've finally taken a little time to sit down with the code and do some more work

Kirknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-1157683074203905272006-09-07T20:11:00.000-06:002007-06-21T19:36:25.002-06:00

The final installment of our Scandinavian Invasion is a doozie tonight, featuring a fearsome double-feature of Finnish frightfulness. Spooooooooooky!The Creature Feature: "Hard Rock Hallelujah"We now return to the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest, and another controversial Scandinavian entry. When the winner of Finland's regional final was announced, many Finns called for officials to reconsider

Kirknoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-1157050748033352912006-08-31T22:48:00.000-06:002007-06-21T19:36:25.002-06:00

The Eurovision Song Contest has been going on for 50 years now. For those not familiar with Eurovision, imagine an Idol-style show, except that the contestants (solo or group acts) are selected by individual countries. Previous winners include ABBA in 1974 and Celine Dion in 1998. 24 countries took part in the 2006 edition of the contest, from Albania to the U.K., including Iceland, who, for

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-1156475038138145852006-08-24T20:35:00.000-06:002007-06-21T19:36:25.002-06:00

Last week, I told you to be afraid of Denmark. I had the latest in Danish reggae/hip-hop bands (with a bizarre video that involves karaoke) ready to go for today... and then, on a whim, I decided to feed the lyrics through a Danish-to-English translator. As with most machine translations, it wasn't perfect, but it was enough to know that it would probably offend any Danish-speaking visitors to

Kirknoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-1155869935517805662006-08-17T20:49:00.000-06:002007-06-21T19:36:25.003-06:00

Apparently Basshunter wasn't everyone's cup of tea, so at the suggestion of a conspiring Norwegian (you know who you are) I'm going to post an alternate Swedish entry for the Music Video Thursday's Scandinavian Invasion.It's an incredibly annoying-yet-catchy tune, and the video is quirky and fun to watch. Any wonder that the video for "We're From Barcelona" by quirky and fun-to-watch 29-person

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-1155223702172783092006-08-10T09:18:00.000-06:002007-06-21T19:36:25.003-06:00

Now we turn our attention to Sweden, home of a DJ who calls himself Basshunter. He spun up a little tune called "Boten Anna" that became all the rage in the northern lands this spring, including being voted the official Russ song in Norway. It's a pretty standard story - boy meets girl, boy mistakes girl for an artificial intelligence, girl tells boy that she's real, boy doesn't quite believe her

Kirknoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-1154669650182807762006-08-03T22:55:00.000-06:002007-06-21T19:36:25.004-06:00

This week's Music Video Thursday marks the beginning of the Scandinavian Invasion - all the videos over the next few weeks will feature artists from the chilly north of Europe.We begin the Scandinavian Invasion with Norwegian electronic sensation Röyksopp. The video for their single "Remind Me" ended up winning the 2002 MTV Europe Music Award for best video: Thanks to Google Video for still being

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-1154325388975592732006-07-31T00:03:00.000-06:002006-07-30T23:57:11.240-06:00

I find your lack of cuteness... disturbing...Via BoingBoing

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-1154296441498797542006-07-30T15:35:00.000-06:002007-09-26T19:40:38.302-06:00

UPDATE 2007-09-26: Welcome again Lifehacker readers - it looks like a bunch of you have followed the breadcrumbs from the recent QuickLogger 2 article to the original QuickLogger article to get here. You may have noticed that QuickLogger Plus is a little stale to say the least - it's been well over a year since the last update. I feel like I owe you all an explanation for that, but I don't have

Kirknoreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-1154056878291159852006-07-27T20:54:00.000-06:002006-07-27T21:21:18.473-06:00

All right, here we go - the second installment of "Music video Thursday". I'm actually looking forward to these - I've got a number of videos lined up for the next month or two already. And now... on with the show!"1985" - a poignant examination of a middle aged lady, looking wistfully back at her life, at opportunities missed, dreams forgotten, the changes in the world around her...Well, it

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-1153441111391163782006-07-20T18:09:00.000-06:002006-07-20T18:18:31.440-06:00

I've decided that Thursday is the day to post music videos to my blog. Just because. You got a problem with that? Oh yeah? Well come over here and say that.And now, for your viewing and listening pleasure, we are proud to present our feature presentation: "Technologic", by Daft Punk. Don't try to understand what's happening, just sit back and... ummm... watch, I guess.Buy it, use it, break it,

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-1152850962201912332006-07-13T22:16:00.000-06:002006-07-13T22:22:42.210-06:00

The Pig and the Box is a fun kids story, and a decent fable about the pitfalls of DRM - distributed as a free PDF download, with a Creative Commons license.Officially kid-tested by three of our in-house story testers, resulting in smiles, giggles, and three thumbs up.

Kirknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-1150985407625289132006-06-22T08:07:00.000-06:002006-06-22T08:22:53.116-06:00

I can only assume that David Lee Roth was abducted by aliens, or at least dropped on his head as a child... repeatedly... it's the only logical explanation for this: EDIT: Upon further review, it appears that Diamond Dave has always acted like a mildly retarded monkey. Or maybe everyone acted that way in 80's music videos. Whatever.

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-1149923108233772722006-06-10T00:49:00.000-06:002006-06-10T01:06:25.906-06:00

At 10/6/06 00:25, Anonymous (who the heck are you?) said... Ummmmm, I thought u were going 2 keep this up 2 date?????Yeah, I thought I was going to do that too. Ever hear of a certain road that's paved with good intentions?So, does this count?

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-1138853101172293052006-02-01T22:00:00.000-06:002006-02-01T22:05:01.183-06:00

2005-11-10: "Hey, watch this, I'm gonna keep this blog up-to-date and stuff"2005-11-20: "Hey, look, I'm posting and stuff! w00t!"2006-02-01: "Ummmm.... yeah... where was I?"The beatings will continue until morale improves I get back to this. Lots of stuff happened in the two "silent" months - not sure how much of it I want to talk about online, let's wait and see...

Kirknoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-1129856314782318092005-10-20T18:50:00.000-06:002005-10-20T18:58:34.790-06:00

Well, it's out - I just got my invitation to download Flock, the new web browser. Actually, I'm posting this right from Flock's built-in blogging tool, and playing around with the full integration between Flock's bookmarks and del.icio.us (which I just started using a couple weeks ago, and loving it). It also looks like it has integration with Flickr, but since I don't really use it I haven't

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-1129007675681869152005-10-10T23:10:00.000-06:002005-10-10T23:14:35.690-06:00

DEAD PERSON: I'm not dead! CART MASTER: What? CUSTOMER: Nothing. Here's your ninepence. DEAD PERSON: I'm not dead! CART MASTER: 'Ere. He says he's not dead! CUSTOMER: Yes, he is. DEAD PERSON: I'm not! CART MASTER: He isn't? CUSTOMER: Well, he will be soon. He's very ill. DEAD PERSON: I'm getting better! CUSTOMER: No, you're not. You'll be stone dead in a moment. CART MASTER: Oh, I can't take

Kirknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-1120526041357760782005-07-04T19:13:00.000-06:002005-07-04T19:14:01.363-06:00

Which OS are You?

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-1119722069964242362005-06-25T11:32:00.000-06:002005-06-25T11:54:31.830-06:00

I have no idea if this is serious or not, but... it's Hufu - the healthy human flesh alternative.

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343907.post-1119367409981150362005-06-21T09:23:00.000-06:002005-07-06T23:45:18.696-06:00

Set93_01 Originally uploaded by cowboy_k. Birgitte Joy arrived @ 2005-06-20 19:43, weighing 8lbs, 4ozs, and 21 inches long. Mom and baby are doing fine. Dad is too, but no-one ever asks about that.

Kirknoreply@blogger.com0