Weekly Discoveries

// Favorite Informative Video -





// Favorite Nature Video -





// Favorite Trailer Mash-Up -





// Worst Friends -




// Favorite Song - Jorge Ben - "Zumbi"





// Favorite Outtakes -



Well, that's all for this week. Early next week I'll be posting some of my lists of favorite media from 2012.

From "A Christmas Memory"

"You know what I've always thought?" she asks in a tone of discovery, and not smiling at me but a point beyond. "I've always thought a body would have to be sick and dying before they saw the Lord. And I imagined that when He came it would be like looking at the Baptist window: pretty as colored glass with the sun pouring through, such a shine you don't know it's getting dark. And it's been a comfort: to think of that shine taking away all the spooky feeling. But I'll wager it never happens. I'll wager at the very end a body realizes that the Lord has already shown Himself. That things as they are" --her hand circles in a gesture that gathers clouds and kites and grass and Queenie pawing earth over her bone--"just what they've always seen, was seeing Him. As for me, I could leave the world with today in my eyes."

Truman Capote, from A Christmas Memory

Weekly Discoveries

// Favorite Song -





// Favorite Thing - Help them out HERE.




and this:





// Favorite Fan Credits -





// Favorite Supercut - "There's no time to explain!"





// Favorite Sound -





// Favorite Parody - Thanks Eddie!

Weekly Discoveries

// Favorite Autotune -





// Favorite Testimonial -





// Favorite Inspiration -





// Favorite Christmas Tune - Give this one some time. You won't regret it.




// Favorite Site - Famous Photos Reframed as Self-Captured Smartphone shots


//

Weekly Discoveries

// Favorite Song -





// Favorite Music Video -





// Favorite Prank -



and this one:

Weekly Discoveries

// Favorite Star Wars Parody -





// Favorite Least Favorite Music Video -





// Favorite Engagement Session -




// Favorite Prank -





// Favorite Costume -



// Favorite Nature Video -





// Favorite New Thing -





// Favorite Informational Video -

Weekly Discoveries

// Favorite Performance -




// Favorite How-To -





// Favorite Crazy Stuntman -





// Favorite Face-Off - Bond vs. Bond vs. Bond vs. Bond vs. Bond vs. Bond





// Favorite In-Flight Safety Video -




// Favorite New Song -

A Perfect Halloween Playlist

For over a year now I've been gradually working on putting together a truly great playlist for Halloween. I still believe this is in the beta stages, but I thought I'd share what I've put together so far. I'm not even near being finished, and some of these may not end up on the final list.

(I've noticed that the embed link has left out some of the songs -- visit the playlist in Spotify to get a full list.)

Let me know if there is anything you'd add to it!

**Quick note, you can probably tell from the list I'm not going with songs that are only about Halloween -- I'm also looking for ones that really, REALLY creep you out.**

Weekly Discoveries

// Favorite Parody - This sort of spoilery if you're not caught up with Breaking Bad. Or Taylor Swift.





// Favorite "Making of" -





// Favorite Story -





// Favorite Music Video - warning -- very very brutal. But great.





// Favorite Advice - How to get your kids to listen to classical music.




and this:






// Favorite Slam Poetry -




// Favorite Song, Halloween Edition -

Weekly Discoveries

// Favorite Sellout -





// Favorite PSA -





// Favorite Ad -





// Favorite Short - The Greatest Event In Television History



and this:



and this!





// Favorite Sport -





// Favorite Rap Battle -





// Favorite Mash-Up -





// Favorite Event -





// Favorite Autotune -

Weekly Discoveries

// Comedy Album you Must Own -  This gem from Tig Notaro. It's a long story, but I'll let Louis CK explain:

Greetings to the people and parts of people that are reading this.   Hi.  This is Louis.   I'm a comedian and you bought a thing from me. Well, I'm writing to tell You that there is a new thing you can buy on my website louisck.com.   It's an audio standup set by not me but another comedian named Tig Notaro.  Why am I selling someone else's comedy on my website?

Well,   Tig is a friend of mine and she is very funny.  I love her voice on stage.   One night I was performing at a club in LA called Largo.  Tig was there.   She was about to go on stage.   I hadn't seen Tig in about a year and I said how are you?   She replied "well I found out today that I have cancer in both breasts and that it has likely spread to my lymph nodes.  My doctor says it looks real bad. ". She wasn't kidding.   I said "uh.  Jesus.   Tig.    Well.   Do you... Have your family... Helping?".   She said "well my mom was with me but a few weeks ago she fell down, hit her head and she died".   She still wasn't kidding.

Now, I'm pretty stupid to begin with, and I sure didn't know what to say now.  I opened my mouth and this came out.   "jeez, Tig.   I.   Really value you.  Highly.".  She said "I value you highly too, Louie.".  Then she held up a wad of note-paper in her hand and said "I'm gonna talk about all of it on stage now.  It's probably going to be a mess".  I said "wow".  And with that, she went on stage.
I stood in the wings behind a leg of curtain, about 8 feet from her, and watched her tell a stunned audience "hi.  I have cancer.  Just found out today.  I'm going to die soon".   What followed was one of the greatest standup performances I ever saw.   I can't really describe it but I was crying and laughing and listening like never in my life.  Here was this small woman standing alone against death and simply reporting where her mind had been and what had happened and employing her gorgeously acute standup voice to her own death.

The show was an amazing example of what comedy can be.  A way to visit your worst fears and laugh at them.   Tig took us to a scary place and made us laugh there.  Not by distracting us from the terror but by looking right at it and just turning to us and saying "wow. Right?".   She proved that everything is funny.  And has to be.  And she could only do this by giving us her own death as an example.  So generous.

After her set, I asked Mark Flanagan, the owner of Largo (great club, by the way) if he recorded the set.  Largo is set up for excellent recordings.  He said that he did. 

A few days later, I wrote Tig and asked her if I could release this set on my site.  I wanted people to hear what I saw.  What we all saw that night.  She agreed.  The show is on sale for the same 5 dollars I charge for my stuff.  I'm only keeping 1.  She gets the other 4.   Tig has decided to give some of that to cancer research.

Tig, by the way, has since undergone a double mastectomy.  She is doing well.  Her doctors say her chances of survival are excellent.  So she went there and came back.  Her report from the frontlines of life and death are here for you to... Enjoy. 

Please go to my site louisck.com and buy her show.  You can buy it here:
http://buy.louisck.net/purchase/tig-notaro-live
Thank you.  Have a terrific afternoon.
Louis C.K.

// Favorite Song -





// Coolest/Laziest Thing -





// Favorite Cognitive Dissonance -




// Favorite Short -




// Favorite Music Video -



and this:



// Favorite Awkward Interview -

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

// Favorite Political Craziness - This video answers the question - "What if there is a tie in the presidential election?"




// Favorite Halftime Show -

Weekly Discoveries

// Favorite Four Minutes of Comedy - This from the season finale of Louie. (**warning, there is a some language, if that bothers you or if you're at work**)




// Favorite Music/Music Video - The single from Grizzly Bear (their new album, Shields, by the way, is great)




// How to Correctly Eat a Cupcake -




// Favorite Honest Trailer -




// Favorite Person - Ze Frank




// Favorite Tease - A potential new Christmas album from Sufjan Stevens (update: yeah, it's happening)





// Favorite Catch




// Favorite Website - Lostalgic (for all you Lost fans)


// Favorite Auto-Tune -

Weekly Discoveries

// Favorite Supercut -




// Favorite Medley -





// Favorite music video -




// Favorite Prank -



and this one:




// Favorite Death Scene -




// Favorite Song - "There's that Grin" by Deerhoof


// Favorite Person - Amy Poehler




// Favorite Nature Video -





// I Love Google - Street view..... for the ocean?

Weekly Discoveries

// Favorite Music Video -



this too:



oh yeah, and this:





// Favorite Slam Poetry -

Weekly Discoveries

// Favorite Music Video -




// Favorite Remix - This one from the first couple seasons of Breaking Bad




// Favorite First Look - Lincoln




// Favorite Bowling Competition - Nerdist Vs. Doctor Who





// Favorite Fan Tribute - The Journey of Walter White. DO NOT WATCH THIS if you have not seen Breaking Bad, but plan to.



// Favorite Prank -



and this:

Uncle David

My Uncle David died on Friday. It was 8:20 in the morning. He was 59.

Along with Hepatits C, he had many other medical problems, and this past year or so had been especially rough for him. Aside from his physical issues, he had junkies for roommates, stealing his social security checks and pills. After being juggled between hospitals and nursing homes for the last few months, they decided to put him into hospice a couple weeks ago.

Friday was a strange day. After getting the news from my father around 10 a.m., I drove up to Toccoa, met with some of the family, and most of us went into a back room to see David before they cremated him. The fastest funeral ever.

The six of us and the funeral director convened in a small meeting room, deciding what to do from there. We all chose to not run any obituary notices in the newspaper or on the radio, as those outside of the room who wasn't family would not need to know that he had died. They didn't deserve it.

We also decided to postpone the Memorial Service -- we wanted to wait until his mother could handle it.

I don't really how I'm handling all this -- it's definitely a mix of grief and guilt. Grief because he's gone. Guilt because it's been years since I last saw him. Guilt because he never met Liam. And he could have.

I have both good and bad memories of David.


The good memories of him coming over and spending time with us kids. Teaching us poker and rummy, how you actually play it (and not the way our grandfather, his dad, taught us). How we would walk a trail through the woods to get to his mobile home, and spend time with him talking about Bruce Lee, or recalling tales from his younger days when he was a getaway driver for bank robbers.

The bad memories, the times when he was off his medication and most vulnerable. The time he came over one Sunday as we were getting ready for church. He asked if he could hide out at our place -- someone he helped put in prison was getting out that day, and David knew this ex-con's first stop would be David's trailer, to kill him. My mother explained that we needed to go to church, but he was welcome to stay as long as he liked. He said, "Well, when you get back, I'm going to be dead." I had seen this before, on smaller scales, so I knew things would be fine. But I was nine, and I wasn't able to stop thinking and worrying about him until we got back.


Uncle David was a conflicted man. His past sins defeated his future. He only spoke of himself in the negative, deeming himself irredeemable because of his lifestyle choices when he was younger. I'm not trying to reduce his life to a cautionary tale, a mere lesson for me to learn from. But there's still something that was missing -- a life that chose to live defeated. A life that was content on being discontent.

I miss him. I hope maybe at last he's at peace with himself. And maybe that's part of my grief and guilt -- that he was never able to find peace before now.

Weekly Discoveries

// Favorite Use of Eight Floppy Drives -




// Favorite Return - The Flight of the Conchords!





// Favorite Song - The Very Best - "We Ok"



and this one:




// Favorite/Weirdest Commercial/Thing - This addictive (and interactive at the end) oddity from Old Spice




// Film I'm Really Looking Forward To -





// Favorite Animal - The ribbon eel.

Weekly Discoveries

// Favorite Megamix - This one featuring the one and only Bill Murray (there's a little bit of language towards the end).





// Favorite Song - "Time to Run" by Lord Huron. Off their upcoming album!



and this one:




// Favorite Prank -




and this one:





// Favorite Commercial Parody -





// Favorite Time-Lapse -





// Favorite Website - http://heyyeyaaeyaaaeyaeyaa.com/

Weekly Discoveries

// Favorite Song - This gem from Shad. He's got a name-your-price EP here.




// Favorite Re-Mix - Gotye remixes his own song, with the help of dozens of Youtube covers:





// Favorite Weather Forecast -





// Favorite Hacking Tips -





// Favorite Accidental Nature Video -




// Favorite Auto-Tune -




// Favorite Parody -




// Favorite Proposal -

Weekly Discoveries

// Favorite Song -




another one:




// Favorite Olympic Info -




// Favorite Event -






// Father of the Year -




// Favorite Mini- Documentary - This one regarding the late hilarious Mitch Hedberg.

Weekly Discoveries

// Favorite Song - The new single from Animal Collective.






// Favorite Parents -








// Favorite Prank -








// Favorite Nature Video - The Net-Casting Spider in action!






// Favorite Cover -










// Favorite Web Series - Boys Minute, featuring Will Arnett.

// No Words

Weekly Discoveries

// Best Time-Lapse of Planet Earth -




// Favorite Trailer -




// Favorite Medley -




// Greatest Pet Peeves -




// Favorite Rap -

// Favorite Supercut - 75 Years of the Manic Pixie Dreamgirl

// Favorite Auto-tune -

// Please Help -

Weekly Discoveries

// Favorite Prank -




// Favorite Song - The XX - "Angels"




// Favorite New Product -




// Favorite Blog - http://richkidsofinstagram.tumblr.com/


// Favorite Supercut - The Laughs of Richard Dreyfuss




// Favorite Tech Writer - Paul Miller, who, as of May 1st, has left the internet for a year.




// Favorite Time Lapse -

Weekly Discoveries

// Favorite Parody - (watch out, there's a little bit of language in this one)




// Favorite Toy Malfunction -




// Prepare to have your mind blown -




// The Craziest Movie Trailer You'll Ever See -




// Favorite Rendition of "Somebody That I Used to Know" -




// Favorite Song - Wait for it.

Weekly Discoveries

// Favorite Music Video -




// Favorite Supercut - Annie ghasping in Community






// Second Favorite Supercut - Sorkin's recycled dialogue




// Favorite Informative Video -




// Favorite Prank -




// Favorite Song - This little gem from Lambchop




// Favorite Blog Post - 108 Answers to Lost's Supposedly Unanswered Questions


// I Miss Moscow -




// Favorite Parody -

Weekly Discoveries

// Favorite Song - David by Noah Gundersen





// Best Breaking Bad Recap - In case you need a refresher before the Season 5 premiere on July 15th.




// Favorite Induction Speech -




// Favorite Reimagined Intro - The Avengers, Firefly style

Weekly Discoveries

// Favorite Historical Video -




// Favorite Inspiration -




// Favorite TV Teaser Poster -

// Favorite Song -

// Favorite Homage/Parody -

The Wire: The Musical with Michael Kenneth Williams from Michael Kenneth Williams

// Favorite Idea -




// Favorite Look Back at Video Games -

Weekly Discoveries

// Favorite Trailer Parody -




// Favorite Album Surprise of the Week - mewithoutYou's Ten Stories




// Favorite Website - thelistserve.com


// New Favorite Show -




// You Still Want to Argue that Pluto's a Planet? -

Weekly Discoveries

// Albums I'm Looking Forward to -

Regina Spektor - What We Saw From the Cheap Seats



and

Sigur Ros - Valtari






// Favorite Sports Moment -




// Favorite Outtakes -




// Favorite End of the Year College Speech -

Can I take your picture?

"Hey Liam, can I take your picture real quick?"

He looked at me and didn't say anything. Just stopped playing with his deflating Toy Story ball and walked over to me. Although he's still working on verbal affirmations, much of his physical demeanor now gives a signal that he understands.

"Let me sit you on this log and I'll take a picture." I say things simply and repeatedly.

He lets me pick him up. I set him on the log, and he smiles. And he waits for me to take a picture.

Honestly, this really isn't a big deal. Obviously there's not much to it. I've just been so amazed lately at what all he is able to do and understand. And I don't mean that in a "My child is the greatest kid ever! He's a genius!" way. I mean that in a way that only exposes my own ignorance. I am constantly astonished at the rate that children learn and grow. These are all probably things I should have read up on by now, but I'm still in the dark as to when kids can do what exactly. Every day feels like a new surprise.

Weekly Discoveries

// Favorite Music Video -




// Favorite Song -




// Favorite Ad -

Weekly Discoveries

// Favorite Music Video - This one from Cut Copy:




// Favorite Informative Video - Surviving the Robopocalypse




// Favorite Dinosaur Video -




// Favorite Jimmy Fallon Sketch -

Weekly Discoveries

// Favorite Parody Ad -




// Favorite Song - Thanks to Mark for this one!




// Favorite Picture - The one from this article:

// Favorite Trailer -

// New Favorite Show - Southland

Weekly Discoveries

// Favorite Ad -




// Another Favorite Ad -




// Another Favorite Ad -




// Favorite Video Essay -

Weekly Discoveries

// Favorite Album - Of Monsters and Men - My Head is an Animal





// Favorite Pseudo Viral Ad -




// Favorite Prank -  (Someone must have seen my senior Spanish class, because we did this very same thing as a skit -- although I was saving someone from a bad date, not a thief. Unfortunately we didn't have camera phones at the time.)




// Favorite Inspiration -




// Favorite Parody Trailer -




// Favorite Lead Singer -  This guy from Vintage Trouble




// Favorite Piece of History - Yesterday we celebrated Cosmonauts Day! It was the 51st anniversary of Yuri Gargarin's flight into space.

Weekly Discoveries

// Favorite Prank -




// Favorite Political Humor -




// Favorite Hunger Games related Ads -






// Favorite Article - THE ONE MY WIFE WAS IN! I'm so proud of her!

Books Three - Five: The Hunger Games Trilogy

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I actually gave Beth these books for Christmas -- I found the entire trilogy, and heard from friends that Beth would really enjoy them.

I promise I didn't get them for her just so I could read them too. But when she finished, she said she thought I would really like them.

And I kind of needed something like this after reading A Game of Thrones. A quick, less-dense read. I thought the premise and story was very interesting, especially the very intriguing back-drop of the dystopian nation of Panem.

I think the books kind of peaked at the second book, although I enjoyed the entire series overall. I loved the fast-pace of the story, and was impressed at the questions and dilemmas that were introduced in the book. Humanity, human dignity, and the governmental manipulation of both. Fascinating questions.

(This is a pretty late review .... I began this post back on Feb. 11.)

Weekly Discoveries

// Favorite Website - TheArtisifier.com 


// Favorite New Podcast - Penn's Sunday School. He may be obnoxious to some, but I love listening to Penn Jillette talk.


// Favorite Studio Performance - Bon Iver and Sean Carey




// Favorite Song -




// Favorite Cartoon Opening Remake -

Weekly Discoveries

// Favorite Video - ...... my feelings exactly.

The Dark Secret Behind Quirky Romantic Comedies -- powered by Cracked.com


// Favorite Time-Lapse -




// Favorite Fake Title Sequence -




// Favorite Batman - The one in Toronto




// Favorite Onion Desk Calendar Page This Week -

when downsizing is upgrading

This is actually happening.

For the last couple months, Beth and I have been brainstorming and looking for houses in Atlanta that are closer to work. While we have no problem with where we are living now, we have been very interested in finding somewhere closer in town -- just somewhere with more of the perks of living in a city.

While we were in no rush, we think we may have found the perfect place:

Of all the houses we looked at, not only was this one the most move-in ready, it was also the cheapest.

It's been completely remodeled.

It's got a great backyard (plenty of room for an underground trampoline!).

It's a mile from work.

It's just a couple miles from some great farmers markets and tons of International stores and restaurants (a couple Russian places here and there!).

It's right beside I-85 and I-285.

It's right by a Marta bus stop, and a couple miles from the Doraville rail station.

It's perfect. At least for Beth and Liam and I.



It's definitely smaller than where we're at right now (half the size of our current place). But we couldn't be more excited. We're hoping to get involved in the surrounding international community, and just be more all-around intentional when it comes to where we live and why. We feel like it fits both -- it's close to work, but also close to so much we can really get involved in things in our area.

And we're closing on it TODAY.

We're overwhelmed, but excited. I'll keep you posted as to the details and all the exciting changes.

Weekly Discoveries

Favorite Music Video -




// Favorite Auto-Tune -




// Favorite Song - The first single from Jack White's upcoming album, Blunderbuss -




// Favorite "How It Should Have Ended" -




// Favorite Prank -

Beth/Rest

I know you probably already saw this during the weekend, but here's an incredible performance from Bon Iver on SNL.

Weekly Discoveries

// Favorite Music Video -




// Werner Herzog Has Done It All - "Man, relax."



// Favorite Crazy Person -




// Favorite Rare Moment - It's about a minute and thirty seconds in, but totally worth the watch. And the song is fun too.




// Favorite Auto-Tune -




// Favorite Cover - Try not to laugh!




// Favorite Website - "If This, Then That."

// Favorite Song - A new Sleigh Bells track, "Comeback Kid."




// Favorite Onion Desk Calendar Page This Week -

Favorite Songs of 2011

Here is my list of favorite songs of the year. As I always say every year, this is entirely subjective. These are just songs that caught me by surprise and stayed in my head for a majority of the year.

25. St. Vincent - "Cruel"

This album was consistently great, and tough to pick a favorite. But this just stood out.




24. Danger Mouse and Daniele Lupi - "Black (Feat. Norah Jones)"

Start keeping count -- this is song number one that I first heard on Breaking Bad.




23. Movits! - "Sammy Davis, Jr."




22. Nicki Minaj - "Super Bass"

Yes. I like Nicki Minaj. Shut up.



21. John Mark McMillan - "Seen a Darkness"




20. Over the Rhine - "Infamous Love Songs"




19. Shad - "The One in Front of the Garage"




18. James Vincent McMorrow - "If I Had a Boat"




17. Champion Leader - "Every Head Bowed and Every Eye Closed"



16. Alexander - "Truth"

Song number two from the past season of Breaking Bad.




15. Beyonce - "Countdown"




14. M83 - "Midnight City"




13. TV On The Radio - "New Cannonball Blues"




12. The Decemberists - "Calamity Song"




11. Ryan Adams - "Chains of Love"




10. Switchfoot - "Vice Verses"




9. The Civil Wars - "Barton Hollow"

There are a couple favorites on this album, but this one really stuck with me.




8. Madeon - "Pop Culture"

This probably shouldn't count, since it's just a remix of over 30 songs. But I just love it. It's fun, different, and another one that's been stuck in my head all year.




7. tUnE-YarDs - "Bizness"

Although typing out their name correctly, this band surprised me in many ways -- one of the biggest is that I actually quite enjoyed it.




6. Fleet Foxes - "Helplessness Blues"




5. Slow Club - "Two Cousins"




4. Typhoon - "The Honest Truth"




3. Feist - "The Bad in Each Other"





2. Bon Iver - "Holocene"





1. The National - "Exile Vilify"