The Confectionery - 6

These are the things that I think are great.  So great that I want to sing about them.

STARRY NIGHT - VINCENT VAN DOMINOGH

Some people have patience.  Some people have a vision.  YouTube user FlippyCat has both, & also a ton of dominoes.  With over 7000 dominoes & 11 hours, he faithfully recreated Van Gogh's famous work of art, Starry Night.  It looks beautiful enough pre-fall, but when all the dominoes have fallen...man, that's impressive.

He also made a Mona Lisa, back in 2007. 

I thought my brother & I were pretty amazing with our Domino Rally set, but I guess this guy beats us.

CANDY BAR/CHOCOLATE TEST

How many of these candy bars can you identify in this photo/print by Rachel Been?  I was only stumped by some of the American candy bars that aren't available here in Canada (at least on a widespread basis).  Despite this, I should probably be embarrassed by how many I guessed correctly, yet upon reflection, I seem to feel quite proud. 

You can get the answer/cheat sheet here.

ANAKIN, THE TWO-LEGGED MIRACLE CAT

The internet is powered by cute kitten videos, but this one warms my heart like no other.  Don't worry - this Anakin didn't lose his legs in an epic battle on a volcano planet.  This less-mopey Anakin was born without a pelvis or back legs.  He doesn't seem to know this.

Anakin has a facebook page where you can get Anakin updates, & a FAQ page, where you can see his incredible X-Ray.  Go, Ani!

OCTOPUS MUG

My love for the octopus knows no bounds.  Here are a few reasons why:
They are turbocharged: Cephalopods use jet propulsion to get around.  That's cool.
They are real-life Mystiques: They can change not only the colour & pattern of their skin, but even the texture.  Suck it, chameleons.
They have 3 Hearts: THREE hearts!  So they must be capable of loving me as much as I love them.

They are awesome, & so is one of my Birthday gifts, given to me from my brother & his wife:

Now that I know this exists, I know I'm not the only person who would delight in pretending my black coffee is octopus ink.  And of course I'd be pretending, because they release ink when trying to escape & why would one ever try to escape from me?  I would only want to love it forever & ever & have its likeness tattooed on my shoulder, with tentacles extending down my arm & around my collarbone, but also he is purple.  Not that I've given it much thought.  Buy this awesome mug here for the cephalopod lover in your life.

CANADA

Yesterday we celebrated Canada Day, & I would be remiss not to mention it.  I wrote a more personal blog yesterday, but today I bring you videos to entertain the masses.  To celebrate our 145th Birthday, Molson has created a version of our National Anthem using their products & packaging.  While not my Canadian beer of choice, you have to love their patriotism.  I don't know what I want more - a beer can hi-hat or didgeridoo.

Also, Canadians are very familiar with this Molson ad from the 1990s, but it just doesn't seem like Canada Day without it:

My favourite piece about our fair nation would be this segment from the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.  Tom Brokaw delivered a beautiful tribute to the country I love so much.

Not mentioned in this piece was our health care system, which may explain the misinformed Americans who declared this week after the Supreme Court ruling that they were moving to Canada.

THE STAR WARS THAT I USED TO KNOW

In my first Confectionery blog, I posted an a capella arrangement of Gotye's hit Somebody That I Used To Know.  I noted that it was overdone, & we were all sick of the song & every cover it had spawned.  Pentatonix's version was just too good to not share, & the same could be said of this parody, which targets George Lucas' seemingly never-ending quest to change everything we love about the Star Wars films.  As an added bonus for this blog, where I recap Survivor, the parody features Tyson Apostal, from the Tocantins and Heroes vs Villains seasons.
Enjoy this, you will.

FEEL CLASSY IN 3 STEPS

This really worked.  Within seconds, a scotch appeared in my hand.  Follow the 3 steps here, & prepare to suddenly be more distinguished than you once were.

Those were my favourite internet sweets of the past week.  Come back next week for more goodies!

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The Confectionery - 1

The internet is a wondrous beast.  The home of trolling & lurking is also home to creativity, art, & fun.  When you find something cool, there's nothing better than sharing it, & this is when the internet is at its best.  So, I thought I'd start gathering up my favourite things of the week...basically, I have to do something with this candy-coated knowledge I collect.

These are the things that I think are great.  So great that I want to sing about them.

 STEVE MILLER VENN DIAGRAM

This is passing around the internet faster than Willie Nelson can pass his joint to Snoop Dogg.  And rightfully so.

Yes, Jack Nicholson should be a Joker, but it doesn't make this any less wonderful.

8-BIT GAME OF THRONES

I recently discovered this video of Game of Thrones as an 8-bit RPG game.  It's a little old, but I just found it, so it's new to me, damnit.  DO NOT WATCH if you haven't read/watched Game of Thrones.  If you haven't, what's your problem?  Don't like awesomeness?

 #JUNKRAVENS

Another one for Game of Thrones fans, this hashtag on twitter is what makes twitter so wonderful.  On Thursday, the very funny @bazecraze tweeted: "Game of Thrones would be more realistic if people were constantly throwing out junk ravens."  By the afternoon, that tweet had spawned the hashtag #JunkRavens, which when searched, led you to the kind of junk mail that Westeros would be plagued with.  My favourite is from @mariancall: "I am a queen in exile in the East I am owed a kingdom but need some cash & ships up front dear friend can you help".  If you're a fan, check it out.  Lots of clever people out there.

JOEL KINNAMAN

My husband & I say one thing after every episode of AMC's The Killing: Holder is the best part.  I kind of hope they never find out who murdered Rosie Larson, because I want to keep watching him.  Swedish actor Joel Kinnaman plays the greasy Detective Stephen Holder, struggling with an addiction to hoodies among other things.  He is all gangsta talk with a heart of gold, & provides a tiny bit of comic relief to this dark, depressing show.  After last Sunday's episode, I wanted to find out more about him & I was shocked.  He went from this guy:

to this guy:

It could be that he's calling for all kids to drop out of school & shoot up in the streets.  I don't know, but when I stop swooning, I'm going to agree with whatever he said.  100%.  He is going to be the next Robocop in the upcoming remake, & yes, I will be there.

CHILD'S OWN STUDIO

This is so crazy cool, I can't help but be very, very excited about it.  Child's Own Studio is a place where you can have your child's drawing turned into a stuffed animal.  Check out these amazing examples: 

I'm going through my son's drawings to choose which one to immortalize in fabric & stuffing:

His interpretation of Garfield, perhaps?

A giant cross-eyed robot with braces?

EVERY SINGLE GUY IN THIS DRAWING?

FLOG

This is actually my favourite thing of the past month, & it is what inspired me to start this Confectionery series of blogs: Felicia Day's YouTube show, FLOG.  Felicia Day is a heroine for many a nerdy girl.  She is a smart, sexy gamer chick.  Bonus points for being a redhead!  And she was in Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog, for Joss-sakes!  If anyone ever plays a hotter, less-socially awkward version of myself in a movie, please let it be her.

My son just walked by & thought this was me.  He gets ice cream.

New FLOGs come out every Monday, & they are delightful.  Felicia shares her favourite things of the week, goes on a learning adventure/excursion of some sort (sometimes she just plays a retro video game, & yes, it is as awesome as it sounds), & answers fan letters.

Felicia presents her Fave Five list in her show, but I will most likely be keeping this in written form...I've only made this one vlog, for an assignment.  Hopefully, you'll find it charming, but I think we can all agree that the best parts involved Kai.

...so, yeah...not quite as professional as my favourite episode of FLOG so far, where Felicia learns about Steampunk, & creates backstories for each costume she tries on:

She is adorable & I love her, so watch the show, & subscribe to her YouTube channel, Geek & Sundry.

SOMEBODY THAT I USED TO KNOW

Wait!  I know you're sick of this song, but just in case you missed the kick-ass a capella version posted a few months ago by the ridiculously-talented group Pentatonix, I had to share it.  It is my favourite version of this song, over the original AND the 1 guitar version, & the hundreds of other times this song has been covered.  Yes, I'm sick of the song, but I'm not sick of watching these guys sing it.  I still listen to it a few times a week, & like to watch it several times, to give my attention to each part individually.  Because I'm a music nerd who likes to have my mind blown by awesomeness.

Those were my favourite internet sweets of the past week.  Come back next week for more goodies!

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