Snapchat can be a lot of fun, & I have quite a few friends who are really, REALLY good at it.
They're great at being hilariously random, like this Snapchat from @AriFerarri:
I'm still not sure if it's Ari's portrayal of Ryan Gosling as Spiderman, or more of a What if Peter Parker had Snapchat? Either way, LOVE. I just hope he didn't send this to both Mary Jane AND Gwen, but I guess we'll never know until Snapchat gives us the ability to see how many people a Snapchat was sent to. ARE YOU LISTENING, SNAPCHAT?
My friends are great at using the drawing tools to maximum effect, like this work of art from @JessicaNFrey, who turned herself into me:
That motivational Snapchat is what got me to the top of that damn mountain.
And lets be real - my friends are amazing at being sexxxy (you don't get to see those Snapchats).
In the past, I've used Snapchat to surprise my friends:
Hold Up, Bro, that's my sushi! NBD, just having a Bro Down with Survivor's Cochran.
I've heard that some people also use Snapchat to share inappropriate scenarios they've created involving LEGO minifigs of themselves & people they know. So I've heard.
But as far as I'm concerned, Miss Haley Strong just won Snapchat with her Harry Potter FanFic. She created this masterpiece using Snapchat's "My Story" feature. I AM SO GLAD SHE FOUND A USE FOR THIS FEATURE.
Here is the beginning chapter of this FanFic:
I highly recommend reading the rest of this epic tale on Haley's blog. It continues on with the story we all know & love, & then they set off on adventures. It's really awesome, & you do *not* want to miss the Hippogriff. Or the "About the Author" section.
As of right now, my son doesn't care about TMNT. The LEGO Ninjago theme features a lead ninja named Kai (my son's name), so they are clearly his LEGO ninjas of choice. I'm still excited about this, though - more LEGO for me. LEGO Krang!
Yes. I see the LEGO pizza, too. Go to Geekologie.com to see shots from all of the upcoming sets, to be released in 2013.
ATTACK OF THE CUTE
A friend of mine went on an Attack of the Cute posting rampage on Facebook last week, & I was made aware of this site for hours I wouldn't want back if I could have them. Can you look away? I mean, really?
Bunny!
Sloths!
Otters!
There's even a collection of photos of a real-life Bambi/Thumper friendship. Can't stand the cuteness. Check out Attack of the Cute anytime you need to warm up your cold, cold heart.
GAY MEN WILL MARRY YOUR GIRLFRIENDS
For all the asses out there still opposing gay marriage, College Humor has a message for you. A hilarious, on-point message.
This cat's name is actually Tartar Sauce, which is marvelous in itself, but it has become internet-famous as Grumpy Cat. Memes based on this cat's wonderful face are plentiful.
Read about Grumpy Cat's rise to fame, & buy Grumpy Cat merchandise (yes, really!), including Grumpy Cat Christmas cards, here.
PENTATONIX - CAROL OF THE BELLS
The Christmas season can officially begin with this gorgeous, haunting version of Carol of the Bells.
Will Twilight ever not be made fun of? Hopefully not. A few weeks ago, I shared the hilarious Bad Lip-Reading of Twilight, where we learned never to eat Edward's cake. I've just discovered Honest Trailers, so here is the Honest Trailer of Twilight, starring Vanilla & Shovel Face.
I love The Avengers Honest Trailer, as well. "Witness the excitement of Iron Man repairing a spaceship for 20 minutes."
STINGRAY PHOTOBOMB
Yes, you can see the handler behind this adorable Stingray. Does that make this photo any less awesome? No. Here's an excerpt from a letter one of the girls wrote to the Huffington Post after this photo went viral: This photo was taken five years ago in Cayman Island at Stingray
Island. We were on a cruise for spring break. The photographer
originally asked us to take a photo with the stingray in front of us,
which we did, but then afterward as a joke he put it on our backs
without us knowing! Our reactions are genuine, and the photographer
snapped the photo at the perfect time! We had no idea that the photo was
so brilliant until later when he showed us the proof. We immediately
bought it. From left to right are Sarah Bourland, Natalie Zaysoff,
Kendall Harlan.
And just because, here's one more animal photobomb, this time a sloth. *squeal*
21 YEARS
Cory McLeod's parents took a photo of his face every day, for 21 years. Watch a person grow in this fascinating time-lapse video.
WALL TENTACLES
My Sister-in-Law brought this to my attention last week, which I think was kind of cruel because why didn't she just order it for me? You can't just say "Hey Lisa, this would look cool next to your dragon head!", & leave it at that. It's only $3500! Take in its beauty:
Check out more of this artist's work at ArtAkimbo's Etsy shop (where there are also smaller versions for around $250 - I'm not suggesting everybody should pitch in, but that's kind of a great idea & I would like it in purple.).
HISTORY OF TV THEME SONGS
Jimmy Fallon recently had the cast of his new show (Guys with Kids) on, & they presented this ambitious medley of TV theme songs. Sadly missing is the Growing Pains theme song, but it is well done, & you can't help but smile.
So, show me that smile again (oooh, show me that smile).
Those were my favourite sweets of the past week. Come back next week for more goodies!
These are the things that I think are great. So great that I want to sing about them.
PLAY ME, I'M YOURS / ANDREW MITCHELL
Recently, 41 vibrant pianos appeared all over Toronto as part of the Play Me, I'm Yours event. An art installation encouraging the participation of the community, it is a kick-off to the 3 year countdown to the 2015 Pan Am Games, to be held in Toronto. The pianos were designed by artists from each of the participating countries; they are beautiful.
Nicaragua
Costa Rica
Now, some people might simply appreciate the artistry of each design. Some may take a seat & play a little something if there's nobody around. Some might take the opportunity to share their talent & entertain. But that's not quite enough fun for my friend, Andrew. Andrew Mitchell played & sang Gavin DeGraw's "Not Over You" on 10 different pianos around the city, then edited the filmed performances together. In 2 minutes, visit Guatemala, Brazil, Suriname, Aruba, Cuba, Canada, The Bahamas, Haiti, Jamaica & Honduras, courtesy of Andrew!
I roll with talented people, what can I say?
To learn more about Play Me, I'm Yours & if it's headed to your city next, go here. To see some great photos of the pianos featured in Toronto, go here. To learn more about Andrew Mitchell, I will tell you he's awesome, & the only
thing that could have made this video MORE awesome is if he had been
wearing his rebel/Che Guevara costume from a production we were both in. I suppose Che singing "Not Over You" at the Cuban piano would have been disturbing, so...good call on the casual look, Andrew.
SCARY SMASH
Written By a Kid is a new series by Geek & Sundry that transforms a story told by a child into a short film. It's live-action, animated, stop-motion, & FUN. I love this first installment, starring Joss Whedon as the leader of the "S.Q.U.A.T. Team". I'm sure the kid was thinking of S.W.A.T., but this is MUCH funnier. Hilarious & creative & bonus Kids In The Hall cast member & love love love.
Check out other videos (costumes, casting & a "making of") here.
MR. WIZARD'S A DICK
Watch this compilation of times Mr. Wizard is snarky towards the children on his show. It is amazing.
Ashley is my favourite.
"RUSH AS FOOD" MEAL
Matt Kantor is a Rush fan who happens to be a chef. Combining the 2, he recently prepared a 9 course meal inspired by Rush. From the National Post article by Mike Doherty:
"Kantor’s amuse-bouche was something of a (dry) ice-breaker: a white blob
plucked out of a cauldron of liquid nitrogen, to be consumed whole; the
freezing substance quickly dissolving into a film of lime-flavoured
meringue. The dish was named after the song Limelight, not only
because of its ingredients, but also because eating it was a
performance — everyone was eager to see the smoke coming out of their
fellow diners’ noses."
"The song Red Barchetta, about a joyride in the future when cars
have been outlawed, became a deconstructed red bruschetta where a
tomato, shiny like a polished racecar, seemed to have burned black-olive
rubber through a “dirt road” of breadcrumbs."
To read more details of this very creative meal, like the complex "La Villa Strangiato" dish, read the full article here.
THE MINI-GOLF OPEN
Improv Everywhere is a comedy troupe that began with a Ben Folds Fake prank that I had read about several years ago. They haven't stopped creating scenes since then - their website boasts of over 100 missions involving tens of thousands of people in on the joke, or "undercover agents". Their latest scene transformed a family miniature golf outing into a major sports event - complete with fake ESPN coverage, caddies, a gallery, & the actual Claret Cup, just hoisted by the winner of this weekend's British Open, Ernie Els. The commentary is hilarious: "Max, of course, sponsored by Star Wars", & I love that the champion is greeted by a fake family. Well done.
Watch more scenes created by Improv Everywhere here.
LABYRINTH ONESIE
I saw this shirt at thinkgeek about 9 months ago & immediately had to order it for my niece, who was yet to be born. Labyrinth was on a steady rotation when my brother & I were young, so his baby had to have this.
What power?
You're reading this blog, so I assume you get the reference, but I see no need to NOT post this awesome clip full of awesomeness so you can have yourself a dance party.
Clearly, I am the nerdiest of Lily's 2 Aunts, as her Aunt Lindsay writes a wonderful blog about normal adult things like home renovating. The onesie is also available as a women's shirt, & you can buy them both here. Look how cute it looks on Lily!
She's working on her Goblin King hair.
So far, I've resisted the urge to toss her 20 feet into the air & wait for a Muppet to catch her. So far.
Those were my favourite internet sweets of the past week. Come back next week for more goodies!
These are the things that I think are great. So great that I want to sing about them.
MEGHAN TONJES
Meghan Tonjes is a singer who has been posting her videos on YouTube for years. As she is a woman who is not a size 0, or hyper-sexualized for your viewing pleasure, she gets occasional comments about her size. This is her response, & it is amazing & inspiring.
"Why does it hurt you if I don't hate myself?" Love it.
LEGO BRIDGE ART
A street artist has painted a bridge in Wuppertal, Germany, so it now looks like it was constructed out of LEGO. How cool is this?
Is it just me, or would you feel safer driving under a LEGO bridge, too? To see more photos of the bridge, go here. To see more art by Megx, go here.
MAKE A WISH FOR HELLBOY
A boy named Zachary recently made a request to the Make a Wish Foundation.
Here's what special effects company Spectral Motionhad to say about it: "It was Zachary's wish to meet Hellboy and also to become Hellboy. When the Make-A-Wish Foundation contacted Spectral Motion with this request, Mike thought it would be fantastic to have Ron Perlman reprise his role for the day. Ron loved the idea and donned the makeup once more (with the assistance of Lufeng Qu and Eden Elizalde) and also ordered a Hellboy sized meal of burgers, shakes, and fries for Zachary and his family and the entire Spectral crew to enjoy. Later in the day, Zachary was transformed into Hellboy with the assistance of makeup artists Lufeng Qu and Neil Winn."
That's gotta make you smile.
Geek & Sundry recently posted this song by comedy duo Paul & Storm. Directed at Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin, the song is a plea for him to write faster. His recent span of 6 years between books 4 & 5 has left many fans frustrated...& hungry. "We need 6-paged descriptions of every last meal."
I love the HBO GoT theme that storms in at the 2:08 mark. Also, my Mom saw this video before I did. My Mom is cooler than your Mom.
ROBOCOP 2013 TEASER
Set to begin filming in Toronto in the Fall, the Robocop reboot starring Joel Kinnaman is getting lots of buzz. Now, we get our first look at the updated ED-209 in this teaser, meant to be an ad for OmniCorp.
Read about my first ever viewing of Robocop - last month - here.
STAR WARS LATTE ART
I recently saw this photo of latte art featuring the Death Star & Tie-Fighters. The most artistic thing I can do with my lattes is spoon foam on top - I am now calling that "The Wampa".
After marveling at this, I searched to see if more Star Wars Latte Art existed, & it does! Or did, since these lattes were presumably very yummy & disappeared shortly after these photos were taken.
Boba Fett
Yoda
Stormtrooper
Talented, these baristas are.
Those were my favourite internet sweets of the past week. Come back next week for more goodies!
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.
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!
These are the things that I think are great. So great that I want to sing about them.
NATHAN FILLION ON TWITTER
There are celebrities that never interact with their followers/fans, instead tweeting about appearances or upcoming movies or albums. This cannot be said of Nathan Fillion...in fact, I don't know if any celebrity has as much fun with twitter. If you're not following @NathanFillion (now best known as Castle, but in my heart forever as Firefly's Captain Mal), get on it. A day after Matthew Lewis, aka Neville Longbottom, tweeted a photo of himself & Nathan hanging out (a nerd girl dream if ever there was one), Nathan created a scavenger hunt of sorts for his London followers. He tweeted "Ok, London. I left you a treat. Tweet a pic when you find it.", accompanied by this photo:
An hour later, a fantastic Serenity keychain (signed by Nathan) was found by a guy with Firefly characters painted on his headphones. Does anything make me more happy? Not right now.
Those are ridiculously amazing, & apparently made by @Bobsmade. WELL DONE.
Later that day, Nathan hid a Dr. Horrible item, & when the first follower to reach that spot found nothing, Nathan tweeted: "Some heathen must have grabbed it. Tell you what. I’ll leave a package where only you can get it. Tomorrow good?" The guy goes above & beyond awesome, & I'd just like to point out that he is Canadian & should probably be our King.
Celebrate his awesomeness with a scene/song from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, just because.
YELLOW SERENITY T-SHIRT
This new "want" of mine is a mashup of The Beatles' Yellow Submarine art & Serenity (captained by one Captain Mal, of course). It is glorious - although I suggest getting it in brown, because duh. You can buy it here.
BATH SALT PUPPIES
The face-eating zombie puppies are coming. And you won't run away because they're too damn cute.
LEGO HAUNTED HOUSE
For the first time ever, LEGO has created a haunted house, & it is gorgeous. Their new Monster Fighters line currently has a Ghost Train, a Vampire Castle & a Mad Scientist's Lab, but coming in September is this thing of beauty:
Yes, please.
THE A.V. CLUB'S R.E.M. PILGRIMAGE
As an enormous R.E.M. fan, it was lovely to see this video of a trip to Athens, Georgia, the birthplace of R.E.M. Many sites that are integral to the history of R.E.M. are featured, among them:
Weaver D's, the restaurant with a familiar slogan.
The kudzu patch from the cover of their debut album, Murmur.
The trestle from the back of that album.
The video can be seen here, & it is a must for any fan of music history.
CONAN O'BRIEN + KIDS = THE BLUES
There isn't much that needs to be said about this. It is hilarious, & I am in love with Nathaniel - & just this once, I don't mean Fillion.
Those were my favourite internet sweets of the past week. Come back next week for more goodies!
