Random daycare daily report #27

The Threadless t-shirt that Sophie wore to school today

At snack today, Sophie was trying to explain to all her friends about her shirt. She said, "The dinosaur is using the bus as a rollerskate and the people are all falling out." Payton said, "Oooo, that's scary." Sophie just looked at Payton and said, "It's not scary, Payton. It's funny." I think maybe Sophie was annoyed that her friends didn't "get" her shirt :) I get it, though, and I think it's hilarious!"

Mahna Mahna

It doesn't matter how old you are, the Muppets' Mahna Mahna will always be rib-ticklingly funny. Always.

Sophie watched this clip for the first yesterday and she laughed from the very first viewing (yes, there were multiple viewings, of course...). Because there's just something so intuitively delightful and joyful about the whole thing. There are no words, no narrative to parse apart, and it's not meant to teach you anything; just a simple, repetitive melody and a bunch of adorable muppets. Just hilarious!

As part of the publicity for the new Muppets movie (which we're seriously considering bringing Sophie to), Disney has rolled out a Mahna Mahna app on Facebook. Watch Sophie in action! Click here.

Be duly warned though- you-- and the toddler in the house-- are going to be humming the tune for hours after, if not days... ;)

Joe Wong on Letterman

This guy is funny. Period. Like laugh-out-loud-I-think-our-neighbors-can-hear-us-ouch-the-baby's-laughing-too funny! He looks nothing like a stand-up comedian (he looks more like an MIT professor about to give a Noble Prize winning talk on nuclear astrophysics) but the moment he opens his mouth, you're completely floored :) And so much of it is an almost self-effacing deadpan delivery. We're not talking slapstick comedy here, folks- this guy's got some sophisticated jokes up his sleeves... Some of our favorites:

I'm not good at sports but I love parallel parking. Because unlike in sports, in parallel parking, the worse you are, the more people root for you.

I have a bumper sticker that says, "If you don't speak English, go home." I didn't notice it for two years.

What is Roe vs. Wade? Two ways to come to the United States.

I have a sign on my car that says "Baby on Board." This sign is basically a threat. It just says that I have a screaming baby and a naggy wife and I'm not afraid of dying anymore.

Precious!

Elmo, meet your match...

[Typing this as I crawl back up onto my chair having virtually fallen over from laughing too hard...]



Only Ricky Gervais would dare give the eternally 3-year-old reigning prince of Sesame Street a hard time for the incongruity of wearing pajamas when he's naked the rest of the time; only he would give Elmo such a jab the poor muppet looked like he was going to fall over himself; and only a brilliant British comic would broach the subject of necrophilia on a children's show on public television.

I love Jude soooo much for forwarding this to me... :)

(via The Huffington Post)

Guess what came through my fatwallet feed tonight?

Ever the consummate (and addicted) online shopper, I noticed the above ad that came through the fatwallet feeds tonight. All I can say is WOW! And notice the recommendations that come with this product ...

Why Ricky Gervais should host next year's Emmy's

Ricky Gervais wasn't present to accept his Emmy last year and Steve Carell- his American counterpart in the American remake of The Office accepted it on his behalf. Last night, one of the highlights of the ceremony was Gervais' mock outrage that Carell still hasn't handed over his statuette. [Note also Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert- who had given Carell the trophy- barely containing themselves...] Carell's signature stonefaced distress and Gervais unrelenting jabbing make it the funniest- and Office-esque uncomfortable- two minutes in Emmy history. Oh, and there's tickling too... :)

I made you what you are and I get nothing back... Have you even been to see Ghost Town yet? No? I sat through Evan Almighty. Gimme my Emmy.
-Ricky Gervais "ranting" at Steve Carell

Sad Kermit

My jaws are aching. I almost peed in my pants. And I almost spit coffee all over my computer. All thanks to Dark Orpheus and Sad Kermit.

Honestly, this is one of the most brilliantly funny things I've come across in a while (although I'm sure that was not the original intent of the creators). And these people are clearly very talented too, so it's not like funny for funny's sake. It's Kermit re-visioned as an emo, melancholic, acoustic guitar-playing manic-depressive. Basically, it's Kermit as Nick Drake, if you will. This ain't no Rainbow Connection, people. In fact, if you go to the MySpace page, you'll see "Rainbow Disconnection" (the original played in morose, minor chord. You realize how sad the lyrics actually are and start wondering how it could ever have been sung as a happy song to begin with...) My particular favorite is "Creep"- I only narrowly averted the potential caffeine-induced computer disaster because of it. Thom Yorke would weep.

Sad Kermit also does Elliot Smith's "Needle in the Hay" and parodies this suicide scene from The Royal Tenenbaums.

I wish I was special
You're so f***ing special
But I am green
I'm a weirdo
What the hell am I doing here
I don’t belong here
- Sad Kermit doing Radiohead's "Creep"

Story of our lives...

[Copyright Jorge Cham]

I love PhD Comics. Few things in pop culture have been able to so accurately capture the excruciating experiences of the very narrow demographic of sadomasochists that Jude and I have the (mis)fortune of belonging to. No one gets the pain of having a basement office with no access to natural light, or the neurotic principle that's been diabolically ingrained into us that we are nothing without our data, and nobody but a former grad student can truly understand that the allure of an academic talk is often really only as strong as the free food it provides. Admittedly- and I say this knowing full well how obnoxious it's going to come out- it's also a kind of cruel humor that only a small group of people grasp and I suppose that can be somewhat alienating.

But for now, for us, it's an avenue to make fun of ourselves, and maybe also a way of not taking this whole PhD thing too seriously. How often do you get to see a mirror of yourself, look at it, and laugh? Like today's comic- literally, the story of my life. Almost to a T. It's scary... From a laughable childhood dream (at ten, I believed I would make a great writer. Or a florist), to a financially doomed college major (English, and with a thesis on French poetry no less- how's that for economically devastating); all of 3 years before I figured out my dissertation topic (totally worth it!), and of course, the hundred-million dollar question from everyone except my neighbour's pet dog, "When are you going to graduate?" The only thing in the comic I'm thankful not to exemplify is having a nasty adviser. I love my adviser and he has been nothing but most kind and supportive. Thank god for him or Serene Koh would be just another grad school stereotype...

So there, PhD Comics- it's free, it's funny, and it's way cheaper than a shrink.

"Please spare me my life..."

Be warned, this is 3.46 minutes of your life you may never get back :) Feel your brain turn into mush...



[From Mark Maynard's website.]

"It's our Fashion Superbowl..."

I think it's awesome that Jon Stewart's a Project Runway fan! :) Jude and I were just channel surfing as we always do when we have dinner in front of the TV, when lo and behold, we came across Comedy Central showing a re-run of The Daily Show with Tim Gunn as his guest! It was a most delightful segment- I love Project Runway (only one of three things I regularly watch on TV these days, next to No Reservations and Lost)- I think it's probably one of the few reality TV shows where the contestants are genuinely talented and where they actually make something. But most of all, I love Tim, because we should all be so lucky to have a mentor as kind but exacting as him. And for someone working in the sometimes over-the-top world of the fashion industry, I think it's wonderful how level-headed and down-to-earth he comes across as.

Tim Gunn: I'm the first to encapsulate this realistically. Nobody needs it. We need clothes, do we need fashion? No. And fashion, when it's good, comes out of a context that's societal and cultural and historic and economic and political -- so it's of a time and a place.
Jon Stewart: Why isn't everyone as reasonable as you, as a human being?

Awww, Tim... So well said. Like Jon Stewart, a sane voice speaking over the sometimes ridiculous and banal realities of our world. To see two of my favorite men on TV together last night made me a very happy girl :)

10 Suckin' Years!

Ever since The Daily Show came back after the writer's strike began, Jude and I have been seeing subtle differences in the format of the show- guests stay and chat a little longer, Jon Stewart works the crowd a little more, the correspondents have more air-time compared to before when Jon Stewart did most of the "news" delivery, and the tenor of the show is just that little wobbly, and not as incisive as before. But Thursday night was just pure genius. Pure genius, people... And it featured my all-time favorite Daily Show correspondent, the absolutely inspired John Oliver :)


I have to say that the mock aggrandizing of the Monica Lewinsky scandal is simply not as funny or half as precious as the wonderful comic chemistry between the two guys. You see two men, confident and at ease with their wit and each other, having just a ball of a time! Jude and I are convinced that the entire exchange about the flashback to 1998 Jon Stewart was completely improv on the spot, which explains why they could barely contain their own laughter... We watched this on the first run on Thursday night, again yesterday when it re-ran, and I'll watch it again and again. It's a classic!

C.B. and J.D.

I have decided that I will no longer be sad that I won't be home for Christmas, nor upset that I have school stuff to do all the way till tomorrow. Nope, I am going to embrace the cold and the snow, and more importantly, embrace the fact that the holidays are not about where you are but how you feel. Our family and friends at home know how much we're thinking of them, and we know that we're in their thoughts this holiday season too, and that's what matters. And we have our wonderful friends here who, as it says on a set of Crimewave USA cards that we bought, "make the holidays a little less depressing." :)

And so in the spirit of my new resolution, here's one of my all-time favorite videos- the cast of Scrubs doing A Charlie Brown Christmas. I've seen this so many times and it impresses me each time how they managed to so exquisitely meld the characters and overarching narrative on the show with those of the comic strip. If you adore the sitcom and Charlie Brown as much as I do, you'll love this! The writing is perfect, the delivery is downright impeccable as always, and like in the comedy, it's Dr. Cox who saves the day! :)

Buckle up, Charlize. I'll tell you what Christmas is all about. Lights, please. Here's the deal, newbie. You can stuff your stockings with shiny toys from now until you grow some testicles. But until that stocking is filled with friendship, loyalty, love and devotion, well it's just plum empty. And no you can't purchase those things at Laura Ashley and no you can't win them in the Redbook Giveaway Extravaganza and gee, sorry if these aren't things that you can wind up and watch spin for eight hours. Let me make this exceptionally clear. Christmas is about love. You can't live without other people's love. Not during Christmas, not ever. So go spend that time with your friends and family. And if they laugh at you, laugh with them. And if they laugh at you again, hit 'em and go find some new friends. But for the love of god, Jesus, Mary, Joseph and his technicolor dreamcoat, don't ever forget this, newbie. You have to give love to get love, so start giving. Now. That's what Christmas is all about, there, newbie.
- Dr. Perry Cox

Synchronized Mentos-Diet-Coking

A few days ago, Jude and I were watching something on TV about the chemical reaction that occurs when you drop Mentos into Diet Coke. I never knew about the phenomenon and so when I was at Rick and Emilee's last night- with their large projector screen- we decided to look on youtube to see what we could find. Ladies and gentlemen, Synchronized Mentos-Diet-Coking:



What really blows my mind is all the planning and thought that must have gone into this process- contraptions clearly had to be built, tons of experimenting, practicing, and most importantly, impeccable timing and synchronization. It's almost a science!

Apparently, these guys became so famous for their Mentos-Diet Coke experiments, that for their later ones, they actually managed to get sponsorship from Mentos and Diet Coke themselves (and hence the more ambitious scale)


Emilee's question at the end of watching all this was: I wonder if grass can ever grow there again? ;)

Singapore human beatbox - Kallang Airport Hawker Center

This had us in stitches for a good 15 minutes!! :) I really think that he should try one of the reality talent shows - Singapore's Got Talent, anyone?

He's speaking in Hokkien and mimicking the following sounds:
1) A cuckoo clock
2) Phone ring and answering machine
3) Police car
4) Fire engine
5) Ambulance

Beats Blake on American idol any day! ;)

Story of our lives...

Copyright Jorge Cham, PhD Comics

"I'm... so... ronery..."

Just slightly more than three years ago, I posted something about a certain video clip cheering me up despite a very crappy day. Last night, against my better judgment, I sat down and watched parts of Team America with Jude, and finally saw the scene in its entirety, and I love it even more this time round :) I can't imagine how they managed to make it kinda sad and moving, a little offensive, and hysterically funny all at the same time!



And I have to admit that I've been proven wrong- Team America is actually genuinely funny as a parody of American politics (and of mainstream American blockbuster films as a genre actually); the detail that went into the design and construction of the sets and marionettes was also particularly impressive. I'm still staunchly not a South Park convert (although the Guitar Hero episode was pretty hilarious), but if Team America is any indication, someday, I might warm up to Trey Parker and Matt Stone's brand of satirical humor... ;)

[singing] "I miss you more than Michael Bay missed the mark,
When he made Pearl Harbor.
I miss you more than that movie missed the point,
And that's an awful lot, girl.
And now, now you've gone away, And all I'm trying to say, is:
Pearl Harbor sucked and I miss you.
I need you like Ben Affleck needs acting school,
He was terrible in that film.
I need you like Cuba Gooding needed a bigger part,
He's way better than Ben Affleck.
And now, all I can think about is your smile,
And that shitty movie, too!
Pearl Harbor sucked and I miss you.
Why does Michael Bay get to keep on making movies?
I guess Pearl Harbor sucked, just a little bit more than I miss you."
-Gary Johnston, Team America

Love song for a ...

** UPDATE: According to the ever insightful Pitchforkmedia website (and thanks to Jude's music guru-ness), there's controversy a-brewing with the SNL short. Apparently they lifted the backing track from a certain Richard D. James, a.k.a Aphex Twin. Check out the original below and compare it with what Adam Samberg did with the track.

--------------

This was the highlight of our Saturday night- watching Andy Samberg and Adam Levine of Maroon 5 croon a love song to Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad... Yes, you heard right- the guy who rapped fiercely about Magnolia cupcakes, the Chronicles of Narnia and Justin Timberlake's D*** in a Box has done it again!

Saw the mp3 on srah's blog and remembered that I should share this before NBC rips it off YouTube. This is making me so happy on this rainy Monday afternoon :)


[In the eventuality that the video is removed, you can watch it here.]

Fruit pulp

Thanks to my best friend for making my morning!

A few years ago, I had posted something about the then new ad for the Sony Bravia flat panel TV.



Other ad companies had apparently then started imitating and spoofing the commercial to great effect!



What makes it funny however, is not just the spoof itself, but the reaction it then garnered from the residents of Swansea, where the ad was filmed. See here. Thank goodness Sony didn't use fruit- I doubt they could afford to the incur ire of the entire city of San Francisco.

Enjoy!

**Update: Ok, it would now seem that this entire thing- from the ad to the Swansea residents' website was part of a larger viral campaign by Tango, the juice-maker! The campaign also included a spoof news website and ebay listings of things allegedly "broken" during the filming of the ad. See here.

Clever... :)

The Patriot

9th August is Singapore's National Day. And prime opportunity for what is now one of my all time favorite pictures of my dear husband :)

There are so many layers of humour and irony to this photo that I can't even begin to unpack... :)

What We Call the News

A hilarious but painfully accurate reflection of the state of news media today, and how the powers that be have deemed it more important to ceaselessly debate the paternity of Anna Nicole Smith's baby than to report on the genocide in Darfur...

What We Call the News | Send To Friends | Funny Animations at JibJab