Museum Marathon

I wish I knew what this was from, because it makes me so happy!

Watch Out, Lance Armstrong

Don't get held back by people who want to crush your dreams.

Even if you're a bike.





Ghost Riding - video powered by Metacafe

A Little Motivation For Thursday

If Rudy can get through his day, so can you!






I love Sean Astin.

Free Fallin'

Oh my lord. I am not usually afraid of heights, but this is unbelievable. Is this even real?



wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.


I know I'd be too afraid to actually do that--hello, gravity--but these people are flying. Wow. Un-freaking-believable.

How to Win

People are worried about the Oscars. In the last few years, viewership has dropped considerably. Last year's was the least-watched show ever, with 32 million viewers. Compare that to the 1998 Titanic year show, which 55 million people lost. Producers want to get people glued to the screen. After all, why would companies pay a lot to have their ads shown during the show if everyone's watching something else?

So this year, producers are trying out a few new ideas. One things they think might work: closing the broadcast with fresh 10-second snippets of two dozen new movies, which will run on a split screen with the end credits. The idea being that people will stick around for the whole show to watch these. I love 10-seconds of stuff I could probably find online.

Hosting this year is Hugh Jackman. So far, that's their best bet to get lots of ladies to watch. And he's hosted the Tonys before, so at least he can handle himself in that situation.

It's a tough job, making a good award show. These days, you don't have to watch the whole thing to find out who won every award. You can just check the updates on IMDB. (That's what I'll probably do.) Plus, there are a gazillion award shows now. The Oscars don't seem special anymore.

But I've got a suggestion that might help out: nominate movies people actually liked. Was Titanic a great script? No way. But people freakin' loved it and they watched to see if it would win everything from Best Sound Design to Best Picture. Why would people watch an award show honoring movies they probably haven't seen?

At Cinematical, Peter Marin suggests that the Academy Awards take a hint from the Superbowl, which people have turned into like crazy over the last couple of years--even people who didn't watch the games every week. His suggestions include half-time film critic commentary, embracing the length, and reducing speeches.

I think the show should go even further. Instead of choosing winners, kick the award into the air and have nominees fight it out. (Normal tackling rules apply.) Plus, this would encourage dangerously thin nominees to bulk up a little beforehand. Chug that protein drink, Anne Hathaway!

Just When You Thought It Was Safe to Go Back in the Water

In other sports news, Michael Phelps--super Olympian fish-man swimmer--has been photographed smoking marijuana. From a bong. (Somehow that makes it seem even more frattish.)

His statement:

"I'm 23 years old, and despite the successes I have had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner that people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public -- it will not happen again."

All in all, it doesn't sound like that's totally out of the ordinary behavior. He's a 23 year-old guy. I bet I could find a lot of twenty-something guys who have tried pot. (Shocking!) But he's also one of the biggest athletes in the world, so he's got to be careful about his image, especially considering that drunk driving incident from a few years ago. (Frankly, I'd be more upset about that. Pot's illegal, but getting in a car drunk can kill someone else. Don't kill someone because you're an idiot.) Sure, he's a young man just like any other, but this could cost him some sponsorship deals.


My big question: how will the smoking affect his lung capacity?
Unless he figures out how Kate Moss survived the coke thing.

Superbowl recap.

What a night for television it turned out to be. Like anyone else not living in Pittsburgh or Arizona, I really wasn't all that excited for the match up. You had a dynasty of a team vs. a no-name. No one was really expecting the Cardinals to give the Steelers a run for their money, but they did, and they made it a good game.

But as a TV girl what do I care about? How good the TV was. There were some fun moments, the Boss Crotch (watch this video at 3:37 to see what I'm talking about), the Alec Baldwin Hulu commercial -- heck, I even enjoyed most of the complete nonstop plugging of NBC Monday night. But the weirdest part, for me, was the use of an SNL skit as a commercial. That's what I'm talking about Pepsuber.




Now, if it had just been the commercial that would have been one thing. A bit of a sell out move but nothing too unexpected when NBC and the rest of television networks are looking for almost anyway to make a buck these days. But this wasn't just a commercial based on a running gag on the show. This actually aired last night during the episode of SNL. I noticed it at the time, but somehow seeing the exact same skit airing during a commercial break as opposed to during the show freaked me out even more. You gotta wonder if Pepsi just paid for the plug on the show, or if they also had to pay for the air time, because you know they had to pay for it one way or another to have it on tonight.

But that must just be our new world of advertising. Everyone has DVR now, so even during a sports event, one of the few sports events that almost everyone will watch live (and therefore not necessarily skip the commercials) companies are looking for ways to integrate their advertising into content. I've got mixed feelings about this issue, but I'm not gonna say it's either all good or all bad. Yes, commercialization can be a slippery slope, but if people can be entertained and companies can market their products, is that really the end of the world? Who's to say.

Anyway -- to take it to the readers -- what was your favorite superbowl ad this year? If you missed it you can check it out here.

A Team Player

Obama's all about working with Democrats and Republicans, but when it comes to the Superbowl, he had to make a choice.





Steelers fans rejoice!

Chinlone

Twenty five years old is not too old to pick up a new sport... right?

Chinlone
by superchomeur

Run, Kitten, Run!

I wonder what's going on in the minds of kittens.




Do they think "This is so much fun and I'm having an awesome time?" or "Fuck it, I am getting up that damn slide!"?

Either way, we win.

Hold on to Your Handlebar...Mustache!

Followers of Gwenyth West, can you tell me what period of dress he's in? As always, give three irrefutable reasons.

Game, Set, Match

Apparently this is actually footage of Bruce Lee superimposed on a table tennis game, but it still looks pretty freakin' awesome.

My Kind of Sport

Anyone?

Oh My God

I'm both really disturbed and really jealous. And I'd probably laugh like crazy if this Adult Big-Wheeler rode by.

But it did lead me to find that the Big Wheel (for kids) is still around. That warms my heart.

Horsing Around

From our British correspondent comes some awesome photos from a foxhunt. Generally, the foxhunt is really lovely to see--the sleek power of the horses, the grace of the riders, the exciting jumps and chases.

But sometimes the horses and riders aren't so graceful.

Check out these photos from the North East Chesire Drag Hunt. Specifically, go to page 5, photo 707 or so.

The horse is vertical. WTF?!

Okay, apparently horse and rider are okay. But seriously, how insane is that?