Bridge Over The River Fooble

Who, what, where, why, and PORK CHOPS? Are we back in the charming boutique country of Fooblesvania for another round of uninspected and tariff free silliness? Is it that time again? Are these questions rhetorical?

Yes little children, it is once more time to break open all the piggy banks and open all the windows on our Advent calendars at the same time (stickers? What a ripoff!) and get all crazy with the Cheex Whiz as we once more plunge into the deep dark heart of the Fooble Jungle and find out if it truly contains all the wisdom and secrets of the ages, or whether the rumours are true and it’s just full of cholesterol.

Inquiring minds want to know!

I know…. let’s start with some outrageous cuteness!

Turns out, baby cheetahs don’t meow. They squeak, which, amazingly enough, is even cuter. Just look at that fluffy little kitten squeaking at you because it’s hungry. Don’t you just want to pick it up and cuddle it and pets its fuzzy head?

Its mama might not think much of that, though. Helpful hint : if you and Mama end up in a dispute, don’t try to run away. You will not get far.

Cheetahs are weird felines in many ways. They don’t have a meow, they instead have a sort of barking sound they make. Their claws don’t retract like most felines’ do. In many ways, they are more like dogs than cats.

Plus, you know, they’re the fastest animals on land. But don’t worry, they are cool about it. They don’t hang around being all smug about it just to make other creatures feel bad or anything. They know they are fast, and that’s enough for them.

You have to admire that.

Next on our whirlwind tour of this fascinating nation, we have an informercial from Japan that should make us here in North America feel better about things like the Shake Weight and the Forever Lazy.

I think the lack of English really helps this clip. I don’t speak Japanese at all, so to me, this is a fascinating pantomime about a mysterious product with hilariously obscene action.

Realistically, it is easy to deduce that this product is presumably a piece of exercise equipment designed to mimic the sort of exercise one gets from riding horseback.

I know, I know, from the point of view of us city folk who are used to less equine forms of transport, getting exercise from horse riding seems as silly as claiming you get a good, stiff workout from riding the bus.

But from what I am told, it’s actually very good exercise for the rider as well as the horse. It takes a lot of balance and skill to stay upright in the saddle, grip the horse with your legs, and match your movements to the movement of the horse at the same time.

And from the action of the exercise machine above, you can certainly see why girls on the cusp of puberty find horses so appealing.

No, I won’t explain that. You can either figure it out on your own or you are not old or mature enough to know. Moving on!

There’s a terrible blood sport happening in a chic suburban neighborhood near you, and this brutally frank expose blows the lid off all of the sordid details.


Brutal Spouse-Fighting Ring Discovered in Miami Basement (Preview of Season 2 on IFC)

A very clever idea for a skit, well executed by the people over at The Onion News Network.

A lot of people would enjoy that kind of thing. For some reason, there are people who enjoy watching other people have big verbal altercations. To them, I suppose, it’s happening to them, so they feel free to enjoy it like a spectator sport.

Me, I am far too sensitive for that. My instinct is to try to end conflict, not sit back and enjoy it, and if I can’t, I will want to just get the heck out of there.

Bad vibes, man. Harsh, negative vibes. Not good for us sensitive types. Like I always say, being sensitive is not for wimps.

Despite what you have probably heard all your life.

Well, that’s it for our tour of Fooblevania. Thank you for coming to visit us. You will find that there is absolutely no way to leave except through the gift shop, where you will find many things you would never buy if they weren’t related to a thing you just did.

Have fun, and come back soon!

My own Shark Week

Recently, I signed up with super boffo music sharing service Grooveshark at the recommendation of a friend. I am having a lot of fun there, and not just because it’s the only one of these services that will accept a filthy lousy Canadian like me.

In theory, it’s just a service where users can upload their own mp3 collections and thus have them available on any web browser, on any platform, via the magic of The Cloud.

But seeing as any user can search all the uploaded songs from all the users and then add said songs to their own virtual collects, and they have over fifteen million users, what it really amounts to is a massive collection of pretty much every song ever, like an mp3 player with every song in the universe already loaded onto it, and that is the sort of thing that a long time music nerd like me simply cannot resist.

At first, I just searched for songs I already know and love and have in my mp3 collection right here on this computer, because I was just tickled pink to be able to find all kinds of my obscure faves on there, and each song, artist, and album with its own page and URL where people can leave comments.

OMG, I can express how much I love my fave music! Bliss.

But of course, what’s the point of just replicating my mp3 question? So lately, I have been going through their Top 100 to find new music, and as a result, I actually like some songs which are currently popular!

Trust me, for an asynchronous eclectic like myself, that is a new and wonderful thing.

And today I figured, why not share those songs with my audience and spread the love?

So here they are :

Hello by Martin Solveig and Dragonette. I admit, this song is not going to be everyone’s cuppa. A lot of people will find it repetitive and simplistic and dull. But I quite like it, it has a minimalist pop feel to it that makes it just slightly surreal, and it’s damned catchy to boot. Plus, the vocalist (Dragonette, presumably, unless Solveig is a castrati) has a voice that is sweet without being irritatingly jejune, and I quite like that kind of voice. All in all, a great little puff of pure pop cotton candy, sweet and light and fun.
(YouTube Link)


Mean by Taylor Swift WARNING FOR GENRE BIGOTS : This is totally a country and western song. If you can’t imagine liking one of those, then spin on. For the rest of us… we get to enjoy this thoroughly delightful little song. It is a great song for all of us who have been bullied, put down, held back, and otherwise crapped on by mean people who tried to make themselves bigger by standing on our backs. It’s also just about the sweetest little angry song you will ever hear. This song could be ska and I would still love it. As is, I have nothing against C&W, and it’s great to hear it used for such a worthy cause as telling mean people where to get off.
(YouTube Link)


How Do You Do It by Quiet Company. Another great pop song, but in quite the old school style. It most resembles the good old symphonic rock of bands like The Yard Birds or The Turtles. So sweetly cheerful and overflowing with easy goodwill that it makes you want to roll around on your back in a sun drenched meadow. Plus, I love the band name, Quiet Company, especially when you combine it with the name of the album, Songs For Staying In. Wow, music for quiet homebodies like me! How can you not love that?
(YouTube Link)


Not Afraid by Eminem. Had to finish off with my man Slim Shady, aka Eminem, aka Marshall Mathers, aka the guy who had to be three times as good as any other rapper just to get noticed because he’s white. So he did it. I am an Eminem fan. Nobody can touch him. He makes all those people rapping about thug life look like the fake front fools they are. He doesn’t need that shit, he just tells it. And this song just kicks it out there solid like there’s nothing to it. Holla.
(YouTube Link)


There’s a few more discoveries, and of course I make more all the time, but that’s enough for now. I will share more of them some other time.

Peace out y’all!