[Beginning today, we will be saving our most thoughtfully overthought articles for Sunday publication. Though we haven't the audacity to hope that we will replace your ritual of lugging the phone-book sized Sunday Times down to your favorite obscure Park Slope coffee house to pore ostentatiously over while sipping the organic, shade grown, fairly traded red eye your favorite heavily tattooed and multi-pierced barista pulls with tender loving care, we hope this weekly day of rest affords you time to devote some extra overthinking to this new weekly feature, Overthinking It Magazine. —Ed.]
Even as McDonalds continues to evoke freedom fries francophobia in new advertisements, there are signs that the popular culture has moved on, and that we are on the brink of a new era in French-American relations. The ambassador of this détente? None other than a 25 year old female electro-hip-hopper named Yelle. Video and analysis after the jump.
This has been around teh inturwebz for a while, but it’s worth looking at again. Dude has done an animated version of Star Wars: Episode IV using only the characters on a computer keyboard.
If this is the kind of thing that tickles your pickle, you have nothing to do tonight. So tell your mom to grab you a jolt, brush the Doritos out of your neck beard, and fire her up. Have kleenex handy.
Amid a large number of semi-relevant digressions, Matthew Belinkie, Ryan Sheely, Jordan Stokes, and Matthew Wrather discuss the trainwreck phenomenon of Britney Spears, the alarming link between corn and horror, and the terrible things that happen when you replace the “c” in “corn horror” with a “p”.
Many of the people reading this — and surely all of those likely to care — are already aware the wildly popular fantasist/satirist Terry Pratchett was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease last year. (Announcing the diagnosis to his fans, Pratchett wrote: “I know it’s a very human thing to say ‘Is there anything I can do’, but in this case I would only entertain offers from very high-end experts in brain chemistry.” The man knows how to turn a phrase.)
This is very sad news for his friends and family, and to a lesser extent to his legions of fans. And then there’s this passage from his 1992 novel Lords and Ladies, which makes it sadder. The following is taken from a confrontation between the witch Granny Weatherwax (the book’s heroine), and the wicked Queen of the Elves. The Queen, being an evil queen, is taunting her captive in the high villainous style. more »
There’s a new McDonalds ad that kind of weirds me out. Sadly I haven’t located the video online - post a link in the comments if you can find it.
Anyway, this is the latest in their campaign based on the idea that the food items on the dollar menu sit around all day having meetings that revolve around who is eligible for membership in the dollar menu. Generally these ads are stupid, but inoffensive. The new one, well… here’s a rough transcript. more »
Were you aware that the logging industry put out an elaborately illustrated rebuttal to Dr. Seuss’ beloved anti-onceler screed “The Lorax,” called “The Truax”? Guardbark, the book’s environmentalist strawman is given to statements like “I WON’T take a seat, or LISTEN, or LOOK.” It’s nice to see that they’ve brought some civility and balance back into the discourse.
Anyway, you can download the whole thing for free here. I would tend to agree with the one-sided agitprop than with the one-sided industry whitewash, but I will say that it’s ironic that you have to buy a paper copy of The Lorax, but you can look at The Truax on your computer screen.
That is actual irony, right? It’s so hard to tell these days…
Last night, I sat down and watched Enchanted,the 2007 Disney movie in which a cartoon princess played by Amy Adams falls through a portal into real-world Manhattan. Eventually, she comes to accept being “real,” while love interest Patrick Dempsey learns a valuable lesson about opening his heart to the magic of a child’s smile, or some such shit.
This is another one for the “I’m surprised how much I liked this” file. Well, I’m not all that surprised - the thing got fantastic reviews when it came out, and I’m kind of a sucker for fairy tales. Even so, Enchanted had a LOT going against it… more »
The oldest profession* has been getting a lot of press lately. Perhaps as a way to cleanse some of the recent negativity, I’d like to turn to one of the more sincere expressions of love for the women of the night — or, to pull up short with the second-oldest profession**, the women of the evening. Video after the pole dance.
* Though I still say that there’s no reason to assume the first professional was a prostitute. We don’t know which Cro-Magnon first drew a regular salary. The title probably belongs to some random field that will never want it, like interior decorator, inventory flow manager or osteopath.
A portable version of Guitar Hero (aptly named “Guitar Hero: On Tour”) will be released this summer. It might seem a little counterintuitive at first. After all, the whole point of Guitar Hero strapping on that fake plastic axe, right? But the trailer has me pretty well convinced. Time, prepare to be wasted.
Hopefully the advanced mode dispenses with the strumming mechanic, though… when your hands are that close together on a real guitar, you aren’t playing with a pick. Video after the jump, as well as a tangentially related music link. more »
Even as McDonalds continues to evoke freedom fries francophobia in new advertisements, there are signs that the popular culture has moved on, and that we are on the brink of a new era in French-American relations. The ambassador of this détente? None other than a 25 year old female electro-hip-hopper named Yelle. Video and analysis after the jump.
This has been around teh inturwebz for a while, but it’s worth looking at again. Dude has done an animated version of 
Were you aware that the logging industry put out an elaborately illustrated rebuttal to Dr. Seuss’ beloved anti-onceler screed “The Lorax,” called “The Truax”? Guardbark, the book’s environmentalist strawman is given to statements like “I WON’T take a seat, or LISTEN, or LOOK.” It’s nice to see that they’ve brought some civility and balance back into the discourse.
Last night, I sat down and watched Enchanted, the 2007 Disney movie in which a cartoon princess played by Amy Adams falls through a portal into real-world Manhattan. Eventually, she comes to accept being “real,” while love interest Patrick Dempsey learns a valuable lesson about opening his heart to the magic of a child’s smile, or some such shit.
A portable version of Guitar Hero (aptly named “Guitar Hero: On Tour”) will be released this summer. It might seem a little counterintuitive at first. After all, the whole point of Guitar Hero strapping on that fake plastic axe, right? But 