a lucious, frozen treat

So, I've become a victim of advertising... gasp! I was innocently watching TV one afternoon and a comercial for Yoplait Whips! came on... in the commercial, the VO says enjoy it from the fridge or a light, fluffy treat (or something) or put it in the freezer for a lucious, frozen treat. I thought "hmmm... that's intriguing..." but honestly didn't think much else of it. Until... I went to the grocery store the next day, passed the yogurt isle and remembered "lucious, frozen treat". I bought the yogurt (2 flavors actually - chocolate mousee and strawberry), put them in the freezer (even convinced my non-yogurt loving best friend to do the same) and ate one (chocolate mousee) for dessert that very night.

... results? Well, the chocolate mouse as a flavor isn't all that tasty, but the general concept was great. The consistency of the "Whip!"ped yogurt froze well and was quite enjoyable. I haven't tried the strawberry yet, but I bet it'll be better.

Commercial in question:


FYI - I got this commerical directly from the Yoplait website, which to me, is pretty cool. They have great campaigns that people pay attention to and, clearly, remember... check out the Yoplait on TV tab on the site. [from Saatchi]

Another Sweet Installment of Google Street View

A powerful essay on the impact Google Street Views has on the world we live in without really trying. The author, Jon Rafman, began collecting images from blogs and his own search of interesting, unique, and truly fleeting moments of humanity to illustrate the way in which we now live our lives. In his own words:

"One year ago, I started collecting screen captures of Google Street Views from a range of Street View blogs and through my own hunting. This essay illustrates how my Street View collections reflect the excitement of exploring this new, virtual world. The world captured by Google appears to be more truthful and more transparent because of the weight accorded to external reality, the perception of a neutral, unbiased recording, and even the vastness of the project. At the same time, I acknowledge that this way of photographing creates a cultural text like any other, a structured and structuring space whose codes and meaning the artist and the curator of the images can assist in constructing or deciphering."

Some of the images are powerful, some are strange, some sad, and some just examples of everyday life at its core.

My favorites:

link

What Striptease was to strippers this movie is to advertising creatives...

So a friend of mine posted the trailer for this movie, Art & Copy, on his facebook page and I must say that I am excited to go see it in Denver later this month. It's about creativity in advertising and features some of the legends that have come up with the most culturally significant ad campaigns ever...

Here's the site:

http://artandcopyfilm.com/

Here's the synopsis:

ART & COPY is a powerful new film about advertising and inspiration. Directed by Doug Pray (SURFWISE, SCRATCH, HYPE!), it reveals the work and wisdom of some of the most influential advertising creatives of our time -- people who've profoundly impacted our culture, yet are virtually unknown outside their industry. Exploding forth from advertising's "creative revolution" of the 1960s, these artists and writers all brought a surprisingly rebellious spirit to their work in a business more often associated with mediocrity or manipulation: George Lois, Mary Wells, Dan Wieden, Lee Clow, Hal Riney and others featured in ART & COPY were responsible for "Just Do It," "I Love NY," "Where's the Beef?," "Got Milk," "Think Different," and brilliant campaigns for everything from cars to presidents. They managed to grab the attention of millions and truly move them. Visually interwoven with their stories, TV satellites are launched, billboards are erected, and the social and cultural impact of their ads are brought to light in this dynamic exploration of art, commerce, and human emotion.

And here's the trailer:

Palm Pre is to Good Advertising as Florida State is to Good Football

in other words... this ad sucks. like, seriously, really sucks.



Will someone please explain how a fetal-looking woman talking about reincarnation relates to a benefit of a smartphone? The feature she is talking about is pretty basic and they show the phone for a grand total of 3 seconds in the entire spot. The iPhone is already clearly a better phone and they clearly have way better advertising... but besides those two things, after watching this horrible excuse for advertising, I would NEVER get a Palm Pre - out of spite.

Fast Food Mafia = AWESOME

(via)

Japan Rocks: Mini Robot makes Mini Coffee

Positive it's fake (unlike my previous Japanese robot post)...but this was too cute not to share.

The Order needs all the help it can get...

People in-the-know are fully aware that the "You-Know-Who" (the "Dark Lord" for you meanies) is well on his way to making his way back into the public eye. Unlike most of us who sit around and do nothing, the fine people of the Milwaukee suburb of Wauwatosa, WI. have decided to take the fight to him instead of waiting for him to make his move. They're spreading the word of his imminent, and disastrous, return.
















If only the rest of us were so brave...

Banner Ads that made me lolz...

So I know I haven't posted on here in a while but I wanted to share these banner ads because I thought they were pretty clever, especially one in particular. They're for templates that help make it easier for website developers to remember all the code tags and such they'll need to develop a site, and there's a lot to remember ( I just had my first portfolio site building class and it's already confusing the hell out of me). The banners were on a site about CSS Property tags and the copy for the first one caught my eye so I kept refreshing the site to see all the other ones. I admit they don't all have the same pop but I think they still do a good job of sending the messages. I would click on the link and just keep refreshing so you can see them in all their Flash glory:

Site












Also, I know my birthday was last Friday but if anyone of you guys still want to get me a present I'll take this: Weight-Watch Belt...ok maybe not...

NYC Subway iPhone App

Another reason I want an iPhone and another awesome example of augmented reality...



Useful and brilliant.

saw this on brand flakes for breakfast

Chuck Norris counted to infinity - twice

If only this actually existed....

Roller Babies

Just for laughs

In light of posting movie trailers, I wanted to post one I saw recently that made me bust into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. Best. Trailer. Ever. (or its up there at least). The movie was pretty damn funny, but this preview was HILARIOUS! Just watch it.

Badass Resume

Posting for Lauren:

All the HR people on Digg say that they would definitely call that person back for an interview.

The sky is falling! The sky is falling!

Preview for the movie 2012... you know, the end of the world according the Mayan calendar? Looks decent. It will definitely be entertaining...



but John Cusack? Really?

Here's the website. www.whowillsurvive2012.com/

TFLN Monetizes Content

Check this out. Texts from last night has started a new form of advertising. I think it's a great idea IF the message strategy fits. I've seen previews for this movie. I think this fits. The ads aren't necessarily TsFLN, but the medium still works for the message, and I'm sure is resonating quite well with its intended target (not me, but a few of you).

I wonder what other advertisers will latch on to this. The Hangover missed a golden opportunity here, though. Agree?

I <3 Wallabies

Curious?

Business Week's 21 Ads You Won't Hate

This article ROCKS. Don't miss it. I spent the last hour looking into all of the advertising they include in this slideshow.

I'll post my favorite here to entice you. It's an ad agency's web site (entirely housed on YouTube). Watch it.

Money Love

Rap Goes Acoustic

I've been a fan of making acoustic-y covers of rap/hip hop songs since I saw Kellen Malloy perform Ludacris' What's Your Fantasy at Gator Growl, and I've been noticing more and more of these lately.

Click to see Hey Ya and Ayo Technology (which even has it's own slow-motion dancing girls music video!)

PS-Promise to start posting from home so I can embed.

More Stop-Motion Goodness

Her Morning Elegance

My embed copy-paste still isn't working, sorry.

This music video is well worth clicking the link :)

Post-it Stop-Motion - Deadline

I'm not sure if you guys share my fascination with stop motion. I'm always totally amazed at the time, patience, and attention to detail it must take to make one of these videos (Maybe because I'm just so impatient that I can't even understand how a person would do that).

Here's a new one. It's short and amusing. And there's a " making of " video as well in the description on YouTube.

PS: I'm having embed copy/paste issues, sorry.

I really want start a massive dance party one day.

The internet has all the answers.

RunPee.com tells you when is the best part of a movie to leave the theater and go use the bathroom.  Includes the option to view a synopsis of the scene you’ll be missing.

(Scrambled in the picture below for spoiling purposes...but if you haven't seen the Hangover. Go.)

PS: internet, movie, AND pee were already previously existing tags. Interesting.....

Frank Lloyd Wright Legos...Awesome.

Man, when two things I love join forces, it always causes an exponential increase in my already passionate love for whatever those two things are. 

Today, its LEGOS and Frank Lloyd Wright. 

My Dog Corrupted My File

This is an interesting blog post directly lifted from Noahbrier.com because, well, there's no point in my re-wording it when he said it perfectly himself: 

"What's the 21st Century equivelent to the dog ate my homework? A corrupted file emailed to a professor. Corrupted-files.com sells students files of different lengths that are pre-corrupted, letting them buy a few extra days to finish their assignment.

The site's owner answered questions on it's ethics, "I am simply offering a better excuse. It's not cheating in the traditional sense as the student is still doing their own work and not using a roommates' old paper or being foolish enough to purchase one online. If the student is desperate, it is fair to assume he/she has considered these paths. In such a situation, would you rather have a student make up an excuse and hand in their own work a bit late or submit someone else's work on time?"

Personally I just find it fascinating to watch how this type of behavior (lazyness, cheating, pirating) actually drives culture."

McDLT & a dancing, singing George Costanza

McDonald's commercials from the 80's debuting it's McDLT - a hambuger served with the hot hamburger on one side of the tray and the "cool" lettuce and tomatoes on the the other side so that the hot hamburger doesn't wilt and ruin the lettuce and tomato.... oooooh okay? Not sure how much research they did on how that affects a consumer's choice to purchase a hamburger (that being a challenge didn't even occur to me...), but nonetheless, this commercial is awesome. A dancing, singing Jason Alexander (skinny, too!).

Watch and enjoy:

In case you needed a step-by-step guide

I'll say nothing and just let the video do its work.

Give Yourself a Good Name

New campaign for Heineken, "Let a Stranger Drive You Home". I'm not sure who did but but in the style of Facebook - likes it [thumbs up]



Smart, simple, compelling... and does the whole "don't drink and drive" thing in a clever and intelligent way. But.... similar to the Captain Morgan campaign (Lowe).

CP+B intern auction

Those of you who are friends with Alex Bogusky on twitter probably know this, but anyway it's awesome... CP+B is auctioning off the services of their interns to their clients on eBay. Only the greats at CP+B could of this and execute.

The bidding is up to $1,525 and money goes towards the intern. Can I intern there?

Follow the action: http://twitter.com/bogusky

ESPN 360 part deux

College Edition. Wait for the naked boys...!

Sexy Swine...?

You decide.

Ms. Taken

Ok, so how many of you are familiar with The Lonely Island? I only feel like highlighting "Jizz in my Pants" because someone has decided to parody the video in an awesome attempt to market a new product. See below.



Ms. Taken is a new product for "all the single ladies" out there. Wow ok enough YouTube linkage. But seriously, this Ms. Taken thing is for real. And I never thought seeing girls puke could be so hot.

Don't tase me bro wooden sculpture, with tase action!

Why We Have Job Security

When I see these terrible locally produced spots, I am stupefied by two things: 1- Someone approved this. 2- Someone paid for this.

Oye.

Alcoholic Monkeys on BBC and Swine Flu

Maybe you can blame your alcoholism on Great Grandpa Stu. Make sure you catch the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSm7BcQHWXk

Funny image of the week:

ESPN360 BAM!

As you may or may not know, ESPN is my advertising/brand/channel passion and lover. If I could work for any company/brand it would be ESPN in any department or way, whether it be for Martin on the account or at ESPN. One of many reasons... amazing advertising. Here's the lastest and greatest (saw it this morning):




Brilliant and relevant... things we should all strive to be.

Mentos and...Carlsberg?

Found this on a blog done by two guys I'm working with here.

"We all know what happens when you put Mentos in Diet Coke, but what about Carlsberg?"

Google's done it again

Google's Google Labs is always busy coming up with new and amazing things to enhance our internet experience and the glory that is Google. This branch brought us things like Google Maps, iGoogle, and Google News. And, they innovate everyday...

Now, they've taken Google News one step further with a visual news timeline. You can see a news timeline for any date or keyword and sort by photos, news stories, blogs, tv shows, etc. The possibilities are endless.... atlanta braves new photos, jackson browne music, urban meyer new quotes, and more....

It's a little tricky and I couldn't find our blog in the blog tabs, but all in all pretty cool.

Check it out: newstimeline.googlelabs.com and read more at the Google Blog.

Well done, BMW

Click to enlarge.

This made me chuckle today.

I'm not how many of you read AdFreak and already saw this...

Here is a list of short and to the point "uncomfortable plot summaries" for movies and TV shows. Via postmodernbarney.com

Not convinced you want to read them all? Here are some favorites:

• BATMAN: Wealthy man assaults the mentally ill.
• BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: Peasant girl develops Stockholm Syndrome.
• BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S: Pretty redneck girl fools socialites, flirts with gay gigolo.
• CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY: Deranged pedophile big-business industrialist tortures and mutilates young children.
• CUJO: Family neglects to give family pet rabies shots, pays price.
• FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF: Amoral narcissist makes world dance for his amusement.
• JUNO: Teen fails to get abortion, ruins lives.
• LORD OF THE RINGS: Midget destroys stolen property.
• PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Woman with gold-digging mother nags wealthy man into marriage.
• RATATOUILLE: Vermin infest restaurant until it is forced to close doors.
• SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS: Layabout stepdaughter shacks up with seven miners.
• SUPERBAD: Boys plan date-rape, sleep together.

There are a TON more. I love them. If I had any discipline, I'd make a new facebook status every day.

Carousel

Another video for you guys. This one's via DesignYouTrust. It's a short film created to promote the Philips Cinema 21:9 LCD TV. Wondering why it's called carousel after watching it?

The film is created to play on continuously on loop. I watched it through a few times and noticed new elements each time around. It's visually very interesting and dramatic despite the lack of actual movement. Enjoy.

Technology scares me.

These statistics are pretty insane.

World Builder

If you've got 10 minutes, check out this short film by Bruce Branit.

gotta love Google Street View

Google Street View is awesome... that goes without saying. But, to make it even better... when they were taking photos in Pittsburgh, PA they stumbled upon two men LARPing (live action role playing) on 8 Samponsia Way. I'm not convinced this was all innocent... perhaps these two men knew that Google was planning on taking photos there that day, but I'd like to think it was all by coincidence.

On a similar but different note:

the related issue is at 1:11 :)

some Friday comic relief

Happy Friday! t's 2:15 and the day is dragging, so here's a nice video to help the day go by.

Family Guy character Bruce the performance artist is my favorite character on the show. Hands. Down. His voice is great and he has the best lines. He's also used a lot for random animal/alien characters. This video is kind of long and won't imbed, but worth the 9 minutes... I promise!

And, for those who don't have 9 minutes... my favorites:
1:43 - Fire Island
3:56 & 6:00 - Mayor Bee
5:30 - Stars Wars spoof
7:00 - 911 call operator
8:15 - poltergeist

http://tvontheweb.blogspot.com/2008/05/watch-family-guy-clips-starring-bruce.html

Ya'll enjoy now!

Triiibeca is the place to be...

With gleeful joy Tribeca Film Festival brings back a childhood favorite, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.



Don't miss out.

You can tell by the way I use my blog...

We just launched this today. Open to thoughts. Anyone want a free razor?

A viral that mocks a viral?? Oh Mini... you're so clever

I thought it was well done.

In case you have an extra 1:30 to spend

An hour and a half, not a minute and 30 seconds. Sometimes called Turkish Starwars, though its real name is The Man Who Saves the World. I made it through a few minutes of it, just to witness the complete ripoff of Star Wars. No, not the plot or anything. There's no Varth Dader or Skuke Lywalker. But holy hell! The footage! This guy just flatout lifted the footage from the original movie! Spend a few minutes to appreciate the blatant thievery and awesome scriptwriting.

Example:

"But in reality, how strong their weapons be; the enemies of the Earth in galaxy; did not have brains."

How poetic!



I think the Star Wars stuff may only be in the first 5 minutes or so, since I didn't really get past it, but who knows?

Lucky Cider

My current favorite commercial.

If you are wondering -- yes, she is indeed speak English Engrish.

A Commercial based on...A Widget!

Yep. Saw this Monday night when I was watching the basketball championship. Forget basing spots on SNL skits. Let's make a spot based entirely on a widget! Except, this was VERY, VERY WELL DONE.

Happy Easter from PETA

I can't embed this, but Peta sent me an E-card for Easter. It features "Mr.T"

Check it: http://www.peta2.com/ecard/easter_mrt/index.asp?c=peta2_enews

The Lost Tribes of New York

The Lost Tribes of New York City from Carolyn London on Vimeo.

Via The Book of Freak.

Booty is Booty

I'm back.

Just wanted to share BK's latest work. It went on air this past Monday. If you didn't see it during the NCAA Men Basketball Championship, here's your chance:

BURGER KING SpongeBob Commercial: (sorry for the link it refuses to let me embed the video... grr)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rm6d2oy8GRk 

As you can tell from the video, it was a pretty fun project to work on. There's also an extended version 2 minute music video that's hilarious so check it out if you get bored.

Other things I'm excited about:

1. New iPhone update coming out (cut, paste and searchable email... yes!)

2. The three day weekend coming up

3. Football season... Sept. 5th... Championship repeat?

If you need a good laugh check these out. I'm sure Nancy and Melissa can fully appreciate the irony.

Worst Placed Ads

 

haha... better McD's than BK

April Fool's Rick Roll

You get what you give.

Way to brand your Vodka?

I've come to feel like some companies have no strategy behind what they do these days. This attempt is (in my opinion) taking advantage of social media because they either a) have the "everybody's doing it" mentality, or b) are doing social media for the sake of doing social media.

Then again, this is alcohol so it's a totally different game. Say you become a fan of Three Olives on Facebook. What kind of updates are they going to send you? This sweepstakes, new flavors and "Please drink responsibly" notices? I've been on Facebook for over 5 years and seen a hundreds of changes across the site from layouts, to applications to making it easier for marketers to reach the right piece of the audience. People have joined groups (which I see as NO different to fan pages now) about drinking, or being drunk in general. I'll admit I was in some in college, but I've moved on from that. I don't feel comfortable becoming a fan of alcohol in the public realm of the internet. If you do, what does that say about you?

Ouch.

Via Soup.


What do you think?

I like this guy's response: "God, amen. But I have the opposite conclusion as ADismalScience: If you think you're a genius, go try some genius things. How many threads can these assholes fill with complaints that I made money off an idea that any of them could have had, before they actually go do something themselves?

And when will they realize that the "wealthy fameball savants" work ten times as hard as they do?"

Hello Vader!

Via the "Most WTF Image Contest" on Buzzfeed.

Caperucita Roja

Don't know why I felt like writing that in Spanish. But here's an interesting Little Red Riding Hood video:


Slagsmålsklubben - Sponsored by destiny from Tomas Nilsson on Vimeo.

Gatorthirst

In the spirit of the Gator videos below, and a classic fake ad that was actually once parodied for a real ad, I give you this:

Taking on an OG

My newest ESPN magazine arrived in the mail this afternoon and Iwas really impressed with the cover. At first glance I thought there was a printing error and half of the cover was missing but that's what the people at Pepsi and Powerade's agency-of-record, Ammirati, want you to think. It's actually an ad that plays on the fact that Gatorade's "G" drink is missing some essential electrolytes and Powerade should be your first choice for post-athletic endeavor hydration. According to this AdAge article it's the first time ESPN has done this and personally it's the first time I think I've seen something like this done. As a UF alumnus I can't help but be biased towards Gatorade (though I'm pissed with the whole removing the "atorade" from the name thing) but I do think this idea is really effective, is just plain cool as hell AND it covers Manny Ramirez's ulgy mug.






Also right as I was about to post this I happened to see a friend of mine put this video on facebook and I just had to add it:

Da na na na na.... Go Gators!

Shout-out to my good friend, super sister, and all around classy gal Deanna Lazzaroni (... and I guess while I'm at it - all my lovelies still at UF) for this:

Fletcher Martin has come up with a new and powerful campaign for the University of Florida. We all remember, and I'm sure love, the previous "Go Gator" campaign they did:




You won't find the current campaign on YouTube, but check out their Web site under the portfolio section to see the two new spots. In a word: amazing.

Also, to read more about the campaign and get some great insight, check out Deanna's blog: Satisfy the Craving. I'm so proud to call her little :)

Wait, what?

Since most of you don't have/watch TV, you don't get to see all of the lovely TV spots out there.... like this one:



Why would anyone make a commercial for a sub "sexy"? Why, I ask you, why? This does not make me want a Quizno's sub. In fact, it makes me want to throw up. And, it's not funny. If it was supposed to be a joke... I don't get it.

ew.

Smoking Smarties

Not sure if anyone has heard/seen this...



Apparantly this is pretty old, but it's making new waves on YouTube. There are sereval different version, all with a "how-to" smoke smarties, but this one featuring a 10-year-old boy named Titus is getting all the attention. It's been posted on BuzzFeed, CollegeHumor, the video-gamer destination G4tv.com's "Attack of the Show", and the "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" blog. Along with dozens of other vidoes, there a numerous MySpace metions and groups on Facebook as well as tons of posts to blogs. The video is also the 5th link when "smarties" is typed into Google

There are clearly two problems happening... it perpetuates the "coolness" of smoking and could be some really bad PR for Smarties's maker Ce De. Ce De is a 60-year-old family owned company that is [probably] never in the news on anyone's top of mind. I mean, how often does anyone really think of Smarties, aside from the occasional pinata and perhaps Halloween?

The company is distancing itself from the videos and denying any connection... Is any PR good PR??

Way to capture our... hearts?

Saw this Trojan spot after the gator game on ESPN. Kind of in shock from the audacity.

Twitter Video

Since I was having problems this week with posting my video (and the link to it) here it is on YouTube. Here's hoping this works *fingers crossed*

Baa

Now this is good viral marketing:



It reminds me of the brilliance behind the Bravia ads: take a simple idea, then blow it up as big as you can.

On another note, here is your pointless and frankly mystifying (even if you understand Japanese) commercial from Japan.
...but that song is quite catchy...

The periodic table of fonts

Sean I know you'll love this one...



Click the image for its full size glory (twss).

It was created by the artist Squidspot.

Dutch rap groups are funny... and catchy!

Take a listen and laugh.

The rest of the world is sooooo much more clever then us

So this SMS triggered billboard snows every time it's snowing at the advertised resort. When snow starts falling, a system triggers an SMS to the billboard ordering it to commence the snow and does the opposite (un-commence) when it stops snowing at the resort. Ahh technology, lets all take a moment to bask in it.

Urban hangover pants

I've been thinking that drinking all day and night every weekend (and some weekdays) is becoming bad for my health... (I was sick this weekend) which means on Sunday's I should adorn these pants and setup camp in the house (much like my sickly self this weekend). The world might be a better place if these pants were a part of everyones wardrobe, think of all the trees you could save by buying your whole family these pants instead of buying a dining room table (I suppose you'll need guest pants too).

CIA, FBI, NSA, BBDO, Y+R...

This is a banner for degree.info and it's the first time I've ever seen us referred to as agents. I might be wrong and that's the correct way to refer to our profession but it sounds weird to me...(I tried to think of witty stuff but I have a headache...so sue me):




P.S.: I'd like to give a shout-out to my friend Miranda's blog, Mirandom Selections. She was my Art Director for the second half of our account planning class and she's pretty much awesome in all ways possible, and best of all, she's a fan of our blog too, so give her's a peek.

P.S.S.: It might not be the Big Dance but we beat Miami and knocked them out of the NIT so that made my basketball season.

P.S.S.S.: Eric Roller won the Top Dog award for this past quarter and that makes it the second time he wins it since I've been in school. Here's what he won it for: Pigsy in Space

P.S.S.S.S.: This is awesome (which I stole from Miranda's twitter feed): Billy Mays makes me feel special

Hello Kitty

Thing #716523 I love about Japan: Commercials where Hello Kitty head-bangs to sell cars.

I Twatted

So Colbert claimed this morning that he has, in fact "Twatted" after Meredith Viera asked him if he has ever used Twitter. No one was sure if it was okay to laugh at first, but I was rolling. He's brilliant.

And now, if you don't already know what it is, or want to take a good look at Twitter, here's a video explaining it all...

Discovery Health's I Am My Own Twin

Lots of nights as I'm falling asleep, I put my TV on sleep timer and listen to Mystery Diagnosis. I love Discovery Health. Recently, I heard a preview for a documentary called "I am my own Twin"

"Babies are being born split right down the middle, half black and half white, a testicle on one side and a vagina on the other. Explore the extraordinary medical phenomena that causes two different babies to fuse together in the womb."

Wait. What?

So two fertilized eggs, which would eventually have been fraternal twins, sometimes fuse in the womb very early on and instead of two babies , just one baby is born who is also his/her own twin because this unusual baby carries two sets of DNA! Why this happens is a mystery.

This was discovered when a woman lost custody of her children because DNA tests showed that they were not actually hers. She was pregnant, and the court ordered someone to witness the birth of her next child. When they tested the DNA of that child, it also did not match the mother's DNA. This is because she was her own twin. Depending on where they sampled her DNA from (literally down to the exact strand of hair), the code was different.

Sometimes the babies in this situation look totally normal, but other times they exhibit really strange features, like a stomach that's half white and half black, or they are born with a cervix AND a teste. There are no pictures that I can find online--but I suggest that you watch the documentary. It's on YouTube. Here's part 1:

Dolphin Bubbles

If you've got three minutes and are even a fraction as fascinated with dolphins as I am, check out this video.



Some other fun-facts about the coolest kids in the animal planet:

• Dolphins have to be conscious to breath, so they cannot go into a full deep sleep because they would suffocate. So they are able to actually let just half of their brain sleep at a time.
• Dolphins are thought to have evolved from a land animal resembling a wolf.
• There's a dolphin called a narwhal that's known as the unicorn of the sea.
• Unlike other mammals (besides us of course), dolphins often engage in sex and foreplay just for fun and throughout the year, not just during mating season. They are also one of the only mammals to engage in homosexual sexual play.
  
• When dolphins give birth, another female dolphin acts as the "midwife" and is the only other pod member allowed near the calf.
• An albino dolphin was spotted once.
  

Dustin vs. Playstation

I do not watch baseball, and I do not have a Playstation. (Although I played Little Big Planet with my brother recently and it was AWESOME). But I do enjoy this campaign from Deutsch for MLB09 The Show called Dustin VS. Playstation:



On Playstation's site, you can view 6 more videos of the debate, 3 from Dustin and his backers and 3 from Playstation's side. The best one in my opinion is the one with Dustin and his coach in the kitchen. Couldn't find it on youtube, but visit the site and check them out.

More Nerdy raps

Just for you Karina

First- Bo Burnham, on of my all time fav YT videos



And of course, you can't go wrong with Weird Al - White and Nerdy (in Legos because the original won't embed)

Japanese Love Robot

Ever since Ruff has been in Japan, I keep an eye out for blogs/articles about anything Japanese. I have found that these articles are often highly interesting and extremely amusing. In fact, I think Lauren should start her own weekly post on Japanese culture. (Ps- MelDoug, what happened to 15 minutes of fame?)

Anyway, I usually keep the articles to myself. But this one I HAVE to share. It seems that some researchers in Kyoto who have created Kenji, a robot who can show emotions such as love, didn't know what they were getting themselves into.

Here's a quote from the article that I think will convince you to read the whole thing: "Each time Kenji is re-activated, he instantaneously bonds with the first technician to meet his gaze and rushes to embrace them with his two 100kg hydraulic arms. It doesn’t help that Kenji uses only pre-recorded dog and cat noises to communicate and is able to vocalize his love through a 20 watt speaker in his chest."

Mac or PC Rap

So I finally downloaded Firefox so I can embed videos! (Safari has issues with Blogger. And gmail, actually).

By the way, Google Chrome is not out for Macs yet. My Google/Mac love does not seem to be compatible.

Anyway, enjoy...



I'm a big fan of nerdy rap songs. (see below)

Carnival Aquarium = amazing

Saw this when I was walking on Park Avenue to my friend's restaurant from Grand Central... At first, I didn't know exactly what is was except that it's for Carnival Cruise lines and pretty cool. Upon further research, I found that it's a sweet campaign for Carnival which feature interactive computer-animated "aquariums" on the sides of buildings that get high pedestrian traffic in 6 cities (Baltimore, Dallas, Houston, LA, New York and D.C.).

Details:

"As pedestrians walk by, the vibrant undersea universe reacts with plant life swaying, water and bubbles moving and fish darting around in response to the human motion. Signage invites passersby to dial a number on their cell phones to create their own, personalized fish.

By making various sounds into their phones, consumers can customize their fish and then, using their keypad, swim them around the tank. By steering the fish to food, the custom creatures continue to morph in shape and size and do a variety of other fun and surprising things.

The aquariums also feature a mechanism that enables people to come back later and, using the same cell phone, retrieve their customized fish. Once finished with the interaction, consumers receive a text message inviting them to visit carnival.com/funville for additional fun activities and information."

All created by Arnonld, Boston.

One word- Gross.

Any idea who does their creative?

...Corwin?

Holy Shit!!! It happened! Oregon Trail comes to the iPhone.

I'm running home, downloading this and taking all of you on the trail! Julio, if we get into trouble, I'm killing you off first.

Walkthrough with pictures here