Category Archives: video

jenga in a minivan?

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This has to be one of the least thought out commercials in television history (I realize it’s in Spanish, but I couldn’t find the English version on YouTube). Seriously though, the kids are playing jenga in the back of a moving minivan; does that seem foolish to anyone else? It would be hard to play jenga on the kitchen table in my apartment if the ceiling fan was on high. Jenga requires a stable playing surface, and those little wooden pieces are sensitive. Yet somehow, the brilliant people at Chrysler thought this was a good idea for a commercial. I don’t know all the steps involved in making a commercial, but I would assume that the concept was originally presented at a meeting, and it probably wasn’t the only idea presented, meaning it was picked over other ideas. What were the other ideas, a group of guys driving home from the bar while playing darts in the back of a Town & Country? I can only hope it’s some sort of joke, since otherwise it would mean that out of the however many Chrysler employees who approved this idea, not one of them realized how redonkulous it would be for kids to play jenga in a minivan. Perhaps in support of the theory that this commercial is some kind of joke that didn’t work out — something like, the ride in our new Town & Country is so smooth you could play jenga in the back — is another new Chrysler commercial I found on YouTube.

Issues (aka think about it)

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Following the theme of passing on names and previews of some of my favorite comedians, I give you Flight of the Conchords–New Zealand’s 4th most popular gangster folk group. FOTC has begun gaining popularity in America over the last few years, thanks mostly to an HBO comedy special in 2005 (and thousands of youtube views of performances from that special) and their HBO series this past year (2007). Flight of the Conchords (the television series) was “loosely” based on Bret and Jemaine’s lives as Kiwi rap/rock/folk stars trying to make it as musicians in America while living in New York City (the show was funny and I was happy to learn that it got picked up for a second season that will air in 2008). Warning: although this clip is fairly PG, the comedy special and their show were on HBO, so not all of the content is as tame (it’s not very bad, but just so know).

(I’m taking my “salutation” out of yesterday’s post–not that any of you actually read yesterday’s entry yesterday–and tagging it onto the end of this one).

Happy Thanksgiving! (I hope you watch the Packers beat the Lions before you take your after-Turkey nap.)

trendspotting: social networking

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Note:  I can no longer find this video on youtube and the one I originally used was taken off…sorry (February 27, 2008).

Before Demetri Martin received my vote for the funniest comedian in America–assuming Dave Chappelle is retired–he was the goofy “trendspotting” guy on the Daily Show (for those of you who don’t watch the Daily Show–perhaps because you prefer receiving your news from what some people might consider “legitimate” sources–trendspotting is a series of humorous and somewhat informative segments about current cultural trends). The video above first broadcast on the Daily Show back in February of 2006 and is about online social networking sites like Myspace and Facebook; because both Myspace and Facebook have grown exponentially over the last year or so, the segment is already a bit outdated – for instance, the reference to Friendster, which is another online social community that—although it may have started the whole craze—is now basically non-existent due to the incredible popularity of Myspace (110 million users) and Facebook (47 million users) [1]. I am fascinated by many aspects of the Facebook/Myspace phenomenon, so you can count on seeing posts in the future about the many different ways I see online communities influencing how people in my generation see themselves and interact with each other [2]. Newsweek has included a few articles about the differences between Facebook and Myspace over the past months and there was even a story on the CBS Evening News this past Monday on sites like Facebook (I haven’t watched it yet, but it’s still on my DVR); but for now, I thought this short video would be a great not-so-serious introduction to the topic and to the work of Demetri Martin [3].

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[1] Statistics from a Newsweek online article (November 20, 2007).

[2] I spent two weeks at a Bible camp in Wisconsin this past summer interviewing college-aged counselors to study how they make meaning amidst the influences of things like Facebook, reality TV, People magazine and other pop-culture creations. I have not had time to complete the study yet, but you can count on hearing more about it when it is finished. Right now it is called the Meaning Project: Faith & Facebook.

[3] If you like Demetri’s style of comedy, check Comedy Central’s schedule for a rerun or search youtube for last year’s comedy special “Demetri Martin. Person.” It’s a good one; very funny stuff.

There is no way Steve Nash could be a cooler guy.

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I don’t like Steve Nash because he’s short (like me) or because he’s white (also like me), and I don’t like him because he’s a Canadian (unlike me, although it certainly adds to his bio as an NBA player that he is short, white AND Canadian). I don’t even like Steve Nash because he’s one of the most talented and entertaining basketball players in the world. I think what I like most about him is that he plays the game of basketball the way I always dreamed of playing, so watching him is like seeing my childhood hoop dreams come to life. It’s also really refreshing to listen to an athlete give great interviews without coming off as – here comes a Tom Cruise word – “glib”, but that’s just Steve Nash’s style – he’s a very real and cool dude (for a great example, watch Nash on Charlie Rose). Nash was hardly recruited coming out of high school (he went to college at Santa Clare University, a small div. I school in California), yet he somehow overcame all his apparent “disadvantages” (short, white, Canadian) to become a two-time MVP in the NBA…not the NHL. Add to this all the great things he has done to help children around the world and it turns out he’s not only a great basketball player, but a great human being. He put together a basketball game to raise money for kids in China this past summer with the help of Chinese basketball legend Yao Ming, and they convinced several other NBA players (including Carmelo Anthony and Baron Davis) to go along and support the cause. The Steve Nash Foundation supports organizations throughout the world to help grow healthy kids; from families of adoption in Steve’s native British Columbia to raising awareness to keep the children of civil war in Uganda safe. Steve’s foundation is also involved with environmental issues and efforts to help situations of poverty, and because he knows he can’t do it all on his own, he invites others to partner with his foundation through an initiative called the “10 Assist Challenge” (for you non-basketball fans, 10 assists is a basketball statistic reference). The greatest part is that Nash doesn’t seem to be doing any of this to be a good role model or to make a name for himself in the media; he really just seems to understand that his position of influence allows him the opportunity to help others, so that’s what he’s trying to do. He has been a lot more visible lately – doing interviews, magazine ads and a few commercials. The New York Times sports magazine PLAY had a great article on Nash a few weeks ago. The writer of the article spent some time hanging out with Nash in NYC where Steve has lived the past few summers, and where this past summer he was spotted riding a long-board around town and playing pickup basketball and soccer with locals…seriously, how cool is this guy?