Internet Awesomeness: Zombie Edition 3

More zombie songs!

1) Zombies Ate Her Brain by The Creepshow



This cheery brain-nomming song is super catchy and upbeat. The Creepshow feature their psychobilly fashion and aesthetic well with a bit of humor thrown in. The first part of the video is in black and white with a style like the old Universal monster movies, which was a nice homage to the original monster movies.

2) The Zombie Song by Lawrence Cockrill



This song is from Songbook for the Civilized Zombie series that takes place in an alternate Britain that suffered a zombie outbreak in 1984. So the beginning is a PSA for the Lazarus Quincy Institute that rehabilitates zombies to not be ravenous eating machines. I really like the animation style and the actual song is cute and educational.

3) Zombie Love Song by Ray Johnson



This sweet love song is about a zombie that meets a girl online and doesn't just want to eat her brains, but also wants to steal her heart. The braaaaaaaaaaaaains chorus is funny and like zombies trying to sing. The animation isn't super detailed, but illustrates the song well, especially the Pacman clip. Wouldn't you date a zombie if he or she sang this song for you?

4) Never Look Back by The Nearly Deads



I love this song! Their sound is kind of like an indie Paramore. The song is awesome and captures the zombie apocalypse well. Their video is full of zombies and zombie references. Did you notice the Umbrella Corp symbol? or the Zombie Survival Guide being read? I like that it starts of looking like a normal day, but then BAM zombies.

More zombies to come! Stay tuned!

Internet Awesomeness: Amanda Palmer Edition

I've been a huge fan of Amanda Palmer's quite a few years now in different musical configurations: as a solo performer, half of The Dresden Dolls, part of 8in8, and half of Evelyn and Evelyn. Her music is undeniably unique with her percussive piano playing and emotional way of singing. She has been the center of many a controversy, but is also recognized for her achievements. Very recently, she set up a Kickstarter to fund her new album, Theatre is Evil, recorded with The Grand Theft Orchestra that has garnered over 20,000 backers and over a million pledged dollars. It is officially the most funded music project on Kickstarter and I'm happy to be a part of it.

Here are some of the tracks from her new album that she has already leaked:

Do It with a Rockstar - It's a little more rock than she usually plays and clearly has some Bowie influences (which I love!). I like that when you look a little harder at the lyrics, it's about loneliness.



Trout Heart Replica - This is an older song that she has played live a lot over the past couples years. It's given new life with strings to fill out the sound and make the lyrics that much more poignant. The differences in texture and the relationship between the strings and piano throughout the song amazes me and makes the song even better than I remember it. (You can listen to the studio version here as it is not up on youtube yet.)



Want It Back - This is the one I will inevitably listen to over and over and over and sing it all day. It's super catchy and I already love it.  (You can listen to the studio version here as it is not up on youtube yet.)



The album will be out this September, so keep an eye out for it! It will be made of awesome!!!

Internet Awesomeness: Zombie Edition 2

1) Plants vs. Zombies Wall-nut gets Bitten

Ever wonder if your plants turn to zombies when they get bitten or what they talk about when their not defending your house? Find out in this video!

2) Zombies: The Ramifications of Yes

If only every person making decisions for a company would keep the zombie apocalypse in mind. But how spoiled milk makes people into zombies is a mystery to me.

3) I Love Sarah Jane

This is a great short film about the lives of a group of children and young adults after the zombie apocalypse. The themes share a lot in common with Jonathan Maberry's Dust and Decay, the most notable being recognizing that zombies were once human. I was surprised that such a short film managed to incite such strong feelings of both sympathy and disgust.

Link any zombie videos you would like to share!

Internet Awesomeness: Zombie Edition

As usual, I share awesome videos with you, but this time, with a zombie theme!

1) Shaun of the Dead in 60 Seconds

This video was made as an homage to Edgar Wright, director of Shaun of the Dead (the best zombie romantic comedy ever) and Hot Fuzz, and Brian Lee O'Malley, creator of the Scott Pilgrim series. It's surprisingly accurate and clever. It just brings a smile to my face. I especially love how the artist captured the distinct facial expressions.

2) House vs. Zombies

I love Dr. House, but this clipped made me love him even more. Using his shotgun/axe cane, he dispatches his zombified medical team to save his lady love, Lisa Cuddy. Of course this is only a dream sequence, but I just want to shout "Headshots!" at him.

3) Rotting Hill

Rotting Hill from Media Design School on Vimeo.

This short film is a zombie romantic comedy full of zombie love and stomach churning romance. This is the type of zombie romance that I like: actual zombies in love and doing sweetly gross things for each other. At the end of the video, you can see how all the different CGI effects were achieved, which looked pretty amazing.

4) World War Z Zombie Attack

This scene seems frightening even without any zombie make-up, blood, and effects. The scene itself is awesome, but doesn't really bode well for the World War Z movie. First, the zombies are super fast, which just isn't Max Brooks' style of zombie. His are slow, but no less frightening. Second, the virus immediately makes people into zombies. In the book, the virus incubates for while, allowing people to take international flights, organs to be taken and transplanted, and other ways of spreading it worldwide. It will be interesting to see how the film turns out and how they will fix the problems created by using fast zombies.

Any zombie videos you guys think are awesome and want to share?

Internet Awesomeness: SDCC Edition

In honor of Comic-con, I have decided to compile videos having to do with anything nerdy or comic and game related.

1) This is an awesome video of Magneto from X-Men singing his own parody of Lady Gaga's Born This Way. I discovered this just after I saw X-Men First Class, which actually wasn't terrible like I thought it was going to be. Anyway, I suspect this version is even better than the original.

2) Mario Kart Love Song is a super cute song that is exactly what it sounds like. Yay for nerdy love,

3) I saw this super cute video on io9.com. A kid decided to recite the Doctor's epic monologue from The Pandorica Opens for his talent show. He just looks adorable in his bowtie and even Steven Moffat can't deny this kid's talent when he tweeted the link and wrote "Oh well - clearly Matt's time is up."

Here's the speech recited by Matt Smith for comparison.

4) Kirby Krackle, my favorite nerd band, has just come out with a new album called Super Powered Love (which I am totally buying at Comic-Con). This is the first single with the same name as the album about a guy worrying about his superhero girlfriend.

Internet Awesomeness 8

More awesomeness from the internets!!!

1) I've loved Kirby Krackle's song Ring Capacity for about a year now. It tells the story of Green Lantern's origins and a battle with Sinestro plus it's super catchy. I was really hoping it would be the song for the new Green Lantern film, but it sadly wasn't. Fortunately, we can all still enjoy their awesome video and hope maybe the next nerd film will feature a song of theirs.

2) One of my favorite Evelyn Evelyn songs is Sandy Fishnets, but it seems to be kind of an ignored song because it's depressing and disturbing. Vince Mascoli made an animated video for the song that I thoroughly enjoy in a simple mostly monochromatic color palate. My favorite part is the ocean sequence which has vibrant colors and a completely different style to greatly differentiate the fantasy world from their bleak reality.

3) Neil Gaiman is awesome. period. So when he makes a video threatening war with Britain if the Onion doesn't get a Pulitzer prize, it's by default awesome. He comes off so crazily charming.

4) This video by Jackson Pearce, author of Sisters Red and the upcoming Sweetly, is made of win. She frankly describes the ridiculousness of the gay marriage debate and urges people to use their voices and make their opinions heard. Gay marriage is now legal in New York (YAY!) which is surprising considering it's a Republican controlled state. Hopefully other states will follow and prove that the Constitution actually matters.

Hope you enjoyed the awesomeness for this week!

Internet Awesomeness 7

My school is officially over until the fall!!! YAY!!! I have a lot of books to review, but right now, I'm just going to share some awesome/funny videos with you.

1) There's a really stupid "Don't Say Gay" bill that passed in Tennessee forbidding teachers from talking about homosexuality in classrooms. Because of the language of the bill, they have also inadvertently forbid discussion on reproductive disorders, anything that would lead to sterility, or abstinence. I guess it's not as bad as Florida banning sex on accident. Anyway, George Takei has a delightful way to get around saying gay: say Takei! It's disgusting to me that something like this could be passed in today's society.

2) Literary heroines would have escaped their terrible fate if they had a Sassy Gay Friend. Hilarity ensues.

3) GOOD put together this awesome montage of famous kisses throughout cinema history and included some informative information on the history and biology behind kissing. And it ends with saying Armageddon was a good movie, which is debatable.

4) This video made me die and really helped me be less stressed during finals. It's Star Wars dubbed in French and subtitled with quotes from Jean-Paul Sartre.

Internet Awesomeness 6

1) More 8in8! I finally got the player to work, so here it is if you're interested in listening to any of their songs. All are awesome, but my favorite is Because the Origami.

They donated over $22,000 to the Berkeley City Music Network in the first 2 weeks that their album has been out. Yay! And they now have their own website. AND their songs have spawned other forms of art, such as fan videos and drawings. Here are two of my favorite videos.

Because the Origami - 8in8 from Ben Jacobson on Vimeo.

Awesome stuff! I love when art spawns more art. :)

2) This video is NSFW (not safe for work), so don't blame me if it gets you in trouble. It's nominated for a Hugo Award, specifically for Best Dramatic Presentation Short Form. It's Rachel Bloom singing Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury. The song is cute, catchy, and portrays an amorous and exaggerated love for both the author and his literature. Rachel has loved Ray Bradbury's work since she was a child. She says "The No. 1 thing I am earnestly attracted to his intelligence. Writers are thus the pinnacle of intelligence. While actors are great and awesome, writers literally create new worlds from scratch. What is sexier than that? Personally, I don’t know why every person out there isn’t dating a writer." She posted the homage on his last birthday and even met him and watched the video with him since then. I dare you not to smile at this hilarious, sexy pop sci-fi song.

3) The last video for this week features President Barack Obama mercilessly mocking Donald Trump. He is surprisingly funny and makes Fox and the rest of the birthers look ridiculous. He even pokes fun at himself. This speech is only second to Stephen Colbert's speech in 2006 (part 1 and part 2 if you want to laugh hysterically).

I probably won't be posting too much over the next 2 weeks because school is almost over. One more week and then finals! Eek!

Internet Awesomeness 4

More videos for your viewing pleasure!!

1) I'm sure all of you have heard about the racist UCLA girl complaining about Asians talking on the phone in the library unless you've been living under a Youtubeless rock. There are probably countless responses to that very unfortunate and hopefully regretted video, but the best of them has to be Jimmy Wong's super catchy and awesome song, Ching Chong! Asians in the Library Song. Although there is a fair bit of mocking Alexandra, this song responds to something hateful with something funny and creative. I love it!

2) This is one of the cutest videos I've ever seen. Kitties that dream they ride a spaceship and destroy a paper world dressed as dinosaurs. Seriously, what's not to like? Plus it fulfills your daily dose of cute for about a year.

3) At the Shorty Awards, Amanda Palmer sang a song using the most amusing tweets as lyrics to the tune of Rebecca Black's Friday. My personal favorites are Lindsay Lohan, Kanye West, and Beaker. Thank you to Misty from The Book Rat for sending it to me and making me smile! :)

4) This final video is the collaboration of many students at Wesleyan University to save funding for Planned Parenthood. Unlike many conservatives would have you think, Planned Parenthood isn't an abortion machine. There are many services that are provided to people who couldn't normally afford it, such as contraception, general health care, cancer screenings, STD tests and treatment, pelvic exams, among many others. I'm proud to see others my age taking a stand for their reproductive health and an organization that is instrumental in doing so. The article in the description is really interesting and worth a read.

Hope you all liked these videos! <3

Internet Awesomeness: St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all! Everyone is Irish today and I want to share my favorite Irish inspired songs from the internets in celebration.

1) The Rocly Road to Dublin sung by The Dubliners is one of the first Irish songs I ever heard. My dad bought a Celtic anthology CD and this became one of my favorite tracks. It has a momentum and energy that is irresistible. It has also recently been featured in the Sherlock Holmes movie with Robert Downey Jr.

2) Flogging Molly is an Irish American band based in LA that combines traditional Irish tunes with punk rock music. The song Requiem for a Dying Song is one of my favorites of theirs from their album Float.

3) Even though Nightwish is a Finnish group, this song, Over the Hills and Far Away, is a cover of the original by Gary Moore, an Irish blues and rock musician. This song totally rocks, but the Celtic influences are still very present. I used this version instead of the original because I heard it voice and Tarja is an amazing singer.

4) The Boondock Saints is an excellent film about two Irish brothers that see injustices in the world and become inspired to right those wrongs. It's funny, sad, and horrifying all at once. I would recommend this movie to just about everyone, but if you're offended by blood or offensive language, I would stay away from this one. This is the opening theme for the film called The Blood of Cuchulainn.

Hope you all had a fun St. Paddy's Day!!

Internet Awesomeness 3

I found awesome stuff on the internet and I would like to share it with you!

1) Here is the obligatory Amanda Palmer song because this woman sings too many songs that I love. I just want to share every single one. She has this uncanny talent that allows her to tap into a variety of emotions, at least from me. This is a sad song about how a passionate love can evolve into a cold relationship where they don't even remember why they were together in the first place. It's beautifully written and sung with an earnestness that few singers have. I usually can't make it to the end of the song with dry eyes.

2) Garfunkel and Oates is a great musical duo that writes and performs funny songs. This is one of my favorites called Sex with Ducks. Pat Robertson equated legalizing gay marriage to legalizing sex with ducks; this song just illustrates the ridiculousness of that statement. The video is low budget, but I love this song!

3) Regina Spektor is another talented chanteuse whose body of work is truly eclectic, drawing inspiration from different cultures and using a variety of extended techniques. This is my very favorite song by her, Eet. It never ceases to make me smile, but, contrary to the cheerful melody, the lyrics tell a melancholy story. She's another artist that never ceases to amaze me.

You can watch the official video here.

Hope you all enjoyed!