The Fundamentals of Planking

As promised I took part in Planking Day, if you don’t know what it’s all about I gave a pretty good description in “For the Love Of Planking“. Anyways, after a rough shoot, I dusted myself off and spent about four hours editing, then another 5 hours trying to figure out how to upload it. Finally my video debut is here!

I’ve been thinking about doing something to help raise awareness and this seemed like the ultimate opportunity, so check out the links for Asthma and Allergy Awareness & Mental Health, since May is the month for both. They’re great causes and just by understanding them better we can show our support!

Here’s the video for “The Fundamentals of Planking” I hope you enjoy it, it’s only my first crack at video so it ain’t perfect.

(And I even did my own stunts!)

Cartoon Geniuses

“There’s a saying: Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.” Oogway the Turtle 

So I thought I’d test the waters a little bit on FaceBook and throw a question out there: Who is the smartest cartoon character?

I got one response from a sarcastic friend of mine and I’m pretty sure that he doesn’t exist. One of my youngins suggested Inspector Gadget, who puts on a good front, but it’s plain to see that, although he can pull off the most challenging of feats, it all obviously happened by accident.

My Pick

I was watching Kung Fu Panda last weekend and couldn’t help but be struck by Oogway’s infinite wisdom. I was dining at the Noodle House earlier that day for the first time ever. It had opened when I was about 13 and I’d always assumed it only sold noodles. Of course I was not foolish enough to pay anything more than 50 cents for noodles and I always kept a supply of Mr. Noodles handy. Anyways, when I went they sold more than noodles and I was impressed with the food and service, they treated us like family. They also had some free books on Buddhist teachings and I gladly took a couple. They reminded me of the type of stuff that the old Turtle from Kung Fu Panda would say like everything and nothing are the same.

Honorable Mentions

So it’s fair to say that Oogway is my pick for the smartest cartoon, but what do you think? Here are some other names worth mentioning with my favorite YouTube Links:

1. Dr. Cockroach from Monsters Vs. Aliens. Hugh Laurie and his English accent would make any character look like a genius.
2. Mr. Peabody makes it look easy as he casually bounced around in time and always had a logical explanation for his ol’ buddy Sherman.
3. Stewy Griffin of The Family Guy might have a head shaped like a football and be a baby, but when it comes to elaborated schemes, there’s none better.
4. Lisa Simpson was a child prodigy beyond compare, she had enough brains and determination to easily become America’s first female president. Unfortunately, after about twenty years without aging it’s pretty obvious that she’ll never even be old enough to vote.
5. And last but not least, South Park’s Mr. Mackey.(That link contains f-bombs, for mature audiences only!) He’s taught the children of South Park about the dangers of substance abuse, which is such a delicate topic, with such wisdom and insight that even the most erudite of cartoon fans can walk away feeling humbled and richer in knowledge.

Who’s your favorite cartoon genius?

An April Fool’s Dream

April Fool’s Day had it’s ups and downs. The day before I got featured on The Fit Academic which got a few comments. It wasn’t the best writing I’ve done but I think that people might have got a chuckle or two from it, especially the Rocky 3 picture that was put on by the fit academic herself  (I was flattered).

The night before I found out I would be finally realizing a dream from childhood of being on the radio on ECMA’s (Eastern Canadian Music Awards) on April 13 and 15 as far as I know at the moment. I’ll be playing some music from my region, introducing some bands playing live acoustic sets on the stage next to the booth, and doing some interviews. It’ll be fun. The other ECMA volunteers seem to be a great bunch and I hope to get a chance to get to know many of them better in the near future.

So when April Fools day began I was feeling great about myself, I found a few good April Fool’s related links on Twitter and shared the laughs, unfortunately I can’t get on Twitter this morning, but I’ll post them next time.

I also had a few ideas about who to contact to get booked for ECMA radio and I was able to get in touch with a few of them. Then I went and finally got myself a somewhat decent microphone so I can get a little bit of practice before actually getting on the air. I tried it out on my recording of Arlo Guthrie’s “City of New Orleans”, which I plan to have mixed by next Tuesday.

After that things seemed to get a little ‘Rockier’.

I went to get some stuff for the house at the mall and realized I had no money in my acct. (I thought), so I paid with cash and went home to check my acct. info. Turns out I was pressing the wrong acct. at the teller. No problem, I thought, I guess I played an April Fool’s joke on myself.

Later on I went to get some gas and rent “Inception“, a movie I had been waiting a long time to see. So I go to pay for it and I couldn’t find my card. I guess I must have lost it. The teller let me go after telling him I’d pay tomorrow so I dodged another bullet. I guess with all the confusion earlier at the mall, I either left it there or it fell out of my pocket, anyways, when I called them they didn’t have it.

Then after waiting months and months to see Inception I dozed off towards the end of it. From what I saw though it was really cool, but I was tired. The movie really got me to thinking about lucid dreaming and all of the infinite possibilities that the dream offers us. According to the movie, an hour in “dreamtime” is like 5 minutes in waking time, which explains why some dreams are so epic. Another thing I heard yesterday on the radio yesterday was that “Dr. Jekyl & Mr. Hyde” & “Frankenstein” were written through dreams which was kind of with the theme of yesterday’s dream-like events.

I believe in everything until it’s disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it’s in your mind. Who’s to say that dreams and nightmares aren’t as real as the here and now?
John Lennon

Portrayal or Betrayal? Cher vs. Will Ferrell

OK, so you might be wondering what’s up with all of these Will Ferrell clips. Truth is I’d probably post them daily if I could, he just makes a song look so sentimental with the raw emotional gratitude for the fact that he has the opportunity to be heard. I know that he may never get a chart topper, but it’s OK because it’s about the music not the fame.

The song in question tonight is called “Believe”. Now I know that Cher songs are probably a little bit “whack” for most people. I guess that it’s fair to say that she has one of those voices that you either love or hate. For me I can listen to most music without prejudice (of course there’s an initial judgement as in anything, but I do my best to focus on what I like about whatever song I might be listening to). As for the lyrics, it seems a little bitter sweet with the “tough love” approach by a woman who’s seen her share of heart break. I can’t help but picture Sonny & Cher up on their little stage in their hippy ensemble singing the carefree, ‘who needs money & status when you got someone to share your life with’ anthem “I Got You Babe”. Chances are it’s probably about some other dude who turned out not to be her cup of tea.

The challenger is an ultra-short duet from “Land of the Lost” by Will Ferrell and Danny McBride through an Autotune-like device.

Who do you like?