So, what are the general opinions on the new Tiger Woods advert (below)?

There’s a few issues I have with it — not least because Tiger is effectively flogging his dead father to sell golfwear. Or indeed because he’s using his fall from grace to prop himself back up. And maybe also because it’s taken a quote out of context, from a 2004 documentary interview in which Earl Woods discussed a difference in the parenting approaches taken by his wife and him, and tied it into a sex scandal.

None of that, however, detracts from the fact that it is a stunning piece of visual communication, advertising and pop culture. Not to mention a remarkable bit of thinking-outside-the-box by the Mad Men of the real world.

Half the planet is discussing it, and some eejits like myself are effectively selling Nike, spreading their message under the veil of discussion. Meanwhile, Tiger’s greatest liability has been effortlessly turned into an asset. Sometimes you have to stand back and be impressed at masters at work, appreciate the deliciously ambiguous morals of the situation.

Anyway, what do you think? Is this masterpiece or malpractice, and how has it affected your take on Tiger?

Hey Guys

Came across some seriously funny COD related vids on youtube

Have a gander

Peace

So I’ve not had a chance this week to post the many cool things that I’ve come across, so instead, I’m going to collect them in a single post which I have lazily named ‘The Corner of Cool’. Feel free to kick my ass for being just a little bit lame with it.

Film trailers that have me very excited

Excitement begins with an obvious choice, the Iron Man 2 trailer. I’m sure most of you have already seen it, but for those that haven’t, the movie is gonna rock:

Next up is a trailer that caught me by surprise. I’ve never seen the original Tron, I am ashamed to say. I am rectifying that this week. But I loved the new Tron: Legacy trailer. The movie focusing on Kevin Flynn’s kid finding out where his Dad has been all these years. It looks stunning, the soundtrack sounds awesome and it’s really tweaked my interest.

In terms of some film news:

Apparently one of my favourite TV actors, The Office’s John Krasinski, is close to signing on the dotted line for Captain America. Who’d of thunk it, huh?

And we have some fairly interesting casting news for MIB3

If I had ridiculous amounts of money I’d buy:

I know, I’m one big kid…but this toy…It does everything. Check out the link here for what it can do. It includes moveable eyes, changeable head’s and eyes that light up…like in the movie. Gulp.

Arty Farty

Finally, I loves a bitta pop-art I does. Particularly when it’s a Zombie re-imagination of Star Wars. Zombie Wars if you will. Found this thanks to Think Hero. See my favourite below:

Also thought I’d point out the Wired special post on variations of the Inglourious Basterd’s theme. Find it here. There’s some amazing stuff like this one to be found:

That is all

For those who haven’t come across it, The Zombie Research Society is one of my favourite Blogs. EVER. They are preparing us, one post at a time, for the Zompocalypse. It’s important stuff ranging from info on Zombie shelters. to improvising on body armor for protection and cars that will get you through the worst of the initial Zombie attacks.

Here’s one of my favourite posts in recent times. It features one of the new Toyota Corolla ads, and was obviously released before their troubles…

Their latest post has opened me up to a really class new animation which I felt that I should bring to your attention. Sure, it’s a bit like ‘Zombieland’ but who’s counting? Anything that puts across the art of Zombie killing in a fresh way is OK by me

This is AMAZING:

I don’t often re-post something like this, but I came across this story on Wired today. I love a good ‘Youtube to riches story’. This one is about Patrick Bolvin who, in mere months, has gone from creating stop-motion clips on his kitchen table, to being sponsored by Google to create an ad for the upcoming Nexus phone. His stuff is quite amazing, and he will be pitching to various Hollywood studios in the coming months. Well deserved I say.

That reminds me, our good friend, Piers McGrail, created a brilliant stop-motion video clip for my band, The Kybosh a few years back. A very worthy link to it, as his work was quite brilliant. Have you any great links to stop-motion clips on Youtube?

I love being made laugh and am really surprised when an Irish show makes me do so. I posted this a few weeks back, and had the point made that Irish comedy is not where it should be. Many feel like this, all you need to do to understand that is to take a look here.

That said, this show gets a few laughs every time I watch it. Sure it’s not high-brow humour, but it does the job. A crowd of Irish comics have over-dubbed a Polish soup to great effect (hope I’m right in saying it’s Polish!) What do you think?

What’s your favourite music video? When I was growing up, I can remember many days spent sprawled out on the couch, watching with varying degrees of interest the constant stream of music videos on stations like MTV2/Hits/Q etc. I looked forward to seeing new music videos, and found a couple of hours spent gazing at Kerrang’s Rock Top 20 or MTV’s Select show strangely very, very enjoyable. Nowadays, these types of situations are more or less confined to hangover days, and I only have one music channel now anyway, because I’ve grown up and have to pay my own NTL bills, meaning the ‘package’ that I can afford isn’t exactly flush with choice.

Anyways, I’ve now taken to searching out music videos for songs that I like online when I hear them on the radio or TV or whatever. This can then lead onto finding more good ones, and bad ones, and before you know it, that one simple google search has spiralled out of control as usual and it’s 4 in the morning and you’re watching All The Single Ladies in amazement again. Ahem, well, it could happen anyway.

As I talked about on The Venntertainment Show this week, Michael Jackson’s Thriller was recently added to The National Film Registry in the US. It was the first time that a music video has been entered into this store of culturally important films. It got me thinking about music videos again, how they’ve evolved, and what they’ve become. Check out The Venntertainment Show to hear our chat, but for now, here’s the 4 videos that I highlighted for viewing during the show. By the way, each one is well worth giving a few minutes of your time to appreciate (unless it’s 4 in the morning, then just go to bed!).

1-From one of 2009’s breakthrough acts, this video accompanied Grizzly Bear’s stand out single Two Weeks. A simple idea, executed very well. 2 words: Exploding Heads.

2-From one of the coolest bands of 2009 comes a sexy, no holds barred visual assault that perfectly gels with the song to create one of the most effective music videos of the last few years. From one of the great music video directors, Jonathan Glazer, who was previously responsible for Radiohead’s Karma Police and the film Sexy Beast, the video for The Dead Weather’s Treat Me Like Your Mother holds the viewers attention from start to finish, culminating in a machine gun shootout between Jack White and Alison Mosshart. Outstanding.

Check it out on YouTube

3/4- To round things up, I’ll suggest two videos from a little while back that are worth looking back at. Directed by Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry respectively, these showcase music videos at their most creative.

The video for Drop by The Pharcyde involves a simple premise; film the group walking/running/jumping backwards through the streets, and then reverse the footage. The result is both interesting to watch and at times hilarious, but always entertaining. Spike Jonze directed this in 1996, once again displaying his genius behind the lens.

Another video that plays with the reversed footage idea is Michel Gondry’s video for Sugar Water by Cibo Matto. Full of ideas and imaginative touches, this split-screen music video may demand a couple of views before it all becomes clear. Also filmed in 1996 (a vintage year it seems), this is one of my all time favourite music videos, and showcases the unbelievable talent of Michel Gondry in this medium.

I had this clip passed on by a friend. I always complain about the lack of quality Irish comedy, but it seems that there is some hope. ‘Your Bad Self’ has been playing for the last few weeks, and I particularly loved this sketch here. Let me know what you think, and I’d love some suggestions for other quality Irish comedy:

I had the great fortune to accidentally find Pogo’s music during my travels through hyperspace. He is an electronic artist based in Perth, Western Australia, who works with sounds from Disney movies, editing them into ambient mixes that are beautifully layered and expertly paced. Pogo first came to prominence with his track “Alice”, made with samples from Disney’s “Alice in Wonderland”. He gained some 4 million viewers on his YouTube upload of the video. He subsequently put together an album of four tracks called Wonderland, available here (free download) from last.fm.

The latest and coolest chillout track is “Upular”, featuring dialogue and sounds from Disney/Pixar’s “Up”. A friend on Facebook introduced me to Pogo’s work with this music video and it’s a great place to begin.

Happy listening compadres

I came across this recently and thought it was very worth posting. I love a good post-apocalyptic tale ala Dawn of the Dead etc, but this clip is not for entertainment. This is a serious show put amazingly together by ABC. It discusses the very real threats facing us over the next 90 years. Depressing but engaging stuff nonetheless.