Is This The Real Life? (You've Probably Already Seen This)

I came to love Bohemian Rhapsody through Wayne's World, and then learned all the lyrics to it through Weird Al Yankovic's polka version (you had a Weird Al phase, too, admit it)...but there's no denying it's just a phenomenal song.  Well, now the Muppets have put together their own rendition...and it's pretty kickass.  It has taken the internets by storm (over 3.8 million views in 4 days of just this one posting on youtube), so you've probably already seen it....but since I approve, and this is all about things I approve...here you go:




My favorite part?  The mahna mahna guy! If you don't who that is, watch below.



I don't even know why this is so great...but I loved it as a kid, and still do.  I even have it on my phone as a potential ringtone...but after about 12 weird looks from people when my phone rang, I figured I should probably switch it...

And well, for good measure...


Happy Thanksgiving!

Currently on my Winamp (suck it, iTunes!): The Academy Is... - LAX to O'Hare (that was me yesterday)

E.T. Likes Reese's Pieces (What Up With That?)

I think SNL has just found its best new recurring sketch in quite some time.  They're going to have be careful of overexposure, though...they've already done it twice this season in only 7 episodes...but regardless, I can't get enough of either time they've done it...and I kinda want more.  The sketch is "What Up With That?"...taking on the issues of today...with soul!  It's hard to explain exactly why this is so damn funny...but there's definitely the randomness (Picabo Street??...awesome), the dancing (Jason Sudeikis in his red track suit??...epic), and well, Keenan just owns the part.  Watch now.


The first one from when Gerard Butler hosted:


And the most recent one when Jospeh Gordon-Levitt hosted:


 

Currently on my Winamp (suck it, iTunes!): Foo Fighters - Keep the Car Running (Arcade Fire cover)

Falling Slowly

After the last post, I just had to post this...

It's from Once, and it's one of my favorite scenes of any movie this past decade...seriously

Once - Falling Slowly

(don't mind the subtitles)

This won the Oscar for best song.

There were no special effects, no no special effects...

If you've seen the movie Once, you know who The Swell Season are.  If you haven't seen the movie Once, please go rent it now!  My love for this movie could be an entire essay on it's own, but it's a wonderful little Irish film about a Guy and a Girl who come together to record an album, and at the same are falling in love...at a rather inopportune time.  I know it sounds extremely sappy from that description, but really, it's not...giving good plot descriptions was never my strong suit...also it's 2AM...and I'm a little loopy...  But yeah, it's pretty much the last movie I can remember seeing where I immediately drove to a record store right after it finished to purchase the soundtrack.  Just great stuff.

Anyway, The Swell Season (the duo of the Guy and Girl in the movie) played The Wiltern this past week, and I seriously considered going...but in the end, I figured that since I'd seen them twice in the last two years, I could give it a pass.  It turned out to be a really poor move on my part, though, as I ended up missing a guest appearance by the one and only Jason Segal who sang this AWESOME little ditty...



When I saw them in Austin in November '07, however, I did get to witness this rather phenomenal, completely impromptu, cover of "Cry Me A River":


(1:08-1:22 is my favorite...but it's all generally fantastic)

Glen Hansard is most certainly Frazier Approved.

Currently on my Winamp (suck it, iTunes!): The Format - The Compromise

Shit My Dad Says

Shit My Dad Says is a pretty hysterical twitter account from a 29 year-old dude named Justin Halpern who lives with his 73 year-old senile father.   He basically just tweets random comments that his dad says throughout the day, usually relating in one form or another to actual "shit".  Some are kinda lame, but there are some definite gems in there.

With only 76 tweets to date (I think he started at some point in August), he already has over 800k followers, a book deal, AND a TV show in development.  You can read all about that here...
http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2009/11/justin-halpern-and-shit-my-dad-says.html

I think the idea of a TV show based solely on the remarks of a grumpy old man is prime for failure, particularly on network TV where they can't say 87% of what's tweeted...but maybe that's why I'm not a TV executive....  Anyway, below are some of favorite comments (in chronological order from the most recent)...  and you can see them all at: http://twitter.com/shitmydadsays

"No. Tell 'em we're not doing Christmas dinner at a casino... Don't be an ass about it, but tell them why it's a fucking stupid idea."

"Son, no one gives a shit about all the things your cell phone does. You didn't invent it, you just bought it. Anybody can do that."

"I hate paying bills... Son, don't say "me too." I didn't say that looking to relate to you. I said it instead of "go away."

"Nobody is that important. They eat, shit, and screw, just like you. Maybe not shit like you, you got those stomach problems."

"If mom calls, tell her I'm shitting... Son, marriage is about not having to lie about taking a shit."

"We didn't have a prom. Dancing wasn't allowed...What's Footloose?...That's the plot of the movie? That sounds like a pile of shit."

I think the baby shit....Well, I'm smelling shit right now, so if it ain't the baby, one of you has a big fucking problem."

"Here's a strawberry, sorry for farting near you...Hey! Either take the strawberry and stop bitching, or no strawberry, that's the deal."

"Who in the fuck is tila tequila? Is she a stripper?...That's her? Yeah, that's a stripper, son, I don't give a shit what you say."

"It's just a fucking june bug, calm down. Jesus Christ, what happens when something bigger than a testicle attacks you?"

"My flight lands at 9:30 on Sunday...You want to watch what? What the fuck is mad men? I'm a mad man if you don't pick me the hell up."

Maybe Rivers does still have a little some-somethin up his sleeve...

I'm a Weezer fan, I really am....I even have a Weezer t-shirt (see: right) I like to wear from time to time...but I have to say, outside of a song here or there ('Perfect Situation' comes to mind) I haven't particularly cared for much of anything they've done in a really long time.  I, for one, can't stand 'Beverly Hills', and 'Pork and Beans' was as mediocre as it gets, but that's all really neither here nor there.  With this post, I'm here to celebrate and share what I think is their best song in nearly a decade: '(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To'.  I can occasionally be prone to hyperbole, but this has been a big part of my music rotation since it first came out back in August (I think that's when it was).  It's so simple, supremely catchy and cheery, and well, I dig the lyrics.

So, you may ask, what am I doing talking about this song in November when it's been out for months and essentially old news?  Well, dear reader, I'm glad you asked!  I recently came across a youtube clip of Weezer perfoming this song with Sara Bareilles (of 'Love Song' fame) for an AOL Sessions, and I just fell in love with the song all over again.  The female vocals add a little something to the mix, it works quite well as a duet, and it looks like they're just having a blast playing and singing.  It's a real pleasure to watch and Sara B is actually pretty cute, so I figured it was worthy of a mention on this little rag of a blog...  Enjoy!



Hot damn, it's infectious!

Currently on my Winamp (suck it, iTunes!): Nothing...because I've got this song playing in YouTube in another window...for like the 12th time in a row...

Accomplice: Hollywood

Damn, this is addictive...
Anyway, this past weekend, I got to partake in one of the coolest things I've done in LA since I moved here a year and 3 months ago (geez, I've been here THAT long?).  This thing was called Accomplice: Hollywood, and I don't want to get into it too much, as it's best to go in with minimal knowledge, but it's sort of an interactive play/game/mystery/scavenger hunt hybrid where you walk around to different parts of Hollywood and interact with actors and essentially try to solve a mystery.  I'll let the great Neil Patrick Harris, co-producer of the whole shebang, explain Accomplice in his own words on the Rachel Ray show...




and here's the Nikki Desmond (who NPH mentiones in the above video) intro video that is required viewing before you embark on your quest...


It truly is an absolute blast, and extremely funny (the extent to which might depend on the group dynamic you have going and the rapport you build with the actors).

There are also 2 New York iterations of Accomplice (Accomplice: New York and Accomplice: The Village) which I'm now dying to try....hopefully soon.

So seriously, get a group of 8-10 good friends together and make this happen.  I do want to emphasize trying to get a group that big, because I think that should provide the best overall experience.  If you have a smaller amount, it's surely still going to be fun, but you run the risk of being mixed with another group of people, and then you might have to socialize with random strangers, and let's face it...no one wants to deal with that.  Plus they could be weird or smelly or like the movie Wild Hogs, and well....you probably don't want to associate with those people...
http://www.accomplicetheshow.com/
Do it.

Definitely Frazier Aprroved...  

Currently on my Winamp (suck it, iTunes!): One Republic - Apologize (Timbaland Remix)
(stuck in my head)

And all this science....I don't understand....

Well, since I'm here already, I might as well just get on with it...

Since my blog is indeed called, "Frazier Approved", I figured my first legitimate non-introductory post should be about something I truly, madly, and most certainly deeply approve of.  And no, it's not Savage Garden...though I bet you wish it was...

I want to stand with you on a mountain.
I want to bathe with you in the sea.
I want to lay like this forever.
Until the sky falls down on me...

Is this song for real???...You know, if this were any other post, I'd totally link to that video right now, but I just can't bring myself to do it here...  I have standards!

So anyway, about a month ago I was introduced to what was maybe one of the greatest moments of the 20th century.  I mean, it's right there with the time Jessie Spano broke down from her addiction to caffeine pills or the first time Hanson performed "Mmmm Bop" to a live audience....  But seriously, my friend(s)...this moment I speak so highly of is William Shatner's performance of Elton John's 'Rocket Man' at the 1978 Science Fiction Film Awards.  I'm not really sure how it took me 27 years to finally discover this masterpiece...I have to admit I'm usually at the forefront of what's "cool" and "awesome"...but this somehow slipped through the cracks and no one was kind enough to send it my way until now.  So before I say anything more, I'm going to go ahead and let you see for yourself....though you've probably already seen it...cause you're clearly much cooler than me...


The goodness starts just after the 50 second mark...


Amazing, right?  Now watch it again!  I think I've seen it at least 137 times in the past month...I just can't get enough.  I even downloaded an mp3 of it, and play it on repeat when I sleep........not really...but maybe...  Regardless, Shatner just KILLS it.  The entire verse starting at 2:50 is easily my favorite part... his facial expressions and pauses are just...perfect!  There's so many little nuances you don't catch the first time through...I can't help but wonder if it was extremely rehearsed or if Shatner just rocked it out in a couple tries.  Ultimately, I don't know how this came about or what the inspiration was, and I'm not sure the audience really knew what was going on, but I'm so happy that it exists because it brings a HUGE smile to my face.

I know that Family Guy parodied this some time ago, and if I watched that show (which is a whole other post, for a whole other time), I would definitely have come across it sooner, but alas, I have it now.  I have a really strong desire to get some people together and reenact this, but I know I'd totally botch it...

Ah, well....   so I guess William Shatner's rendition of 'Rocket Man' is certifiably "Frazier Approved".  Is that how this works?

Currently on my Winamp (suck it, iTunes!): Elton John - Rocket Man
(you gotta switch back to the original every once in a while)

This is the first post of a totally original blog the likes of which the world has never seen before...

...not really...

So, I actually registered this blog during the first week of January 2009 as part of a New Year's resolution to get myself writing regularly (at least a little bit) again, and now 11 months later, I figure maybe it's time I get it going...  I'm not really sure what this is going to be, or for how long I'm going to keep up with it, but let's see what happens with this initial experiment...  I sort of see this as a forum for me to share with the world (or really just the 3 people that come across the blog by accident) things I like, things I find interesting, things I believe to be absolutely repulsive....really just things that elicit some sort of reaction from me when I see or experience them, and instantly think I'd like people to see or know about.  I have a feeling it's not going to be too much writing, and a lot more link sharing with a few words here and there, but whatevs...  LAY OFF ME, I'M STARVING!

Maybe there'll be a 2nd post one day...

Currently on my Winamp (suck it, iTunes!): Pearl Jam - Unemployable
(sort of a fitting song, I guess)