A Song For People Who Loath Facebook

Do some things about Facebook really irritate you? Musician Kate Miller-Heidke can relate, and has written a little ditty to express your feelings about this all-too-popular online service.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7MuwPlOiNQ

Toyota's Violin-Playing Robot - Wow!

They're not just making cars over there in Japan. Toyota and Honda are in the business of developing robots, too. This video show s a demonstration of a robot playing a song on a violin. Incredible. Makes you ask yourself, just how smart and capable do we want these things to be?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzjkBwZtxp4

NINE - The Hot Italian Trailer

The movie trailer for "Nine", based on Fellini's "8 1/2", looks stylish and thrilling. See if it doesn't thrill you in some manner

www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_5_lzags3I

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Branson, MO - The Film

Goodness! Somebody actually made a film about Branson, Missouri. If you aren't familiar with Branson, it's sort of a wholesome alternative to Las Vegas, where mostly old folks go by the busload to see performers such as Andy Williams and the Osmond Brothers. It's quite the Mecca for those who are nostalgic about musicians from the American Bandstand era. Located in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri, near Springfield, I made many trips to the Branson area during my youth.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhnS1pJkaJ8

Video - West Side Story: Updated For Geeks

The kids at College Humor produce a slick and clever version of "West Side Story" called "Web Side Story". It's all about the modern cyber-life we all live today. Go on, try to imagine Maria singing passionately about Flickr.

www.collegehumor.com/video:1913584

Video - 1500 Convicts Perform "Thriller"

I suppose it's something you have to see at least once. For some odd reason, perhaps because they ran out of other things to do, a group of 1500 orange-clad convicts in the Phillipines perform and videotape Michael Jackson's "Thriller". See them here at practice doing all the cool dance moves. I hope they got time off for good behavior.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMnk7lh9M3o

Clever "I Want You" Scene From "Across The Universe"

If you haven't seen it, "Across The Universe" is a movie from 2007, which was directed by Julie Taymor (Titus/Frida). The plot is basically constructed around popular characters and lyrics contained in songs by the Beatles. The "I Want You/She's So Heavy" segment is one of my favorites from the film, especially in its use of clever choreography and symbolic imagery. Give this video a peak to see the trademark Julie Taymor style in action.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mX6dHWyqwNo

Mating Silly Songs With World Of Warcraft

Videos by Spiff Booth need a bit more explaining than normal. The music comes from singer/songwriter Jonathan Coulton. It tends to be catchy, humorous, and full of unexpected references. Spiff takes Jonathan's recordings and creates computer animated videos for them using 3D characters and environments from World of Warcraft. This collision of influences produces an almost Alice In Wonderland craziness for the mind to digest. "Bacteria", my selected example, adds an additional layer of weirdness. The vocals were lifted from a KFC training video on food handling safety. Somehow, it all manages to work together.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRPpXh2ycU4

TMBG - Cute Music Video For Kids

Oddball musicians They Might Be Giants often craft songs that seem to be meant for children, but are really for adults. In this case, however, they have intentionally started creating tunes for the wee little ones. I found "Never Go To Work", particularly charming and a potentially good mantra to live by. I'm guessing you"ll find it somewhat irresistible.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3Kgj6EiZtw