How can combining two songs I don't even really like be so awesome?

I found an awesome new take on the "mash-up" this morning. This one is really giving Girltalk a run for his money! Jon Schmidt, a composer/arranger has combined "Love Story" by Taylor Swift and "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay to create quite an amazing piece. I probably would not call myself a fan of either of these songs...but the arrangement Schmidt puts together is quite magical. If you are into the sappy stuff, the explanation of how he came upon this mash-up is at the end of the video.

W.W.T.T.D.

W.W.T.T.D. - What Would Tim Tebow Do?

Sound ridiculous?

After reading about the recent promotion put on by the Fort Myers Miracle, a minor league baseball team, it sounds even more ridiculous.

Someone Catch Her (before it goes viral)

There are rare occurrences when random actions are caught on tape that end up being hilarious the day after. This happened to my friends a couple nights ago and created a great youtube video. This is more than likely an instance where "it's only funny if you know the people." However, after watching this video over and over I've begun to appreciate how great it is. After seeing it again I began to appreciate the multiple layers...is the focus the girl who is about to fall? or is it the argument going on at the table? I hope you enjoy as much as I did.

A Letter from MIT

If this letter is real, my guess is he is going to get/he already got what he asked for in the letter: http://www.c4vct.com/kym/humor/mitlettr.htm

The New Mozart Lives in Rockford, IL

Here's some inspiration to carry you into the weekend...

Best quote: (referring to Mozart) "...I'm kind of like him, he's kind of like me." I'm a believer.

Vote for the Comedian!

As a shameless plug for a close friend of mine...vote for the comedian!

Barney Frank FTW

I'm sure many of you have already seen this video...I heard about it but didn't watch until a few minutes ago. I've never been a huge fan of Barney Frank...for various reasons. But, this video is straight up awesome. It's the best answer I've ever heard given to a politically extreme person coming from any side of the spectrum. Frank really seals the deal with his last comment.

A PSA for the 21st Century

Moral of the story: don't drive and text, while listening to Queen.

So we can all better understand "Total Eclipse of the Heart"

What did we do before we had YouTube?

Pretty much everyday I find something, or am sent something, from YouTube that is really entertaining. But rarely do I find something that is so funny merely because it is another human being completely ridiculous seemingly without any idea. This video had me in tears at my desk. I literally could not finish watching it...I challenge you to see if you can get through the whole thing. Would love to hear thoughts on this one...

Insightful Graphic

Work is crazy busy right now...preventing me from properly making an important announcement that may change this blog forever. So for now, you all will have to wait. In the meantime I leave you with this awesome graphic:

If Websites Were People

Radiohead

While I'm not a die hard Radiohead fan, I definitely appreciate their music...and their new track is amazing. Take a listen and see what you think...especially because they're not recording albums anymore (thanks Cody.)

Harry Patch

Chicago's New Most Wanted

After the slew of muggins in my neighborhood last week, you would think Chicago's most wanted would be any one of the various muggers...but that changed last night when a Cubs fan threw a beer on the Phillies' Shane Victorino. Since the Cubs don't seem to do anything right, of course security arrested the wrong guy. Now, the real beer thrower, who can easily be identified in the video below, is on the loose. I ask you join together with me and find this menace to society! Please report all sightings to the Chicago PD. Please report all hilarious jokes about the Cubs that arise out of this situation directly to me. As a friend said last night: "It's almost Bears' season."

7 Truths About Viral Culture

Recently, I have been fascinated by phenomenon of viral marketing. It seemed to me a couple of years ago when I was in college and viral marketing was beginning to take off, that it would quickly become a fleeting trend. However, over the past couple years, the exact opposite has happened. Take for instance the video I posted yesterday. This video was almost certainly a viral add released by none other than Performance Bicycle, a US discount bike chain. Yes, the references were quite subtle...but in a culture (cycling culture that is) where a subtle difference in your gear (read: non-white bar tape...or a helmet visor) can instantly peg you as an amateur weekend club rider, subtly is king.

Simon Dumenco of Advertising Age has put together a great article about the culture of viral advertising. His second point was what really hammered it home for me.

7 Truths About Viral Culture

In the meantime, I will be sure to post (intentionally and unintentionally) many more viral ads.

The Newest Bike Music Video: Performance

I found this video today, courtesy of Bike Snob NYC, and I highly enjoyed it. Not only does it make fun of hipsters, but it also makes fun of overly zealous roadies. There's nothing better than a situation where everyone can make fun of each other.

Throw those bikes in lockup!

After eating breakfast next to some bike-cops on Saturday morning, we came outside to find their bikes locked up next to the front door. However, when you're a bike-cop, you apparently don't need a u-lock...you can just handcuff your bikes together...hilarious:

Day 1 Lollapalooza Reflections/Report

Alright folks, it's back to the music festival for Matt! No insane live blogging experiments this time...this is after the fact (and much easier).

Yesterday open Lollapalooza in the beautiful city of Chicago. After roughing it for 4 days at Bonnaroo, I was excited to attend an amazing festival right in my back yard. While the weather on Day 1 disappointed, the musicians did not.

I entered through the brand new north entrance (all hype, not much else) around 3:oopm with Mother Nature providing a light drizzle. The first show on the schedule was Bon Iver. After missing them at 'Roo, I was so excited. The rain kept coming, but from 3-4, I was lost in the sounds of Bon Iver and didn't really notice. The common complaint about Bon Iver is people saying "I love their music, but I don't think it would be good live...it's not good music for outside." This is happily false. Sure Bon Iver isn't great music to get crazy to, but the stage show is well worth it. The best moment for me was when Justin played an old resonator for Skinny Love. The sound left me in awe.

As an aside from the music, the porto-potty situation at Lolla sucks again. While the people at Bonnaroo have figured it out, Perry still has not. I don't know what they're thinking, but especially with all of the short sets at Lolla, going pee can mean missing an act...huge bummer.

After Bon Iver, I met up with friends and suffered through 5 minutes of Ben Folds. Luckily I was able to convince them that it was time to go to DJ stage (Perry's). The new and improved Perry's is awesome this year! The stage is circular and there is room for 10,000 people (I heard last year was closer to 2,000.) Great move on Perry's part! We caught an awesome set from A-Trak, a DJ I started listening too quite recently. It was a great way to switch it up after Bon Iver and also a great way to forget about the rain (that was still coming just as hard!) After A-Trak we got some water and food...suffered through another bathroom wait, and then made our way back over to the Playstation Stage.

We caught the second half of the Fleet Foxes set (another band I was really hyped about seeing live.) They were also fantastic live. What a bunch of weird guys! They brought the weird and also brought the awesome vocal harmonies that sounds great live. I was quite happy that I didn't miss the whole thing! After Fleet Foxes we had some more administrate issues to take care of and missed out on most of the Andrew Bird set. I would have liked to see more, but he's from Chicago and plays here all the time.

The end of the night for us was Kings of Leon. I started listening to them junior year of college (in '07) and fell in love with the lead singers voice. It is so unique and different that it really makes the band. Their most recent album was a great addition to the ones I already had. They put on quite a show! I think they were somewhat inspired by the fact that they played Lolla a couple years ago before they were big and now they were headlining (the lead singer talked a bit about this too.) They played an inspired set that was of course cut short by the silly Chicago noise ordinance that ended the show promptly at 9:59pm...thanks Mayor Daley!

Altogether a great start! I'm ready to head back now, although I don't think I'm ready for 90 degrees and humid!

FIGHT LIKE SUSAN!

Something happened last night that shook up my life a little bit and I would be amiss not to give it some space in the blog.

The first blog I ever started following regularly was a blog by a man named Elden "Fatty" Nelson, an avid mountain biker from Utah. Fatty started his blog FatCyclist as a way of chronicling his weight loss and holding himself responsible. However, when his wife Susan fell ill with breast cancer, his blog became something much larger and more important. While FatCyclist remained entertaining and intriguing, a whole new layer was added. The amount of work Fatty has done for the battle against cancer is astounding to me. As of today, he has raised over $500,000 for cancer through his Livestrong Challenge teams. Think about that...$500,000. Wow. I would be amazed if I could raise $500 through my blog for anything.

Over the past couple months, all of Fatty's readers followed the heart-breaking story of Susan's worsening cancer. The inspiring thing for me was that Fatty and Susan both continued to fight and stay strong. Fatty continued to raise loads and loads of money while Susan fought a horrible disease. Sadly, at 7:25pm last night, Susan passed away. I know that many people, myself and Lance Armstrong included, were left speechless. It's a harsh reminder that cancer continues take lives everyday.

I encourage you to check out FatCyclist, be inspired, donate...help defeat cancer.

Get Stumped by Regiftable Robin

I don't know how long this has been bouncing around the internet, but I found it pretty cool!

I introduce: Regiftable Robin

Obviously she can't read your mind, but the trick was cool enough that it distracted me from figuring out how it was done for quite a while.

Thanks to Vanessa for this!

Bert and Ernie's Rap Career

Sesame Street + Rap = A great laugh on a Monday.

All props to a man named Football Rob for posting this one.