Waxy Skillet
Thursday, November 09, 2006
YouTube AMVs
So I've been a bit obsessed with music videos, stop motion animation, and animation music videos on YouTube.
On the stop motion animation side, there are a batch of movies from famous and not so famous animators available; most notably Jan Svankmajer: Czech surrealist filmaker. He's been a major influence on Terry Gilliam and Tim Burton among others.
Death of Stalinism in Bohemia
(I want to post some of his other stuff but this is not really the right forum)
Brothers Quay: Stephen and Timothy quay. According to wikipedia, their best known work is Street of Crocodiles.
Wladyslaw Starewicz influenced the Brothers Quay
The Insects Christmas: A Russian Animation piece from 1913
A random movie: creature comforts
I will post something later on YouTube music videos but for now:
The Shins Pink Bullets:
This video was created by Adam Bizanski, an Israeli director. He did this as a personal project and then gave it to the Shins. After they saw his video, they decided that they would use it, which is kinda neat and in reverse.
[Update: Ach, YouTube removed this video. Here is the ifilm link]
There is a ton of stuff on the anime side. A search for AMV in YouTube (by no means the only channel for this stuff) yields 145,000 videos.
I became more interested in this after running across what still may be the best AMV I've seen. I don't know the anime but the song is Am I Awake (They Might be Giants):
The mix is changing but it seems that 90% of YouTube AMVs are still Naruto/ Bleach/ Dragonball remixes glued to Rock/Rap tracks and it's inspiring and all that but I like looking around for less obvious songs and clips. With that in mind, I started by searching for various songs and some trends emerged in the anime choices. It turns out that some anime just seems to attract people who post a wider variety of music
AMV: FLCL, Song: Jerk it out, which kinda fits since half of the anime seems to center around the forcible extraction of items directly from the protagonists head
AMV: FLCL, Song: Concerning the UFO Sighting near Highland, Illinois, by Sufjan Stevens. I like this because it works and its is not obvious.
AMV: FLCL, song: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
AMV: FLCL, Song Clint Eastwood by the Gorillaz
FLCL/ Ataris: I shouldn’t really link to this because it’s a bit too close to a standard AMV song (there are at least six Naruto/Ataris AMVs). Oh well:
AMV: Spirited Away Song: I still need to figure that out. It’s appealing though. Does sound Disney, per viewer comments.
Powerpuff Girls/ Belle and Sebastian: I can’t link to that.
Bugs Bunny/ Tribe Called Quest: I can link to that. This AMV is great [Update: the video has been removed due to terms of use violation. Almost all AMVs violate copyright so this happens a great deal. Sooo... I will replace it with the non-AMV Dangermouse Gray Album video, which shares the same spirit. The Gray Album was pulled offline a few years ago but the video is still around. This is a "must see" before it is yanked off YouTube]
So there is an Anime called Air, which makes it hard for me to find an AMV that uses La Femme D’Argent as the soundtrack
Which makes me think of Thievery Corporation (no AMV’s yet)
Alphaville, Forever Young, the quintessential 8th grade slow dance song of the mid 80's. The anime is Ginga Nagareboshi Gin: I don’t know anything about it but it looks just post speed racer. The video is not very good but I am posting it because the song is reasonably obscure.
There is an Aphex Twin AMV out there but it annoys me for some reason (it might just be too similar to thousands of other AMVs.) Instead, I am going to put up a different AMV. How is it linked? The director of the anime behind this AMV also directed the anime used in the Aphex Twin AMV. I'll post this because I like Boards of Canada and Cowboy Bebop. The video is a bit hard to watch, with endless scene transitions, but the song is great
It pains me that Apples In Stereo does not have a YouTube AMV yet
Aretha Franklin/ Fruits Basket (I know nothing about this anime but seems kinda annoying)
But no Astrud Gilberto yet..
Tori Amos has been linked to a few AMVs. Here's an appealing mix of Spirited Away and A Sorta FairyTale Kinda slow, yes, but sweet.
So this does not really fit (it is a different music video genre) but here is a second Tori Amos Song, Happy Workers, set to video clips and scene sequences from the video game Silent Hill. Much, much less sweet (Silent Hill is a bit of a gruesome game)
The same director has posted a fabulous AMV using an anime called The MAXX (adapted from what I assume was a comic series) and a song by Thom Yorke The animation reminds me alternately of noir comic books and R Crumb. Like the They Might Be Giants video above, this AMV stands alone as a real music video; this time in the vein of the FeelGood Inc video by the Gorillaz
Speaking of actual music videos with animation (instead of AMVs) Zero7 has a terribly appealing music video with a "Waking Life" feel. I like Sia's voice. If only I could find an AMV that used "Breathe Me" that did not use Naruto clips (for the record, I really like Naruto-- it is the storyboard equivalent of Harry Potter-- it is just used in far too many AMVs: 31,421 at last count)
And, because I'm browsing through the Tori Amos AMV list, here is a Tori Amos cover of the first half of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" set to an AMV
Also, in the semi related "Artists whose names begin with A" set, I've run across a Raffi sounding song called "Hubba Hubba Zoot Zoot" apparently written by two ex members of ABBA. This video is entirely goofy and just a smidgen less addictive than the $&%^* BananaPhone song
And, lest you think that YouTube animated videos concern themselves only with modern/ popular music suited for the young'uns. Here is an animated video version of John Coltrane's Giant Steps by Michael Levy.
Anyway, that does it for the A’s for right now. MTV is dead. Long live cheap online video. Digital, it seems, killed the video star.
Saturday, March 05, 2005
Chicago Sun-Times: Intention of uniting with Taiwan to be put in writing
Update: China makes mix tape for Taiwan
Beijing, China: Chinese leaders spent Friday night making a mix tape for Taiwan—a move experts say is designed to patch a growing rift between the two countries. While reporters have not been able to obtain a copy of the mix tape, Chinese VP Zeng Qinghong held a short press conference this morning where he described a painstaking creation process. “A good compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do and takes ages longer than it might seem. You gotta kick off with a killer, to hold the attention. Then you have to take it up a notch, but not blow your wad, so maybe cool it off a notch, and you can't put the same artist twice on the tape, except if some subtle point or lesson or theme involved” He added: “in our case, the theme was international relations and peace in the Tawian strait so we knew how difficult this was going to be”
Chinese leaders admitted to working with a limited lexicon: “There’s lots of new music in China right now but we are not too familiar with it. President Hu suggested some of the standards like Reddest the Sun, I Love the Blue Sky of My Motherland, or Sweet-scented Osmanthus Blooms with the Arrival of Happiness, but we felt that these were all out of date so we’ve included some Dao Lhang and Zhou Jielun.” Mr. Zeng would not confirm the presence of a rumored Menudo song on the album “We will say that someone suggested Tu Te Imaginas but we won’t say whether we used it.”
Voice of America: Diplomats: Iran Trying to Hide Nuclear Facilities
Update: Iran to host unexpected Christo exhibition
Tehran, Iran: One day after “The Gates” were disassembled in New York, Iranian diplomats announced that environmental artist Christo has agreed to start his next project in Iran. Christo, who was to start on his “Across the River” project in Arizona, confirmed the rumor. “President Khatami called me a few days ago, and told me that he would consider it a personal honor for me to commit to a project in his country. I’ve never taken requests before but he told me that it could lead to a renaissance in Persian art.” When asked about the particular project, Christo conceded that the details of the project are not clear “They want me to do something small in Parchin, a few miles outside Tehran but I’m not sure. They mentioned wrapping a post office or maybe a small building.. we still need to negotiate this, of course.” Iranian diplomats described themselves as “Just thrilled” at Christo’s agreement. Vice President Aref stated “We recognize that this is very unusual for Christo and we are more than willing to help out. We already have the perfect building and we’ve got this leftover fabric here. It’s a new material really, lead lined.. it will look beautiful against the skyline”
In other news, protests in Lebanon gained new momentum today after Syrian diplomats threatened to replace departing Prime Minister Omar Karameh with 1990’s wacky mallet comedian Gallagher.
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Reuters: Bill Gates to Receive Honorary UK Knighthood
Update: Bill Joy “upset” at inability pull floppy disk from stone in courtyard
London, England: Sun Microsystems CEO Bill Joy was frustrated in his own attempt at knighthood shortly after Bill Gates removed a floppy disk from a stone in Leicester Abbey. Joy, who arrived in London minutes before Gate’s knighting ceremony, drove directly to the Abbey where he made several attempts to grasp and retrieve a 5 ¼” square disk set in one of the courtyard stones. A crowd nearby gave Joy a round of applause after his fifth attempt, prompting him to announce a trip to Corwall, to seek a rumored second stone said to be plagued with an unusually sticky CD button. Joy expressed further relief upon hearing that Gate’s knighting ceremony had been delayed after the Queen forgot her ceremonial speech, reportedly freezing mid-sentence.
In other news, Steve Jobs has succeeded in designing a small alabaster stone for use in future Cathedral construction. “We are getting orders for restoration and repair work” said Jobs “even though this stone is totally incompatible with most other building materials.”
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Reuters: WorldCom's Ebbers says unaware expenses a problem
Update: Ebbers: “I’m totally switching my long distance phone service.”
New York: Shortly after facing accusations regarding an $11B accounting scandal at Worldcom, former CEO Bernie Ebbers admitted that he too was shocked at his phone bills. “It must have been the roaming charges or maybe that broadband account…I thought that I was going to get a good deal after WorldCom merged with MCI … I never expected this.”
The remarks were made during witness testimony regarding financial management practices at Worldcom. Ebbers, dressed in a pinstripe suit, repeatedly stated that he could not hear the judge, complaining of static and requesting that “the nice man in the long gray overcoat” come and help him out. Later he took a bundle of bills from his pocket and shook them in the air. “This is what I get for making those calls during peak hours,” he said “why didn’t I become CEO of Cingular?” Scheduled witnesses include physicist Stephen Hawking, who is slated to testify that it is possible— when traveling at near the speed of light— to accumulate over 22 billion out of network overtime minutes in the space of several days.
Globe and Mail: Bin Laden enlists al-Zarqawi to target US, officials say
Update: Bin Laden to al-Zarqawi: “Um, yeahh…I'm gonna need you go ahead and come in tomorrow. Sooo if you could be here around nine, that would be great.”
Najaf: Intelligence sources indicate that wiretaps recorded in Najaf last Tuesday may contain conversations between Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his next door neighbor, Lawrence. Zarqawi, who disappeared from Najaf shortly after visiting his therapist is said to have seemed “really bummed” about the new orders from Bin Laden. “He seemed unsurprised by the call” said one analyst, “but he’d been trying to avoid it and was in the process of ducking out early for afternoon prayers when the call came through.”
“He should have turned his answering machine off” added the source, “he’s probably going to end up working Sunday as well.”
In other news, North Korean diplomats reassured reporters that any recent comments regarding a bomb were purely in reference to the Ben Affleck vehicle “Surviving Christmas,” which has just reached the Asian media market.
Thursday, May 06, 2004
Seattle Times, WA: Disney theme-park ride sends some to hospital
Update: Disney to close “Room of Hatchets” Ride, Additional Rides.
Orlando, Fl—Walt Disney World spokeswoman Rena Langley has announced that Disney is closing several Epcot Center and Disneyland Rides in addition to the ‘Mission to Space’ ride closed earlier this week. These rides, which include ‘Room of Hatchets,’ ‘Closet with Crazy Person’ and ‘Oops,’ while popular with Disney guests, have been suspended barring major revisions in the wake of several fatalities. “ ‘Room of Hatchets’ was one of our earliest rides” stated Langley “We developed it in the early days, when we were on a budget.. it is basically a room full of hatchets. As visitors enter, the hatchets begin to swing up and down before flinging themselves back and forth from wall to wall—we thought that it had a ‘Snow White’-meets-‘Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ feel to it but apparently, many of the guests kept ducking at the wrong time.” ‘Oops’ and ‘Closet with Crazy Person’ suffered the same problems despite height and age requirements and multiple posted warnings including the proviso “You will most likely die as soon as you step into this room.” “ We can’t figure it out,” said Langley, “These were clean, wholesome rides and this has become a fiasco, just like our ‘Bucket O’ Glass Space Launch’ two years back.”
Wednesday, May 05, 2004
Guardian: Gore TV targets US twentysomethings
Update: Al Gore releases new reality TV series, ‘Extinction’
Washington, DC—Shortly after announcing IndTV’s acquisition of News World International from Vivendi, Al Gore outlined at least one show planned for the fall. “It is a survivor-type series,” said Gore, “… only, instead of tracking the struggles faced by a pack of twenty-somethings in the Australian outback, we are gong to train our cameras on several species of plants and animals, observing their real-life struggles with pollution and development. We are calling it ‘extinction’ and its going to totally rock.” In response to reporter questions, Gore admitted that the show’s schedule would be somewhat different “While we are concentrating on endangered species, we plan to have a five-to- ten year contest window… there will be some time lapse photography but we are going to try to make it as real as possible—think of it like the show “24” but now its “43,829” or, in the ten year version “87,658”… how cool is that?” Asked about contestants, Gore named two species of tree frog, the California Condor and one species of endangered Lichen. Prizes have not been determined at this time but could include a new stereo system or tickets to a shopping spree at REI.
Reuters, UK: For Aging Hubble, Basic Questions About Universe
Update: Aging Hubble loses focus, keeps recounting same information about Star System
Greenbelt, MD— NASA researchers disclosed recent problem with the Hubble Space telescope this morning, admitting that the telescope, in service since 1990, has begun to show signs of age, losing focus on the outer limits of the universe in favor of stars within nearby galaxies. Mark S. Hess, Chief of Public Affairs at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center stated “Every time we train the steering system to give us pictures of distant stars, it resets itself on the North American Nebula or on the Swan Nebula and it keeps feeding us the same data… old stuff about that Rayleigh-Taylor Instability it found in the Eagle Nebula back in 1996.” Hess added that “Its nice to review old data from time to time but really, we just wish that the telescope would get on with it.” In addition to tracking problems, the telescope has shown signs of trouble with its Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph and Multi-Object Spectrometer, both of which have abandoned their standard spectra in favor of spurious readings that have, in the words of one astronomer “A tinge closer to Astroturf or maybe rayon golfing pants— something that we’ve never seen before” Goddard engineers plan to conduct a robotic servicing mission within the next two years “The robot will replace some of the Hubble batteries” said Hess, “.. and I hope that we cover the transceiver batteries because we are tired of boosting high power transmission sequences just to send simple instructions.”
Tuesday, May 04, 2004
Detroit Free Press, MI: Drug discount cards go on sale
Update: Gangs, Cartels begin offering discount cards to Platinum Level customers.
Boca Raton, Fl— Cali Cartel leader Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela unveiled a new Platinum Level Subscriber Card during a call from an undisclosed location in Colombia, telling reporters that the cards would provide credit while allowing long-term junkies and chippers to enjoy levels of service previously restricted to high-level dealers. “We feel that it is time to recognize some of our most valued customers and this seems to be the best way to do it,” said Orejuela “…cardholders will be able to receive discounts and promotional fliers while gaining the right, for example, to use the exclusive ’platinum subscriber’ lines when attempting to purchase drugs during peak periods at selected parks, streetcorners, and playgrounds.” The cards will be available by invitation only and will be released at selected locations in the US on a trial basis. Orejuela indicated that the Cartel was still pursuing negotiations with several celebrities prior to its planned September advertising drive. “We liked Jerry Seinfield and Tiger Woods but they both turned us down… we are still scouting William Shatner—we really love those Priceline commercials.”
