The depth of Freddie Mercury’s genius is still being uncovered to this day. Check out other sounds from these talented YouTubers…you will never hear classic songs the same way again.
The Chicken Dance, by Queen
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Category Archives: Links
West, Texas is on fire
The town of West, Texas exploded in a ball of fire during the night of April 17, 2013. I spent many summers there visiting my grandparents when I was a little kid. My grandfather and I would shoot off fireworks and go to bars (I called them “beer joints”). He showed me how to flatten pennies on the train tracks that ran through his back yard. He let me drive his truck all over town even though I was only 10. I ended up naming this song after the town. It is one of my happy places.
The town is a Czech stop with many Czech family names like mine (Plsek) still in the phonebook. The local cemetery reads like a cemetery for hockey players, and now, because of the tragic explosion, there are a few more people to be added.
It’s a poor town. If you are interested, here’s how to make a donation–
Point West Bank in West is taking donations in the form of cash, checks (made out to “Victims of West Explosion”), or wire transfers. Checks can be mailed or dropped off at the bank in West, as well as Waco and Hewitt locations. To contact Point West Bank, visit http://www.pointwestbank.com or call (254) 826-5333.
The bank is located at:
200 W. Oak St.
West, TX 76691
The Great Southern Road Trip
My wife Cristi and I are taking a three-week long road trip across the Southern U.S. On our last major trip, a month in New Zealand, we did so much driving that time in the car became a major part of our memories just as much as hiking the Milford Track, hiking on Fox Glacier or Caving in Waitomo. This time around, it’s all about driving…oh and hiking and biking and canoeing and climbing and caving (although probably minus the stripey pants this time).
If you would like to keep up with us, we’ll be blogging at Kiwi Tiki Tour
See you in three weeks!
Seven Hours
‘Seven Hours’ by Give My Love To Milo (the music player above may not appear on some mobile devices)
Here’s a nice song of mine that I wrote and recorded with warm weather in mind. If it’s not warm outside where you are, maybe it can warm your brains.
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Give My Love To Milo is on SoundCloud. Listen. Download. Share.
A story on a wall
Megan Amram has no babies
Since I am in the mood to post absolutely ZERO content of my own lately, I might as well fall back on old favorite Megan Amram and her commercial for Dannon’s new “Birth Control on the Bottom” yogurt. (psst…she’s the one who opens the commercial, “Ladies, it’s tough to be a busy woman in post-racial America…”)
You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll have no babies all while regulating your digestive system. Plus, what yogurt commercial would be complete without a cameo by “Weird Al” Yankovic? None. None yogurt commercials.
Fire, cats and hygiene
When your house is burning down, you should brush your teeth by Matthew Inman of the Oatmeal. All his work is fantastic, but this one is super special (super duper super special).
For those unfamiliar with the Oatmeal—i.e. moms and grandmoms—things can get a little bad wordy over there. (cma)
Hello 2013
I’ve been enjoying the work of illustrator Ally Albon lately. She has been dutifully doodling Muppet Pirates on her blog (like this, this and this, for instance), and it has lead me to go digging back through some of my favorite Muppet moments. Turn The World Around by Harry Belafonte, specifically this performance from the Muppet Show, is one of those songs that has stuck in my head since I was little. I saw it first during my annual summer visits to my grandparents’ house, and it’s become so tightly wound in some of my best memories that I always knew I needed to keep it close.
Below is my own version of Turn The World Around. I’ve shared it before, but I wanted to share it again. It’s a great song, and so far it’s been a great year. Hello 2013. =)
‘Turn The World Around’ by Harry Belafonte, performed by Give My Love To Milo (the music player above may not appear on some mobile devices)
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Give My Love To Milo is on SoundCloud. Listen. Download. Share.
Goodbye 2012
2012 was amazing. 2012 was terrible. It was beautiful and crushing and wasted and magical. Some of it I will always remember and some I will do everything I can to forget. I lived my own little story, full of little victories and little defeats, and everyone else lived theirs. We overlap, we are connected through each other. My story is your story and your story is mine.
We all ran without legs, we all vacated our cycling victories. We all laughed like doofuses during a Vice Presidential debate and we all talked to an empty chair. We all created storms so powerful they destroyed Arab governments in the spring, and then created storms so powerful they destroyed the east coast in the fall. We all Avenged and then returned to Middle Earth. We all took one small step and said goodbye to Mayberry. We all wrung our fists in hopeless disgust when we lost our child at Newtown, and we all raised our fists in triumph when we jumped from the stratosphere and lived to tell about it.
We were all there for the best, for the worst, and for the amazing lives we lead in between. We were all there when the world didn’t end. Goodbye 2012. =)
Concept artist Jonas DeRo
I wrote a post about concept artist Craig Mullins and have talked quite a bit about Herb Ryman. Both are amazing artists who caught my eye through their involvement with Disney. There’s another artist who has truly blown me away, and I first spotted him on Pinterest of all places.
Jonas DeRo (jonasdero.deviantart.com) is a concept artist from Belgium whose work is simply astounding. If Herb Ryman’s work was “placemaking of the highest order” (as former Imagineer Eddie Sotto calls it), then DeRo’s work is worldmaking.
Even when the subject matter is something as simple as the outside of a townhome, his work is astounding. You’ll find juicy texture and an amazing depth of detail everywhere as he uses all of Photoshop’s modern tools to full advantage. What sets DeRo’s work apart for me, however, is the way he always manages to convey the world beyond the confines of a piece, and it’s these worlds that movie producers and game developers desperately need if they have any hope of telling their stories.
Jonas DeRo creates concept art for entertainment and advertising, currently working with Warner Brothers on high profile projects such as Cloud Atlas. You can find him on deviantart.
