Badness on the web #8- Take that, Science!!

Hear ye, hear ye.

Disclaimer:

One would hate to see this blog enter the ugly waters of debates over high and low culture, the merits of science versus religion or the like /disclaimer.

That said, sometimes, I see something that so awesomely leaves the realm of rhetoric that one must respect the sheer insanity of it. This Op Ed below bears the hallmarks, not so much of bad argument (though the straw men, appeals to authority and reasoning by analogy are clearly present), as it just plum this brings into question the ability of the author to reason... at any rate, please enjoy this bit o' the lovely:

Hint: when a cat walking on a keyboard can be as effective as a human typing 'thoughts' in the "composing correspondence that makes a lick of sense" Olympics, it may be time make some alteration... just sayin'.

Badness on the web #7- rapping (!?!) All I Do is Click

So, um... sometimes this 'job' has its pitfalls- when folks find-out about this blog, they often recommend things to me that warrant 'appreciation'... this is one such gem...

It should be stated for the record that while the message (auto safety) is a good one, the delivery is annoying and could have been wrapped (teehee) in 1:30 (instead of the 3:00 + minutes that you'll never get back), to say nothing of the poor video quality and deeply questionable monikers that these young fellers took on in their 'rap' personae. At any rate: this YouTube video is there for the... um, something.

Just in case there are those among you who think that we're just beating-up on novelty acts, here are some much, much (did I say much?) better examples: Lord of the Rhyme on YouTube, 'Antony Carmichael' rapping on Music 2000 from Look Around You (series II), and, from the same, 'Tony Rudd' singing Macadaynu, and, my current favorite, Money, Money, Money performing, "Getting Money with a Mouse and a Wacom Pen". There, see folks- it can be done (and in the case of the last video), with flourish and very well-incorporated visuals.

Yours merrily,
Bakagatsuru Eigo, the lesser

Badness on the Web - #6 NSFW

(For those of you not in the know, that means that the link below is Not Safe For Work- e. g. contains nudity, coarse language, graphic depictions of violence, etc.).

There is much happiness and rejoicing, from the valleys to the peak of Mount Stremph- last week, I was joined in holy matrimony to a good human.

But life cannot be all roses, where there is a yin, there must be a yang and vice versa... always balance, and seeing as we've just been made aware of this "trailer" the timing is fortuitous. As a bit of preparation, the story (as we understand it):
One of the most critically reviled films of all time finally has a sequel! Showgirls 2- A Story of Hope will... something and... er... that other thing... to heck with it, enjoy.

Badness on the Web - #5

Not content to leave just one example of awful music videos, here is the queen of bad:

Florence Foster Jenkins performing Queen of the Night (from Mozart's the Magic Flute). Self-promotion/delusion coupled with an inheritance = FFJ. Inimitable indeed. As a baby and young child my parents owned, "The Glory Of The Human Voice" on vinyl... that, whippersnappers, was when we used to listen to (rather than scratching-up) our records. At any rate, growing up on the rocky outcroppings of Mount Stremp, selling religious icons to pilgrims by day, being lulled to sleep by the dulcet tones of FFJ by nigh... wait a minute- it's all starting to make sense now... no wonder the Eigo family is so... interesting...

For a more modern flair, this strain of, 'Self-invented Performer' can be seen lots today (due to the democratization of technology allowing anyone with access to reach a mass audience in ways inconceivable only decades ago- there is no way that this blog would exist if it were in print, or any other media... just too expensive; here though, we inconvenience some electrons and bingo) sometimes, this produces greatness and exposes us to heretofore unknown talents (like Tay Zonday... don't hate). Then again, there's this:
Jan Terri. To be fair, she... um... videos...? Long time ago? [cricket] alrighty then-
Jan Terri on Youtube. If I may suggest- Losing You as an hors d' oeuvre, perhaps a lovely Rock and Roll Santa for the entree, and for dessert, you probably want to sample the Journey to Mars.

So, are these cautionary tales of aspiring performers whose reach simply exceeds their grasp, or something more? What does it say about us? Is schedenfreude the only reason to find performers of this caliber intriguing? That dear readers must be left to you to decide...