By Mark La Monica
We spend much of the week at Pet Rock studying/wasting time watching the silly and the stupid on YouTube. It's one of those new high-tech pop culture phenomenons. Every Friday, we post one of the more amusing videos for everyone here to enjoy. Props to Office friends Joey and Erik for keying me into this one.
It is something special.
And of course, where would we be without the remix?
By Mark La Monica
Soulja Boy Monday returns with the "Family Guy" edition.
For those new to Pet Rock, every Monday we'll hit you with a Soulja Boy "Crank Dat" spoof video we find on YouTube. We'll keep doing it until you guys stop making them.
By Mike Casey
For everyone out there who refuses to pay Cablevision the extra $10/month for HBO and 13 b.s. channels you'll never watch, I pose a question:
Have you ever been out drinking with your friends when suddenly the conversation turns to the latest hit HBO show?
It might sound like this:
"Oh my god, 'Big Love' is my FAVORITE!"
Or this...
"The Sopranos are SO GOOD!"
Or this...
"I love Johnny Drama! 'Entourage' is hysterical!"
Or this...
4) "I just got finished watching all of my Tivo'd episodes of 'Rome'"
If you're like me, and you've never watched any of these shows, you might politely respond in one of four ways:
1) I've never seen it. I don't get HBO
2) I've never watched it. I don't get HBO.
3) I don't know what you're talking about. I don't get HBO.
4) Jesus, enough already, I don't get HB-friggin-O!!!
I know, I know -- it's not our friends' fault for sharing their mutual enjoyment of overpriced cable programming. But that doesn't make it any less annoying when the topic of conversation shifts to something that seems funny to everyone but us.
But finally, perhaps, a compromise. When I was visiting some friends in Baltimore recently, I was informed that I was missing yet another great new show on HBO -- something called "Flight of the Conchords."
"It's basically a two-person folk band from New Zealand," said friend Ashley, "And they perform all these really funny songs."
Seriously, I thought, this is what passes for comedy? But before I could spit out my response, Ashley said, "I have a CD in my car, you should listen to it."
Ahh! A CD, or compact disc! I can listen to those! So listen we did. And laugh I did. For once, I felt part of the group. It was enlightening. Not enlightening enough to make me order HBO, but enlightening nonetheless.
So to my fellow HBO non-users, follow this advice: Watch the following YouTube clip. You'll be sitting at the cool table at work before you know it. . . 'Cause, ya know, they have those at workplaces.
By Mark La Monica
Soulja Boy's got everyone in town crankin' dat with the Soulja Boy dance.
Of course, not every song craze socks us in the pop culture bread basket. But when more than one video spoofs of the song hit YouTube, then we've got ourselves a full-fledged pop culture phenomenon.
You got a taste of it last week, and we're giving you more every Monday until we run out of new ones.
Crank dat!
By Mark La Monica
Is there anything out there that better symbolizes current pop culture than YouTube? We think not.
Which is why every Friday, we'll hit you with a different YouTube video to get you in the right frame mind for the weekend.
For all you Hills fans out there, this one is a gem.
By Mike Casey
If you're an uncoordinated white guy like myself, you cringe every time one of the scripted dance songs like DJ Casper's "Cha Cha Slide" comes on at a wedding, graduation party, bar mitzvah, or baseball game.
The meteroic rise of new artist Soulja Boy's hit "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" would seem to be just another addition to the horrifying list of songs that spell disaster for dance-challenged individuals everywhere.
But fear not, oh, Manglers of the Macarena: Thanks to the wonders of YouTube, you too can, in the privacy of your own living room, learn the dance moves to the Soulja Boy dance.
Once you've practiced this a couple hundred/thousand times, feel free to bust it out the next time your friend's girlfriend drags you onto the dance floor (admit it: the "I have a bad ankle" excuse is getting old, and no one's buying it anyway.) It's your chance to shine. Just make sure not to Superman your grandma right off the dance floor.
YouTube bonus: I have to give credit to fellow Newsday.com blogger Adam Abramson, who previously posted this video in his Campus Confidential blog -- if you like college football, check it out.
The humor of this video defies explanation. It's Soulja Boy-related, so enjoy:
By Mark La Monica
Kanye West took the early lead over 50 Cent on Tuesday as their new records hit stores. Fitty vowed to retire from rapping if his "Curtis" release is outperformed in the first week by West's "Graduation." The New York Post reported such actions. BIllboard, the AP and others, too. Even Rolling Stone did a cool, little impromptu survey.
It's quite possibly the most ingenious marketing battle scheme between two people since Coke vs. Pepsi.
Pet Rock is torn with who to support. Pet Rock loves formula 50 vitamin water. Pet Rock loves Kanye West's appearance on "Entourage." Yet, Pet Rock would greatly enjoy the laugh generated by a Kenny Chesney upset of both artists. Tough decisions.
Are you a Fitty Fanatic or a Kanye Crony? Vote here.
By Mark La Monica
Britney Spears' comatose/nervous/Am I Brooke Hogan? performance notwithstanding, the VMAs have been slaughtered by MTV.
It's a shame, seeing how the VMAs once represented the rebellious nature in all of us. It was anything goes at the VMAs, from outrageous performances (Madonna, Britney and Christina) to outlandish entrances (Howard Stern flying in as "Fartman").
Now, the executives at MTV squashed it all and created an event that was more Dick Clark's Rockin Eve than "I Want My MTV!"
Those execs cited declining ratings as a reason to revamp the show from awards and performances to artists singing in separate suites and a small array of awards and rushed acceptance speeches. Quick question: what show or event doesn't produce lower ratings these days than in the past? With the advent of TiVOs and DVRs and 4,719 channels to choose from, decreased ratings an occupational hazard.
But to completely blow up the VMAs, once the cable station's shining moment? It doesn't make sense. Award shows were constructed for television purposes. Sure, it was probably pretty cool to be in one of the suites rockin' with the Foo Fighters, head-noddin' with Kanye West or chillin' with Justin Timberlake and Timbaland. But it made for exceptionally terrible television. We're talking "The Magic Hour" terrible.
With the exception of R&B singer Chris Brown, no one else seemed like they wanted to be there.
During the show, MTV promised fewer repeat airings of the show (they must have known how bad a job they were doing) and the chance to watch complete in-suite performances online. Has the Internet has killed the video star the way video killed the radio star? For one night a year, we hope not.
We shouldn't expect MTV to heed JT's advice and play more videos. It's an online world now, for good or for bad. But to destroy the station's flagship night makes no sense. Just don't pin it all on Spears, or even the remarkably awful Sarah Silverman monologue. The MTV execs destroyed the VMAs.
MySpace style:
Things Adam Abramson loves:
-Virginia Tech -- Alma mater
-The 3:19am train with two Sicilian slices from Rose's -- Has to be Rose's
-College football -- Shameless plug
-The Howard Stern Show -- that's me writing all of those Artie Lange posts
-Lil' Wayne -- The greatest rapper alive
-A "Vegas" from Seport in E. Setauket -- I'll gladly take a Napoli or Gasm, as well.
-"Call of Duty 4" on Xbox -- Hit me up for my handle
-Wings on Wall St. on Friday nights -- Waterstone's the spot
-Good cover bands -- Actually, this is a serious question: Are there any can't miss acts around here?
-Tuxedo t-shirts
Things Adam Abramson hates:
-Driving on Long Island -- Why so aggressive?
-HOV lane cheaters -- I have a lot of beef with the driving up here
-Cats -- The animal, not the musical (never seen the musical)
-People who leave shopping carts behind other cars instead of taking them to the designated area -- Sloths...
-Miller Light
I'll think about updating this.
By Mark La Monica
1) No one's meatballs are as good as your mother's. It's undebatable.
2) "The Godfather III" and "Rocky V" get a bum rap. They're not nearly as bad as people make them out to be.
3) Randy "Macho Man" Savage is the forgotten man when it comes to old-school pro wrestling discussions.
4) If YouTube stopped existing, it would create quite a problem for us. How would we waste time at work? Where would all the things we push off until later go?
5) The hug in the ocean between Rocky and Apollo in "Rocky III" makes absolutely no sense, but it's impossible to change the channel when it comes on.
6) MTV doesn't need to play more videos, just create more channels that play videos.
7) Just chill to the next episode.
8) When is someone going to create a garlic-scented cologne? Or perhaps a hand cream of some sort?
9) ADA Jack McCoy would kick ADA Ben Stone's patoot any day in court, but Paul Robinette would smoke Jamey Ross, Abby Carmichael, Claire Kincaid, Danielle Borgia and Connie Rubirosa.
10) When the world's got you down, crank dat Soulja Boy!
11) Lauren Conrad. I'm just saying.
12) Yo Mona Lisa, could I get a date on Friday? And if you're busy, I wouldn't mind taking Saturday-ay-ay, ay-ay-ay.
13) What's up, guy?
14) Victory!
Mike Casey feels strange writing about pop culture, since he has always been a little slow on the uptake. In grade school he was the kid who got Starter jackets two years too late. On field trips, when all the kids sang the "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" theme song in the back of the bus, he sat in the front, trying to lip synch. In high school when the cool kids were sitting outside on outside All Saints Episcopal Church smoking cigarettes on 85th and Park, Mike was reading "HTML for Dummies" on the Metro North and scrawling NHL rosters in the back of his math notebook.
Little did he know those books would someday come in handy. The sports editor for Newsday.com isn't a pop culture whiz, but he's been known to stumble across a few gems. In time, Mike plans to pass on enough YouTube links to grind the entire American workforce to a halt.
