video
The Cautionary Tale of Ebeneezer Snoop + Internet Freedom and the WCIT
Dec 6th
Happy holidizzle, y’all,
Has the onslaught of crappy branded advent calendars and Black Friday death videos in your Twitter feed got you feeling a little bit less than holly-jolly this pre-Christmas season?
Ebeneezer Snoop has a message for you within this 4 minute and 20 second long video (!) and it includes the sentence “Bah Humbizzle, I can’t wait for this season to be Feliz Navi-DONE,” so obviously I’m in deep romantical love with it (the first minute, anyway. I kind of scrubbed through the rest of it.)
I don’t even care that it’s an adiadas ad, guys — this is my new favourite Christmas movie EVER after Rudolph, Frosty the Snowman, Home Alone and that episode of the Simpsons where Bart and Homer get Santa’s little helper, which isn’t technically a christmas movie, but I like the Festivus episode of Seinfeld a whole lot too and that’s not a movie either so *LOGIC*
You are likely getting one of these from me this holiday season. You're welcome in advance, mom.
Adding to my love is the fact that the illustrated parts were done by J. J. Sedelmaier of Beavis and Butthead / SNL’s Ambiguously Gay Duo / Harvey Birdman fame. Respect.
Also, animated K-Pop girl group 2NE1 wearing Jeremy Scott (’cause apparently, they’re like his muses now or something. The circle of cool feels like a freaking washer lately, eh?)
Big ups to adidas and Sid Lee for this entire campaign. It’s awesome.
I’m not huge into the Facebook component, but it’s kind of cute that you can send your friends “un-scrooging” e-cards from the ghost of David Beckham.
Also cool to see that adidas has “Ebeneezer Snoop” running their Twitter account for the holiday season. I’ve been told about the #bahumbizzle hashtag multiple times already. It’s as if people can’t figure out where I got MY izzle from in the first place.
Sippin’ on egg nog ‘n’ juice. What cha’ll sippin’ on to make this a #happyholidizzle ? #EbenezerSnoop
— adidas(@adidas) December 1, 2012
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Integrated social media marketing campaigns usually make me roll my eyes and scoff and feel better about myself as someone who isn’t (that kind of) douchebag, but adidas is a goldenbrand. They can do no wrong. Plus, Snooooo-OOP!
Prophet like it's hot...
And while I’m on that adicolor tip, have you seen 2Chainz, the 8Bit video game? Now THAT’s effing clever (and pretty fun to play.)
This is starting to sound like a big freaking advertisement for adidas itself. It’s not. Frig, I wish I could get paid to blog about Snoop DOGG. Yeah that’s right, I went there.
Onto something smart AND important – also not rapper related – “A long-running, increasingly heated debate over who controls the global internet is coming to a head this week as officials meet in Dubai for the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT).”
This is an important story to pay attention to, even if you don’t read the one that I wrote. But you should 
Video of the day: “100″
Sep 4th
’100′ (from 0 to 100 years in 150 seconds) from Filmersblog on Vimeo.
“In October 2011 I started documenting people in the city of Amsterdam, approaching them in the street and asking them to say their age in front of the camera. My aim was to ‘collect’ a group of 100 people, from age 0 to 100. At first my collection grew fast but slowed down when it got down to the very young and very old. The young because of sensivity around filming or photographing children and the very old because they don’t get out of the house much. I found my very old ‘models’ in care homes and it was a privilege to document these -often vulnerable- people for this project. I had particular problems finding a 99 year-old. (Apparently 100 year-olds enjoy notoriety, but a 99 year-old is a rare species…) And when I finally did find one, she refused to state her age. She simply denied being 99 years old! But finally, some 4 months after I recorded my first ‘age’, I was able to capture the ‘missing link’ and conclude this project. Enjoy.”
- Jeroen Wolf, filmmaker, Amsterdam.
’100′ (from 0 to 100 years in 150 seconds) from Filmersblog on Vimeo.
This video was way too blogworthy for a simple Tweet. It had me grinning from ear-to-ear by the end of it. What can I say? Mortality is effective shiss.
It’s unlikely that anyone will believe me (aside from the couple of tight friends I told), but I had this VERY IDEA two years ago. I was even going to apply for a filmmaking grant!
My project fell by the wayside, but I’m so very glad that Jeroen Wolf’s didn’t.
Kudos on a job well done. I’m feeling more inspired to get back to my art right now than I have in weeks. It’s been a while. Maybe I’ll start restoring some frescos…
She hates kitties, I love viddies, “What’s a vowel” HOT CHEETOS AND TAKIS!
Aug 18th
Laurenoutloud.com does not condone the kicking, punching, or otherwise physical harming of animals (shaming, on the other hand, is all good.)
That said, this video might be the coolest effing thing I’ve seen all week:
Moral of the story: fashion, I think.
Big ups to Reed + Rader for making this, and tons of other incredibly creative, weird-as-heck / entirely delightful works of internet art.
I wrote about viral videos more than usual at work this week. It was a good week for the YouTubes, ya know?
A few of my favourites:
- Gangnam Style
- Invisible bike helmet
- The beat-boxing beauty queen
- HOT CHEETOS & TAKIS (warning: total earworm.)
That little girl rapper totally jacked those moves from me. I swear to Hov, that’s EXACTLY the way I dance when I’m out with my friends on the town — which is exactly what I did last night. And the night before that, too.
So sleepy… fading fast… but first — WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL?
No, no worries Amurrica. Your education system is just fine.
One more video for y’all. Well worth the wonderful, wacky watch if you like watermelons and weird guys:
Time to continue recovering now. BRING ME MY RANCH DRESSING HOSE.
P.S. – Happy Caturday
Parody of the year: I’m Farming and I grow it (+ Maslow’s revamped heirarchy of needs)
Jul 7th
The Peterson Farm Brothers > LMFAO. Seriously, these clever and strapping young farm boys from Kansas or some place like that just put Berry Gordy’s offspring to shame.
In fact, I’m so impressed with the Peterson Farm Bros right now that I think they should be called LMFAO from now on.
The acronym can stand for something different, of course. “Livestock makes fertilizer all organic” or “Like my farming apron, Oprah?” or “Let’s Milk Foals And Oxen.”
Except maybe not that last one, because I don’t think it’s actually possible to milk a baby horse… or an ox, since they’re almost always male.
But I digress.
This videos has raked in almost 5 million views in less than two weeks on YouTube and actually prompted me to google “How to become a farmer.”
Congratulations, boys! Google has lead me to believe that I don’t have what it takes to be a farmer, but I LOVE being outside, am great with baby animals, and could probably learn how to bake a pie, so if you’re looking for a wife or a farm-crasher or something… Hollah.
I’m off to an early sleep tonight. Big morning tomorrow! But before I go, please enjoy this new and improved version of Maslow’s Heirarchy of needs:
That would be hilarious if it weren’t actually true. For the very same reason though, this picture is genuinely funny:
Shashashasha…
OH! AND HAPPY CATURDAY from laurenoutloud, Kurt Cobain, and Kurt Cobain’s kitty cat friends:
#RealMenLoveCats
Money is the anthem of success, so put on mascara and your party dress…
Jul 2nd
When I first heard that Lana Del Rey would be playing both Marilyn Monroe and Jackie O. to A$AP Rocky’s JFK in her new video for National Anthem, I was like… “ew.”
And then I saw the video.
Believe me guize, I WANTED to hate this — Really, I did.
Perhaps I wanted it to dislike it because the L.A. Times told me to, or because trout mouthed betches drive me crazy, or because A$AP Rocky and Lana Del Rey wearing those square shades and that white mailot (respectively) in a video that looks like it was shot through a rotating series of Instagram filters is just more hipster culture than I can handle in 7 minutes and 41 seconds? I’m not sure.
The fact is, I don’t hate it. I really, really like it.
I think it’s beautifully shot and cut together, fuzes contemporary culture with nostalgia nicely, and tells a charming story. Not to mention the fact that this song is just dope as heck.
Also, as one astute commenter on Hypebeast noted (quite accurately, imho), “anything A$AP is touching in 2012 is fire… ”
True story. You heard this yet?
I’ll stop there and let you judge the video for yourself. Reviews have been mixed and, of course, there’s plenty of controversy over the whole “recreating history” thing (See Complex’s shot-by-shot photographical inspiration piece on the video here.)
There’s no doubt in my mind Del Rey (or whoever controls her career) knew exactly what she was doing. Homegirl’s never had a hard time getting press, ja? Good on her.
She’s exactly the type of artist I’d love to hate… if only I could stop liking her so damn much.
Beauty and the BEAT: If Disney’s Belle lived in the hood
Jun 28th
I don’t even… I can’t even… *fans self with hands* hoooo!
I know I’m a hysterically hyperbolic like, 4 trillion per cent of the time, but I’m not even exaggerating when I say that this is the best YouTube video I’ve seen this year.
Parody? Check. Hilarity? Check. Clever lyrics, nostalgia factor, nice shots, fun characters, Antoine Dodson cameo, weave jokes, childhood icon / contemporary pop culture mashup? 5 million checks.
If this video were human, I’d marry it. Sheet, I’d marry it anyway if humans were legally allowed to marry YouTube videos.
Then again, if humans could marry Internet videos, they’d probably be allowed to marry more tangible things too — in which case I’d already be engaged to my iPhone.
But I digress.
Big ups to Todick Hall and everybody who helped him create this fantastic re-imaging of the opening scene from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.
She really is a boogie girl, that Belle.
Love always,
Hip Hop, eh? A Documentary
Jun 12th
Zip it before you even say a THING, my American friends, because I already know what you’re about to say. And you’re wrong.
I’ve interviewed, partied with, and blared the speakers in my car to many an incredibly talented Canadian Hip Hop artist over the past couple of years, and while I don’t know enough about the scene to tell you if there really is a strong Canadian Hip Hop Identity, I cantell you that Canadian Hip Hop exists, and that a lot of it is really effing good.
Okay, not as good as that gif – but what is? NOTHING.
“This project has been 5 years compiling interviews and creating the story that is Canadian Hip Hop. The every day Canadian doesn’t know much about the trials and tribulations of the Hip Hop scene in our great country of Canada,” writes Joe Klymkiw on the Indiegogo page for his new documentary Hip Hop, eh?
Sounds cool. Here’s a trailer featuring Maestro Fresh Wes, Kardinall Offishall, Buck 65, Moka Only and Odario from Grand Analog among others:
The film screens in Toronto on July 29th. Maybe I’ll see you there?
On a music-related note, Kitty Pryde just dropped her “haha im sorry” EP/ You can stream or download it here.
WTH does EP stand for, anyway? I could Google that, but I won’t…
Okay I did. It’s “extended play.” Huh.
Talent Crush: Fun Time Internet’s “Say Yes to the Pants”
May 29th
That is actually and undoubtedly the best thing I’ve seen online all blerrdy week (okay, the second best thing)– and that’s saying a lot, this being the fokking INTERNET and all.
Fah! In the past 24 hours alone, I’ve seen Spiderman pop tarts, a pot that stirs itself, this guy and a bunch of freaking robots dancing to MJ’s thriller. Also, this:
I had to Google this Fun Time Internet crew after watching that because I was all humour-swooning and WHAT DO I FIND?
Not only are they Canadian, not only are they Torontonian, they’re… well, no. That’s it. That’s as far down as it. They’re from the same city as meeeeeeeee!
Uh, anyhoo, I like that video. I like ih’ a loh’.
I’ve got to go now because my lunch break is OVER and even if it wasn’t, I should stop before I freak these poor guys out with my fangirlism any more. Please enjoy this cute PSA about online predators in my absence:
Love,
Lauren “Not a creepy rapist” O’Nizzle
Inside the LOL-Den: My Crystal Castle (VIDEO)
May 17th
I make it rain SPARKLES, yo. Check out my crib:
Big ups to Guy Georgeson for featuring me in Coolest Thing in The House, a series that takes you into the homes of Torontonians and shines on spotlight on their interesting stuff.
I had a blast filming that episode and the finished product is just wicked. My little Groundskeeper Willie finally got his professional debut!
You can watch previous episodes of this delightful series on Blip.tv and on YouTube. There’s a new one every Wednesday.
Follow @coolestinghouse on Twitter. Fan them on Facebook. It’s a beautifully produced and fascinating show that I’m thrilled to have been part of.
I’ll bet you want a dinosaur now, eh?
You can buy one in New York this weekend if you’ve got the time to get there… and like, $1.5 million. No bigs.
French journalist goes on a hipster hunt, and it is good.
May 14th
Take a few minuntes to watch this if you’re not too busy delivering babies in the back of taxi cabs or something. It’s really good. Better than creeping that chick you worked with for like, 2 months in highschool’s vacation photos on Facebook right now, I promise.
Bravo, Lorena Galliot and Julie Percha! This project is both informative and hilarious. Dope, even. I’m in love with it.
The hipster subculture fascinates me — especially from the other side of my computer screen where I can’t smell it. My hope is to one day visit the hipster homeland myself. I already have the perfect guise. I’ll blend right into the people of Williamsburg!
Back to the editing suite! AKA my converted closet / micro-office…
(video via Laughing Squid)
