Harvey Danger's 'Flagpole Sitta'

Woke up this morning remembering this video. I think I love it because it makes that office look like the coolest place ever to work.


Lip Dub - Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger from amandalynferri on Vimeo.

Also, I love it for the SILF t-shirt, which inspired me to do a bunch of my own, a couple of which are here:

Happy, Wayka, Bailey, Junebug

Watch this great short written and directed by my old friend Frank Todaro:



And this, by Bill Plympton, which I saw this morning on the drawn blog and which reminded me of Frank's short:

Funny Videos | Funny Cartoons | More Video Clips

Happy, Wayka, Bailey and Junebug are all the dogs I've had since I was a kid, not counting the three-legged dog Pilou, who I only baby sat for a couple of weeks.

To kill a mockingbird

Watched "To kill a mockingbird" last night with my daughters, Daisy and Alice.  What a crazy relevant film this still is -- for me, for the kids and for America.  Set in the Great Depression era American south, it deals with themes of racism, poverty, and in a general way, a way that makes it resonate with all kids who see it, it deals with the fear of the unknown -- the different, the strangers amongst us, be they dangerous (Mr. Ewell, the rabid dog) or benign (Boo Radley, Tom Robinson).

Hatred of the different is defused in one scene that I can't find on YouTube, the courthouse steps scene, where a lynch mob shows up to lynch the black defendant, Tom Robinson.  Atticus Finch is guarding Tom but is losing ground to the mob, when his uninvited children crash the scene and derail the bloodthirst.  Scout's famous lines:

"Hey, Mr. Cunningham. I said Hey, Mr. Cunningham. Don’t you remember me, Mr. Cunningham? I’m Jean Louise Finch. You brought us some hickory nuts one early morning, remember? We had a talk. I went and got my daddy to come out and thank you. I go to school with your boy. I go to school with Walter. He’s a nice boy. Tell him ‘hey’ for me, won’t you?"

I love this movie so much and to my delight, my 10 and 12 year old girls loved it too.

Here's a scene from the beginning that seems especially relevant in today's economic climate:

If you haven't seen it recently, do so soon. 

Kelly's Heroes

Some of my favorite movies of all time are WWII flicks.  This one, "Kelly's Heroes" is unusual in its genre, primarily due to Donald Sutherland's character, Sgt. Oddball, who is all about keeping it positive.  This movie was released in 1970, the same year as the most famous Korean War movie of all time: M*A*S*H, also starring Sutherland as Capt. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce.

I can't put my finger on why, but these clips have been on my mind a lot lately.  Enjoy:

Doctor Ronald Chevalier

Watch this please, click around, check out the art and videos.  Methink youlike: http://ronaldchevalier.com/

Tinnitus

I read this this morning and was struck at the resonance between this word and yesterday's word of the day.  So, here it is, (I promise this won't be an everyday occurence) today's word of the day, tinnitus, as defined by Jerome Groopman in The New Yorker: 

"Tinnitus -- the false perception of sound in the absence of an acoustic stimulus, a phantom noise . . . "

Saw'dadi

Word of the day.  Saudade.  Check out this definition from A.F. Bell, via wikipedia:  ' Saudade has been described as a "vague and constant desire for something that does not and probably cannot exist..." '  Freefloating yearning.  Heavy.