It's Not Even Animated

Last night at the Oscars, Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis presented the awards for Best Animated Short and Best Animated Feature. As part of their banter, Mila said the backdrop wasn't right for the segment because, "It's not even animated."

Except it was animated. It wasn't character animation, but it was definitely motion graphics. See for yourself:



It struck me as being a bit of an FU to the team that did all of the animations and graphics on the backdrop and proscenium throughout the evening (which I thought were very well designed.) I was sort of waiting for the show to come back from the commercial with all of the titles and other graphics replaced by a text hastily written on a cue card with a magic marker.

The odd part was, the "It's not even animated" line was there to serve a joke about them changing the backdrop to an animated image from Shrek... which as far as I could tell on my TV wasn't animated at all. Maybe there was a slight breeze rusting the leaves in the trees, but watching at home, the Shrek background looked like a still image.

Anyway... Toy Story 3 for the win! Woo hoo!

You Wanted Arts And Crafts? How's This For Arts And Crafts?

The folks at 360Kid have come up with the perfect use for your old 3D glasses--turn them into Kermit the From Glasses! Follow the link to get instructions and download a handy template.

It's Not A Legend

Dear Producers of Red Riding Hood,

I have no problem with you trying to make a movie for adults based on a fairy tale. That's conceptually interesting. But please stop calling the original story a "legend" in your ads. You keep on using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

Sincerely,

-Some Guy On The Net

Stephen Colbert... in Concert!

Specifically, he will be playing the role of Harry in the New York Philharmonic concert version of Stephen Sondheim's Company. If you're a Colbert fan who's not familiar with Company, it's a great show and the part is very well suited to Stephen's voice. His character is the principle singer of a song called "Sorry-Grateful". Here's a clip of the song from the recent -- and wonderful -- Broadway revival (featuring Keith Buterbaugh as Harry):



If you're a fan of Company who's horrified about the funny TV guy trying to sing, here's Stephen Colbert singing a duet with John Legend:



Need more? Here he is singing a duet with Elvis Costello:

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Oh, and in case you didn't know, the concert will star Neil Patrick Harris. Does anybody still need proof he can sing? Really? Okay, fine. Here's Neil showing how damn good he is with Sondheim:

New Kind of Cool

I think this song really nails what it felt like to be in Junior High and to feel... different. (And didn't everybody feel different?) I couldn't find a video for the full studio recording on YouTube, so I fixed that by making this one. I hope it lives up to the glorious geekiness of the song itself.

All of the toys are real. You can find most of them on Amazon. A few of the odder ones are from the Archie McPhee catalogue, Sideshow Collectibles, Reaper, and Valve.


A New Kind of Cool
by The Rescues
Adrianne Gonzalez

I study you so well
I know your every smell
From the back of the room
I can't learn a thing
All I can do
Is stare at you

But my body is all a wreck
An adolescent mess
They call me names
'Cause I can't squeeze in
And don't know how to act
But I will not be ashamed...

If you'd stay with me forever
We'll be weird together
We'll make up our own rules
Create a new kind of cool

We'd walk the halls with ease
Say all the smartest things
And they'd wish they knew
What makes us laugh and
What cigarettes we smoke
Or even if we do 'cause...

If you'd stay with me forever
We'll be weird together
We'll make up our own rules
Create a new kind of cool

We'd never lose
We can pick and choose
Who soaks up all our fame
And we can shout and we could shut them out
Just to tarnish their names

And how I'd glow in my beauty
'Cause someone out there loves me

Right now life ain't so fun
I don't have anyone
If you only knew
The things that we could do
Just me and you
Conquer the world
King and Queen
At age 13

If you'd stay with me forever
We'll be weird together
We'll make up our own rules
Create a new kind of
A new kind of
A new kind of
Cool