Jake of the Web Time Wasters And Then Some

Jake Shimabukuro – While My Guitar Gently Weeps

My brother showed this to me the other day, and it really made an impression on me. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is one of my favorite songs off of The Beatles (The White Album), so to make a new version of it that stands on its own is an impressive feat.

Additionally, it didn't really occur to me until my brother pointed it out, this is being performed on a ukulele. A pleasant instrument, the ukulele can still feel very gimmicky - especially in the last 3-4 years. Shimabukuro's obvious musicality and virtuosity strip away any concern of a gimmick and reveal a true musician on his instrument of choice.

Enjoy.

Edit: In hindsight, I saw a video years ago of Shimabukuro performing this very song. I think the fact I could see the ukulele in the video and my predisposition to dismissing ukulele's as a gimmick led me to overlook his performance. Plus, this studio recording is much higher fidelity.

11 Foot 8

This video is from 11foot8.com, and there's plenty more like this at the site.  They're all videos of trucks trying to drive under a low bridge in Durham, NC with a clearance of only 11 feet 8 inches.

copyright Jürgen Henn - 11foot8.com

EVERYONE!

Who does Subway have something for?

Mayor Of Winnipeg Kicks A Kid In The Face

Recommended by Nate Brooks

Zappos Makes Me Laugh

I don't watch TV in the traditional sense, so it seems I miss out on the occasional commercial.  I was discussing the company, Zappos, with a friend and he mentioned this ad as one of his favorites.  I'm inclined to agree.  I laugh every time.

Eff You

This song is decidedly NSFW. Despite its work-friendly shortcomings, this song is ridiculously catchy, fun, and well performed by all musicians and vocalists involved. The singer is Cee Lo Green, best known as the singer from Gnarls Barkley.

I love the backing vocalists: "Oh sh*t she's a gold digger.  Just thought you should know, n*gga."

The History Of The Internet

The sad part is how much of this I remember happening during my lifetime.

Cold Drinks/Hot Drinks

These are actual training videos from Wendy's.  From the Paula Abdul-sounding song on "cold drinks," I'm guessing this is circa 1989.

The Source Of The Intro To Bungalow Bill Revealed!

If you own a copy of The Beatles, better known as "The White Album", you will probably know the intro I am speaking of.  Very unlike anything preceding or following it, the intro to The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill is an acoustic flamenco guitar riff.

I have read several theories in the past as to who played this intro.  If you listen to any number of Beatles tracks, it becomes clear that guitar line is too intricate for any of The Beatles to have played (fine musicians though they were).  The major speculation was that Eric Clapton (who played lead on While My Guitar Gently Weeps on the same album) played this line, or that it was some snippet of a recording from the EMI vault.  It's fascinating to learn that it's actually a 'sample' from the mellotron, an organ-like instrument made famous by another John Lennon song (Strawberry Fields Forever).

Here's the clip of someone fiddling with a mellotron today, demonstrating the guitar sample:

Here's the original recording of "The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill".  The story behind this song is rather interesting.  As with most of the songs from The Beatles (The While Album), this song was written while The Beatles were on a spiritual retreat in Rishikesh, India with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.  This song is based upon an American man who took a break from the same retreat The Beatles were attending to go hunting.  John found the hypocrisy and irony too great: the man saw no conflict between meditation and the killing of beasties.  He was going to hunt down a few animals and then get back to the retreat in time to finish his meditation stuff.  While not a particularly great song by Beatles standards, it's there nonetheless.

Here's Strawberry Fields Forever, probably the one song in the history of music most associated with the mellotron.  The mellotron on this track is the flute-like sound in the intro, which you can also hear repeated throughout the song.  The mellotron was unique in its ability to make many different kinds of sounds, which it achieved through multiple loops of magnetic tape that would play when the corresponding key on the keyboard was pressed.

Old Polaroids, Animated

These images were found at a flea market in a photo album, and were the inspiration for the film wherein they are now contained.

it's a small world from axel roessler on Vimeo.