It’s just so easy these days to hit “share” and send things out to the wilds of social media that I have been remiss in sharing these wonderful, crazy things. Here’s four names you need to know…
1. Leslie Hall — When I first watched her video for Tight Pants/Body Rolls it was a bit like watching a train wreck but like all perfect pop songs, it is ridiculously catchy and today I finally just spent the 99-cents at iTunes for the MP3. Anyway, it turns out that Ms. Hall is some sort of internet darling who sells – get this – her own line of spandex pants. You really have to read the about page, “I don’t use thread, I use cobra veins!” Crazy!!
2. Amanda Palmer — a.k.a Amanda F**king Palmer — I have enjoyed a lot of her music in the past but I absolutely had to have her latest project: “Amanda Palmer Performs The Popular Hits Of Radiohead On Her Magical Ukulele” — and magical it is. She is also cleverly selling it as a pay-what-you-want model with a base price of $0.84; I chose to pay $2.00. [Holy crap! It looks like I wasn’t the only one who had to have the album — within the first few minutes of its release, she had sold $15,000 worth of the EP, a limited edition vinyl pressing, and related merchandise. Read more about the Fan Feeding Frenzy .] If that’s not enough to convince you how crazy-fantastic this woman is, check out this “karaoke verite” video of her lip synching Cyndi Lauper’s Girls Just Wanna Have Fun in Vegas.
3. Cyriak — is an artist from the U.K. who has created two of my favourite videos of all time; both are bizarre. He not only animates them but also writes the music. The most recent was released last week: Cows & Cows & Cows — but don’t watch it if you are disturbed by cows that morph into tarantulas. Seriously. Before that, he also made Cycles in which teddy bears menace cars and people. I think I may have to download the MP3 that goes with the cows video…
4. Christopher Nolan — Mike and I have seen all of his films and I can safely say I will probably continue to see all of his films until further notice. Memento, The Prestige, The Dark Night, and Inception (which we saw on opening night) would all likely fit in my top 100; the only other director who approaches that level of consistency (for me) is Tim Burton but I think he may have already hit his zenith in 2003 with Big Fish. I am really hoping the rumours are true and that Nolan will bring Joseph Gordon Levitt into the Batman franchise as the Riddler.