FAMW: OK Go “The Writing on the Wall”

OK Go is back with a new music video that lives up to the incredible visual trickery we have come to expect from them. This one took three weeks and a huge team to create and over fifty attempts to get just right -- if only for this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.

(H/T to 22 Words.)
 

FAMW: Billy Hamilton, the Fastest Man in Baseball!

BIlly Hamilton plays center field for the Cincinnati Reds. While he is not to be confused with the Hall of Famer of the same name who also played the outfield in the late 19th century, that difference might one day be a taller order. Someone referred to the latter-day Billy as "the fastest man in baseball," and this brief animation is a case in point, for this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.
 

FAMW: Where There’s A Will, There’s Colbert

By now we know that Comedy Central's own pretend pundit and devout Catholic Stephen Colbert will be the next host of The Tonight Show on NBC. But until then, he holds court at The Colbert Report, where he recently interviewed syndicated columnist George Will, who explains, much to the amazement of Colbert, and in spite of themselves, how the Chicago Cubs helped to win the Cold War. See this stunning display of logic, and much more, for this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.
 

FAMW: The Gregory Brothers Go “Clocking” in NYC

Our favorite siblings, The Gregory Brothers, are running around loose again on the streets of New York, this time at Times Square and Grand Central Station, making time by marking the time, or at they call it, “clocking!” It's a pretty neat trick, and one way to pass the time (on at least two levels) for this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.
 

FAMW: Everything You Hate About Advertising In One Fake Video That’s Almost Too Real

It was the hope of this writer, early in his profession, to pursue a career in advertising, specifically on the creative side. It probably had to do with being raised in a "P&G family." But those hopes were dashed upon meeting just enough participants in the "ad game" to be weary of the prospect. That, and no one offered a job.

But a certain fascination has remained to this day, such that a recent article in Adweek about a so-called “Generic Brand Video” was too good to pass up. It seems that people who watch enough creatively assembled stock footage can be made to believe anything, which is food for thought, for this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.
 

FAMW: Ben Aaron Does The Dance Walk, Baby!

This is one of those things that a) could only happen in New York City, and b) my son Paul would do on a dare, and if serious money was involved. WNBC-TV personality Ben Aaron shows us the new as of two years ago dance craze he calls “Dance Walking Fitness” while getting complete strangers to join him, if only for this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.
 

FAMW: A Conference Call in Real Life

If you haven't seen this go viral already (and you both know who you are), this is what the 21st century corporate office environment is like.

Recent years have seen the rise of "hotelling" or the sharing of desk space by alternating "teleworkers" -- Dick works at home on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, while Jane works at home on her company laptop, and comes in on Tuesdays and Thursdays so Dick can stay at home and ... walk the dog and pretend he's working. It all sounds great, until you try to get them all together for a meeting. It's funny, yes, until you have to work this way, and find how easy it is for at least one joker to be perpetually disengaged from his virtual office environment.

It happens to yours truly on a weekly basis. Tripp and Tyler demonstrate what a regular in-the-office meeting would look like if it went like a conference call. It's hilarious, unless this is what your job is like, in which case it's REALLY hilarious. And so it goes for this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.

And while we're at it, welcome to my day job. Watch your American tax dollars at work.
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FAMW: Talkin’ Hashtags

Once upon a time, it was the least pressed button on the dial pad of a telephone, and was rarely used even in the written word. Now it has become the staple of every single social network, and every form of text communication. Will it eventually take over the English language? #saywhat

Not if Jimmy Fallon of NBC's The Tonight Show can help it.

Fallon illustrates just how ridiculous we would sound if we had a Twitter (or Facebook, or Instagram) conversation in real life, with the assistance of Jonah Hill in making the point (or the repeated hashtags). This is followed by a voice from the Millennials' past, reminding them of the true manly virtues for intelligent discourse. It's come to this, people, if only for this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.

#tgif
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FAMW: Obligatory Valentine’s Day Schtick

This being Valentine's Day, we had to do something to mark the occasion. This submission is one that could only happen at a place like Brigham Young University, where romance never dies, if only because the Mormons succeed in weeding out all the creepy guys. That's the only explanation as to why the five lads who comprise the á cappella ensemble known as Vocal Point could pull off a stunt like this, even for this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.
 

FAMW: Obligatory “Super Bowl Ads” Review

For the last several years, we at man with black hat have reviewed the television commercials for the Super Bowl. The game itself is the most-watched sporting event on television, and quite possibly the most-watched program of any type, making advertising space an expensive commodity. For last year's event, the average cost of a 30-second advertisement was around $4 million. The ads have become a phenomenon in their own right, apart even from the game.

The ads have also become a bellwether for trends in popular culture, and are thus not without controversy. There are so many to review, but we will take this occasion to highlight five of them.

The USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter is an annual survey taken of the commercials in a live poll. Its most popular-rated commercial this year was that of (who else?) Budweiser, who also won last year's Meter. This year's submission is about the special friendship that develops between a puppy from an adoption agency and a Clydesdale horse. Naturally it has a happy ending, for both the puppy and the horse. The ad is set to "Let Her Go" by Passenger.

That one was a tear jerker. This next one, not so much.

Coca-Cola featured young people singing "America the Beautiful" in languages in addition to English, and included what appears to be a young Arab girl wearing a hijab, or head covering. Worn as a sign of modesty among women in the Arab world, regardless of religion, more than a few wingnuts accused the company not only of being unpatriotic, but of pandering to Islamic extremism.

Actually, the Coke ad was less unpatriotic than it was absurd. A national anthem, while often officially rendered in more than one language (Canada's in English and French, Philippines' in English, Spanish, and Tagalog), that of the United States is customarily sung only in English, which makes this confusing from a marketing standpoint. Why does singing an anthem that is a sign of our unity become a means to highlight our differences? Pandering, yes, but less to good will among Americans of diverse origins, than to the appearance of political correctness.

(Personally, I really don't care; I'm a Pepsi man myself.)

As if to compensate for a supposed lack of patriotism elsewhere, this year's ad for Chrysler features folksinger-songwriter Bob Dylan extolling pride in American workmanship. A bankrupt city like Detroit obviously needs all the help it can get, but this attempt would have been dismissed a generation ago as "selling out to the man," probably even by the very guy doing the ... well, the selling out. Then again, there are the gritty scenes of old diners and blue-collar workers in dingy pool halls, contrasted with sepia-toned street scenes of luxurious black cars with gleaming chrome and ... is that Bob Dylan stepping out of one?

There were a few surprises (more pleasant than the above), such as the one for General Mills' Cheerios cereal, which just happened to show a bi-racial couple and their little girl. "Gracie" is informed that she is going to have a baby brother. In return for the news, she wants a puppy. Some talking heads expected a conservative backlash, forgetting that the hoopla over bi-racial families has essentially disappeared from American society. Even the US Census Bureau has begun to allow for multi-racial classification. Relax, everybody. The right wingers got over it, as if they ever had to.

Hmmm, a puppy. Maybe she and the Clydesdales can do some business.

Of course, the Super Bowl would not be complete without a Doritos contest, where people make up commercials and the winner gets theirs on the air. For this year's pick, Mister Smith is in for a surprise when Jimmy invites him into the time machine. It's amazing what kids can do with cardboard boxes these days.

There's more where those came from Go to the website for USA Today's Super Bowl XLVIII Ad Meter, and get more than you bargained for, courtesy of this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.
 

FAMW: Anna Kendrick: Behind the Scenes of the Mega Huge Game Day Ad Newcastle Almost Made

The time has come upon us for the Super Bowl, which means that we here at man with black hat review the totally awesome big-@$$ budget commercials. We start with the story behind the scenes of what might have been. After all, Anna Kendrick has been a big favorite of late here at Chez Alexandre, after viewing her at work several dozen times already, in the 2012 collegiate a capella comedy-drama Pitch Perfect.

We have plans to devote the next month to some aspects of both the movie (not all of which are completely decadent by the standards of our target audience), and her musical work, but until then, and until we run down our favorite picks among the Super Bowl ads, here's a conceptual rough cut of the ad for Newcastle beer that got away, but for this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.

(NOTICE: Content advisory, kinda sorta. Whatever.)
 

FAMW: Live Free and High!

By now, a number of the several States have defied the potential challenge from federal courts to legalize marijuana, whether for medicinal use, or for, uh, "medicinal" use. In fact, this writer wanted to procure a stash for his parents for their fiftieth anniversary back in 2002, given Dad's final stages of MS, and Mom's arthritis. The proposal alone was, shall we say, therapeutic.

In the face of New Hampshire's own attempt to give the go to the grass being (potentially?) blocked in federal appeals court, Steven Crowder paid a visit to the Granite State (where the motto is “Live Free or Die”) to find out what people on the street thought of the idea. The results couldn't be better for this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.

(H/T to Ed Morrissey.)
 

FAMW: Fun and Games in the Polar Vortex

We all know what the weather's been like in much of North America this past week, don't we? Well, in a place like Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, where it can get down to -30C (-22F), scenes like this can go viral for everybody else, as boiling water is thrown into the air and instantly becomes steam. Of course, you'll want to check for which way the wind is blowing first, or it won't have nearly as happy an ending, as with this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.
 

FAMW: USAF Band Holiday Flash Mob at the National Air and Space Museum

Notice that they call it a Holiday flash mob, but that's where the political correctness ends. The selection chosen is “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” by Johann Sebastian Bach, a suitable number for Christmas -- yes, CHRISTMAS, by cracky! They make their presentation at one of the most popular venues of the Smithsonian Institution, where the proceedings began with the USAF Honor Guard, and are joined by the “Singing Sergeants.”

This dedicated chorus is always a big favorite at special events, including Fourth of July specials on PBS, especially that righteous babe on the viewer's left at 03:57, who is none other than our own gal pal Master Sergeant Janice Reksten Carl of Ashburn, Virginia, because there's just something about a girl in uniform. (Sigh!)

Of course, she's even more bodacious with her hair down, but never you mind that for this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.
 

FAMW: Rembrandt Flashmob “The Night Watch”

You remember the 1642 painting by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669) commonly known by the title above, but less well known as “The Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq and Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch preparing to march out,” don't you? Sure you do. Have you ever wanted to see the painting come to life? What devotee of the great masters of Renaissance painting wouldn't?

Here it is for your viewing pleasure, at a shopping mall in the Netherlands, complete with some guy stealing a chicken, guards rappelling down from the ceiling, other guards carrying big sticks not knowing what to do at first, still other guards riding horses in the aforementioned shopping mall, and a soundtrack written one-hundred-and-forty-three years later -- all for this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.
 

FAMW: More Than A Glitch

Has anyone noticed that, in the last few years, this venue's political commentary has been a little less -- oh, I dunno -- political; that is, compared to a few years ago? Maybe it has to do with being a career civil servant during the day in times like these (at a time that is most assuredly not devoted to this endeavor). Whatever the reason, the prospect of demonstrating that a button-down power-tied wing-tip-shoed conservative think tank like the Heritage Foundation can have a sense of humor, if only for this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.

Seriously.
 

FAMW: Why Can’t You Use Phones on Planes?

The holidays will soon be upon us, and those now making preparations for air travel should be aware of any turbulence they might encounter, as (possibly) seen in this CollegeHumor presentation. With the additional likelihood of certain momentary expletives, be prepared to hit the mute button at 1:54, 2:17, 2:20, and 2:35 (or thereabouts). Hey, it's college humor, right? Besides, we were looking for deep philosophical discussion with a twist, and were a little desperate for this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.
 

FAMW: Hiatus

For this week, a road trip to Cincinnati is in order, so that yours truly can attend his high school reunion. No, it won't be anything like this scene from the prom with Kevin Bacon in Footloose. In fact, I'm not sure our own senior prom was anything like this. But a boy can dream, and this boy will have to suffice, for this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.
 

FAMW: “You’ve Got Mail!”

Iranian-Dutch filmmaker Bahram Sadeghi accidentally deleted an email message and couldn't get it back, so he decided to call up an organization with a reputation for email storage: the US National Security Agency. When he couldn't get an NSA employee to admit to collecting email and Internet data, he let her know that he was born in Iran, so maybe he's a person of interest to the NSA. Could she check for his email now? What happened next was a 5-minute cat-and-mouse game with two NSA employees. Your undisclosed federal tax dollars are hard at work, for this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.
 

FAMW: Improv Everywhere: “Black Tie Beach”

Need a quick gimmick for the Labor Day weekend?

For the Fourth Annual Black Tie Beach, produced and directed by those madcaps at Improv Everywhere, hundreds of participants spent a day at the beach in black tie attire. They covered Coney Island and Brighton Beach with a diverse group of people of all ages laying out, playing games, and swimming in the ocean in formal wear. Agents were instructed to find cheap tuxedos and ball gowns at thrift stores for the occasion. Unfortunately, they were not aware that black tie before six in the evening (except for Fourth Degree Honor Guards of the Knights of Columbus) is totally inappropriate. But here it is, for this week's Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.

Have a great holiday weekend. "Summer's almost gone, winter's comin' on ..."