For folks who know me, there are three things that I enjoy immensely: the charming sound of a ukulele, the nomy deliciousness of cake, and the delightful cadence of an English accent.

Boing Boing had a shout out to the song stylings of Rocky and Balls.  While the name is a bit lacking, these duet darlings from the UK combine a bit of wordplay with simple melodies.  My personal favorite of their songs is “Love Cake,” which can be found below.

Like what you hear? Check out their website for more tracks.  You can also follow them on Twitter.

Like all good memes, Dodson quickly became a product line.[twitter

Ah, the local news.  As mainstream, national journalism gives way to the power of the internet and the blogosphere, it seems as though local media is the only traditional avenue that maintains some form of relevancy.  After all, local media know their audience, stories, and needs in a way that a national media outlet is simply unable to provide.

Granted, there are numerous professionals working in television and print in newsrooms across the country who are consummate professionals.  Every now and then, though, you have a Chris Allen fondling a breast cancer graphic on camera.  Media professionals make bad decisions all the time.  Even after serving as the Dean of the White House Press Corps, Helen Thomas found herself forcibly retired after inflammatory comments.

Thanks to the internet, a highly local story can become global internet fodder in a matter of hours.  Take the story of Antoine Dodson, the latest example of a local news story gone viral.  When an intruder allegedly broke into his sister’s apartment and attempted to sexually assault her, Antoine helped scare off the attacker.  A story such as this meets the “smell test” for local news: it’s timely, it’s interesting, and there’s a human angle.

Here’s the problem.

Consider you are the reporter, editor, or producer of the nightly news.  What should you do in this instance?  To the best of our knowledge, the story was not made up.  Second, they interviewed the parties directly involved in the event.  Given the fact that an attacker could be on the loose in a local neighborhood, the station has a responsibility to inform their audience of any potential danger.  The question I have to ask, though, is should they have aired the story as is?

Checking out the comments section of the original video, it comes as no surprise there is a large African-American audience and native Huntsville audience who feel as though the video casts their populations in a less-than-positive light.  It’s understandable.  Think about those times where a tornado rips through a local community.  Why is it that nine times out of ten that it goes through a trailer park?  Why is it always a trailer park?

The station could have simply reported the story as part of a block of news.  They could have used clips solely from the young woman who was attacked.  There are any number of ways the station could have covered the story; however, they went with the one that would have the most bang.  While I do believe it falls into a gray area, the station reported the story, with the major players, and in a timely manner.  Dodson was obviously and understandably upset.  The statements were his feelings and opinions in the moment.  He was, perhaps, neither sensible or eloquent.  That’s the risk you run when you talk on camera, though.  Perhaps you simply chalk it up to a lesson in awkward.

That doesn’t mean you go back to the buffet for a second helping.  After Dodson’s comments (and the station’s video) went viral, the station did a second interview with him.  This second time, the story focused on his newfound internet stardom.  Check it out.

Props to Antoine for cleaning up and portraying himself in a more positive light.  Shame on the station for doing a story about their story.  At this point, the station’s actions become self-serving and promotional.  The almost self-righteous tone of the reporter as she explains the justification is more than off-putting.  It’s as if to say, “we probably shouldn’t do another story on this but, forget it, let’s go ahead.”  She plantively justifies the station’s follow-up story despite objections from the community: “To that I say, censoring people like Antoine is far worse.”

Maybe, but exploiting people like Antoine is far, far worse.

Both Prince Zuko and Aang realize M. Night Shyamalan should have quit while he was ahead.

With Elliott on the way, I’ve had a lot of friends ask me if I wonder what it’s like to be Stephanie right now.  Seeing her belly wobble and having my hand occasionally kicked, I can honestly say I would not like to know what it’s like to have “a people” inside of me.  Steph recently put it to me this way: Imagine your stomach is a burlap sack filled with kittens.

Adorable? Terrifying? Both.

After getting back from a late lunch this afternoon, I can certainly tell you what it’s like to have a “food baby” inside my tum-tum.  Looping around campus, we crossed a speedbump.  The abrupt rocking sensation combined with the food baby made me want to yak.  In short, I realized the miracle of life is best left to the ladyfolk who endure with patience and kindness.

It’s odd when the shoe is on the other foot.  In addition to the trials and tribulations of carrying life, Steph has had to suffer through my rants regarding adaptations of comic books into television shows and movies.  She kindly listens as I rant about changes in continuity, missing story beats, and blatant misuse and abuse of engaging characters and series.  With that said, I should have picked up on her hesitation about seeing The Last Airbender movie.   When we began dating, Steph tried to introduce me to the Nickelodeon cartoon series Avatar: The Last Airbender (Netflix members can watch the entire series on demand!).  Given it’s scope, mythology, and overall sense of awesomeness, I should have clicked with it immediately.

From time to time, Stephanie would remind me about the series and how good it was.  With the film adaptation premiering, I pull the Book One (season one) DVDs off the shelf and started watching the series last week.  It was as good as Stephanie promised.  The series was smart and sophisticated while maintaining the fun and whimsy one would expect of a Nickelodeon program.  It made sense why Stephanie loved the show so much.  I couldn’t figure out why she wasn’t suggesting we go see the midnight screening in town.  Well, the 8% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes had something to do with it.  The attacks about the movie’s white-washing of the cast (better known as “racebending“) probably had something to do with it as well.

After seeing the movie, though, I realized her problem with the film was the same set of grievances I find with the Harry Potter movies and film adaptations of my favorite comic book characters.  You simply cannot capture that same magic again.  The visuals in the film were impressive, but the dialog was horribly stilted.  The characters didn’t act in the way a fan of the series would expect.  The whole thing was dragged down by its somber tone and own sense of self-importance.  The pieces were all there, it just wasn’t the same.

In protest of the movie and support of the series, we immediately left the theater and bought seasons two and three on DVD at Target.  How funny it was, then, as we reached Book Three: Chapter 17 last night.  The episode, titled “The Ember Island Players” provides the audience with a brief pause before the final four episodes and the culmination of the sixty-episode series.  (You can watch the full episode on the Nickelodeon website, too.)

In the episode, the cast of characters discover a play is being staged telling the story of the Avatar and his friends.  The problem with the play is that it gets everything wrong (except for the Kathy Rigby-esque actress playing Aang).  Sure, the basic plot points are there, but the characters don’t do the things they should.  The person adapting the story misses the point of our heroes’ adventures by substituting melodrama and winks-and-nods for the substance and heart of its source material.  The audience wildly laughs and applauds at the spectacle but the characters sit in their balcony seats only to lament that this really isn’t their story.

I imagine that’s how Stephanie felt sitting in the theater.  It’s hard to love something so much and yet hate the position in which you find yourself.  When you find a set of characters in a story, tv series, or movie that resonate with you so strongly, it’s hard to see those things misrepresented.  They become a part of you and you a part of their story.

Yale University certainly needs very little help in getting students to apply. The prestigious Ivy League school is one of the nation’s most difficult schools to get into, after all.

That doesn’t mean their admissions office doesn’t know how to have fun. Hitting the internet over the past few days has been a 17-minute musical titled “That’s Why I Chose Yale.” The student-produced film has almost 118,000 at the time of posting.

Current students applying to college have grown up accustomed to individuals breaking into song and dance for no reason whatsoever. Think about it: High School Musical, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, and the TV series Glee all rely heavily on bits of the old song and dance.

What’s particularly fun for forensicators is that the star of Yale’s YouTube sensation is Kobi Libii, a 2003 NFL National Finalist in Original Oratory. Check out Yale’s official YouTube channel to see the viral hit, or hop on over to NFLtv to see his final round speech titled “Spin Cycle.”

p.s. Don’t miss the cameo from NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams at the 6:50 mark.

It’s not the claim of opponents of the President’s healthcare reform efforts. Instead, it seems to be the allegorical underpinning of ABC’s reimagining of the early 1980s television miniseries V.

Anyone who has sat through an honors high school English class where they read George Orwell’s Animal Farm can attest to the power of achieving political commentary through the use of allegory. As it turns out, a pig is not always just a pig nor is a horse always just a horse. In the case of V, a story about an alien invasion is not just a sci-fi yarn about visitors from another planet.

An article from Slate this week poses the question “Is V a political allegory?”:

More than a few journalists and bloggers have remarked that it’s possible to read V as an allegory hostile to President Obama and sympathetic with the birthers and other nutcases who believe him to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The charismatic Visitors load up their “bandwagon” by “spreading hope.” In using their sophisticated iguana technology to provide free medical services, they promise “universal health care.” Indeed, if the show is to have the symbolic import that we expect from a science-fiction story, this is the only possible way to read V as a coherent text.

The original miniseries, which aired in 1983-84, did not seem to hide its message. The Visitors from the series were painted as Nazis, building upon a generation still very familiar with the ramifications of WWII and the Nazi occupation of Europe. Still entrenched in the Cold War, it had a resonate message for American audiences.

The Wikipedia entry for the series details it as such:

The story became a Nazi allegory, right down to the Swastika-like emblem used by the Visitors and their SS-like uniforms. There is a youth auxiliary movement called the “Friends of the Visitors” with obvious similarities to the Hitler Youth, and Visitor broadcasts mimic Nazi-era propaganda. The show’s portrayal of human interaction with the Visitors bears a striking resemblance to stories from Occupied Europe during World War II with some citizens choosing collaboration and others choosing to join underground resistance movements.

Where the Nazis persecuted primarily Jews, the Visitors were likewise depicted to persecute scientists, their families, and anyone associating with them. They also distribute propaganda in an effort to hide their true identity. Some of the main characters in the initial series were from a Jewish family and the grandfather, a Holocaust survivor, frequently commented on the events of the past again unfolding. Once they are in a position to do so, the Visitors later declare martial law to control the scientists (and resistance fighters) as well.

Before we get too caught up in things, it is important to note that only one episode of the series has aired. However, based on the events of that episode, the plot of the original series and teasers for upcoming events, it’s not too hard to guess where this thing is going. Don’t ask the producers, though, as they’ll play coy on the matter.

What is particularly unique about V is that this marks the first overt critique of the Obama administration in the mainstream media. We are all certainly aware of the back-and-forth between the White House and Fox News; however, one year into his presidency, it seems as though Obama is finally being examined with a less-than-favorable eye in Hollywood entertainment. The Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel muses on some characteristics of the Visitors’ leader, Anna, and her message to the people of Earth that might seem familiar:

Promotional teasers have been running for weeks on ABC with the tagline, “They gave us hope. We gave them our trust.” Hope, of course, was a keynote buzz word during last year’s presidential campaign.

Isolated, this coincidence would not be an issue. However, the parallels to contemporary politics are relentless.

Visitors, whose case is made by an extremely telegenic leader, endear themselves to the people of Earth with, among other things, the promise of universal health care.

Their leader, Anna, is a proponent of one-world government.

Anna also is a compelling speaker as well as a master at manipulating media. Though a smile never leaves her face in public appearances, behind closed doors she is ruthless and controlling. One of her decrees is she will deal with only friendly TV news organizations. Any tough questions and the interviewer and his network will be ostracized.

What, then, does this mean for an Obama administration that is struggling to build consensus on healthcare reform, yet to shake off claims by “birthers” regarding his citizenship and reeling from Republic gains in this week’s elections? Maybe very little. Maybe a whole lot. Only time–and additional episodes of the series–will tell.

In the meantime, check out this lovely piece of propaganda in favor of joining the Visitors.

Over the years, our furry friends from that fictional New York borough have built quite the pedigree (122 Emmy wins and broadcasts in 140 countries worldwide). In addition to being woven into the very fabric of American culture, the folks at the Workshop have another milestone to celebrate next week: 40 years of television history. Since it’s inception four decades ago, Sesame Street has made a lasting impression on countless children who are now well into adulthood. When the show began, the landscape of both television and culture were very different.

The New York Daily News sums it up nicely:

The groundbreaking show, produced by the Children’s Television Workshop and a staple of public broadcasting, was years ahead of its time in promoting values that are now taken for granted in many places – accepting and appreciating diversity, not making assumptions based on gender, and being sensitive to cultural and economic differences, are all ideas the show emphasized before it was fashionable to do so.

The show has changed over the years in many ways. What was once a program intended to supplement learning for inner city children has become a cultural mainstay.

In time, most people and things grow up. It just so happens that Sesame Street has gotten younger over the years. As a wider variety of children’s programming has developed thanks to the dearth of cable channels, the show has shifted its target audience to younger and younger populations. Today, the intended viewership is someone in the ballpark of a four-year-old.

A CNN headline today boldly proclaims “Seasame Street‘s been swept but the magic of the show remains“. Can you imagine it? The show I watched as a kid featured a blue monster who smoked from a pipe and had a serious eating disorder. Even the recently released DVD collection of early episodes carry the following disclaimer: “These early Sesame Street episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child.”

I guess the producers didn’t get that message when the show lampooned the popular AMC series Mad Men.

If you really want to spend some time walking down Memory Lane–which is probably only a few blocks off Sesame Street–be sure to check out The Christian Science Monitor’s collection of their 11 favorite clips from the show’s history. (I still find myself humming the 1-2-3-4-5 pinball song randomly from time-to-time.)

There’s a lot of great stuff on the interwebs today. I hope you don’t mind a variety of sachhrine tributes.

Sesame Street: 40 Years Of Sunny Days David Fear, Time Out New York Kids

Sesame Street: Google Celebrates 40 Years Of Big Bird And The Gang Jack Schofield, The Guardian

How We Got To ‘Sesame Street’ Tim Murphy, New York Magazine

That leads us to the questions: Can entertainment effectively serve a dual purpose of education? Does our contemporary cultural sensitivity challenge nostalgia? Is Sesame Street still relevant?

Finally, check out the following preview of the new season before it premieres of November 10. Jazon Mraz, Michelle Obama and other novelties abound.

As a lover of all things internet, I just wanted to direct more attention to Boing Boing’s post about the Ada Lovelace Day pledge that’s going on for March 24th this year. Put yo’ bloggin’ pants on and git to goin’!

From the pledge via BoingBoing

Ada Lovelace Day is an international day of blogging to draw attention to women excelling in technology. Over 300 people have already signed a pledge to publish a blog post, video blog or podcast episode about a woman they admire on 24th March 2009. We need 700 more people for the pledge to be successful.

Recent research by psychologist Penelope Lockwood discovered that women need to see female role models more than men need to see male ones. But in the tech world women’s contributions often go unacknowledged and role models are hard to find. Ada Lovelace Day is a chance for us to sing the praises of the women who make tech tick: entrepreneurs, innovators, sysadmins, programmers, designers, games developers, hardware experts, tech journalists, tech consultants… The list of tech-related careers is almost endless and we want to see examples from all of them!