Anch300rman

This mash-up is not as good as The Office/Nelly, but is anything? Nonetheless, anytime Steve Carell's riding a bear, I'm on board:

I hate you

No, not you, the loyal VB reader. The guy behind me right now at Panera in Yorktown, the loudest sandwich chewer on the face of the earth. Gross.

Barney's film had heart, but 'Football in the Groin' had a football in the groin

Sports bloopers work on so many levels!

Max Martin uses 'U + Ur Hand' to rip off... himself?

Now, I generally appreciate Pink and her grrrl-power ways, but something about her most recent hit single had been bothering me for months. I knew "U + Ur Hand" sounded waaay too much like another recent song.

Then, while listening to it in my car on the way home today, it hit me: It's a carbon copy of the Veronicas' "4Ever."

I mean, it's blatant, right down to the title's substitution of single-letter representations of full words. Here's audio proof, courtesy of some brilliant cat named Shard. (One or two curses in here. You've been warned.)

Via Google, I just learned through The Ink Blog's Jason Chatfield that Max Martin -- the pop god himself -- wrote both songs. As Chatfield puts it, "unless he sues himself, there’s no big deal about it."

Jason's A/V proof, with commentary:


A different YouTube version of the same mash-up:

The only difference? The Veronicas' version practically begs the object of their affection to go home with them, while Pink just wants him to go home.

To add insult to injury, Pink's spoken "I know you're talking s***, but you're going home alone, arent'cha?" is also reminiscent of the unimpressed quips of Shania Twain's "That Don't Impress Me Much" (i.e. "OK, so you're Brad Pitt.").

MySpace: Forcing bulletin readers to reply or kill

Ever read a MySpace bulletin? When you're done, just beneath the text sit two buttons:

• Reply To Poster
• Delete From Friends

True, you could always keep scrolling down, or scroll back up, to click links that would give you alternate options. But I like the idea that your friends' seemingly benign words, displayed in bulletin form, potentially could terminate your (online) friendship.

After all, if said (written?) words have merit on any level, why wouldn't you want to reply with a "Yes, I'd love to see your band!" or a "Wow, that sux about ur bf"? (Perhaps even with full words! Spelled correctly!)

And, subliminally, perhaps MySpace is encouraging posters to think wisely about what they post -- lest an angry/sleep-deprived/bored "Friend" decide that their musings are not just unimportant, but so awful that the only logical action is to completely remove them from HisSpace/HerSpace.

Mr. Darwin, I believe you and MySpace have been acquainted. The Top Friends function already exudes "survival of the fittest."

Janie's got a gun... WHAT is the DEAL with THAT?

Didja ever notice how the opening bass riff to Aerosmith's "Janie's Got A Gun" has the same synthetic bassline as the opening to "Seinfeld"?

"Janie's got a gun? Janie's got a gun? Now HOW did JANIE, exactly... get that gun? Did she cut school to get a license first? Did she then hold up the truancy officer with it so that she could get away with both crimes? I mean, if Janie's got a gun, that changes everything. That chemistry teacher's bumping up Janie's grade now. Suddenly, that covalent bond definition looks good enough."

No, thank you

Seen on my MySpace bulletin board, as posted by someone else:

"Please read. This is awful."

No, thank you.

Other bulletin board headings I'd be slow to read:

"You are a jerk."
"Survey of why Varsity Basketweaving is bad."
"Sad puppies"