The Best Michael Jackson Tribute Ever: Senior Citizens

In the last year there have certainly been no shortage of tributes to the late great Michael jackson. The King of Pop has had concerts, a movie, countless dopplegangers, and many a photo-montage dedicated to him. Needless to say, it is surprising that so long after his death, I've come across possibly the best tribute to his legacy EVER: old men dancing to Billie Jean. Yes, you read that right, Billie Jean, senior citizen style. Happy Wednesday everyone, enjoy:

The Hole-iest Season of All...

This could be you...

Potholes. You've gotta love 'em. Well, you've certainly got to something them, because like it or not, they're here to stay. From November through April, metropolitan Minnesota becomes infested with the treacherous horse-sized holes, and so we drive on: hitting bump after bump after coffee-spilling divot. A friend of mine told me yesterday that the potholes outside her Cedar-Riverside apartment are so bad, if anything bigger than a pickup truck drives over them, it wakes her up at night. Ridiculous. With all the freezing and thawing that has been going on lately, they're worse than ever. So what is to be done? Sure, you can call the Minneapolis 311 line and report a pothole, and they, more often than not, will come and fix it. However, fixes last anywhere from a day to a few weeks typically, and they cost the city money in the interim (they'll get re-paved come spring anyways) and then poof! they're back again!

Sooo what to do, what to do, what to do... my suggestion? Public transportation. Chances are, if you're in a bus or on the light-rail you're not as concerned with the alignment-shattering abysses. Then again, that suggestion may not be approved by my good friend in her pothole-adjacent apartment at night, because MAN does a bus make a racket when it drives over one of those puppies.

My other suggestion? Let them get so bad that they soon become a corporation's advertisement platform. Take Chicago, for example: last year, their potholes got so bad that KFC began filling them in to generate some goodwill and free PR. Brilliant? I think yes. By all means, let KFC fill in potholes as they simultaneously clog America's arteries with fried chicken, the metaphor is too awesome to pass up. Who knows, maybe 3M, Target, or Best Buy could follow Colonel Sanders' lead.... and also give me a new stereo system for giving them the idea. Until then, check out metrotransit.org. to find a bus/train near you.

-K

The Weekly Prank: The "Sarkozy"/ Palin Phone Call

Hey Shiverers, another frigid Tuesday, and I've gotten a lot of suggestions for favorite pranks, but one has risen to the top this week. Although it is over a year old, I, as well as most of you I'm sure, had forgotten about one of the best prank phone calls ever: the Sarkozy call to Sarah Palin. The illustrious former-governor of Alaska was prank called by two notorious Canadian comedians who pretended to be French President Nicholas Sarkozy and guess what? She believed them! No matter what your politics, this is some downright funny s**t, enjoy the memories.

A Tribute to the Calvin and Hobbes Snowmen

Hello shiverers, to get you over the Thursday slum, I've compiled a collection of what I belive are the greatest winter-inspired cartoons ever created: the Calvin and Hobbes snowman series. Clearly, Calvin is a precocious child, but freaking your parents and the neighbors out is never so much fun as when it is done with the help of snowmen, observe and enjoy:

My personal favorite is the snow-giant looking over the hill.

-K

The Weekly Prank: The Water Bowl Ceiling Trick

Happy Tuesday, everyone. Isn't it great to be in the weather-worn Twin Cities while everyone else in the country freaks out because of all the snow we're getting nationally? Just to prove my point, I saw someone in downtown St. Paul wearing shorts while bicycling the other day... we're a hearty lot...

Although April Fool's Day is a ways off, I thought I'd start a new series where I pull some of the best footage of pranks I could find on YouTube and share it with you lovely people. My first entry, a video of the infamous water bowl on the ceiling prank. The only issue I can see with implementing this is that once they have been humiliated, the "prankee" now has a large stick with which to hit the prankster, which I forsee as causing some serious problems:



See what I mean? That girl now has a broom handle, and she's probably pretty pissed.

Have a good prank to share? Comment!

-K

Happy Birthday Current!

The Crowd from above

Q: So what does spending almost an entire Friday in front of a computer hitting the "refresh" button get you?

A: Four member pre-sale tickets to 89.3 The Current's 5th Birthday Party at First Avenue.

WIN.

After being one of the hundreds of MPR members who helped crash First Ave's ticket-buying server during the member pre-sale, I persevered and basically sat by the computer all day to finally get my four glorious ($6 a piece) tickets to the local-music studded party that happened last week at First Avenue, celebrating five years of truly great music for the Twin Cities.

The lineup was The Twilight Hours, Lookbook, Mason Jennings, POS, and Solid Gold, all local acts that have been able, much in part because of the Current, to make it big outside the Cities. My favorites initially were Mason Jennings and POS, but I also really enjoyed Lookbook's synth-pop airyness and their singer's visceral wails, which I'm sure reminded most people there, myself included, of Karen O's signature sound-offs in the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. 

Here are some pics of the shindig, which also featured free catered food from Red Stag Supper Club (free oysters, I kid you not), Solera, and other TC foodie staples.

Nick and Jane with their "Mason Jennings is on stage!" faces on

Mason!

POS

    

Mayors RT Rybak and Chris Coleman showed up

Here's to you, Current!  -K

Commuter Cat

A quick post here amidst a very busy week- I recently stumbled on this lovely little Japanese commercial that advertises, well... I'm not quite sure what it advertises, but it's ridiculous and hilarious, so check it out!