You know when you have an emotion so powerful inside you that the only way to express it is to break out in song? I do that a lot, and you know what? Nobody around me is happy. I sing about as well as I dance. And this dog dances better than I do.
Lucky for you, my voice had absolutely nothing to do with “Frat House: The Musical,” an awesome new web series that just happens to be one of the winners of this year’s “Subway Fresh Artists™ Featured Filmmakers” competition!
Filmmaking students at USC and NYU—two of the top film schools in America—submitted short films for consideration. Two teams from each school won the top prizes, which means their series are getting the star treatment!
First up is “Frat House The Musical,” the story of a plucky college freshman with pipes of gold and abs of steel.
He wants nothing more than to join his father’s fraternity. Sadly, the Sigma frat doesn’t want him… until they realize they need him to survive. Drama! Dancing! Singing! Subway! What more could you ask for?
For you to watch it.
Posted on 11/8/2011 2:17:11 PM by Maria
And that's really what it is, isn't it?
We're all sitting here, staring at our iPhones in disbelief. Finding comfort in one of the tens of thousands of songs on our iPod. Searching the internet to share in the mourning en masse on our MacBooks.
After we're done here, we'll edit some videos using Final Cut Pro. While we listen to a playlist we made on iTunes. When we get hungry later, we'll use an app on our iPhone to figure out a good place nearby to eat. When we get home, we'll iChat with our parents across the country and tell them what we've been up to. Hell, even one of our most popular videos took place in an Apple Store.
For so many of us who never even met the man, we can't imagine what our lives would have been like without him.
The real brilliance of Steve Jobs's vision is that he believed we all deserved to live the lives of our dreams, and he gave us as many tangible tools as possible to try and do just that. How many of us began vlogging because we were experimenting with our iSights? How many of us became interested in telling stories because of iMovie? How many of us now see the world refracted through Steve Jobs's lens?
We're not the first to post this video, but its message bears repeating, even on days when it isn't almost painfully poignant:
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
Thanks for believing in all of us, Steve. You have to have known that you made a difference.
(Image via Jonathan Mak)
Taxi Driver. Taxi. Cash Cab. That movie With Jimmy Fallon, Queen Latifah and Gisele Bundchen that no one will ever admit to seeing.
There's something glamorous and romantic about taxis, right? Who doesn't wish they could jump into one and say "Follow that car!" Or "Step on it!" Or "Don't you dare try to take me down the FDR during rush hour!"
A few weeks ago Mark Malkoff tried to make some taxi riders' dreams come true, so long as their taxi-riding dream wasn't more complicated than getting from one place to another:
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Highlights include when Mark and his driver "Tony Danza" the cab:
And Mark's costume changes:
Make sure you follow Mark on
Twitter and
Facebook so that the next time he's looking for someone to be in a video, it might be you. You might even get a free meal out of it, so long as you don't mind sitting in your food:
(Intern Josh, wondering forlornly how he ended up here)
EDITOR'S NOTE: It's Josh's last day as an intern for My Damn Channel! I asked him to write up a post telling you what it was like for him this summer!
Coming into My Damn Channel as an intern I thought all I was gonna learn was how to file papers and fill out reports. Boy was I wrong! Friday will be my last day and I still haven't correctly filled out a single report. My boss is always saying that it drives him crazy how long it's taking me to get the hang of the office duties, but I can tell he's just joking. How I treasure that agonized look he gets trying so hard to hold back laughter.
What I learned though was way more valuable than any college education. I would say it was worth about $230,000, a couple hundred more than four years' tuition at Wesleyan. What I learned was the value of making the effort to gain the respect of your peers.
Before I ever set foot into that office, I had my work cut out for me. My future co-workers had already started gossiping that I only got the internship because of my family connections. After failing for three years to strike any gold, my great-great-grandfather started My Damn Channel during the California Gold Rush as a burlesque show designed to entertain entrepreneurs who had given up on trying to find gold and started companies catered to the needs of the gold miners. Grandpa Schmulie Meisel. I can't believe that was such a popular name back then — Grandpa.
My first day at work the guy sharing my cubicle got mad at me for unplugging his computer. "What do you need a blender for?!" he irrationally snarled. "How else are you gonna make computer smoothies silly? By hand?!" I chucked his computer into my oversized blender. He must've thought I was awfully spoiled, not making my computer smoothies by hand. I really had an uphill battle ahead of me if I wanted to gain anyone's respect.
A couple of days in I got the courage to pitch a show idea to the head of development. It was a parody of "Friends" called "Friends." He looked at me like I was an idiot. "You just handed me a bunch of "Friends" scripts. I think I know now why the printer's out of ink. Look, why don't you hold off for a bit before you make any more pitches." Apparently my scripts had gone right over his head. And "Friends" was a pretty accessible show. The guy I shared my cubicle was a rube, our head of development was dense as a neutron star, and my boss was an incorrigible prankster. My situation was less than ideal to say the least.
Halfway through the summer things had only gotten worse. I was miserable. My only friend was the janitor, and he was a Roomba! I'd cry myself to sleep every night, and when I wasn't feeling that sad I would get my butler to cry me to sleep. My job was a major disappointment. It wasn't at all like that show "The Office." We had TWO guys named Dwight, and the prettiest girl wasn't dating the most handsome guy (me), but instead this guy Jim who's so inexperienced with women that when I asked him to share some girlie stories he just laughed.
All I could do was trudge along until my five weeks were up, filing away papers wherever I could cram them (I may not get the job done pretty, but I'm damn fast). And just when I had given up on ever gaining a single ounce of respect from any My Damn Channel employee, a stroke of luck bolted me right in the face.
I'll always remember it like it was yesterday, even though it was only yesterday today. Jim's girlfriend (I think her name was Xamela) told him he needed to go somewhere to sign some forms. She couldn't give him a ride because she was busy. He asked if anyone else could take him, and I shot out of my chair like I was sitting on a lit match (which for the one of the first times I wasn't). Jim didn't see me at first; his eyes scanned the room for someone to drive him but everyone pretended to be hard at work because they were too lazy to take him. Finally he saw me and said "Fine let's go Josh." And fine it was. Everyone looked up at Jim and smiled at him. Their smiles seemed to say, "I'm really happy for you that you get to go on a fun/crazy/cool ride with Josh." But the smiles had a little menace behind them that signified jealousy.
When I got back my boss laughed with mirth, patted me on the back, and said, "Good job sonny." All I ever wanted was for my boss to think of me as a son, but life isn't easy. I had to put in my time to get what I wanted — let's just say I don't think I could've earned the luxury of being treated by my boss like his own flesh and blood if I hadn't given Jim that ride. And now, in these last couple of months before my summer ends and I have to go back to hitting the books trying to eventually earn my GED, I can look back at my time at My Damn Channel atop my pool float, computer smoothie in hand, and know that that one lesson I learned was well worth all my trifles. Plus it helped that I was making more than the rest of the office combined.
Thanks, Josh, er, Sonny! We will miss you! We know it will be tough going back to Stanford to get a world-class education, but it's better you than us!
We fully intend to continue stalking following you and your writing as @artsypriest and as a writer for The Stanford Chaparral.
PS: If any of you, dear readers, for some strange, maddening reason, would like to be an intern for My Damn Channel, please send an email to info@MyDamnChannel.com, and be sure to include links to your blog, Twitter and Tumblr accounts, or any other writing samples you might have! In the immortal words of the Jersey Shore kids in Italy, "Arrivederci, summer!"
Some intrepid fans have launched an online campaign to get
Gigi and Book of Mormon star Josh Gad a hosting gig on Saturday Night Live, and we have to say, that sounds like a pretty good idea to us.
The site
Brobible says, "Gad's one of the funniest, quick-witted young actors around, and his big
frame and mop of curly hair belie his intelligence and comic timing.
The ironic part about this campaign to get him to host 'SNL,' in my
opinion, is that if he were a cast member on the show, he'd instantly
become its biggest star. Think Will Ferrell meets Chris Farley.
Seriously, he's that good, and it's apparently his lifelong dream to
appear on 'SNL.' Isn't it everyone's?"
Wow. So
LIKE the page, support the campaign, and help Josh Gad live the dream, man. Uh, we mean, "my mans."
Posted in
Maria,
My Damn Channel,
My Damn Channel Blog Network,
Nick Douglas,
Slacktory with tags
Slacktory,
Slacktory.com,
blog network,
Cheezburger,
Awl,
Nick Douglas,
internet culture,
pop culture,
comedy,
planking,
cats on 7/12/2011 3:00:00 AM by
Maria
Today is a new day in the world of My Damn Channel because we officially launch the My Damn Channel Blog Network with
Slacktory (http://slacktory.com).
Slacktory is helmed by one of our favorite internet users,
Nick Douglas, former editor of
Valleywag and
Urlesque, where he helped us navigate the vast internet with humor and wit. We were so impressed by him, naturally we
stalked followed Nick on Twitter and Tumblr and when he mentioned briefly that he was looking for a new challenge, we pounced. Social Media: it works!
(Nick!)
Now Nick and his merry band of writers are all part of the Damn Family. We always wanted more brothers and sisters, but Mom said "over her dead body," so this is, like, the
best kind of compromise. We get some new playmates and Mom's still alive.
Make sure you visit
Slacktory.com daily to find out what shenanigans that crazy internet has gotten itself into this time! Today, we have stories about Jessi Slaughter, a Harry Potter/Book of Mormon parody, a visit to Jack In The Box with Tom Waits and a weekly column from Mark Zuckerberg that Mark Zuckerberg has nothing to do with at all.
But, don't worry! We haven't forgotten our online video roots! Slacktory will curate, remix and mashup videos at
MyDamnChannel.com/Slacktory. Our first Slacktory
video has cats, babies and Hitler explaining "Planking," so, you know, there's something for everyone!
Slacktory is just the beginning. We're coming for you, Internet. Please continue to do ridiculous things so we always have something to talk about.
Welcome back from another successful Memorial Day weekend. Whether you're still a bit hungover, sunburned, or just plain tired, your problems don't compare to the emotional mess that is
Versailles - Episode #5.
William H. Macy tries to set the record straight about Evelyn (Patricia Heaton) and Sara (Martha MacIsaac) explains why the set of "You're In Sports" is a perfect place for her.
THIS JUST IN - Versailles is featured in a major story in USA Today (page 3D). Click
here.
Posted with tags
josh gad,
new,
bbc,
press,
gigi,
lost nomads on 1/31/2011 7:32:17 AM by Dubs
Last week we let Gigi: Almost American out of the bag. He's making his way around the web at ludicrous speeds. Check it out!
Entertainment Weekly
Theater Mania
Sitcoms Online
Variety
Ad Week
Valley News Live
...just to name a few.
The nominees for the 83rd Academy Awards were announced this morning by Mo'Nique and The President of the Academy! both looking good reading from a monitor.
The nominees are all fine - you can read the full list here - but I think the real story of the day is that a couple of weeks ago I predicted the 10 Best Picture nominees:
BOOM! Nailed it! 10 for 10, baby! Just call me Oscardamus! That's my writing, scribbled two weeks ago, with doodles. I am clearly the Christian Bale of Oscar predictions; the David Fincher of predicting the future; the Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook of picking movies that will win an honor! Not you, not you, and not you!
Now, I now what you're saying. "DannyMoney, the last choice is not quite clear! You've got three listed!" Yeah, yeah. Winter's Bone is first, and that's the one I'm going with. Got a problem? I'll give you 127 hours - OF PAIN. Which is exactly what that movie was about. James Franco in pain.
So yeah, just call me Oscardamus. And don't worry, DannySwami will be calling the winners right here, soon enough. Don't bet against me, suckas, you gonna get HURT.