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I noticed this morning that there was a snowflake button on the YouTube video viewer this morning. It appears to be on videos that don’t show advertisements. Click it, and let it snow! Below is an image of one of my Unfriendly Giant cartoons. It’s just an image so that when summer rolls around and YouTube removes the snow button you can see that it was there. Click the image to go to the video and then click the snowflake to see what happens. Merry Christmas!

Jerome the Giraffe and Snow Flakes on YouTube

Let me start off by stating that I’m not one who advocates tossing garbage out the car windows, and I think it’s a good thing to recycle and simply accumulate less stuff. I’m also not one who is aboard the Greenpeace vigilante train, because I think they’ve got some priorities just as out of place as those they’re seeking to bring down (because of mis-placed priorities.) And with that out of the way…

Let’s enjoy a couple fun videos that combine my enjoyment of Volkswagen and Star Wars. In case you missed it, this VW spot was one of the most viewed ads of the year. It features a young Darth Vader unsuccessfully using the force all around his parents house. But he gets it right when he uses it to start his dad’s VW.

Next, Greenpeace parodies the VW ad. My only comment is that I’m happy to own two VW TDIs that get better milage than most other cars out there per litre of petroleum distillate.

And, kids dancing (badly) in StarWars costumes, the Danish version!

Now that we are somewhat used to the new addition to our family, I’ve been trying to spend more time with the Dude. Something that we’ve been doing together as a dad-and-eldest-son-exclusively lately is taking a “snow walk” in the evening. It started out just walking around the block, on neighbourhood streets covered with snow. Then it became walking down the back alleys (don’t worry, I live in a residential neighbourhood, I’m not taking my two-year-old dumpster diving or anything like that… yet.) Sometimes we (he) crawls along the boulevards/snowbanks.

Now that there’s enough snow, we’ve been hitting the sledding hill beyond our backyard. So, our snow walks have turned into sledding outings, and the Dude loves it! I shot some video one evening of him having a riot while hurtling down the hill in his little “baby sled.” That last slide still makes me smile and I’ve watched it dozens of times.

What do you think? Am I in for trouble when he gets older?

Disclosure: If you click on any of the ads on any of my videos, I might get a few pennies.

First, a bit of a disclaimer. I’ve been a big Muppets fan for good long time. When I was still in the single digits, I entered a colouring contest and won two tickets to the original Muppet Movie. I took my mom. And it just grew from there. So, I was very excited to take Jenn to see The Muppets on opening night last week.

I knew that this movie was probably a make or break scenario for Kermit and the gang. Twelve years after the less than stellar Muppets from Space, rumours were that Disney would mothball the franchise if the movie didn’t do well. So, I wanted it to do well. I also really wanted to laugh at the Muppets, like I did when I was younger.

Walter, a Real Muppet

I was sort of concerned about a couple things. First, this Walter guy. Really? A pretty plain looking, “human” Muppet? I don’t know. And he seems to be a pretty major character in the film. Then there was Jason Segel. He was great in Freaks and Geeks. I bet he’s good in How I Met Your Mother, but he’s also been involved some questionable stuff. Fortunately, Bret McKenzie of Flight of the Conchords was the musical supervisor, so the songs have got to be great, right?

Well, within the first five minutes of the film, I believed Walter. Let me assure you, he’s a Muppet of a Muppet. He’s funny and likeable. It’s very clear that Jason Segel gets the Muppets. He has written a Muppet movie that stands up with (and taller than) any Muppet movie from the past three decades. I don’t want to say that The Muppets is a better movie than The Muppet Movie, but given the choice, I’d rather watch Jason’s again tonight than Jim’s. That’s high praise.

The songs were funny, sometimes heartwarming, and very catchy. They were also quite Flight-of-the-Chonchord-y, which is a good thing. Jenn and I found ourselves singing them for days afterwards. All those previews in the trailers that you’ve seen, again, The Muppets did it right. I didn’t find my enjoyment of the movie was spoiled at all for watching them all. They may have set up some jokes, but never gave away the punchline with them. You know how after watching some trailers, you’ve seen all the best parts of the movie? Not so in this case.

The guest stars / cameos were all pretty good. My only complaint is that I didn’t know who those kids were. To be fair, they didn’t know who Kermit was either. Maybe that was the joke.

Now, let me comment on three of the better cameos. Jack Black (as Jack Black) was a good guy for the Muppets to kidnap and torture. Chris Cooper as Tex Richman was a fine villain. Two words, “maniacal laugh.” (Oh, I still laugh at that one.) And Big Bang Theory’s Jim Parsons was perfect in his role (but I’m not going to tell you what role he plays.)

As far as the best line of the film goes, I’m going to give it to the Sweedish Chef as he channeles his inner Al Pachino. Runner up for best line goes to Rowlf, “Classic.” and Kermit, “What? Children?” You’ll have to see the film and tell me if you agree.

Bottom line: If you like the Muppets, you’ll like The Muppets. Jenn who tolerates the Muppets enjoyed The Muppets. I even think that if you’ve never been exposed to the Muppets before, that you’ll like The Muppets. I heartily recommend you see it, and when you do, let me know, I might go see it again with you.

PS: The Moopets.

cc Apelad

I haven’t seen an Apelad cartoon since I (tried to) shut down my flcikr account. But one came across my view today that I had to share. I present, the seven deadly sins of Star Wars. Man, let me tell you, I’m totally guilty of Greedo.

But really, I’m thinking that George committed at least seven other sins in Star Wars, the least of them being Episodes I, II and III. No, maybe those are the greatest. That’s not true. I liked most of Episode III. But Jar Jar? Man.

What do you think George Lucas’ greatest “sins” in Star Wars are?