There is a Christmas Version of the Macarena

 Do you need me to tell you it's an abomination? How long can you listen?

To quote Norm Macdonald, "Happy birthday, Jesus! Hope you like crap!"

The First 2 Hours of MTV's Existence

 

MTV premiered August 1, 1981 - I missed the anniversary by 1 day - and you can now watch the first two hours ever broadcast on that channel, on youtube.

1981 is before my time and this is not my kind of music but it's still a quaint and interesting artifact, interesting enough for me to bother watching it.

A lot of people complain how MTV doesn't show music anymore - I was one of them. But I've finally reached the acceptance stage of grief and don't really care. I've reached the even more depressing conclusion that an MTV that showed music videos could never succeed today - everything is on-demand on the internet and no one has the patience to sit through any song that they don't like. In some ways this is progress, in some ways we're breaking down.

Game Grumps - Power Wash Simulator

 

Dan gets it.

Late Show - The Best Stupid Human Trick

 I remember watching this live and I've thought about it ever since. On the one hand, I could never see any way that it could be fake - the camera is zoomed in and no tether is ever visible - on the other hand, I can't imagine how it would be real. 

Two thoughts to break the tie. 1, if it is as simple as sucking in air powerfully, the gum should not be arcing upward. 2, She adjusts her head and mouth to follow the path of the gum which tells you it isn't really suction at work. If it was, the gum would follow her.

The comments' consensus is that the gum is tied to a strand of hair. With 1080p and frame-by-frame advance I see no hair but "it wasn't HD video back then" is the only thing I can conclude.

RLM Discusses the Munsters Trailer

 

The Wicked Witch Episode of Sesame Street Has Been Found

Ladies and gentlemen, it is finished, the end has come, the fifth and last Golden Ticket has just been found right here in Paraguay.  the lost and banned episode of Sesame Street featuring the Wicked Witch of the West has turned up online.

I was planning on making a joke about how this post syncs up with "Dark Side of the Moon" but the video already did that joke.

And here is the episode:

For a compilation of just the Wicked Witch parts, click here.

And a few thoughts...

For someone who was trying to rehabilitate her image, this was an INSANE move for Margaret Hamilton. The stark contrast of with makeup/without makeup is one of your main tools to get kids to not be afraid of you. So why not have a plot where the wicked witch is proven to be able to disguise herself to look like an ordinary old woman? Yes, even though the old woman may look normal, she's still a witch underneath and, don't forget, she wants to steal your dog.

"I won't give her back this broom until she gives me a little respect" is terrible principle.

The guy's acting is also terrible. I've always accepted Sesame Street's "big" acting because it was for children and that's the norm for children's programming, but this is just bad.

A lot of the reaction to this episode involves adults being shocked that anyone found this to be scary - the whole reaction was a huge overreaction. I don't think so. In the 50 years or so of Sesame Street's existence, how many villains have their been? How many villains with magical powers? The bar is set by Oscar the Grouch whose main weapon is being impolite. This episode would be a violation of viewer expectations.

When I was a kid, my one friend opined that the scariest villains in the world were Darth Vader and the Wicked Witch of the West. I quickly realized the verisimilitude of the statement and assented. He then added that when he was younger he opined that they must be married and that was too large a logical leap for me.