Reports From My Nanocosm

Six year old graffiti artists.

Because geeky professors can feel empowered to make videos in which they sound alarms and spread their message virally, while they enjoy their morning coffee.

Very cool, however the message given in the video isn’t. The professor, Brad DeLong, rings the alarm, saying evasive action taken by the Fed may not work and that government needs to start talking about solutions before we get another depression with deflation or the inverse, inflation.

For this video, you’ll need to visit the New Yorker web site. The video there is an interesting academic presentation regarding morality and how liberals often fail to get their message across.

Morality: 2012: Online Only Video: The New Yorker

The social and cultural psychologist Jonathan Haidt talks with Henry Finder about the five foundations of morality, and why liberals often fail to get their message across. From â??2012: Stories from the Near Future,â? the 2007 New Yorker Conference.

The first time I watched a music video I was nine. Van Halen’s Jump had just been released and I sat down to watch it with other boys from my Cub Scout den while we waited for our mothers. I wasn’t impressed. We ended up watching a few videos including Duran Duran singing about wolves, Michael Jackson starring in one thriller of a music video, and some others I don’t remember. Looking back on those days, I’m amused by the production put into some of the videos. Some actually cared about story.

Tonight, on a whim, I decided to check out what Y! Music has from that time period. Here are some classics:

Pat Benatar – Love is a Battlefield. You gotta love the stiletto heeled boots. Bollywood style dancing as well, although no Busby Berkeley scenes.

Bruce Springsteen – Born in the U.S.A. Still a good, patriotic song.

John [Cougar] Mellencamp – Small Town. Don’t know if you saw the news, but apparently John McCain is associating himself with John Mellencamp’s America.

Weird Al – Like a Surgeon. Cool Vans. The best 80â??s video ever!

It looks like the Muppets are running for President. Go Kermit! Go Miss Piggy!

I had no idea Google Maps could be evil. The guys who made this video provide a whole new perspective. Watch the video to find out more.

http://view.break.com/442027 – Watch more free videos

AOL decided to downsize and close its office in France. The recently downsized staff made this video as an au revoir and thank you for AOL’s years long commitment to its staff. I’ve heard, but not confirmed, that the staff received a year’s severance which is required by French law.

Update: The lyrics of the song are a mix of French and English. You can get the original lyrics, as well as an English translation.

It is amazing they were able to take it in one long sequence. That shows they probably put some work into preparing for the video. They don’t dress or look all that differently from the Silicon Valley crowd.

I love Japanese game show fun.

Someone decided to use Roller Coaster Tycoon as an entertaining method of plotting housing prices, adjusted for inflation, from 1890 until now. This video is the product. The Fed had to see this coming.

Ever eat at a sushi restaurant or make fun of people who do? This video is for you. Get your reading glasses out for the subtitles.

I love Japanese variety show skits and games even though I don’t speak/understand Japanese. This one is particularly hilarious: Human Tetris. Well worth the few minutes you spend watching it.

I’m punchy after studying too much. For some reason, I brought this video up to my wife and even partially acted it out. Now I’ve decided to post it.

And now for the maestro himself.

Louis Armstrong was one of the best artists, ever. In fact, I’ll go on a limb to say he was on par with Mozart in regards to musical acumen.

Mix an overhead projector with Louis Armstrong. Add imagination, and voila:

The artist is Raymond Crowe. This was taped at the 2007 Helpmann Awards, held at the Capitol Theater in Sydney on August 6th, 2007. The Helpmann awards are the Australian equivalent of the Tonys. Too bad his web site doesn’t list any upcoming appearances. I think it’d be great to see his show live.