BP Oil Spill, Re-Enacted in One Minute - By Kittens

Confused by all the hours of news coverage about the BP oil spill? Fret no more. This video explains how the whole thing happened in just one minute of your time--with adorable kittens! Who have British accents, no less!

If there was ever a video that could make you feel good (however briefly) about a tragic environmental disaster, this is it!

(Video found through Guy Kawasaki, who got it from BuzzFeed.)

Six Seasons of "Lost," Re-Enacted in 1 Minute - By Cats [Spoilers]

Afraid you'll never catch up with all the twists and turns of "Lost"? Never fear, the folks at TremendousNews.com have created a video in which cats sum up the entire six seasons of the show in just one minute. [Note: there are spoilers in the video that take you right up to date in the show, so be forewarned if you don't want to know some of the secrets of The Island and "Lost."]

Mongolian Death Worms - Latest Threat to Mankind!

As if we weren't worried enough about terrorism, humongous ash clouds, killer volcanoes, and other threats of all kind, the Syfy Channel (formerly Sci-Fi) has given us a new bugaboo to fret over: Mongolian death worms. (Yahoo TV takes a look at "Mongolian Death Worm", explaining the major plot points It also notes that Syfy is the network that brought us the deadly biological freak shows "Mega Piranha" and "Dinoshark." Hmmm...)

It seems that treasure hunters looking for Gengis Khan's tomb get something they didn't bargain for when they encounter these creepy crawlies.

The name alone tells you these are bad mothers you do NOT want to mess with. If not, view the clip above. Mongolian death worms look just like big, ugly, overgrown hybrids of worms and insects, and it was disturbing indeed to watch one devour a poor guy in the clip above. The mouthparts of the Mongolian death worm look kind of like a big anus, with a long inner part (similar to the "Alien" retractable head) that pops out to grab the prey out... sort of like a telescoping killer hemorrhoid.

So maybe the way to kill Mongolian death worms is to drop a 500-pound bomb filled with Preparation H on its ugly anus-head?

We can find out for sure when "Mongolian Death Worm" premieres on Syfy at 9 p.m. Eastern time. Sean Patrick Flanery ("Boondock Saints") is the primary human tasked with kicking the Mongolian death worm's ass (sorry, couldn't resist).

Lady Gaga American Idol Video - Full Performance

Lady Gaga performed "Alejandro" and "Bad Romance" on "American Idol," but the video shown on air was cut to fit time constraints. Lady Gaga was not happy about the cut (from six-and-a-half minutes to five minutes, according to Perez Hilton), so she posted a link to the video above of the full-length Lady Gaga "American Idol" video at Hilton's Web site. 

Shahzad Faisal Facebook Page - Is the Terrorism Suspect a Fan of FarmVille Cows?

Is Shahzad Faisal, the man arrested in connection with the Saturday night Times Square bombing, a fan of FarmVille Cows? Faisal was arrested late Monday night at JFK Airport, where he was trying to take a flight to Dubai, and a Web search of the name "Shahzad Faisal" includes a Facebook page of a man with that name.

So is this the Shahzad Faisal? According to one news report, the Shahzad Faisal with the Facebook page is in Shelton, Connecticut, and the man arrested Monday night is said to be a resident of the state.

If it's the same Shahzad Faisal, then the terrorism suspect has 115 friends; likes the mayor of Karachi, Pakistan and a restaurant in that city called One on One; and also enjoys playing FarmVille. In fact, one of his 14 "likes" is FarmVille Cows.

The Shahzad Faisal with a Facebook page has a profile picture showing a man (presumably him) standing across the street from a Macy's store. A street sign is near him, but it's hard to read what the names are or where the photo was taken. They could be New York City street signs, and if the Macy's in the photo is the flagship store in Herald Square, that's only a dozen blocks away from the place where the arrested suspect Shahzad Faisal allegedly parked the Nissan SUV he is thought to have bought a few weeks ago.

That SUV was filled with propane gas tanks, gasoline, fertilizer, firecrackers, and a couple of alarm clocks that definitely do not look high tech (one looks like something from a child's bedroom).

NOTE: Some news reports are referring to the arrested bombing suspect as Faisal Shahzad, while other recent reports continue to show his name as Shahzad Faisal.

The Iceland Ash Cloud Comes to Twitter ... Because Ash Clouds Have Feelings, Too!

I guess it was inevitable... with all the flack the Iceland volcanic ash cloud has been getting lately, the shape-shifting cloud of primordial volcanic stuff has created its own Twitter account, @theashcloud. (Or, more likely, a human or other carbon-based living organism with digits and opposable thumbs has created it for he/she/it.)

The much-maligned ash cloud has taken the heat for snarling travel all over the world, including European musicians canceling U.S. gigs and foreign athletes unable to run in yesterday's Boston Marathon, for which they had trained for months.

We don't know if @theashcloud has retained a PR or ad agency to manage its new branding campaign, but going to social media, especially Twitter, is a smart choice. Looking to provide a public service, @theashcloud is tweeting travel updates, links to news articles saying that the ash dust isn't all that harmful, and of course posting beauty shots of itself.

And there are indeed some lovely photos of @theashcloud - it takes on a striking diversity of shapes and colors depending on the viewing angle. Think of @theashcloud as the Lady Gaga of meteorological phenomenon.

(I just hope @theashcloud isn't related to Smoky, the infamous (and deadly) Smoke Monster from the TV show "Lost." But just in case, I'm spreading ashes around my apartment, in case @theashcloud comes by and wants to know Who Stands in the Shadow of the Statue.)

So let's lay off the abuse of @theashcloud, even though it has messed up the travel plans of millions of people worldwide. In this go-go, nonstop world, we could all use a little downtime, a pause to slow down and unplug, to stop and smell the... airport bathroom. And besides, ash clouds are people, too!

For the record, here is @theashcloud's Twitter profile information:

• 
  
• Name Volcanic Ash Cloud
• Location The Sky
• Bio Originally from ICELAND, 8KM tall, love to TRAVEL; ég er ösku ský, gaman að hitta þig!

Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock) Comes to Twitter! Check out "TheRealNimoy"

Star Trek fans, Leonard Nimoy has landed on Twitter. The man known worldwide as Mr. Spock recently joined the wildly popular microblogging service, and his account has the "Verified" badge on it, confirming that this really is Leonard Nimoy.

As you can imagine, the Leonard Nimoy Twitter account, though apparently new, has become quite popular. Though he just sent his first tweet (update) on April 2nd, Nimoy has more than 25,000 followers already.

On the Leonard Nimoy Twitter account you'll find musings on Star Trek, updates on "Mr. Spock's travels," news on his film and other projects, and more.

Mr. Spock has beamed himself down to Twitter, and you can follow him!

Zombie Jesus Takes Over the Internet!

Easter is a day for cute, furry bunnies, Easter bonnets, church services, and home-cooked family meals. But on The Interwebz, it is something else: Zombie Jesus Day!

The phrase "zombie Jesus" was perhaps created by atheists or nonbelievers to make light of the on-the-third-day-he-rose aspect of the Easter story, but like many other things, it has morphed into an all-purpose meme when the Internet got its mitts (wires? sockets?) on it.

Zombie Jesus has broken into Google Trends, along with such Easter favorites as "how do I tie a tie," "brown sugar glaze for ham," "deviled egg recipes," and the ever-popular "Is Walmart open on Easter?" (Of course, if Google didn't edit the trending topics, #1 would probably "How early is it permissible to get drunk on Easter?"

(Zombie Jesus has yet to break onto Twitter's trending topics, which would put it on a footing with Justin Beiber and #threewordsaftersex.)

It's not known if appropriate Zombie Jesus Day traditions have emerged: watching zombie movies; pulling an all-nighter so as to be wandering around in a zombie-like, sleepless stupor, etc.

But it's safe to say that as long as there's an Internet, there'll be a Zombie Jesus and Zombie Jesus Day.

April Fool's Office Pranks - Geeky Gags & Pranks for the Digital Age

Everything in today's modern world has gone digital, and that includes April Fool's pranks as well. The Web site Technically Personal (techpp.com) has put together a Web page that has links to a bunch of Web page that has links to a bunch of sites with fun pranks, gags, and practical jokes to play on friends, co-workers, fellow students, etc.

You'll find ways to punk, embarrass, and terrify folks with pranks and jokes including:
* free April Fool's Day prank software, for PCs and for Macs
* fun (but harmless) geeky pranks you can play on your co-workers (or even your boss, without fear of getting fired)
* harmless prank software that acts like a damaging computer virus
* an automatic system shutdown prank
* a list of more than 100 April Fool's Day pranks, tools, and gadgets with the geek in mind

Looking at the listing of these sites, it seems some are nearly a decade old, so not all of the pranks listed on the Web site may still be active (the page was posted for April Fool's 2009). And the older ones, even if they work, may just not be that funny for today's computer user.

But with the many dozens of April Fool's pranks the page offers, you'll be sure to find a bunch to have fun on April 1st. Happy April Fool's Day!

2010 Kids' Choice Awards Winners!

Congrats to the 2010 Kids' Choice Awards winners! The 2010 KCAs were held Saturday, March 27th, and many TV and movie stars were on hand, wearing their fancy clothes. Many of them ended up wearing something else, too: a lovely layer of green slime! This year's Kids' Choice Awards show was hosted by Kevin James.

Here are the 2010 Kids' Choice Awards winners:
Cutest Couple: Jacob & Bella
Favorite TV Show: iCarly
Favorite TV Actor: Dylan Sprouse
Favorite TV Actress: Selena Gomez
Favorite Music Group: Black-Eyed Peas
Favorite Female Singer: Taylor Swift
Favorite Male Singer: Jay-Z
Favorite Song: You Belong with Me, Taylor Swift
Favorite Movie: Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
Favorite Movie Actor: Taylor Lautner
Favorite Movie Actress: Miley Cyrus
Favorite Cartoon: SpongeBob Squarepants
Favorite Female Athlete: Misty May Treanor
Favorite Male Athlete: Ryan Sheckler
Favorite Video Game: Mario Kart
Favorite Book: Diary of a Wimpy Kid series
Favorite Animated Movie: Up
Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie: Jim Carrey

Go here to see the complete list of 2010 Kids' Choice Awards winners and nominees, with links to the individuals and their movies, TV shows, etc.

Congrats to all winners, and to all who got slimed, hoped that gooey green stuff washes out easily!

Get 2010 NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four Tickets from the Official NCAA Ticket Package Provider

If you're looking for tickets to the 2010 NCAA men's basketball Final Four, go to the link here to get them from PrimeTicket, the official NCAA ticket package provider: http://www.primesport.com/sports/ncaahoops-packages.asp. Although the Final Four is sold out, you can get Final Four ticket and hotel packages from PrimeTicket. There are Final Four ticket options with several different hotels to fit a variety of budgets, and the ticket packages are available for individuals and for groups.

There are a lot of counterfeit Final Four tickets out there being sold by unscrupulous brokers, so why not go to the official NCAA-approved agent? That way you'll have the peace of mind of knowing that you'll be getting real Final Four tickets.

2010 FINAL FOUR information:
Dates: April 3rd and 5th
Location: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Indiana

New Alleged Jesse James Mistresses - Is He the New Tiger Woods?

A fourth woman has said she was sexually involved with TV chopper dude Jesse James while he has been married to Sandra Bullock. What's up with this... is Jesse James the new Tiger Woods? People Magazine has the story at the link below, including the news that this latest woman, who has so far not identified herself, has hired celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred to represent/defend/pimp her.

Interestingly, Gloria Allred is the same lawyer who is representing one of the many Tiger Woods mistresses. With every one of these Woods mistresses and alleged Jesse James mistresses no doubt angling for fame, fortune, TV appearances, reality TV shows, and book deals, the airwaves are going to be pretty full of "I slept with ... [insert name of caddish male celeb here]" tell-all appearances. Meanwhile, James is working at his company, West Coast Choppers, trying to keep working as the controversy swirls all around him.

Fortunately, the U.S. has an abundance of high-priced celebrity lawyers, flacks, plastic surgeons, hangers-on, and enablers to satisfy them all!

Oscars Best Actress Winner 2010 - Sandra Bullock! And Great Acceptance Speech (VIDEO)

Sandra Bullock was the favorite to win Best Actress at the 2010 Academy Awards, but considering that upsets often occur it wasn't until Sean Penn announced her name that Bullock knew for sure that she had won. (Her acceptance speech is below; I hope it will still be there by the time you read this.)



Sandra Bullock has had a long career in film, with many hits (and a number of misses) on her resume. Though she is a talented actress with great comic timing, the fact that she is known mostly for romantic comedies has limited her chances to be nominated for an Oscar. This year that all changed with her dramatic turn in "The Blind Side" as a wealthy white woman who adopts a young black man and helps him become a top college football prospect. ("The Blind Side" is based on the true story of Michael Oher, who now is an offensive lineman for the NFL's Baltimore Ravens.)

This was the first Oscar nomination for Bullock, who has starred in popular comedies including Speed, While You Were Sleeping, Two Weeks Notice, The Proposal, Miss Congeniality, and Hope Floats. (One of Bullock's misses, All About Steve, won a Razzie Award for Bullock as Worst Actress, giving her the dubious distinction of becoming the only actress to win a Razzie and an Oscar in the same year.) Bullock has also been in some dramatic roles, most notably as part of the star-studded ensemble ine the Oscar-winning Crash.

Sandra Bullock's Oscar acceptance speech last night was classic Bullock: by turns funny, sincere, and gracious. She has a reputation as being a warm, genuine person, and in her speech she not only recognized her fellow nominees but paid tribute to the parents who care for children but don't get the credit or recognition they deserve. And she teared up when mentioning her own mother, Helga, who died in 2000.

With her Oscar win last night and other honors for The Blind Side, combined with the fact that her 2009 comedy The Proposal was her highest-grossing film to date, last year was a very good one for Sandra Bullock. Which makes her Razzie for All About Steve easier to take.

Get Free DaySpring E-Cards

If you like to send e-cards, check out DaySpring. DaySpring is a leading maker of Christian greeting cards, gifts, books, and other items, but they also have some items that don't have an overtly Christian message - so they're good for sending a nice card to someone who may have have strong religious or Christian beliefs.

DaySpring offers a range of free Christian e-cards you can send, for every occasion from Valentine's Day to birthday, communion, sympathy, holiday, and just about any other you can think of.

DaySpring lets you express your sentiments in a distinctly Christian style.

Dupont Circle Snowball Fight, Feb. 6 2010 - VIDEO

Another huge snowstorm has hit Washington, D.C., and that means another big group snowball fight. This one took place in Dupont Circle, and apparently involved several hundred people. We hope that no snowball hit an off-duty cop's vehicle, which happened during a D.C. snowstorm in December and led to the cop leaving his car and waving his gun in the air.

Today's snowstorm is even bigger, leading to power outages and an all-around mess. This one truly earns the names "snowpocalypse" and "snowmageddon."

Apple Introduces "iPad," Internet Jokes Ensue. iTampon, Anyone?

MadTV was all over the iPad before Steve Jobs had a clue. (OK, he apparently still doesn't.) Video from 2007.

Whatever one thinks of the technology or functions of the iPad that Steve Jobs introduced today, two things are clear: 1. Jobs doesn't have any women in his inner circle, and 2. he doesn't watch MadTV. The blogosphere and Twitterverse were buzzing Wednesday with jokes about the name iPad and how it sounds like some kind of, um, feminine protection.

For much of Wednesday night, "iTampon" and "iPeriod" were trending topics, ahead of the product's name. Jokes floated around beginning immediately after Jobs spoke the word iPad: wondering if the high-capacity version called a Maxi-iPad; remarking that the gizmo is "bloody brilliant," etc. You get the idea.

And yes, MadTV saw the comic gold in iPad as a feminine hygiene product back in 2007, as the clip above shows. Seriously, no one in the top levels of Apple watches MadTV? No woman was privvy to the product information and said, "Umm, bad name, guys"?

Having the most unbridled fun at the iPad's expense was Rachel Sklar, editor-at-large for the Mediaite Web site. Sklar's Twitter stream was full of iPad cracks Wednesday, and I couldn't stop reading them.

Fortunately, Sklar wrote a column collecting many of the funny iPad jokes, as well as the MadTV video and a photo of Steve Jobs speaking in front of a blowup of the iPad (with wings for added protection PhotoShopped in). And she announced the article with the following tweet:

"My Bloody iValentine: Welcome, Apple iPad! More iPad jokes! Absorbent + fresh!"

A couple of Sklar's previous tweets on the iPad:
"Convenient! When your iPad spends a lot of time with other iPads, they sync up."
and:
"If you take your iPad with you in the ocean, you're more likely to get eaten by a shark."

Of course, if the iPad functions well and becomes a big seller, all this joking will just be a one-day story in the Twitterverse. If not, it'll be an even bigger blunder than Apple's Newton.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie to Split, Sources Say

Say it ain't so! Hollywood power couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are splitting, a number of sources are reporting. The Sunday Times of London is one newspaper reporting the Brad and Angelina split on Sunday, and you can read the story from News of the World below.

The stories say that the couple had been meeting with a divorce lawyer recently and that papers have been signed. The couple have six children, three of which are adopted. The couple, who have been together since 2004 but never married, will have joint custody of the children, but they will live with Jolie, the stories say.

"I Already Work Around the Clock!" - Harrison Ford Line Lights Up the Internet

There's nothing like a new Internet meme to create a warm and fuzzy feeling of community, and the latest catch phrase buzzing around is a line from the new Harrison Ford movie, "Extraordinary Measures": "I already work around the clock!" (the blessed words are spoken about a minute and a half into the trailer above).

As an article on NowPublic.com notes, "I already work around the clock!" has gone viral, with an ESPN sportscaster claiming to have used it 25 times in a day. The article also refers to a Web site, ialreadyworkaroundtheclock.ytmnd.com, where you can hear the line repeated on infinite loop, with a photo of the angry Harrison Ford for inspiration.

"Extraordinary Measures" is about a father, Brendan Fraser, who seeks the help of a scientist (Ford) to find a cure for the disease that has stricken his children. Ford utters the now-famous line when Fraser tells him they must work around the clock to find the answer to the disease.

Will "I already work around the clock!" claim a place in the pantheon of other famous movie lines that have become Internet and pop-culture memes? Will it have the staying power of "Put the coffee down!," Alec Baldwin's classic from "Glengarry Glen Ross"? We'll find out when "Extraordinary Measures" opens January 22nd.

The A-Team Movie Trailer Hits the Web

"The A-Team" is the latest bygone TV show to be turned into a movie, and the trailer for the big-screen version in now online (only in a low-resolution version, from what I've seen). The movie doesn't open until June 11th, but the A-Team trailer will be screened in theaters this weekend.

The movie is directed by Joe Carnahan stars Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Sharlto Copley, Jessica Biel, Quinton Jackson and Yul Vazquez.

Justin Bieber, from YouTube Phenom to Genuine Star - NY Times

Justin Bieber at a signing at the Nintendo Store, New York City, Sept. 1, 2009. Photo: Kevin Aranibar

Teen heartthrob Justin Bieber is the subject of a good-sized article in the Sunday, Jan. 3rd edition of the New York Times. The article notes:
"But as he takes his place in the venerable line of Leifs and Shauns who have ruled the Tiger Beat princedom, he is also a creature of this era: a talented boy discovered first by fans on YouTube, then cannily marketed to them through a fresh influx of studiedly raw videos on the Web site."

The Justin Bieber article notes how the R&B star Usher has taken Bieber, a native of Ontario, Canada, under his wing and is part of a team that includes a "swagger coach," a former assistant to Usher who advises Bieber in fashion, moves, and attitude.