Friday, April 17, 2009

What You Wish You Could Say; Introducing the Comic Genius of Tim Minchin

Tim Minchin is my new favorite comic find; his work all seems to be in songs (mostly on piano) and he is Aussie. He's basically the thinking-man's Weird Al Yankovich (and that is a very poor comparison mind you). The first video below is a 9 minute beat poem by Minchin called Storm (which I thoroghly intend to memorize), followed by several other funny songs of his that I stumbled accross.  Enjoy!

Storm


If I Didn't Have You


Inflatable You


If You Really Loved Me


Taboo


Some People Have It Worse Then Me


There are tons more on YouTube, go check 'em out.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Honoring The Fallen

It has been 18 years since we as a nation (via the media) have been allowed to view the homecoming of fallen servicemen. The following is a video of the short transfer ceremony of Air Force Staff Sergeant Phillip Myers at Dover Air Force Base. Myers, now a recipient of two Bronze Stars, was killed while dismantling a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. The family was asked if they would like to allow media and they agreed. I found this video extremely moving.

I highly recommend muting the volume of the commentators and just watching the procession:


This clip is from an episode of Countdown, which can be viewed in it's entirety here.

For a more complete story on the original ban on media at Dover, check out this clip from NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams:

I hope I am not the only one who would like to see more public displays of respect like Canada has done with it's Highway of Heroes: