Popes in a Volkswagen: 2007

Okay, so I'm a little late getting around to watching Train Wreck's big comeback on the VMAs. These are my immediate thoughts:

Who gave this the greenlight? Not on MTV's end (after all, if you're looking for viewers, a complete disaster is just as good as the greatest performance of all time), but on Britney's end? I mean, there had to be rehearsals at the very least , right? Someone, probably several someones, that should be looking out for this chick saw this "performance" before the live show and said, "Yeah. Perfect. This will be a great comeback." (And from the look of it, they probably followed up with, "Let's get her, like, 4 more Xanax too, k?"
Was it whatever sedatives they had her on or did her choreographer actually think it would be a good idea to have her barely move?
So this is how bad you have to be to make K-Fed look good.
This song isn't bad for a dance tune but I still think Perez Hilton did a better job with it.
And, finally, where was the fat chick in a bikini everyone keeps talking about? No matter how bad this went, Britney was still hot. A skank, but a hot skank.

So, without further ado (and even though everyone on the planet has seen it already), here's Brit:

...and here's Perez:

...and, just for fun, here's Chris. Chris likes Britney way too much:

So, the Internet People video is becoming very popular. Here's the video, followed by everything it references:

0. Internet People Video

An animated tribute to the Internet people of the world, wherever you may be. Animated by Dan Meth, with music by Dan Meth and Micah Frank.

And here, in order, is everything contained in the above video:

1. The Dramatic Chipmunk

(The Dramatic Chipmunk is actually a dramatic prairie dog.)

2. South Park - The Spirit of Christmas

The Spirit of Christmas is the name of two different animated short films made by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. The two shorts are notable for being precursors to the South Park animated series. To differentiate the two, they are often referred to as Jesus vs. Frosty (1992) and Jesus vs. Santa (1995).

Jesus vs. Frosty -

Jesus vs. Santa -

3. Star Wars Kid

The Star Wars Kid phenomenon started when a video clip recorded by a fourteen-year-old French Canadian high school student was found and shared online by a number of other students.

On November 4, 2002 the boy made a video of himself swinging a golf ball retriever around as a weapon, imitating the Darth Maul character from Star Wars Episode I. The video was filmed in the studio of his high school, and the tape was left forgotten in a basement. The original owner of the videotape discovered his recorded acts and immediately shared it with some friends. Thinking that it would be a funny prank, they encoded it to a WMV file and shared it using the Kazaa peer-to-peer file sharing network.

Within two weeks, the file was downloaded several million times.

4. Numa Numa

Numa Numa was an Internet phenomenon based on amateur videos made for the song Dragostea Din Tei by Moldovan pop band O-Zone.

A Flash-based video of American Gary Brolsma lip-synching the song energetically on his webcam brought the Numa Numa phenomenon to the US. Brolsma uploaded his Numa Numa Dance in December 2004. It has since been seen more than 14 million times and copied onto hundreds of other websites and blogs, making it the second-most watched viral video of all time (losing out to Star Wars Kid).

5. The Back Dorm Boys

The Back Dorm Boys gained their "fame" for their lip synced videos to songs by the Backstreet Boys and other pop stars. Their videos are captured on a low quality Web cam in their college dorm room.

6. Napster Bad!

Napster Bad! is a series of popular, but controversial Flash cartoons created by Bob Cesca from 2000-2003. The series spoofs the controversy surrounding the original version of Napster, most notably, Metallica's lawsuit against them.

In this first video, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich & singer/guitarist James Hetfield discuss their intentions of their lawsuit against Napster, mainly due to the fact that Napster downloads are free, and as a result, Metallica gets no profits. Backing up this fact, the room Lars and James are in is filled with bags of money. A special edition of Napster Bad! was released in 2003, featuring pop up facts, a deleted scene, hate mail, and a game where you tried to shoot flying naked Lars'. The deleted scene features Lars complaining on how him and James had to live off Dave Mustaine's "stagnant piss" before they hit it big.

7. Jack Rebney, Angriest RV Salesman in the World

Jack Rebney, also known as The Angriest Man In The World, The World's Angriest RV Salesman, or simply Winnebago Man, is the subject of a collection of outtakes from an industrial film he made for Winnebago Industries in 1988.

In 1988, Winnebago hired a production crew to shoot a promotional video for their 1989 product line. However, the project was stolen away from them by Rebney, who brought his own cameraman and a production assistant named Tony (often referred to in the video). Rebney had thought the video would be shot in sequence (and memorized his self-penned script accordingly), but his cameraman thought it made no sense for Rebney to walk in and out of the vehicle repeatedly (as scripted) and it would be more practical for Rebney to shoot all the outdoor scenes, then go back into the vehicle to shoot the remaining scenes. Because Rebney was not prepared for this sudden change, he repeatedly forgot his lines, leading to profanity-laden outbursts.

Afterwards, the production crew originally hired to shoot the video was sub-contracted by Rebney to edit it; they responded by circulating the outtakes as revenge against Rebney for stealing their gig.

8. Bert is Evil

Bert is Evil is the name of a heavily mirrored web site, founded by Dino Ignacio, which featured Bert, a Muppet character on the American children's television program Sesame Street.

The website, 1998 Webby winner for best weird site, featured manipulated images of the puppet consorting with nefarious figures including Adolf Hitler and Jerry Springer, and present at tragedies such as the JFK assassination, humorously offered as "proof" that Bert was no mere innocent children's television character. The "Evil Bert" phenomenon was picked up by other humorists, who created their own images linking Bert to current and historical atrocities.

While the original Bert is Evil site no longer exists, here's a link to a mirror that's still up and a Wiki link:

Mirror site - http://www.bertisevil.tv/index2.htm
Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_is_Evil

9. Goatse.cx

Goatse.cx was an infamous Internet shock site that became well-known among various Internet forums because of trolls who posted links in order to shock other forum readers. Its front page featured a picture, hello.jpg, showing a naked man stretching his anus open to a diameter roughly equal to the width of his hand, with the inside of his rectum clearly visible. Below his gaping anus, his dangling, semi-flaccid penis and scrotum were visible.

The original Goatse.cx site also no longer exists. Here's a Wiki link and a link to a still-existing mirror:

Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goatse.cx
Mirror site - http://goatse.cz/

10. Jib-Jab

JibJab.com is a website featuring Flash cartoons. It is run by Gregg and Evan Spiridellis, who call themselves "the JibJab Brothers". When they are credited together (such as when they are co-directors), they call themselves Grevan Spiridellis, which is an amalgamation of Gregg and Evan. The Bush-Kerry video referenced in 'Internet People' is below.

Website - http://www.jibjab.com

Bush & Kerry This Land Is My Land Video -

11. GI Joe Public Service Announcements

Fensler Films is a Chicago based-company, headed by Eric Fensler, which gained a reputation for their parody G.I. Joe PSA films. Fensler Films took the PSA/Safety Messages used at the end of every episode of the 1980s animated series G.I. Joe, re-cut them, in some cases adding new animation, and dubbed them over with new audio. A number of the films specifically poke fun at the low quality of animation common in cartoons of the era, pointing out poor inbetweening and lip syncing.

12. You're the Man Now, Dog!

You're The Man Now, Dog! is an online community centered on the creation of hosted web pages (known within the community as YTMNDs or sites) featuring a juxtaposition of a single image or a simple slideshow, which may be animated and/or tiled along with optional large zooming text and a looping sound file. Images used in YTMNDs are usually either created or edited by users. Most YTMNDs are meant to expose or reflect the more inane facets of pop culture, and some can be considered inside jokes.

Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You%27re_the_man_now%2C_dog
You're the Man Now, Dog! Site - http://yourethemannowdog.com

13. The Spongmonkeys - We Like The Moon

The Spongmonkeys, created by Joel Veitch, appear to be a pair of graphically edited tarsiers with human mouths. The creatures float in the air in front of a hydrangea bush while singing.

Original Flash animation at rathergood.com - http://www.rathergood.com/moon_song/
YouTube Vidcap -

14. Andy Milonakis - The Super Bowl is Gay

Andy Milonakis is a comedian who plays the role of a pre-pubescent boy on his television show, The Andy Milonakis Show. He has a congenital growth-hormone condition that gives him the outward appearance and voice of a pre-adolescent boy, when he is in fact an adult man.

Milonakis' "fame" began after he released home webcam recordings of freestyle rhyming, humor videos, and short films.

15. Ask a Ninja

The Ask A Ninja series of comedy videos, created by Los Angeles improvisational comedians Kent Nichols and Douglas Sarine, features a ninja who answers e-mails from "viewers".

Website - http://askaninja.com/

16. Denny "Blazin'" Hazen - Average Homeboy

Denny Hazen's music videos were produced in the late 1980s. After 17 years of this tape sitting in a box, someone posted Denny's video, Average Homeboy, on YouTube.

Website - http://dennyblaze.com/

17. lonelygirl15

lonelygirl15 is an interactive web-based video series, centering on the life of a fictional teenage girl named Bree, whose YouTube username is the eponymous "lonelygirl15." Lonelygirl15 came to international attention ostensibly as a real video blogger who achieved massive popularity on YouTube but was eventually outed by suspicious viewers as a hoax featuring a fictional character played by American-New Zealand actress Jessica Rose.

A story in The New York Times entitled "Lonely Girl" (and Friends) Just Wanted Movie Deal revealed the series' creators: Ramesh Flinders, a screenwriter and filmmaker from Marin County, California, and Miles Beckett, a surgical residency dropout turned filmmaker.

The series, which began June 16, 2006, is still running.

18. House of Cosbys, Episode 1

House of Cosbys was an animated cartoon about a Bill Cosby fan who creates a cloning machine to clone a series of Cosbys, each with a different personality.

There were four episodes made by Justin Roiland, each about five minutes. An unofficial fifth episode was also made.

19. Chad Vader: Day Shift Manager

Chad Vader: Day Shift Manager was originally created for Channel 101, where it was "canceled" after two episodes, but the creators have continued to make episodes and publish them through other video hosting websites. The first episode has been viewed over four million times on YouTube. There are eight episodes, each between five and six minutes long, written and directed by Matt Sloan and Aaron Yonda. This completes the first season of Chad Vader and a second season is promised.

The storyline centers around Chad Vader, the less-famous brother of Darth Vader, who works (at first) as a day-shift manager at the Empire Market. The story presents Chad's clash with customers and other employees. Chad shows his hate towards Clint, the night-shift manager who fights for the day shift manager position. Not all of Chad's relationships are hateful, however. Chad's infatuation with co-worker Clarissa helps him get by.

20. Ze Frank

Ze Frank (born Hosea Jan Frank) is an online performance artist, composer, humorist and public speaker based in Brooklyn, New York.

On March 17, 2006 Frank launched a daily video blog known simply as the show with zefrank. Each tightly edited three-to-five-minute episode combined Daily Show-style commentary on world events with songs, observations, and occasional games or challenges for his viewers to participate in. the show quickly became the most popular portion of his site and helped to increase Frank's visibility in the blogosphere while attracting also the interest of those in the "old media" of film and television. Frank signed with the United Talent Agency (UTA) of Beverly Hills, California for representation. The show ended on March 17, 2007 as planned, exactly one year after its start.

21. Lazy Sunday Rap

Lazy Sunday is a music video starring Saturday Night Live cast members Chris Parnell and Andy Samberg that aired on the December 17, 2005, episode of the show. It was the second SNL Digital Short to be aired. The film features Parnell and Samberg rapping about their desire to see the film The Chronicles of Narnia.

22. Kid From Brooklyn

The Kid From Brooklyn is neither a kid nor is he from Brooklyn. He's a ticket dealer from New Jersey named Mike Caracciolo.

23. Bubb Rubb

KRON-TV in San Francisco inadvertently created an Internet "star" in Bubb Rubb in its story on "whistle tips", devices welded into a car's muffler to cause a loud whistle as the exhaust gas goes by.