Peanut Butter Jelly Time

To answer Slayve’s question, it’d be best to watch this instructional video:

Brian, in a banana suit, holding maracas (from Family Guy).

According to a Wikipedia entry,

“Peanut Butter Jelly Time” is a Flash animation that emerged in the early 2000s and became an Internet phenomenon. Based on a song of the same name recorded by the Buckwheat Boyz, the best known version of the animation (usually distributed as a Flash clip) shows a pixelated dancing banana moving back and forth to the song’s repetitive chorus.

The dance that the male Tauren from World of Warcraft does is basically the peanut butter jelly time dance. But without the maracas.

When Bootlegs Go Bad

These screen captures are from a bootleg copy of Red Dragon, purchased while abroad by someone I know. Whoever did the English subtitles seemed to have only a passing familiarity with the language, getting something like one word out of every 10 correct. Oftentimes, the subtitles have no relation at all to the dialogue.

WHAT WAS SAID: The Harvey Keitel character is explaining to Edward Norton’s character about murders that took place in Birmingham and Atlanta.
SUBTITLE: Even we have to move from Bominghan to Atalanta

WHAT WAS SAID: Norton’s character talks about how he “doesn’t think about this stuff anymore.”
SUBTITLE: I have got used to clam life
Norton’s character doesn’t use the word “calm,” but the person doing the subtitles might have intended to use it to paraphrase what Norton said. If so, I like how the transposition of letters into “clam” life implies a similar sentiment, i.e., Norton’s character’s life being somewhat slow and of minor significance, like a clam’s.

WHAT WAS SAID: It’s Chromalux.
SUBTITLE: This is carmax

And you know how positive blurbs are always splashed across a movie’s posters? I typically ignore them, but I noticed that this was the blurb on the cover of the bootleg DVD: “It includes the initial capture” (no period, in big red letters). It’s attributed to “The New Youk BBC TV.”

“Relative to a Tea Cup”

I recently stumbled upon the National Geographic Animals site, which looks quite interesting, with images so cute it makes you want to just punch someone.

Hedgehog.
Could the illustrator be British perhaps?

Ruby-throated hummingbird.
The flower’s a nice touch!

Mola (sunfish).
Holy smokes, I had no idea sunfish could grow to be so big. (I first learned about their existence from a Banana Yoshimoto story, in which the protagonist visits this sunfish at an aquarium.)
The National Geographic site says that “they are harmless to people, but can be very curious and will often approach divers.” This photo, by Mike Johnson, shows just how bizarre sunfish look.

Pixelated Pirate

Guybrush: The Early Years. Image from The Legend of Monkey Island.

Guybrush in 3D. Image from The Legend of Monkey Island.

Call me old-fashioned, but I think the “younger” Guybrush Threepwood looks cuter. Sometimes I get nostalgic for old computer games, with their heavy pixelation and rudimentary graphics. I especially loved the adventure games, like Sierra’s King’s Quest or LucasArts’ Monkey Island, in which the background would have to refresh everytime you moved your character to the edge of the screen.

On the subject of pirates (Guybrush being one), Tuesday the 19th is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. YAAAAR! Check out the official site for pirate vocabulary and information on how to speak like a pirate in German, Spanish, or Chinese.

I started a dance class today. For an idea of how I felt, watch this clip from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, of when Aunt Vivian goes to a dance audition, and look at the expression on her face. My instructor would demonstrate a step, and it seemed like everyone else was able to pick it up and do it right away. Although the class was billed as an absolute beginners’ workshop, I think it would be hard for someone with two left feet or no sense of rhythm to keep up. I still had a blast, however.

Out to Lunch?

Stuff and Junk

Add information about major bridges here.

Needless to say, neither of these Web sites proved very helpful.