Now See This

NOW SEE THIS: Death Metal Vocal Excercises

POSTED: Thursday, April 28, 2011, 11:00 AM

Filed Under: Music | Now See This

Olle Ekman of Swedish death metal bands Volturyon and Deals Death tunes his Cookie Monster voice.

Posted by Patrick Rapa @ 11:00 AM Permalink | Post a comment

YOUTUBIN': Could this new YouTube sensation be the next Bieber?

POSTED: Wednesday, March 23, 2011, 2:00 PM

Filed Under: Now See This | Video

I recently had the good fortune to hear what may be mankind’s greatest achievement thus far: “Friday,” by 13-year-old prodigy Rebecca Black. I must have been late on this, because according to YouTube, 29,874,430 people viewed the video before I did. Given that that’s a significant proportion of the US population, I think it’s fair to say that “Friday” has become a cultural touchstone.

That is no surprise. Black conveys a universal human emotion, celebrated for centuries: the desire for an end to labor. In so doing, she is working in a literary tradition that dates back to Genesis, in which God punished Adam by forcing his descendants to work for survival. Black encapsulates this theme in a single word, “Friday,” which in much of Western culture heralds the coming of a period of rest, or in the singer’s words, “fun, fun, fun, fun.” In short: “Everybody’s looking forward to the weekend, weekend.”

But before reaching that period, Black, and indeed all of us, have a series of hurdles to overcome. In the “Friday” allegory, those struggles are represented by an early rise — 7 a.m. — as well as the compulsion to “be fresh,” “go downstairs,” and “get to the bus stop.” All the while, we are “seein’ everything,” but must grapple with the notion that “the time is goin’/ Tickin’ on and on.”

Fortunately, as Joseph Campbell observed in his “heroic cycle,” such quests typically have “helper” figures. Black is not without this assistance: “I see my friends,” she tells us as a group of underage drivers approach. That poses another pre-Sabbath dilemma, one we’ve all faced: is it better to be “kickin’ in the front seat” or “sittin’ in the back seat”? The urgency of the question is clear: “Gotta make my mind up,” Black points out.

Within three-quarters of an hour, Black and her friends are “cruisin’ so fast,” physically manifesting their desire for “time to fly.” It is a study in futility, however: the unavoidable reality is that speeding towards school will only result in having to spend more time there. But the rest of the stanza offers reassurance: “Fun, fun, think about fun,” the singer entreats her friends. “You know what it is,” she reminds them: “I got this, you got this.” She then establishes a frame of reference: While “yesterday was Thursday,” “today is Friday,” and that means that “we, we, we so excited.” Yet the weekend can’t last: though “tomorrow is Saturday,” still, “Sunday comes afterwards.”

Posted by Matt Cantor @ 2:00 PM Permalink | Post a comment

NOW SEE THIS: The Mountain Goats, "Power in a Union"

POSTED: Friday, March 11, 2011, 12:30 PM

Filed Under: Music | Now See This Song

Power In A Union from JD on Vimeo.

Posted by Patrick Rapa @ 12:30 PM Permalink | Post a comment

NOW SEE THIS: ScienceMakers @ Franklin Institute

POSTED: Thursday, February 10, 2011, 7:00 PM

Filed Under: Critical Mass | Events | Now See This Museum

The HistoryMakers, based in Chicago, is the nation's largest African-American oral history video archive. ScienceMakers is their African-American media and education initiative to present the stories of African-American scientists. Over three years, ScienceMakers will create "the largest collection of video oral history of interviews of African-American scientists resulting in an educational, career and media resource for teachers, parents and students in the United States and abroad." ScienceMakers will host an evening entitled, The Color of Science, at the Franklin Institute, which includes 300 invited guests from the Philadelphia community. Moderated by Chief Franklin Institute Astronomer, Derrick Pitts, this free event is on Fri. Feb. 11 at 5 p.m. Note: The main theater is sold out, but overflow seating is available for the live simulcast. Reserve a spot at 215-448-1254.

Posted by Ryan Carey @ 7:00 PM Permalink | Post a comment

NOW SEE THIS: True American Dog brings rapid-fire LOLs.

POSTED: Tuesday, January 11, 2011, 9:00 PM

Filed Under: Now See This | Web Junk

trueamericandog.com

Wi-Fi dog provides Internet to stranded horse

Have you ever found yourself reading The Onion and thinking, "The best part of these are the headlines?" Sometimes a headline and a photo is all satire needs to nail the point home. Hell, a picture's worth a thousand words, right? True American Dog is a Photoshop blog that started humbly in '08 as a "let's Photoshop funny images of dogs," and has evolved into a hilarious picture gallery of quirky all-American fun. Perhaps a slightly-less abstract and more comedic relative to Exploding Dog, T.A.D offers random, absurdist depictions of many of our national preoccupations (dogs, soda, horses, Internet, bald eagles, holiday cheer, etc ...) — blended together in bizarre combinations. It's the kind of website even the snarkiest postmodern hipster can enjoy with his mom (and I did!). Letting the headlines and the photos do all the talking, it has an archive that could be entirely consumed in about 20 minutes — allowing time for varying lengths of laugh breaks. To date, T.A.D. has been listed on Neatorama and Blogs of Note, and it seems to be gaining more steam each day. So tomorrow, if you find yourself a snowed in denizen of your local Wi-Fi hot-spot, enjoy these absurd visions of twisted Americana.

trueamericandog.com

Dog and eagle visit soda spa

Posted by Ryan Carey @ 9:00 PM Permalink | Post a comment

Critical Mass

POSTED: Tuesday, December 14, 2010, 12:00 PM

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Posted by Nadya Harvey @ 12:00 PM Permalink | Post a comment

NOW SEE THIS: Wow, this Yogi Bear movie is a lot darker than I thought

POSTED: Monday, December 13, 2010, 7:52 PM

Filed Under: Movies | Now See This

Posted by Patrick Rapa @ 7:52 PM Permalink | Post a comment

NOW SEE THIS: Andrew Jeffrey Wright's "The Unskinning Dipper"

POSTED: Wednesday, December 8, 2010, 2:00 PM

Filed Under: Arts | Now See This Philly Artists

AJW describes it like this: "It is a 1 minute horror movie. It is also a commercial for a t-shirt." I would add that it is kind of gross. Uniquely, surprisingly gross. Nice shirt though.

Posted by Patrick Rapa @ 2:00 PM Permalink | Post a comment

NOW SEE THIS: Philly Photo Day Opening Reception

POSTED: Thursday, November 11, 2010, 5:00 PM

Filed Under: Now See This | Philly Artists Visual Art

A few weeks ago we told you about Philadelphia Photo Art Center's first annual Philly Photo Day (Oct. 28). Did you take a photo? If so, now's your chance to see it in all it's glory. Tonight in the Grey Area of the Crane Arts Building (1400 N. American St.) from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. PPAC is hosting a grand reveal of the more than 300 images they received. The party will offer you a chance to gander at the submissions, and even take one home if you're interested. They range in price from $15-$20, depending on the size. There will also be giveaways and plenty of neat conversation, I'm sure. If you can't make it to the opening par-tay, the photos will remain on display Tue.-Thu, noon-8 p.m. and Fri-Sun, noon-6 p.m. through Nov. 20.

Posted by Josh Middleton @ 5:00 PM Permalink | Post a comment

NOW SEE THIS: Pretty tilt-shift Coachella video

POSTED: Monday, October 18, 2010, 2:00 PM

Filed Under: Music | Now See This

Coachelletta from Sam O'Hare on Vimeo.

Posted by Patrick Rapa @ 2:00 PM Permalink | Post a comment

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

PHILLY LOVE NOTES: An ode to Spruce Street
Q&A with SHARI SOLANIS: "The goal isn't pornography"
ICE CUBE: In Memoriam: Joe Tartaglia
CONCERT REVIEW & PHOTOS: James Blake @ TLA 5/11
SEXY TIME Q&A: I've never had an orgasm during sex with a man — and I'm 30!
Coming soon to Philly: Two cockamamie movie promotion schemes
What we're trying to do this weekend
Q&A with Tony Goldwyn: "Life is gray, and relationships are, too"
CONCERT REVIEW: Primus (3D & quadraphonic sound) @ The Tower 10/17
ICEPACK ILLUSTRATED: The Archbishop meets the Geator, the Mayor goes suit shopping, Le Bec Fin fin.

About this blog

Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

Follow Critical Mass editors Patrick Rapa and Emily Guendelsberger on Twitter:

@mission2denmark | @emilygee

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