Junk

A few months ago, a friend IM'd me a link to the Top 100 Facts for Chuck Norris, which anyone living with me can attest I got a huge kick out of. Probably more than than the content deserved, but it's pretty funny.

The intensity of my reaction, I think, was due in part to a nostalgia for the days when I was "wired" into this sort of thing on a regular basis. Working in an office full of geeks, all connected via instant messenger and email to hundreds of other geeks, you don't have to wait for Newsweek to do a story on All Your Base or to feel connected. You're getting it right up front, way before it makes the "viral video" segment of some website.

It's why people pay for HBO rather than just wait to rent The Sopranos on dvd: you want to be part of the big pop-culture water-cooler conversation, to be able to relate when someone mentions something from the latest episode. Getting the Chuck Norris FAQ months behind everyone else somehow reduces the hilarity of it, I guess because you're laughing on a delay, by yourself rather than with the LAN.

Brandie & I were relating this nostalgia to our friend Anthony on his recent visit, and he offered to pass along a boiled-down, "best of" version of all the stuff that he gets over the wire. Here are some of them, for your (and my continued) enjoyment. Thanks Anthony!

I've also made a new category to file future posts under, named 'Junk'. For these below you need to sign up for a YouTube account, but don't let that stand in the way of some good laughter!

Evolution of Dance
A very abbreviated look at American dance from the 50s to today.

Death Star
A Claymation Palpatine receives news that the Death Star has been blown up.

10 Things I Hate About Commandments
A revisionist trailer for The Ten Commandments.