Shiny Donkey

Boulevard of Broken Dreams vs. Wonderwall Mashup

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 05:03:58 GMT

I wanted a nice album cover thumbnail for the "Oasis vs. Green Day" mashup of Wonderwall vs. Boulevard of Broken Dreams ("Boulevard of Broken Songs"). A quick search for some nifty album art turned up nothing, so I through together this image. It may be a bit late to the game considering this mashup is 3 years old, but I'll be damned if a track was going to go without cover art in my iTunes library!

If you haven't heard the mashup and are a fan of either of these bands, I highly recommend it. There's even a little Travis thrown in at around 1:26 and some random Dream On at the end.

As far as I know, 4 songs use essentially these same chords in the same key:

Oasis - Wonderwall - 1995
Oasis - D'You Know What I Mean? - 1997
Travis - Writing to Reach You - 1999
Green Day - Boulevard of Broken Dreams - 2004

If there's a version with D'You Know What I Mean? I'd love to hear it.

Generation Kill

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 19:10:56 GMT

There is a mini series that is currently airing on HBO called "Generation Kill" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0995832/

This is a great series thus far, and I highly recommend it. The story feels very realistic, action is great, and dialogue/personalities are about spot on according to various military friends of mine. But beyond all of that, I want to post here just to point out the best character in the show. The Iraqi translator who is in the Marines' unit. I think this character is so awesome because it is more or less our caricature of Nar. He speaks quickly, with an accent using various jargon he's picked up around like "Did you see this dude's passport, it is some pretty wicked **** dude, he is giving jihad as his reason for entry into the country."

Give it a watch, and think of Nar.

All Your Pork & Beans Are Belong To Us

Fri, 23 May 2008 22:05:47 GMT

Weezer's new video was just posted to YouTube. It incorporates just about every geek joke or viral internet video of the past 8 years, including "All Your Base Are Belong To Us" and "Chocolate Rain." Worth a viewing, even though it includes that creep Britney kid...

While I recognized a lot of it, a few references were lost on me -- who's the fat kid singing at his desk? How about the scary guy in a blonde wig?

Optimizing a Web site for Google's crawler

Wed, 21 May 2008 02:33:11 GMT

I'm doing a little experimentation tonight. No, still not gay, just trying to optimize a Web site for Google's crawler.

For example, I want to make it easy for people in Annandale, VA to find Sherlock's Pest Control. I created a service areas page that lists each of the cities & zip codes that they serve. Each service area links then to a page explaining the services offered in that area.

This technique has resulted in a few clickthroughs from very specific searches ("sterling va skunk removal"). On the down side, searching google for site:sherlockspest.net shows that only a few of these service area pages were actually indexed.

I haven't found confirmation anywhere that Google ignores spam-ish pages that regurgitate a bunch of similar content, but it seems to me that a good crawler would be smart enough to do so. Without resorting to this technique, what other options have worked for you? Maybe randomizing the services that are listed on each page? Perhaps adding testimonials or other unique content sprinkled within?

No rest for the talentless

Tue, 13 May 2008 14:18:06 GMT

Talentless SNL alum to get his own show
No, not Jay Mohr. There's a rumor floating around that Jimmy Fallon is on the "short list" to replace Conan O'Brien when O'Brien takes over the Tonight Show.

This deal is a no brainer, really, as NBC will be able to streamline and simplify the show, saving some serious cash:

1) Fallon will be so busy giggling at his own jokes, they won't need a studio audience, just a desk and a backdrop.
2) They can save on mirrors for the dressing room since he'll spend at least two segments fiddling with his hair for the camera
3) Drop the musical act. Jimmy is "hilarious" at his Adam Sandler-esque bits and can fill a good 15 minutes
4) They can cut the opening monologue entirely, no one finds this guy funny (except Lorne Michaels)

Is Horatio Sans available for the sidekick job?

UPDATE: It's official. Craig Ferguson never looked so good.

Request for comment: Shiny RSS feeds

Thu, 08 May 2008 17:01:40 GMT

Blearns is always ragging on this site's RSS feeds. Is there a standard syntax that I'm not following for maximum compatibility? Perhaps there's a tag that's missing or incorrect? Google Reader handles the feeds just fine and I never get duplicate articles (A List Apart) or a broken feed (Sports Pickle).

For your consideration, here's a typical item from my feed:

      </FONT></STRONG>Stop the Clocks Chords and Lyrics<STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>
      http://www.shinydonkey.com/thread.aspx?Thread=698#msg2275
      JER <a href="mailto:webmaster@shinydonkey.com">email</a>; <a href="http://www.shinydonkey.com/" target=_blank>web</a>
      http://www.shinydonkey.com/thread.aspx?Thread=698#msg2275
      0
      http://www.shinydonkey.com/thread.aspx?Thread=698#msg2275
      Thu, 08 May 2008 01:09:06 GMT
      some text here

Stop the Clocks Chords and Lyrics

Thu, 08 May 2008 02:09:06 GMT

A demo of Stop the Clocks, the most over-hyped unreleased Oasis song of the last 6+ years, has finally leaked. It's my birthday and Christmas all in one!

On first listen, I like it but can see why it wasn't the lead track of their greatest hits album of the same name. Stop the Clocks is a meditation, reminiscent of the Beatles' Tomorrow Never Knows and follows a form Noel has used occasionally since Standing on the Shoulder of Giants. This has led to such forgettable tracks as Who Feels Love and (Probably) All in the Mind. Stop the Clocks is a step up from those two but definitely not in the league of most of their B-sides, let alone their singles. I'm eagerly awaiting the studio version with hopes that it improves on this one.

For you guitar players, the song is quite simple and uses some familiar Oasis chords. Here are the building blocks, you should be able to put the pieces together:

STOP THE CLOCKS lyrics, tabs, chords

A x02230
E 022030
F 033230
G 320030

Stop the clocks and turn the world around
Lay your love, lay me down
And when the night is over there'll be no sound

Lock the box and leave it all behind
on the back seat of my mind
And when the night is over where will I lie?

What if I'm already dead -- how would I know?
What if I'm already dead -- how would I know?

Lost inside my head behind the wall
Do they hear me when I call?
And when the night is over where will I fall?
And when the fight is over where will I fall?

But if I'm already dead -- how would I know?
But if I'm already dead -- how would I know?

Stop the clocks and turn the world around
Lay your love, lay me down
And when the night is over there'll be no sound
And now the night is over there'll be no sound
And now my fight is over there'll be no sound

Smell like the wolfman

Tue, 06 May 2008 14:41:51 GMT

I guess this is supposed to be sexy, but "I'll bet he smells nice" isn't the first thing that comes to mind when I see this guy. If anything, I'd imagine he needs a bath (or some spare change).

Site redesign coming soon

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:58:46 GMT

This site has been neglected for too long, expect a re-engagement of this creative outlet w/ a site redesign soon...

Acting Resume, Recovery Music and Football

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:09:17 GMT

It's been quite a while since the last post -- too many other Web sites to work on... For those who've missed me, I just completed my migration to self-hosting, so I should have more time to dedicate to important things like blogging about pop culture.

Aside from the Web hosting migration, here's what I've been up to since last September:

Michelle's acting resume Web site is up and running. It showcases clips of some of her recent television and radio commercials, mostly for businesses in the Northern Virginia community like Alexandria Toyota.

I also completed work on an e-commerce site for my Mom's recovery music project. It includes 30 second clips of all of her songs and lets you order CDs or mp3 downloads. I would appreciate any feedback, especially from those of you using FireFox. If you know anyone recovering from addiction or abuse, please pass along the link.

And as always, the Football Pool was all-consuming at the end of last year.