Heads up Fraggle Rock fans: Amazon’s got a great deal on the Fraggle Rock: Complete Series Collection DVD set. This is the newer version (which is packaged a lot nicer than the huge one I have) and is normally a lot more expensive, but it’s a Gold Box Deal today on Amazon. If you’ve got some kiddoes around the house or your name is Rob and you mentioned on a podcast that you never really watched Fraggle Rock, you should probably buy this.
Why carry a boring old flash drive around when you could be carrying a super awesome Batman-shaped flash drive? If you don’t have one in your utility belt don’t fret, because the fine folks at Mimoco have sent us one to give away to one of our readers. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post before Friday, December 2nd, 2011 at 6pm EST and I’ll randomly pick a winner. Read More
When I first got the email asking if we’d like to review an advanced copy of Chillerama, I grew hesitant when I saw the film’s tagline: “The Ultimate Midnight Movie.” For the last decade or so, there have been a glut of films that are meant to pay homage to old B-movies, but they normally just use this as an excuse to have no budget, crappy special effects, terrible actors, and even worse scripts. They say they’re being tongue-in-cheek, but they very rarely ever succeed at being funny, let alone entertaining in even the “so bad it’s good” way that the B-movies they’re spoofing actually are. But, as I always say, I’ll watch anything once, so I put my expectations in check and told them to send Chillerama posthaste. Much to my surprise, this isn’t your typical half-assed love note to the drive-in. Read More
Slate has a great article on the origin of the Muppets’ song “Mahna Mahna.” The second most interesting bit I gleaned was that it wasn’t an original tune by the Muppets troupe. It’s so iconic and muppetesque that it’s hard to imagine it having a very non-Muppets beginning.
Yes, that’s the most shocking revelation from this story. The ditty was by Italian composer Piero Umiliani. Surprising given its Muppet notoriety, it was written for the 1968 documentary “Sweden: Heaven and Hell.” The film chronicled sexuality in the Scandinavian country for Italian audiences.
You read that right. The song made famous by those cute and cuddly Muppets had its origin in a soft-core porn movie.
The song, originally released as “Mah Nà Mah Nà”, was featured on the film’s soundtrack. The single was a minor hit and reached #55 on the U.S. charts in ’68. “Mahna Mahna” then began its second life when it appeared in a “Sesame Street” sketch during the first season of the children’s TV show. Later that same year, the Muppets performed the song on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” The catchy tune was reprised for the very first episode of “The Muppet Show” in 1976. See the video below. The Muppet hit even appears in the new film.
For more on this fascinating bit of Muppets trivia, head over to the Slate article. They also have videos of the song from (gasp!) the original movie.
Which Muppet is most like you?
CBC News gets all analytical by breaking down the personality types of the popular Muppet characters. I long to be an Animal but resign myself to a Scooter.
