The main contender was a song by this year's winner of “X-Factor”, a UK reality singing show similar to American Idol (actually, it's a copycat show created by Simon Cowell so he'd have a bigger stake than he did with Idol.)
But instead, a protest Facebook group sprang up with the intent of making a Rage Against the Machine song from the 1990's, “Killing In The Name Of” the Christmas Number One. In less than a month (and for the first time ever, based entirely on online downloads since the single wasn't available in stores), the Rage Against the Machine song triumphed to take top spot.
There are numerous storylines at play here… – yet again, social media is showing that its reach is outstripping even the most popular traditional media outlets – the protest movement also supported a charity for the homeless raising 70, 000 pounds in a month – ironically, both songs are released on companies owned by Sony BMG so some have wondered if this was really a true protest when the “controversy” helped improve Sony's bottom line no matter who won. – more irony – the song's refrain is “Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me” which is exactly what people did by raising this song to number one as directed. – during a live performance on BBC3, Rage sang the song uncensored (but would you expect any less?) – which brings us to this week's clip – watch the whole thing, it gets funnier as it goes along…
We went to Indian Head to have an early Christmas with my folks this weekend and at one point my mom suggested renting a movie to keep Pace entertained. It did not even cross my mind that she meant VHS movie instead of DVD (let alone streaming video or BitTorrent or some of the other technologies I tend to use to watch movies these days.) But that's indeed what we ended up getting. It was a good reminder that people live at different technological time points even if we're all at the same time point on the calendar.
This experience reminded me of this video which does a great job of capturing how different technology time points might intersect when taken to the extreme:
This home was one of the highlights of our sparkle tour in my hometown tonight. (We're having Early Christmas with my parents this weekend then going to Shea's parents' for the actual day.)
Yet another post that seems to have become an annual tradition is a link to Fimoculous, probably the best site for capturing “Best of the Year” lists in a range of categories.
Not only are we seeing “Best of” lists for the year but also for the decade as 2009 comes to a close. Of course, the one I came across that I've chosen to highlight is “Best Hockey Fights of the Decade.” Never let it be said that this blog isn't educational AND entertaining!
Pace is two and a half now and so I thought it'd be fun to do a list of the books I like to read him at bedtime (note: these are *my* favourites to read. His favourites list would include: “That book about diggers”, “That book about fire trucks”, “That book about tractors” and “That book about semi-trucks.”)
There are probably a couple commonalities to the books on this list – they don't get boring to read, even after repeated tellings. They all have either a chance for interactivity beyond the actual reading OR are quiet and peaceful. (And obviously, I try to start with stories in the first category and end with stories in the latter.)
Off the top of my head and in no particular order… “Time for Bed” – Mem Fox “Ten Little Fingers, Ten Little Toes” – Mem Fox “A Second is a Hiccup” – Hazel Hutchins “Where The Wild Things Are” – Maurice Sendak “Goodnight Moon” – Margaret Wise Brown “Daddy Kisses” – Anne Gutman – probably one of our most “fun” books to read with a chance to share a kiss on every page “Kiss, Kiss!” – Margaret Wild – Shea's equivalent of my “Daddy Kisses” but I like to read it too! “Hungry Caterpillar” – Eric Carle “Piggies” – Audrey Wood “I'm Dirty” – Kate McMullen (and to a lesser extent, her other books as well such as “I'm Stinky”, “I'm Mighty” and “I'm Bad”) Pretty much any Robert Munsch, especially “Mortimer“. On the other hand, I don't even try to get through “Love You Forever“. (Edit: “Llama, Llama Mad at Mama”, “Llama, Llama, Red Pyjama” and “Grumpy Gloria” all by Anna Dewdney are Shea's favourites, especially the first one.)
