Anyway, big news is that Neil Hope, the actor who portrayed Wheels on Degrassi (one third of the Zit Remedy) died in 2007. His death isn’t so much the news, but that the family kept their personal loss to themselves until this time. Good for them. Unlike the death of Whitney Huston this week which is all over the place and probably makes things all the more tough for the grieving family and friends, Neil Hope’s family were able to grieve in peace. Now, many years later, the family can share the news and fans know.

So, here’s a link to Neil’s obituary on CBC.ca and a video news segment for the full story.

And here’s Neil Hope as Wheels with Joey and Snake on Degrassi…

Heartbreaking, I know. First off, do you really think they could capture those sounds with those microphones as they passed them? At best, the sounds was beside the mics, at worst, it was behind them. And I don’t care how much furry stuff you’ve got on them, there’s going to be a lot of wind noise at that speed.

Then there was the whole, smacking the pianos thing. No way you’re going to hit the right keys, even if you’ve got the pianos height adjusted. There’s just to much variance in driving and bouncing around. And strumming the guitars at that speed. You’re going to be ripping strings off, that’s what you’re going to be doing. It was nice of them to throw in some faked missed notes and stuff though. I could go on, about other instruments, things that break, vocals, impossible camera shots, etc. But I won’t.

Instead, I’ll humbly admit that I was wrong. This was another legitimate (and brilliant) OK Go performance, and here’s how it was done. For those who don’t want to read the whole article, the video was edited, the sound was massaged (like when a piano or guitar was missed,) and they lip-synched it. But that’s okay.

They drove the course, they modified the car, they smacked keys, strings, bottles, tin and pulled 180′s to play the music with the car. Then like any recording, they fixed things up in the mix. Totally legitimate.

And for good measure, the making-of video.

Now, is it just me, or do the actors playing those two guys (the smoking guy and Dr. What’s-His-Name (“I’m a wanted on eight systems.”) look a lot like they did back in the 1970′s? Great job!

Gosh, I sounded nasty up there, didn’t I? My appologies.

So, while you should go and watch the entirety of Star Wars Uncut, I heartily recommend that you spend some time at Malcolm’s site and check out his videos. I really dig his style and wanted to share a couple highlights here.

Some of his Star Wars Uncut stuff…

The Astronomer’s Dream trailer…

via: Serious Eats

Let me start off by stating that I’m not one who advocates tossing garbage out the car windows, and I think it’s a good thing to recycle and simply accumulate less stuff. I’m also not one who is aboard the Greenpeace vigilante train, because I think they’ve got some priorities just as out of place as those they’re seeking to bring down (because of mis-placed priorities.) And with that out of the way…

Let’s enjoy a couple fun videos that combine my enjoyment of Volkswagen and Star Wars. In case you missed it, this VW spot was one of the most viewed ads of the year. It features a young Darth Vader unsuccessfully using the force all around his parents house. But he gets it right when he uses it to start his dad’s VW.

Next, Greenpeace parodies the VW ad. My only comment is that I’m happy to own two VW TDIs that get better milage than most other cars out there per litre of petroleum distillate.

And, kids dancing (badly) in StarWars costumes, the Danish version!

Now that we are somewhat used to the new addition to our family, I’ve been trying to spend more time with the Dude. Something that we’ve been doing together as a dad-and-eldest-son-exclusively lately is taking a “snow walk” in the evening. It started out just walking around the block, on neighbourhood streets covered with snow. Then it became walking down the back alleys (don’t worry, I live in a residential neighbourhood, I’m not taking my two-year-old dumpster diving or anything like that… yet.) Sometimes we (he) crawls along the boulevards/snowbanks.

Now that there’s enough snow, we’ve been hitting the sledding hill beyond our backyard. So, our snow walks have turned into sledding outings, and the Dude loves it! I shot some video one evening of him having a riot while hurtling down the hill in his little “baby sled.” That last slide still makes me smile and I’ve watched it dozens of times.

What do you think? Am I in for trouble when he gets older?

Disclosure: If you click on any of the ads on any of my videos, I might get a few pennies.

I knew that this movie was probably a make or break scenario for Kermit and the gang. Twelve years after the less than stellar Muppets from Space, rumours were that Disney would mothball the franchise if the movie didn’t do well. So, I wanted it to do well. I also really wanted to laugh at the Muppets, like I did when I was younger.

Walter, a Real Muppet

I was sort of concerned about a couple things. First, this Walter guy. Really? A pretty plain looking, “human” Muppet? I don’t know. And he seems to be a pretty major character in the film. Then there was Jason Segel. He was great in Freaks and Geeks. I bet he’s good in How I Met Your Mother, but he’s also been involved some questionable stuff. Fortunately, Bret McKenzie of Flight of the Conchords was the musical supervisor, so the songs have got to be great, right?

Well, within the first five minutes of the film, I believed Walter. Let me assure you, he’s a Muppet of a Muppet. He’s funny and likeable. It’s very clear that Jason Segel gets the Muppets. He has written a Muppet movie that stands up with (and taller than) any Muppet movie from the past three decades. I don’t want to say that The Muppets is a better movie than The Muppet Movie, but given the choice, I’d rather watch Jason’s again tonight than Jim’s. That’s high praise.

The songs were funny, sometimes heartwarming, and very catchy. They were also quite Flight-of-the-Chonchord-y, which is a good thing. Jenn and I found ourselves singing them for days afterwards. All those previews in the trailers that you’ve seen, again, The Muppets did it right. I didn’t find my enjoyment of the movie was spoiled at all for watching them all. They may have set up some jokes, but never gave away the punchline with them. You know how after watching some trailers, you’ve seen all the best parts of the movie? Not so in this case.

The guest stars / cameos were all pretty good. My only complaint is that I didn’t know who those kids were. To be fair, they didn’t know who Kermit was either. Maybe that was the joke.

Now, let me comment on three of the better cameos. Jack Black (as Jack Black) was a good guy for the Muppets to kidnap and torture. Chris Cooper as Tex Richman was a fine villain. Two words, “maniacal laugh.” (Oh, I still laugh at that one.) And Big Bang Theory’s Jim Parsons was perfect in his role (but I’m not going to tell you what role he plays.)

As far as the best line of the film goes, I’m going to give it to the Sweedish Chef as he channeles his inner Al Pachino. Runner up for best line goes to Rowlf, “Classic.” and Kermit, “What? Children?” You’ll have to see the film and tell me if you agree.

Bottom line: If you like the Muppets, you’ll like The Muppets. Jenn who tolerates the Muppets enjoyed The Muppets. I even think that if you’ve never been exposed to the Muppets before, that you’ll like The Muppets. I heartily recommend you see it, and when you do, let me know, I might go see it again with you.

PS: The Moopets.