Chris Pirillo » parody

The Geeks: An Oliver Stone Film

Chris — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 09:45:59 +0000

The Geeks: An Oliver Stone Film is a post from Chris Pirillo

Perhaps by fate, an unknown actor by the name of Chris Pirillo was today selected by director Oliver Stone to play the role of Chris Pirillo, the deeply troubled, famed technology connoisseur.

Stone’s choice of Pirillo for Pirillo was largely due to Pirillo’s utter lack of experience in film. Certainly, Pirillo has watched a few flicks in his day, but we believe this is nothing more than a marketing tactic done to scare more movie money out of the pockets of honest people.

No stranger to controversy, Stone believes that only Pirillo could match Pirillo’s disturbed wit for this motion picture. Principal photography for “The Geeks” is set to begin before month’s end, with Tarquin Fim-bim Lim-bim Whim-bim Bus Stop Ftang-ftang Ole Biscuit Barrel allegedly taking on the envied position of head gaffer.

Pirillo has studied Pirillo, and knows him intimately – from the way he would ignore his chat room throughout the day, to the way he would often scream obscenities when nearby PCs would decide to randomly connect and disconnect USB devices. Pirillo lead geeks the world over to live a life of digital hermitage, having ultimately driven himself to the great kernel panic in the sky after attempting a record-breaking five minute fart.

This will undoubtedly be Oliver Stone’s most controversial film yet.

The grave of Pirillo remains undisclosed, but the live video camera pointed inside has given humanity a glimpse of decomposition… 24 hours a day, 7 days a week… at dead.pirillo.com.

Christmas Music Parody – Blue Vista

Chris — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 18:27:19 +0000

Christmas Music Parody – Blue Vista is a post from Chris Pirillo

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Every year, I enjoy making a tech-themed parody out of a Christmas song. This year is no exception. Welcome to “Blue Vista”.

We were talking about Christmas and Vista both in the chat room today. Someone laughed and mentioned “Blue Vista Christmas” and inspiration struck. I took a few minutes, jotted down some lyrics, and a parody was born. I recorded my efforts a capella, and uploaded them… along with the music only version of Blue Christmas. Some of our chat members then took both of them and mixed them together. The result is the song you hear in the video.

My invitation to all of you is to download the .mp3 yourself. Play with it… make it a video, add pictures, whatever! Just be sure to give credit where credit is due. If there is a really excellent video made, I’ll likely add it to my own YouTube account. Be sure and send me a link to what you’ve done with the .mp3. I’d love to see it! Without further ado… the lyrics:

I’ve had a blue desktop with Vista.
I’ve been so blue. XP, I’ve missed ya.
Dialogs popping up thanks to UAC.
Just ain’t the same, dear. At least it’s not ME.

And with those blue wallpapers with white text
I can… wait a minute… that’s not a wallpaper.
What the hell’s a STOP ERROR. IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL?

And I had a blue, blue blue blue screen.

Oh, Windows Vista… why ya gotta do this to me?
Cancel or allow? Of course I want you to allow.
If I didn’t want you to allow, I wouldn’t have done it in the first
place.
Step on my blue suede shoes if you wanna, I don’t care.
Just get better, please. Please?!

You’ll be doin’ all right, with your Leopard in sight,
But I’ll have a blue, blue Vista.

Again, that link to download is HERE.

Want to embed this video on your own site, blog, or forum? Use this code or download the video:

LEAVE ME ALONE…?

Chris — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 08:26:30 +0000

LEAVE ME ALONE…? is a post from Chris Pirillo

Yes, I get it – this video is a parody.

I think Tuesday Night Tech has been trying to get my attention, and they’ve succeeded. Seems that their sense of humor is right up my alley, whether they’ve been slagging on me or not. I’ve had virtually no time to digest my podcast subscriptions, let alone listen / watch new ones.

I’ve been looking into FeedDemon alternatives for OS X – and I’m not finding many of ‘em. Tried Google Reader and it totally choked on me (sorry, Scoble). Vienna looks promising. Trying a new newsreader is like trying on a new pair of pants.

Hey, at least I don’t go around wearing NES consoles on my head:

I’m in a JibJab Cartoon!!!

Chris — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 06:13:39 +0000

I’m in a JibJab Cartoon!!! is a post from Chris Pirillo

From What We Call the News…

There was a time not long ago
when each and every day
at six o’clock each evening
you knew news was on its way
from anchors of integrity…

It’s all downhill from there.

Then along came cable
and the ratings race ensued
Great legends found themselves replaced with…

It gets really, REALLY silly around 1:24. Extremely silly:

Yeah, it’s yours truly (along with two friends, Robert Scoble and Mike Arrington of TechCrunch). It’s an honor, all around. My life is now complete.

Watch the full video here:

My Favorite Portal: Protopage

Chris — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 01:44:59 +0000

My Favorite Portal: Protopage is a post from Chris Pirillo

I can’t think of the last time I set any site as my default “start page” (other than my own, or a local document of collected links and search fields). I was checking referral logs for bLaugh and noticed that Protopage and Netvibes kept popping up. I had visited each of them a while ago, but never really bothered to return to either – portal sites aren’t really my thing.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that our daily comic was toggled as a default widget on the primary Protopage tab! So, not only is Protopage the best designed AJAX portal, but it also has the best sense of humor. Okay, so maybe I’m a bit biased with the second claim – but it’s still incredibly thrilling to see just how many people have picked up on bLaugh since its launch a few months ago. blaugh.com“>Technorati reports that we’ve moved up to 831 (3,919 links from 1,353 blogs), though Hugh has been around substantially longer and has a insanely better numbers (and rightfully so).

Comic impressions are different than text impressions and/or video plays – just like most Web images (read: banners) have always been better played for branding purposes. For instance, there’s virtually no way of telling how many people read bLaugh on a daily basis through mass aggregation services like Protopage, Google Reader, Bloglines, etc. I can tell you one thing: I certainly welcome the use of our feed and/or API by any third-party. Brad and I have already been profitable with our madcapped adventure – without having to resort to venture ~~comical~~ capital. GoDaddy seems equally as happy! Move over, United Feature Syndicate and King Features Syndicate!

Comic Freeware

Chris — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 22:08:24 +0000

Comic Freeware is a post from Chris Pirillo

When we released the bLaugh API, I was hoping that some enterprising developer would use it to create something fun. Mike from Singer’s Creations just unleashed Comicazzi tonight. Essentially, it’s a desktop app that will let you drag and drop bLaugh comics onto your current wallpaper. If that doesn’t sound very exciting to you, I’ve suggested that the interactive comic viewer eventually include other Web comics – hence, the generic “Comicazzi” title. If you would like your comic to be included in the app, you’ll have to talk to Mike about it (and give him an easy way to access the images). I’ve also suggested that Comicazzi eventually call on the Flickr API to help people build dynamic wallpapers from Flickr iamges, too. Fun times! Download it!

Who does this remind you of?

Chris — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 23:15:33 +0000

Who does this remind you of? is a post from Chris Pirillo

Is This Offensive or Funny?

Chris — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 02:58:10 +0000

Is This Offensive or Funny? is a post from Chris Pirillo

Okay, so… Brad and I released this comic on bLaugh today:

Should be chuckle-worthy, though it wasn’t the original strip. I showed another image to friends, with some of them suggesting that we hold it indefinitely – and others suggesting that we run it immediately. If you’re offended easily, you don’t want to see this: the comic we chose not to run.

Did we make the right decision in not running the original version? It’s culturally offensive (playing on stereotypes), but so are countless political cartoons these days. I personally think we did the right thing by going with the ski-masks. Last thing I’d ever want to do is incite an interracial (or international) incident.

bLaugh is a Reader’s Choice

Chris — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 22:46:21 +0000

bLaugh is a Reader’s Choice is a post from Chris Pirillo

For some reason or another, choosy users choose bLaugh. At least, that’s what the readers and staff of BusinessWeek Online report. We just received a “Best of the Web” award in the Humor category. I’d still like to see bLaugh pushed out and shared on more Web sites, portals, and print media. Who else won?

The Onion
The Joy of Tech
Rocketboom
gapingvoid
Go Fug Yourself* (tied)
Ze Frank* (tied)

I suppose this means they want us to do a parody of their brand. “BusinessWeak” sounds kinda funny, especially if we do a mock cover? Until then, I guess today’s bLaugh will have to do…

Don’t Download This Album

Chris — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 05:10:27 +0000

Don’t Download This Album is a post from Chris Pirillo

I’m not a professional music critic – and don’t pretend to be. However, I’ve gotta tell you that “Straight Outta Lynwood” [SOL] is one of the best albums that “Weird Al” Yankovic has produced to date. Yes, I’m biased – having been a fan of the band ever since the seventh grade. His originals finally, in many ways, outshine his parodies. SOL nails the melodies and harmonies, as expected.

SOL is a bargain at $15: “DualDisc includes PCM Stereo, 5.1 Surround and instrumental mixes of the entire album (with on-screen lyrics option), plus a 9-minute behind-the-scenes documentary and 6 brand new music videos.” I bet you wish your favorite artists did this, too. If there’s anything that’s going to keep physical media alive, it’s jam-packing titles with every bonus imaginable. A few weeks ago, Al unleashed the half-sactioned “You’re Pitiful” online. It isn’t included on the album, though the original artist gave Al permission to do so:

Yankovic recorded the song to be included on his Straight Outta Lynwood album after, according to Yankovic, having been given the James Blunt’s blessing to parody the song. However, following its recording, the artist’s record company, Atlantic Records, allegedly told Yankovic that he could not include the song.

Even after having publicly stated that the band doesn’t make much money from digital purchases (through iTunes or otherwise), Yankovic still treats his fans fairly – he knows that we’ll all buy whatever he creates. In fact, I’ve been known to buy his albums for friends – just because I think that as a serious and smart musician, “Weird Al” is underrated. His musical genius is fully exercised in a few SOL tracks – which won’t leave you SOL.

White and Nerdy: Computer geeks should love these lyrics twice as much as they did “It’s All About the Pentiums” – with references to Wikipedia and MySpace included. Even if you don’t like “rap,” you’re going to love these lyrics. And honestly, which one of us isn’t white and nerdy?! I think I have a new personal theme song. Great way to start the album. Even Ponzi LOL’ed a few times when she first heard it. Five stars.
Pancreas: Out of all the songs on SOL, this one is probably my favorite. It begins a capella, flowing and weaving in a classic “Beach Boys” sound. I’m not sure I’d consider this a complete style parody, though I wouldn’t have been surprised to hear something similar on a TMBG album – which is probably why I love this track so much. If you don’t find yourself strangely attracted to the final refrains, there’s something seriously wrong with you. “Insulin, Glucagon, Coming from the islets of Langerhans.” I can’t get it out of my head. Er, pancreas – if you will. Five stars.
Canadian Idiot: For the second parody on SOL, we have a parody of Green Day’s “American Idiot.” Much like in “Lasagna” and “Pretty Fly for a Rabbi,” Al is finding gold in stereotypes. It’s a fun song, though I must admit that I find myself enjoying the R&B parodies more than punk/rock music these days. Still, I’m not anxious to skip to the next track – if only because the original song is catchy to begin with. If you don’t know anything about Canadian culture, you probably won’t be impressed by this tune (but I bet your Canadian friends will be). Four stars.
I’ll Sue Ya: Speaking to the trend of crazy lawsuits appearing in the headlines every other week, Al gives us a “Kid Rock” style emulation – littered with popular brand names and outlandish experiences with them. I’ve never been attracted to “angsty” music, but this beat is to my liking (far more than an earlier “Young, Dumb, and Ugly”). If there’s a low point on the album, I’d say this is it – unless you happen to be a fan of the genre. Despite my indifference, I don’t consider it to be a “skip track.” I wholly expect these lyrics to show up in a future email joke thread – and please don’t take that as a suggestion. Three stars.
Polkarama!: I look forward to the polkas on every album, always believing they’re not long enough. This accordion-heavy montage does not disappoint. While I couldn’t necessarily name every polkafied artist strewn throughout, I was definitely familiar with every lifted lyric. I think his combination and range of styles (R&B, Rock, Alternative) speaks to Yankovic’s continued range expansion and broad appeal. If you’re not into a wide range of pop music, you might not appreciate Polkarama! half as much. It’s not my favorite polka (as I appreciate his classics more than the newer ones). However, it’ll certainly satiate my polkanerve until the next one bounces in. Four stars.
Virus Alert: Another Yankovic classic has been born – very upbeat, very addictive, original, and extremely replayable. If I played this tune back-to-back with “Hardware Store,” it’d make for a smart mix. Al’s falsetto feels natural and really fits inside this composition – with the lyrics being equally as amazing as the music itself. I find myself hitting the rewind button for this one – and not just because it’s about technology. I’m blown away by the song’s entire structure, particularly during “If you even get infected. turn off your computer, and make sure it powers down..” Can’t help but sing along. Too much fun. Five stars.
Confessions Part III: You might remember Confessions part I & II, so this is. what you’d never expect from a third one. Usher probably should have stopped with one, but I’m glad that Al made it a soul-bearing hat trick. The original song was ripe for satire – strong enough to support a parody. We’ve all been in love, and we’ve all done wacky (read: inexplicable) things in those relationships. Of course, I don’t know if any of you like to dress up like Shirley Temple and beat yourselves with a hockey stick – but you should enjoy the open confessional nonetheless. Four stars.
Weasel Stomping Day: Oh. My. God. This is Dr. Seuss in Bizzaro World! Close your eyes and try to imagine this one, folks. Not sure why Al references mayonnaise for the second time on the same album, but. that’s not the point. What sound does a weasel make when it’s stomped? There’s no safer way of finding out, I can assure you. The song is festive, but leaves the listener with a gigantic question: just exactly when is Weasel Stomping Day? I’d personally like to nominate July 27th if it hasn’t already been suggested. Let’s all celebrate! Five stars.
Close But No Cigar: Another Yankovic original – and likely his best non-parody relationship-centric song to date. “And I loved her even more than Marlon Brando loved soufflâ€š.” “And I was crazy like Manson about her…” “She got me all choked up like Mama Cass.” – Dennis Miller would be proud. The music, in and of itself, has an addictive pop quality to it. Then again, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. I really like it, but I don’t think I love it. Four stars.
Do I Creep You Out: I make it a point to watch the first few episodes of every American Idol season. Taylor Hicks kinda looks like Jeff Barr to me, though. I enjoy a good ballad every once in a while, so this serves my ears well. It’s over in less than three minutes, which is fine by me. My guess is that this track served as a substitute for the Blunt parody, though. I wanna lip sync this at my wedding reception – if only for shock value. Four stars.
Trapped in the Drive-Thru: You can always count on one extended track on a Weird Al album. This time, it was a pointed parody of a pointless R. Kelly rambling. In many ways, Yankovic did a better job with it! I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that some of these lyrics were based on actual events in Al’s life. I can tell you that Ponzi and I had the “Olive Garden” argument recently. Art imitates life. Although, Ponzi sold my bunny slippers on eBay last week. Five stars.
Don’t Download This Song: Yes, it’s what you think. Imagine if “We Are The World” was dedicated to the plight of the millionaire musician. The anthem is long overdue. You might have seen the video when it was uploaded to the Internet a few weeks ago. Aptly, you couldn’t easily download the encoded video. Listen to the very end – he screams “Ya cheap bastard!” Heh. The physical media was quite affordable, actually – filled to the edge with value. Four stars.
You’re Pitiful (Unreleased): He starts singing early, but that flub wasn’t edited out before the song was released and distributed to fans (in an unofficial capacity, as mentioned earlier). It’s too bad Atlantic had a stick up their ass about not including this in SOL, because it would have fit in well. Since I don’t listen to much popular music these days, I wasn’t tired of the “You’re Beautiful” sound by the time I heard this track. Xbox geeks will love the Halo 2 reference, but I still crack up every time I hear “farty pants.” Five stars.

Ponzi listens to artists like Chamillionaire, R. Kelly, and Usher all the time – so hip hop music regularly flows through our halls at home. It’s because of this that I find SOL so interesting and fun. Had my tastes not been influenced by my fiance’s choice of music, I don’t know how I’d feel about the album.

The included videos are somewhat fun; “Weasel Stomping Day” (Robot Chicken) and “Close But No Cigar” (Kricfalusi!) really hit it out of the park. I’m disappointed that “White and Nerdy” didn’t make the DualDisc, though – I was hoping to watch a higher quality version of it. If the visual extras don’t win you over, then perhaps the instrumental tracks and 5.1 surround sound recordings will. SOL is an absolute bargain at $15.

Perhaps other artists should start copying Al – filling their physical albums to the brim with value. Wouldn’t that be a hoot?

Free Preview of New Weird Al Album

Chris — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 01:40:02 +0000

Free Preview of New Weird Al Album is a post from Chris Pirillo

Stumbled into this “gift” accidentally while assembling a total Yankovic playlist this afternoon. You can hear :30 teasers for each Straight Outta Lynwood track, so long as you have URGE and WMP11 installed (Windows only). No account necessary. MTV must’ve added his new album at some point in the past day. Do an Artist search for Yankovic (in URGE) and you should see SOL top the list. Select the album tracks as well as another track from another album (like Couch Potato from Poodle Hat), then right-click the non-SOL track and select “Play” from the context menu. This should tide you over until Tuesday morning – which is when you’ll buy the full album:

Featuring parodies of Chamillionaire, Green Day, Usher, R. Kelly and Taylor Hicks! DualDisc includes PCM Stereo, 5.1 Surround and instrumental mixes of the entire album (with on-screen lyrics option), plus a 9-minute behind-the-scenes documentary and 6 BRAND NEW MUSIC VIDEOS!

If you don’t buy the album, I’m going to rip your heart right out of your rib cage with my bare hands and then throw it on the floor and stomp on it ’til you die – especially if you’re white and nerdy.

White and Nerdy

Chris — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 23:44:42 +0000

White and Nerdy is a post from Chris Pirillo

Yes, the music video has officially been placed on YouTube. I’d say that it’s Yankovic’s geekiest one yet (far better than “It’s All About The Pentiums”). Are you white and nerdy? Watch this:

Stop Emailing “Funny Stuff” to Me!

Chris — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 01:28:11 +0000

Stop Emailing “Funny Stuff” to Me! is a post from Chris Pirillo

In semi-related news, I’m on the front page of YouTube today (and have been since late yesterday evening). It’s for my Airplane Safety Instructional Video. Don’t ask me what took the TubeGods so long to feature it front-and-center.

Weird Al: Straight Outta Lynwood

Chris — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 23:43:12 +0000

Weird Al: Straight Outta Lynwood is a post from Chris Pirillo

Dude. I don’t know how this bit of news slipped past my radar:

The first single from “Straight Outta Lynwood” will World Premiere on Al’s MySpace page on Monday, August 21 at 6 PM Pacific time (9 PM Eastern)! And because Al’s feeling so darn generous, he’s going to make THIS song a free download TOO!

And…

Alâ€™s video for â€œDonâ€™t Download This Songâ€�? will be shown on Yahoo! Music Video Premieres this Wednesday, August 23! For those not keeping up with all the spoilers, this video is expected to be animated by Bill Plympton, and the music is expected to be in the style of the great â€™80s charity song, â€œWe Are The World.â€�?

And…

The New Album â€“ In Stores September 26. PRE-ORDER NOW! Featuring parodies of Chamillionaire, Green Day, Usher, R. Kelly and Taylor Hicks! DualDisc includes PCM Stereo, 5.1 Surround and instrumental mixes of the entire album (with on-screen lyrics option), plus a 9-minute behind-the-scenes documentary and 6 BRAND NEW MUSIC VIDEOS!

Yes! Wicked! Awesome! Sweet!

Rocky Horror Picture Snakes

Chris — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 23:31:44 +0000

Rocky Horror Picture Snakes is a post from Chris Pirillo

I think we have a new cult classic on our hands. How long do you give the world until an official audience participation script becomes available for Snakes on a Plane? I must see this movie.

“Snakes on a Plane became an Internet phenomenon soon after Josh Friedman’s blog entry and mentions on several Internet portals. The title inspired bloggers to create songs, apparel, poster art, pages of fan fiction, parody films, mock movie trailers and even Short film parody competitions. Snakes on a Plane has also inspired the creation of graphics for fictional movies about other animals in odd settings.”

Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have a new RHPS on our hands.

How to Handle Remote Tech Support

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:30:00 GMT

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Network Tools for Windows

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VMware and Parallels for Virtual Machines

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

It doesn't matter if you're running on Windows or Mac OS X - every power user needs either Parallels or VMware (or both). There's never been an easier way to test software without destroying your primary operating system's stability. Think of how many times you wish you could press a 'reverse' button on your computer. Plus, there's no easier way to try new Linux distributions - see what all the fuss is about. Run Windows in OS X, run Linux in Windows, but the best way to do either is with VMware and/or Parallels.

Coupons for Online Shopping

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 07:56:13 GMT

This feed is fueled by Lockergnome Online Shopping and Coupon Codes

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