Tim Burton's Weekend At Bernie's

Tim Burton reimagines another classic tale, Weekend At Bernie's, which was clearly ripe for his sense of dark whimsy. (Landline via FilmDrunk)



Previously on Popped Culture...
You Need To Be As Mad As A Hatter
Go To Sleep, TTC
Dancing With Scissors

Lost: Explosions! Sex In Cages!

LOST! Opening Credits (1967)
The opening credits of Lost, as a 1960s campy sci-fi action series. It must have been one of the timelines that occured when they set of Jughead. Anyway, can't wait for tonight's episode. (Link via The Zeray Gazette)

Previously on Popped Culture...
Meanwhile, In The Parallel Lost Universe...
Answers! Lost, We're Counting On You
Retro Lost 

Answers! Lost We're Counting On You

LOST - Answers?!
Can Lost wrap everything up in the final few episodes? No. Would I want them to? No. I just hope the final ride is enjoyable. I guess we'll start finding out in a few hours.

Previously on Popped Culture...
Retro Lost
Lost's Last Supper
Lost Fans More Annoying Than Ever

Viral Marketing

This is really the kind of word of mouth advertising you could do without, but I suppose even horrible diseases need good branding. Accordingly, it appears I would enjoy Aids, but that just seems wrong. From designer Steven Lefcourt at TeeFury, so get it before its gone.

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Why Starbucks Won't Be Contacting Douglas Coupland Anymore...
Badda Bing Badda Brand
Raise A Little Hell!

Kool-Aid Pop Culture? Oh, Yeah!

Far more than a mere quencher of thirst, the Kool-Aid man has infiltrated deep into our collective pop culture consciousness. In the battle of Western pop culture versus Islamic extremism (and, apparently Cobra) the Kool-Aid man was a loyal (if confused) foot soldier, alongside the Steve Erwin, Waldo, The Fonz, Mr. T, Robocop and Rodney Dangerfield. This, according to pop artist Joseph Griffith's painting The Surrender, commemorating the 225th anniversary of the Battle of Yorktown. (Link via culture kills)

Of course the Iranians my see things differently, as they too enjoy a cold glass of sugar water, as judged from this package. Though the Kool-Aid man's smile admittedly a little creepy. (Link via BoingBoing)

The Kool-Aid man also has a surprisingly long history. The Great Wall of China kept the Mongols out for over 1000 years... until one fateful day when some parched Chinese soldier disastrously called out "Hey Kool-Aid!" Spiked Punch from Threadless designer Andy Gonsalves. (Link via Super Punch)

Centuries later, he was still busting down walls. Wanted from Scott VanDenPlas and Joe Van Wetering in Chicago. (Link via Neatorama)



Dane Cook's Kool Aid Skit - Celebrity bloopers here
While I am loathe to spread Dane Cook any further on the interweb, he does capture the oddity of the Kool-Aid man's home destroying ways. And really, why would you want to drink out of an anthropomorphic jug's head?

Oh, no! I would never drink that man's Kool-Aid. Or maybe Kool-Aid ever again. (Link via LOL Factory)

Yep, the Kool-Aid man had his own comic book — in the 80s, naturally. His superpower appears to be the ability to break through walls (naturally) and quench thirst. Still, it beats Aquaman. (Link via Forces of Good)

Even more bizarre, there was also an origin story, "The Hasty Smear of My Smile...", purportedly written by Alan Moore that talks about his birth, his beginnings as a spokespitcher and his eventual meetings with Ken Kesey (The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test) and Jonestown death cult leader Jim Jones. "I wish to Christ I could stop grinning."

I don't know if this was really done by Moore, but the the full four panels posted at Again With The Comics are hilarious. (Link via Super Punch)

Sure, he denies being present when the phrase "Drink the Kool-Aid" took on it's deadly meaning, but with those glasses the Kool-Aid man does bear a striking resemblance to Jim Jones. Get Kult-Aid at Loiter.



5 Most Awkward Koo-Aid Ads
While it is great having the ability to break through walls, not knowing what is on the other side can have some very serious repercussions.



Family Guy Kool-Aid
In TV ads, kids all love it when the Kool-Aid man comes bursting through the wall, but in reality it's kind of annoying.

Of course if you keep smashing down people's walls, at some point someone is going to make you fix it back up. Community Service available at AntiClothes. (Link via Adventures of Accordion Guy)



You'd figure being made of glass and hanging around kids, this sort of thing would happen more often.

The Estonians

The Estonians
Continuing the Simpsons theme I have going on today (well, all the time to be honest), my blogging pal John Farrier posted this video on Neatorama of what The Simpsons would look like it took place in a small village in Estonia. I would so not watch that show, but they do have surprisingly good production values.

Previously on Popped Culture...
The Singhsons
Springfield: Brick By Brick
Last Exit To Springfield

Goodnight Keith Moon

In the great green room
There was a telephone
And a dead Keith Moon
And a picture of
Townshend jumping over the Moon

Goodnight Keith Moon is (pardon the pun) a dead-on parody of Goodnight Moon by Bruce Worden and Clare Cross about the death of Keith Moon, drummer for The Who. The pictures and the rhyme scheme are perfect. As someone who has read this book more times than he can remember, I'm happy to read another variation, though I still have much love for Goodnight Opus.

One day my son will find this blog and understand a lot more about me. Or have something to tell his therapist. Whichever.


Goodnight Keith Moon
Make sure you go to the site to see the whole book, but if you want to have someone lull you to sleep with this gentle tale of a rock star overdose, the above video will do the trick.
(Link via The Adventures of Accordion Guy in the 21st Century)

Previously on Popped Culture...
Shel Silverstein's American History X
When You Wish Upon A Star... Nothing Happens
The Kids Aren't Alright

The Lamp Had It Coming

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Let that be a lesson to all you animated, inanimate objects. I can only imagine the horror show that must have really gone on in the Beauty and the Beast castle.

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Meet George Jetson... And His Secrets
Uncle Scrooge Runs Out Of McLuck
Babe 3: Swine Flu

Last Supper Atop A Skyscraper

And if one disciple should accidentally fall... David Richoux put together this Last Supper variation by way of the almost, but not quite as well known Lunch atop a Skyscraper photo. Seems two must have already fallen, but nobody is too concerned about it.


Last Suppers always seem to come to me in groups. In the past couple of weeks I've seen a couple sites post Raoef Mamedov's interpretation of The Last Supper, which "consists of five photographs featuring models with Down’s Syndrome, each posing in positions similar to the characters in the Leonardo Da Vinci mural of the same name." (Link via The Presrufer; description via Postwiki)


Then there is the ever-popular McDonald's themed Last Supper. Unlike the skyscraper, this version has added a few disciples in the form of Ronald McDonald, the Hamburglar and Grimace. Don't know who the author is, but a thanks to Laura E. Negron for passing it along.

Previously on Popped Culture...
Suddenly Last Supper
Keyboard Cat's Last Supper
Kanye West's Last Supper

One Giant Leap For Parody...

Forty years ago today, man landed on the Moon. Well, supposedly. You folks probably think that Obama is an American too.

I kid, but at least the loony conspiracy theorists are still interested in the lunar landing, while the rest of us give little thought to the Moon's "magnificent desolation." On the other hand, the Moon landing has been a rich source of parody. Herewith are 13 of the best.

TARDIS Moon Landing

Seems like we were beaten to the Moon by Doctor Who.

SPQR Moon Landing

Actually, no, it was the Romans who got there first. Hmm, history is hard.

Canadian Moon Landing

Wait, wait, wait — Canadians got there first? Now I'm a loyal Canuck and even I know that can't be true.

Redneck Moon Landing

See it was Americans after all. I'm kinda surprised they didn't go in a souped-up version of the General Lee.

Watchmen Moon Landing

At least we know who took that famous photograph — Dr. Manhattan.

Onion Moon Landing

In any case, The Onion sums up how I think every paper should have really reacted to the Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin's feat. "Holy living fuck... Are you fucking believing this? Over," Armstrong radioed back to NASA headquarters nearly 25,000 miles away. "I abso-fucking-lutely am standing on the surface of the fucking moon."

Mooning Moon Landing

Perhaps we haven't been back because the moon wasn't everything it was, um, cracked up to be.

Giant Moon Landing

Then again, maybe they found something far too terrifying. And here I thought it would be super-intelligent chimps.

Tractor Moon Landing

One theory on our continuing lack of interest in the moon is that budget cutbacks mean the equipment astronauts would have to use these days would be considerably less than high tech.

Video Camera Moon Landing

It would be easier to dismiss the moon landing hoaxes without pictures like this surfacing. What were they thinking?!

Studio Moon Landing

Turns out they NASA really just went to Sears and got the family special with the Moon backdrop.

Rolling Moon Landing

"Hey guys I got us some McDon.... Crap are we shooting?"

Previously on Popped Culture...
Popaganda: The Pop Culture Revolution
Tank Man of Tiananmen Square
The Evolution of Satire

Harry Potter And The Office Of Unemployment

Harry Potter and the Office of Unemployment

Atom.com: Funny Videos | Animation | TV & Movie Spoofs

As the Harry Potter movies get darker, so do the parodies. This time round, a wizard runs off with everyone's tuition money and Hogwarts is turned into condos, forcing Harry and his classmates to hit streets looking for work.

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MC Voldemort Owns Harry Potter
Harry Potter And The Alternate Ending
Yo Momma So Fat The Sorting Hat Put Her In All Four Houses

MC Voldemort Owns Harry Potter

Poor Harry Potter, he just can't bring the hurt against Voldemort, even with his "Hagrid-sized balls."

I'm the darkest dark wizard in all of history
I'll slay your ass out like Cedric Digory
With a wave of my finger I'll put you on the floor
You a punk ass little kid without Dumbledore
I'm the best wizard rapper you ever will see
You're a puny rich midget with a dead mommy

(Link via /Film)

Previously on Popped Culture...
Harry Potter And The Alternate Ending
Yo Momma So Fat The Sorting Hat Put Her In All Four Houses
8 Kilomètres

Legos Crawl In Search Of Blood

"I have something I want to tell you. I'm not like other guys." Truer words have never been spoke.

You know it's thriller, Lego thriller night. Tired of the Michael Jackson tributes and retrospectives? Too bad, I was away for the weekend and need to get it out of my system, mostly by posting this recreation of Thriller, entirely in Lego. I did an extensive five-minute search and couldn't find a less-blurry version, or the original creator for that matter. Stupid internet.

Of course Jacko's lasting legacy, at least for me, is introducing me to the world of pop culture parody, vias Weird Al Yankovic's Eat It.

Just eat it, eat it , eat it
Get yourself an egg and beat it
Have some more chicken, have some more pie
It doesn't matter , it's broiled or fried
Just eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it
eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, ooh

That's gold, people. Thanks Michael. Thanks Al.

Previously on Popped Culture...
Michael Jackson: Engulfed In Fame
Michael Jackson's Last Supper
Celebrities Of The Living Dead

Breakfast Hawks

Perhaps after detention the brain, the athlete, the basket case, the princess and the criminal all went off to Edward Hopper's Nighthawks diner for some food. It could have happened...

From pop artist Dave MacDowell, previously featured here with Oompa LoomPacino and The Seven Jack Nicholsons.

Previously on Popped Culture...
The Breakfast Cereal Club
Suddenly Last Supper
Nevermind The Parodies

Tank Man of Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Simpsons

One of the most powerful images of the the twentieth century, the image of the anonymous man who stood in front of a line of Chinese tanks during the protests at Beijing's Tiananmen Square still resonate 20 years later. Inevitably, they have made their way into pop culture, such as Selma Bouvier's trip to China. In tribute, Listicles has collected several homages to the Unknown Rebel.

Tiananmen Lego

Previously on Popped Culture
Have You Tried Throwing Rocks At Her?
If the Shoe-icide Bomber Fits...
The Evolution of Satire

You Has No Doubt

Watch Pedobear "Doubt" Trailer and more funny videos on CollegeHumor
The web is full of weirdness today. You doubt me? I give you the Pedobear version of Doubt. As CollegeHumor says, "We did it - we found something creepier than Philip Seymour Hoffman."

Oh yeah, and did I mention Explosions and Boobs? Yup, what it says is what you get. As I said, weird.

Previously on Popped Culture...
People Were Hating 'Fore I Left My Comment
Meme-tastic
Teh Lolcats Theme Song
All Your Memes Are Belong To Us

The Slumdog Price is Right

Watch The Slumdog Price is Right and more funny videos on CollegeHumor

While the real stars of Slumdog Millionaire keep having their shanties knocked down they can always dream of being the next contestant on The Price Is Right. And all they'd have to do is take a beating from Drew Carey.

A fun parody, if a couple of months late. How they missed a spade or neutered joke I don't know.

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Rock Paper Scissors - The Documentary
Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis?
These References Are Making Me Thirsty

Give Me A Handjob, If You Want To Live

Handjobs For The Future

Atom.com: Funny Videos | Extreme Humor | TV & Movie Spoofs

The future is in jeopardy unless Sarah Connor can, um, hand out some happy endings. Maybe the future isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Of course it could just be a result of the all the damn time traveling. Enough already!

Sure is a lot of Terminator parodies floating about these days. It's almost like there was another movie in the offing — but that would just be ridiculous.

Previously on Popped Culture...
Daddy, Can I Have Herpes?
Sex, Latex and Videotape
Hot Chair-on-Chair Action

Terror Gallops On All Fours

My Little Pony: Reign of the Buttercup Sprinkles. That's more horsepower than a horse! I'd seen this on a few sites but never watched it — my loss. It is full on terrible.

From the warped folks at SecretSauce.tv, with many thanks to the twisted folks at Kindertrauma for convincing me to watch it.

Previously on Popped Culture...
My Little Pony Madness
Babe 3: Swine Flu
Saturday Morning Watchmen

The Singhsons

An Indian version of The Simpsons, featuring Bartinder Singhson, Omar Singhson, Mar Ji Singhson, Lisajit Singhson and Mugglie Singhson and more Indian stereotypes than you can count.

Judging by its view numbers, I'm the very last person to watch this, but I'm posting it anyway.

The Singhsons is, apparently, a sHaMoZzLe Video Vault Award winning video parody created by Aaron Pendland in Portland, Oregon to showcase the creative talent of Pendland Creative. Maybe, but you can't view it on either site, so who knows.

(Link via Listicles: 7 Cartoon Intros in Foreign Languages)

Previously on Popped Culture...
Springfield: Brick By Brick
Last Exit To Springfield
So It’s Come To This