Now THAT's what I call an opening act!

Fake sneeze

Billy Crystal on the Muppets Tonight show… or how to make a spoof on the fake orgasm scene from When Harry Meets Sally… in a kids' programme!

Tribute to John McClane

Listen to this nice song praising John McClane (Bruce Willis), the hero of the Die Hard series:

Christmas Week: "Muppet Christmas Carol" (2)

I know I've already told you about my liking of The Muppet Christmas Carol; today I'd like to show you two of the songs but this time in French.

Ebenezer Scrooge (Michael Caine)'s introduction:

Jacob and Robert Marley (Statler and Waldorf)'s song:

Note that Michael Caine is dubbed by Bernard Dhéran.


"Ça sent bon Noël" / "It feels like Christmas" (sung by Richard Darbois)

Christmas Week: Alles kan beter (10)

Special Christmas songs!

Christmas Week: "Christmas with the Joker"

You probably remember the silly Joker Christmas song:



Hey, I found the whole Christmas with the Joker episode (from Batman: The Animated Series):

I love Rocky Road

In "I Love Rocky Road" Weird Al Yankovic claims his passion for rock and roll… I mean, rocky road ice cream:



Note that the source text is "I Love Rock 'n Roll" by The Arrows.

Weg met Sinterklaas!

The 'zwarte Pieten'(or Sinterklaas's black helpers) decide to revolt and kick their boss's ass. (Nice alliteration, by the way.)

"Computer friends"

A nice promoted video on YouTube today, partly praising Apple computers qualities:

Singing Zievereer

Almost a month ago I featured a video showing what the musical Singin' in the Rain would look like if George Lucas decided to re-master (and of course re-edit) it. Now take a look at this amateur singer from Brussels, a new rival for the late Gene Kelly:



This comes from Les Snuls. "Un snul, c'est un type qui est un peu onneuzel, qui est pas tellement intelligent."

Carmen

Beaker is back, and today, assisted by the Swedish Chef and Animal, he's going to perform "Habanera" from Carmen:

Niet meer dakloos in Utrecht

A couple of days ago I was telling you about my housing problem in Utrecht, because I didn't have one and I was really sick and tired of the Dutch housing system. However, I did find a room! I can't believe it myself! (Well I do, but it's just a way of speaking… or "writing", rather.) Let me tell you how I found it.

On Thurday I went to the Educatorium on the Leuvenlaan, in De Uithof (where most of the Utrecht University lectures are given except for the Law and Humanities Faculties) because all the Erasmus and other exchange students could obtain information about activities related to culture, sports, etc. but also the so-called "inschrijving bij de gemeente" and many other things. We also listened to a girl from Canada who told us about her stay in Utrecht and we were introduced to the ESN (for Erasmus Student Network) of Utrecht. On a notice board I spotted a short message on a sheet of paper: "Kamer te huur in Bilthoven. Graag bellen op (…)" or something like that. I called the guy and made an appointment on Sunday at two o'clock.

So I went to Bilthoven and met with Mustafa, who's about 25 years old and decided to let two rooms of his appartment to share the rent. He showed me the room (2 meters by 4,5, roughly), the kitchen, the loo, the bathroom, the living room with television and a dining room with a big brand-new fridge — so I won't nuke it. Most important of all: everything was clean — just as if Mr. Clean was a friend of Mustafa. We chatted for half an hour and we got on very well with each other. I told him about my housing problems and told him I was really interested. He then replied that I could have the room directly! Surprised, I asked if there were other candidates and he retorted that he preferred the "first come, first served" system. So later in the day I told him I'd take the room.

On Monday afternoon Mustafa came to Zeist, at Magali's to help me with my luggage and my camp bed, and we drove to Bilthoven, and then he showed me where the train station, the shops etc. were located, and after that I unpacked my luggage.

Here are some pictures that I took in the apartment:

– My bed and the radiator


Same thing, but from the opposite side:


– The corridor:


– The entrance, with the kitchen on the left and the toilet on the right:


– The kitchen:


– The shower, curiously without glass walls to contain water (as is the case everywhere in the Netherlands):


– The living room:


– The dining room, with fridge:


– What I can see from the front window:


Mustafa told me he didn't have an internet connexion yet, but there are several WiFi networks in the building, so I decided to "take advantage of them" because as you know I can't live without the Web.

See you soon from more news from Utrecht!


PS. I don't know why but I just thought it was appropriate to feature this "C'est la fête" song, from the French-dubbed version of "Be our guest" in The Beauty and the Beast. It's Daniel Beretta (known for being the usual French voice of Arnold Scharzenegger) who sings:

Batman theme song

I forgot to show you this theme song based on Danny Elfman's soundtrack for Tim Burton's Batman. Please watch the original opening credits first, and then the song.

Avec

A song by Les Snuls to describe Belgium:

Robinson Sucroë

For cartoon nostalgics amongst you (if any), I've found the first episode of Robinson Sucroë, a spoof on Daniel Dafoe's Robinson Crusoe:









If you know this series, please post a comment!

If you feel like singing the song, here are the lyrics (which, I admit, I could still recall):

Robinson Sucroé avait promis de raconter sa vie
Sur une p'tite île déserte il avait trouvé l'endroit rêvé
Le ciel bleu, plage dorée, les tapis de bandes vertes
Mais il sut la vérité! Son île était surpeuplée, c'était dur!
Il y avait des Touléjours, des pirates tout autour.
Robinson t'as des ennuis, heureusement y'a Mercredi.
Robinson Sucroé, c'était fatal, devenait paresseux
Mercredi, à sa place, dans le journal, parlait de monstres affreux.
Pour Floyd c'était ainsi le succès chaque semaine
Uglyston était jaloux, préparait des mauvais coups pour prouver
Qu'il y avait des Touléjours, des pirates tout autour.
Robinson t'as des ennuis, heureusement... Y'a Mercredi!

Disclaimer: It was purely accidental that I post a video in French on the Fourteenth of July (aka Bastille Day).

And I know that you can see my underwear / And you can joke about it I really don't care

Yet another movie theme turned into a song: John Williams's Superman theme revisited by Goldentusk:



"Let me be at peace in my Fortress of Solitude"

"Information through infiltration"

Please enjoy the James Bond theme song (originally composed by composed by Monty Norman) made by Goldentusk:



"And yet I neveeeeeeer seem to sweat!"

"I have a way with gadgets, all of the ones I can choose
I don't have any permit for anything that I use"

"You built a time machine out of a car!"

Goldentusk, who made the Indiana Jones theme song which I featured some days ago, made several other theme songs. Today, I'd like to show you this one about the Back to the Future theme composed by Alan Silvestry. You might want to listen to the original version first:



And now, the parody:



Please (re)watch this Back to the Future rap which I featured last year:

"Rarely I practise what I preach, that was why I was born to teach"

Since we're in a kind of Indy week, I propose you watch this brilliant song parody based on the Raiders March theme by the god of composers, John Williams. Let's watch first a music video with fragments from the first three films.



Parody by goldentusk:

Coneheads

Here's the trailer of Coneheads, a movie which I like very much but which I haven't had the opportunity to watch for several years. Fortunately, I've got the DVD and I'll watch it in July or August. Till then, I can enjoy the trailer. From the Wikipedia entry (slightly edited):

Coneheads has been said to have made an "accidental" or "unintentional" political statement or social commentary about the nature of the immigrant experience in America, the filmmakers' ostensible intent being merely to entertain.

The film's plot premise: the adventures of the Conehead family — whose ship, as part of an advance scouting mission for an invasion, is shot down by a F-16 fighter-interceptor of the New Jersey Air National Guard, and they try to assimilate into American society and pursue the immigrant's American dream.

The film stars Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtin as Beldar and Prymaat Clorhone (who later Anglicize their Remulakian surname to "Conehead"), parents of Connie (Michelle Burke), but also Michael McKean (seen in Dream On as Gibby), and supporting actors Sinbad, Phil Hartman, Jon Lovitz, the late Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, Jason Alexander and Alexander's Seinfeld co-star, Michael Richards, makes a cameo appearance.

Unfortunately extracts from the film are scarce on YouTube, so I propose you watch this fine example of rickrolling… (Remember?)