The Google StreetView Cam Sees Some Crazy Things

Google's StreetView camera has tooled around the world, taking photos of millions of miles of byways with it's unblinking eye.  And sometimes, unintentionally that eye captures some extraordinary images. A Canadian artist named Jon Rafman has been scanning Google's street views looking for things and people out of the ordinary and the design website Demilked has compiled some of his best screenshots.

Some of the images are shocking, like this van on fire above, and some are truly beautiful, like this flock of seagulls in flight below. Some are downright disturbing, like a baby crawling on an urban sidewalk by itself in front of a Gucci store.  Rafman is not the only one who has found art in the mundane.  A California based artist Doug Rickard has found interest in the street views of poor and depressed neighborhoods.

Amazing Cast Photos For Season 2 Of AMERICAN HORROR STORY

Last fall, I kept hearing raves about Ryan Murphy's AMERICAN HORROR STORY. However, it didn't sound like something I'd be interested in as I'm not a big horror fan. But I checked it out anyway (probably because of Dylan McDermott!) and was instantly hooked. 

With its mix of real-life history (the Lindberg baby, the Black Dahlia) and fictional kinkiness (the Rubberman), it was the craziest show I had seen on television in a very long time...or quite possibly the craziest show I'd ever seen on television. But one of the most shocking things about it to me was that Ryan Murphy had revived a genre of TV that has been listed as dead for decades; the anthology series. Despite valiant attempts in the 80s to revive it with Spielberg's AMAZING STORIES and reboots of THE TWILIGHT ZONE, anthology was deemd un-doable. 

But much like he did with GLEE ((which essentially revived the also dead variety show genre), Murphy covered his tracks a bit and pretended the show was a series.  At least in the first season. That pretense seems to be over with Season 2 as the show has an entirely new setting (an instituational asylum) and new roster of characters, though Jessica Lange and a couple other cast members are returning but in utterly different roles.  The photos posted on EW's website this week give some tantalizing clues as to what's to come this year. Jessica Lange as a nun looks awesome and Joeseph Fiennes as a priest looks weirdly hot.  I can't wait for this one to air--it might even convince me to buy Hulu plus as the 10-day waiting period was killing me last fall!

Ally Sheedy At Age 12 On TO TELL THE TRUTH

Before she took her seat at THE BREAKFAST CLUB, a 12 year old Ally Sheedy wrote a novel. It was a NY Times bestseller back in 1975 when it was published called SHE WAS NICE TO MICE which was an illustrated children's book about mice and Queen Elizabeth.  I have a vague recollection of the book from my own childhood though I'm not sure I fully read it...I may have just looked at the pictures. 

Anyway, as a clever way of promoting the book, Sheedy made an appearance on the game show TO TELL THE TRUTH. (The fact that her mother is legendary literary agent Charlotte Sheedy may have helped make this happen--as well as maybe getting the book published too.) This game/chat show was one of my 70s' favorites as it always had cool celebrity panelists like Kitty Carlisle Hart and Gene Rayburn (from MATCH GAME, another fave!).  I came across this clip recently when a friend was putting together their own version of this show for a variety act and, while trying to find a clip of Jimmy Carter's appearance on the show when he was the governor of Georgia (actually turns out he was on WHAT'S MY LINE), I found a 12 year old Sheedy instead.  

It's a fun clip as Sheedy does not make a most convincing child author. We thought the red-head was better and, as it turns out, the red-head is the illustrator of Sheedy's book. 

A Fun Dance-y Video I Love By Walk The Moon

Last night, I went to check out Ben Lerman's Big Band Hot 100 last night at the Ace Hotel, a fun night of music when Ben and his band cover Billboard's top hits.  Most of them I knew but there was one catchy tune sung by the talented Marcos Sanchez that I didn't; "Anna Sun" by an alt-rock group called Walk The Moon.

Clearly, this band loves the 80s and thus I love them! Everything from the tune itself which is reminiscent of 80s college rock as well as the day-glo fashion....not to mention the hot dance moves.  Then there is also a hopefully intentional homage to Janet Jackson's "When I Think Of You" one shot video.  Anyway, it's a fun song that was apparently the song of summer 2011, according to Esquire magazine.  Somehow I missed that--but I am enjoying it just the same in 2012. Keep on rockin', WTM!

WNBC's Ben Aaron Is Kinda Cute

I had not come across any "Kinda Cute" candidates in a while. In fact, I was losing hope for this increasingly rare feature here on Hi-Fi Bri. Then, I was watching something called LXTV on NBC over the weekend when they had this handsome young man doing a story about an exercise convention.  And you know what? This Ben Aaron is Kinda Cute!

Ben is a feature correspondent for NBC, usually seen on the 5pm faux news show they now do which is lifestyle/ entertainment fluff. But Ben delivers the fluff in an amusing, sorta wacky way which makes it somewhat more watchable. That's for sure!  As to whose team he actually plays for, I found a lively debate as to whether he is gay or straight, possibly fueled by his "dance walking" segment below.  There is no official word on this topic from Ben either way so I'll let you be the judge on that one.

After doing some Googlin', I found a Huffinton Post QA he did with more details on this goofy and charming up n comer. I found out that Ben is an Emerson graduate who is actually a radio man at heart.  As I used to do radio, this was exciting news to find out that we have so much in common! ;)  A phrase I often heard in my radio days was "that guy has a face for radio", referencing the sometimes not so cute folks behind the mic (ie. Rush Limbaugh). Well, Ben clearly did not have a face for radio and got on TV in Phoenix and then LA and now is hitting the big time at WNBC in New York.  I look forward to seeing more of him as I'm sure his own talk show is not far away.

MTA Blows Up 72nd St, Halts Construction On 2nd Ave Subway

Something went spectacularly wrong during construction on the Second Avenue subway station at 72nd street earlier this week. What was supposed to be a controlled explosion for the escalator wells got wildly out of control and blew rocks and dirt more than 80 feet into the air, breaking windows and making pedestrians scatter. Miraculoulsly no one above or below ground was hurt.

The photo of the explosion above was captured by a tourist, John Wilson, who was told by an MTA employee to get his camera ready as they stopped pedestrians and cleared 72nd street for the blast--standard practice for the project. What wasn't standard was what happened next. Yesterday, the MTA said construction on the project has been temporarily halted until they can figure out what went wrong. Of course, the usual statement was released saying that it was not an act of "terrorism"....just another mishap on the long delayed and trouble Second Avenue subway.

The Bowery Boys History Of The Rockaways Is Great Beach Listening

This week, as people hit the beaches for summer vacation, I have a great recommendation for some beach listening. The Bowery Boys podcast recently did an wonderful history of New York City's first resort beach, the Rockaways.  They start with the Indians (a tribe which gave the Rockways their unusual name), cover its height as New York's most luxurious beach resort (see above), and also cover its downfall when Robert Moses cleared a whole swath of it for public housing.

Lately the Rockaways are resurgent as a new generation rediscovers NYC's loveliest natural shoreline within the five borough.  I'm a Fort Tilden regular (where the Army secretly stashed some nuclear weapons in case of a Soviet attack), as are many of this hipsters from the BK. I have jokingly started referring to it as Hipster Beach. Anyway, the podcast is a great story told with humor and loads of factoids by the knowledgeable Bowery Boys, aka Gregory Young and Tom Meyers. Check it out on your iPhone while you lie on the beach!

AUGUST Is Available On DVD & Download--Check It Out!

As we hit the dog days of August, you might be looking for something to watch other than a movie about a superhero or an animated child.  May I suggest the excellent indie AUGUST, directed by Eldar Rappaport and co-written by yours truly, me!  :)  It's a beautifully shot and wonderfully acted sultry drama about a love triangle that takes place in Los Angeles during a heat wave. Talk about the perfect summer movie....or should I say the perfect movie for the month of August.

The film played to much acclaim at festivals worldwide last year and now is available on DVD as well as digital download. So please check it out, support independent film and have a great steamy week!

Guilty Pleasure TV: THE L.A. COMPLEX on The CW

With the Olympics over and the new TV season not yet begun, what to watch?  I recently got a recommendation from a fellow filmmaker about a show on The CW that I hadn't even heard of. It's called THE L.A. COMPLEX and follows the adventures of a group of folks trying to make it in "The Biz" living in one of those uniquely L.A. apartment complexes centered around a pool ala MELROSE PLACE.

OK--I know. This sounds like a recipe for boredom and/or soap camp but I was suprised how interested I was in the show. All the characters are vividly drawn and very real too (for the world they inhabit, that is!)  The writing is also sharp and quite funny too. And in the pilot alone there are a least two OMG moments which were great....a rarity in any hour of television.

The show is produced by a Canadian company and mainly shot in Toronto (my only gripe). It was done as 6 episodes initially but got picked up for a "second season" of 13 episodes which started airing this summer in the US. I've only watched the first couple of episodes of this series on Hulu but I look forward to the rest. Oh and there is one mega spoiler alert that I am not giving away here which I found truly unique and totally real.  Keep watching to find out!

Internet Nostalgia circ. 1995 And Some Shocking Predictions

"Hey -- why should I be on the Internet?" That's the question that kicks off a recently rediscovered Montana PSA to encourage local libraries and school to get online.  The answer, though is the kicker; "the internet will be our phone, our shopping, even our TV" so say a bunch of extremely enthusiastic 9-year-olds.  This video is great not only for it's spot-on prediction but also for the great screen grabs of the Internet 1.0.

When I saw this on YouTube, the next featured video was a 1995 commercial for AOL (posted below).  Ah--remember when AOL was The Internet?  Those were the days.  Except for the ads reminder of how they used to charge hourly for access.  That has to be one of the best money-making scams of all time, right?  The commercial repeatedly boasts "10 free hours!" if you sign up with AOL.  Well, they got the certainly got their corporate comeuppance.  Now it just may be Facebook's turn as their stock took a dive yesterday, hitting an all-time low.