Boredom-Fueled Blog

Dwight Schrute and Andy Bernard, played by Rainn Wilson and Ed Helms. Earlier in the series, both Dwight and Andy had been established as musicians – Dwight on recorder and guitar (“Take Your Daughter To Work Day”) and Andy on banjo (“The Convict”) – but they never really played together until “The Michael Scott Paper Company” in season five. At first, they’re competing for the new receptionist’s attention, but before long, they’re playing “Take Me Home, Country Roads” together. This could be a great album; they could throw in a few musical cameos by other people from the office: Michael on tambourine, Creed on guitar, Darryl on keyboards, etc. Suggested band name: The Beet-les.

K. K. Slider. K. K. Slider is that dog character from Animal Crossing who (in “City Folk”) plays songs at the museum’s cafe on Saturday nights between eight and midnight. He never sings any lyrics, only meeps and beeps, and his guitar sometimes sounds like a piano, but he’s still better than most of the bands around today.

Conan O’Brien with the Max Weinberg 7. During the Writer’s Strike of ’07-’08, Conan got bored, or didn’t have enough real material, or something, so he started singing a song with the Max Weinberg 7 once in a while to fill time. Conan would play guitar; they’d usually play an old rock tune from the ’50s and Conan would tell his at-home audience to go wake grandma and grandpa (but don’t “startle them”), because “Conan’s gonna play a number with the band.”
UPDATE: It has happened, my friends. Conan (with the help of Jack White) has released a live album of classic rock songs and modern alternative songs, featuring the Legally Prohibited Band (formerly “The Max Weinberg 7″).

Windows XP. If you’ve seen that cool viral video of the guy who made an entire song using only sounds from Windows XP and 98 you know what I’m talking about. Other cool sound effects: the window-pane crashing sound from Hearts, the “TADA” sound, and vocals by Microsoft Sam.

The Three-Headed Broadway Star. What’s more fun than a barrel of monkeys and has less musical talent than a barrel of monkeys? It’s the three-headed Broadway star from “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” featuring a rotating cast of Wayne Brady, Chip Esten, Brad Sherwood, Drew Carey, Ryan Stiles, David Hasselhoff, Whoopi Goldberg, Jerry Springer and Colin Mochrie. In this skit three performers must sing a song one word at a time. This is particularly funny with Drew Carey as the third head because he often sings a completely unexpected and unrelated word. Bonus Track: That one Irish Drinking Song where Colin says “Me-ow” and they have to stop the song because everyone’s laughing too hard.

Music Conan O'Brien, Lists, The Office

Googling while bored can lead to some pretty funny “Google suggestions” – the words in the drop-down tab that appear after you begin typing (try typing in “i am”). It just so happens that I was bored and Googling randomly today (a lethal combination), and I came up with some suggestions that I thought were pretty funny.

I like this one, because as you read down the line, it seems like Google and eBay have a rivalry, and the Google search engine is getting more and more hostile towards eBay.

At first glance, it would seem that Google hates Jay Leno as much as they hate eBay, but then there is some random thing about Leno being “angry that the unemployed are selling tickets for his free show”… which (although probably illegal) is not a bad idea for making money in this economy.

This next one is kind of weird because it lists four things about Ringo Starr, and none of them are true.

On this last one, Google finally gets something right. Ebay is not “too expensive.” Jay Leno is not “a jerk.” Ringo Starr is definitely not “dead.” But Joaquin Phoenix is definitely “weird,” “insane,” and “nuts,” but I’m not sure if you can actually describe what he does as rapping.

The Internet ebay, Google

Microsoft:
The Beatles: Rock Band: On Monday, at E3, announcements were made about the Beatles: Rock Band, namely announcements regarding the song list and locations used in the game. The song listing includes such great tracks as “Get Back” and “Octopus’s Garden” alongside tracks with minimal or no lead guitar part like “I Am the Walrus” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” You can also play at venues such as the Ed Sullivan Theater, the Cavern Club, and the Apple Rooftop. It should be noted that I made several predictions regarding this game a couple of months ago. Every venue that has been officially announced as being in the game was included in my prediction, and the only two songs I neglected to include in my prediction were “I Am the Walrus” (because it is mainly played on piano) and “Taxman.” Another thing that caught me off-guard was the fact that the entirety of Abbey Road will also be included. I’ll be interested in seeing how this game really is, as, when you get down to it, very few Beatles songs actually utilize all the peripherals included in this game.
Nintendo:
New Super Mario Bros.: Wii: A very disappointing announcement was made about this game. It was introduced as being something completely new, although it was the opposite of new. It was pretty much exactly like any other sidescrolling Mario game ever made, the only difference being that there will now be four players cluttering the screen and forcing the camera to pan out until your character is the size of a dime on a 52″ plasma screen.
Wii Sports Resort/Wii Motion Plus: I had high hopes for this game, but they were squashed when the presenters kept bringing up the “physical reality” of the game, and remarking that every mistake you’d make “in life,” will be duplicated in the game. So… since I’m not good at basketball in life, I won’t be very good at this game. At least in the original Wii Sports you could manipulate the controller so that the sports became nothing like the real sports…
Mario and Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story: …an RPG where Mario and Luigi wander around inside Bowser’s body. This is a great idea for a game, and it would’ve made a great 3D adventure for Wii, but instead they ruined it by making it an RPG and sticking it on the Nintendo DS.
Wii Vitality Sensor: When they announced this at first, I thought it was a joke, like that YouTube video where there are Wii accessories for random stuff like frying pans and egg beaters. The Wii Vitality Sensor’s presentation was very vague, stating that it can read what’s not visible, namely heart rates and other health garbage… but the way it was described it seems like it also reads minds and controls your emotions.
Super Mario Galaxy 2: When all looked hopeless, Nintendo redeemed themselves by saying that there will be a second Super Mario Galaxy for Wii – this time with Yoshi. This should be good. I still maintain that Super Mario Galaxy is the best game for the Wii, so I’m happy that they’re giving it a sequel.

Well… I clearly have too much time on my hands.

Nintendo Super Mario Galaxy, The Beatles: Rock Band