Check out New Twitter with a little help from will.i.am and Nicki Minaj!

Those in the Twittersphere have been all abuzz about New Twitter since it was announced last month. There have been tons of #newTwitter tweets – most ranging from “When will I get it?” from the “have-nots” to “I Love/Hate the New Twitter!” from the “haves”. But, it’s been rolling out more widespread in the past few weeks. I, myself, joined the New Twitter Club last week. Even if you don’t have a care for Twitter whatsoever, you might still appreciate this clever animation that shows off some of the features of #NewTwitter, with a little help from a beat by will.i.am and Nicki Minaj!

I have to say, “Check It Out” is growing on me! will.i.am and Nicki Minaj first performed it at the Pre-Show for the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards a few weeks ago and on the David Letterman Show just the other night.

You can listen to the full “Check it Out” track at http://dipmusic.dipdive.com/media/146683

Download “Check it Out” on iTunes at http://bit.ly/CheckItOutiTunes

You can read more about “Check It Out” and see a bunch of exclusive videos from the music video set at Dipdive: Nicki Minaj and will.i.am Exclusives on the Futuristic “Check It Out” Video Set

Sesame Street – not just for pre-schoolers!

Sesame Street has always involved pop culture personalities, had musical guests, spoofed TV shows, book characters and movies. The latest batch of cross-overs have been pretty hot.

Perhaps the easiest one first – the controversy around Katy Perry’s recent video with Elmo where she parodies her hit Hot N Cold as a playtime invite to Elmo decked out in “dress up” clothes that some parents found too racy – so much so that the episode now won’t be broadcast on TV:

While I’m sure that pre-schoolers won’t have any issues with the cute performance by Perry and Elmo (including Perry’s outfit), I think some Dads may especially enjoy the video.

Perhaps another recent musical cross-over will fair better with parents and kids alike. What I Am is a great song with the simple message of “being the best me I can be” by will.i.am and the Sesame Street crew. My kids are now too old for Sesame Street, but they are Black Eyed Peas fans. The Peas have been hot all year and we all love their latest hits (at least the radio edit versions) and are digging “What I Am” right now:

Next up, the Sesame Street parody titled True Mud may or may not connect with the youngsters. The skit spoofs the HBO vampire series hit, True Blood, where “outed” vampires drink a bottled blood substitute called “True Blood”; this time a suspected “grouch” really wants a mud fix:

Aside from the subtle rhyming lesson, I’m torn if this will appeal to the pre-school crowd. Perhaps the simple juxtaposition of some “weird guy” who insists on ordering mud at the restaurant will be enough to illicit some giggles. If not, then perhaps the stranger’s mudbath at the conclusion of the story will be funny enough?

Prince declares “The Internet’s Over”

Prince shared his thoughts on the Internet in a rare interview with The Daily Mirror.  Prince has famously had past issues with the Internet and “new forms of digital distribution”.  However, just last year, it was announced that he would release 3 albums digitally in one day.

Prince is set to release his new album 20Ten this month and plans to distribute it in the UK as a free cover CD with the Daily Mirror. His own official website has also been closed, apparently.

Here’s an excerpt of what Prince had to say:

“The internet’s completely over. I don’t see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won’t pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can’t get it. The internet’s like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can’t be good for you.”

Read more on the story at Mashable and CrunchGear.

Image by Nicolas Genin.

will.i.am quick interview by Robert Scoble at Twitter Chirp Conference

Robert Scoble caught up with will.i.am at the Twitter Chirp conference last week for a quick interview on the music industry and technology:

Loss of David Carradine on June 3, 2009

Another loss of a fine actor… he’s been in so many television programs and movies, you should just check out his wikipedia entry or his official site for filmography.

The circumstances around his death are still being considered, but are currently believed to be an accidental hanging, and not a suicide, in his hotel room in Thailand - where he was filming a movie.

While I’ve been a fan of his acting from beginning to end, I have to admit fondest memories of him (like many others, i’m sure) are from the TV series Kung Fu and as Bill in the two Quentin Tarantino Kill Bill films.

Another icon, Eartha Kitt, dies at age 81

This news is a little old, but I only read about it this week; it follows up on my post on Bettie Page as Eartha Kitt is also quite an American icon.

Eartha Kitt passed away on Christmas day in 2008.

I have to admit, although Kitt was known widely as an accomplishedactress, singer and cabaret star, I  have fondest memories of her playing Catwoman on the 60s Batman TV show (which I watched in the 70s)!

Her daughter, Kitt Shapiro, posted a message on the official Eartha Kitt website and there can always be information found on Wikipedia.

Pinup Queen Bettie Page dies at age of 85

Bettie Page is one of those seminal characters in pop culture history.  Besides witnessing the resurgence of her popularity as a cult icon in the ‘80s, like many people I hadn’t really known much about her.  It was obvious that she was a pinup star on the fringe of bondage and pornographic photography in the ‘50s.

She always maintained (from her perspective) that she did the photos and films in good fun and because she wasn’t ashamed of the human body. It wasn’t surprising, however, to learn that she got out of it when the government stepped in to stop the photographers who made her famous with regulations of pornography.

She fell off the face of the Earth for many years, only to resurface in the ‘90s as a born-again Christian. She did have a troubling personal and family life and struggled with her past.  She died yesterday, December 11^th.

I definitely recommend the biopic film, “The Notorious Bettie Page” starring Gretchen Mol as Bettie Page. The film (based on a specific book, I believe) provided a lot of insight as to just how incident the secretary-turned-model was and how she just happened to fall into the underground industry through meeting the photographer and his sister.