It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life, for lipdubbing
July 15, 2011 10:00 AM   Subscribe

 
Grand Rapids loves lipdubs more than anybody.
posted by philcliff at 10:07 AM on July 15, 2011


This, quite frankly, is awesome.
posted by davidng at 10:09 AM on July 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


Okay, that was really, really awesome. And I thought I was burned out on these.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 10:16 AM on July 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


I love this too much.
posted by spec80 at 10:17 AM on July 15, 2011


That's really, really great.
posted by honeydew at 10:27 AM on July 15, 2011


delightful. i hope i'm lucky enough to find someplace where i can have that much fun when i put myself out to pasture. yes. i'm serious.
posted by msconduct at 10:42 AM on July 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


Those hipster/college student lip dubs (which I typically stop watching after about 30 seconds) can all go away now, 'cuz they don't hold a candle to this!
posted by tomswift at 10:50 AM on July 15, 2011


Polident Permagrin!
posted by Mike Mongo at 10:53 AM on July 15, 2011


Guys? I think the Internet is over now. I think they just won.
posted by Tomorrowful at 11:03 AM on July 15, 2011 [2 favorites]


Utterly charming. You get down with your bad selves, Clark Retirement Community.
posted by Georgina at 11:20 AM on July 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


I totally want to be the guy smoking a pipe in the hot tub when I'm 80 years old.
posted by Rangeboy at 11:30 AM on July 15, 2011 [2 favorites]


Too much money spent on it. It's gotta be viral marketing for the old folks home, with the residents suckered into being unpaid marketers.

That said, when I'm on the Depends myself, I'd be happy to be in a place where the residents look like they're having so much fun.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 11:38 AM on July 15, 2011


Actually, Rangeboy, that guy's one of the orderlies. He's just been in the tub a long time.
posted by phearlez at 11:39 AM on July 15, 2011 [2 favorites]


I love this, and I love being reminded on occasion that I'm not (always) a jaded old cynic. Thank you!!
posted by smilingtiger at 11:44 AM on July 15, 2011


I don't think a lot of money was spent on it. At least not solely on it.

World's first-ever senior citizen LipDub! Residents from Clark Retirement Community in Grand Rapids, Michigan team up with Grand Valley State University Film & Video Production students, alumni, and professors to create this sassy video to the jazzy-sweet contemporary crooning of Michael Bublé.

Presumably the community and the university brought a lot of decorations & props that were already owned and the uni had the production equipment. I assume a lot of clothing was already owned by the residents.

Certainly they might have spent $1000 on it, but there's dozens of residents in the video. Based on what I know about these homes from friends who work in/manage them there's entertainment/activity budgets that might be spent on something like this.
posted by phearlez at 11:47 AM on July 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


I went back and counted in the credits. There's 102 residents in that video. Even assuming no money was spent/donated by the uni staff you could still spend $10 per resident out of the entertainment budget and be over $1000. And since I'm sure this involved at least a day with them that's not a bad expenditure.
posted by phearlez at 11:53 AM on July 15, 2011


delightful. i hope i'm lucky enough to find someplace where i can have that much fun when i put myself out to pasture. yes. i'm serious.
posted by msconduct at 10:42 AM


You have two avenues toward decent retirement years: save a lot of your large salary from your working years, or immediately take out retirement insurance while you are still young and can walk without tottering, and remember at least 5 of 10 objects read off by the insurance screener.
posted by Cranberry at 12:06 PM on July 15, 2011


This may be what the internet is for. Excellent.
posted by Augenblick at 12:21 PM on July 15, 2011


Fantastic, and unexpectedly great in places.
posted by carter at 12:28 PM on July 15, 2011


Presumably the community and the university brought a lot of decorations & props that were already owned and the uni had the production equipment. I assume a lot of clothing was already owned by the residents.

Thanks, phearlez, I stand corrected.

In that case, that old folks home looks utterly fantastic. Not that I'll ever be able to afford such luxury in my dotage, but if I could, I'd be putting my name down now to be sure of a place.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 12:37 PM on July 15, 2011


Needs more Jack Torrance saying, "Hello, Lloyd."
posted by thinkpiece at 12:47 PM on July 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


I haven't looked for more on this video until now, but it seems there is already a lot of coverage of it, from The Today Show to NPR. Grand Valley State University has a bit more on the video production (the school performed its own lipdub as part of the university lipdub project). The talents of GVSU faculty, students and alumni were used to make the new video, with the video production crew consisting of many current students and recent graduates of Grand Valley’s Film & Video Program in the School of Communications. Sure, it's part promotion for the facilities, but there were over 100 residents used, who looked like they had a lot of fun (and made fun of common notions about old age).
posted by filthy light thief at 12:58 PM on July 15, 2011


This is so very very awesome and I don't want to pick nits but I just have the one teensy little issue of

WHY IN THE NINE HELLS WOULD YOU EVER USE MICHAEL BUBLE'S VERSION INSTEAD OF NINA SIMONE'S, WHICH IS INFINITELY BETTER?! WHY?! ANSWER ME!

That's all. Because this rocks aside from that.
posted by Navelgazer at 1:34 PM on July 15, 2011 [4 favorites]


I'll answer: they don't know any better.
posted by bonefish at 2:18 PM on July 15, 2011


Hahah...fun and awesome!

Bit o' Trivia: Nina Simone's version of "Feelin' Good" is what I've asked in my Will that they play at my funeral. :)
posted by darkstar at 2:32 PM on July 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


This made me tear up, I liked it so much!
posted by MelanieL at 2:49 PM on July 15, 2011


Loved the video, but... there are so many amazing versions of this song and they went with the only one I've ever heard that has absolutely no soul. Horrible.
posted by dobbs at 4:09 PM on July 15, 2011


They must have a hell of a rec program. Reserve me a suite.
posted by puddinghead at 4:37 PM on July 15, 2011


Too lazy to do a reverse lip dub? Slackers.
posted by etc. at 7:05 PM on July 15, 2011


That was fun, thanks for posting it.
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:43 PM on July 15, 2011


Is it OK for us to gently laugh at (with?) the shaky guy with the tray of prune juice? Cuz that was pretty darn amusing. Good for these folks.
posted by ShutterBun at 11:30 PM on July 15, 2011


must be something wrong with me.
these USians? they're in deep debt?
posted by de at 1:35 AM on July 16, 2011


ShutterBun - yes, they're mocking some of the cliches of old age (those were supposed to be prune juice cocktails).

de - not everyone is impacted by national economic downturn the same way, and things are getting better in some places.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:12 AM on July 16, 2011


Dateline: Yesterday.
I watched a bit of this video yesterday afternoon. Couldn't get past the music despite the elderly's charm.
5 hours later, sitting in the shade at Pitchfork, there's a dude with a
Clark Retirement Community
LIPDUB
t-shirt sitting 15 feet away.
I almost went up to him and told him that I'd watched that video just hours previously, and yeah it was cute but the song (which I couldn't remember at the time) was terrible... but the internet-reality disconnect-frission was filling me with unease. So I refrained.
Minutes later when he turns to get around I see it's got CREW on the back.

So thanks metafilter, for introducing me to Battles (which is why I was at Pitchfork) and making sure I understand even the most seemingly obscure t-shirts.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 10:21 AM on July 16, 2011 [1 favorite]


Amazing, except for 2:54: "Ice cream served afternoons only." :(
posted by mdonley at 5:27 PM on July 16, 2011


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