Give the drummer some

March 21, 2009 8:36 PM

Perhaps the most edifying one minute a twenty nine seconds you'll spend on the internet today is right here.

This masterpiece of cinematic art is brought to you by none other than MeFi's own moonmilk. I've never met him, but I'm an unabashed fan of his wonderful sound contraptions and now, his magnificent dog-and-sheet documentation and superb drum kit soundtrack work.

posted by flapjax at midnite (64 comments total)

It's neat, but it is just a dog scrambling to get out from under a bed sheet.

Edify: to instruct and improve especially in moral and religious knowledge : uplift ; also : enlighten , inform

I hate to do that whole this word not meaning that thing gag, but edify is pretty strong for a dog under a sheet, innit?

Cute, though, with the soundtrack.
posted by paisley henosis at 8:44 PM on March 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

If not edifying then perhaps gratifying. And I'm not even a dog person.
posted by boo_radley at 8:46 PM on March 21, 2009

after the first 30 seconds, i wanted to help the dog get out. how frustrating.
posted by gursky at 8:47 PM on March 21, 2009 [4 favorites]

Well, paisley, the word choice was meant to be, um, sort of humorous, you see.

Thanks for the Merriam Webster link, though! I'd never heard of them!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:48 PM on March 21, 2009 [8 favorites]

I think I'm in love with Samson.
posted by sararah at 8:48 PM on March 21, 2009

Samson's a cutie and i'm glad he got out ok + nice with the drumming - but it was crying out for one take - the dissolves killed it for me, (i realise this might be a character flaw).
posted by jettloe at 8:50 PM on March 21, 2009 [3 favorites]

Oh...mixed feelings here: I have always adored that breed/type of dog but I didn't realize that they were that dumb.
posted by applemeat at 8:50 PM on March 21, 2009

Having opposable thumbs never felt this great.
posted by limon at 8:51 PM on March 21, 2009 [7 favorites]

Anytime, flapjack, glad I could edify you.
posted by paisley henosis at 8:51 PM on March 21, 2009

Yo, that's flapjax, chuck-o. Check your dictionary.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:53 PM on March 21, 2009 [2 favorites]

Drat!
posted by paisley henosis at 8:54 PM on March 21, 2009

I was hoping for something more exotic than a dog, but cute none the less.
posted by Widepath at 8:54 PM on March 21, 2009

Another good one, flapjax. A nice end to the day. The drums sync beautifully. Thanks.
posted by Seekerofsplendor at 8:59 PM on March 21, 2009

Having opposable thumbs never felt this great.

[masturbation joke goes here]
posted by nebulawindphone at 9:01 PM on March 21, 2009

You know, I do this every damned morning, and no one ever gives me a cookie for it, and certainly not two.
posted by MrMoonPie at 9:02 PM on March 21, 2009 [5 favorites]

I was roommates with him in summer camp when we were 15... I know MeFi's Moonmilk... Cool guy.
posted by Schmucko at 9:03 PM on March 21, 2009

Having opposable thumbs never felt this great.

Doesn't help.

Shut up

Stupid sheets
posted by dirigibleman at 9:26 PM on March 21, 2009 [5 favorites]

Huh! Proof that Yakety Sax is not the best soundtrack to everything!
posted by danb at 9:27 PM on March 21, 2009 [2 favorites]

Pipe down, give the plumber some.
posted by cashman at 9:38 PM on March 21, 2009

OMG, that just reminded me of something they made us do in daycare back in '84.

They'd make someone crawl under a huge cloth sheet and about a dozen people spaced a couple/few feet apart around the sheet would wave it up and down near the ground arhythmically.

Then there's be someone who'd pounce on top and try to 'catch' the person under the sheet.

<shudder&gt

Gee, thanks flapjax.
posted by porpoise at 9:45 PM on March 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

I liked the part where the dog tried to get out from under the sheet.
posted by mazola at 9:47 PM on March 21, 2009 [12 favorites]

Whoa, thanks, flapjax! This is where my 15 minutes go?

I kid, I kid.

jettloe: I kind of agree with you - it would've been better without dissolves. But it took Samson two minutes and six seconds to escape the sheets, and flickr has a 90 second limit for videos. I tried to cut out the parts where he didn't move (until I reminded him about the cookie). Yeah, more than two minutes - sorry, applemeat.

Samson got the second cookie when I was editing the video and he heard my voice on the speakers promising a cookie. It's a sin to break a promise to a dog, even an inadvertent promise.

I think I have to try it with Yakety Sax now.

confidential to Schmucko: reveal yourself!
posted by moonmilk at 9:48 PM on March 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

What camera did you film that with? Is that a 5D Mark II?

i want one of those so badly. i honestly do. i don't know why i can't stop obsessing over it.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 9:54 PM on March 21, 2009

I'd say that the Ten Bulls story illustrates enlightenment in a more nuanced way than this vid, but I'm glad that the dog made it out. How many of us know that we're really under a sheet, and how many less actually try to writhe our way free from it?
posted by Burhanistan at 9:56 PM on March 21, 2009 [2 favorites]

And how many of us want two cookies?
posted by mazola at 9:57 PM on March 21, 2009 [2 favorites]

This is where my 15 minutes go?

No, silly! Your 15 minutes went here! This is a bonus extension!

I think I have to try it with Yakety Sax now.

Don't you dare. That soundtrack is perfect. If you change it, I'll have the mods remove this post. And I'll lobby heavily for your expulsion from Metafilter. You've been warned.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 9:58 PM on March 21, 2009

I showed this to my friend. She was laughing until the very end when she said, "what...what is that thing?!"


She doesn't like animals. Especially ones in people's homes.
posted by niles at 10:03 PM on March 21, 2009

As the time went on, I got worried that it was some animal other than a dog, and I had no idea what that animal could be. Like, giant rabbit? Iguana? Bear cub? It was a disconcerting experience.

I liked when the puffball dog came out from under the sheet, that was my favorite part.
posted by sugarfish at 10:05 PM on March 21, 2009

I expected the dog to do some vanishing magic trick or something of the sort.
posted by LSK at 10:08 PM on March 21, 2009

So it was written, and so it came to pass, that metafilter was distracted by a dog with a puffy tail.

Baby_Balrog: the camera's a Canon G9.

mazola: I rarely actually laugh out loud at the internets, but this time I did. You deserve two cookies.
posted by moonmilk at 10:14 PM on March 21, 2009

Cute.

I'll trade you for another dog clip featuring cute music: I've stumbled across the personal blog kept by Jorge Garcia, whos blog is pretty endearingly...geekish and normal, actually -- he's not allowed to talk much about the day-to-day business of Lost, so he's left to talk about the same old normal crap as the rest of us - his vacations, his opinions on the Snuggie blanket, his battles with a vegetable garden, etc. Sometimes he also talks about his pet chihuahua Nunu, and in December he showed off Nunu's latest trick.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:21 PM on March 21, 2009 [2 favorites]

It's so awesome when you're trapped in something and not entirely sure if you're ever going to be able to find a way out.
posted by dopamine at 10:41 PM on March 21, 2009

That dog is really good at playing drums.
posted by m0nm0n at 10:45 PM on March 21, 2009 [3 favorites]

Love it - like a Chinese New Year dragon dance.
posted by dolca at 11:21 PM on March 21, 2009

I just finished 8 hours of waiting tables, and stopped at the gas station and bought myself two cookies with my hard-earned money. So that's how I earned two cookies. Not as much fun as Samson's method. Sometimes I wish I were a dog.
posted by lostburner at 11:49 PM on March 21, 2009

The Zen master sat at the top of the mountain and was approached by a supplicant.

"Master, they say that you can provide the secret to escape from Samsara."

"I can."

"Please, master. Free me."

"Free yourself. Two cookies await you."
posted by Meatbomb at 12:24 AM on March 22, 2009 [6 favorites]

This isn't some friggin' cat or dog, is it? Oh shit, it is.
posted by telstar at 12:34 AM on March 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

I think I'm in love with Samson.

No doubt here. I ♥ Samson. Big time. Cutie pa-tutey. Big time.
posted by ericb at 1:00 AM on March 22, 2009

He's just NEVER going to find Carmen Sandiego if he doesn't get his shit together.

Worst. Finding. Ever.
posted by Dipsomaniac at 1:31 AM on March 22, 2009

Baby_Balrog: the camera's a Canon G9.

That's the same camera I have. DSLRs are so over rated.
posted by delmoi at 1:54 AM on March 22, 2009

Aah, so that's what really happened in M R James' Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad.
posted by BinaryApe at 3:58 AM on March 22, 2009

I was reminded of an episode of the TV HIT FRASIER where Martin Crane gives his dog, EDDIE an IQ test for dogs that is just getting out from under a blanket. But EDDIE just stands perfectly still.
posted by I Foody at 5:47 AM on March 22, 2009

I'd say that the Ten Bulls story illustrates enlightenment in a more nuanced way than this vid, but I'm glad that the dog made it out. How many of us know that we're really under a sheet, and how many less actually try to writhe our way free from it?


I didn't know Ignatius J. Reilly had a metafilter account.
posted by nola at 6:11 AM on March 22, 2009 [6 favorites]

Moonmilk -let's have the extended-DVD directors cut.
posted by jettloe at 6:45 AM on March 22, 2009

nola: I've had the same thought on numerous occasions.

Incidentally, the smell of cheap hot dogs ALWAYS reminds me of Ignatius. Also, eponysterical. Aaaaand that's my first use of that word. Shudder.
posted by nosila at 6:49 AM on March 22, 2009

My dog does this, but he usually ends up solving the problem by falling off the bed. (I don't have a drum kit.)
posted by trip and a half at 7:18 AM on March 22, 2009 [2 favorites]

That was underwhelming...no cookies for you, flapjax.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 7:49 AM on March 22, 2009

I loved it. Thanks, flapjax.
posted by blucevalo at 8:38 AM on March 22, 2009

What a lovely, unusual shade of pink your sheets are.
posted by Nelson at 9:07 AM on March 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

I love the look of pride on the dogs face when he finally makes it out. Very cute.
posted by BoscosMom at 9:33 AM on March 22, 2009

I didn't know Ignatius J. Reilly had a metafilter account.

But he's not been around for a while.
posted by Grangousier at 9:41 AM on March 22, 2009

I was afraid he was going to fall off the side, but I think all that fluff would have cushioned him.
posted by chiraena at 9:50 AM on March 22, 2009

trip and a half: you need this for your dog. And now I have that song stuck in my head. can we have a party would he rather have a party
posted by moonmilk at 10:16 AM on March 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

He got the second cookie when I was editing the video and he heard my recorded voice on the speakers, promising a cookie.

I would carry my LS-10 around with me more often if this level of fairness was displayed among the human-kind.
posted by YoBananaBoy at 11:07 AM on March 22, 2009

Well, that made me feel claustrophobic and kind of ill.
posted by stray at 11:23 AM on March 22, 2009

Can you post a video that explains how to get out from under a sheet? That one with the dog didn't really help and I'm gonna need the bathroom soon.
posted by orme at 3:20 PM on March 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

Ommmmmm......


....om....
posted by humannaire at 4:23 PM on March 22, 2009

There was a distinctly Mummenschanz quality to that video, which I definitely found edifiying.

The drums were great (certainly better than Yakety Sax), but I also think it could have been wonderful with a soundtrack by, oh, say, Pig Destroyer. Samson's obviously a sweet, goofy little puffball, but I'm pretty sure his soul is limned in pure METAL.
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 4:24 PM on March 22, 2009

At first I thought it was a cat, but after a few minutes went by, I came to the realization that only a dog could be so stupid...
posted by metaplectic at 9:07 PM on March 22, 2009

Edifying it was not.
Entertaining, hardly.
Cruel, quite possibly.
Boring, most certainly.
posted by Mephisto at 9:41 PM on March 22, 2009

My dear Mephisto,
You're a poet,
That is, you think so!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 10:34 PM on March 22, 2009

I didn't know Ignatius J. Reilly had a metafilter account.

Ah ... a plug for 'Managing Ignatius: The Lunacy of Lucky Dogs and Life in New Orleans'.
posted by ericb at 12:47 AM on March 23, 2009

POM WONDERFUL
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 12:58 AM on March 23, 2009

Two cookies? for freeing himself from sheet? His reward is his continued survival. We hev no place for weaknyess in Mother Russia.
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 8:59 AM on March 23, 2009