Lookit Ira Glass Tryin' To Be Funny!

June 27, 2010 11:06 AM

At the Webby Arwards, the drummer from OK GO got into a staring contest.
posted by The Whelk (58 comments total)

Neither of them would last 5 minutes against Sigmund Spatsky.
posted by Electric Dragon at 11:10 AM on June 27, 2010 [4 favorites]

Is? Is this? Is this something? Is this something I would need? Is this something I would need to have
posted by VikingSword at 11:10 AM on June 27, 2010 [3 favorites]

I wish I could shoot rays of cancer out of my eyes and through the internet.
posted by felix betachat at 11:11 AM on June 27, 2010 [3 favorites]

I wonder when OK GO will make one too many viral videos for their own good.
posted by crunchland at 11:13 AM on June 27, 2010

There should be two recognized forms of staring contests. The Unblinking and the Unbreaking Gaze. I suck at the former but excel at the latter.
posted by Burhanistan at 11:20 AM on June 27, 2010 [6 favorites]

Animal cheated!
posted by Fizz at 11:25 AM on June 27, 2010

i never knew animal had eyelids
also, that second muppet is a total stoner
posted by angrycat at 11:29 AM on June 27, 2010

God i hate OK GO with the heat of a thousand fiery suns. They were mooks in Chicago until Ira Glass waved his fabulous wand on them. Now they are insufferable mooks. They should start every track with Ira going..."But..but..but...when he realized"

There is so much good music right here in Chicago that goes unheard because of doinks like this who blew a big advance on a video. Props to their marketing skills, but Jebus just go away already. You're worse than a Geico commercial.
posted by timsteil at 11:32 AM on June 27, 2010 [5 favorites]

I'd love to stare at a muppet, but the Shit Sandwich™ is blocking my line of sight. Best of the Web(bies), indeed. Blech.
posted by dbiedny at 11:33 AM on June 27, 2010

that second muppet

That'll be Sgt. Floyd Pepper, the bass player in the Electric Mayhem
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 11:34 AM on June 27, 2010 [5 favorites]

And the Mayhem are about a zillion times the band OK GO will ever be...
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 11:35 AM on June 27, 2010 [2 favorites]

The consolation prize was an animated .gif

_{Which means he also won a Webby award.}
posted by clarknova at 11:41 AM on June 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

Okay, so Metafilter hates OK Go now? It's so hard to keep track of what we hate and don't hate. I wish there was, like, a spreadsheet that got updated daily or something. It would make things easier.

Although I will admit that it would have been slightly cooler if it was Lady Gaga having a staring contest with Animal.
posted by mightygodking at 11:43 AM on June 27, 2010 [13 favorites]

It's weird to see a video with Zach Galifinakis (sp?) when he's not the center of attention.
posted by Think_Long at 11:43 AM on June 27, 2010 [6 favorites]

There is so much good music right here in Chicago that goes unheard because of doinks like this who blew a big advance on a video.

Umm, I'm not sure how OK Go is preventing other musicians from being heard, but ok. They were also pretty big before they blew their big advance on that video where they were dancing in their back yard to choreography done by their sister. Huge money was spent.
posted by Think_Long at 11:45 AM on June 27, 2010 [8 favorites]

Okay, so Metafilter hates OK Go now?

I can't speak for the site. I just hate. Without particular object or purpose.




Grar.
posted by felix betachat at 11:46 AM on June 27, 2010 [8 favorites]

Your favorite...
posted by fixedgear at 11:49 AM on June 27, 2010

Is this something I would need to have

a glass eye? Two glass eyes? Ira Glass? What? I shiver with antici
posted by hal9k at 11:49 AM on June 27, 2010

pation
posted by The Whelk at 11:53 AM on June 27, 2010 [10 favorites]

There have been more OKGO posts than Gaga posts in the past month.

So, um, congratulations?
posted by pxe2000 at 11:58 AM on June 27, 2010

who's OKGO?
posted by pyramid termite at 12:07 PM on June 27, 2010 [2 favorites]

The second Muppet is Sgt. Floyd Pepper, he's the only Muppet who can really control Animal and is the bass player for the Electric Mayhem. The role was first performed by Jerry Nelson (who was also Gobo Fraggle, Count Von Count, Robin the Frog and Emmet Otter amongst many other roles). Nelson retired from puppeteering a few years ago due to health reasons, but he continued to voice some of his roles after that point synced to Matt's puppeteering. So, any new Count segments you see on Sesame Street will be them working together.

But the (Disney) Muppet roles have now largely been completely recast, Matt Vogel is the current man to play Floyd. That's Vogel you hear on that video and in the last Muppets Christmas special "Letters to Santa".

As for Animal, of course he was originally played by Frank Oz, but he (and most of Oz's characters) is now played chiefly by Eric Jacobson. Jacobson does most of the new Bert and Grover stuff for Sesame, but Frank Oz does come to play them a day or two a year when he can to record new skits. I've been impressed with his work. I was really surprised when I found out that Piggy in "A Very Merry Muppet Christmas" was him and not Oz.
posted by inturnaround at 12:10 PM on June 27, 2010 [13 favorites]

He hipster'd all over that fool.
posted by Brocktoon at 12:11 PM on June 27, 2010

i thought this was hilarious.

And again, the mefi hate squad comes out. how boring.
posted by empath at 12:11 PM on June 27, 2010 [9 favorites]

I really don't like playing flash games, so I usually skip over those threads. I guess I figure that if I go in and start a polemic about how much flash games are sucky and a waste of time, I am then wasting my time with flash games, which is exactly the thing I'm decrying and...and...Derrida on Joyce and all of that. sigh. Few things are less interesting than having to read why someone hates such and such band, how much better the other scenester bands theyre into are, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah I am so hip because of all my hate blah blah blah

That was hilarious. The muppets + Ok Go + Ira Glass is a win.

They certainly aren't my favorite band, but a band that 1) creates an incredible Rube Goldberg machine for a music video 2) sells USB drives after their shows disguised as dominoes that have both their new record and a recording of the concert you just saw on them and 3) plays in odd meters, especially in 5 are OK in my book.

Very funny. Thanks Whelk.
posted by Lutoslawski at 12:14 PM on June 27, 2010 [4 favorites]

They were mooks in Chicago until Ira Glass waved his fabulous wand on them.

Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor."

And in the city where they played their first gigs, lo shall the hipsters sneer at them and post jibes on the internet.
posted by empath at 12:15 PM on June 27, 2010 [7 favorites]

Play it from 1:41 to the end with the sound at maximum volume and see if the neighbors come knocking.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 12:23 PM on June 27, 2010

mightygodking: "Okay, so Metafilter hates OK Go now?"

Wait, wait, now Metafilter whines about Metafilter hating things? It's so hard to keep track of the unanimous voice of the hive mind.
posted by idiopath at 12:30 PM on June 27, 2010 [2 favorites]

The only consensus is that there is no consensus, but that is still up for debate.
posted by Burhanistan at 12:31 PM on June 27, 2010

NO THERE ISN'T!
posted by The Whelk at 12:37 PM on June 27, 2010

Buddy Rich vs Animal Drum Battle
posted by homunculus at 12:58 PM on June 27, 2010 [3 favorites]

I love Animal. I didn't want to like this video but I LOVE ANIMAL. As an added bonus the Animal noises made one of my dogs lose his mind and he started barking & whining at my laptop while sitting about an inch away from the screen.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 1:03 PM on June 27, 2010 [2 favorites]

I'm kind of indifferent about their music but I have enjoyed their very creative videos. Even if I didn't I think if I ever appeared in a video with a muppet that would pretty much make me the winner of life and anyone who shit in a thread about my muppet video appearance would pretty much be the... what's the opposite of winner?
posted by bondcliff at 1:09 PM on June 27, 2010

I think I would have hated Ok Go if Animal had lost the staring match. GO ANIMAL!
posted by Alnedra at 1:18 PM on June 27, 2010

Who is this OK Go, and what do they have to do with Lady Gaga?

I only read posts about Lady Gaga.
posted by Afroblanco at 1:19 PM on June 27, 2010

I wonder if the puppeteer also didn't blink the entire time.
posted by girlhacker at 1:22 PM on June 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

They should produce their own scandalous and embarrassing video.
posted by rhizome at 1:57 PM on June 27, 2010

Don't focus on the mouth. It's a classic strategy.
Hey Dan, you know what you need to do? Focus on the mouth!
Don't listen to him!
Yeah just look at his mouth, man! It's freaky!

I don't know, I laughed. Quite a bit.
posted by PercussivePaul at 2:35 PM on June 27, 2010

The puppeteer was holding the puppet over his head the whole time. A muppet vs. muppet staring contest would be nothing but a test of upper arm endurance.
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:46 PM on June 27, 2010

This was a video about muppet blinking! Who cares what band was in it! Deliberate! Muppet! Blinking!
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 2:59 PM on June 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

Wow, there was a lot of facial hair in that video.
posted by Ratio at 3:08 PM on June 27, 2010

Was Animal telling him to "go get drums" or "go get drugs"?
posted by Burhanistan at 3:47 PM on June 27, 2010 [2 favorites]

who's OKGO?

They're some guys that make quirky, high-production short videos. Some people confuse them with a band because there's some very mediocre music in the videos.
posted by DecemberBoy at 4:42 PM on June 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

I was able to watch this video on my new iPhone by holding it in my right hand.
posted by horsewithnoname at 5:43 PM on June 27, 2010

I'm a little ambivalent about their music too. Animal's drumming has always been a high point, but Janice's vocals recall Donna Godchaux in the drunken disaster years. Zoot has become little more than a novelty act, leaving behind the complex counterpoints he mastered while gigging with Bird back in the seventies. Dr. Teeth himself is clearly phoning it in, and just channeling Dr. John these days. Disappointingly, he never seems to have anything inventive to say musically, without lurching into some nasty fake creole ranting.

OK Go is pretty good, though.
posted by jenkinsEar at 5:50 PM on June 27, 2010 [7 favorites]

There is so much good music right here in Chicago that goes unheard because of doinks like this who blew a big advance on a video.

Are you always this ridiculous or is this a recent development?
posted by dobbs at 6:55 PM on June 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

I had no idea what Floyd's full name was. I had no idea Floyd had a full name.
posted by middleclasstool at 7:06 PM on June 27, 2010

I'm just happy the Muppets are doing anything sort of funny. Animal blinking in relief was awesome.
posted by frenetic at 7:43 PM on June 27, 2010

I had no idea what Floyd's full name was. I had no idea Floyd had a full name.

Well, his name is two references in one. A nod to The Beatles, of course, but since his head is pink...he's Pink Floyd.
posted by inturnaround at 8:24 PM on June 27, 2010

Floyd's the one in the "Great Muppet Caper" who didn't have no other pants.
posted by Burhanistan at 8:41 PM on June 27, 2010

I wonder if the puppeteer also didn't blink the entire time.
posted by girlhacker at 1:22 PM on 6/27
[has favorites +] [!]


The what?
posted by brundlefly at 8:49 PM on June 27, 2010

...guess the post needs a "blink" tag...

ÒÓ
posted by Kronos_to_Earth at 9:05 PM on June 27, 2010

Buddy Rich unavailable for comment. See Homunculus.
posted by waxboy at 2:51 AM on June 28, 2010

I wish there was, like, a spreadsheet that got updated daily or something. It would make things easier.

Don't forget to include using a spreadsheet used as a database among the things to hate.
posted by Dr Dracator at 3:39 AM on June 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

Also lack of proofreading, edit windows and lacko fo edit windows
posted by Dr Dracator at 5:47 AM on June 28, 2010

I had no idea Ira Glass was affiliated with OK GO. Weirdness.
posted by rageagainsttherobots at 6:13 AM on June 28, 2010

I had no idea Ira Glass was affiliated with OK GO. Weirdness.

He was their original drummer back when they were playing dive bars in Hamburg. He decided to leave the band and settle down with his photographer girlfriend when they went to film their first video.
posted by empath at 6:15 AM on June 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

Ira writes:

Here's what I learned watching OK Go shoot this video:

1) When the Muppets are ready to stop performing (at least in a setting like the Webbys) before the puppeteer takes his hand out of the muppet, someone puts a black satin bag over the Muppet, so no one has the unpleasant experience of seeing the Muppet lifeless.


That's pretty great.
posted by CunningLinguist at 9:18 AM on June 28, 2010 [3 favorites]