Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Video Is Related

I just had two links posted one right after the other on the Epbot Facebook page, and the resulting combination was too funny not to share.

First, my new favorite song, found by Kristy J.:



(Love this SO HARD.)


And second, this article from Elisabeth N.: Justin Bieber Ruins Entire Nerd Subculture With New Christmas Video.

As the article states, the video in question is "inexplicably steampunk-themed." (Well, except for all the break dancing.) If you're curious and have the mute button handy, you can check it out below.


I'll just echo Elisabeth here by saying I am so, so sorry.

:D

Kidding aside, I should tell you I'm not really a steampunk purist, so I don't mind bending the "rules" and personalizing the genre to fit your sense of style. (I actually love an occasional ray gun or nixie tube with my gears and goggles.) So I would never lecture anyone on what they can and can't use; if it looks cool and has some heart in it, I'll probably love it.

I, er, still don't love the Bieber video, though.

(Why does he get the sweet arm gauntlet? WHY?!?)


[Update: John just demanded to know what's wrong with the Bieber video, because it's "fun." Proving once again that I married the most positive man on earth. And that I may have to watch our iTunes purchases in the future. 0.o]

61 comments:

  1. My respect of you is raised when you imply you don't like Justin Bieber.

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  2. I went back and watched the first video again to purge my brain of Beiber...and I didn't even watch his whole video...

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  3. First video = <3

    Second video... Love whoever was responsible for the design. My opinion of the choreography and artist are better off unsaid as they contain rather crude language and references to bodily functions.

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  4. Definitely need that mute button! Good stuff.

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  5. OK, LOVE the first one--am thinking I am too old to watch young white kids pretend they are an 80's M Jackson in a just wrong setting. Am going to have to do what Michelle said and watch the first one over to get rid of the aftertaste of the second.

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  6. He needs some kind of gadget to pull his PANTS UP. Victorians, steampunk or otherwise, would never wear their pants that way.

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  7. Okay, I'll say it... is Bieber trying to bring back MC Hammer pants??? Bah. The first video is more than amusing though :)

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  8. I'm so sorry.
    I swear we can do better then Bieber.

    Love, a Canadian


    p.s. I was trying to explain to someone what steampunk was and was NOT, now I can can just point them to youtube, thanks!

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  9. OK, I don't hate the Biebs (...although I hate that I called him "the Biebs," so I'm not doing that again) but I'm not a fan of his music, especially since when I've heard him, he sounds AutoTuned. I got through about 10 seconds of the music before I had to turn it off. I'm thankful that my teenage daughter wants nothing to do with him.

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  10. hmm.. should i be angry or just plain happy, that the bieber video isn't viewable from germany? ;)

    but the first one made me smile biig... and woke up some crazy desire to be creative... mind you, it's almost midnight here... dammit...

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  11. First off those guys have some great harmony in the first video much better sounding than Beiber... But in Beiber's video I would like one of the windup girls back pieces... it was lovely!

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  12. I wish I could see the JB vid without having to watch it. Even on mute it's more than I can take.
    I think I'm going to have to listen to the Muppets Christmas for hours just to purge my brain!

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  13. I'm with John on this one. I can't say I'm a huge fan but I thought the Bieber video was cute.

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  14. I didn't mind the break-dancing, and the "poping/locking" actually worked. The thing that really didn't seem to fit into the Justin Bieber video was Justin Bieber himself.

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  15. Think of it this way, all of those little Beiber fans are now introduced to steampunk. So it's not pure, who cares? Although I have to say,I absolutely loved the first video.

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  16. I decided that maybe, MAYBE that the Bieber video had just enough SteamPunk awesome to warrant a watch. Twenty seconds in I realized it did not. It made my head hurt and I had to turn it off.

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  17. I confess to not even noticing the faux steam punk on the Bieber video. Did see the punk part, though, and it needs to pull its pants up.

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  18. I'm ashamed to admit I watched it all the way through out of morbid curiosity. Am I the only one who felt like he was ripping off Ok Go there near the end?

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  19. Well, not a Bieber fan either and other than the really saggy pants, I kind of liked the video. I liked especially the robot ladies and their dancing.

    Is it just me or does Bieber mimic all of Michael Jackson's moves?

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  20. I didn't make it past the first three seconds of breakdancing. UGH! That first video, though, was made of pure AWESOME. Thanks for sharing that one. :) But you must be punished for the Bieber video... That's right, go back and watch it a few more times, Jen. With the sound on.

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  21. I maybe got in 5 seconds of the Beiber video. Ewwwww!

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  22. Bieber is annoying, and I really hate it when pop stars remake good, classic Christmas songs. That being said, I really loved that wind up dolls dress and dance moves!

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  23. I kept the volume off for the Bieber video. Um, how are you gonna try to be Steampunk when the crotch of your pants is at your knees? Really? I'm trying to wrap my head around is new hair. Last I saw him, he had lesbian hair. Now he has Edward Cullen hair. Weird.

    First video is awesome!

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  24. So, my problem with the Bieber video is that it was for a movie that isn't even remotely steampunk. What if David Lee Roth had decided that since Cabbage Patch dolls were popular at the time he would include them in the video for California Girls? (OK, maybe a little appropriate what with the plastic and all, but still - yeah, I totally went there but I'm allowed since I was born and raised in Cali)

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  25. I think the director of that video should be shot, drawn and quartered, hanged, disemboweled, and have his body parts sent to the Canadian border. I'm not a purist either, but seriously, break dancing and steampunk?!?! Uh, no.

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  26. Why is it that I want to start singing "ABC 123" by Michael Jackson when I hear that version of "Santa Claus is Coming to town?"

    (shivers) Must Purge Head with something, anything else.

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  27. First video: YES! YES! I feel smarter and empowered. I loved steam punk before the glue on a gear craze.


    Second video: NO! NO! NO! No! nooooooooooo.

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  28. Jen, I want that 3 minutes and 37 seconds of my life back...

    Seriously, what's with Justin's pants?

    Love your blogs!

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  29. To answer the question... He got a cool arm bracer because he has lots of money and I assume he jsut he paid for it. You can also buy your own... heh. (http://overburyink.com/?p=2787)

    In all honesty though, Nathan Fillion on Castle got a way cooler one a while back (http://www.tor.com/blogs/2010/10/castles-qpunkedq-a-love-letter-to-the-steampunk-community), so I guess this is the universal karma to balance that.

    Which makes anything you build yourself much neater anyway.

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  30. Oh my what an awful video the Bieber one!!! How Passionate can one get in Santa is coming to town! I guess he showed us! The little kid dancing was very cute though.

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  31. My guess with the Beiber video is they were trying to tie it in with Arthur Christmas... I haven't seen it yet, but maybe Santa's workshop is steamy or Victorian? Just a thought. Other than that, I thought the first video was great.

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  32. I was forced to watch this Beiber Steampunk abomination before "Arthur Christmas" played. I don't know if every theater does that, but it's an awful experience to force on unsuspecting parents. I've been trying to bleach the memory from my brain ever since. I would also like to add that this was the worst remake EVAH!

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  33. I'd never actually heard him sing until now. (Sheesh,thanks a lot.)
    It actually reminded me a lot of "The Jackson Five".

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  34. Love the first video!

    So the art department and wardrobe had fun with the Bieber video, but I don't understand why they went that direction either. Whatever.

    My biggest grip is that even when he's in costume, Justin still can't pull his pants up! I kind of touched on that pet peeve in this post on my blog along with some fashion history. (I know I know, shameless plug, but you guys might find it interesting.)

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  35. I couldn't watch the whole thing either. I watched the first video after it too. It could have been a fun song, but it just wasn't. I do like the concept of the pretty steampunk though! But agree.. it's not fair that he got the awesome looking glove!

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  36. I think his pants crotch gets progressively lower during the video...
    I do think this is ten billion times better than "baby, baby, baby oh," and his haircut makes him look much less obnoxious.
    The girl who has the locker next to me has a large picture of HIM on her door. Yes, I have to see that... hideous visage every day.

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  37. i'm with John. it makes me smile :D

    (granted i've never really owned/purchased/made anything steampunk, so i could understand why anyone more involved in it than me would be annoyed at this)

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  38. You were right, the combination was hilarious! I grumpily found myself liking *parts* of the steampunk in the beiber video (as much of as anti-fan as i am)- like that doll? she was pretty cool. Bieber himself, on the other hand, was a classic case of "just glue some gears on it, and call it steampunk." :)

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  39. I absolutely agree with Deuce and Michelle. That first video really made me laugh--the inclusion of the barber shop quartet singing style was great.

    I plan on my steampunk costume having pieces that have meaning to them, not just stuff dangling that looks punkish. But that's just me--I don't care when people have fun with it.

    P.S. Hey Justin, your hair still sucks.

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  40. Loved that first video. Couldn't make it through the entire Bieber one. Oog.

    BTW: a regional theater group, Theater MU, did Little Shop of Horrors with an Asian cast and with a steampunk inspired set and costume design. It was really a unique & darker look for that show which fit in well with how twisted it is. Plus the cast was simply awesome. I don't tend to like it when stores and designers use steampunk simply because it's trendy, but this was a really fun way to add a new take on the musical.

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  41. Love the first video...JB not so much. The first one is going in my song favorites.:-)

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  42. Ummm......wow.

    It was so bad, I just couldn't look away. Kind of like a car accident where every slows down to 5 miles per hour to watch out the window. Just wow. It just....wow. I'm just...yeah.

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  43. Huhn. And yet, John maintains he “married into” geek. I don’t think even Jen could corrupt anyone so badly as to make Bieber cool… BUSTED.

    I'd never heard him sing, either, and I thought of the Jackson Five, too.

    The first singing quartet in the good video’s picture frame have creepy monkey stares- go back and look [counter 120] but, for heaven’s sake, don’t PAUSE there!! LFMF

    -Barbara Anne

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  44. The first video was great. The Bieber one, well...I kept having a culture clash between Michael Jackson's "Thriller", Dick Van Dyke's pants in the scene in "Mary Poppins" where he dances with the penguins, and the robotic life-size doll in "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang". I'm so confused! I also *hate* hearing Christmas songs "jazzed up" (Yeah, I listened to it. Bad idea).

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  45. Love the first video! I couldn't watch the second one all the way through though, even with the sound off... sure there's some great set pieces and such in there, but I can see great steampunk stuff without Beiber getting in the way. Like here
    ! I love how in the video of the steampun museum, they keep going back to the amazing clock on the wall. I love that clock! I guess they did too. :)

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  46. It makes me uncomfortable that he's singing a song about Santa, who is meant for little kids and innocence and childhood... and he's looking into the camera and taking off his jacket--twice.

    And don't even get me started on the hair or the pants. Ugh.

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  47. That Bieber video was flippin hilarious. I was laughing the whole time at how silly the whole thing was; never watching it again though.

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  48. These comments are hilarious. I'm totally going to find new blogs to read from among my fellow commenters. (Really? Spell check is taking issue with 'commenters'? Wait, but if I delete the 's', no red squiggly under 'commenter'?)

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  49. Nope, couldn't make it through the second video either, what with the screechy singing and JB constantly self-consciously plucking at his ever-descending crotch. I just want to pick him up by his waistband and shake him into his trousers properly!
    First video absolutely brilliant though.

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  50. Loved the first song/video! The second song needs to be scrubbed from my memory. Why does Bieber look like he is in pain so often when he sings? I am so glad that my 12 year old daughter has zero interest in him. SO glad!!!

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  51. ALl I could think of for the Bieber video was PULL UP YOUR PANTS!!! the last time I saw pants that low was my 7th grade music appreciation teacher. His gut prevented his pant crotch from going higher than his knees. it was stupid then and hasn't gained much in fashion since.
    Most annoying! the first video was wicked smart. thank heavens for mute, it's MUCH funnier that way.

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  52. Love the first Video, and now I will be singing that for the next few days. At least guy on a bufalo seems to have vacated my head now.

    As to Justin Bieber... Why, just why? Perhaps they could use that to torchure information out of terrorists, like Justin Bieber.

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  53. Bieber's gauntlet was made by a guy here in Victoria - the local paper did a story about it here: http://www.timescolonist.com/Victoria+steampunk+artist+arms+Justin+Bieber/5729352/story.html

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  54. That's fantastic (the first one, not the second). I think my favorite part of the whole bieber thing though is this: "Musical haircut Justin Bieber...." Yup, he's not much more than a popular haircut.

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  55. Oh, the Bieber video isn't *that* bad. I've seen worse. And, NO, I am not a Bieber fan. That was actually the first video by him I watched.

    The dancers were good and setting was fun.

    Like you can't like everything a singer/musician/group does, you can't hate everything a singer/musician/group does. There can be that rare thing one likes.

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  56. well I had never seen Bieber before so I thought I would watch seems to me he is a Michele Jackson want to be.
    I liked the first video for fun

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  57. Finally got a chance to watch both of these. AWESOME! Not a Bieber fan, but I did like the steampunk elements in the video. And the first one was hilarious, informative, and very well done! Thanks for sharing.

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  58. Oh my, that Bieber video...Although really, I thought the design and the dancing was cool...but why does it keep giving us close-ups of his new Edward Cullen!hair and his constipated face? What part of "hooray, Christmas" = "start stripping while looking like a cat is clawing my inseam"?

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  59. What I want to know is why on earth Bieber has a Rick Astley hairdo.

    The first video, however, is awesome.

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  60. I love the first video, well done, humorous, and they referenced Regretsy (over 9000 points just for that)!

    I was among the number of those who just could not watch the whole Bieber video. That child is so annoying, and the choreography was nauseating. Shame, because the set design was actually not horrible, from what I saw. On the other hand, every other element of the video? Horrible would be a compliment.

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  61. I adore the set design (totally want that ridiculous typewriter thing), even if the weird 3D elf animations and actual sound of the video make me want to claw myself to death.

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