TOP 5 Online Puzzle Games

It is amazing how online games have progressed. I still remember the day that I first heard that you could play games online with other people (it was at a Merit Badge Pow-Wow - sad). Back then it was all about the Yahoo! Games (we using our free AOL), and essentially it was a chat room with a game. The graphics were typically sub-par, but occasionally you got some interesting conversations going, or a 30-year old male that just asks everyone "a/s/l?". Originally I thought that you had to pay to play, but that just isn't how online games are (unless you gamble or play World of Warcraft). These days games are a whole lot different. You can still play with yourself or with others, but the games are a lot more interesting than the basic chess, checkers, hearts, etc. Here is my TOP 5 list of the best online puzzle games that I have enjoyed playing lately - be warned that they are very addicting!

#5 - Karoshi Suicide Salaryman

This is a game where, instead of trying to keep your player alive, you try to kill your character through a variety of falls, spikes, and heavy objects.

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#4 - Meat Boy

You are a wad of meat (Meat Boy) trying to save your girlfriend (Bandage Girl), and you have to make it through each level filled with treacherous obstacles. Really fun, but I feel like the controls could use some improvement. Keep your eye out for Super Meat Boy coming to downloadable content for home consoles soon.

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#3 - Shift

This game is all about shadows, gravity and orientation. Avoid the traps while using the [Shift] key to keep yourself oriented. Shift 2 is also available.

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#2 - This is the Only Level

You are an elephant, and you need to get to the end of the level. Every level is exactly the same as the level before it. Or is it...? This is the Only Level Too (2) is also available.

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#1 - The Impossible Quiz

A classic. If you've never played this one then you need to get out more! Or stay home and play games on your computer. This one is pretty self-explanatory - it is an impossible quiz. Over 100 multiple-choice questions pick your brain as you try to find out what are they REALLY asking you? I don't think I've ever beaten it. The Impossible Quiz 2 is also available, and I think there may even be a 3 or 4... Google it if you are interested.

TOP 5 Ridiculous Halloween Costumes

Well since it is Halloween and all, I figured this was a good time to peruse the interwebs and find the most ridiculous costume ideas out there. Unfortunately there is a lot of naughty stuff out there, but luckily for you I already filtered that out. There still are some that are a little iffy though, so I'd rate this a PG-13 post in case any kiddies are around. Enjoy!

#5 - Poop

#4 - Baby Hitler

#3 - "Here Comes the Baby!"

At first I thought that was HIS hair! Awwww....

#2 - Catholic Priest

#1 - Feminine Product Ninjas

TOP 5 TV Interviews

#5 - Funny Surfer Dude

A surfer describes the waves with some awesome sound-effects:

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#4 - Psycho Dog Man

An Australian man recounts a story of some neighborhood dogs that tried to attack him, with an included re-enactment:

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#3 - Grape Stomp Lady

An unfortunate, yet hilarious mishap during a live news report. I love how the anchors back at the station are trying not to laugh. "I can't breathe!"

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#2 - Backin' Up Lady

A lady tells the story of what she did when some guys (one with a black hoodie, one with a white hoodie) tried to rob the convenience store. "He shot the rubber!"

Some guys took the video and made a music video about it. It's pretty catchy, so be careful because it might get stuck in your head after watching it!"

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#1 - Bed Intruder

A guy talks about the dude that tried to rape his sister and gives him a stern warning:

Another music video was made of this one. Also very likely to get stuck in your head. I can't watch the original video anymore without hearing the song in my head!

TOP 5 Stop Motion Music Videos

You all knew it was coming! With so many music videos readily available on YouTube, its hard not to include at least a few whenever I do a video TOP 5. Same idea as last time, but these are all music videos. Some are done surprisingly well, even with a low budget. Enjoy the TOP 5 stop motion music videos!

#5 - "You Came Out" by We Have Band

Alright I'll be the first to admit that this movie is a little creepy... But I thought it was such an interesting idea that I had to include it!

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#4 - "Odd Socks" by Grand Pocket Orchestra

Each frame in this video has paper cut-outs that move along with the video. A pretty neat idea.

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#3 - "End Love" by OK Go

This video literally shows how long it can to make a stop motion video. Since it is outside you are able to see the sunlight and watch as the shadows grow and it turns to night into day and back into night. Oh, and gotta love the goose!

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#2 - "Her Morning Elegance" by Oren Lavie

A catchy tune in a bedroom scene (not THAT kind of bedroom scene you dirty boy!) They put a lot of everyday bedroom objects to good use!

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#1 - "Strawberry Swing" by Coldplay

This video is AMAZING. At first I was like oh that is some cool CGI, yadda yadda yadda. But then I saw the end. Just wait; you'll see...

TOP 5 Stop Motion Shorts

I recently watched all of the Wallace and Gromit videos again, and it just hit me how much time is spent doing each and every frame of a stop motion video. I remember I once tried to make a stop motion movie with LEGOs, but gave up after just a few frames... Keeping the camera steady, being careful to not bump something, and trying to make everything move fluidly was just too much to handle. I read in an interview from Nick Park (creator of Wallace and Gromit) that said they typically can record about 30 frames a day in full production. 30 frames. That is 1 second of film recorded each day! And that isn't even including rework when something doesn't look quite right! Now hopefully we can all have a greater appreciation for stop motion pictures, and with that I give you the TOP 5 stop motion shorts:

#5 - "Typophile Film Festival 5 Opening Titles"

A video some BYU students made for a film festival. Their website claims that everything is real - no CG effects!

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#4 - "T-SHIRT WAR!!"

These guys had over 200 shirts made to make this video!

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#3 - "The PEN Story"

This is a story [advertisement] of a guy's life as seen through a moving sequence of pictures. They actually borrowed [stole] the idea from here, but I actually liked the look of this video better.

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#2 - "DEADLINE"

A stop motion video made with post-it notes. This one must've to taken forever!

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#1 - Western Spaghetti

I don't know what it is about this video, but it is just charming and makes me smile. For some reason I especially like the part with the butter... I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

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TOP 5 Worst Music Videos - Part 2 - American

We've all seen bad music videos. Maybe some kids made their own "music video" at home of a Queen song and it turned out pretty bad, but that's nothing compared to this. In a 2-part series I present to you the TOP 5 worst music videos. I judged these based off of music quality, choreography, special effects, and overall attitude (you'll see). All are hugely popular in their country of origin - none of these are just amateur singer's videos. Most are pretty hard to watch, and after a few seconds you'll just want to turn them off. I DARE YOU to watch them all the way through - WARNING: It's painful!

#5 - "America, We Stand As One" by Dennis Madalone

A patriotic guy who took it a little too far.

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#4 - "Little Wings" by Mark Gormley

This is how I'd imagine Ned Flanders would look and sing in real life.

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#3 - "Hooked on a Feeling " by David Hasselhoff

I don't understand how he could make a video like this and still end up famous.

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#2 - "Losing You" by Jan Terri

A Miss Piggy look-alike doesn't care much about her song.

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#1 - "Why Must I Cry" by Reh Dogg

Why Reh Dogg? Why must you make us all cry? I'll just say thank goodness for shadows. Officially the worst video ever.

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Ugh. Just terrible. I think the American music videos were far worse than the foreign videos. I mean at least the other countries tried to make it good... I hope you enjoyed these as much as I did. Although extremely hard to watch, they were pretty funny at the same time. Leave your name if you were able to watch them all the way through, and be sure to leave a link to the worst American music video that you've ever seen!

TOP 5 Worst Music Videos - Part 1 - Foreign

We've all seen bad music videos. Maybe some kids made their own "music video" at home of a Queen song and it turned out pretty bad, but that's nothing compared to this. In a 2-part series I present to you the TOP 5 worst music videos. I judged these based off of music quality, choreography, special effects, and overall attitude (you'll see). All are hugely popular in their country of origin - none of these are just amateur singer's videos. Most are pretty hard to watch, and after a few seconds you'll just want to turn them off. I DARE YOU to watch them all the way through - WARNING: It's painful!

#5 - "I Wanna Love You Tender" by Armi ja Danny

A 70's band from Finland.

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#4 - "Novi God" by Steklovata

Extremely popular boy band from Russia.

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#3 - "Tunak Tunak Tun" by Daler Mehndi

The Brittney Spears of India.

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#2 - "Aiin No Uta" by Mini Moni

The Spice Girls of Japan.

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#1 - "Chaccaron Maccaron" by El Chombo

He's from Panama. No Comment.

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I hope you enjoyed these as much as I did. Although extremely hard to watch, they were pretty funny at the same time. Leave your name if you were able to watch them all the way through, and be sure to leave a link to the worst foreign music video that you've ever seen! Stay tuned for part 2...

P.S. Thanks to Landon for finding "Chaccaron Maccaron" for me!

TOP 5 Recent Annoyances

This is something new I wanted to try out. Let me know what you think and if you can relate to any of these. Here are the TOP 5 things that annoyed me recently:

#5 - "Baby Bumps"


Man I hate it when women refer to their pregnant bellies as "baby bumps". I really think it is just a stupid term. I saw a gaggle of women on campus the other day standing around feeling each other up, and I could hear them saying stuff like "Feel MY baby bump!" and "Wow I really like your baby bump!". Ugh. Please SOMEONE, come up with another term that doesn't sound so ridiculous.

#4 - Bicyclists


Yeah, I understand how you all want to be part of the road and considered part of traffic, but if you want to ride on the road you need to start following the rules of the road. All the time I see you guys roll right through intersections with stop signs. Stop signs are for you too! If you want to ride in the road, make sure you are riding at the current speed limit. Otherwise move over to the shoulder or ride on the sidewalk! Lastly, I know you think you are really awesome when you ride around without holding onto the handlebars with your hands in your lap, but frankly I think you look pretty stupid.

#3 - The MANY Costs of College


I can't believe some of things you have to pay for at college. I swear they try to squeeze you for every last drop! Here are some of the things I have recently paid for, or decided against because of the ridiculous price:

• Application for Graduation - $50
• Graduation Announcement - $2.15 each
• Cap and Gown - $35 (its even more if you don't buy early)
• Diploma Frame - $140 (lowest price)
• Application to Graduate School - $50

My friend Brady portrays the situation best in his recent comic strip for The Globe at SLCC.

#2 - EVONY


Have you ever seen one of these side banner-ads? They seem to be popping up more and more across the internet. This is an advertisement for a game called "EVONY", a MMO (massively multiplayer online) game. Most of the ads are MUCH worse than this one (in regards to risque clothing, and innuendos), but the funny thing is that they are entirely misleading. You know how the car and cigarette industry use(d) sex to sell their products? This is another prime example of that same technique. Here is a screenshot of the actual gameplay:


Kinda looks like Sim City and nothing like a sexy party...

#1 - Lazy People


Have you ever been to a grocery store parking lot? That is EXACTLY what you see! For some reason people just can't find the energy in themselves to return their shopping carts. Can't they just walk a few more steps to put their cart away? And for some reason it is infinitely worse at Wal-Mart. Most likely this is because the people that shop there are cheap and they drive crappy cars and wouldn't mind if their own car was hit by a shopping cart, but come on. People need to start taking some responsibility.