FastyTheFastCat is hopefully not the real name of a person, but he did for sure build a LEGO Mindstorms robot which can fret and strum an acoustic guitar. Hear it play a cover of Of Monsters and Men’s Little Talks, then check out how it all works.
I, for one, welcome our new robotic, guitar-playing overlords.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoNipcvUWi49uL-4qyr79WQ
Your mediocre old hand really isn’t that lovable, so why not turn it into an adorable, wrinkly pug? That’s the magic of this set of five-finger puppets, one 2” flat-faced pug head and four 1-1/2” paws. While making your hand less practical for things like typing, cake decorating and sign language, it gives you a constant canine companion. Practice making a loud snorting noise and complete the illusion. Don’t blame us if your hand starts to take long naps, beg for pizza and snore while it sleeps; these puppets are just that realistic.
The Handipug, which includes four paws and one adorable head, is currently available to purchase from the Archie McPhee shop.
You can come back to the 30-movie mashup of “Movie Coach Super Speech” of the iconic motivational speeches of all time whenever you’re getting ready for a big test, a final game, or just another stressful day at the office. It’ll be here for you. Because you’re awesome. There’s NOBODY else we want out there tackling whatever you’re gonna face. Those guys have NOTHING on you, big man or woman, because YOU’VE! GOT! THIS!
Now get out there and show them what you’re made of!
This short film documents the friendship between Bono of U2 and Eugene Peterson, author of contemporary-language Bible translation The Message, revolving around their common interest in the Psalms. Based on interviews conducted by Fuller Seminary faculty member David Taylor and produced in association with Fourth Line Films, the film highlights in particular a conversation on the Psalms that took place between Bono, Peterson, and Taylor at Peterson’s Montana home.
To kick off another summer of incredible live music tours, Live Nation will mount its second annual National Concert Day Show sponsored by Citi and Pringles on May 3, 2016. The live concert event will take place at Live Nation’s Irving Plaza and feature performances by Dierks Bentley, Wiz Khalifa, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts and Cheap Trick along with special appearances by some of this summer’s hottest touring artists including Nick Jonas, AWOLNATION, Goo Goo Dolls, Corey Taylor & Shawn “Clown” Crahan of Slipknot, Simon Kirke of Bad Company, Rome from Sublime with Rome, Jared Watson & Dustin Bushnell of Dirty Heads, Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness and Chris Carrabba of Dashboard Confessional. Hoda Kotb of The TODAY Show will also return as host of this year’s event. Following the event, AWOLNATION will perform live at Irving Plaza for an exclusive after show presented by Citi. Fans can also catch the full concert when it is streamed live on Yahoo. For more information, visit www.livenation.com/concertday16.
To mark the beginning of the summer concert season, Live Nation also announced a special $20 summer concert ticket offer. Starting May 13 and running through May 20, Live Nation will launch the Kickoff to Summer Sale, a special $20 ticket offer to nearly a thousand summer concerts. Stay tuned to LiveNation.com and Live Nation’s Facebook and Twitter pages for the latest updates on the offer.
National Concert Day 2016 is brought to fans by Citi and Pringles. Citi is the preferred credit card of Live Nation, offering Citi debit and credit cardmembers access to presale and preferred tickets for select tours throughout the summer via Citi’s Private Pass Program, the bank’s entertainment access program. Last year alone, Citi worked with more than 1,400 artists ranging from preferred tickets and early access to concert tickets, to curated special events and VIP experiences. For more information, or to purchase presale tickets to the after show on May 3, Citi Presents AWOLNATION, visit www.citiprivatepass.com.
Pringles is helping fans celebrate summer with music and memories, kicking off at Live Nation’s National Concert Day. For those looking to make the most out of summer, head to LiveNation.com/Pringles for the Pringles Summer Jam offer – score four tickets, for the price of three! Share all of your summer fun and check out the memories from other fans across the country by following #PringlesSummerJam.
From experiencing live music under the stars at an outdoor amphitheater to rocking out at an arena or taking a road trip to a music festival, this summer 2016 will bring millions of music fans together to see their favorite artists. From Country, Indie & Alternative Music, Classic Rock, Rock, Metal, Hip-Hop, Electronic Music, Comedy and Pop – there is something for everyone. For tickets and more information, visit www.livenation.com.
The man who brought you the Miracle Brush, the Veg-o-matic and millions of albums containing 25 Country Hits or Hooked on Classics died Wednesday.
Philip Kives was 87.
Born on a Jewish colony farm near Oungre, Sask., Feb. 12, 1929, Kives came to Winnipeg in 1962 to create the company that bore the first letter of his last name, K-Tel.
Kives produced a live, five-minute TV commercial — the first infomercial, he claimed — to sell a Teflon non-stick frying pan, and sales took off afterwards. From then on he always wrote and directed all the TV commercials.
But wait, there’s more.
Kives said his greatest success was selling 28 million Miracle Brushes in the late 1960s, while Hooked on Classics, with more than 10 million copies sold, was his top-selling album.
In Kives’s own words on the K-Tel International website, he started his “first entrepreneurial venture at the age of eight.
“I set up my own trapline. Not only did I sell my own furs, but I bought furs from all the other kids in school and resold them at fur auctions. I made just enough money to buy my few clothes for the year.”
“I saw an ad in the paper about selling cookware door to door. You learn quickly how to sell. You always ask a positive question so customers can only answer one way. Yes. You say, “You would like your wife to have this, wouldn’t you?” And he’ll say yes.
“I used to buy products from Seymour Popeil. That’s Ron Popeil’s father, of Ronco. Ron is a good salesman, but his dad made everything. He said to me, ‘Philip, you’re getting too big. I’m not selling you anything anymore.’ So I went off on my own.
“In the winter of 1966, we released the first record, 25 Country Hits. I didn’t look upon it as a long-term deal. I looked upon it as a one-time product. But after 25 Polka Greats, which sold around a million-and-a-half copies in the United States alone, I thought maybe we were on to something. Record companies in those days didn’t know what compilation albums were. They had vast catalogues of music they didn’t know what to do with.
“We grew into a big company, and it was very difficult for me to control it. We went bankrupt. We went into oil and gas and real estate. Then the bottom fell out of real estate in the United States.”
We’re at Paisley Park [Prince’s studio and home in Minnesota], and I don’t know, maybe I let the s-word slip … and [Prince] was like, “Yeah, that’ll be a dollar.” He grabbed a water bottle and he said, “Actually, you’re rich. That’s $20.”
I said, “Huh?” and he said, “No cursing.” And I said, “Cursing! Wait, you’re the one that taught me how to curse.”
But the thing was, when I said that, I was really saying it to get out of paying 20 bucks, but I saw the look on his face. And when I walked away that night and went back to the hotel, I wondered if he really felt bad about that; if he thinks in his head, “Man, I’ve ruined a generation.” But he really felt that.
And I felt that with a lot of his secret philanthropy, and a lot of the Robin Hood stuff he was doing, I mean real deep political — saving schools, people to this day not knowing where this $3 million check came from, that was all him. I felt like maybe in the last 20 years of his life, he felt the need to overcompensate or pay forward what he feels that maybe he damaged some of us who grew up listening to his music.
A factual report about unsung DJs who contributed to the foundational principals of the music known today as Hip Hop. This documentary chronicles the mobile deejay scene that existed in Brooklyn before and alongside what was happening in the Bronx in the late 60s, early 70s.
On April 22, Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly announced that all of Canada’s major cultural policy instruments will be going up for review, including the Broadcasting Act, Copyright Act, Telecommunications Act, CRTC, CBC, NFB, Telefilm Canada, Canada Council for the Arts and the Canada Music Fund.
Joly seeks to establish a new, integrated model for governing all aspects of Canada’s cultural economy – on which more than 600,000 jobs and $47.7 billion of GDP currently depend (making it a greater overall contributor to the national economy than fisheries, agriculture and forestry combined).
The Department of Heritage launched public consultations on April 23, with an online questionnaire that can be filled out until Friday, May 20, 2016.
Cineplex Events today announced that it will be celebrating the life of musical legend Prince with a special screening of the musician’s iconic film, Purple Rain. Screenings will take place on the evening of Monday, May 2 and tickets, which are now on sale, are $6.99.
Cineplex Events will donate $1.00 from every ticket sold to MusiCounts, Canada’s music education charity associated with The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS). The film will screen at 54 Cineplex locations across Canada. A complete list of participating theatres can be found here.
“Bringing Purple Rain back to the big screen is a perfect way to honour the life of Prince,” said Brad LaDouceur, Vice President, Event Cinema, Cineplex Entertainment. “This special screening will allow fans to celebrate the artistry of Prince together as a community.”
“We are very honoured that Cineplex has chosen MusiCounts for this donation,” said Allan Reid, President and CEO, CARAS/The JUNO Awards & MusiCounts. “The funds raised will help put musical instruments into the hands of children and youth who needs music in their lives – a fitting legacy in memory of Prince.”
MusiCounts, Canada’s music education charity associated with The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) and the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) is helping to keep music alive across Canada. MusiCounts’ mission is to ensure that children in Canada, regardless of socio-economic circumstances or cultural background, have access to music programs through their schools and communities. This is achieved through the Band Aid Program, the TD Community Music Program, the MusiCounts Teacher of the Year Award, Scholarships and other music education initiatives. Since MusiCounts’ establishment in 1997, over $9,000,000 has been awarded to help support music education in Canada. These funds have benefitted over 850 schools and communities from coast to coast, supported over 350 post-secondary music program graduates and honoured 11 extraordinary music teachers through the MusiCounts Teacher of the Year Award.
Originally released in 1984, Purple Rain stars pop icon Prince as a young musician who must contend with a rival singer, a burgeoning romance and his own dissatisfied band as his star begins to rise. Tickets and showtimes are available at participating theatre box offices, on the Cineplex mobile app or at Cineplex.com/Events.
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Eric Alper is a 6-time nominee for Publicist of the Year during Canadian Music Week and has overseen the publicity campaigns for over 183 JUNO Award-nominated albums (and 16 in 2025), 45 Grammy-nominated albums, including 47 JUNO Award, 58 Canadian Folk Music Award, 126 Maple Blues Award-winning albums and is also truly honoured to work with some of the biggest and most important artists of our time.
Contact me: eric@thatericalper.com
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