As is often the case in my life, I found myself in a Google wormhole the other day, and somehow I wound up on an inane little blog called “K’s Corner,” a curious little site with only one entry and lots of silliness. To some people, K’s Corner will be the most adorable thing they’ve ever seen. To others, it represents every single thing we hate about overly public lovebirds. You be the judge.
Draw Something surfaced in late February of this year, and within days it became a top seller, going so far as to reach 50 million downloads in only fifty days. It has blown up all over pop culture, causing many people to abandon their endless Words with Friends games and opt for the quicker, more amusing thrills of drawing.
The game certainly has an appeal, but it’s not without its flaws. In fact, ask anyone whose played it for more than thirty minutes, and you’ll hear more than a fair share of grousing about the technical aspects. Truth is, Draw Something is a shoddy, shoddy app whose smart concept has somehow kept it afloat despite its shortcomings.
Luckily, gaming giant Zygna purchased OMGPOP, the small publisher of Draw Something, and soon we will be treated to a much-needed update. Rumor has it the next iteration will feature better social media integration, more words, and who knows what else.
I’m hopeful that Zygna will fix all the major problems, but in case they don’t, here are the major things that should be improved with the game.
Update: Timing is everything. Turns out Zygna released an update JUST TODAY fixing several of these issues. Yay! But still far from perfect…
While perusing the reader comments on a foodnetwork.com recipe tonight, I came across the above submission.
Serious wine FAIL.
When “Shit Girls Say” first surfaced last month, it was hilarious. The follow-up was also very funny. It looked like a classic web series in the making. However, the internet has killed the goose that laid the golden egg. Thanks to many well-meaning but frequently unfunny imitators, the entire conceit of “Shit ____ Say” has been utterly destroyed.
Some tributes to the web series have been fairly successful (ie. Shit White Girls Say To Black Girls and Shit Spanish Girls Say), but overall, almost unilaterally the knockoffs just aren’t funny. At best, they make us smile thanks to the germ of a humorous idea, an amiable performance, or a few clever lines. But sadly, this meme has now entered the realm of “Duh! Winning!” It’s overdone, lacking in novelty, and quite frankly annoying (see example above). Plus, as wannabe viral superstars try to carve out a niche for themselves with the meme, the themes become less universal. I mean, Shit Sri Lankan Mothers Say? (Ironically, this one made me laugh more than all the others. Bad example. Can’t say the same for Shit Women Say To Personal Trainers though). Sure, I may sound like a jerk — raining on many people’s parades and whatnot — but isn’t that what bloggers are for?
Take back the Internet, people.
Shit bloggers say: ENOUGH.
Happy Endings is the funniest sitcom on TV at the moment, and one of its most endearing characters is that of Penny Hartz, played by SNL alum Casey Wilson. Chief among Penny’s quirks is her penchant for saying “amalzing” instead of “amazing,” a nifty bit of slang that is routinely rejected by the other characters on the show. Of course, I am an impressionable youth, and as such, I realized that I’ve started to incorporate “amalzing” into my everyday speech — first as a tribute to Penny but now because I can’t help myself.
That’s why yesterday afternoon, when I had twenty minutes to kill before meeting someone (appropriately enough at a bar called The Happy Ending), I decided that I would Like “amalzing” on Facebook. You can only imagine my surprise to learn that there was no Facebook page dedicated to “amalzing.” There was, however, a page dedicated to “amahzing,” which is apparently the more accepted spelling of the word. The “Amahzing” page, however, is dedicated to some product or line of something-or-another, and it most certainly is not affiliated with Happy Endings. Therefore, I took it upon myself to make a page for “Amalzing” for the sole purpose of being able to have “Ben likes Amalzing” on my Timeline.
Fun times. Fun, silly times.
But what a strange turn this simple story would take…
I’m a little behind on my Internet memes, but apparently for the past three years, there’s been this thing called “Rage Comics” wherein people make comics using crudely drawn faces. If you too hadn’t heard of this, fear not. I have a wonderful introduction for you. An eighty-six year old man uploaded his very own rage comic today about his life and times, and it’s pretty great. Some of you might even shed a tear. Give it a read:
Via Buzzfeed
Back in 2003, the Internet changed irreversibly, thanks to a funky new website called Friendster. It wasn’t the first social network, but it certainly was the first to achieve significant clout. For a while, it was the only game in town… until MySpace showed up and let people curse, post nudie pictures (yes, you could do that in the beginning), and design their own layouts. By the time Facebook emerged, Friendster was already going the way of the dodo.
Somehow the site has managed to hang in there thanks to a strong user base in Southeast Asia, but most everyone here in the U.S. has abandoned ship. It’s been a long, sad decline for the once buzz-worthy network, and earlier this Spring, news came that Friendster was going to massively overhaul itself. Goodbye social networking, hello gaming. Yes, yesterday was to be the last day our old Friendster profiles would exist as we know them (the deadline has since been extended). Soon, Friendster will erase all photos, messages, testimonials, and other fun, dusty stuff from our profiles, but fear not — account information and friend lists will remain intact.
With the end of days arriving for Friendster, I decided to poke around my profile to see if there was anything worth saving. What I found was an amusing time capsule of messages, including one from a pre-fame celebrity. Who knew?
Join me as we take a brief tour of my Friendster world…
Makeup maven, handbag designer, comedienne? Yes, add that title to Gretchen Rossi’s growing roster of professional endeavors. The star of Real Housewives of Orange County is this week’s Tweet The Joke celebrity host, which means that she’ll be tweeting out jokes through Friday. Well, she’ll sort of be tweeting out jokes. She actually just tweets out the setup, and then we have to come up with the punchline. For example, today Gretchen wrote “What do you call a gay dinosaur?” I, of course, submitted my own witty response (“Duh-wight.” You know, from Real Housewives of Atlanta? Because he’s old and gay? Get it? GET IT???).
Anyway, I’m not sure if submitting jokes means that Gretchen will actually interface with you, but it’s worth a shot, especially if you want some Beauté tips.
So you’re at work, bored, waiting for me to post something new, right? Thankfully, Twitter offers endless fun, but who on Earth should you follow? WELL, for starters, you can follow me (http://twitter.com/bsideblog — help me get to 10,000 followers!! Or at least 3,000). But if you already follow me and want other (LESS GOOD) options, then Socialite Life has compiled a nifty list of celebs to follow. They range from the crazy (Charlie Sheen) to the clever (Stephen Colbert). Check out the list, and be sure to suggest your very own favorites (celeb or not) in the comments section below.
Socialite Life: 10 Celebrities To Follow On Twitter
SAY:100 Press Release from SAY Media on Vimeo.
Say Media released their Say 100 list today, which is “a collection of authentic and knowledgeable online voices that create engaging content, drive conversation and shape opinion.” I’m excited and super honored to announce that I’m on the list of entertainment “voices that matter,” and even more flattered that Rich Juzwiak of the inimitable FourFour chose me to be a part of the site. Thankyouthankyouthankyou. (And with that, I lost my “Voices that matter” cred).
No word on if there will be a Voices That Matter blogger sing-along à la Voices That Care, but in the meantime, while I commission the sheet music, please check out the other bloggers on the list. And again, thanks to Rich and all the people at Say Media for including me!
(Oh, and since I’m all brag-adocious right now, check out my mentions on Fox News and Perez Hilton too.)
