President Morphing, Downfall and a cat

President Morphing

I had many reactions to this video that morphs our Presidents from Washington to Obama. I took two pages of notes. But, I have done some severe editing. Here are my main impressions:

• Buchanan really looks gay. I also thought Chester Arthur looked gay. I checked the internet and, indeed, there are rumors that Buchanan (the only life-long bachelor President) and Arthur were gay. I also thought the portrait of Pierce had a punk-gay quality. No such rumors about Pierce - but do check out that photo.
• Andrew Jackson looks like he should be in a rock band. I think the Rolling Stones pre-wrinkles.
• Check out James Polk! He looks like a cross between Mel Gibson and ..... Please tell me who! (Update: the people have spoken - a cross between Mel Gibson, David MaCallum (Man from U.N.C.L.E. fame) and Bill Macy.)
  
• For morphing reasons, some of the portraits are the official ones but many are not. (Warning: If you click that last link, you are taken to a picture of Bush!) In the video, they chose smiling portraits from Carter through Obama. But, in reality, only two Presidents show teeth: Reagan and W. (Update 12/6/08 - Bush unveiled his "official protrait". No teeth. So, Reagan is now the only one with teeth showing.)
  

By the way, if you go to the youtube President morphing video, I suggest you check out many of the other morphs videos that show up in the "related video" list.

Downfall

Have any of you checked out any of the Downfall videos (from the film about the downfall of Hitler and the Third Reich)? My favorite (and a very educational one, at that) is Real Estate Downfall. However, stop! Don't yet click on that link. Later, I will give you a good sequence for really enjoying these clips. Also, in general, I am not going to bother to give you links because there would be too many.

There are a lot of versions. Probably the most famous (before the now-viral Real Estate Downfall) is Hillary's Downfall. However, while it has some good writing - the writers are too lazy to write a really good script and, in the sequence when "Clinton" is yelling, they overuse obscenities. Too many go for the cheap joke or swearing instead of a writing a really sharp script. Nonetheless, I did like it and other political ones such as the GOP's Downfall or Obama's Downfall. But, a youtube search will find them.

There are lots of different Downfall genres out there. One type is to use the clip to critique something like Macs, PCs, Second Life, Burning Man or Mircrosoft. Another type is even more absurdist - Hitler's car being stolen, Hitler buys the wrong bike. Then, there are a lot of sports ones: Brett's Fauvre's Downfall, Hitler's upset about Tennessee loss, Hitler Superbowl.

And, then there are the ones with self-reference to the phenomenon. One pleads to stop it. But, a really funny one (linked below) critiques those who don't "get it" which includes, I gather, a lot of German speaking folks.

So, if you want to go down the Downfall path in such a way to actually laugh more instead of less, I would suggest this sequence. First, watch the real estate one. If you don't like it and find it offensive, then stop and don't continue watching any. However, if you liked it, then find one on youtube that intrigues you (or click the Hillary link above.) Follow up with more if you wish. But do check out this one. Then, the topper is to see the real film dialogue but speed-ed up. If you want to see a (slightly different) version of the real one, here it is.

A Cat here