Move over Tina Fey…John Brown has vice-presidential jokz for days!

This transatlantic collabo from Sincere and Joell Ortiz is getting me through the week. Is anyone grinding harder than Joell right now?! This guy basically puts out a video a week. His verse on here is silly as hell in the best way possible. Peep it after the jump.

The first time I heard of Edmonton MC Cadence Weapon, I was in Toronto recording a radio segment about the Rock Paper Scissors World Championships (scroll to the bottom of this page if you want to hear why I have since opted to stick with the written word). I went into the awesome Sam the Record Man store to check out the Canadian hip-hop section, realizing that I liked Kardinall Offishall and Swollen Members but didn’t really know any other Canadian rappers. I picked up Cadence’s debut, Breaking Kayfabe, and was glad I did. It was innovative, witty, and reminded me of the type of music that first got me into “underground” artists. The videogame references also had nostalgic appeal. It got some spins in my iPod for a few months and then I sort of forgot about Cadence (and Canada in general—no offense).

Anyway, looks like he dropped another album last spring that should be worth checking out. In the meantime, hit the jump to check out his highly topical “Real Estate” video, a hilarious send-up of sleazy broker ads. In fact, it seems that all this dude’s videos are humorous. Maybe Tom Green and Strange Brew weren’t anomalies after all!

The days of “music television” are over. MTV is all about reality and pseudo-reality programming, and BET has become a parade of shows about criminals and repeat airings of Baby Boy. But the music video won’t die, it’s just got to find its place online, just like everything else. So why do people keep making same ol’ same videos? I mean, we now have unlimited access to free hardcore pornography online, so a little “jingling, baby” is not necessarily going to hold interest. If you really want to get people seeing your video, it’s got to be viral on the ‘net. You can’t just expect to crack the TRL top ten and sit there for a couple months. More people will be watching some nobodies like OK GO on YouTube because they have a cooler video.

One band that has responded well to the migration of music videos to an online distribution platform is Weezer. Their video for “Pork and Beans” essentially guaranteed viral success by referencing tons of other viral videos. Genius! Now, they’ve produced canned lightening again with their video for “Troublemaker.” Watch it here, then check my thoughts after the jump.

As a frequent traveler, nacho hunter, and pub enthusiast, I am always on the look out for interesting snacks to accompany a nice ale or lager beer. One of my favorite treats during childhood trips to London was a packet of Phileas Fogg crisps. I haven’t had any in years, but I’m just now realizing that they may be the greatest pub snack in the entire world.

Looking back, my brother and I exhibited quite refined taste in our preference for Phileas Fogg products. Beyond the basic bag of “Salt and Lineker” Walkers, a lot of the snacks on offer at the newsagents were clearly marketed toward kids. One of the best was Monster Munch (this site is amazing, btw—who knew that the “Flamin’ Hot” monster enjoyed BMXing and Worcester sauce milkshakes?).

But Phileas Fogg was very much a “grown-up” snack, and as such it was more widely available at off-licenses and pubs. Instead of football and monsters, the branding of these crisps is based on the fictional character of Phileas Fogg (from Jules Vernes’ Around the World in Eighty Days). They employ class packaging and a tagline of “Fine Foods from Around the World,” and the conceit is genius: during his adventures to far-flung lands like “Paris” and the the “South China Sea,” Phileas would write letters home to his Aunt Agatha in England describing the delicious snacks he sampled along the way. Our favorite were the Mexican Tortilla Chips. Here is what Phileas had to say about their discovery: