Darren Miller

5 hours ago

60 Magnificent Photographs Celebrating the Colors of the Rainbow

I mean, what else am I supposed to follow photos of snowflakes with?

13 hours ago

Incredible Examples of Snowflake Photography

Great photos of snowflakes!

3 days ago

20 Greatest Extended Takes In Movie History

This is an awesome article. Videos included!

Notes: 1 / 3 days ago from travishelwig (originally from mikeantonucci)

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1928895

This video is really really really awesome.

travishelwig:

mikeantonucci:

Captain Hippo featured on College Humor. Sweet!

1 week ago

SNL 1/31/10

the comic’s comic:
Now we have an SNL Digital Short – ooh! After seeing Landline TV try to take Samberg on this week, I wondered if SNL would respond, and if so, how. I don’t know if you’d consider this a response, but they definitely didn’t fall into one of the two major categories Landline had accused them of, and went for the weird.

It was pretty cool to read that according to the comic’s comic, Landline’s video was worthy of a response from Samberg himself. But, on the other hand, he’s also absolutely right in saying that this week’s digital short wasn’t at all worthy of ridicule. It was amazing. In fact, the whole episode was one of the best episodes of SNL I’ve seen in a really really long time. There was even a second video that was also amazing - arguably as good if not better than the first. The second video, Closet Organizer, even had it’s own callback sketch - one of the more innovative things I’ve seen from SNL in a while. I was impressed. And very excited. Looking at all the sketches, I can’t even say that all of them were really THAT good, but there were a lot of moments throughout the show that were just SO SO funny.

Do yourself a favor and try to get your hands on the full episode. If you have to settle for hulu, go for it.

1 week ago

I would rather have this than an iPhone.

Notes: 6 / 2 weeks ago from travishelwig (originally from travishelwig)

travishelwig:

kirklarsen:

YEAH!

travishelwig:

CONGRATULATIONS DARREN MILLER!

(via this tweet)

Thanks guys!!

Notes: 2 / 2 weeks ago

Thank You, Conan

This post is long, and it’s personal, but I do sincerely hope you read it. I’m sorry if by the time you finish you decide that it wasn’t worth your time. Let me know and I’ll buy you a beer.

It’s been a few days since Conan said his final goodbye on The Tonight Show:

“Walking away from The Tonight Show is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Making this choice has been enormously difficult. This is the best job in the world, I absolutely love doing it, and I have the best staff and crew in the history of the medium. But despite this sense of loss, I really feel this should be a happy moment. Every comedian dreams of hosting The Tonight Show and, for seven months, I got to. I did it my way, with people I love, and I do not regret a second. I’ve had more good fortune than anyone I know and if our next gig is doing a show in a 7-11 parking lot, we’ll find a way to make it fun. And finally, I have to say something to our fans. The massive outpouring of support and passion from so many people has been overwhelming. The rallies, the signs, all the goofy, outrageous creativity on the internet, and the fact that people have traveled long distances and camped out all night in the pouring rain to be in our audience, made a sad situation joyous and inspirational. To all the people watching, I can never thank you enough for your kindness to me and I’ll think about it for the rest of my life. All I ask of you is one thing: please don’t be cynical. I hate cynicism — it’s my least favorite quality and it doesn’t lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.”

I think it’s fair to say that almost everyone was teary-eyed while watching this. It was a truly unique and amazing moment on television. I think so many people supported him not only because of the moral issues involved, but also because he and his writers represented a sort of oasis in the world of comedy. They represented “good” people doing “good things.” They were the people constantly writing original and high quality material, and the people that deserved their praise and popularity. They were not mainstream, but somehow reached the mainstream. And as I’m sure it was for many people, Conan’s final words on The Tonight Show resonated with me on a very personal level.

Conan has always been my biggest hero. He was the first to inspire me to do comedy and has always been my strongest inspiration since then. As a kid I somehow already began to see what makes him so great: his class, his constant determination to innovate and push the envelope, his respect and admiration for classic comedy, the list goes on. I’ve always felt a very odd connection to him because we actually grew up in the same hometown, and went to the same high school. When I first got there my freshman year, they showed the freshman class an old video from years before when Conan came back to BHS to speak at graduation. I will never forget this video. He spoke of his own freshman year at BHS; walking across the quad with pants that looked like capris because of a giant growth spurt the summer before, getting shoved into lockers, and writing for the school newspaper. It took me some time to really understand everything he was saying, but eventually it was this speech that helped me really find myself and finally “get it.” This happens to everyone at some point: You finish puberty. You start to feel comfortable in your own skin. And most importantly, you realize how to just be yourself and finally understand, at least for the time being, what you really want to be doing with your time.

When Conan was at Brookline High, he was the editor of The Sagamore, the school newspaper. I wrote for the paper a little bit, but didn’t love it. I already loved and was truly passionate about writing, but this wasn’t the place for me. I also already loved comedy. My father, a comedy buff in his own right, had exposed me to all the classics: Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, Sid Ceasar, Python, George Carlin, etc. My love for comedy grew as I watched Conan on TV as much as possible, and grew an encyclopedic knowledge of standup comedy. Again, I looked to Conan, and remembered he was also the editor of the Harvard Lampoon. I decided to start my own humor magazine at the school, and try to follow in Conan’s footsteps as closely as possible.

This decision came during my junior year, around the same time I also had to figure out what I wanted to do about college. At this point, I knew two things: I wanted to write, and I wanted to be a comedian. At the beginning of my senior year, I auditioned for the school’s improv troupe, which I had spent the rest of my time in high school fearfully avoiding. I was shocked to see that over forty people were auditioning for just a few spots in this group, but somehow I made it. I think it was because I was one of the only non “theater kids” there, so no one really knew who the hell I was. I actually remember I auditioned in an Italian soccer jersey, and ran out right after to get to baseball practice on time. I must have been an alien to those people. Anyway, I then spent the rest of my time at that school with this group, and working my ass off to create this humor magazine. I gathered some friends together as writers, and wrote many articles myself.

This was the hardest thing I’d ever worked for that wasn’t a baseball or soccer team. I designed it, edited it, and spent hours after school every day asking local businesses to buy ad space for a humor magazine that didn’t exist yet. I couldn’t figure out how to make a deal with a printing company, so I looked to Conan again, and tried calling the Harvard Lampoon to see who prints their paper. Unfortunately, when you call the Lampoon, at least through any number I could find, you just get pranked. I asked about printing and was put on hold, and given to someone else, who made some sort of joke about not having time, or being on the toilet, and then passed me on to someone else. It kept going till I hung up, which was a very long time. To make a long story short I found a way to get it printed. By the time I graduated, we would release just one single issue. But I was still ecstatic.

My senior year of high school, something incredible happened. Conan O’Brien came back to BHS. They played a video highlight reel of the many achievements he’d thus far made and contributed to. And then, on the same stage I had been performing improv all year, there was Conan, making fun of my school’s Headmaster, in a packed auditorium. Again he told BHS stories, talked about his work on The Simpsons and SNL, and of course his own show, and I’m sure inspired everyone, not just me. This is the moment I decided that no matter what happened, I would spend the rest of my life writing and performing comedy, and constantly push myself to be better.

I didn’t get a chance to meet him at all that day, and of course never have. I may never meet him. I’ve always planned to write him a letter of some sort at some point in my career when this letter would have the potential of leading to me meeting him not just as a fan, but also on some sort of professional level. I’ll know if that time ever comes, and I’ll send the letter. Meanwhile, I have continued, and will always continue to work extremely hard, and will always strive to follow in Conan’s footsteps in some way.

I know it sounds incredibly narcissistic, but in almost every crucial turing point in my life, Conan has been there and done something that has served as a wake up call for me; encouragement and inspiration when I need it most, whether I know it or not. The Final Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien was by far the most inspirational moment I have experienced with him. I say with because he made me feel, and made us all feel, like we were with him. Not just comedians, or writers, or even fans, but everyone. He sat in front of the camera after on of the best television episodes in the history of Late Night TV, and said “Every comedian dreams of hosting The Tonight Show and, for seven months, I got to. I did it my way, with people I love, and I do not regret a second.” It was incredible. We all witnessed Conan living out his dream. There are few things more beautiful.