Ringo looks mostly perturbed by having to make this ridiculous video:

Via Reddit.

In 1977 Elvis Costello busted into his own Saturday Night Live performance to play Radio Radio:

In 1999 he busted into a Beastie Boys Saturday Night Live performance to play Radio Radio:

Beware performers, your Saturday Night Live performance could be next.

The Beatles weren’t bigger than Jesus, they were TALLER than Jesus. Via my mom.

Ah Spencer Elden, will I never get tired of seeing new pictures of you in the pool? I found it interesting last year, and I still find it interesting today (newest image from CNN):

Click to big-ify

I’m a little bit sad that these new pictures aren’t naked, but I’ll take what I can get. Let’s keep this sort of thing going.

I wonder how long the guitarists had to rehearse their synchronized moves?

Via Cynical-C.

A list of songs about school shootings, though it’s missing Strength Through Music by Amanda Palmer.

Twisted Sister: Where Are They Now?

Jay Jay French: taking it
Mark “the Animal” Mendoza: taking it
A.J. Pero: taking it
Dee Snider: VH1 talking head, Sirius Satellite Radio host
Eddie “Fingers” Ojeda: taking it

Thanks Nacho.

The top has played an important role in modern history. Without top hats, we wouldn’t have had the Civil War, World War II or Guns n’ Roses. Since the top hat’s impact on important human events is often overlooked and underestimated, here’s a collection of pictures of famous people wearing top hats:

Abraham Lincoln:

UPDATE: I’ve added a few more famous people to our top hat collection:

Bob Dylan:

The Boston Globe’s Big Picture blog today focuses on the lives of Barack Obama and John McCain. This picture of Obama with his mother caught my attention:

What, you don’t see it? Maybe if I blend them together for you?

Huh. I think they have similar eyes and eyebrows. Still not seeing it? Well, happy Fourth of July regardless.

Unlike hearsay exceptions, there appear to be no songs about personal jurisdiction. Someone please fix this.

50 Cent hates Taco Bell, but not for the same reason that most other people hate Taco Bell.

12 real reasons why potential jurors on the R. Kelly trial were excused from duty. The final two are fantastic:

Please call my mom - When one juror failed to show up for service, deputies called his house and his mother answered. She told the court that she didn’t know where her son was and that he hadn’t been “right” since he was shot in the head a while back. The judge and attorneys agreed to let him off the hook.

I blame R. Kelly for Sept. 11 - When the judge asked one prospective juror about his feelings regarding Kelly, he cryptically answered: “R. Kelly may have led the Taliban in attacking us on 9-11, but you can’t prove it.” You’re right, we can’t. In fact, we’re fairly certain that no one has ever tried.

I might take the second guy, he at least seems open minded.

This 50 second White Stripes song is one of my all-time favorites.

You very rarely hear 50 second songs these days.

There’s nothing better than analytic discussions of rap music in legal decisions. It sounds so highfalutin when it’s coming out of a judge’s mouth:

“A signature and long-standing feature of live performance rap music is the hip hop chant. The chant is a form of audience engagement staged by the performer (mc, dj or rapper) who provides a familiar phrase or saying, often in call and response format, designed to energize, include, affirm and engage the audience.” Report of Tricia Rose at 2. Both Campbell and Jackson state that they had heard the disputed phrase of “Go ___, its your birthday” and that it was a common hip-hop chant. Numerous postings on USENET,FN4 pre-dating the release of “Its Your Birthday,” include several uses of the phrase “Go [name], it’s your birthday.” Likewise, Defendants make reference to many additional songs and books, dated after “Its Your Birthday” but before “In Da Club,” that use variations of the “birthday” phrase without license from Lil’ Joe Wein.

FN4. USENET is an online forum for “users to discuss, read about, or post messages on a particular topic,” Ellison v. Robertson, 357 F.3d 1072, 1074 (9th Cir.2004).

The Defendants also set forth several specific examples of the use of the phrase before the creation of “Its Your Birthday.” First, the Defendants cite the 1993 film Who’s the Man?, starring Dr. Dre and Ed Lover (“Lover”), two notable MTV personalities at the time. See Def. Ex. 20. Ed Lover, who plays an inept barber in the movie, gives a customer a particularly awful haircut. In an effort to assuage the distressed customer, Lover compares him to the famous actor Wesley Snipes. Lover then raps, “Go Wesley, go Wesley, go go go Wesley, it’s your birthday.” Lover states that the line “was improvised during the filming and was based on a chant commonly heard at the time in nightclubs and on the radio.” Lover Decl. ¶ 6.

From Lil’ Joe Wein Music, Inc. v. Jackson (50-Cent), 245 Fed.Appx. 873, 878 (11th Cir. 2007).

For more rap-based law, see also Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. (2 Live Crew covering/parodying Pretty Woman) and Parks v. LaFace Records (Outkast rapping about Rosa Park).

The new Nationals theme song is really, really bad. Via Metroblogging and Why I Hate DC.

Google celebrates Tom Lehrer’s 80th birthday.

The Del Rubio triplets sing Whip It by Devo: