I was talking with my brother Paul on financial matters and this sage advice came from him. Something we both firmly believe in, but somehow got lost by many Americans along the way in our culture. We’re lucky in that it was passed down to us with such fervor that it quite possibly is encoded in our dna. But apparently a lot of others are learning the hard way. The batons from our grandparents generation to gen x and y were dropped somewhere along the line. Is it because of incessant advertising? Television’s portrayal of the “perfect” family with every perfect item all under the roof of their perfect house? The too easy to get loans? The Check cashing places? The keeping up with the Joneses? It’s probably all these things and more. We better figure it out though, as individuals and as a country, because it’s killing us.

These are some brilliant points on education and where we are with it, and where we need to go.You need to see this beautifully animated piece to open up your mind and clean out some of the societal-cobwebs that have been growing there.

MTV is 30 years old today, shocked? What happened to the station I used to love? It was synonymous with hip cutting-edge music and creativity, but somewhere in it’s quest for more viewers or popularity it morphed into something completely different. Somewhere amongst the crappy game shows, the loss of V-Jays, cartoons and now endless reality programming, it lost it’s identity. It used to be a game changer, now it’s just a channel changer if even that.

Some summer sun and a hose, what else could you possibly need?

The proposed AT&T T-mobile merger is a joke. I can’t believe the government would allow such a ridiculous merger when so many jobs would be lost and service won’t get any better. AT&T was broken up by the government in the early 1980′s for getting too large, and Ma Bell is at it again. If you’re not keeping score, a friend of mine works for AT&T now, but used to work for SBC Global, and before that Ameritech and I’m not even sure if he changed offices. One bought the other bought the other and this was besides the fact that AT&T acquired Cingular, Alltel and MediaOne sperately. Remember those guys? This was all within the last 10 years. Speak out about the AT&T T-mobile merger by clicking here and letting these companies battle it out in the market place which will give us all better service, more choices and better pricing.

I realize now that this title might have you thinking you were clicking on something else, but this post has to do with art, beauty and movement. Okay, I can see that this isn’t helping, let me steer you in the right direction. These are beach creatures created by Theo Jansen, a dutch kinetic artist using wood and wind to mimic animal movement. It’s really quite breath-taking and astounding how he creates these, and what the end result is. It’s like some sci-fi skeletal object with a mind of it’s own. Good thing these are on a beach, because if they were roaming some back alley somewhere I think the statistics for heart attacks would be on the rise.

You tell me. Here is a classic ad for Nike with Michael Jordan where his formula for success included a lot of failure along the way. Just Do It doesn’t mean to just do it perfectly, failure = success.

okay. The Debbie the cat lover video is hysterical. Girl just wants to love someone and makes a video telling about herself, her love of running and her extreme love of cats. I don’t know if I find this funnier because I’m internet dating, and have a cat, or if it’s because I feel bad for this girl… can I smile and feel bad at the same time? So this YouTube vid has gone super viral. Almost 12 million views. wow. okay, well life is going to get a little worse for debbie as her video has been “songified.” This fun is brought to you by The Gregory Brothers who also Auto-Tune the news. (That fun gadget that takes people’s talking voices and makes it sound like they are singing.)

As if the first debbie the cat lover video isn’t funny enough. This song version takes it to a new level that most of us never knew existed. Really. The song is catchy and the visuals of dancing cats playing instruments are hilarious. So these guys are seriously on to something. (Or on something.) The formula goes like this Crazy Cat Videos + Debbie Cat loving confession + Catchy Song and Puppets = Unbelievable Hilarity. Just try to not laugh at this. Impossible. So watch the first vid the “normal” one, get acquainted and then let her sing for you. Oh yeah. I love internet creativity.

This is a song called “The Body” by “The Pains of Being Pure at Heart.” It’s got this interesting subtly to it and I just love how it was shot.

What is it about Japanese game shows? Come to think of it, this isn’t a game show at all! There is no prize, no witty host or wacky stunts, there is just the humor and the unpredictability of it. The “Oh My God,” and the awkwardness of it. The weird voyeuristic-at-home-but-still-apart-of-it-crazy-candid-camera-ness that only Japanese humor can provide.

Can you imagine if this happened on some unsuspecting ski-slopes in America? I can see some savvy law firm setting up residency at the bottom of that ski hill. We could call it Law suit city, because that’s exactly what it would be.

So so we laugh because it’s funny, or do we laugh because it’s not us?