FOTI #12: Hot Cheetos, Gangnam Style

August 29, 2012 1 Comment

Fortnight on the Internets is Michelle Obama’s worst nightmare!

In this episode, we discuss some of the viral hits of the summer, including the electrifying posse cut Hot Cheetos and Takis, the fast food reviews of Daym Drops, and the Korean pop masterpiece Gangnam Style. We also go deep on the topic of the TED conference and its famous TED Talks: a boon to humanity or a clearing house for techno-libertarian doublespeak? We have some outstanding Internet Challenge Surprises, great music from Gold Motel outta Chicago, and as usual tons of great contributions from our Likers!

Four ways to listen:

If you subscribe or become a Liker, you’ll be able to get to new episodes faster than everyone else (in this case, the episode was pre-released last night). We’ve also continued our tradition of leaking out the topics on our @FOTIpod Twitter account before the blog post goes up, so you can check out all the sites and links before you hear the discussion, if being fully-informed is your thing.

*** PROGRAMMING NOTE: Due to being soooo popular and having many early-autumn weddings to attend, we will be back in THREE weeks for a fortnight-plus-one in Episode 13. In other words, the next episode is scheduled for September 19th. ***

To the links! The tweets we posted earlier are below — plus bonus links.

The biggest news of the fortnight was definitely that Alison accomplished something that the Internet said was impossible!

It’s a heartwarming 2006 film in which JoJo and Emma Roberts meet a mermaid. The end of this Wikipedia plot summary is incredible. “Hailey and Claire get their wish from Aquamarine, but decide not to use it until later. Aquamarine gives both Hailey and Claire a starfish earring, which tell Hailey she is beautiful inside and out, and Claire is courageous and has a true heart. Aquamarine says that they can always call her on her shell phone.”

Internet Report Card

One of the top jams of the summer emerges miraculously from an afterschool program in Minneapolis. Here’s Rembert Browne’s superb analysis of this track from Grantland. And for more on the Hot Cheetos phenomenon, here’s an All Things Considered piece sent to us by Liker Neil C.

When Gawker grabbed Daym’s review of a Five Guys burger, the Internet went ham! If you enjoyed Greg the Frozen Food Master, you’ll love Daym as well. Perhaps the highlight of Daym’s rise to faym is the Gregory Brothers’ songified version of his Five Guys review, entitled “OH MY DAYUM.”

Here’s some interesting background on PSY and the song’s meaning. Here’s what happened when PSY attended a Dodger game. And here’s Buzzfeed’s mashup (yes, that do mashups now too — TOLDJA!!) of “Gangnam Style” and Nicki Minaj’s “Starships.”

Our Musical Guest

This is Gold Motel, outta Chicago. They blend the classic California chill sound with midwestern power-pop sensibility. They’ve been repped by reputable mags like SPIN and Nylon, so you don’t have to take our word for it. Their new record, the self-titled Gold Motel, is packed with great tunes and so ready for some tasty late-summer listening.

Check out this mighty track:

Like Gold Motel on Facebook, and use the BandPage tab to stream a bunch of great tracks, or else test-drive their music on Spotify, then pick up all their records on iTunes!

Internet Challenge Surprise!

I just couldn’t resist running with this amazing find before we taped the show. My full write-up and all the videos released thus far can be found here.

Diamond Dave’s promo reel must be seen to be believed. He’ll win you over or die trying!

TED: Love It or Hate It?

Here’s the (“new Harvard”) Fast Company article that provoked Alpine’s ire. And a great dialogue on TED by David Roth and Maria Bustillos of The Awl.

Shoutout to the Likers!

So much to shout out to this week. Thanks to everyone who spread the word about FOTI this past fortnight, like Liker Lisa, who shouted us out to her many Twitter followers!
Some great stuff from the Facebook page that we didn’t have a chance to get to:

Liker Neil C found the amazing NPR clip on Hot Cheetos, tipped us off to Daym Drops, and provided endless background on items on the Facebook page. He’s the first-ever winner of what is sure to be a desperately-sought prize.

Thanks for listening! We’ll be back in 3 weeks with Episode 13!

Theme song by Snowplows.
Cover art by Vicious Rumors.
Special thanks to Emily White and Whitesmith Entertainment for musical assistance!

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