Pants on the Ground!

American Idol debuted this week for its 9th season. I don't watch American Idol. I don't have anything against it really, but it's just not my thing.

But for the last 24 hours on Facebook, everyone's been talking about something called "Pants on the Ground," so finally, out of curiosity, I had to Google it.

I'm sorry to do this to you, but since I can't get this song out of my head, you should get to experience the same delights.

Happy 75th Birthday to The King!

In honor of Elvis's 75th birthday today (and because this reminds me of a very fun party I attended two years ago), Little Merry Sunshine pays homage to The King with these videos. Enjoy!

Blue Suede Shoes


Amazing Grace


Suspicious Minds


Unchained Melody


Can't Help Falling In Love

For All Those "I Gotta Have Some Wine NOW" Moments

You know when you're walking down the street and all the sudden it hits you like a ton of bricks and you realize you've simply got to have some wine? You've got the wine in hand, but then you realize you have no corkscrew. What in the world will you do?

Thanks to this instructional video, there's now an answer that even MacGyver himself could learn from.

It's not in English, but I don't think any translation or French skills are necessary.



Thanks Bergsie for the heads-up on this video!

I Have Confidence

Last night, my all time favorite movie The Sound of Music was on TV and although I've seen it no fewer than 4 million times, I was riveted. Not only does the story move me every time I see it, each song stirs my soul and inspires me.

My favorite songs in the movie are "I Have Confidence" and "Climb Every Mountain" because they speak to my better self and lift me to be better. They remind me that no matter what obstacles I have in front of me, I can do anything. I have strength and courage beyond my own imagination.

Post-It Note Love

Do you recall the Extreme Sticky Note Experiments post from last month? Here's another abuse of post-it note office supplies video that's sure to put a smile on your face.

Happy Saturday and first day of Summer!

The Greatest Love Song Ever?

Unable to sleep tonight, I started chatting with a friend who randomly proclaimed Your Song by Elton John to be the "greatest love song ever." Although I am crazy about this song, I can honestly say I haven't really listened to the words in quite some time. So I headed right over to You Tube to find it.

My verdict? It's a great song. It's a great love song. The greatest love song? I don't think so, but it makes top 10.

What's your favorite love song of all time?



Your Song by Elton John
It's a little bit funny this feeling inside
I'm not one of those who can easily hide
I don't have much money but boy if I did
I'd buy a big house where we both could live

If I was a sculptor, but then again, no
Or a man who makes potions in a travelling show
I know it's not much but it's the best I can do
My gift is my song and this one's for you

And you can tell everybody this is your song
It may be quite simple but now that it's done
I hope you don't mind
I hope you don't mind that I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you're in the world

I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss
Well a few of the verses well they've got me quite cross
But the sun's been quite kind while I wrote this song
It's for people like you that keep it turned on

So excuse me forgetting but these things I do
You see I've forgotten if they're green or they're blue
Anyway the thing is what I really mean
Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen

Extreme Sticky Note Experiments

A good friend sent me this video, which is sure to put a smile on your face. I'll be honest, my initial response was, "Oh good grief! These people have WAY too much time on their hands at work!" And then I realized these people were professionals. But I still enjoyed watching it.

Here's the information from YouTube:

Winner of a 2009 Webby Award and People's Voice Webby Award!

Fritz & Stephen, the madmen behind the Extreme Diet Coke & Mentos Experiments, now cause chaos in the office with over a quarter of a million sticky notes! From waterfalls to wheels, all this craziness is made out of nothing but sticky notes -- the zigzag pads made from pop-up dispensers.

If you want to see how you can do it yourself, check out the related videos at EepyBird.

From a simple cascading pad to 40,000 sticky notes falling from the ceiling, this video uses 280,951 sticky notes in less than 3 minutes. And don't worry: they can be reused! And when they're beyond repair, we make sure to recycle them (or use them the normal way!).

These new Sticky Note Experiments are sponsored by OfficeMax, Coca-Cola, and "Samurai Girl" on ABC Family. Big thanks to all of them for making this possible! And thanks to Jamie Chung and Brendan Fehr from Samurai Girl for coming over and being in the video!

Stand By Me

At some point in life, we each need someone by our side. I don't care who you are or how tough you pretend to be (and I'm talking to myself here too!), none of us is an island. We need each other. We need each other in the good times as well as the bad times. I think it's easy to think that we need each other in the tough times (because of course we do), but the fact is the good times are better when shared with the people we love.

My favorite moments in life are when I can share something joyful with someone else. I can remember as a little kid racing home from school (all 2 blocks of it) to share something great with my mom. Maybe it was an A on a test or maybe it was being chosen to take the chickens my 2nd grade class hatched home for the weekend (true story). I still love that feeling of sharing something great with someone I love.

So I'm sharing this video with you because it touched me today and I know it will warm your heart too.

After you watch it, rush over to Playing For Change to learn the back story. You might also read about it on Gizmodo. You'll love it even more.

You Were Loved

This is one of my absolute most favorite songs in the world. Whenever I need a pick-me-up, I turn it on as loudly as possible and remember all the people I have ever loved and have ever loved me. Clarence the Angel in "It's A Wonderful Life" (and here) had it right when he inscribed that book to George: "No man is a failure who has friends."

And so this afternoon, I post this video of "You Were Loved" by Wynonna (which is from the Touched by An Angel soundtrack) set to clips from The Lion King (I'm not sure why, but it's the only video of this I could find) and dedicate it to all those I love. And if you're reading this post and wondering if I mean you, the answer is yes.



For the full effect, read the lyrics too.

You Were Loved by Wynonna
We all want to make our place in this world
We all want our voices to be heard
Everyone wants a chance to be someone
We all have dreams we need to dream
But sweeter than any star you can reach
Is when you reach and find you've found someone
You'll hold this world's most priceless thing
The greatest gift this life can bring
If you can look back and know
You were loved.
CHORUS:
You were loved by someone
Touched by someone
Held by someone
Meant something to someone
Loved somebody
Touched somebody's heart along the way
You can look back and say
You were loved.
You can have diamonds in your hand.
Have all the riches in the land
Without love do you really have a thing
When someone cares that you're alive
When someone finds their world in your eyes
Then you'll know you've find all you need
You'll hold this world's most priceless prize
The sweetest treasure in this world
If you can look back and say
You were loved
CHORUS
So many roads that you can take
Whatever way you go
Don't take that road alone
Better you should know...
You were loved by someone
Touched by someone
Held by someone
Meant something to someone
Loved somebody
Touched somebody's heart along the way
You can look back and say
You did OK
You were loved.
So remember to tell that one
You are loved.

Christian the Lion

Are you familiar with Christian the Lion?

Watch the video below and try not to cry. Trust me, nothing bad will happen. It's a love story pure and simple. And it's a reminder that true love and friendship last a lifetime. I promise you'll be moved.

Toddler Says Good-Bye To George

I thought I was done. Really, I did. But this is just too good to pass up. I laughed so hard I almost wet myself.

An Engineer's Guide to Cats

Yes, I know I talk about Betsey and Ross far too often on Little Merry Sunshine. So sue me.

This post isn't about them. It's about cat ownership in general. Trust me, even if you've never owned a cat or can't stand cats, the following video will make you laugh out loud.

Beyonce - Single Ladies SPOOF (Barack Obama)

I know this has been going around the Intertubes for a few days, now, but I just saw it for the first time and it's hysterical! I love it!

Soundtrack for 2009

Music defines my life. In fact, there's a soundtrack for every part of my life. I can hear a song and immediately be transported to a random chapter in my life. It sustains me in hard times and lifts me up to keep going and be better. In the good times, I celebrate to music.

If 2008 is any predictor, 2009 will present us with many opportunities (aka challenges) and we will need a soundtrack to keep us going. The songs below are my selection for the 2009 soundtrack. What would you add?

Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield


Beautiful by Christina Aguilera
This is the live performance from her appearance on the CNN Heroes special on Thanksgiving.


Superwoman by Alicia Keys


Yes We Can by will.i.am


Amazing Grace by Leann Rimes


Somewhere Over The Rainbow by Eva Cassidy


Life Uncommon by Jewel


World by Five for Fighting (tribute to Obama)
I love that someone turned this video into a tribute to Obama. It really sums up how I felt standing in Grant Park on Election Night.


I would also include Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson. The first time I really heard the words of Breakaway I was in Davenport's Piano Bar in Chicago with my brother. He'd just moved to Wicker Park and we were roaming around one night. We walked into this little bar with the cool front and about an hour later the waiter grabbed the mike and belted out this song. I was mesmerized. Click on the link above to watch the video. I couldn't include it here because it mucked up all the other videos and didn't work properly itself.

Don't Worry Be Happy

It turns out Bobby McFerrin was onto something . . .



British study says happiness may be contagious

It IS About The Economy, Stupid.

Okay, maybe that's kind of a snarky title for a post about President-elect Barack Obama's Weekly Radio Address, but it fits, so I'm using it.

This week's address is all about the economy and how President-elect Obama will work to fix it. He's got some exciting ideas for job creation.

What Kind of World Do You Want?

I heard this song tonight and remembered just how much I love it. When I googled it, I discovered just how cool Five for Fighting is. Not only do they have music I love - Superman, 100 Years, and World - but they do good things in this world through their website What Kind of World Do You Want?. Check it out. You'll be inspired.

And in the meantime, listen to World and read the lyrics below. We control the kind of world we live in. Our choices today determine the world we will live in and future generations will inherit.

The only question is What Kind of World Do You Want and what are you willing to do to create it?



WORLD

Got a package full of Wishes
A Time machine, a Magic Wand
A Globe made out of Gold

No Instructions or Commandments
Laws of Gravity or
Indecisions to uphold

Printed on the box I see
A.C.M.E.'s Build-a-World-to-be
Take a chance - Grab a piece
Help me to believe it

What kind of world do you want?
Think Anything
Let's start at the start
Build a masterpiece
Be careful what you wish for
History starts now...

Should there be people or peoples
Money, Funny pedestals for Fools who never pay
Raise your Army – Choose your Steeple
Don't be shy, the satellites can look the other way

Lose the Earthquakes – Keep the Faults
Fill the oceans without the salt
Let every Man own his own Hand

What kind of world do you want
Think Anything
Let's start at the start
Build a masterpiece
Be careful what you wish for
History starts now...

Sunlight's on the Bridge
Sunlight's on the Way
Tomorrow's Calling

There's more to this than Love

What Kind of world do you want
What Kind of world do you want

What Kind of world do you want
Think Anything
Let's start at the start
Build a masterpiece

History Starts Now

Be careful what you wish for
Start Now

Wouldn't Ya Like to Be A Pepper Too?

Free Dr. Pepper for everyone!
Associated Press, November 20, 2008

LOS ANGELES -- Dr Pepper is making good on its promise of free soda now that the release of Guns N' Roses' "Chinese Democracy" is a reality.

The soft-drink maker said in March that it would give a free soda to everyone in America if the album dropped in 2008. "Chinese Democracy," infamously delayed since recording began in 1994, goes on sale Sunday.

"We never thought this day would come," Tony Jacobs, Dr Pepper's vice president of marketing, said in a statement. "But now that it's here, all we can say is: The Dr Pepper's on us."

Beginning Sunday at 12:01 a.m., coupons for a free 20-ounce soda will be available for 24 hours on Dr Pepper's Web site. They'll be honored until Feb. 28.

Dr Pepper is owned by Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc.

President-Elect Barack Obama's First Weekly Radio/Video Address

As I reported yesterday, President-elect Barack Obama is bringing transparency in government to a level not seen in years (certainly not the past 8) by recording his Weekly Radio Address in a video format on You Tube so that we can watch it anytime.

Little Merry Sunshine is believes governmental transparency is fundamental and will bring you President-elect (and then President!) Obama's weekly You Tube radio address.

Transparency in Government! Hooray President-elect Obama!

This is fantastic! I'm not sure it's possible for me to love President-elect Obama or this idea more! Thank you, President-elect Obama!

From The Washington Post

The YouTube Presidency

By Jose Antonio Vargas

The White House has gone YouTube.

Today, President-elect Obama will record the weekly Democratic address not just on radio but also on video -- a first. The address, typically four minutes long, will be turned into a YouTube video and posted on Obama's transition site, Change.gov, once the radio address is made public on Saturday morning.

The address will be taped at the transition office in Chicago today.

"This is just one of many ways that he will communicate directly with the American people and make the White House and the political process more transparent," spokeswoman Jen Psaki told us last night.

In addition to regularly videotaping the radio address, officials at the transition office say the Obama White House will also conduct online Q&As and video interviews. The goal, officials say, is to put a face on government. In the following weeks, for example, senior members of the transition team, various policy experts and choices for the Cabinet, among others, will record videos for Change.gov.

Yesterday, transition co-chairman Valerie Jarrett recorded a two-minute video that summarized the goings-on in the past week. "President-elect Obama adopted the most sweeping and strict ethics rules that have ever been in place in the course of a transition," said a bespectacled Jarrett, looking directly at the camera in a video that's yet to be posted.
President Bush, too, has updated WhiteHouse.gov, which offers RSS feeds, podcasts and videos of press briefings. The site's Ask the White House page has featured regular online chats dating back to 2003, and President Bush hosted one in January after a Middle Eastern trip.

But online political observers say President-elect Obama's innovative, online-fueled campaign will likely evolve into a new level of online communication between the public and the White House--the Internet-era version of President Franklin Roosevelt's famous "fireside chats" between 1933 and 1944,

"The Obama team has written the playbook on how to use YouTube for political campaigns. Not only have they achieved impressive mass -- uploading over 1800 videos that have been viewed over 110 million times total -- but they've also used video to cultivate a sense of community amongst supporters," said Steve Grove, head of news and politics at YouTube. "Obama told us in a YouTube interview last year that he plans to have 'fireside chats' on video, and we expect his administration will launch a White House YouTube channel very soon after taking office."

Added Ellen Miller of the Sunlight Foundation, a D.C.-based nonprofit that advocates for government transparency: "We're living, after all, in the Internet era. This is an individualized version of the 'fireside chats.' It's not delivered between 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. but whenever anyone wants to see it. I don't know if it necessarily creates transparency -- it's still a controlled, one-way message. But it creates the aura of a much more accessible presidency."

So what's next from the Obama White House?

A behind-the-scenes online video exclusive of the State of the Union Address? A text message reminding us to turn in our taxes? Who knows...

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The emphasis above is mine.

Two of my beliefs are that people support that which they help create and that no one likes change. They don't always have to agree with the final decisions, but as long as they're a part of the process and understand how decisions are made, they have an easier time supporting it. I always think about that song from Mary Poppins "A Spoonful of Sugar" when I think about change and transparency. This step to communicate openly and regularly (and I believe honestly) with the American public will go a long way towards keeping all the goodwill he's built up.