Top Ten (Eighteen) Music Videos

1.  Separate Ways by Journey – Without a doubt, my favorite music video of all time. Features include; singing directly into camera, head snaps into camera changes, talented musician doing terrible air instruments (come on Jonathan, you can air keyboard better than that), industrial waterfront setting, badass aloof 80’s chick (with an “80’s wave” hairstyle which is my favorite thing since the ponytail with bangs), slow motion sequence, and an “it was all a dream” ending. 2:30 is the greatest thing I have ever seen in my life.

2.  Beat It by Michael Jackson – It’s like West Side Story meets The Warriors. Michael ends gang violence (and the craziest knife fight ever) while wearing some really dorky t-shirts (sweet red leather jacket though). Just my favorite of many great Michael Jackson videos.

3.  We’re Not Gonna Take It by Twisted Sister – Dee Snider defending teenage independence and multiple defenestrations, what more do you need (that dude from Animal House doesn’t hurt). Rightfully one of the most revered music videos of the 80’s. Kids morphing into members of Twisted Sister is always excellent.

4.  Don’t Let’s Start by They Might Be Giants – Monochrome, crazy dancing, William Allen White heads, and fast-motion filming (the lip syncing is amazing). There is also an accordion explosion at one point. Another favorite among many great videos.

5.  Radar Love by Golden Earring  - A Reliant Robin is the best vehicle for high speed chases ever. Men seducing female cops to get out of a ticket is also super slick. I have a fondness for videos that tell a story that is completely unrelated to the song.

6.  Telephone by Sheena Easton – Speaking of unrelated to the song. I have no idea why Sheena is in a haunted house full of classic movie monsters, but I like it. Sheena is sexy when she is angry (well, more sexy).

7.  I Believe in a Thing Called Love by The Darkness – British glam rock for the Naughties. It’s got space ships, space monsters, a wall or amps, and rocking so hard that you shoot lightning. It’s also got a lot of Justin Hawkins skin (a lot).

8.  Diamond Smiles by Boomtown Rats – A negative look at superficial social life. Visually I like both the white set and Bob on a checkered floor in a checkered shirt. Why does Jonnie Fingers always play the piano lying down?

9.  Family Man by Hall and Oates – Hall and Oates are so stupendous that they turn a boring family of six into exciting Hall and Oates clones, the band is attacked by some ravenous children, and the ending is weirdly ominous. I just love Oates’ guitar playing dance.

10.  Chemistry by Semisonic – It is a music video version of one of those romantic comedies with the big ensemble cast full of various personality types. There is also some Rube Goldburg machine stuff going on. Semisonic generally had well filmed music videos.

11.  No Way but the Hard Way by Airbourne – Australian pub rock with modern music videos is a definite win-win. The video premise is that Airboure is so hardcore that they trash the offices of a record label, and then proceed to play music on the roof (probably based on a true story).  I really enjoy the reactions of the office staff.

12.  Wild Boys by Duran Duran – It’s like if Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and Barbarella had a baby and it was a musical. It was also a mutant, and it was also great.

13.  One Night in Bangkok by Murray Head – Murray in the seedy chess playing underbelly of Bangkok. Very related to the story of the song without being lame literal storyboards of the lyrics, and since I love the story of this song, that’s excellent.

14.  Sledge Hammer by Peter Gabriel – It starts with an egg being fertilized, which is basically how every video should start. Then Peter gives a display of facial dexterity before a very impressive stop motion animation video.

15.  Rosanna by Toto – Toto is having a jam session in the streets when all of a sudden Cynthia Rhodes shows up and starts Dirty Dancing. Then Patrick Swayze gets into a West Side Story style gang fight (apparently I have a thing for West Side Story style gang fights in videos). Cynthia teasing the guys on the other side of the fence is pretty legendary.

16.  Got My Mind Set on You by George Harrison – This song is so catchy that every object in the room starts dancing along. Just a really simple but charming video. The really bad doubling is also a plus in my book. I definitely like it more that this version (I hesitate to support videos that are carried solely by the sex appeal of someone who is not in the band, and the previous video doesn't count because it was topical with the song, or something).

17.  Sandstorm by Darude – It is like some talented college students made an amateur cyberpunk movie. The plot doesn’t really make any sense, the acting is janky, and the budget shows, but it has style. Really it’s all about the clean, bright, cyberpunky style for me. At least it didn’t go this route (way to keep it classy techno).


18.  All the Things She Said by t.A.T.u. – Wet Russian Schoolgirls Kissing. Yep.

Authors Note: 59 link in one post is probably a new personal record. Most of them seemed useful though (although I shudder to think of someone who doesn't know Animal House), and I learned how to link to a specific time in a YouTube video, so that's neat.

Sweet German Words and the Least Popular Kind of Zombie

            It’s Philosophy:30, we should celebrate. I have two of my favorite ideas with me and there’s enough for everyone, so don’t feel bad if you didn’t bring anything. Let me introduce you to Ubermensch and Philosophical Zombies.

            Ubermensch is an idea from the German philosopher (and mustache enthusiast) Friedrich Nietzsche, and roughly translates to “overman”.  Uber is a very nuanced word in German, but it doesn’t really translate to super as it is commonly used. In fact, Germans already have a word for super, it’s super (pronounced zuper). Anyway, back to the philosophy. The Ubermensch is a goal for the future or humanity, and is Nietzsche’s idea of living up to our full potential. The goal can basically be reduced to the phrase “Thine own will be done”. Pursue your own happiness and goals without being compelled by others or wasting time worrying about what they want. The advancement of humanity is put above any moral systems that would keep us from being the best that we could be.

Behold its bushy glory

            I like this idea. Many people think it is just a justification for selfish and egotistical behavior but that is not how I see it. There is no reason why the pursuit of one’s own goals would be antagonistic toward others. For instance, you might say this justifies the strong taking from the weak, but taking from the weak isn’t in keeping with the advancement of humanity, so it's not in keeping with the Ubermensch. The disregard for morality comes in on cases like the ban on research in human cloning. This stifles the advancement of the human race for what I can only imagine to be religious moral qualms. The Ubermensch has no fear of progress and doesn't get concerned with other peoples issues.

            Philosophical zombies are what I like to think of as the opposite of the Ubermensch. Unlike traditional zombies who are human forms who lack all humanity, philosophical zombies are human forms that lack all consciousness. This was originally just an idea used to refute physicalism, but I like to take it a step further. P-zombies, as they are sometimes called, are just bodies “going through the motions”, without any will of their own.  This is a being that is incapable of originality or creativity, which are traits that I associate with the Ubermensch. The scary part about these zombies is that I suspect that they might exist.

Obligatory Philosophical Zombie Visual Pun

            Anyone who lives only through the eyes of others, and is only concerned with conforming to the group is a p-zombie by my definition. All ideas and opinions would be the ones that were adopted from outside the self. That is not a real person in my opinion. The ability to create is what makes us human. Nietzsche’s antithesis for the Ubermensch was the “Last Man”, who seeks only comfort and has no desire for advancement, for self or race. Between the two of these I definitely detest the p-zombie more, but the Last Man isn’t high up in my book either. See also Ayn Rand's Second Handers.

            Well I hope you enjoyed meeting these ideas, and I would be happy to discuss them in greater depth with anyone. I taught my spell check some new words, so all in all not a bad day.