While I'm not surprised that Jon Heder and Efren Ramirez finally caved in to the pressure (and undoubtedly large dollar signs) to reprise their roles from Napoleon Dynamite for an advertising campaign, I AM surprised at who the client is. It seems that the Utah State Fair has both the budget and the foresight to add to The Books of Napoleon. Three separate commercials - here, here and here. Man, they should have got Heder to dance. (via Adfreak)

Well you gotta check out chocophile.com. Run by devoted chocophile, Clay Gordon (Living la vida cocoa), it features an irregularly updated blog, reviews, taste-offs, discussion boards, a newsletter and there's even a place to buy some of the exotic, tasty comestibles you know you want.

I'm fortunate enough to have had a tasting with Clay and he really knows his chocolate. mmmmmm.

Currently in the UK charts with “Suddenly I See”, KT Tunstall isn't exactly a household name in the US, but her debut album, Eye to the Telescope, is the most played on my iPod right now. The album has been nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, one of Britain's most prestigious awards, which in previous years has been won by such classic albums as Portishead's Dummy, PJ Harvey's Stories From The Sea and Pulp's His & Hers.

Tunstall performed an amazing live vesrion of her song on Top of the Pops last week - and here it is in MP4 glory.

UPDATE: It seems a few people are having trouble with the newer MP4 format posted above, so here's a regular quicktime clip that's lower quality but probably more likely to play.

If you're like me (and who isn't?), you try to peg celebrity voiceovers in commercials. Then there are those voices that aren't celebs, but are recognizable from hundreds of spots ...

Well now you can put a face to 5 of them. These are the guys who do the movie trailers. Excellent spot for “The Hollywood Reporter’s 34th Annual Key Art Awards Honoring Excellence in Movie Advertising.” (wha?)

(via Screenhead)

Over the last few years, I have become a confirmed chocaholic, a craving that I can attribute almost exclusively to giving up smoking. Since then I've made it my task to seek out different brands and types, and have narrowed my focus to a few particular manufacturers. Of particular note, and worth sharing with you all, is Chocolatour, the vintage chocolate by Chocolove. Made with single harvest beans from exclusively one location, these come as close to chocolate heaven as you could wish. Take, for example, the description of the Milk variety (which - much to the probable horror of TRUE chocaholics - I prefer over bittersweet):

Made with Java Whites, a variety of Criollo cocoa bean unique to Java, this chocolate is smooth, rich and full. It starts with hints of coconut and cream in the aroma. On the palate, sweet caramel and butterscotch flavors transition to coffee and cream and then a touch of banana and coconut on the finish. Each vintage of Chocolatour is unique in its flavor profile. While the chocolate flavor will continue to develop with time, this milk chocolate is at its best right now.

You can find out more on the Chocolove web site, including a retail locator.

I actually caught this late last night on TV. Hugo Chávez, Venezuela's left-wing president, sounds like a someone we should keep an eye on, but yesterday, the supposed man of God called for the assassination of Chávez. Why? Because we want his oil. Watch Now!

There's been a lot of speculation the last couple of days as to what Google was up to now. A big stock sale last week to raise $4 billion for investment purposes. Rumors of an interest in obtaining "dark fibre" networks (unused fibre optic cables). Some talk about using that cash to buy Tivo (sorry, Aquaman, this isn't it). Or were they about to unveil the Universal Translator?

Tomorrow they're announcing (though the news is out today) the launch of Talk.google.com an instant voice and text messaging system.

Katsui Corp. of Japan have announced a new adults-only version of their popular DVD player, the DVW-652R. The machine is capable of finding and replaying the best moments from DVD pornography by analyzing the accompanying soundtrack.

The recorder identifies the highlights by checking the intensity and pitch of audible voices and moans, comparing them against an in-built set of markers, and allowing the user to skip between sections, effectively auto-editing adult movies based on your preferences. Users can customize settings based on gender, number of actors within a scene, and even specific types of foreplay and sexual act. What's more, a “thumbs up/down” device, similar to that currently found in TiVo, allows the player to learn your preferences, becoming more accurate the more porn you watch.

The Katsui DVW-652R comes with a 250-gigabyte hard-disk drive and retails for about 90,000 yen (some $818).

In light of the recent announcement by Tom Cruise that he's the reincarnation of William Shakespeare (along with Bach, Columbus and Napoleon), I felt it important to redesign our original Matt Times Four T Shirt. From now on, please refer to our catalog for the Romeo Times Four line.

You know, I always thought that thing about crazy people imagining they were Napoleon was just a cliché.

Previously on YBNBY
Star Magazine feature on Matt Times Four
Show your TomKat pride
Watching Tom lose it
Tom vs. Matt transcript

It's been around forever - the notion that selling an item at $9.99 will fool people into thinking that's it's way cheaper than a $10 item. Walmart does it, car salespeople do it. It's less of a problem in the US, where most .99 prices get an additional sales tax boost at the cash register. But in the UK, where all prices are tax inclusive, a .99 price means one thing - lots of pennies in your pocket change.

So trust the Brits, god bless 'em, to come up with a cut-to-the-chase solution. A survey shows at least a third of the country was to see the introduction of a 99p coin.

Remember the tune playing as Claire drove down the highway? It called Breathe Me, by Sia.

You can also check out the video link labeled Launch Shoot Trailer.

The story...Ken Reeves, power forward for the Chicago Bulls, blows his knee out and takes a job working for his old high school buddy as coach of George Washington Carver High School's basketball team. The plot for every single episode went something like this...player gets in trouble, player asks coach for help, coach gets player out of trouble...groundbreaking tv, and I was glued to it every week.

So where are the Carver all-stars these days? Keep reading to find out. But before you do, can you name all eight players? (Hint: their last initials were H, S, J, T, G, C, R and G)

I hate to get the reputation as the pervert of the YBNBY crew, but a couple of ebay auctions caught my eye recently.

The first is for Charlotte's Vagina, an abstract painting that was featured in Sex and the City. As I write this, the bidding has reached over $6000, which make it the most expensive.... no, actually, I don't think I'll go there.

Secondly, here's a young lady that really knows how to sell a T Shirt. Make sure you check out her other auctions too. Now I know where Adam Hughes gets his inspiration.

Peace, Love & Bikinis movie trailer for the New York Independent Film Festival. This is a nicely shot little piece. Speaking of which, did teenage girls look like this when we were teenagers?

So, I've got series finales on the brain, and since we were already talking about where Sunday's Six Feet Under ending ranks in that long list, I thought I'd take a look at some of the more famous last episodes from shows gone by.

(side note...two great lines from Sunday. David telling Claire "you couldn't be pay me enough to live in New York", and Olivier telling Claire she could be one of those "soulless advertising photographers". Awesome!)

Great stuff today, including three from the new MOMA Store catalog.

5) You mean it's a candle, AND a flashlight? No way.
4) A very cool clock based on a very old design.
3) First the ghost candelabra, then the ghost vase. How about a stool.
2) I like Monopoly and Takashi Murakami, so what do you suggest?
1) And this is, without a doubt, the coolest speaker I've ever seen.

Want more stuff? Click here.

It seems that Microsoft and XBox have started another ARG (Alternate Reality Game) to coincide with the upcoming XBox 360.

The main piece of the puzzle so far is a site called OrigenXbox360 (note the spelling of the word Origen). The site has only been up a few days and already there's a MOUNTAIN of theories, the best roundup of which I found here. Some interesting theories about Alice, rabbit holes and cheshire cats in trees.

If only there were 30 hrs in the day, I might actually find time for this kind of crap.