Was the Hamster Dance always to Roger Miller’s Robin Hood music?

Cool.

Aside, the people who made this video have one heck of a DVD collection.

H/t Bookworm Room.

… check out this surprisingly serious, sad, sweet little Ernest number from Ernest Goes to Camp. Yeah, you read that right. I saw it as a teenager, and even though over-the-top physical comedy isn’t my thing, I’m quite sure the user comment at IMDB is correct that it’s the funniest of the Ernest movies. Battered, pathetic Jim Varney is credible and lovable here as the fallen hero, and the song itself is so catchy that I spent literally years with a fragment floating in and out of my mind from time to time … “Gee, I’m glad it’s rainin’ … now dammit, how does the rest of that song go?” I thought I’d never find out, because I didn’t really want to know badly enough to rent an Ernest movie. Behold the wonders of YouTube for reviving sad songs from the zany-movie genre.

Jim Varney died of lung cancer in 2000. He was a funny guy who did some very good things:

When given the chance to have a lifelong dream fulfilled by such groups as the Make-A-Wish Foundation, several hundred terminally ill children have asked to meet Ernest. He never let them down.

RIP, Slinky Dog.

Music jumping genres. This is great. (h/t Allah at Hot Air, reminding you that if it’s acoustic, it’s “hippie.”) I suppose it would be funnier if I had known anything about the song or Outkast before I watched it, but since I didn’t, it was more musically impressive than funny, especially since I garnered from the context of the video what he had to work with going in. The original lyrics seem to consist of the idea that love is sex and thus not an exception to the adage “nothing lasts forever.” But since Mat Weddle of Obadiah Parker leaves out the overt sex stuff, the song morphs into a lament over being stuck in a relationship that is really over. Better song, to my way of thinking.

And since we’re on the subject, check out my favorites, Nickel Creek, and their stirring rendition of “Toxic,” performed originally, I am reliably informed, by Britney Spears. They did this when I saw them play last winter, too, but I am just too unhip to recognize Spears songs when I hear them and had to ask my neighbor in the audience. Didn’t stop me from enjoying watching Chris shake it, though. This YouTube version was the pick of a bad lot in the sense that it 1) had audio and video tracks synched up; 2) showed all of the band members (I always get a kick out of watching Sean on guitar, solid as a rock, while Chris hotdogs); 3) wasn’t blocked by somebody’s head in front. It’s not as close up as would be optimal, especially if you haven’t seen Nickel Creek before, but … c’est la vie. Enjoy.