Things To Not Hate: Bruno Mars’ Righteous New Music Video

Mars apparently filled out the rest of his band by hiring stand-ins from Miami Vice

Do you often feel that music videos nowadays are just a lot of pomp n’ flash?  Do you miss the down-home vibe of the days when music videos were just being discovered/invented?  Do you like dancing?

Bruno Mars feels you.  Feels you hard.  Check out this music video for his latest single, “Treasure.”

A few things worth noting while you watch:

1.     Everyone in this video is a professional dancer.  Except that one guy behind Bruno not even holding an instrument.  That dude’s dancing in this pro bono.

2.     Bruno Mars real name is Peter Hernandez.  Really.

3.     People were leaning towards blue, but ended up deciding that red would be the dopest color to wear.

4.     They originally rented a couple Canon 5Ds to film this pup, then got to the studio and realized it came with shitty lo-fi cameras leftover from its new-channel days.  They decided to go with these. #yolo

5.     This was new to the make-up artists, whose efforts were rendered pretty much negligible thanks to the non-HD tech.

6.     A different video involving pirates and/or wordplay involving “treasure” could have been equally cool.

7.     Asked about the choice to film in an aspect ratio different from all other videos currently out on YouTube, thereby forever attaching black vertical bars to either side of the film, Director Cameron Duddy said, “Oh…fuck…”

8.     At first it felt like a #sausagefest, but everyone agreed afterwards that they eventually got into the groove and didn’t even notice that there weren’t any ladies except the one that only Bruno gets to talk to.

Why I’m Voting for Obama: Five Haikus

I’d give him the head of state.

I’m no political scientist. I have never peered over the edge of the fiscal cliff; my knowledge of U.S. foreign policy in Afghanistan is hazier than the only night I’ve ever been to the Deuce; and I picture the inner workings of the White House as strikingly similar to the Department of Mysteries in Harry Potter.

I am, however, a sucker for cool people doing cool shit. So SUCK IT, political ideologues – this election day, I’m gonna vote for Obama because he is both a PILF and the epitome of badass. Never mind that I believe in his straightforward adherence to old-fashioned democratic ideals – as in, equality in everything from universal health care  and marriage to freedom of choice – or his defense of national parks, or the respect he commands internationally. That shit pales in comparison to his killer dirt-off-your-shoulder. The Obamas, ESPECIALLY Barack, are rad. Just like, super cool. Honestly, even if Obama was all, “Let’s just put Sasha and Malia and the dog in charge while I go surfing in Honolulu and smoke some weed,” I’d vote for him anyway. A cool president is worth a million jobs in the manufacturing sector.

You know what else is worth a million jobs in the manufacturing sector? Amateur poetry. And everyone knows that the best form of amateur poetry comes in snack-size haikus – traditional short-form Japanese poems that follow a 5-7-5 syllabic pattern. So without further ado, I present an artistic homage to my favorite prez’ campaign in a manner that’s about as political as a toy poodle.

On Michelle’s super-toned arms
Graceful, burnished, buff
Those arms could lift our nation.
Can I vote for them?

On Barack’s Rad Music Taste
Let’s contrast your tunes
– Kanye, Bruce, Aretha – Mitt’s:
Toby Fucking Keith.

On the fact that he has a puppy named in accordance with said music taste:
You’re the First Dog, the
Second Bo, the third chillest
White House resident.

On Weapons of Choice
In a real battle,
Your horses and bayonets
Would smash Mitt’s Big Bird.

On the book he wrote/dedicated to his daughters WHILE BEING A PRESIDENT
You wrote a FUCKING
KID’S BOOK about national
Heroes. Marriage me, plz.

Now that you’ve learned a little more about America’s favorite chiller firsthand – and gotten a little lesson in poetic brilliance along the way – I challenge you to come up with a haiku of your own about Mr. Barack! Challenge yourself and make it politically relevant. Better yet, make it dope.

Rock out with ur barack out,
Gwyneth