Last Minutes with ODEN from phos pictures on Vimeo.

I put my comments below this video so I wouldn't influence your experience of it.....

I've watched it three times now and have teared up every time; it is incredibly sad. But, there is a message and a beauty in the sadness that makes this video something special (it won best video at the 2010 Vimeo Awards).

Of course, the message of unconditional love as taught by the life of Oden is an important aspect of the video. But, for me, the power of this video is in how it forces the viewer to confront emotion, particularly sadness. Our society tends to be hyper-masculinized; promoting the hero as a stoic warrior archetype and, genrally, teaching us to hide our emotion and feelings. Sometimes, though, the difficult emotions need to be brought to the surface. By observing them we can begin to find the truth, goodness, and beauty hidden within them.

In the case of Oden, the truth was that he was in pain and needed to be put down. There was a goodness to Oden's owners doing the right thing despite the grief it caused. And, there was beauty in Oden's life and message being recognized, appreciated, and passed on to anyone watching this video. If the owner, as he put it, "John Wayned" it and put the dog down without feeling the sadness, then the lessons of truth, goodness, and beauty would have been missed.

For a friday post, I figured I'd go with something light and fun. Here are my favorite Lonely Island Videos:

Number 5 - Jizz In My Pants

Number 4 - I'm on a Boat

Number 3 - Dick In A Box

Number 2 - Mother Lover

Number 1 - Like a Boss

Bonus - Natalie's Rap - Because Natalie Portman is Straight Up Hot Yo!

If you don't recognize this opening in the first couple of minutes you need to watch this film (either again or for the first time).

Click read more below for a bit more commentary.

This clip is from Francis Ford Coppola's masterpiece "Apocalypse Now". In a span of a few years, Coppola directed "The Godfather I and II" and "Apocalypse Now", and also produced George Lucus' breakout film "American Graffiti". Talk about artistic innovation. To actually create Apocalypse took incredible vision and perseverance. The film was besieged by problems "including typhoons, nervous breakdowns, the firing of Harvey Keitel, Martin Sheen's heart attack, extras from the Philippine military leaving in the middle of scenes to go fight rebels, and an unprepared Marlon Brando with a bloated appearance (which Coppola attempted to hide by shooting him in the shadows). It was delayed so often it was nicknamed Apocalypse When?." ( Wikipedia )

Drug use was also rampant among cast members. In this famous scene with Charlie Sheen, Sheen was so wasted, he could hardly stand:

I recently posted some videos of cruise ships in stormy seas . Yesterday, this video showing the security camera footage of another cruise ship getting rocked got released and made it's way around the internet. Mother nature is bad ass...