The wonderful world of YouTube

So we were pretty excited when Michelle at YouTube hooked up the Oh Mandy video on the front page. It was made a featured video on Saturday and has been receiving a bunch of great comments since then:

Roobocop (1 hour ago) Marked as spam

GAYED!

Drupacalypse (3 hours ago) Marked as spam

this is great
i couldnt stop getting boners!

vivek3000 (18 hours ago) Marked as spam

dylan should never have gone electric.
your music sounds commie.

Killerone360 (1 day ago) Marked as spam

His voice kinda sucks cold play is better

supremaciadelmexico (1 day ago) Marked as spam

GO BACK TO EUOROPE WHITE BASTAsRDS MEXICO IS TAKING BACK

billjriv1 (1 day ago) Marked as spam

Dear God,I believe Jesus died on the cross so I could be forgiven of my sins and have eternal life in heaven.I believe He rose from the grave.Please forgive me of my sins. Lord Jesus, come and take control of my life. Help me to live for you. Thank you for hearing me and for saving me. I accept the precious gift of eternal life and repent of my sins. In the name of Jesus I pray.-Amen-

Driver3stunts (1 day ago) Marked as spam

9/11 was an inside job.

meggmarie93 (1 day ago) Marked as spam

this song is writtin for my bestfriends sister Amanda. her and Joey went out for two years or so and since he started this career she didnt want to feel second in his life so she broke up with him. there still bestfriends. i see him all the tiem considering my bestfriend lives next door :]
you most likly don't believe me but whatever. that's why we live in the same city and state :p

mrjoshuAtee (1 day ago) Marked as spam

cool

nandroid (2 days ago) Marked as spam

Ah, this song is good. But The Spinto Band is really just a poor man's Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Both are good but CYHSY is much better.

Edvinold (2 days ago) Marked as spam

Without doubt this band has Swedish influences.... Sheit. I really want to punch him in the face.

paseko (2 days ago) Marked as spam

伊東家の裏ワザでしたよね

jonwiener (2 days ago) Marked as spam

What a video! These gentlemen surely are the bees knees and I am confident that they are all fairly heterosexual.

TwoGuysDrinking (2 days ago) Marked as spam

Wow... okay relax nevermind. Have drink.

spekfoo (2 days ago) Marked as spam

yeah, you're a bunch of huge gay emos.

lightfm (2 days ago) Marked as spam

I know for a fact that these boys aren't gay and they are all really good at Pac-Man. They deserve greatness! They're Pacmasters.

Likkehh (2 days ago) Marked as spam

[]D ][ []\/[] []D ][ []\[]

bluenote311 (2 days ago) Marked as spam

Sin City kicks ass! and so do u guys! and viva el jason becker!

ipoonu (2 days ago) Marked as spam

this song is as old as my year old vagina

protronix (2 days ago) Marked as spam

fucken ice.

WobblingHobGoblin (2 days ago) Marked as spam

Shit dude dont wait to hear from a docter on line, get your ass in to one asap.

longboarddude (2 days ago) Marked as spam

i saw them when they came to portland last year. they talked about bridges and the free transit system. this isn't the first song of theirs youtube has featured.

hetchiX (3 days ago) Marked as spam

it's paper mario all over again! =)

RDJim (3 days ago) Marked as spam

this vid made me hungry for ice.

jflyin123 (3 days ago) Marked as spam

totally gay

TruTV (3 days ago) Marked as spam

emo homo-rock.

ch0fs19 (1 week ago)

Marked as spam

I just Love it (:
Best of lucks from Mexico! hehe

And then, as if that isn't overwhelming enough, the video comments are stellar. Here are a couple covers some youtubers did:

What a fun site.

viva my dry heaves

well, here i am...minding my own business watching some shark week programing when i come face to face with this:



this is the worst commercial i have seen during shark week! maybe of all time...

aye-yi-yi

ps: street mix

Celebrity Spotting with: THE SPINTO BAND!

When we first set foot in this beautiful "City of Angels", we had a hunch (or was it a hope?!) that we might encounter a living, breathing, CELEBRITY...But who knew that we would encounter so many?!?! I guess when you're so close to "Tinsel Town" it's inevitable that you're going to come WITHIN INCHES of someone who works in this "Business of Show". Pardon the late post, but we're still a little starstruck from last night's sightings.

...So we were driving down HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD (I guess we should have KNOWN something CRAZY would happen there!) and guess who we saw?! The one and only Darth Vader! And he was hanging out with a Storm Trooper!!! There must have been a MOVIE PREMIERE because the STARS we're out that night, and I'm not talking astronomically! Right after we observed "Ol Darth", we saw none other than Wolverine! From the much buzzed-about group, X-MEN!!!

Now dear readers, I believe we have an exclusive bit of GOSSIP for you. Wolvie was having a conversation with silver screen LEGEND Freddy Krueger. Could this be the beginnings of a future project?! Who knows?! Well, one thing's for sure: you heard it here first!

And when we finally thought our Celebrity Luck Well had run dry, out of the woodwork walks Hollywood up-and-comer Matthew Perry. If you've never seen a MOVIE STAR in person, you're in for a treat. Matthew was just as handsome as he is on screen, except he was tanner, more buff, and had WINGS! (photo below)

Well folks, I have a feeling we're going to spot more of these elusive creatures they call CELEBRITIES in the near future, so keep checking in!

The Spinto Band with Matthew Perry (dramatization)

Unfunny activities, made funny by doing them while sitting on a beanbag chair.

1. husking corn
2. making an important life decision
3. witnessing an execution
4. complaining about your iPhone
5. Giving Birth
6. watching King of Queens
7. trying to convince your roommate that it wasn’t you that drank the last of his milk.
8. disciplining your children
9. Delivering the Gettysburg Address
10. waiting in line at airport security
11. begging for change
12. flirting
13. being a supreme court justice
14. renewing your wedding vows
15. cleaning your rifle
16. trying to sit like AC Slater
17. getting up from a seated position
18. buying a bean bag chair

A trip to the Kwik E Mart

We took Sunday off from recording and looked for a few ways to spend our day. Pretty much the only thing all of us could agree on was to take a visit to the Kwik-E-Mart.

I don't know if you folks have heard about this, but for promotion of the upcoming Simpsons movie, whatever hot shot movie company is involved changed a bunch of 7-Elevens into Kwik-E-Marts. It seems like such an elaborate promotional tool, so we had to check it out. Lucky for us there are 2 of them in the city of angels.

The first thing we saw when approaching the Kwik-E-Mart was this big sign:


...We were all saying, 'holy crap, this is going to be awesome!" For some reason, we were super excited to check this place out, yet its magic would remain untapped for a little while as there was a line wrapping around the side of the building.
You can see all the people waiting to get in here as well as Bart and Millhouse chillin' on the roof undoubtedly drinking super concentrated squishees.

This security guard was awesome. He managed the line of people cued up to get squishees and said things to exiting people like, "Ooh little boy, you brought me a donut." and "You make sure you don't steal anything, or i will hunt you down buddy!" We waited in line with the rest...


Once we were allowed to enter, Jeff made a B-line to grab some Buzz Cola. He pounded a sixer on site, then grabbed a few for later. Lucky for us, there was no Duff on the premises.

There were also the donuts that Homer always drools over. They were pretty intense on the stomach. They were glazed and frosted and now I know why Homer drools over them.





Jeff and I moseyed over to the Squishee machine. Its great how much better a slurpee tastes when you plaster a bunch of Simpsons characters on the side of it.




Outside, we all gathered around some El Barto graffiti and sipped our bevvys. There was a gentleman with his kids outside kind enough to take our photo. I accidentally cursed in front of his youngins', apologized, and he forgave me. Then, his kids asked what the graffiti said and he told them, "well girls, that's El Barto and he thinks Skinner stinks!"

it was a great way to spend a Sunday.

Galco's

Here at spinto band HQ we realize that, lately, topic variety on our web journal has been about as varied as Tim Donoughy's calls during that Spurs Suns game in the NBA playoffs. While sodas are interesting and it's fun to read Sam curse them out every now and then, people visit this site to find out other happenings as well. So, while the bottom of this post will be all about a video we shot with John Nese at Galco's Pop Stop, I thought I could first offer up a few happenings (non-soda related) which occurred over the past few days:

1. Jeff took a commanding lead in the burrito tally. With six burritos eaten in 7 days, it looks like Dr. Jeffrey Hobson will lead the way in our quest to eat 100 burritos in our time here. After the first week we are well on pace with 29 burritos eaten between the spinto band, Dave, Harry, and Josiah.

2. Nick is setting the groundwork for a campaign to be cast in Ghost Rider 2, due to hit theatres in 2009.

3. We played Bingo at the Bigfoot Lounge, but none of us won.

4. Joe is planning on celebrating his 21st birthday on Saturday by visiting Spaceland and then telling them they are assholes for the way they treated him those times he played there when he was underage, then listening to the Rentals.

Now - on to the Galco's Interview:

We had to cut it into 3 parts for 2 reasons:
1. YouTube only allows 10 minute vids to be uploaded
2. Who has a long enough attention span to watch it in one sitting?

John Nese delivers some brilliant commentary on the state of America, touching on small business, government regulation, and the secret ingredient for Coca Cola Classic. While we don't claim to be competent documentarians by any means, we hope you find this video informative and entertaining. Try watching it while drinking your favorite carbonated bevvy.



PART 1- topics discussed: The Home of the Free, South Africa, Cucumber soda




PART 2- topics discussed: FDA, vanilla beans, Cuba





PART 3: topics discussed: Moscow Mules, New York Times, effective labeling

Sam Hughes Reviews: Nesbitt’s (of California) Peach Soda

I’ll start this review off by admitting that I’ve never had a peach soda that I’ve actually enjoyed. How many peach sodas have I actually tasted in my life? Probably two, maybe three. How many actual peaches have I eaten in my life? Honestly, it’s got to be less than ten. I’ve never been one of those “pick up a peach and eat” kind of guys. You know the type. There’s something about that fuzz which makes a little too human-like and a little too tickly. That’s troubling to me. Anyhow, whether this makes me qualified to review this soda, I don’t know, but what really makes me qualified to review anything? Absolutely nothing, and that’s why I post these things on a poorly trafficked web log rather than the New York Times. Blah, blah, blah, onto the review.

I had never heard of Nesbitt’s until Mr. Nese (yeah, yeah, yeah I’m cupping his 65-year-old balls) explained their history a bit. In his interview he claimed that the secret ingredient for Nesbitt’s orange soda was passed down verbally from generation to generation, and by coincidence he ran into a relative who knew the secret recipe. They now bottle it how they used and the secret has been prolonged. Well, I’m not sure if the same goes for their peach brand, but it has at least given me confidence in the brand.

The bottle has a very classic feel to it, and as the bottler of the soda claims, they “manufacture nostalgic and gourmet 50’s style glass bottle sodas.” No, really, “Orca Beverage Soda Works”? You think I didn’t know that? You think I’m a dumbass? Look, I know what you are going for. We all know what you’re going for. You don’t have to shove it down my throat that you’re being all nostalgic. We get it, asshole (no offense).

Upon smelling the soda I realized that it definitely smelled like a peach. Unfortunately once I tasted it, something went awry. This drink is way too sweet. Despite using cane sugar, this drink still has 48 grams of it which seems unnecessary to me. It’s like what Jones did with their new line of cane sugar sodas. They taste a bit more crisp, but way too fucking sweet, and that’s been my problem with all peach sodas I’ve encountered so far in my short life. There is a tinge of something chemical* in there and that’s never a good thing. That said, this is inarguably the best that I’ve had, but there’s still something missing, and that something isn’t caffeine because this soda inexplicably has it! I’ve never really seen a fruity soda of this kind that contains caffeine, and whether it affects the taste or not, I don’t know, but it kind of weirds me out. Then again, I still kind of hate or at least am indifferent to peaches in general (yes, this includes the recording artist, Peaches!), so what the heck.

6/10

*I always liked the name “Chemical Ali.” That made me think of him. He died, right? From now on, all peach sodas will be known as Chemical Ali’s favorite drink because that’s what they taste like, chemicals.

Well For That Price....

I spent 26 long years searching out things that are just expensive enough for me to want to buy them with the logic, “well, for that price- it must be good.” This logic comes at different times for different souls. The wealthy business owner uses such logic while shopping for automobiles or swimming pools while the apron-stained diner cook thinks this when vacationing in Reno. Regardless of where one experiences such logic, it is undoubtedly a universal feeling had by men from all corners of the earth whom have carried a change purse or bitten their finger nails while running over their bank statement.

The other day while at Galco’s soda emporium such a product arose fitting all necessary criteria for me to speak between my earlobes the statement previously discussed. A cola, stored within a shaped bottle of glass and labeled with all the necessary lingual and logoed fancies to force one’s eye to spend an extra second photographing the image and sending it through the many chambers of the brain until one of them says, “this little gem deserves a closer look.” This cola carried itself as though it had come from a far away land and offered an alternative to the evils of the coca cola and the pepsi co giants that squash competition within gas station coolers around the globe. Such flavors are branded into our tongues as if they were no different from the backsides of cattle. Our choices have been watered down the same way our colas have been. A man’s brain needs fresh stimuli daily. While sounding like an opinion, this is fact. New experiences are the dawn of progress, and the richer and fuller the experience, well all the better for everyone. I undoubtedly decided, “delicious.”



When placing the cola in my case, I came across the price tag located atop the bottle cap. One normally addresses soda pricing with a simple nonchalance. Reaching for pocket change below the bric-a-brac stored within a pair of pants, enough copper can normally be scratched together to quench the thirst. Today, however, we found out that certain colas stored within glass bottles and labeled with fancies required more than the leftovers from the lunch tab. A 275 ml bottle of Fentiman’s Curiosity Cola comes to a total of $3.29 (plus tax). I have heard from a reliable source that this cola wins awards and trounces upon the competition as though it were a San Antonio Spur, so certain logics outweighed other logics and I handed the bottle to the check-out lady.



Later on, I grabbed Fentiman’s Curiosity Cola from the fridge with the need to quench a thirst compounded by the southern California sunshine and the southern California burritos. I hoped and prayed that along with my thirst, I would vanquish the doubts I had involving being taken for a ride by Mr. Fentiman and his overpriced cola. I capped it, smelled it and sipped it.

The cola tasted alright.

Sam Hughes Reviews: Manhattan Special Cream Soda

Sam Hughes Reviews: Manhattan Special Cream Soda

This review must be prefaced with the fact that I had somewhat of a religious experience earlier today. No, I haven’t converted to Islam (yet) nor did I become a Hare Krishna (double yet), but today I met John Nese, a man I have proclaimed the Soda Jesus. His knowledge of soda was unbelievably immense and just being within earshot of his words made me feel as if I have apostle status. Maybe I won’t go that far, but as you’ll see in our little video post on him which will hopefully be up soon, dude knows what he’s talking ‘bout. I know I’ll go into his wonderful soda shop (www.sodapopstop.com) again, and I kind of want to ask him if I can be his adopted grandson (sorry, real grandpa) so I can one day own his store (or better yet open one up on the East Coast), but truly I am not worthy yet. I thought I knew a lot, but I clearly have some work to do. I shall start with this review!

I decided to buy this very Cream Soda because of the recommendation of Mr. Ness, and I wasn’t disappointed. As John explained, (first name basis, why not?) the Manhattan Special soda company is appropriately enough located in New York City and they have quite the penchant for using the most natural ingredients. When I first glanced at this soda, I wondered what the little particles were doing floating around in there. I mean, this is a cream soda we’re talking about here, what the hell is it that shit? Curdled cream? Gross! No, no, no, the little particles were actually tiny pieces of real vanilla bean! And guess what their orange soda has in it? Real fucking orange pulp! Guess what their pube soda has in it? Real pubes!*

Anyway, the shock and awe of the beautiful vanilla bean aside, of course this product also uses pure cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. C’mon, I didn’t have to tell you that, yeah, you knew that already. Upon opening the bottle (not even a twist-off!), I put my nostrils to the test to see how natural this thing smelled. Well, if you’ve ever put your nose to a bottle of vanilla extract, and I know you have, then you would know what this cream soda smells like. This left me worried about the taste of it. It’s gotta be too strong after a whiff like that, right? No, not right! It’s absolutely refreshing, crisp, and the asshole of all adjectives, sublime. I never really wanted to use that word to describe anything besides that shitty band that, but Manhattan Special cream soda made me do it. You happy about that, soda? Well, you should be, you delicious specimen, you. Maybe it’s the euphoria of the experience I had today at the soda store, or maybe the soda is just that good, but here are the reviews. Definitely the best cream soda I’ve ever had.

Galco’s Soda Shop: 1000000000000000000/10!

Manhattan Cream Soda: 9.5/10

*Ridiculously false. But, if Manhattan Special soda company were depraved enough to make a pube soda, you can guarantee that shit would be straight off the balls, no artificial polyester pubes or something.

An $85 Nintendo 64 helps no one.

Dear Salvation Army,

Don’t get me wrong, I’m usually a fan of your thrift stores. In fact, I’ve purchased most of my pants and bric-a-brac from some of your finer establishments. In terms of quality, service and management, your shops are always miles ahead of your smiling competitor. You organize your clothes by both size and color and you keep your prices low to accommodate those in need of inexpensive t-shirts and coffee mugs. You even reward loyal patrons by offering daily discounts and sales, and I can’t really explain why, but I’ve always felt a sense of warmth upon walking through your doors.

However, upon entering your location at 201 N Brand Boulevard the other day, I was met with an unfamiliar feeling…one of disgust. Now, this is Los Angeles, I know, and some of your stores in bigger cities like New York are usually picked over by the vintage shops in the area, which is to be expected. That is not why I’m upset.

The store in question was filthy, disorganized, and extremely over-priced. Now, there is a slight chance I’m letting my prejudices of this city color my judgment here, but a twenty-five dollar typewriter that didn’t even work? You must be joking. In addition to that, there was a serious lack of effort in the organization of clothing. I’m going to guess that the lack of gender separation owes less to the progressive nature of California and more to sheer laziness of the staff.

The thing that really got my goat, however, was the $85 Nintendo 64 you had in your little display case. Eighty-five dollars? Did you even do any research before you affixed that ridiculous price to its plastic casing? The Nintendo 64 came out ten years ago. On Ebay they are going for about 25 bucks, and that’s the worst place to find a deal. From what I could tell, your Nintendo 64 didn’t come with any games, controllers, or even a power source. The Salvation Army has never been an antique shop, nor should it strive to be one. You’re supposed to be a charitable organization whose goal is to help your fellow man, and an $85 Nintendo 64 helps no one.

I mean, I don’t even want the Nintendo 64, but what about some old woman who thinks their grandchildren might? You want to rip off a poor old lady? Then you’re a dick, Salvation Army. I thought I knew you.

- thomas

Jeff Interviews Booker T. Jones

We here at the Spinto Band Home Office were very excited to hear that our producer, Dave Trumfio, would be recording none other than Booker T. Jones on the very day before he started recording us. We blog hungry lads jumped at the chance to get a word in with Booker T. and he was nice enough to take a few minutes out of his busy recording session to have a few words with our very own Jeff Hobson.



Jeff Hobson: Now we talked about how when you started at Stax you were in high school and then, in fact, you went to college.

Booker T: Mm hmm.

JH: And studied the PBMax.

BT: Mm hmm.

JH: Now so many people, if they were in your position, would say, “To heck with college or even high school, I have what I’ve always wanted I’m doing what I want to do, I’m eating Reese's peanut butter cups I’m eating Payday bars, who needs school.” What kept you going to high school and college in spite of all the peanut butter themed candy you were eating?

BT: Well I had not yet met my own standards, I uhh, I wasn't yet eating the peanut butter candy I was tasting in my mind. And uh, you know, I had a classical peanut butter background and I had the curiosity for all of the European greats that had made so much wonderful peanut butter candy and you know I had to eat the PBMax with the orchestra, I needed to conduct the PBMax, and I needed to know how to eat the PBMax for my job at Stax also. So, umm, I just had to continue my education in order to improve myself as a PBMax eater.

JH: You know had I just been listening to your records, I might not have guessed that you were into peanut butter. And I might not have known, kind of, that you were as studious and serious sounding as you are.

BT: Mmm hmm. (laughs) Uhh huh. Yeah I spent many hours as a boy watching my mother eating peanut butter. My mother was a classical peanut butter eater. And then when I was at Indiana they had a great snack bar underneath the music building which was open twenty-four hours a day. So I spent many hours there eating the PBMax and learning the PBMax and learning how it was put together and studying.

JH: How did your mother feel about the PBMaxs you were eating at Stax?

BT: She loved it.

JH: Good.

BT: She loved it. She loved it She loved it.

JH: Good, (laughs) uhh huh.

BT: Yeah at the time she was my greatest fan, she kept a scrapbook and she loved it. I was fortunate, both my parents were fans of the PBMax.

JH: You played a lot of instruments when you were young. Tell me if I’m wrong here. You played ukulele, oboe…

BT: Mm hmm.

JH: Saxophone, trombone, piano…

BT: Yeah

JH: Organ, and clarinet. Did having a working knowledge of all those instruments help you as a musician and as a musician eating the PBMax.

BT: Yeah I think it did, I think it helped me get the structure of the PBMax in my mind.

JH: Does it bother you when really funky records like the Booker T and the MGs records are used as an argument against the PBMax? Do you know what mean?

BT: No I don't know about that.

JH: It’s been great to talk with you, thank you so much for talking with us.

BT: Thanks Jeff.

An open letter to the Burrito Tally

To whom it may concern,

As a life long eater and fan of frivolous contests I am writing to take issue with the rules and bylaws of the “Burrito Tally.” In short, I was shocked to learn that self-prepared burritos were to be excluded from the tally. The partisan approach of only including store bought burritos is a barbaric policy and completely undermines the ethos on which all Spinto Band tallies are built.

As far back as I can remember, the Spinto Band’s extracurricular activities have provided a jovial backdrop for the bands exploits and enabled us to pass and/or waste time in an enjoyable manner. Unfortunately, the current rules of the Burrito Tally threaten the band and their cohorts’ freedom to choose how they consume burritos by pressuring them to buy store bought burritos. Furthermore, by excluding homemade burritos, the Burrito Tally begins to marginalize resourcefulness and frugality, some of the characteristics that the Spinto Band has relied on for survival since it’s inception, the grift perhaps being the preeminent fruit sown from these ideological seeds.

As a citizen of this band I urge one and all to strike down this hypocrisy and up hold the precedents set by the bands founding fathers.

"A free people [claim] their rights as derived from the laws of nature, and not as the gift of their chief magistrate." –Roy Spinto


Concerned,
Nick Krill

Based on a True Story

"It's about kookin' time!" blurted a young midwesterner when discovering the latest news from Delaware gringo-pop six piece The Spinto Band. Quickly slipping on a pair of Vans and hopping onto her motor-scooter, the excited corn consumer went uptown to climb the tallest steps of the public library to the uncongested computer cluster housed behind the architecture books. She swiftly uploaded and downloaded the latest feeds from dot coms and dot co dot uks and a few dot nets until she realized she was late for her garden club meeting and exited the way she arrived.

The kookin' time news was all about the prementioned band being back in the studio to record a few songs that will undoubtedly form a record and be released sometime, somewhere in the midwest and maybe even Australia.

The band thought it was a good idea to let people know. The next five weeks or so will be filled with guitar intonation, tape head alignment, drum sounds, microphone mumbo-jumbo, proper mood lighting, and a fuckload of burritos. Hopefully, keeping with a deep hearted promise they made to themselves, they will keep everyone informed with news and other such happenings at the very URL you stand before. Keep in touch.

Damn Straight