A new Kickstarter campaign seeks to release recordings of the complete works of 19th-century Romantic composer Frederic Chopin into the public domain.

The Kickstarter, called “Set Chopin Free," was created by the nonprofit Museopen, which works to address a peculiar copyright problem that plagues centuries-old classical music: While much of the sheet music itself long ago entered the public domain, the contemporary recordings of it are all under copyright. 

Theoretically, if one had an orchestra handy, they could record Chopin’s works and use them however they wished. But practically speaking that’s an impossibility. And so most of these great works remain locked behind copyright laws. 

Museopen hopes to raise $75,000 by Oct. 20 so it can hire an orchestra to record the life’s work of Chopin and release it into the public domain.

According Museopen’s Aaron Dunn, who runs the Kickstarter campaign, in the case of Chopin, “almost no recordings exist that are without restrictions. To us, this somewhat defeats the benefit of having anything fall into the public domain.” 

“We want to celebrate this incredible music,” Dunn told the Daily Dot. “Making it free makes it more approachable to non-classical listeners to try something new.”

Photo by Rusian/Flickr

Diplo, Kanye West, and Dr. Dre should watch out. This 4-year-old not only spits that hot fire, but he can drop a few beats as well.

The music phenom goes by KJ. 

After 17 months since capturing YouTube's attention, his first hit video has resurfaced on Reddit'sr/videos forum.

"This is still really good," Nabeshin82 commented. "But not near as good as any of the things that aren't showing him playing directly. He kind of falls off every once in awhile and misses beats. I mean he's like... 4. So it would be expected."

After KJ's video got popular in April 2012, another YouTube user decided to try and decipher exactly what the 4-year-old was babbling. 

KJ is still producing tunes down in Florida and has already produced a beat for Russell Double-O of N.B.H. If Reddit has anything to say about it, KJ will be a star pretty soon.

"As a rapper, I can say that if he keeps this up, he's going to be an absolute legend," swullivan added. "The noise he makes with his mouth, while not words, holds the flow of syllables very well. Hes 4, so knowing enough words isn't really an option to rap. Really though, prodigy."

Screengrab via YouTube

Glowing from the rush of a new job offer, an actress tells her friends about her latest part. Nearby, an actor tanning himself on a beach calls his mom to give her the good news about his latest gig.

The mom and the friends freeze in horror.

Why? Because these “parts of a lifetime” sound an awful lot, like, well... you’ll just have to see for yourself. 

Parodying a number of critically acclaimed and popular HBO shows, the sketch takes on everything from Girls to True Blood. The video stays safe-for-work and nudity-free, but there are some truly racy descriptions. (If you’ve never watched Game of Thrones, let’s just say you’re in for a shock.) Reddit’s r/videos subforum helpfully laid out the shows in the order in which they’re parodied. 

The video comes from director and actor Alberto Belli, probably best known for directing the zombie musical short Zombo and this parody of Anne Hathaway’s turn in Les Miserables. Like many of the “tasteful” scenes of nudity in HBO series, it skirts just shy of actually being porn.

And like many of those same HBO series, it’s something you have to see to appreciate. 

Screengrab via YouTube

The Toronto International Film Festival took place this weekend, and while there was no shortage of fake movies to be excited about, there were a few standouts. One in particular explores how we deal with relationships in the digital age.

This 17-minute short, titled “Noah,” takes place entirely on a desktop, as a teenage couple contemplates what they’ll do when both go to college next year. From their first interaction on Skype, the modern map of social media is drawn: The cursor hovering over a bad idea, the Facebook creeping and chatting, the casual spin through Chatroulette (caution: NSFW). These are the open tabs of our life, and often, they isolate us more than anything.

The short’s soundtrack even comes from our protagonist Noah’s playlist. (Paul McCartney’s “Ram On” into an abbreviated “Master of Puppets” illustrates the range of emotions nicely.)
 

The short ends where many late nights do: Chatroulette. Noah meets a young woman who gives him some modern advice, before disappearing: “The only place you can have an honest conversation with anyone is with a stranger, in the middle of the night.”

Screengrab via tiff/YouTube

Oatmeal creator Matthew Inman does not put himself out in the wild very often, preferring to create his comics and publish them online, but that's set to change—starting in the second week of October.

That's because Inman has a new book, Why Grizzly Bears Should Wear Underpants, a 168-page array of "comics, facts, and instructional guides" set to hit shelves on Oct. 1, and he's heading on a book tour to promote it.

Inman's set to embark on a seven-city tour next month, starting in New York City and winding rather unorthodoxly across the top of our country—and Toronto and Vancouver—over the span of 10 days. 

"My publisher chooses cities based on the availability of a time slot that works with the rest of the tour," Inman wrote. "If I don't come to your city it doesn't mean I hate you, it just means we probably couldn't find a bookstore that worked with our schedule."

Sounds good. Anybody who shows up at any of the appearances will have the opportunity to get Inman to sign "anything" they want: Sriracha bottles, stuffed animals, the book itself—you name it. 

Grizzly Bears will be the third book Inman's released to print. His debut collection, 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch A Dolphin In The Mouth (And Other Useful Guides), was released March 2011; he followed that up with the New York Times bestseller How To Tell If Your Cat Is Plotting To Kill You 18 months later. And it'll follow the same template as its predecessors: a series of pre-published comics from his website, along with a smaller collection of original material. 

Among them, he writes, one should expect the "Dear Sriracha Rooster Sauce," and "What it's like to own an Apple product," "in addition to plenty of never-before-seen comics about life, death, love, romance, bears, explosions, and testicles."

Photo via the Oatmeal/Facebook

According to Tubefilter, the most viewed YouTube channel last week was for Turkish music site Mu-Yap, which rang in more than 46 million views, beating out both the Miley Cyrus and One Direction VEVO channels and Swedish gaming sensation PewDiePie. The channel has close to 2 million subscribers.

Mu-Yap also acts as Turkey’s phonographic industry society, which battles online piracy to ensure “unity” in the music industry, and it helps with digital licensing. Turkey’s music video business seems to be thriving, at least online. Several of the videos are old, but really, videos like this one by Nadide Sultan are timeless.

Here are five more of the best/weirdest/most interesting videos from the channel.

1) The vaguely Clay Aiken-ish pop star Hasan Yildirim, and his club banger, “Midigo Me”:

2) Tophat-friendly pop star Ragga Oktay’s dancehall jam, “Papucu Yarim,” representing early Aughts fashion:

3) This recent clip from popular singer Gülşen, which sort of mimics A-ha’s “Take on Me” video, currently has more than 25 million views:

4) Here’s an example of Turkish rap, from emcee Ceza:

5) And then there’s this 1995 punk gem, from the duo Sertac-Murat:

Screengrab via Mu-Yap/YouTube

"Let's joke."

And with those two words, Jimmy Fallon broke bad and launched his biggest TV parody to date: a 13-minute ode to Breaking Bad with no less than three cast-member cameos.

Donning Walter White's signature green shirt, bald head, tighty whities, and goatee, he and his usual crew of Steve Higgins, the Roots, and enough subtle nods and references to please even the purest of fans, Falsenberg and Jesse are writing more jokes than they know what to do with. But with the head writer on their tail, Gus is willing to help them out with their supply.

Those jokes are the purest piece of comedy on the black market, and it might even be enough to finally laugh someone's ass off.

But from Fallon, who's also created elaborate Downton Abbey and Game of Thrones sketches, that's not really a surprise.

While 13 minutes may seem like a lot of time to devote to one video, stay until the end. That final cameo is worth it, bitch.

H/T Reddit | Photo via latenight/YouTube

When you’ve kissed Patricia Clarkson in a YouTube video, there’s nowhere to go but up.

With the open spots confirmed filled for this new season of Saturday Night Live, it comes as no surprise that all of the five new cast members have prominent YouTube or Tumblr pages. The line between Hollywood and YouTube continues to blur, and though the performers were mainly noticed for their work at the legendary comedy theater Upright Citizen’s Brigade, their sizable online followings sure didn’t hurt.

Noël Wells, for instance, had popular videos of her doing impressions of singers like Zooey Deschanel, Miley Cyrus, and Adele. Beck Bennett and Kyle Mooney were prolific sketch writers for YouTube and John Milhiser runs a popular funny Tumblr site. Mike O’Brien is the one who locked lips with a famous actress.

Here’s a tasty preview of what these talented comedians will be bringing off the web and onto TV screens in the fall.  

Beck Bennett, YouTube: Good Neighbor 

Bennett is now well-known for appearing in AT&T commercials where he makes jokes with children, but he got his start putting sketches on YouTube with the group Good Neighbor and on his channel, BeckBennett.

The sketches are mostly conversation-based and not elaborately shot, but they work because they’re funny. The channel has more than 178,000 subscribers and usually involve the “every day” lives of the three guys in the troupe.

Bennett wasn’t the only “Good Neighbor” hired as a performer either.

Kyle Mooney, YouTube: Good Neighbor

Mooney is the shaggy one in the Good Neighbor videos. He was hired alongside Bennett as a performer while Dave McCary was brought on to direct videos. The last time SNL hired a sketch troupe, it was Andy Samberg and his fellow Lonely Islanders, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer. They ended up creating the Digital Short as we know it today–and that’s worked out pretty well for SNL. Good Neighbor could do the same.

Mooney shines in this bit giving a toast.

He also has his own channel (simply called “Kyle”) which has more than 119,000 subscribers.

John Milhiser, YouTuber and Tumblr user

Milhiser puts sketches online with the group Serious Lunch, which has worked with Lorne Michaels’ online video company Above Average. Here’s a YouTube video of Milhiser acting in a parody of Proactiv commercials.

Or this one, making fun of the Step Up movies.

He also runs the Baguette-Me-Nots Tumblr. Baguette-Me-Nots Photoshops baguettes into pictures of celebrities or...really, pictures of anything. Best guess is he brings the fantastic pop culture parodies and not the baguettes to the SNL stage. 

Mike O'Brien, YouTuber

O’Brien stars in a show called 7 Minutes in Heaven, where he interviews celebrities inside a closet and tries to kiss them at the end. He’s had the likes of Jeff Goldblum, Amy Poehler, and Patricia Clarkson in his clutches, and even got a full-on make out sesh with Clarkson.

I profiled O’Brien, a writer for Saturday Night Live, for the New York Times Magazine in 2012 because of the smash success of his YouTube series. He appeared in some sketches on SNL last season, but has this year been promoted to performer.

Can’t wait to see him kiss some of the show’s hosts.

Noël Wells, YouTuber

Noël does an uncanny impersonation of manic pixie goddess Zooey Deschanel in a YouTube show called Hey! The Zooey Deschanel Show. Saturday Night Live already does a Zooey Deschanel talk show parody and Wells will for sure be picking up that mantle. Aside from that series, she’s also posted tons of sketches and vlogs on her channel over the years.

She’s also friends with My Drunk Kitchen’s Hannah Hart, a beloved YouTuber, and has collaborated with her in YouTube videos, doing amazingly on-point singing impressions.

Each of them brings something different to the SNL table comically, but it was all talent they showcased first on the Internet.

Photo via YouTube

Google Maps has just released its latest “street view trek,” a panoramic exploration of the Galapagos Islands.

Located west of Ecuador, the islands are known for being the “living laboratory” where Charles Darwin performed much of the research that would later culminate in his theory of Natural Selection.

The islands are home hundreds of endemic species, many of which are can now be seen through Google Street View:

Galapagos Giant Tortoise

Blue-footed Booby

Galapagos Marine Iguana

The project was created by Google through a partnership with the Directorate of the Galapagos National Park and the Charles Darwin Foundation.

According to Google, the primary goals of the project are to “allow armchair travellers to experiences the islands from their desktop computer” and to “play an instrumental role in the ongoing research of the environment, conservation, animal migration patterns, and the impact of tourism on the islands.”

Scientists hope that the public will use Google's extensive maps and photographs to help identify plants on the island. To that end, iNaturalist.org has created a site called Darwin for a Day that allows users to catalogue the flora and fauna they find on street view. The best catalogers will have their field books incorporated into scientists’ research about the island.

Photo by Derek Keats/Flickr

BY BEN RICHMOND

If you’re a recording artist, you aren’t relying on Spotify to pay your bills—even the most generous estimates have Spotify paying less than 2 cents per premium play. But some artists on Spotify aren’t going to see either penny from my many repeated streamings. They’re the unknown voices and instrumentalists, found mostly on accident, whose identies lost to history, but just like the painters of sarcophagi in Egypt, their artistry remains.

Thanks to the giant music library’s sorting options, deep in the recesses of Spotify you can uncover songs attributed to noteworthy artists such as Male Singer*, and bands you know that you’ve heard many times before, like, Anonymous Jazz Band.

Granted, in a lot of these cases, even if Spotify knew their names, the artists wouldn’t be getting paid, due to the difficulties that the deceased have cashing checks. But as someone who listens to a lot of dead artists anyway, I still wonder whose talents I’m enjoying. How did they end up on there without an identity? Especially someone capable of such a breathy and sultry performance as Unidentified Female Singer. Equally mysterious is the northern man who asks her what other songs she knows at the end of the track.

First off, I guess it’s important to remember that this emphasis we place on the performer of a particular song isn’t universal. In a way, it’s a product both of recorded music itself and on the type of music that we think of as normative. Some music isn’t really for sitting down and watching, it’s for participating in, and its lifespan need not be longer than its performance.

Religious music isn’t an end in and of itself, it’s pointing you somewhere. As much as I want to know more about this “Catholic Jew from Spain,” singing the Pentateuch in Jerusalem in March 1913. His name was maybe lost when the wax cylinder of his song was first made a century ago, but it was definitely gone by the time that wax cylinder made it to a record, and eventually onto Spotify. This relic has no author, only someone to uncover it.

*Thanks to the eccentricites of of Sporify's embed code, the names of these artists do not appear in the embedded track boxes. 

Read the full story on Motherboard. 

Eighty-two thousand one hundred and seventy-eight bucks: This is how much Floyd Mayweather Jr. earned for each punch he threw Saturday night against Mexico's Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez. The match will go down as the biggest boxing event of the social media era.

Mayweather earned an unprecedented $41.5 million from the lopsided fight against the 23-year-old Mexican phenom. Mayweather extended his historic undefeated streak to 45 in front of a sold-out crowd at Las Vegas's MGM Grand Garden Arena.

"Seventeen years, and I'm still going strong," Mayweather said after the fight. "I think had I pressed the attack earlier, I could have gotten the stoppage, but I am very happy with my performance."

If you didn't shell out $65 to catch the bout on Pay Per View, or take your chances with one of the pirated streams, here are the greatest moments.
 

1. Mayweather's star-studded procession

Over his storied career, Mayweather has strutted into the ring with the likes of 50 Cent and wrestler Triple H. On Saturday, those two positions were filled by none other than Justin Bieber and a shirtless Lil Wayne rapping "A Milli." Both escorts instantly became Twitter trending topics. And thanks to tweets from their accounts (which have 57 million followers combined) following the match, they've trended on and off Sunday morning.

2. The human punching bag

Through all the social media noise and Mayweather's hype machine, an actual boxing match did go down and Alvarez was on the receiving end of most of the punishment. Alvarez landed 117 punches to Mayweather's 232, ESPN reported.

3. Spot the celeb

Actor Denzel Washington, NBA analyst Charles Barkley, and supermodel Heidi Klum were just some of the 16,746 people to catch the fight live. The list of celebrities also included actor Jack Nicholson in all his glory.

4. Un-Belieberable

While Mayweather posed for photographs following his win, Bieber stood off to the side looking completely lost.

These tweets pretty much sum up the general consensus on Bieber's cameo.

Floyd Mayweather enters ring w Justin Beiber. aka doing Reverse Miley Cyrus. accessorizing with white people pic.twitter.com/8RVpU5zLbs

— Baratunde (@baratunde) September 15, 2013

@baratunde Suspect Floyd's doing it for the social media halo clout effect.

— Andrew D. Nystrom (@adnys) September 15, 2013

Photo via calciofication/Tumblr | GIFs by Fernando Alfonso III

When Rockstar Games released a video showcasing some gameplay from Grand Theft Auto V (GTA V) this summer, gamers collectively gasped at all the features packed into this vast, open world. Yet while Rockstar spent five years and $265 million producing the game, it was a small shed placed atop the world's tallest mountain that piqued Reddit's curiosity.

The shed can be seen at 0:27 mark in the video. It's also on the upper left of the following image:

Some of the most popular theories surrounding the shed were that it was a safe house or a place to parasail from.

But as it turns out, back in July, a redditor accurately predicted what it really is: an aerial tram stop.

"Wow," littlesteviebrule commented. "I can't believe how many people were making fun of him. He was dead on and no one took him seriously. How can you not tell what he is circling? It looked pretty obvious to me."

JesusVelociraptor's vindication was the second of its kind to happen this past week. On Wednesday, a fan-made map of GTA V's Los Santos was proven correct after the official one was leaked.

The leaks continued Thursday after some gamers posted videos of real gameplay on Instagram and Vine.

GTA V will be released Tuesday.

Photo via Reddit

In his new video, YouTube rap superstar Watsky laments gentrification, comparing hipsters to zombies and belting a raucous chorus of “Kill a hipster and save your hood!”

"Kill a Hipster" is Watsky's “Thrift Shop.” It's got the timeliness, the anthemic value, the beat, and—ironically—the mainstream appeal. 

Watsky codirected the video with his longtime collaborator Jackson Adams, who also appears in the video as a taco-truck-loving zombie.

The video stars Watsky and emcee Chinaka Hodge. The two met when Watsky was 15 years old, at his first spoken word event. Hodge has also appeared on HBO's Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry.

Though the rapper has scores of devoted fans, sold out New York City’s Irving Plaza last year, and tours all over the world, and reached #1 on the iTunes hip-hop charts for his album "Cardboard Castles," he’s yet to break through in a (hate to say it) Macklemore fashion. And Watsky (first name George) needs it. He's doing amazingly well for a YouTube rapper, but the man's been doing spoken-word poetry since he was a teenager, appearing on HBO's Def Poetry when he was in high school. He's a talented guy who works hard and deserves to be all over the radio until he gets annoying and your parents are incorrectly singing his lyrics to seem cool.

"Kill a Hipster" could turn that corner for the YouTuber, who broke out with the viral, Ellen DeGeneres-endorsed "Pale Kid Raps Fast." The video currently has more than 24 million views. Watsky also collaborates with the madly popular channel Epic Rap Battles of History.

On Oct. 4, Watsky kicks off another 35-city tour, called "Hug a Hater," which will span across the U.S. and Europe. Honestly, the video deserves to be everywhere. But, you know, don't actually murder any hipsters.

Photo via Eleanor Stills

It's no secret that Aaron Paul is a huge fan of Breaking Bad fans. He did an AMA on Reddit last month (and later awarded "Bitchies" for the best questions). Two fans will to get the chance to roll up in an RV, "cook" with him and co-star Bryan Cranston, and watch the series finale with the entire cast. When some of his fans arrived at his house, he greeted them.

And just three weeks before the series finale, Paul topped himself yet again. Not only did he live-tweet last night's episode of Breaking Bad, he watched it with over 700 of his biggest fans in Boise, Idaho.

I rented out the Egyptian theater in downtown Boise to live stream the next episode. Who's coming with me? It's free. It's fun. #YeahBitch.

— Aaron Paul (@aaronpaul_8) September 9, 2013

The local radio stations gave out some tickets, but the Idaho native decided to make it fun for people. He turned it into a giant Twitter scavenger hunt.

Described as a "cross between Ferris Bueller and Willy Wonka" by Uproxx's Danger Guerrero, Paul had fans running across the city with every tweet in an attempt to grab a set of tickets faster than you could say "Gatorade me, bitch!" And longtime locals clearly had a leg up.

It's not quite the mad dash surrounding the Golden Ticket that Willy Wonka offered to just five people to tour his famous factory, but for some fans it might as well have been: They didn't have to consume large amounts of chocolate to do so, but they got to watch "Ozymandias" with Paul in the flesh.

Here's just some of the things fans had to do in order to snag a free ticket.

Two tickets across the street from Bardenay on the white picket fence. #igotitbitch when you pick it up so people can move onto the next.

— Aaron Paul (@aaronpaul_8) September 15, 2013

In the alley behind Bardenay. Look for the sign Glass Only. Big green Garbage bin. Not inside but connected to. #igotitbitch

— Aaron Paul (@aaronpaul_8) September 15, 2013

Who else would reward you with a free ticket for cursing?

Come help me push this car on 5th and Idaho. I will give tickets to the person that can yell bitch the longest.

— Aaron Paul (@aaronpaul_8) September 15, 2013

Yeah, science!

Hotel 43. I will be dropping them out of a window. Good luck!!

— Aaron Paul (@aaronpaul_8) September 15, 2013

Paul probably had as much fun as the fans who were successful in procuring a ticket, and with gleeful fans tweeting their success, that's saying something.

Just met @aaronpaul_8 downtown... And #igotitbitch !!! What a great guy man I appreciate it!! pic.twitter.com/b8Yhsg9Sxq

— Ian Rumpp (@RumppDIDDY) September 15, 2013

Getting trampled at Hotel 43- totally worth the scrapes on my leg! Thanks for the tickets @aaronpaul_8#igotitbitchpic.twitter.com/9HTDiurCG1

— alex (@alaliiix) September 15, 2013

But even those who weren't as successful got something out of it.

Didn't find tix in the #igotitbitch hunt, but I did bike around Boise and sweated off my wine hangover. So I'd still consider today a win.

— Lael Uberuaga (@laelski) September 15, 2013

H/T Uproxx | Photo via Gage Skidmore/Flickr

"The Fox" has hit the next level of viral: It's been covered by the Ohio University marching band.

The Marching 110, known for creating elaborate musical routines to modern hits like "Gangnam Style" and "Party Rock Anthem," covered Ylvis's smash hit during the Bobcats game against Marshall Saturday night.

They didn't dress the drum major up as a fox, but the performance is nothing short of impressive as the drumline manages to convey the different sounds the fox makes and the entire band breaks out into a choreographed dance routine mid-song.

It's a closer look at the field than any Marching 110 performance we've seen yet, and it's clear from the field that these musicians are having as much fun with the song as we are.

Photo via OUMARCHING110/YouTube

[WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD]

It's getting hard out here for supporters of sociopathic, drug-pushing megalomaniacs. 

I really hate to say this, but I think the people who write #BreakingBad should maybe have their kids taken away.

— DJ Qualls (@TheOnlyDJQualls) September 16, 2013

I mean, it just seems like you can't cheer on while watching someone have nine prison inmates horrifically murdered, or shrug as he lets some poor drug addict asphyxiate on her own vomit, without suffering a backlash in public opinion. Ridiculous! What is the world coming to?

Last night's Breaking Bad episode, poetically titled "Ozymandias," was the final straw for many Walter White fans. Following the murder of his brother-in-law Hank, Walt's support group seems to have shrunk considerably. Only the most hardcore fans remain in his corner. Not even the emotional pain visible in Walt's eyes following Hank's untimely demise could save him.

Of course, he did randomly kidnap that baby.

On Twitter, Walter White fans have come together under one hashtag, #TeamWalt. As the show gets closer to its grand finale, the hashtag is being used in one of three ways: cheering for Walt; justifying why you're still cheering for Walt to your friends and family; and telling people who cheer for Walt they're sociopaths who should all snort ricin. 

Behaviorists estimate that between 2 and 5% of the population are psychopaths. Now, thanks to #TeamWalt, we have an easy way to find them!

— Frank Beaton (@frankbeaton) September 16, 2013

It was a horrible (awesome) night for Team Walt, but the best part was the absurd reaction from those hoping the fictional Walter White and all of his real-life fans would get what's coming to them:

#TeamWalt is full of literal sociopaths arrest this hashtag

— Geneva (@cartoonfuntime) September 16, 2013

For all those who are #teamwalt take a ricin and fuck off.

— Guillermo Munoz (@GuillermoMunoz1) September 16, 2013

I swear if anyone is still on Team Walt after this episode, i hope u fucking die in a fire seriously :( ugh that episode destroyed me.

— Crystal Desiree (@SinnCityAngel) September 16, 2013

@loyalx3andrea *Slits wrist*

— Robert Vissichelli (@TheRobbieV) September 16, 2013

Anyone still on #TeamWalt needs to be taken out before they hurt someone else.

— NoSlackDelta (@Demon31G) September 16, 2013

If ANY of y'all are still Walt fans after this I will report you to the FBI. #breakingbad

— Neville Killjoy-Park (@neville_park) September 16, 2013

I have no problem with the NSA spying on people who are #TeamWalt

— BenDavid Grabinski (@bdgrabinski) September 16, 2013

Following a cliffhanger that left thousands of people screaming online, it was clear show creator Vince Gilligan had something dramatic in store. Of course, Hank's death wasn't the only surprise. The one thing that kept Walter White from going completely apeshit and blowing up half of New Mexico was his wife, daughter, and son. Let's face it, there's no hope of reuniting this family. It's more likely that Walter White will soon be using the M60 that we all know is resting in the trunk of his car. 

The seething hatred experienced by Walt's fans right now has a lot to do with his transformation from an antihero with noble intentions into one of the most prolific TV villains of all time. Without a doubt, everyone religiously tuning into AMC every Sunday was a member of Team Walt at one time. No one hated him when he strangled his first victim to death after keeping the guy prisoner in a basement for several days.

Sadly, the truth is there was never any hope for Walter White. What kind of lesson would that have been? You can't make millions of dollars cooking meth and maintain your humanity.

Former Team Walt members are going through the classic stages of grief. Bereaved by the loss of Walt's goodness, they suffered through several years of denial and have slowly worked their way towards the second stage, anger. Stage 3 is bargaining, and by the end of the next episode, we'll see a lot of that going on—praying that Walt redeems himself in some sort of suicidal grand finale. No matter his choice, Breaking Bad will eventually come to an end, and we're all going to be depressed (stage 4) because AMC's new show, Low Winter Sun, is perpetually boring and no one can relate to any of those characters. 

Screengrab via AMC

The Internet loves its hoaxes, but eventually they’re disproven, and we all move on to the next puzzle that needs to be dismantled. The curious case of the song “Stay (The Second Time Around)” is one of those rare instances where a potential Internet hoax has lingered for more than a decade.

The subreddit r/todayilearned is the latest place the thread has appeared. The song in question goes by the name “Stay (The Second Time Around),” though it’s never been positively identified as the title. Only a clip of the song exists. In the description of this video, uploaded in 2007, it’s explained that “the song was recorded off of a German radio station in 1984 or 1986.” That’s followed by a list of bands that have been eliminated as possible matches. But why only by 1984 or ‘86?
 

The hunt for the mystery band started here in 2003. New Wave Outpost has still not discovered the source, but other bands have been thrown around, like Blind Date, from Norway. The clip's been sped up, and slowed down.

Redditsleuths attempted to dissect the mystery on r/listentothis. This clip from “Stean Lemroy” was denounced as a fake years ago. It seems the closest contender is Frank Meyer-Thurn, the lead singer of ‘80s German band Private Blue. Some people claim it’s Peter Murphy of Bauhaus. Some claim it’s not a song, but a clip from an ad.

On r/todayilearned, poopsmith666 added this to the pile:

“What if a band from 2002 recorded the song in an attempt to sound like 80's New Wave, and told everyone it was a lost song from the 80s to see how believable they sound?”

HoneyD added: “People definitely go through some elaborate shit to fuck with people sometimes.”

If even Reddit is stumped, who can we turn to? Is “Stay (The Second Time Around)” literally the most obscure song ever, or has this been the Internet’s longest Rickroll?

Screengrab via synth456/YouTube

Chesca Leigh spent 10 hours making a parody of Lady Gaga’s “Applause” for Tumblr, and what does the Tumblr community want? Reblogs!

Leigh, who broke out on YouTube with the hilarious “Shit White Girls Say to Black Girls,” regularly posts video parodies, vlogs, and beauty videos. This latest Gaga parody is spot-on and ambitious, and as one commenter claims, “a Tumblr anthem.”

In her messy painted face, Leigh sings the chorus in her best Gaga voice: “I live for your reblogs!” 

Another commenter wrote, “This must have been so much work, oh my god. Looks amazing!” 

“Thank you!” Leigh replied. “Your enjoyment makes the hours of work worth it!”

H/T Chesca Leigh | Screengrab via YouTube

Madonna’s first live interview on Reddit might have been billed  “Ask Me (Almost) Anything,” but as has been the case for most of her career, there was very little left off limits.

Pop’s most accomplished living star flirted with redditors, insulted them, and talked about how much she loves Daft Punk and her penis-shaped bong.

1) Pharell Williams once said he suggested to Daft Punk that they should produce for you. Would you consider it? (]ehrgeiz91)

I would love to work with Daft Punk. just waiting for them to return my call

2) Where should I put these hydrangeas? (goldburp)

up your ass

3) “American Life” was an unfairly maligned album and many of you fans rank it as one of your best. What do you think critics and casual listeners “didn’t get” about that album? (swb377)

because i dealt with alot of controversial issues in it. i criticized american politics, the entertainment business in hollywood..i was in an angry mood when i was making it. maybe that came across. but i was in an angry mood when i made my last album too

4) You're coming over for dinner. What the hell do I make? (MrFishpaw)

make me a dirty martini

5) Hi Madonna! Would you consider doing a full-on rock album? (Rahu22)

full-on no

6) Throughout your career you've taken a stand against homophobia, sexism, ageism etc. but what current issues drive you to voice your opinion creatively ? (bazayer)

Censoring of artists, around the world. Censorship - for instance Pussy Riot.

7) whats your favourite method of procrastination? (HRH_steph)

plucking my eyebrows

8) Madonna I want to apologize for booing at your concert oct 16th 2008. You mentioned Obama and I booed . I have felt bad for years after. (davidsmom9310)

i forgive you

9) What is the best present you got for Your B-day? (MichelleCiccone)

i got a bong in the shape of a penis

Photo via MissChampers/Flickr

Dave Coulier is one clean guy. Not just because of the gardeners meticulously fixing up his lawn behind us during this interview, but because he’s launching his big Clean Guys of Comedy Tour concert film in theaters nationwide on Sept. 19. 

Coulier is best known for playing the goofy Joey on ABC’s classic sitcom Full House, a show that brings a twinkle of nostalgia to any ’90s kid’s eye. He is also an avid Twitterer with more than 214,000 followers and has been on a publicity tear, promoting CleanGuysOfComedy.com all over the place.

The Daily Dot’s Gaby Dunn visited Coulier’s Los Angeles home to find out if he'd ever date John Stamos, what would happen if Taylor Swift wrote an angry song about him, and the sad, murderous fate of his Full House puppet, Mr. Woodchuck. Coulier said his tour, which includes comics Jamie Kennedy and Heather McDonald, is capitalizing on the built-in cross-generational audience he has from Full House.

"'Clean' has this tone to it that it's dumbed down or it's not hip or it's not as funny, and if you look at the biggest touring comedians today, they're clean. They're selling out arenas,” he told the Dot. “Comedy has a lot of different flavors for different genres and different audiences. I'm just creating an alternative for people if you want to go out with your boss, your wife, your teenage kid; this is for you."

Get tickets for Coulier’s film here, and enjoy the awkward interview above. RIP Mr. Woodchuck.

Photo via Clean Guys Of Comedy