It Snows a Little in Seattle Too

We got a very early snow fall in the Seattle area over the Thanksgiving weekend. It's very rare to get snow this early. Some areas around Puget Sound got as much as 14", while downtown received just a dusting. It's shaping up to be quite a winter. Here is a story from KOMO.

It Rains a Little in Seattle Right?

Everyone knows that it rains every now and then in Seattle. But Seattle very rarely gets any thunder storms. That wasnt the case today. A strong storm came in early this afternoon that brought a lot of lightning, hail and even a brief snow shower to downtown Seattle. Here's a link to the full story from KOMO.

Origin of The Annoying Thing

A ding ding ding ding dididing ding bing bing pscht,
Dorhrm bom bom bedom bem bom bedom bom bum ba ba bom bom,
Bouuuuum bom bom bedahm, Bom be barbedarm bedabedabedabeda
Bbrrrrrimm bbrrrrramm bbbrrrrrrrrraammmmm ddddddraammm,
Bah bah baah baah ba wheeeeeee-eeeee-eeeee!

In 1997, 17-year-old Swede Daniel Malmedahl recorded himself impersonating the sounds produced by internal combustion engines. He posted this on a website and caught the attention of a Swedish television researcher, who convinced Daniel to perform the sound live on air. After Daniel's television debut, recordings of his performance began appearing on peer to peer file sharing networks and various websites under the filename "2TAKTARE.MP3" ("Tvåtaktare" is Swedish for "Two stroker"). Click on the lyrics above to hear this.

The sound effect was quickly included in Flash animations that spread virally among Internet users becoming an Internet meme. The most notable example was the Insanity Test, which required test subjects to keep a straight face while staring at a still photograph of a Ferrari Formula 1 car as the sound effect was played.

In late-2000, Malmedahl's fellow Swede Erik Wernquist encountered the sound effect and was inspired to create the 3D animation "The Annoying Thing" to accompany it. Erik used the LightWave 3D modelling application to produce the animation and posted it on his website. The animation was a popular attraction at Erik's website, but the sound was credited to "Anonymous". Eventually, word reached Daniel that his impressions had been used in a now well-known animation. He contacted Erik, apparently giving an impromptu performance to confirm his claims. Erik was convinced, and gave due credit to Daniel for his creation. It was broadcast for the first time on two Belgian commercials for Ringtone Europe and Jamster België (now both merged into Jamba!) in mid-2001.

In May of 2005, TurboForce, the company that Erik Wernquist works for, published a music video featuring The Annoying Thing. The song is called "Crazy Frog - Axel F" and is a "dance"-version of Harold Faltermeyers classic Beverly Hills Cop-theme. For anyone who doesn´t know this, "Crazy Frog" is what the market persist on calling my character The Annoying Thing. I personally hate that name and deeply regret I didn´t put a stop to that early on. - Erik Wernquist

Word has it that a grandiose second music video is under production. There you have it. I hope that cleared it up for you.

Dont ask me what this is -

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