NorthGeek

How to avoid the swine flu (H1N1)

The single greatest tip you’ll receive today:

DON’T DO THIS:

The business card guru: Your card is crap, mine is the best

Is this guy for real? I certainly hope not! Thanks to Ariel over at AOL Fanhouse for the tip.

Beatboxing with a flute: Nathan "Flutebox" Lee and Beardyman rock Google London

This is one of the coolest and most original things I’ve seen in a while. At least i think it’s original! I haven’t seen anyone else do this. My apologies to Beardyman, as this post is really about Nathan Lee and his awesomely cool beatboxing with a flute!! Beardyman, you’re pretty awesome, too. This guy‘s not bad, either…

Man, working at Google must be awesome! Do they have shows like this all the time? Don’t forget to click on the “HQ” button when the video loads to watch and hear in high quality!

“I’m-ah Mario, An-I’m-ah Gonna Ween!”

My apologies, as I could not resist the Mario Kart-fuelled excitement. Fans of Italian metal (and who isn’t, really?), rejoice! For you and for subcompact car shoppers who consider the Toyota Yaris blander than day-old sashimi, the Smart car useless, and the Mini Cooper too cavernous (ok, that one’s unlikely), the new Fiat 500, already a huge hit overseas, may be coming to North America.

Even with the return of cheaper gas, “small” appears to have remained the new “big” with car shoppers, even in SUV-addicted North America. That’s one reason why Fiat execs are considering this car for our shores, but also because Chrysler, with whom Fiat is now partnered, needs a major product overhaul, and this thing may soon be sold through Chrysler’s showrooms – let’s just pray they don’t decide to rebadge the 500 as a Chrysler Neon.

I haven’t had the chance to drive the 500, but it looks gorgeous inside and out, and if the various reviews out of Europe are to be believed, it’s an equally impressive drive. Having said that, I would personally pass on the Cinquecento, only because I’d need more cargo space than it – or a Mini, for that matter – would afford. Still, there are plenty of design junkies and metrosexuals out there who will be seduced by the 500’s classic lines (retro-sexuals, then?) and proportions.

As for me, I’ll wait for the Fiat-exported, Chrylser-rebranded Alfa Romeo Brera to arrive – if that ever happens. Mind you, if they did bring the Brera over, they could rebrand it as a Dodge Grand Caravan for all I care, and I’d still buy two of them. Now, if Fiat would only agree to “export” and “rebrand” Monica Bellucci as my mistress…

[Thanks to Autofiends for the tip]

The Red House Furniture – the most politically correct commercial of all time?

Apparently these two guys go around pitching commercial ideas to small businesses. The Red House furniture store in North Carolina accepted their proposal – this is what they got:

Be sure to click on the “HD” button when the video loads to see and hear it in high definition!

Another amazing "Life’s For Sharing" video from T-Mobile – "Hey Jude" by 13,500 people in Trafalgar Square

When I first came across the great T-Mobile dance video, I thought to myself, “whoever is behind this campaign is a genius”. But I didn’t even know about this video!! Check it out, same idea, same shock value, same fun and engaging style. Enjoy!

Oh, and see how many celebs you can spot – I only spotted one, but I suck at this game…

Be sure to click on the “HD” button when the video loads to see and hear it in high definition!

JV opens racing school near Montreal

Great news for all aspiring wheel jockeys (and owners of Puma Speedcat racing sneakers and bulk quantities of “wet look” hair product) in La Belle Province: Jacques Villeneuve is opening a new racing school near, of all places, Mirabel Airport – also known as the Jacques Villeneuve of international airports. It’s sadly poetic: for those who aren’t familiar with Mirabel, it was once a promising 1970’s government project, on which high hopes were placed for it to become a highly-regarded, state-of-the-art international hub (remember those ridiculous stilt buses? Who thought those were a good idea??), putting Montreal on the map. Now, 30 years later, Mirabel rests in the airport bush leagues, serving as an airport for charter and cargo flights and, now, JV’s early-retirement project. How the mighty have fallen.

I’m looking forward to dropping in on one of JV’s “how to make excuses in a post-race interview” seminars – those things always sell out. Also, does this mean he will delay the release of his double-live album? I hope not.

How to instantly fail a cop’s Field Sobriety (DUI) Test test

No words necessary. Just watch…

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Have you seen the new T-Mobile "Life’s for Sharing" ad?

This is just a great (full-length) ad for T-Mobile. I’m guessing this is for T-Mobile UK, but that is based solely on the British accent at the beginning of the video. I could be wrong… Wherever it’s from, it’s great! I would have been pretty pissed if I didn’t have a camera-enabled mobile with me that day!!

Be sure to click on the “HQ” button when the video loads to see and hear it in high quality!

Gumball organizers to world: “I will see your Global Economic Downturn and raise you one gold-plated Bugatti!”

Hola amigos, this is Dan R, friend of NorthGeek and unabashed car geek.

It’s that time of the year again, when dandy aristocrats, supermodels, motocross stars, and maybe even your orthodontist descend with their ultra-whips on a random city for the start of the annual Gumball 3000 Rally. After last year’s tragic accident in Macedonia, and with the economy wallowing in what leading economists have termed “a turd basket,” one would think there would be little public appetite for the Gumball’s notorious celebrations of spirited and sometimes reckless excess.

Or maybe displays of spirited excess are exactly what we need right now. I, for one, am tired of reading about layoffs, housing foreclosures, and Big 3 bankruptcies. Let us instead read about, say, a cop in Kansas pulling over a diamond-studded, Viagra-liveried McLaren SLR, caught doing 180mph, maybe driven by an aging Swedish heir to a candy fortune and maybe co-piloted by an enthusiastic Miss November 2004. Teamwork, after all, is important in all motorsports.