Sometimes, this job isn't all bad.
Yeah, there's the part about getting up at 3 a.m. and trying to finish up research (ahem) for that day's column, but often, it is that research that gets me up at 3 a.m.
Today, it's a return to the Journal's video vault. As mentioned previously, much of what is in the vault is the standard celebrity news, sports highlights and business fare. But what's the most interesting is the stories wedged in between these genres or those that sit on the fringe.
While the president's latest pronouncement on the state of the economy may be important, it doesn't play well here on video. Got a water skiing squirrel? Love to see it. Raw video of the running of the bulls? Bring it on.
So, in another semi-regular Fives segment, today we look back on the most interesting videos of 2009 - all six days of it.
New Year's, it's not just for New Year's anymore
It turns out that the company that owns the ball that drops in Times Square to welcome in the New Year is in danger of going flat broke. Apparently, part of their plan to remain solvent is to use the ball as a tourist attraction.
Hey, if the SPAM museum, Carhenge and the world's largest ball of twine can make, certainly this can, too.
What this video lacks in visuals - although, you do get to see a faux countdown to the New Year, sans Dick Clark or Ryan Seacrest - the interview with the suit on how they plan to market the ball is fascinating. Only in America, I guess.
I spent New Year's Eve largely on the love seat just trying to stay awake, playing charades with friends and knocking back a beer-and-a-half.
Needless to say, I didn't make it to midnight MST. Heck, I didn't even make it to midnight Eastern Standard Time.
But if I would have been invited to Hugh Hefner's place to ring in 2009, I might still be running on the buzz. It looks like a celebrity or two joined Hef and the bunny's at the mansion.
Needless to say, I probably need to set my sights from somewhere in between reality and the pseudo reality of the Playboy celebration, but for now, I'm just living vicariously through the video vault.
Hey Bud, you've got an obsession
There's a house along Fifth Street between St. Joe and St. Pat streets that proudly proclaims above the entry way "Lori's House of Budweiser."
I've always wondered how it looked inside, and I suspect it's something like the interior featured in this video. Coloradan John Bird, affectionately known as "Birdweiser," has decorated his home in all things the King of Beers.
There were kids we knew when we were younger that used to do this, creating beer can pyramids in their dorm room windows or who could recite the Budweiser pledge from heart, but I don't know if I've known that has taken it this far.
Of interest is his rules of the house, which he recites at the end of the video. Check it out.
No, no, not that kind of video. The idea IS to get people to actually watch the videos.
If you've ever wondered whether Hollywood is actually on another planet, this should confirm it. A collection of snippets from interviews with various movie stars features Will Smith bragging about his oddly shaped ears, Charlize Theron wanting to adopt the moniker "Barf-a-lot" and George Clooney scratching Michael Moore's backside.
Mostly, it will leave you scratching your head.
Twins of a different color, twice
Didn't know this could happen. Suspected it might, on occasion, but never saw an actual instance.
Now, a mixed race couple in Great Britain has given birth two multicolored twins twice. The odds, according to the video, are in the millions.
