Michael Jackson 'Pairs Up' with Robert BURNS

"Robert Burns's poetry might have been dismissed as "sentimental doggerel" by Jeremy Paxman but that hasn't stopped diminutive I'm A Celebrity contestant David Gest and pop legend Michael Jackson from recording an album of the much-loved Scottish poet's work. Gest's spokesman said the album is a modern musical take on some of Burns' classic poems, and had been a long cherished project.

...

"We haven't changed the lyrics but the music is now modern and brought up to date," Gest said. "Michael and I had fun. It's something we have always wanted to do…because he is our favourite poet."

Hmm. I would have figured Michael Jackson for a Dante fan.

More here.

graph per guardian
via MR

Apple Ad Banned in the UK

Mae West-inspired jokes apparently won't quite cut it for Apple.

""Is that the whole internet in your pocket, or are you just pleased to see me?"

The above joke, despite being quite hilarious, will never be seen in an iPhone ad -- at least not in picky Great Britain. Why? The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has upheld a complaint about a TV spot for the iPhone which claims that "all the parts of the internet are on the iPhone". The problem is that the iPhone doesn't work with Flash or Java, which caused two viewers to write in and whine. From the ASA case page:

Two viewers believed the claim that all parts of the internet were accessible was misleading because they understood that the iPhone did not support Flash or Java, both integral to many web pages."

Is this a question of semantics or a basic cultural difference?

Read it here.
graph per apple

Which Body Part Gets Sung About the Most?

"Across all of the categories, the eyes are most frequently mentioned body part (Hall & Oates, "Private Eyes"), with the exceptions of hip hop, which places a firm emphasis on the posterior (Sir Mix a Lot, "Baby Got Back") and blues (Louisiana Red, "Keep Your Hands Off My Woman") and gospel music (The Gospel, "Put Your Hands Together"), which are respectively focused on the keeping off of one's hands and the clapping or raising of one's hands.

As for the genre that talks about body parts the most, hip hop takes the honors with more references than any other genre. Meanwhile, gospel refers to the body the least. There are plenty of other data points to peruse. It's nice to know that 23.64 percent of hip hop songs refer to the behind, while 11.83 percent of rock songs talk about eyes."

I guessed similarly.

Read it here.
Hat tip to the MR
graph per wired