by Mike Krumboltz
Everyone has an idol, someone they look up to and long to be like. For Eri Yoshida, the 18-year-old baseball star from Japan, idols don't get much bigger than Tim Wakefield. That's because, as the AP puts it, the two belong to a very exclusive fraternity: Phi Knucka Balla.
Yoshida was the first female baseball star to be drafted by a Japanese professional team. Her success is due in large to her wicked knuckleball pitch, something that few big league hurlers can throw. Tim Wakefield is one of 'em, and arguably the best.
So, it was a buzzy moment when Yoshida got to meet Wakefield, her big league idol, and talk about their shared passion. According to a nicely written article from the AP, Yoshida learned how to throw the maddening pitch by watching videos of Wakefield as a young girl.
Clearly those hours spent in front of the TV and practicing on the diamond paid off. During their informal meet and greet, she pitched well enough to impress Wakefield. The Red Sox star gave her some tips in the spirit of helping out a fellow knuckleballer. After all, theirs is a rare breed. The New York Post reports that Yoshida paid Wakefield the ultimate compliment, telling him that her "dream is to become a pitcher like him."
News of the meeting between the young Japanese star and the 43-year-old veteran sparked big Web searches. One day spikes on "eri yoshida" jumped over 700% and we also noticed related searches on "how to throw a knuckleball." That's good news for Tim and Eri -- more than a few fans want to help them in carry on the tradition.
Filed under Buzz by on Mar 3rd, 2010. Comment. 
by Mike Krumboltz
The band OK Go is probably more famous for their videos than their songs. That's more a testament to the greatness of their videos than anything else. When these guys put out a video, you can be sure it'll make your jaw drop at least once or twice. "How did they do that," is a typical reaction.
Their video for their breakthrough song "Here It Goes Again" featured the band dancing on treadmills in one continuous and mesmerizing take. Their newest video, for the song "This Too Shall Pass," may have surpassed it. In what again looks like one take, the band sings their tune while the world's most complex Rube Goldberg Device whirls, spins, crashes, fires, hammers, and in perfect unison with the song.
A million things could have gone wrong, and during rehearsals, we're sure they did. But the final product is, in our estimation, worth the effort. Wired.com explains that a team of "very talented engineers" are responsible for the action, that "perfectly meshes" the tune with the action of the hilariously elaborate machine.
Searches on "this too shall pass" and "ok go new video" are both scorching the Search box, and blogs across the Web are universally impressed. Geek.com calls it a "barage of color and insanity." We're pretty sure they mean that in a good way.Behold, the new seriously rockin' video from OK Go. Oh, and the song isn't too bad either...
Filed under Buzz by on Mar 2nd, 2010. Comment.
by Mike Krumboltz
On Monday, Reuters posted an article entitled "Backdoor taxes to hit middle class." As one can imagine, the article was critical of President Obama's budget.
Shortly after the article went live, the White House contacted Reuters and asked that the story be removed. The reasoning: the article was wrong, plain and simple.
Reuters obliged (the article is currently off the Web), but that hasn't stopped folks from looking for it. Searches on the article's headline posted strong triple digit gains on Tuesday.
While this may sound like a conspiracy, rest assured Reuters accepted full blame, and acknowledged the inaccuracies. A spokesperson said, "It definitely was not up to our standards. It had significant errors of fact.”
Filed under Buzz by on Feb 2nd, 2010. Comment.
by Mike Krumboltz
The death of author J.D. Salinger sparked an enormous surge in Web searches. Known primarily for his iconic novel, The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger was also famous for his strenuous aversion to fame.
Indeed, over the past several decades, folks were just as likely to have a run in with Bigfoot or the Chupacabra than Mr. Salinger. But Salinger’s obvious love of privacy did little to stem the massive interest.
Even before his death, searches were relatively strong on “jd salinger” and his famous novel. Following the announcement that he had passed away at the age of 91, searches soared on “holden caulfield,” the protagonist in “Rye,” as well as “jd salinger quotes” and “jd salinger photos.”
Filed under Buzz by on Jan 28th, 2010. Comment.
by Claudine Zap
The battle for the Super Bowl? That's nothing compared with the future of the universe.
During the NFC championship playoffs, a trailer for the much anticipated — for gaming fans at least — "Mass Effect 2" video game aired with the fanfare of a blockbuster movie. The trailer, a version of which you can see below, wowed with its lush soundtrack, its voice-over narration by none other than Martin Sheen, and its two-minute length.
Searches immediately surged over 200% for "mass effect 2 release date." "Mass effect 2 review" and "mass effect walkthrough" also showed strong gains.
The role-playing game that sets up futuristic, other-worldly missions with Commander Shepard, will be released Tuesday, January 26 in the U.S. But aside from being launched as a video game, there's also Hollywood chatter that the game may be headed for a new mission, as a movie.
It's not a huge leap, considering the high production values of the game and its big-name actors who lend their voices to the characters. Beside Sheen, Carrie-Anne Moss (remember her from "The Matrix"?) plays a role. The mass appeal of "Mass Effect" may get even bigger.
Filed under Buzz by on Jan 25th, 2010. Comment.
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