It’s pretty simple, actually: Drive about five miles past the secret alien landing strip, turn left at the Repository of Missing Left Socks, travel due up into the New Jersey Time/Space Wormhole (toll) and when you come to the mariachi band playing “Yellow Bird” to a beluga whale, you’ve reached the end of the universe.
Posted to our Twitter feed by SunnyinSyracuse. (Update: Also sent in by Theresa!)
i think the band was on a break from a wedding reception. the whale was probably an ex-boyfriend who came to watch through the windows and torture himself. the band understood.
I have friends
In wet places
Where the plankton flows
And the krill chases
My blues away
And I’ll be okaaaayyyyy…
This Nashvillian gives you 5 twangy stars for that excellent lyrical parody! *thumbs-up*
I actully live in the same town as Garth. I’ve seen him a few times shopping and at church.
Tell him “howdy” from me next time you see him! I was the fan in row 102, seat 4, at his 2002 concert. He’ll probably remember me.
Brava!
That’s very good.
I’m not sure what’s funnier: the beluga and the band or Sharpy’s comment…
*shuffles up to look up ‘mariachi CD’ at the library*
ROTFLMAO!
I wanted to leave a comment, but suddenly feel that no comment can be worthy of this extraordianry video. I LOVE IT!
I totally agree! With Madame X’s “Friends in Wet Places”, Theresa’s “That’s a Moray”, and 260Oakley’s “Van Whalen and Lawrence Whelk” I feel that any comment I left would be woefully inadequate!
I love that you guys are like me, silly, goofy, and stupid in love with the qte, but also. so dadgum intelligent and quick (OK, not calling myself this, lol). I’m so glad I found CO!
It’s a great palate cleanser at the end of a long and cruddy day (Not today; today was great) or any day for that matter!
YAYAYAY!! i like happiness.
I especially like the head-smooshing action.
At 1:30… Loved it!
So long, and thanks for the fish!
That’s exactly what I was thinking!
Yes. This. Head-smooshes were adorable.
I had no idea beluga whales had such squishy foreheads! Kind of looked like a basketball that was losing air. O.o Interesting! LOVE how into it the whale was!
I did the Beluga Interaction at a certain park in Orland, FL. So I got to squish the forehead! It is very squishy indeed! You are pretty much there with comparing it to a partially inflated basketball. But they are very soft, and squishy and so squee!!
Mm.. amm.. am I still asleep? Weird dream.
UFB !!! these bootiful Beluga whales can not only dance but sing – they twitter
Honey, whats on TV tonite?
Oh, not another one of those stupid talent shows where mariachi bands are judged by sea creatures!! Fox had two of those on last week except they had moray eels on the panel.
If your singing s*cks eggs
The judge rips off your legs,
That’s a moray,
He says talent will out
And he bites off your snout,
That’s a moray!
That old wimp Simon Cowell
Only gives you a scowl,
Signore!
What real use are his growls,
A real judge disembowels!
That’s a moray!
How can you come up with this stuff that early in the morning? *in awe face*
Sleep deprivation actually helps that kind of creativity.
Golf claps. Also for spotting the video.
Van Whalen on a new (sea) world tour
(I think the back-up musicians used to play with Lawrence Whelk.)
first up to bat and … it’s outta the park! home run, 260O!
*starts the wave*
HA! I see what you did there… the wave, an aquarium… heh heh..
Oh, I thought it was Whalen Jennings….
i think this is the beginning of the world!!!
I think it’s heaven.
agreed mary, agreed
A mariachi band in CT????
Oh, and the beluga is pure awesomeness!!!
LOL!
Coming soon: a sloth colony is entertained by a morris dancing team.
Dancing reeeaaaallllly sllloooowwwlllly….
What I don’t understand is when the subject of dancing with tassels comes up, most people don’t immediately think of morris dancing.
That was just beautiful!
Has everyone seen the scientific papers about the realization that some parrots dance? As in, they move in time with music for fun, and not just by imitating humans.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103629651
Animals are amazing. Science is amazing. Therefore, animals are science.
My parrot dances. There’s no doubt in my mind that he will often make intentional (and highly cute) movement in time to certain music that he likes, purely for his own amusement (and, for the record, he likes classic rock).
My quaker parrot Penny LOVED Metallica’s version of Whiskey in the Bottle
Quaker parakeets, yo. Also known as monk parakeets. Both names are funny, because they’re not quiet, and they’re certainly not celibate.
Random question: is your avatar Jane Morris or Lizzie Siddal?
yeah, theresa!
…tap, tap, tap… well?
…tap… tap…
Swampdiamonds– good eye! It’s actually Mary Cassavetti Zambaco.
Vague memories from art history classes…:)
wow, Ts. who dropped a nickel in you today??
whoever? thank you!
Video please!
My friend had a yellow-naped Amazon parrot named Gremlin that would always dance whenever she heard the Beach Boys. One night I danced with her while singing, “She’ll have fun, fun, fun till her daddy takes the T-Bird away.” By the end of the song, not only was Gremlin dancing, she was sing the words, “fun-fun-fun!” over and over again. Of course parrots love to dance!
Gremlin….excellent name!
My Cherry Head Conure lovedlovedloved to scream in time with Gatemouth Brown and Texas Swing. He liked Stevie Ray Vaughn, too.
COOL! Makes sense to me… birds are highly vocal and auditory creatures and can hear/distinguish all sorts of different sounds.
I love this!
OOOOOOOMG OMGOMGOMG This is the GREATEST THING I HAVE EVER SEEN. EVER!!!! This is even better than that one horse that rides around in cars that I saw on CO like 3 years ago – even better than that. I never thought I’d see anything better than that.
okay, so that’s contestant number three. is everyone ready to play “what’s that tuna?”
… and if you pass a restaurant, you’ve gone too far.
Blorpy McBelugasons says “so long! and thanks for all the fish!”
That’s the first thing I thought of too!!
since seeing this video I’ve been humming “Baby Beluga” with a Mariachi rhythm.
Curiously enough, the only thing that went through the mind of the bowl of petunias was Oh no, not again. …
Ha! brilliant Gigi
well done!
baaaahhh hahahahahah
change for a halibut!
oh, NTMTOM, please run for president.
He wanted to tip but all he had was a fin.
Darn! You mean all Captain Ahab had to do was hire a mariachi band?
Well, that would have been cheaper than hiring a whole orca-stra.
(with narwhals in the horn section)
OK, something just snapped in my head.reading that one. I’m left senseless!
*headdesk*
LOL!!
HEEE!
I swear 260 receives this stuff in advance so she has time to prepare her punnage. I am so not worthy!
Agreed! Two hundred sixty hip-hip-hooray’s to you, Oakley!!
And on the 8th day there was created the 260O and all saw that it was good.
snortlaff!!!!!
NICE!
I don’t know what’s more awesome, a Beluga whale that dances, or a mariachi band called Mariachi Connecticut! Not Mariachi Noreste, or Mariachi Yanqui, but Mariachi Connecticut! What’s the whale’s name, Chuck?
Andale!
CT is a state of many surprises, some of which don’t melt entirely until the latter half of May.
I see that now.
All of a sudden there are all these rusty bikes and ATVs all over the place.
Zoo enrichment has come a long way, baby!
I love this. Belugas are such sweet looking creatures.
I wish this clip was longer! Very adorable!
CO has had some high-larious photo captions over the years, but this end-of-the-universe paragraph has to be the funniest — you don’t even have to click on the video to get yer daily dose of Big-Time Entertainment outta this post! And as for the video itself: sooooo heartwarming and beautiful!
Now there’s something you don’t see every day!
This was so awesome! The beluga obviously loved it! Zoos should implement more of this kind of enertainment for their animals.
Mike, sometimes I swear that you’ve been possessed by the spirit of the late Roger Zelanzy.
“Ay ya yi yi …..”
[but, in a GOOD way
]
Also, I lurve that the Mariachi Guyz were moved to present this tune,
fully costumed in authentic [judges?] Mexican garb — tall sombreros, etc. ….
That music is exactly the kind of music I’d expect to hear at the end of the universe. Elevator muzak.
I sent this in! I SENT THIS IN!!! Suckahs gotta recognize!!
Your cherce, Theresa — would ya rather a high-five or a knuckle-bump ???
WOO and also HOO
or, as a third choice, there’s this CLASSIC:
http://edfromct.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/snoopy_dance1.jpg
Here are my pompoms. Do as you see fit.
Yay! UPDATE: Da Suckahs recognized! Woohoo!
Naturellement.
you have changed my life forever. i put this on now when i have to leave my 7 month old son for a few moments to pee or get tea or something. we watch this at least 5 times a day
I am so there! Theresa, you are just (as I have said before many times) the best.
Wanna go to the Mystic Aquarium someday? How fund would that be???!!!
Hi, Katrina, can I come along?
You can arrange in advance to swim w/the Belugas when you go there. I’m just sayin’….
Now here’s my Debbie Downer 2 cents on Mystic Aquarium. I don’t get the hype. When my sister visited from St. Louis a couple of years ago, I took her there and we were completely underwhelmed. Most of the enclosures didn’t have animals in them. The Belugas and the penguins were the only 2 large exhibits that were open and we were there in July. So, if you go to Mystic Aquarium, be sure to call ahead to find out what they’re going to have on display.
There’s also an aquarium in Norwalk, CT that’s supposed to be nice but I’ve never been there so can’t comment on it from personal experience.
I volunteer at Mystic aquarium. I’m surprised that only the Arctic Coast (belugas) and penguin exhibits were open. Did you check back later in the day? I volunteer with the Steller’s sea lions (including the 1.600 lb. Kodiak, one of only two intact males in captivity in North America!) and they often shift them off exhibit temporarily to clean, but they try to never leave exhibits empty for more than a half-an-hour or so. Did you go to the marine theater show with the California sea lions? I grew up closer to the Maritime Aquarium, which is the aquarium in Norwalk, and Mystic is much better! The maritime aquarium’s only marine mammals are harbor seals. They have some nice sharks and sea turtles, but marine mammals are always my favorites!
Plus, at Mystic you get to see this “dancing” whale, Juno, who is always very interactive with guests at the underwater viewing areas.
So so so oh wow so.
And the head smushing? Eye-crossingly oh wow so.
I feel like someone´s slipped an Acid in my drink.
I’m glad it’s not just me. I thought maybe my orange juice had been spiked.
“This is where all the meesing left socks in the universe go.” – Ren Hoek
hee hee hee! I watched that episode of “Ren and Stimpy” on Netflix recently. Joy!
Joy! I loves me some Ren and Stimpy.
Did y’all notice how cleverly Mike does not actually reveal where the end of the universe is, because he doesn’t say which WAY to go “due” on the NJ Time/space thingy. That’s because if we knew which way to go to see this wonderfulness, we’d clog up that road like there’s no tomorrow. As is we can just drive around confusedly humming “yellow bird”. At least, that’s what I’ll be doing..
“The Most Interesting Beluga Whale in the World”
How much did it cost the whale to bring these guys in?
What ? No crowd surfing from the band after the song ?????? FAIL !!!!!!
I say we start the “C.O. All Star Traveling Zoo Band “!
(“The Animals” is already taken)
At the end of every performance we give the best crown surfing demo ever !!!!
I play a mean triangle & tambourine !
Who’s with me & what do you play ??? Don’t forget we’ll also need singers (lead & back up) , dancers, roadies, security, song writers and anything else you can think of both human & anipals.
I’ll play the dulcimer. I don’t really know how anymore, but I have one and I’ll fake it.
My Eddy will be a roadie. Chloe and Francesco can sing, and Skippy will stay home and enjoy some well-deserved peace and quiet.
Cound me in.
I play spoons, and a mean kazoo.
I do a mean alto harmony line. Specialize in 3- and 4-part harmonies.
I’ll do the tax returns. Luna (the Golden Retriever) and Suki (the part-Siamese kitteh) can sing back up; Shiraz (the Heinz-57 KFC rescue kitteh) can work on security – she’s small but street-wise, and has a mean swipe!
Makes me think of this classic: http://youtu.be/tpcf_qD3GW4
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpcf_qD3GW4&w=425&h=349
Dang it! Embed fail.
*Raises fist, shakes up in midair in advocacy with CathyDee*
*starts a campfire so we can begin singing antiestablishment protest songs*
Thank you, Fird Birfle! Is there some sort of official hostility to Barbara Manatee?? Injustice!
OOOh, I loove a fiery antiestablishment protest song! *warming up* Lalalalala!
OK, here goes!
“Be kind to our web footed friends
For a duck may be somebody’s mother,
Be kind to our friends in the swamp
Where the weather is cold and damp.”
This is what I thought of, too! I love Larry’s silly songs!
ok, so this is a primp post. i used to work at that aquarium before i was cruelly torn away by love, ie my husband convincing me to move to memphis. but, hs name is juno, and while he is a new addition since i worked there, he is super amazing! he’s very young, and interested in people. he will “play” with people by spitting at them and throwing toys to them. the aquarium also has a HUGE Steller Sea Lion named kodiak who, despite his size, i sort of wanted to hug. except hor the fact that he would have eaten me. So go visit! its in mystic, connecticut, and for not too much money, you can actually get in the water with the whales there! or play with penguins if you choose.
There’s video up on YouTube of Kodiak– he is crazy big.
Kodi can get to be more than a ton when he’s at his peak weight! I’m not sure what he got up to this year, but last year I believe he reached 2,050. He weighs more than any of the whales!
Here is a mariachi band serenading a beluga whale OR Here is a beluga whale dancing to a mariachi band. Either way, your argument is invalid.
LOVE this video! ^_^
Ahem. Video was also sent in by Moi. I lurve this for so many reasons but the head bangin action in the beginning keeeeled me!
GMTA!
Indeed they do, Theresa, indeed they do.
As soon as they showed this on the Today show yesterday, I knew it would wind up here.
I’m just not sure why…….
I wonder how the music sounds through glass and water. Clearly he can hear it enough to enjoy it, but it’s gotta sound a bit more distant?
Love the head smoosh!
Mexico is gonna invade the world with an army of belugas
Time to start piping music through the ocean!
Who’s with me?
me me me me me! i can play bass!
whoa.
that was weird. i didn’t even notice the “let’s start a band” thread. i was referring to the “let’s pipe music through the ocean” thread.
or wait. what? what’s happening?
i shouldn’t type during a staring contest.
but will they let you play them?
My first thought(and pretty much the last coherent one I was able to form)…
NOW I have seen everything. The end of the world may as well come…
I want to be in the band too. I play a little piano, not very well but it doesn’t help that it is a very LITTLE piano. But I’m retired so I can travel and my hubby loves to drive so we could really contribute. Can we come along?
how is hubby on the horn?
Mostly loud and long, tho not always in tune with the rest of us. But as long as enthusiasm counts, count him in too.
REDONKULOUS!
That beluga seemed either mildly confused and just humoring the band, or -totally- dug it! I know they smile, too, and he looked pretty pleased with the serenading!
This video is perfect, and I wish it was longer too!
They were pretty good for a three-piece combo. Larger combos sound even better.
Interspecies snorkeling?
ka-ching!
Half-asleep – this was my last visit before bed, and it just made my week! The video, NOMTOM, the comments…. I shall have wonderfully strange dreams tonight!
I think a field trip to an aquarium would be a very fun thing to do.
KIller Corgi’s bigger bigger brother did 750 volunteer hours as a docent at Mystic, so I have affection for it. I know that hard times have hit in the form of the death of an older animal and the soft economy slowing down the ticket sales. They deserve our support, imho. They do great rescue work and research. And, yes, you can swim with the Beluga Whales. Maybe one of us can take a picture that will appear on C.O. Norwalk is nice if the location is better for people. My Mariachi suit is in the cleaner’s, so we’ll have to think of something else.
If you are really interested in making date of it, how about sometime in September or October? Picnic after? Hmmmmm?
I love the way it ended by both the Beluga and Mariachi player bowing to each other.
This is really the sweetest thing I have ever seen.
For those of you wondering how the music sounds to the Beluga underwater, the glass might have damped the music a bit if it is ‘soundproof’, but water is actually an ideal medium for transmission of sound, much more so than air. The reason noises underwater sound weird to humans is because they travel too fast for us. In air we depend on the milliseconds of difference it takes for sounds to hit one eardrum and then the other in order to locate (triangulate) the direction of the sounds and discriminate between them. In water sound travels too fast for us to differentiate. Aquatic mammals have adapted to hearing underwater so they do not have this problem.
did anyone notice “frank whaley” waving goodbye to the band at the end? sooooooooo qte!
More please!
When I was 14, one of my mother’s friends took me to Sea World during the week, when there was no one there. We were eating ice cream cones at the belugas’ tank, and they were clearly very interested in the ice creams and pretended to try to eat them. We started playing “chase” with them by running back and forth along the front of their tank, and they chased us playfully; we all had a great time!
“Right on! I’m in a mariachi band!!”
This has to be my favorite YouTube video ever!
I volunteer at Mystic and I am a HUGE fan of Juno! He’s always investigating the guests and squishing his melon up against the glass to get a really good look. He’s on a breeding loan from Sea World in Orlando. I’m not sure how long the loan is for, but I hope he stays for a long time and that he and Kela and Naku (the two females) have calves!
They do weddings there and usually take photographs in front of the beluga underwater viewing area. The weddings (and other after-hours events) are wonderful enrichment for the whales, I’m sure. They also do “auditory enrichment” with the whales by playing music and musical instruments for them!
Also, I hate to spoil the fantasy that he’s “dancing to the music” but the beluga trainers think he was probably just watching the musicians bobbing up and down, and also that he has a trained behavior to bob his head so he could have thought that they were signaling for him to do that.
Sorry this is so long–I just LOVE my Juno and can’t say enough about him! If you’re in Connecticut or Rhode Island, you should come see him, and my personal favorites, the Steller sea lions!
I agree that he was bobbing his head because of the musicians doing it. But I do think he enjoyed the enrichment of the music and seeing different people =)
That cute little whale is a real music appreciator. Love it!
Not quite the blorp i was hoping for, but cute nonetheless. If you want to see a BIG POOL of Blorps up close, you should GO to the Marine Mammal Care Center on Gaffey St in San Pedro (the Korean Friendship Bell is just SOUTH of it)!.
We went today, and they have like 4 or 5 baby baby elephant seals, which are sooooo cute.