Susan Broyle’s appearance on Britain’s Got Talent received over 120 million views.  The rest of the top 5 are below.

The top search terms by month provides an interesting synopsis of the year.  The integration is tops in January, while Michael Jackson owns June and July.

You can view the entire list on the YouTube Blog site.  Now here is the rest of the top 5:

David after Dentist – 37 million views

JK Wedding Entrance Dance – 33 million views

New Moon Movie Trailer – 31 million views

Evian Roller Babies – 27 million views

So what were your favorite viral videos of 2009?

I decided maybe it was time I gave this franchise a try. After all, there must be something cool about it with that many people playing it.

The game takes place five years after the original Modern Warfare game. Throughout the game, you play as five different characters in different areas of the world. In one scene you are in Siberia racing from your enemy on a snowmobile. In the next you are chasing an enemy across roof tops in Rio de Janeiro. This caused some initial confusion for me and may those new to the COD series. Still, the game pieces fit together flawlessly to advance the story.

The biggest downside to the game is that the main storyline is incredibly short. I was able to complete it in two nights of casual gaming – totaling roughly six hours of gameplay. MW2 offers more than just the main storyline, though. In “Special Ops,” one or more players can work through a series of separate missions. I played through a couple that involved defending positions and killing enemy soldiers.

MW2’s main selling point is its multiplayer mode. I logged onto Xbox live to give this a try. Within 10 minutes I died more times than I can count. There are a lot of people that are way better at this game than I am. I’m sure if I had purchased the game rather than renting it I would have dedicated more time to this component, but my wounded ego would not let me log back on after my initial disaster.

The game made headlines before its release for a campaign where you play as an undercover agent in Moscow. In it you assist a terrorist as he walks through an airport killing civilians. The game publisher gives you the option to turn this scenario off before the game starts, but I decided to play through. One of the good parts about this scene is you are never required to fire a shot at civilians yourself; you can simply walk behind the rest of the terrorists as they commit the atrocities. Still, the violence is fairly graphic. People that have been shot crawl across the ground and part of me wanted to just “put them out of their misery.” While the scene is an important part of the game, I was left curious what the result would be if I chose not to play the scenario.

MWF is entertaining, but anyone who purchases it should know what they are getting. This game is in no way suitable for children, as almost every line of diologue contains the f-bomb. It also has a ton of violence (go figure) and an extremely short storyline. However, if you are looking for an advanced version of GoldenEye to play with your friends, the multiplayer is a blast.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

The Good:

• Intense, fast-paced storyline
• Multiplayer allows you to kill your friends

The Bad:

• Actual game is extremely short
• Relies too much on multiplayer component

The Verdict:

RENT IT – If you plan to play it for the story. If you are into the online multiplayer experience, you probably already bought this or should.

Not to fear film fanatic, Hollywood is not taking the rest of the year off.  There are plenty of opportunities for you to spend your movie dollar – and possibly even be entertained in the process.  Here are some films to help get you through the rest of the year while you wait for Iron Man 2 and Toy Story 3.

Twilight: New Moon
Opens Nov. 20

The Twilight series continues with its second installment ‘New Moon.’  More vampires, more beautiful people and  more werewolves.  What more could any teenage goth girl want?

The Princess and the Frog
Wide release Dec. 11

Disney tries its hand at animating a classic fairy tale; revolutionary for this studio to say the least.  The film does put some interesting spins on the story, including having it take place in New Orleans.  Apparently the Wisconsin tax incentives for films expired before it could take place in Milwaukee.

The Slammin’ Salmon
Limited Release Dec. 11

Broken Lizard (Beerfest, Super Troopers) does a ‘Waiting’- style comedy.  Enough said.

Avatar
Opens Dec. 18

James Cameron’s first film since ‘Titanic’ has a budget of over $500 million (eat it Michael Bay).  This 3D science-fiction flick is a big blue version of measly 2D Pocahontas.  Also reminds me of Return of the Jedi from the Galactic Empire’s point of view.

Sherlock Holmes
Opens Dec. 25

When it doubt, do something that has been done before.  When really in doubt, get a top-name director (Guy Ritchie) and some huge stars (Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law) to play the main characters. Add in a attractive female lead (Rachel McAdams) to fill out the cast.  Actually, I think most of my doubts have been eliminated.

It’s Complicated
Opens Dec. 25

What is the holiday season without a romantic comedy? Okay, apart from joyous.  Here is a film women can’t wait to drag men to.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Limited release Dec. 25

Most Terry Gilliam movies can be described as an acid trip gone very, very right.  The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus does not look like the exception to the rule.  However, the special effects will likely be overshadowed by the cast – especially the late Heath Ledger.

What movies that open late this year peak your interest?

Entering its eleventh year, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) has grown from a challenge among friends to a world-wide phenomenon. Last year over 119,000 people participated in the event, writing over 1.6 billion words. Of those, 21,683 finished a novel of 50,000 words or more in the 30 days of November. This year over 150,000 people worldwide are expected to participate.

For those that attempt the challenge, there are various support mechanisms to help. NaNoWriMo.org has a forums section where writers can plan local meet-ups. It also offers advice from members of the NaNoWriMo community that have succeeded in the past. For those that prefer to write in private, websites like Write or Die can provide motivation to produce a high word count in a short time (warning, be prepared to lose your work on Kamikaze Mode if you do not write fast enough).

Most participants will not finish. Whether it is lack of time, planning, or they just get bored, only a small percentage will complete the journey. Still, at this early stage, they are optimistic they will complete their novel in a month.

Those that do finish will have 11 months to edit their opus before seeing if they can repeat next year. Those that fail will learn what they can do better next year to prepare and possibly reverse their fortunes.

For everyone involved it will be an entertaining and challenging month.

You can follow Jason Dean’s progress on Twitter at @The_Dean. He will also produce a weekly update on his blog every Wednesday through NaNoWriMo.

Effective immediately, the local news report for the BDN Connection will be posted online at 4 p.m. CST each day.

Why?

As most readers already know, the source for the BDN Connection’s local and regional journalism is the print edition of the Beloit Daily News. The print edition of the paper hits the streets just before noon, and then is delivered during the day to the households of subscribers.

One of the benefits of being a paying subscriber should be getting it first. That’s not the only benefit, of course. Print edition readers receive many content features which are not carried in the online version, along with the latest advertising circulars from the biggest-name stores in the Stateline region.

Also, online users probably are aware of serious discussions at all sorts of media organizations across the country, toward development of pay platforms for news on the Internet. Several news organizations already are experimenting with paid access to their Web reports. Others have announced plans to develop what are commonly referred to as “pay walls.”

So far, the BDN Connection has not made that decision, but it’s a possibility down the road. At this time, though, the later posting is simply designed to enhance value for paying customers. Major breaking news may be posted earlier, in real-time, but the majority of the daily report will not appear until 4 p.m.

This seems a good opportunity to invite you, a devoted user of the BDN Connection, to become a subscriber to the Beloit Daily News. We’re not kidding. The print edition offers a lot of great values you are not receiving via the Web.

Call 608-364-9222 to subscribe to the print edition.

I have lived in Beloit now for nearly a year.  Still, when I choose to go out and enjoy live music, I flee to larger cities like Madison, Chicago or Milwaukee.  Having resided in two of those cities I know where to find good tunes, and which local bands I enjoy.

As winter approaches, It’s time to plug in and see what the Stateline area has to offer.

The big question – where do I start?  I know no local bands, and only a couple venues.  This is where I totally use you – the readers – to help me out.

So who is good?  What bands do you love?  Where’s a great place to see them?  Rockford, Beloit, Janesville and anyplace in between.  The only rule I have when suggesting groups – NO COVER BANDS!  I could go into a long diatribe about why, but musician Nice Peter says it best (this link is in no way, shape or form safe for work).

Images via Gibson and The Onion.

Summerfest organizers want your thoughts on their annual festival, and they are willing to provide you with a free pair of tickets in 2010 in exchange. Simply fill out the survey on their site and you can check out the state’s biggest festival next summer.

‘Whip It‘ is the directorial debut of Drew Barrymore. It stars Ellen Page (of ‘Juno’ fame) as a girl who joins a local roller derby league. It is the first widely-released movie about derby since Unholy Rollers graced the screen in 1972.

The movie is getting a big push from derby girls across the country, including locally. The Stateline Divas will host a Premier Party Friday, Oct. 2 at Wildwood Movies 10 Theater in Janesville. The gathering begins at 6:30 p.m., and it cost $8 to see the movie ($6 for kids). From the Divas’ blog:

Join the Divas as we celebrate the opening of Drew Barrymore’s new roller derby movie. Ask us your pressing derby questions or just stop by and meet your favorite Diva. And if you decide you’d like to join us, we’ll help you get started.

To find out more about the movie, check out the BDN’s review here. Also check out Hillary Dickinson’s article “Derby Divas skating to empowerment”

Got pictures from the event? Post them below in your comments.

James Lileks, columnist for the Minneapolis – St. Paul Star Tribune gets it.

Last week a colleague sent me a link to a video Lileks did called “More tales from the scary front lines of flu defense.” Go watch it now, it is quite brilliant. The video is funny, clever and informative. More importantly – it was done by a newspaper.

I am excited to see news organizations moving outside their comfort zone. A few years ago this video would have been considered unprofessional for a daily newspaper. Some likely still feel that way. Still, others are willing challenge the established “newspaper norms.”

I hope more newspapers take a chance with similar spectacular results.

While Coulton’s songs vary in topic, they tend to skew towards the extra geeky.  Zombies, computer code, mathematicians, evil geniuses and video game theme songs comprise his musical repertoire.

Okay, so he’s not for everyone, but his fans are committed.  Coulton returns to Madison October 25 at the Majestic Theater.  Tickets for the show go on sale this Saturday.

I have been a Coulton fan for many years.  I had a chance to interview him for The Capital Times – a conversation that quickly deteriorated into us discussing our favorite video games.

The aspect of Coulton I respect the most about Coulton his music is released under a Creative Commons license.  This allows fans to create works from his music such as music videos.

Curious to find out more about this God among geeks?  Well…

You can listen to his music here.  Yup, almost his entire catalog can be listened to free online.

Holly Johns interview from last time he came through town.

Finally, below are some videos from last time he played Madison.

Cover of Pressure by Billy Joel

I Feel Fantastic

Mr Fancy Pants