WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU AMERICANS?
This day in history will be looked upon with shame not only by Americans but the rest of the world.
I’m devastated.
Category: Personal Stuff
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Congratulations America! You only have yourselves to blame…
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T-shirt
In a classic non-punctuation early morning email from my mom she had this to say:
“crazy isnt it how much this goes back to religious beliefs its also why
buddhism makes sense
it says stay out of other peoples business dont dictate religion or
politics and just respect the fact that people can believe and think the
way they want to”
In reference to her t-shirt ideas:
Inspired by this T-shirt from The Onion.
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Readers and other naive thoughts
My propaganda:
Well ever since I’ve had this Chatango thing I’ve been feeling pretty good about the ridiculous amount of time I’ve spent on my blog. This little chat box (lower left) allows me to chat with people who are dropping by the site. I’ve met some interesting folks who’ve admitted they are “regular readers.” Some of these people have said they’ve “learned about politics” and even “watch less TV.” For little old me hearing that is quite fulfilling. The notion that people actually get something from my humble little bloggy is very pleasing. The weird part is that i’ve heard this from more than one cat. The site did like 1000 – 4000 unique visitors yesterday depending on what statistics tracking system I look at. Most of these peeps are just punks google searching this or that and that kinda bums me out. Nonetheless the server logs for my site now show more and more individuals are coming directly to the site. These “readers” just come directly to the site. They’re not not referred by google or other sites. This means people are bookmarking the site and coming back to it directly. I like knowing that in some tiny little way I get to have my say. Thank you readers.
Other people’s propaganda:
Is it just me or is the weeb being flooded with movies being created by peeps just like you and me? I think this is an awesome trend. Whether its that What Barry Says Video or this new one REVOLUTION: WORLD OF EVIL. This is what I’ve been raving about for ages! Its now happening! Videobloggers are taking over! No seriously, I couldn’t be happier with all these folks putting up video that you and I would NEVER see on our TVs. There’s also a ton of people remixing regular old TV. Finally there’s all that regular TV you should have seen but didn’t happen to be watching. Look at this Jon Stewart clip. Ifilm.com has played this clip over 1 million times. That doesn’t include all the people who watched it off the torrents or direct downloads. What does this all mean? Why don’t we ask Bill Gate$. Bill what do you think? “The ideal for many content people would be that they just put their content on the Internet and then they have a direct relationship with the viewer,” Gates said. “That model for low-volume content is the future.” Yes Bill it is. Strongbad voice: TOO BAD MY PVR RUNS ON LINUX BIATCH AND YOU CAN’T CONTROL IT!!!!. Gate$ wants side by side screens and ads which seems ridiculous to me. Then again, this whole internet is turning into “interactive TV” idea is nothing new. What is new in my view is the amount of material that is being created/remixed/mashed-up by john doe internet user. Why am I so interested? I’m interested because people are having their own say and leaning forward. Why should you be interested? The “future computer” that runs your apartment/house/pad/cave will have wonderfully diverse content on it for your to watch/interact/listen/ that came from “cyberspace” and was created for the love not the money. There’s an interesting discussion about this here.
As
would say: Booyakasha.
Here’s a few “Radical” videos courtesy of the “internet”:
HOLY LINKS OF NOTE!WheelBarrow Freestyle is just a wannabe of the sport my brother and his buddy invented: FREESTYLE WALKING.
American Passports to Get Chipped
New way to organize blogosphere ideas? Sparklines? Pretty tech.
This is what I have to say about the Baseball:
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illin like a villain
Please excuse the hack nature of my posting. I’m quite ill.
Not so personal notes:
The blogosphere sure loves to see somebody tell the big networks to “f” off. I’m not allowed to swear on my blog now. Some important readers have said they don’t like my use of the bad words! I knew this would happen.
Some people are saying that the now infamous crossfire clip has been viewed more times online then during the airing of the show on CNN. I’m not sure if that’s true but its quite interesting to think about. More people watched a CNN segment on the internet then actually watched it live on CNN. Jeff Jarvis’ is pickin up what I’m puttin down. Smokin what I’m rollin or any there clever saying courtesy of my brother. Jarvis suggests CNN (and everyone else) make all of their news/content available for download after it airs. Then monitor what is being downloaded the most and offer some sort of “metadata” based system of what is most watched etc… Just like yahoo and Google’s algorithms do for online news. Tap into the “edgy”/”extreme” pulse of the “internet” and recycle the zeitgeist.*
My problem with this whole idea is that what people want to see and what is newsworthy are very different. The most downloaded segments would be the trashiest lowest-common-denominator-ish clips. Not that CNN is a highbrow news outlet but if they started taking queues from their most downloaded clip of the moment they’d be Jerry Springer in no time. They’d never do this but nevertheless the idea is very interesting to me. You could have your pvr hooked into the cnn/whatever channel’s most downloaded segments. Then you could pick and choose what infotainment, I mean news, you’d like to see.
I’d like to think the future of television is akin to TIVO style viewing with RSS feeds to the choice content with some sort of torrent like distribution system. Put all that stuff under some clean/easy to use interface and lean-back media meets lean-forward media. Once this occurs you’ll be situated firmly in “the future”.
The pvr that I’m currently building has the ability to read rss feeds from the internet. Next step torrentocracy.
Personal notes:
I was thinking about how my head feels like its being stomped on. How does one know what a boot to face feels like? Just try playing rugby! Where am I going with this? This feeling reminded me of a George Orwell quote:
“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – forever.”
What if?
“If Bush steals the election again, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – for four more years.”
Link of note:
Make your thoughts on Sinclair known.
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*Yes I just wanted to use the word zeitgeist.
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So many jackasses so little time.
Bill O’Reilly you jackass! You are finally getting what you deserve, pervert. What goes around comes around.
On another note: Why the hell are all these pro-Kerry blogs echoing the fact that the republicans are upset that Kerry mentioned Cheney’s daughter? Who cares? Move on! Anyone who actually watched the debate an Kerry’s remarks we’re not inappropriate at all. Rove and his peeps just like the idea that Kerry could look bad for mentioning Cheney’s daughter. If they hammer it hard enough people will forget BUSH LOST THE DEBATE. That is the people that are easy to manipulate, AKA those that have no interest in the debates and only hear the sound bytes…
Keep the pressure on Sinclair folks. Don’t let them air this propaganda piece the night before the election. Also, Sinclair’s website is blatantly lying, the film has been shot, you can download it from the “stolen honour” site. Salon.com’s Eric Boehlert notes that “The right-wing network’s decision to force its affiliates to air anti-Kerry propaganda is one of the lowest moments in the history of television news, says the former head of the FCC. And it may unleash a backlash.” Well in my opinion it already has unleashed a backlash…
Searching photos on Flickr is a great way to procrastinate.
Retropod: Shut Down. Sony sure is doing a great job of making themselves look even lamer!
E-voting. Yes its going to fuck up.
William Gibson is blogging again.
10 years of the weeb. 10 findings that are not particularly surprising
Get your .mov on: (mov rhymes with groove) Daily Show Comedy Clips Archives and undergroundclips are both pretty sweet. Speaking of sweet, check out these shirts: founditemclothing.com
I haven’t gotten into podcasting yet but you can get your podcast on here: podcast repository
In case you didn’t know Ann Coulter is an ass, and an anorexic one at that.
The huge white spot is at the top left of the site is where the Google ads are supposed to be… The folks at Google got all pissy that I was giving away Gmail accounts to people who sent in funny photos. I emailed them and they realized that I was in fact promoting Gmail. Maybe it was just a bot that halted the ads? Whatever, either way that big white spot will soon be back to its full sell out glory soon. The ads are meant to pay for the hosting of this beyotch and they do that and more!
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Fresh New Scent.
The little redesign looks better for the unfortunate souls still using Internet Explorer. The “new look” is a little lighter on its feet. She’s more nimble, more street, more gang if you will. Nothing intesting to write about today.
Your obligatory Links of Note:
This convention video is amazing. Its a must see.
Cool t-shirts:”My Frat Is Cooler Than Your Frat.” “Without ME It’s Just AWESO.” “Racquetball: Where Blue Balls are Fun!”
JACK: My suitcase was vibrating?
SECURITY: Nine times out of ten, it’s an electric razor. But, every once in a while … (whispers) …it’s a dildo. It’s airline policy not to imply ownership in the event of a dildo. We use the indefinite aricle: “A dildo.” Never “Your dildo.”Videobloggins video chat / web discussion every week at 2PM EDT
How the White House Embraced Disputed Arms Intelligence
I guess now that Kerry won the debate its not important anymore.
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Movie watching strategies and other rants on the death of network TV.
I saw several films at the VIFF this weekend and aside from the lack of air conditioning in the theaters it was quite an enjoyable experience. Baghdad Blogger, was super hack but I guess thats to be expected of war-zone filmmaking. I wouldn’t recommend seeing it not because I totally disagree with much of what Mr. Pax says but because he approaches the subject matter in this sort of aloof ivory tower stance. You know, kind of like the way this blog approaches everything. Hijacking Catastrophe on the other hand is very worthwhile and should be seen. Motorcycle Diaries was really awesome but should have sucked less?! The Machinist was pretty good too.
My strategy for going to movies was changed forever one bored ass summer day when I went to Deep Blue Sea with my brother. We knew that it was going to be one of the worst movies ever made but we were bored so we decided to just make fun of the suckage. The movie ended up being hilarious because we laughed our asses off at the hack nature of the film. Ever since that moviegoing experience I’ve gone into movies just expecting them to really suck. The more I expect them to suck the better they are. Really bad movies become hilarious because they’re so shitty. You get the idea.
And now for something completely similar;
I just realized something today. Ding! Little light bulb , mouse on wheel in head, open the window shutters and scream my stupid ass shit… People are creating more and more media and are sharing all this “media” without any intermediaries. Just look at email, Gartner said 11 billion emails were sent a day in 2001*. Thats 2001!!! I know most of that is spam but how much of it is useful collaboration? An example you ask? Some people over at the videoblogging yahoo group are on the “bleeding edge” of the “edgy” and very street, very gang p2p media/participatory journalism revolution. Their email exchanges are a collaboration in making p2p media a reality. Whether it is video you shot on your dvx-100 or your cameraphone, these people are making it easy for you and I to share media in a collaborative and useful fashion.
These people are making it so that eventually you can use your connected set top box to watch media that has been created by people not corporations from all over the world. Right now the technology exists to have a box on your TV that automatically downloads and allows you to watch independently created content without mediation. The people on the videoblogging yahoo group are creating collaborative videos that discuss the nature of collaborative media creation! This is all happening as I spit this.
I like the idea that Daniel Melinger talks about in his thesis (~ 2 MB pdf) which refers to the difference between passive and participatory media as lean back vs lean forward media. I like lean forward media because it forces two way communication. Jeff Jarvis says “I don’t consume media anymore; I live it.” i couldn’t agree more. I can be listening to music watching TV and posting on my blog all at the same time. Who loses? TV advertising. I see a commercial, I change the channel or mute the TV. “Just wait until TV explodes with alternate means of delivery — via the internet — and alternate sources of programming — the citizens. The death of the network age, so often predicted, is upon us.” I like to think TV is in trouble. My mom always said: Karl Marx was wrong Television (not religion) is the opiate of the masses. I’ve always tried to stay away from television as much as possible. It seems I’m not alone in this either. Many people are turning their televisions off and leaning forward on their computers. Everything I’m hearing about TV is BAD. Just check out the Lost Remote and you’ll be picking up what I’m putting down. Yes, the Dinosaurs will die.
Why don’t we all turn our boob tubes into something useful? Like a way to create media and share it with one another? Its not that far off. I think the weeb has gone beyond the glorified telephone status. Is this all just wishing the weeb was television? I don’t know. I’m just constantly intrigued by the idea the technology exists to allow me to go out and shoot something on my little mini dv camcorder and show it to the world with nobody controlling what I put out. To me that is amazing. Digital divide, bandwidth yada yada… I’m not saying that I could actually do this and have a large number of people see something I have created, I’m just saying its possible. Once the community of video bloggers reaches a critical mass and the tools are as easy as email for sharing video content your TV will never look the same. “Extreme Democracy” here we come! Don’t forget to bring your “Extreme Jello.” **
*I couldn’t be bothered to look up any stats on this, but somehow found the energy to footnote my lazyness.
** If you got the NoFx references you get a gold star. You Punk Rawk nerd.Finally. Your links of note:
Comedy Central Refutes O’Reilly’s Claim. O’Reilly is such a bundass.
TIME.com: Inside The Debate Strategies
Fear and Laptops on the Campaign Trail
Sarah McLachlan – World On Fire
Insane photorealistic Illustrator images…
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The world is like a ride at an amusement park.
First of all The Kleptones are brilliant. “Warning : If not one of these albums makes you grin like an idiot, you may be dead.”
I have two letters for you today:Letter 1:
Dear Ecto,
Fuck you Ecto. Fuck you for making me update this program like everyday since 2.0 Beta was released. I mean I know its Beta but still? A new update EVERY DAY? Fuck you more because I just spent the last little while drafting up probably the best Blog post ever. And you go and crash just before I go to post it. Fucking brilliant! I mean the post obviously wasn’t that great but still. I spent like way more time then I should have drafting it up and it just “vaporized“. The program crashes and I’m asked if I want to send a note to Apple.
Sincerely,
Me.Fuck. What the hell was I saying? Oh yeah, I was talking about how my site suffers from a lack of cohesion and a general tendency toward cognitive bias stream of consciousness posting (see below). I don’t think anyone expects in-depth anything on this here bloggy so I think I’m ok.
Letter 2:
Dear G-Dub
Dub, (the lying fuckin ass that you are) would you be so kind as to stop slandering someone who actually went and fought in Vietnam when you were being a coked up alcoholic in the safety of the homeland?
Sincerely.
Me.
I was thinking last night about how it would be interesting to look back on what I’m thinking now and compare it to what I think after the election… I obviously want Kerry to win but thats only because he sucks less. I’d like Kerry to win because I believe in international law, multilaterlism, a woman’s right to choose, not destroying the environment, complete sentences and all that naive optimism shit.
The post that got eaten up by ecto was much better, I swear it wasn’t so hack… You know just like how the surf yesterday was amazing. I guess lying is easy to do when you’re blogging in your pajamas or sending your nation to war. Same difference. Complete sentences are great. Complete good. Yes.
Something for you to think about:
“The world is like a ride at an amusement park. It goes up and down and round and round. It has thrills and chills and it’s very brightly coloured and it’s very loud and it’s fun, for a while. Some people have been on the ride for a long time and they begin to question, is this real, or is this just a ride? And other people have remembered, and they come back to us, they say, “hey – don’t worry, don’t be afraid, ever, because, this is just a ride…” And we… kill those people. Ha ha “Shut him up.” “We have a lot invested in this ride. Shut him up. Look at my furrows of worry. Look at my big bank account and my family. This just has to be real.” It’s just a ride. But we always kill those good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that? And let the demons run amok. Jesus murdered; Martin Luther King mudered; Malcolm X murdered; Gandhi murdered; John Lennon murdered; Reagan…. wounded. But it doesn’t matter because: It’s just a ride. And we can change it anytime we want. It’s only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings and money. A choice, right now, between fear and love.
The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love, instead, see all of us as one. Here’s what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money that we spend on weapons and defences each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace. Thank you very much, you’ve been great.” Bill Hicks.
Finally, links worthy of note:
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I Know You Are Reading This
Well its official, everybody and their dog knows about my blog. (yes I’m a lyrical genius)
There was a time when I blogged anonymously and I could say whatever the hell I wanted to. But for some reason it seems that everyone I know now knows about this little bitch of a site. I guess the “some reason” could be my girlfriend. It seems that she thinks its “cool” to have a blog and that this must be shared with mommy, co-workers, friends, acquaintances and of course just random freaks…
The fact is I know there are a bunch of people reading this blog that are like closet readers. How do I know this? Because I can’t talk about anything interesting now because everyone already magically knows about it. How do they magically know about everything I find interesting you ask? THEY READ ABOUT IT ON THIS WEBSITE. I might as well just be like “yeah I know you are a closet reader and you might as well just tell me. It’ll save me from feeling like Mr Old News.”
Even my girlfriend is like “that’s like so five minutes ago dot com” after I tell her something interesting that I posted about. Then again, sheez not a closet reader like YOU ARE. She admits that she’s obsessive about reading the general uselessness she finds here.
The other reason I know there are closet readers is by looking at the servers and IPs that people are coming from. My favorite is when I see .mil or .gov in the logs! That’s hot!!! I like knowing that some government peeps and military personnel are watching, I mean reading my stupid propaganda.
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i hate being sick.
