I like Girls

Girls are right there at that spot that feels right right now. But are they trying to rub me the wrong way by flaunting how cool they and all their cool friends are? first it was this...


then this, a song that haunted me all summer now put to film...

and their feature in Fader is all about them nonchalantly doing drugs and partying with a circulating bevy of painfully hip friends. I guess what this all means is they are having a blast. And I'm happy for them, but I'm scratching my head. Do they want people to start resenting them for being so cool? Cuz that's what's about to happen.

New Discovery

Eating two consecutive bags of potently flavored Utz potato chips (in this case Carolina BBQ and Salt'n Vinegar) makes your mouth itch. If this happens to you, remain calm. Drink milk. Watch something soothing*.

Coincidentally, if you drink out of Brooklyn's potently toxic Gowanus Canal your mouth will begin to itch as well. Whole Foods planned to build a new store right on the Gowanus Canal but rumor has it the construction is stalled because of the toxicity level and, ya know, proximity to groceries. Instead, the site remains an unfortified diorama of post-industrial urban squalor reclaimed by what passes for nature in that part of town; much to the benefit of vagabond hobos and roaming gangs of filmmakers. Visual proof of the land being put to good use is coming soon to this very webspace. woop.

*that's how you do the live acoustic one take. This was made by Sam Fleischner who directed Wah Dem Do which stars that Sean Bones guy up there and Norah Jones who teamed up to record the original of that song up there for the film's soundtrack. no links, google.

You got miles of hipster cred, totally.

saddy boy, girl music that everybody likes.

This ain't no R&B dick. This hood.

Ghostface Killah has a song about having sex.


completely unrelated but fucking cool, though long, is this video I found on style.com, the online home of Vogue.

dick cheez, no E.

This is real cheezy stuff from LMFAO, the cheeziest thing going right about now. I get that that's sorta the point but that's what makes it so cheezy. Or wait a minute, are they doing that Tupac thing about living your art in order to represent all the people out there in The Struggle, if only The Struggle were L.A.? I just read on their Wikipedia that they produced a song for Pitbull that samples Fergie, well that says it all. With a name like LMFAO, Pepsi doesn't need to see charts and graphs to know that these guys are HUGE in the young, internet-savvy demo. Who says Major Labels can't adapt to the Internet....?

The Future!!! Er, I mean, The Present!!!!

advertisers know they have to go digital. and they all "love" music because it already has an industry in place that filters/curates what is cool. The equation seems simple: content (this video) + advertiser (Southern Comfort) + distribution (Fader.tv and youtube, essentially) = ROI (Return On Investment).

An awesome print mag makes a web video featuring an awesome cover of an awesome song by an awesome band, yet only has 784 views in 2 weeks, and only 3 comments. How do you get more people to care about this kind of content?

For starters don't send one fucking shooter and have him stick a second, unmanned camera on a tripod. that is a shitty look, even for web. Why is this acceptable? How does this represent your brand that is otherwise known for incredible still photography? Especially to viewers who don't know Fader?

Either...
A) sack up and shoot 1 take, no cuts like La Blogoteque, even though it's already being done and is shorthand for "this is artsy". Understandably, this could be hard to pull off if left in the hands of a "videographer" and not someone empowered as a "filmmaker"; which is exactly how magazines conceptualize these things.
Or...
B) spend slightly more money on a second shooter or find a producer that shoots. I'd bet 5 bucks Fader is wasting SoCo's money by sending a print editor or producer on those shoots to not hold a camera. Magazines.

This is way more like it. But, no sponsor.

Sooooooo.....half-ass the production on your sponsored weekly series with a somewhat novel concept to the extent that it looks decidedly crappier than video shot by some guy on mushrooms at a party in the woods. Even Fader is fucking it up.

Healthy Dose of Wow

Health - DieSlow

Kicking Ask, Taking Napes

The kid with the Prince Valium haircut is right. If a monster enters your room you kick his ask.

Everyday People

All this Socialism talk in reference to Health Care Reform is dastardly, yet seems to be so easily effective that The Right would be stupid not to throw a couple mentions of Russia into the mix every now and then. It's easy because (though I thought I'd stopped really believing this (because I'm not so cynical and pessimistic as I once was, but maybe I've just begun to ignore things)) people are stupid. And there seems to be coalescing on a broad cultural scale such a thing as American Stupid which isn't reserved for naysaying conservative nincompoops at all, so wipe that smirk off your face. It has more to do with aggressive arrogance, inflated self-importance, and laziness I think.

The above vid was made by Chris Pappas, lead singer of The Everyday Visuals .


No stranger to rabble rousing, those guys ran around in the freezing cold with me to make this for Black20 Live times ago.

Peoples' Lives

Solid mash of doc and music vid on no budget. I dig your style whoever made this.

and the song is full of sentiments that people have in real life, and it's sort of related to this next thing, which by all accounts is going to be the best movie ever, and win every award ever.

Up In The Air starring George Clooney directed by Jason Reitman

Why Do People Like Music?

Some things just suit your fancy.

There it is, something I like, something I'm interested in. Satisfying, good to know, pleasing, fleeting and worthwhile. Also, I feel like the video jacked my subconscious for everything I wanted to see associated with that song right down to the old gas station downtown of some dying midwestern hamlet where there are no jobs left and they have to drive 35 minutes to Wal-Mart to buy groceries.