Blogumentary [chuck olsen]

BLOGUMENTARY NOMINATED FOR SXSW INTERACTIVE???

I've been getting a few referrers from the SXSW Web Awards page. Nothing much there, except for the
Web Awards Randomizer. Well, after clicking on that little bugger a million times, and finding a million cool sites, I arrived here! Does that mean I'm in the running? Dunno, dunno. Allow me share my feverish cream dream: Blogumentary premieres at the SXSW Film Festival. Blogumentary takes the Best Blog at SXSW Interactive.

And. Chuck Olsen is the Best New Band of the Millennium with his hit single, "Bvvvv-dtt-dzzhhh (Oh Grrl)"

Chuck Rocks [Quicktime, 3.6 MB]

MUSIC EXPERIENCES OF 2003

I love lists. I used to love making them, agonizing over the placement of each item. Why agonize? Because music is important. Music is an experience. I imagine myself as a sonic windshield driving through the year... some stuff splats and leaves a permanent stain. Some stuff bounces off. Some stuff I only catch a glimpse of in my rear view mirror. Some stuff puts a bullet in my chest, knocks me unconscious and rolls me into a ditch.

KING OF FRANCE : "Salad Days"
This is one that put a bullet in me. You heard a taste of it in my "Chuck Deleted His Blog" video. Lover don't cry, I am not your man. Steve Salett, the singer/guitar player, has been a charistmatic and enigmatic Minneapolis presence from his days in Deformo. Pete Scholtes' City Pages review rightly calls Steve a "nerdy, indie-rock Johnny Cash." It deeply hovers above sadness, wryly commenting on betrayed love. It shimmers and reverberates. What can I say? It moves me.

Grandaddy, "Sumday"
The Shins, "Chutes Too Narrow"
The Hang Ups, s/t
Junior Senior, "D-D-Don't Don't Stop the Beat"
Röyksopp, "Melody A.M."
Belle & Sebastian, "Dear Catastrophe Waitress"
Beulah, "Yoko"
Broadcast, "Pendulum EP" (didnt hear "Ha Ha Sound")
The Clean, "Anthology"
The Clientele, "The Violet Hour"
Fountains of Wayne, "Welcome Interstate Managers"
Guided By Voices, "Earthquake Glue"
Manitoba, "Up In Flames"
The New Pornographers, "Electric Version"
Super Furry Animals, "Phantom Power"
Supergrass, "Life on Other Planets"
White Stripes, "Elephant"
Yo La Tengo, "Summer Sun"
Sloan, "Action Pact"

SOUNDTRACKS: A Mighty Wind, Kill Bill, Lost in Translation

MOST HONOURABLE MENTIONS: Dandy Warhols, Dressy Bessy, Andrew W.K., Deerhoof, Electric Six, Essex Green, R. Stevie Moore, Atmosphere, Katastrophy Wife, The Jayhawks, Eleni Mandell, Mike Gunther and His Wailing Souls, MC Honky, Liz Phair, The Postal Service, R.E.M., Radiohead, The Rapture, The Sea and Cake, The Soviettes, Starlight Mints, Stereolab, The Strokes, Melt Banana, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Black Rebel Motor Cycle Club, The American Analog Set, Peaches

DIDN'T HEAR ENOUGH, WANNA HEAR MORE: Cat Power, Eels, Fischerspooner, Mates of State, Outkast, TV on the Radio, Faux Jean, The Owls

REFERENCE: Radio K's Top 77

WE'RE BACK! LOVE DEAN/HATE BOSTON

Just a quick note. We had an incredible full day in the very heart of the Dean Machine. Dean and Trippi weren't there, but we did have the pleasure of meeting Trippi's charming pooch, Casey. Mathew Gross was most gracious and fluent as our host, tour guide, and interview subject. We actually witnessed the process of Joe Trippi posting about the $14 million raised this quarter, watched the designer make this baseball graphic, Mathew Gross hit "post" and 45 minutes later it was announced live on CNN's Inside Politics. Incredible! *

Did I say the center of the Dean campaign? I meant the center of democracy reinvented and reborn. We were truly inspired. More on that later.

I saw Jim Moore but he had a group of MeetUp folks from out of town, so sadly we never hooked up. I was also hoping to hookup with the legendary Christopher Lydon and maybe even Dave Winer at Harvard, but it was not to pass this time. I need a longer Boston Blogger visit, so I can talk to all these fine folks and get Halley to wine and dine.

I have to say though. Our first impression of Boston is: Aiiiigh! Fucking Boston streets MAKE NO FUCKING SENSE!!! Sure, I've heard people say this. Ha ha, yes, wacky driving in Boston. Driving around St. Paul doesn't make any sense either, how hard can it be? Let me put it this way. After 2.5 hours trapped in this diabolical maze designed by Hitler and M.C. Escher (with possible invovlement from 'Q') I was ready to stick guns in my every orifice and beg pedestrians to please, please pull the triggers. All of them.

Yeah, next time I'll just take a cab.

* Video coming soon. I promise.

Extended East-Coast Notes [hardcore connoisseurs only]

Lori and I spent Christmas Part III in Virginia. There's something really nice about a colonial Northeast Christmas. BBQ'd salmon steaks for dinner, Norwegian pancakes for breakfast. We saw Return of the King again and watched a bunch of Python and Mr. Bean with Lori's family. I can bond over britcoms.

Our second and final full day there was spent at the Smithsonian. I didn't think we'd want to spend much time at the National Museum of American History, but holy wow. So much cool stuff, and we only saw America on the Move and the History of the Information Age. I was particularly moved to feast my eyes upon the original wooden Apple computer, and my childhood love: the Commodore 64.

Lori and I then parted with the family action to sit and watch beautiful people of all shapes and sizes ice skating to Frank Sinatra. The sun was shining . There were holly trees bursting with berries. It was a delight.

The National Gallery of Art has a fine collection of Picassos, but right now they're exhibiting Picasso: The Cubist Portraits of Fernande Olivier an intense and melancholic series devoted to his ladyfriend Fernande, who was in failing health.

We then emarked on the 10-hour journey to Vermont. As the sun set, I marvelled at real live purple majestic mountains along the way. I'm sure Vermont is beautiful, but we only saw it in the dark. Shadowy mountains and frozen waterfalls stuck to roadside rocks. Magical syrup farms. Hippie ice cream, somewhere.

Now we're back home and addicted to the Harry Potter video game.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, I LOVE YOU

After a lot of stressing out [no money, no time, everything sux!] we had a lovely Christmas eve with my mom, brother, and family. That's what it's about, right? Came home to midnight church bells ringing. I broke off the giant icicle hanging off our roof - quite possibly the most satisfying *snap* of my life. Lori and I wielded it like a mighty Elvin blade. I smashed it against the rusty metal clothes line pipe. *Smack!* Sounded like a baseball. Lori dancing to the Chemical Brothers in her red xxxmas bra. Lori makes everything allright.

We're packing up for some well-deserved R&R in Virginia, then driving up to Dean HQ in Vermont. A documentary classmate is lending me a second camera. Lori is in charge of that one. Blogumentary continues, life journey continues.

P.S. - Stan Brakhage DVD! Schizopolis DVD! Interactive narrative book! And... Sony PS2!

BLOGUMENTARY NEEDS A CAMERA

Help! I'm going to Howard Dean HQ to get the skinny on their campaign's incredible use of blogs, and I'd really love to bring a second camera. Lori is going with me and could get some alternate Blogumentary footage. I'm looking for a small miniDV camera to borrow from now (we leave Christmas night) until 12/30. Please email me ASAP if you can help out. You'd have my eternal gratitude and a lovely film credit.

WEBLOG AWARDS HUBUB

Check out results of the 2003 Weblog Awards. Now, we all know they're a little skewed. These awards are more populist - hell if I can nominate myself and get in, that tells you something. It's a good compliment to something more curated, like the Best of British Blogging.

Poynter raises the issue in my category, "Best Looking Blog":

Steve Outing

Don't Designers Blog? The design of today's weblogs reminds me of the early days of desktop publishing. Those early desktop-published newsletters were often poorly designed (or worse), and often relied on standard templates that came with the software. It's the same with many weblogs today, apparently, if the "winners" of the 2003 Weblog Awards "Best Looking Blog" category" are an indication. While some of the cited blogs have some nice design elements, none of the top 10 quite live up to the standards set by the best commercial media websites.

My response is here, but suffuce to say the sites nominated do not represent the best in blog design. But that's okay. If Snazzy Kat's design reflects her personality and makes her visitors feel welcome, isn't that good blog design? It's certainly unfair to compare that to the top commercial sites.

More:
Arguing with Signposts: Steve Outing cheap shots blogs
Wizbang: GRUMBLINGS

BUSH IN 30 SECONDS: NOW IT'S ON

Vote now in MoveOn.org's Bush in 30 Seconds campaign. There's some good and some bad. My friend Cori has a good one. You can't vote for it though, unless it's selected among the 20 random ads you get to vote on. They've devised a good voting system.

BL0GG3RZ SUCK

Circuitously via fakeindierockband.com who thinks I mention Fimoculous Rex too much. She doesn't realize I'm on Rex's payroll for the following weekly services:

(1) Blog link, in a flattering light
(3) New phone numbers from fine ladies
(42) Full body massages, with release
(constant) Locate, thwart, destroy potential/known enemies

We're all sitting in the looming shade of Fimoculous' Technorati ranking: 208 Inbound Blogs, 234 Inbound Links. Ahh, but what's this? The glorious ruins of Chuck's Blogumentary [Blogger Archive] clocking in with 223 Inbound Blogs, 239 Inbound Links. Yes, this link fetishism is one reason why blogg3rz suck.

• Best of British Blogging Awards 2003. Best writing rightly goes to belle de jour: diary of a london call girl. Hello, my name is Randymuch?
• Barrett's Delightful Christmas Prank | "Coke is a totally acceptable holiday drug"
• Gizmodo of contemporary design: Mocoloco
• Lord of the Right Wing: Recall Bush
• Whoa: The Pussy Ranch wunderduo are getting married. Congrats you guys!
• Meanwhile, Sedalina's marriage is off, for now. Get well soon in every respect.

FRIEND XMAS ROCKS

You know why friends are the best? No no no, not because they're the people you jump up and down with at the Guided By Voices show. Not because you can trust them enough to say things aren't going so well. Not because you can joke about how super gay the end of Return of the King is, all hopping into Frodo's sheets with their little hobbit naughty bits a-twitter. No, I'm afraid it's simply a matter of material lust.

Friends give the best Christmas booty.

The DVDs alone make me quiver in anticipated delight: Family Guy 3rd Season. Dark Days. DEVO: The Complete Truth About De-Evolution. Tenacious D: The Complete Master Works. The Graduate. Monty Python & the Holy Grail: Collector's Edition. ResFest Vol 3. The Work of Director Chris Cunningham. Punch Drunk Love. Get the picture? My knees liquify and I drop to the ground. I lap up my knee-liquid like a greedy little mutt, only to see it rush out my leg stumps again. Mmm, it's so good, this quivery knee-liquid! It fills the room and I'm suspended in media gel, floating before the television. My DVD embalming station.

I'm not even mentioning the CDs, the video games, the naughty books. Certainly not saying a word about the deluxe booze or the fuzzy warm slippers. All orbiting around me in this galaxy of quivery knee-liquid: curated manifestations of love.

And how is your holly-day, blog friends?

Since I missed Sharyn's sushifest, I must continue to experience her vicariously in blog form. She's discovered a ROTK photo that I'm fairly certain didn't appear in the theatrical release. Her Holidazzle gallery almost makes the hated Christmas parade look enjoyable. But I'm not fooled.

More fantasy coming our way from New Zealand: The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe to begin shooting next winter. The snowy Christian delights of Narnia beckon us into the closet! Oh, what new gayness awaits?

Saddam captured by Kurdish forces, drugged, left for U.S.

Howard Dean: Napster Runs for Prez | Out of the Mainstream? hardly

Now on TypePad: John Perry Barlow

December 22, 2003 at 04:39 AM in Personal Crap | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack

I BESEECH YOU TO LOOK!

Kate Sullivan's bathroom

No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present instant. Take peace! The gloom of the world is but a shadow. Behind it, yet within reach, is joy. There is radiance and glory in the darkness, could we but see, and to see we have only to look. I beseech you to look!

Jesus, check out what's on Kate's tree: the cut-out satellite from ELO's "Out of the Blue" album, a Rolling Stones keychain, a magic wand, a Wellstone button and my tiny Britney bear whose T-shirt says "Oops!" It's a good tree.

No, it's a fucking awesome tree. I'm now inspired to rock our tree. Hard.

Allow me to swear once more. I'm so fucking glad it's friday. This is hopefully my last all-niter. I can't wait to see Return of the King and become human again. A human who drinks fancy drinks.

Lars von Trier and Paul Thomas Anderson interview each other [ via kottke ]

December 19, 2003 at 02:26 AM in Revelations Regarding Life, the Universe, and Crap | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack