Blogumentary [chuck olsen]

Amanda's Hybridfest video

Hey dudes! Long time since I rapped at ya. I've been insanely busy with video spaghetti brain. I was very excited that one of the questions I filmed for The Uptake made it into the CNN/YouTube debates. Meanwhile, I just got back from Wisconsin where I edited a video for Amanda Congdon on ABCnews.com. It was a challenge... but the final video turned out pretty good. It's about all the latest enviro-car technology at HybridFest.

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO
links & comments

Now I'm trying to write and shoot a bunch of videos with "Corn Guy" before leaving for another cabin weekend.

Friday afternoon I'm on a panel at the Alliance for Community Media conference along with folks like Bill Streeter. Michael Verdi was here for it earlier this week. Sadly I have no time to hang out with anybody or be a proper Minneapolis ambassador. Next week, I'm off to Chicago for the YearlyKos Convention filming for The Uptake and Rocketboom. Woooooeeeee!

What the heck... more MN Stories kudos

Thanks Vita.mn users for voting MN Stories #4 among Best Local Blogs.
Sweeeet! What a fine list, too.

I also stumbled upon a really delightful blurb from Broadband Jungle Blog:

The ingredients are simple: Information, humor and lots of very specific details about the urban Midwestern identity. Calling it This American Life from Lake Wobegon would be quite appropriate.

Note to self: Work on Ira Glass/Garrison Keillor/Morris Day hybrid look.

It's not very midwestern to gloat, but I'm really proud of the stuff on MN Stories lately. The "I Hate My Job" song/animation is pretty cute. Nobody else has video of the DFL blasting Norm Coleman about his recent re-commitment to the Iraq War. Butterfly Pee - that was actually filmed last year. So much good stuff waiting to be edited. Two Prince-related videos. Mike Hazard sent in a video of Mpls Institute of Arts curator Ted Hartwell right after he died. A documentary on rock climbing and another on sex education. A beautiful serene loon video, Miss Hmong Minnesota, kiteboarding on Mille Lacs.

What a freaking schizoid site, and I love it so. People are watching but they don't comment very often. So seeing some love in the Vita.mn poll means a great deal to me.

5:15 am, bird are chirping... time for bed.

I'm yr video ambassador

Jackson West just published a lovely writeup of yours truly on NewTeeVee.com:
Chuck Olsen, Minnesota’s Video Ambassador. What a sweet-ass way to kick off the weekend.

He mentions (and heck, embeds video from) a couple of previously-top-secret new projects I've been working on. This first is a new local - for now - videoblog about food. Mainly restaurant, bar, and cafe reviews, but Lori and I also hope to visit farms, gardens, and kitchens. It's called Gastronomical and it's super not ready for prime time. Don't even go to the web site. Unless you want to want a half-done video with an awesome theme song.

The other project, publicly unveiled on Minnesota Stories earlier this week, is The Uptake. At the Personal Democracy Forum in NYC, Thomas Friedman asked, "Will journalism be done by you, or to you?" We've taken than as our motto. You know that whole "My choice of weapons: A camera and a blog" and "We are the media" thing? That's what it's all about. We're not leaving the Macaca moments to chance. We're building an army of camera-equipped citizen journalists, documenting political events and political people. The first big event we're covering is the Yearly Kos Convention in Chicago. Just a couple of us are heading down (on the dreaded Megabus) but it should be a good time. Keep an eye on this project, and let me know if you want to get involved, especially as the RNC approaches.

Let the bodies hit the floor

This video "rawks"! (via)

WSJ calls Sicko a "blogumentary"

Wall Street Journal film review of Michael Moore's Sicko:

When the government stripped Mr. Incredible of his superhero status in "The Incredibles," he was reduced to working in the claims department of an HMO, where his job was to deny claims. His testimony would have been a worthy addition to "Sicko," though Michael Moore's argumentative blogumentary about health care is shockingly funny -- and sometimes genuinely shocking -- without him.

Rocket booms in Israel

This Rocketboom special report from Sderot, Israel (near the Gaza strip) generated a lot of heated commentary. Isn't it weirdly ironic that the Rocketboom logo's rocket looks like a stylized Qassam rocket? Anyway, here's my $0.02.

80 comments so far - that says a lot.

I thought this slice of life on the Gaza border was educational and interesting. I knew Drew and Joanne were in Israel for a few days, so I was hoping they would venture out and show us something about what life is like there, and they did.

I disagree that "this story failed." It's good to have high expectations, absolutely. But this slice of video isn't trying to be more than that. Like much of what you see online, it requires you to be smarter. This is one perspective, but only one of many to help you form an opinion about the Israel/Palestine conflict. Many more opinions in the comments -- ignited by the video. This really shows how RB has become more participatory with threaded/rated comments.

I think Rocketboom would have failed by not showing us this video.

Let's Go (Prince) Crazy

I have Prince madness! Prince fans in Minneapolis and beyond are dying to get into his show at First Avenue. They're lined up around the block. I don't have the endurance to stand in line downtown on one of the hottest days of the year - this will surely be a test of how far Prince fans are willing to go. I did make it into PiPress music writer Ross Raihala's roundup of favorite Prince songs, though:

"Darling Nikki" (1984): "A scuzzy kid named Shane used to crank this song in the back of my Fridley school bus. Every day. He had long hair, a cross earring, and wore a jean jacket laden with metal band pins. A stoner burnout, playing this dirty Prince song that made the whole bus feel naughty and super cool. It's not my favorite Prince song, but I'll forever remember it as a preteen hormone amplifier." -- Chuck Olsen, Blogumentary.

Chuck Klosterman naturally has a hilarious take on this tune. There are lots of Prince songs I like much more - "I Would Die 4 U" just might be my favorite.

Flight of the Conchords

It's like Pet Shop Boys meets "One Night in Bangkok" - but funnier. [via Steve G]

Has anyone seen the show yet? Must. Set. DVR.

MNspeak gathering

Big fun meeting lotsa MNspeak peeps! Much whiskey = bad video: