Eric Mortensen

waxandmilk:

ALL BROWN EVERYTHING

(via melissa)

Dogfish Head Bitches Brew

Calagione was drawn to the alchemical spirits in Bitches Brew right out of college, acquiring a copy of the album “within months of the first time I brewed a batch of homebrew in my apartment in New York City. I listened to it when I was writing my Dogfish business plan. I wanted Dogfish Head to be a maniacally inventive and creative brewery, analog beer for the digital age. You could say that my dream was to have Dogfish Head, in some small way, stand for the same thing in the beer world that Bitches Brew stands for in the jazz world. You can imagine how excited we are to be doing this project 17 years after I wrote that business plan.”

The Blue Up? - Blasting XTC

from Spool Forka Dish

Ana Voog writes, sings, and plays everything but drums here.  I never get tired of listening to this.

What’s with the close / minimize / maximize buttons being vertical in the top “toolbar” of iTunes 10? As I stated to my cohorts here at TUAW this morning, doesn’t that fly in the face of 10 years of experience with OS X and even violate Apple’s Human Interface Guidlines? Fortunately, there’s relief. A tweet from @rudyrichter showed how to fix this — pop into Terminal and type or paste in “defaults write com.apple.iTunes full-window -1”, press Return, relaunch iTunes and life is back to normal.

via TUAW

Plex announces partnership with LG, pledges to beat Boxee Box and Apple TV for free | Engadget

mcnallyjackson:

towirr:

A display I put up in McNally Jackson yesterday. The photo is terrible, I know, but I guess I think it’s funny?

It’s like a venn diagram, and the two circles are Kickass and Totally Rad. Nominated for the Best Display in McNally Jackson History Award.

peterfeld:

And we sit yoga-style in an Uncle Sam suit underneath our fake missile, and ride around Manhattan in the 95-degree heat to publicize our campaign to vilify an innocent minority group… but we’re not weird or anything.

I was curious how much of this video people watched. Then I remembered that I work at a company that provides such information!

Was walking behind these people near Washington Square Park today. Filmed them for a while. Roughly looped a segment of it and embedded it within a larger city soundscape.

via mandalay:abandonments:absurdlakefront:getthefuckoutrightnow

You already saw one Jan Brewer meltdown today. But did you see this one? Absolutely astonishing. This woman is deliberately and dangerously dishonest.

Add your last.fm username or URL.

bliptv:

Josh Cohen of Tubefilter says Status Kill has a “fantastic premise” that’s “equal parts action flick, clever comedy, and social commentary”.

I have to agree.

Read on

Last night’s screening went very well. The house was packed and people really seemed to enjoy it.  If you haven’t seen the trailer, you can find it here.

sippor:

Bruce Springsteen - Born in the USA

Imagine moving to America in 1986 with this song and cars like boats and seatbelt buckles so hot they burned your skin. When we left Sweden it was still dark outside and it was raining. There was water all over the window when I waved to my family. They were standing on the tarmac and became so small. In America my dad bought a blue Cadillac Seville with a white top and you could only be naked at home and everyone had a religion except us. Kids were kidnapped and people couldn’t understand our accents. There was television all the time and all the food was sugar. In Sweden we had only two television channels and the prime minister had just been killed. Over and over they showed the dark street with a puddle of blood that looked sticky and black. America was shiny and New York was still dirty and I walked around with a lexicon for all the words I didn’t know, which was most of them, and I kept a diary of all the ones I did. When I learned the word ‘because’ I said it over and over again, even when it didn’t make sense, because it felt nice in my mouth. In my diary I wrote about being in love with Bruce Springsteen even though Born in the USA was the only song I knew and felt like I knew something secret about that country.

This is new to iTunes 10, right? I got this little breakout w/ cover art and controls by double clicking on the cover art at the bottom left of the app. New or not, I like it.

wewantnothing:

Jean-Michel Basquiat : The Radiant Child— TRAILER.m4v (via MissCrewTV)

Trailer of the new documentary Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child. 

Directed by Tamra Davis, the documentary features never-before seen footage of the prolific artist painting, talking about his art, and existing in the two years prior to his death in 1988. 

The OST features music from Mike D and Ad Rock. 

Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child was released on Feb 21st

More Basquait.

Barbara Dianne Hagood, of Mariner Energy, owner of the oil rig/platform that exploded this morning. 

Ms. Hagood made this statement yesterday. 

via Think Progress

Moving above 720p requires additional horsepower.  In Apple’s case, higher resolutions also won’t be viewable on iPod/iPhone/iPad. But this is fine, because the overwhelming majority of Americans don’t have a fast enough pipe to watch proper 1080p video. Your Internet tubes are the same size whether you’re streaming 720p or 1080p.  If it’s not being distributed on a disc or downloaded in full, it’s highly likely that 720p video will actually look better than 1080p. I’ll take more bits per line over more lines any day.

jasencomstock:

notthatkindagay:

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer’s opening statement in last night’s debate reflects either an amazing lack of preparation, or sheer panic.

(h/t Politico)

:-O What is this! how are you a politician?!

Wow. She could be VP to President John McCain!

The pricing on Roku is off.  They sell their HD model for $69. The $99 XR model merely upgrades the 802.11g wifi to 802.11n. And blip.tv content is available on nearly all of these devices.  I’m not sure about the WDTV as I really don’t know much about it. But I’m guessing you can get it on there somehow.

via Engadget

Apple TV is a Google-esque break from that consistency. 

themattsmith:

notoriousgab:

themattsmith:

soupsoup:

Apple relaunches Apple TV

• $99
• Movies, TV shows, and music.
• Both Ethernet and WiFi built in.
• HDMI for HD Video.
• No storage, all rentals, no purchases.
• Streaming video, no syncing.
• $4.99 for first run HD movies.
• 99 cent TV episode rentals.
• Netflix, YouTube, Flickr, ABC and Fox are available at launch

 It’s like the Roku, but years later.

You also just witnessed the death of Roku, unless they drop their price-point by at least half.

This is the exact same Apple TV with Netflix tacked on.  It offers little to nothing that isn’t available on most TVs, Blu Ray players, etc. being sold these days. It’s still $30-$40 more than a Roku. 

I have an Apple TV.  I have, more or less, a larger version of this Apple TV. Jobs knows it’s a half-baked product. Remember, this is a man who never shies away from calling anything and everything the Best Thing Ever. What does it say about the product when he insists on calling it a hobby?

housingworksbookstore:

“It’s a shame that Moustafa Bayoumi’s book, a thoughtful and highly regarded portrait of the group living with this growing antagonism, has to be at the heart of it.” (via The Book Bench: How It Feels to Be A Problem : The New Yorker)

Maybe it’s not. Maybe this is exactly the book we all need to go buy and read right now and we can turn it into a #1 best seller…

For much of the past half-century, the problems that have brought Washington to its current state have been concealed or made tolerable by other circumstances. The discipline of the Cold War kept certain kinds of debate within bounds. America’s artificial “last one standing” postwar economy allowed the country to ignore obvious signs of political and social decay. Wars and other military interventions provided ample distraction from matters of substance at home. Like many changes that are revolutionary, none of Washington’s problems happened overnight. But slow and steady change over many decades—at a rate barely noticeable while it’s happening—produces change that is transformative. In this instance, it’s the kind of evolution that happens inevitably to rich and powerful states, from imperial Rome to Victorian England. The neural network of money, politics, bureaucracy, and values becomes so tautly interconnected that no individual part can be touched or fixed without affecting the whole organism, which reacts defensively. And thus a new president, who was elected with 53 percent of the popular vote, and who began office with 80 percent public-approval ratings and large majorities in both houses of Congress, found himself for much of his first year in office in stalemate, pronounced an incipient failure, until the narrowest possible passage of a health-care bill made him a sudden success in the fickle view of the commentariat, whose opinion curdled again when Obama was unable, with a snap of the fingers or an outburst of anger, to stanch the BP oil spill overnight. And whose opinion spun around once more when he strong-armed BP into putting $20 billion aside to settle claims, and asserted presidential authority by replacing General Stanley McChrystal with General David Petraeus. The commentariat’s opinion will keep spinning with the wind.

Stone Gate Vineyard and Winery, Gilford, New Hampshire

There are 30+ wineries in New Hampshire. Most truck in their grapes from elsewhere. Stone Gate trucks in some, but not all, of its grapes. It grows small amounts of a wide variety of grapes and just enough Leon Millot to bottle a very limited reserve of 50 cases. All wines are available only on the premises.

I posted this about a year ago, but it seems particularly relevant right now so I’m posting it again.

The Beatles - Commonwealth

from Get Back Sessions - Unreleased

This track, when combined with Get Off White Power, clearly shows that the origins of “Get Back” were much more political than the end result.

From Wikipedia:

Around the time he was developing the lyrics to “Get Back”, McCartney satirised the “Rivers of Blood speech” by former British Cabinet ministerEnoch Powell in a brief jam that has become known as the “Commonwealth Song”. The lyrics included a line “You’d better get back to your Commonwealth homes”. The “Commonwealth Song” had no musical resemblance to “Get Back”, but gives insight into the thinking behind the song’s lyrics. On 9 January Paul introduced “Get Back” to the group, with the “Sweet Loretta” verse very near to its finished version. Improvising various temporary lyrics led to what has become known in Beatles folklore as the “No Pakistanis” version.^[7] This version is more racially charged, satirising right wing attitudes toward immigrants in America and the UK: “…don’t need no Puerto Ricans living in the USA” and “don’t dig no Pakistanis taking all the people [sic] jobs”.^[8]

I’ve got lots more Behind The Beatles stories here.

This has been one of the most popular posts on my old blog for years. I thought it was worth updating a bit, so here’s a slightly revised version.

A lot of people have their computers and other electronics into devices they think are surge protectors. Often, they’re just glorified extension cords. I once had a power surge fry my cable box while sparing other devices plugged into the same strip. While I had a real surge protector, it wasn’t exactly the highest quality. Sadly, I knew this and ignored it. Fortunately, the cable company swapped out my box with no questions asked.

Howstuffworks has some tips for surge protector buyers: 

On a listed surge protector, you should find a couple of ratings. Look for:

• Clamping voltage - This tells you what voltage will cause the MOVs to conduct electricity to the ground line. A lower clamping voltage indicates better protection. There are three levels of protection in the UL rating — 330 V, 400 V and 500 V. Generally, a clamping voltage more than 400 V is too high.
  
• Energy absorption/dissipation - This rating, given in joules, tells you how much energy the surge protector can absorb before it fails. A higher number indicates greater protection. Look for a protector that is at least rated at 200 to 400 joules. For better protection, look for a rating of 600 joules or more.
  
• Response time - Surge protectors don’t kick in immediately; there is a very slight delay as they respond to the power surge. A longer response time tells you that your computer (or other equipment) will be exposed to the surge for a greater amount of time. Look for a surge protector that responds in less than one nanosecond.
  

I might add that, while it is important to check the stats of these things, it’s even more important not to get sucked into the outrageous claims and high prices of the products your local home electronics salesman will try to sell you. They often look very fancy, but seldom match your needs.

Still want more info? Scroll down to the bottom of this post to fully understand the dangers of cheap surge protectors. 

Do you just want me to tell you what surge protectors to buy?  OK.  Here are three reasonably priced products that I can personally vouch for:

• APC PER7T - Protects seven devices - $10
• Belkin BZ111200-06 - Protects and conceals 11 devices, including up to five wall warts. - $24
• Belkin Mini Surge Protector - Protects 3 devices + 2 USB ports w/ no cord - $15

from the archives: 03/23/2006

Baxter vs The Infinite

We recently spent a week in New Hampshire. It was an unparalleled experience for our dog.

While Baxter was was born homeless in a rural area, he’s been a city dog ever since we adopted him. He’s a very happy pup, but he’s used to being boxed in. By our apartment. By the city. By the length of his leash. Even in Prospect Park, he’s all too aware of where his world ends. This is not true of New Hampshire.  

We had Baxter on extremely long lead and he would just go to the very end of it and gaze into the distance. He wouldn’t move a muscle. He never got tired of it. It was a pleasure to watch him stare, quietly and patiently, into the distance, thinking whatever it is that dogs think. This photograph perfectly captures the the essence of what we were both feeling at that moment.

Here’s another picture of Baxter.

Above an one of the blip.tv urinals, you’ll find this greeting card featuring a few frames of Ze Frank dancing. It’s been there for nearly a year. Despite being held up by an extremely tiny piece of scotch tape, it has never fallen into what would surely be its watery grave.

Just how bad is Flash on Android?

Laughably bad.

melissa:

mcnallyjackson:

Your day today. This, my friends, is exciting and big and great. 

Nice! I’ll have to grab one on the way home today.

CLARIFICATION: I’m referring to Melissa & Meghano’s Coming & Crying…not the Franzen book.

theeconomist:

Iran’s president poses with a new drone. Meanwhile, the country’s nuclear programme continues to trouble western governments.

I’m crossing my fingers and hoping that Steve Jobs ditches his tired turtleneck + slideshow bit tomorrow and embraces ‘dinejad style.

Orrin Hatch 

via TPM

exultant. (by Lex Miller)

via robot-heart

robot-heart-politics:

lookatthisfuckingteabagger:tytnation:

Glenn Beck Rally Attendee Exposed

This lady is so confused stupid. 

shelterfromthenorm:

“Eli’s Coming” by Three Dog Night

(Words/Music: Laura Nyro, Album: Suitable For Framing, Dunhill Records 1969)

Leave it to Aaron Sorkin to introduce me to one of the coolest songs I have ever heard. Let me explain. 

It seems that the writer of such quick-witted films as A Few Good Men and Charlie Wilson’s War and the TV series “West Wing” used to stay up late while he was writing the screenplay for American President. And what did he do while he was writing and working through ideas? He watched ESPN’s SportsCenter. Because a creative mind like Sorkin’s is always working, he began developing a TV series about producing a sports highlight show called “Sports Night.” And although it only lasted two seasons, and I don’t think I ever saw a single episode before it went off the air, it quickly became one of my favorite shows via the reruns on Comedy Central. Becoming riveted by the quick-paced show’s witty dialog and complex plots (almost unheard of for a 30 minute “sitcom”), season one ended with a a show called “Eli’s Coming” and one of the main characters referenced the song in the show, indicating that he thought it was about impending doom. (Watch the episode on YouTube - it will be the best 22 minutes of your day) He and the other sports anchor get into a bit of a debate about the meaning of the song, the second anchor (Peter Krause from “Six Feet Under”) claimed it was about the deserved downfall of a womanizer. That single 30 second debate was enough to have me hunting down the song. I guess I am naturally attracted to songs which can have multiple interpretations. At that point, I had only known Three Dog Night for their bigger hits like “Joy To The World” and “Mama Told Me Not To Come.” “Eli’s Coming,” with its eerie opening, funky rhythms, and vocal harmonies, is one of the more complex songs in the Three Dog Night catalog. And every time I hear it, I run to my computer and watch me some “Sports Night.”

More Three Dog Night: AmazonMP3 - last.fm - AllMusic - eMusic

Bruno. The West Wing “Gone Quiet”

via priyapp

Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – Hand Covers Bruise (no piano)

from The Social Network

Further evidence that The Social Network is a very dark film.

\via weruintooeasy

bliptv:

Web series veteran Justin Kownacki is launching a spinoff of his long running (Since 2003!) show, Something To Be Desired. He needs $3000 in oder to launch the first season. Donors get to help cast the show.

I just pledged some $$$!

fleetfootedfox:

click for moar

It’s supposed to be mocking silly startup ideas, but THIS WOULD BE SO AWESOME!

candometa:

osmium:

6h057:

Today, this was my favorite.

It’s incredible that this story, showcasing the sincere love of America an outsider can have, something that could easily be shown to 5th graders to teach them how special America is, comes from Al Jazeera. Do we all need a reality check?

Joseph (around 15:15): “Big, big buildings, tall, going to the sky. Very beautiful indeed. Every street in New York is very jam-packed. It’s jam-packed to capacity. It is exciting. If immigrants can come together and build that wonderful city, then I want to be a good immigrant. So people will say, ‘Yeah this guy made an impact on other people’s lives.’”

Corrupt, a web-based tool built with Processing, will corrupt visual data for you. If you care to upload an image, Corrupt will break it for you.

More glitchy goodness @ blog.worshiptheglitch.com/glitches

from the archives: 05/03/2006

kateoplis:

The Washington Post’s media critic Howard Kurtz today uses his Post column to send a gushing love letter to Time Magazine and its executives.  Entitled “Thinner Time magazine still manages to stand out,” it reads like a Time Warner Press Release heaping praise on its magazine for great success.  The first sentence crowns Time Editor-in-Chief Rick Stengel as “the last man standing,” trumpets Time’s success in comparison to the struggles ofNewsweek and U.S. News, and claims — most hilariously of all — that “Time has done it mainly with serious journalism.”

What makes this so amazing is that Kurtz himself does not merely sound like an employee of Time Warner; he is one.  Time Warner pays him a substantial salary — and gives him a prominent television platform — for hosting CNN’s Sunday morning show, Reliable Sources.  In return, Kurtz then uses his Post column to glorify Time Warner’s magazine and its executives.  The fact that The Washington Post employs as its media critic an employee of Time Warner, the largest media conglomerate in the world, has to be the most mammoth and inexcusable conflict of interest in American journalism, one that simply cannot be cured even with full disclosure.

— Glenn Greenwald

soupsoup:

premiere:

Harry Shearer—of This is Spinal Tap and “The Simpsons” fame—decides to makes a Serious Documentary.

The voice of Mr. Burns talks to Premiere’s Michael Gaughn about his new documentary The Big Uneasy, post-Katrina flooding, and his beloved city of New Orleans.

What was the learning curve like making a documentary?

Well, my producer Karen Murphy and I had shot five little documentary pieces two years ago for mydamnchannel.com of five people I know here, mainly musicians, telling their post-Katrina stories. Otherwise, the learning curve was very steep. But I had an experienced documentary cinematographer and my producer had done all of Chris Guest’s faux documentaries and had started out in real documentaries. And I had been making fun of documentary—with Chris, with Spinal Tap, and with Albert Brooks’s first movie, Real Life, which was a faux documentary. So I’d been a student of the form from the other side for a long time.

Of course, you collaborated on the most famous fake documentary of all time.

Yeah, it’s ironic. You know, there is this rule in satire that you end up being what you make fun of.

Ra Ra Riot Interview on Noisemakers on Noisevox.

On this episode of Rehearsal Space - How does one describe Stereolab’s music? Alternative rock? Post-rock? Art rock? Experimental? Avant-garde? The fact that it can’t be easily categorized is both a testament to the band and an explanation to why their overwhelming critical and cult success never translated into mainstream popularity. Their disparate influences include krautrock, 1960s pop and lounge music while their socio-political lyrics are sung in both French and English. This unusual style is coupled with technical innovation and a fondness for vintage keyboards. After a career spanning 19 years, Stereolab just announced on their website they are taking an indeterminate hiatus to rest up and work on other projects. In this episode of Rehearsal Space, Tim Gain and Lætitia Sadier discuss the London music scene of the early nineties, the pros and cons of music’s digital age and the one thing they wish they’d done differently.

New in Harvey’s Kitchen:

The Junior League Band is an old-time inspired rock band fronted by the Georgia grown banjo, vocalist, Lissy Rosemont. Based out of Washington, DC, this nationally touring band has been compared to “Alison Krauss and the Band” by the Washington Post, and touts Levon Helm’s own horn players on their catchy single “South Carolina Blues.” Rosemont has been referred to as one of the “most promising up and coming vocalists on the Americana scene” (Bristol Rythm and Roots Festival) as well as recorded in the studio her old-time banjo with acts such as Missy Elliott and the Pussy Cat Dolls.

Rosemont’s family runs the oldest fiddler’s festival in the country, the Old-Time Fiddler’s Convention in Union Grove, NC. The 5 instrumentalists merge these influences with delta blues and pop rock (50’s to Indie Rock) to make for an energetic, sing-song, string heavy, danceable yet mesmerizing live performance. Expect a show ripe with catchy melodies, toe tapping beats, sweet vocals, and some of the countries most talented up and coming players.

Dave of De La Soul talks about the longevity of the crew and making music on this episode of Hip Hop Official.

Hard Knock TV’s Devi Dev and Nick Huff Barili talk to Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek talk about the early years of Kanye West’s career. From Kanye opening up for Kweli to labels not wanting to sign him as a rapper. Kweli says that people didn’t see Kanye’s vision as an artist and just wanted his beats. Kweli says that he knew “College Drop Out” was a classic when he first heard it.

Portland’s Quasi, who have been around since 1993, talk with John Norris on Face Time - a show from Noisemakers on Noisevox.

The Clientele play “I Wonder Who We Are” for Bandstand Busking in Victoria Park, London.

Liars - Scissor

Noisemakers On Noisevox

A native of Wisconsin, Anna Vogelzang has toured extensively in the Midwest but Harvey Robinson of Harvey’s Kitchen were fortunate enough to catch her in Greensboro, NC for a quick session on his porch.

Here she is performing Tiny Monsters from the album, Paper Boats.

Hypnogaja joins host Curt Smith for the first ever episode of Stripped Down Live. 

Jeff Tweedy on Q TV - A rare exclusive feature interview with the Wilco frontman.

Hamilton Leithauser of The Walkmen talks about the influence Roy Orbison has had on him and joins the rest of the band to perform ‘Canadian Girl’ from their album ‘You & Me” at the famous Sun Studio.

John Norris interviews Twin Sister on Noisevox’s new show Face Time.

Reflection Eternal (Hi-Tek and Talib Kweli) talk to Hard Knock TV’s Devi Dev about the impact of Dr Dre’s Chronic album and how Gansta rap dominated music in 1993. Hi-Tek also talks about being signed to Dre’s aftermath label as a producer, how Dre is a mentor to him and how people perceive Dre. He also talks about the status of Detox.

Michael Whitmore performs a 10 string classical guitar composition on this episode of eGuiders Originals.

On a special day in April, Ed Harcourt brought his new album to the Bandstand Busking stage. With support from The Langley Sisters, he played to a packed bandstand. Have a listen to “Killed by the Morning Sun.”

The American indie-rockers, Band of Horses, were in studio Q to promote their new album “Infinite Arms.”

M.I.A. has a lot to say about music, privacy, fashion and more on this episode of Nylon TV.

Broken Social Scene sit down and chat with QTV after performing live music from their new album ‘Forgiveness Rock Record.’

—-

QTV is the televised version of CBC Radio One’s Q. A daily exploration of all facets of arts, culture and entertainment. Tune into the podcast version of a show about the diversity of creativity: inspiration, passion and originality are our raw material.

New Jersey. Yes, this band is from New Jersey. They’ve performed on the Conan O’Brien show, been featured by Spin Magazine, performed at Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Coachella, and were formerly signed to Drive-Thru Records before this latest album. We had to wait until the release of their newest album, “Steel Train” before we could post this stripped down version of “Bullet.” I did witness and record them engaged in a very funny crank call to a manager of another band, letting him know that the state bureau of alcohol enforcement had them under investigation for giving a 16 year old beer at an afterparty. That part isn’t in this clip, but will be revisited in a larger piece about the kitchen series. Since others have shared it, I will say the lead singer used to date Scarlett Johansson. Yes. That one. Many of the songs on the previous album are about their relationship and breakup. Songs from the well-received album, “Trampoline” have been featured on MTV’s The Real World, and CBS’s Harper’s Island. Many thanks to our friend and North Carolina Native, Mr. Justin Huey for helping us make this happen. Current members are: Jack Antonoff - vocals, guitar, piano, drums Evan Winiker - bass, backing vocals (2002-Present) Daniel Silbert - guitar, backing vocals (2006-Present) Jon Shiffman - drums, percussion (2006-Present) Justin Huey - vocals, piano, wurlitzer (2008-Present) Praise for Steel Train and Trampoline: “One of the best albums of 2007” -ESQUIRE.COM “This New York City band’s second full-length album, Trampoline, is so relentlessly sincere and introspective” -ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY “Packed with pop nuggets” -ALTERNATIVE PRESS ” the band stares straight at suffering and counters cold horror with an audible confidence in perseverance” -SPIN.COM “Having spent a nonstop life on the road, this band proves that they deserve the attention” -RELIX

——

Harvey’s Kitchen brings you music, art, and all manner of things both in the kitchen and outside of it.

Harvey’s Kitchen: Amelia’s Mechanics - Part 2 - (see Part 1 here) - Molly McGinn and Molly Miller after completing their first album “North, South” with Kasey Horton and produced by Jim Avett, are now beginning the process of recording their second album with 3 time grammy award winner Steven Heller and Laurelyn Dossett at Echo Studios. This is a bit of departure from the usual Kitchen episode. The song was recorded live next to our dirty dishes but Carolyn and I also ventured out to a few venues to capture a little live footage to complement the performance. This particular song will be appearing on their as yet untitled new album. If their introduction is anything to go by, this band is definitely going places.

—-

Harvey’s Kitchen brings you music, art, and all manner of things both in the kitchen and outside of it.

This is a really fantastic series. Some of the best sounding/looking live performances I’ve seen on the video web. If you’re a fan of Folk/ Bluegrass / Alt. Country music you need to check this out and browse the entire series of episodes here.

On Chit Chattin With Joe (via Scrapple.tv), Joe Walker, of Breakfast at Sulimay’s fame, catches up with Minus the Bear band members Erin and Cory. They discuss the raunchy history of the Trocadero along with the inspiration and approach to their new album “Omni.”

—-

Scrapple.tv - We’ve combined all the meaty goodness with some of the finest talents in the world to serve you the finest in pirate television!

NYC’s favorite creative powerhouse Mr. Bobbito Garcia, gets the spotlight treatment as he takes us a ride through some of his career highs, inspirations and a life changing moment in Africa.

—-

Friends We Love (FWL) is a boutique production company and video series conceived by filmmaker Mike Vargas and multi-media artist Moni Pineda. Our mission is to produce dynamic online content that documents the creative process of artists and inspires dialogue and self-expression through a global online community. FWL consists of various artistic initiatives including a short-documentary series, educational programs and public performance events, including but not limited to art installations, festivals & film screenings. Our programming seeks to educate & celebrate artists through cultural exchange, community building and collaborations between the online and offline community.

Dr. Dog sings, “Jackie Wants a Black Eye” at Heathers in the East Village.

——

The FADER is the definitive voice of emerging music and the lifestyle that surrounds it. Through in-depth reporting and a distinct street sensibility, The FADER aggressively covers the most dynamic breadth of music and style emanating from the fringes of the mainstream to the heart of the underground. The FADER is the authority on what’s next.

HardKnock.tv caught up with Nas and Damian Marley behind the scenes of their music video for As We Enter. In this interview Nas responds to Drake comparing himself to Jay-Z and J Cole to Nas. The interview continues with Nas talking about the next generation of rappers and their ability to carry the torch for Hip Hop, collaborating with Jay Electronica and comparing what is going in the West Coast between new rappers and establish rappers to what is going on in the East Coast.

—-

Not since Yo! MTV Raps has there been a Hip Hop TV show, which delves into the mainstream and underground to bring viewers the uncut TRUTH of what is going on in Hip Hop today. From its in-depth interviews and profiles, to rare music videos, Hardknock TV elevates the language and dialogues associated with hip hop culture, offering a unique forum to explore issues relevant to the hip hop/urban community.

On a very chilly afternoon last December, Fyfe Dangerfield popped down to Victoria Park bandstand along with another 100 or so brave souls. The frozen toes and fingers were worth it though, have a listen to these fine songs from his debut solo album Faster Than The Setting Sun, Any Direction , She Needs Me and Livewire.

——

Bandstand Busking - Bringing acoustic sessions and interviews from any of London’s many bandstands…Bandstand Busking is exactly what it says it is. In some of London’s prettiest parks, on some of London’s prettiest days…we bring you some of London’s prettiest music.

Just A Minute with The Swellers - Ryan and Nick from The Swellers tell us all about Fueled By Ramen, coming to Europe and their new album “Ups and Downsizing.”

—-

The Just A Minute Project - 60 second videos with musicians, moguls and people of interest. No more, no less.

UK Jazz artist Jamie Cullum joined Q host Jian Ghomeshi for two performances and an interview.

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QTV is the televised version of CBC Radio One’s Q. A daily exploration of all facets of arts, culture and entertainment. Tune into the podcast version of a show about the diversity of creativity: inspiration, passion and originality are our raw material.

Harvey’s Kitchen: Amelia’s Mechanics, Part 1

Around a year ago, Molly McGinn ventured into our kitchen with a small outfit she hustled together from local musicians which she fondly called her “Buster Dillys.”

Over the course of the following 15 months or so she encountered Molly Miller and together with Kasey Horton they formed Amelia’s Mechanics, very quickly releasing their first album, “North South” produced by Jim Avett.

The collection of 12 songs authored by Molly Miller and Molly McGinn has received high praise from music critics together with strong circulation on college radio stations.

The flickering projector quality of some of the footage in this session was created using a homemade camera obscura rig: a cardboard box, a cracker jack magnifying glass and a rectangle of a recycled plastic grocery bag. (via Monkeywhale)

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Harvey’s Kitchen brings you music, art, and all manner of things both in the kitchen and outside of it.

Dave Tompkins shows us the inspiration for his new book, “How To Wreck a Nice Beach.”

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The FADER is the definitive voice of emerging music and the lifestyle that surrounds it. Through in-depth reporting and a distinct street sensibility, The FADER aggressively covers the most dynamic breadth of music and style emanating from the fringes of the mainstream to the heart of the underground. The FADER is the authority on what’s next.

Reggae legend Jimmy Cliff comes to speak with FADER TV.

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The FADER is the definitive voice of emerging music and the lifestyle that surrounds it. Through in-depth reporting and a distinct street sensibility, The FADER aggressively covers the most dynamic breadth of music and style emanating from the fringes of the mainstream to the heart of the underground. The FADER is the authority on what’s next.

Producer, singer and DJ RJD2 performs at the Independent in San Francisco, CA on April 5th 2010.

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Welcome to SF StationTV!

Your weekly video-blog to Arts & Entertainment in the San Francisco Bay Area!

The Garden Party - EXITMUSIC give The Garden Party Series an exclusive performance and interview.

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The Garden Party is a LA based internet music series. Because of the good fortune of beautiful weather, they ask artists to re-imagine their songs to be conducive to an intimate outdoor environment.

Altitude TV - The Dave Grohl Interview

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Exclusive interviews, live performances, breaking news, style + culture and more. ALTITUDE delivers your fix for everything rock, indie, and metal! MUSIC. CULTURE. ALTITUDE.

Rob Trucks interviews Damien Jurado at the JJ Byrne Playground Park in Park Slope for the Village Voice’s Possibly Fourth Street series.

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sound of the city

Instrumental beat-poet Flying Lotus pays tribute to vintage video games and cartoon culture.

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XLR8R TV goes behind the scenes with the musicians, artists and scenes covered in the pages of XLR8R.

The Lofty Heights played Eye Contact for Bandstand Busking at Northampton Square bandstand.

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Bringing acoustic sessions and interviews from any of London’s many bandstands…Bandstand Busking is exactly what it says it is. In some of London’s prettiest parks, on some of London’s prettiest days…we bring you some of London’s prettiest music.

Devo on Q TV - That’s right, they’re back!

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QTV is the televised version of CBC Radio One’s Q. A daily exploration of all facets of arts, culture and entertainment. Tune into the podcast version of a show about the diversity of creativity: inspiration, passion and originality are our raw material.

Rufus Wainwright talks to Jian Ghomeshi after performing music from his yet to be released album ‘All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu.’

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QTV is the televised version of CBC Radio One’s Q. A daily exploration of all facets of arts, culture and entertainment. Tune into the podcast version of a show about the diversity of creativity: inspiration, passion and originality are our raw material.

Geek Entertainment TV - Captured! By Robots

(note:  music at beginning is a bit distorted.)

If you have any doubt that robots are taking over, can carry a tune and are mean fuckers, then check this video out. Captured! By Robots dragged their creator JBOT to the last show of their tenth anniversary tour here in their home destination of San Francisco. Irina corners JBOT around back of the Bottom of the Hill before the show and tries to find out why he lets his creations torture him so.

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Geek Entertainment Television explores the world of geeks — from the robot cocktail builder to the crazy cat lady to the segway polo-playing granddaddy of the personal computer to sexbot makers of the future — we go wherever their passions take us!

(via todayonbliptv)

The Fiery Furnaces perform “Charmaine Champagne” on indieATL.

The Fiery Furnaces from Brooklyn, NY play live in the studios of the Digital Arts Entertainment Lab for the indieATL music series, produced by Matt Rowles. The Fiery Furnaces revolve around the brother and sister duo of Matthew (Guitar/Vocals) and Eleanor Friedberger (Vocals). They are joined by Jason Lowenstein (Bass) and Bob D’amico (drums) on this performance. “Simple, poppy melodies with a dizzying array of wordplay, sounds, and influences, including the Who, Captain Beefheart, Os Mutantes; dashes of folk, blues, and garage rock; and Eleanor’s adventures in Europe. In 2000, they moved to Brooklyn, took day jobs, and began playing as the Fiery Furnaces late in the year.” -allmusic For more information on the band, please visit http://www.thefieryfurnaces.com This track is from the album “I’m Going Away”, available on Thrill Jockey Records. http://www.thrilljockey.com

Adam Bricks performs a 20 minute set on brankeKandi

Kid Koala Talks Turntablism on WatchMojo

When he started out, he was a DJ. Today, he is labeled a turntablist, whatever that means. Even Kid Koala himself isn’t sure, and likens the term to a religion – a fact that may not be far off. Most importantly to him, his chosen media is a form of expression like any other.

Metal Injection: The FiX #34 - Evile’s Picks

Evile watch and discuss a slew of epic thrash videos from Metallica, Slayer, Morbid Angel, Carcass and Sepultura.

Jets Overhead were in studio Q for two performances and an interview following the release of their latest album ‘No Nations’.

Maybe Hip introduces Freelance Whales and The Uglysuit, two of this year’s SXSW bands.

Paul Shaffer-the iconic side-kick of the late-night talk show host David Letterman sat down for a chat in Studio Q to promote his new book “We’ll Be Here for the Rest of our Lives.”

John Norris interviews The Entrance Band on Noisemakers on Noisevox. The player contains all six parts of the interview as well as live performances of Grim Reaper Blues and Lookout!  

Josh Cohen of Tubefilter says Status Kill has a “fantastic premise” that’s “equal parts action flick, clever comedy, and social commentary”.

I have to agree.

Read on

Joe Wilson, writer/director of Vampire Mob

(via ericmortensen via dominickbrady)

Web series veteran Justin Kownacki is launching a spinoff of his long running (Since 2003!) show, Something To Be Desired. He needs $3000 in oder to launch the first season. Donors get to help cast the show.

ericmortensen:

rocketboomdev:

In today’s age, we don’t judge books by their covers. We judge them by their thumbnails. We also judge videos, e-books, software, and people the same way. Engaging an audience demands engaging them visually, no matter the medium. Some of our peers in the online video community recently noted that Tumblr allows the display of thumbnails for YouTube embeds on their dashboard, but other popular video sites, such as Vimeo and Blip.tv, are currently left out from showcasing their user videos with a thumbnail image.

Rocketboom R&D, the development unit of the Rocketboom network, has created a simple solution: a browser add-on that allows Tumblr users to see any video’s known thumbnail in their Tumblr dashboard. There’s no platform favoritism; this enables nearly every other common video platform the ability for thumbnail display. The add-on was created using Mag.ma, our own video aggregation service, to do thumbnail lookups for numerous video platforms with our simple API methods. The results? Uniformity for Tumblr users and creative support for content creators.

Get your browser add-on for Firefox, Chrome, or Safari, and visit the Tumblr Video Thumbnails add-on page for information, installation help, and more. Special thanks to our friends at Vimeo, Blip.tv, and Wreck & Salvage for their testing and support.

Yay!  Big thanks to Greg, Andrea and the rest of the RB crew!  Please reblog this like mad so everyone can have a better Tumblr experience.

Status Kill World Premiere Screening - 9/1/10 - NYC

Don’t forget to RSVP!

Doug, from Nostalgia Critic, framed this tweet from Roger Ebert. I would’ve framed it, too.

Come join us for beer, wine and merriment as we celebrate the launch of our blip.tv office in L.A. - and our west coast 5th anniversary party!

The party will take place at our L.A. offices at Bergamot Station, 7-10pm Thursday September 16th.  Please rsvp to rsvp@blip.tv if you can make it, and we look forward to celebrating with you then!

We’re looking for a Producer Relations Associate to join our content team and assist with content producer relationships.  This entry level position will work directly with our stable of original web shows and ensure that they receive the support necessary to maintain a thriving web series.

Responsibilities:

• Providing front line support through Zendesk, Twitter, email and forums
• Escalating issues to development team when appropriate
• Building relationships within the community
• Helping to on-board shows new to blip.tv
• Providing proactive assistance to all shows
• Eliciting feedback from our producers and advocating on their behalf within the organization (feature requests, bug fixes, etc.)

• Experience with web video, television, Internet or new media
• Passion for art, media and the Internet
• Strong communication skills (verbal and written)
• Must enjoy working though and finding solutions to problems
• Self-starter
• Ability to quickly absorb new information on the fly
• Basic knowledge of HTML and other general Internet technologies is a plus

If you’re a people person and a new media junkie, please send your resume and cover letter to eric@blip.tv.

We’re looking for a Content Management Associate to join our content team and assist with day-to-day management of our content library.  This entry level position will work directly with our stable of original web shows and ensure that we’re equipped with the knowledge needed to support the blip.tv ecosystem. This is a great position for someone willing to get their hands dirty and learn by doing.

Responsibilities:

• Organizing our library for viewers, distribution partners and advertisers
• Approving shows for distribution
• Assisting with distribution platform management
• Approving shows for direct-sold advertisements
• Curating and promoting shows
• Communicating with show producers

Requirements:

• Knowledge of the web series or television industry
• Personal or professional experience collecting and organizing media
• Passion for art, media and the Internet
• Self-starter
• Organizational skills
• Ability to quickly absorb new information on the fly

If you’re up for the challenge, please send a resume and cover letter to eric@blip.tv.

Teen drama web series Anyone But Me has raised $16,950 from its substantial fanbase over the last two weeks, thanks to a fundraising campaign kicked off two weeks ago by a three-day web-a-thon.

(via Liz Shannon Miller @ NewTeeVee)

They still need your help.  Maybe you can skip a few trips to Starbucks and send some dollars their way.  And while we’re talking ABM, be sure to check out all the love they get from the Tumblr community!

We just experienced some pretty significant downtime. The issue started around 3:30 PM eastern time on August 4^th. Service was completely restored by about 4:10 PM, or about fifty minutes later. In the intervening forty minutes blip service was available sporadically — videos sometimes loaded quickly, sometimes loaded extremely slowly, and sometimes didn’t load at all.

The downtime was caused by a new version of the core blip software that we were in the process of releasing. We have tracked the issue down to a very specific piece of code that worked well in our testing environment but couldn’t handle the amount of traffic it received as soon as it was put into our production environment. Our testing procedures should have caught this issue but did not.

During the outage our entire team worked hard to resolve the issue. Our CTO, lead backend developer and network folks were on the phone together through the entire situation even though they sit within feet of each other. They sounded like Mission Control — calm voices discussing what they were seeing and game planning solutions. The content team worked Twitter and the blog and our producer support e-mail.

I’m really sorry about any problems this downtime caused you. I know that many of you rely on blip.tv for your shows, and I know that for some of you your shows are your livelihoods. We take that responsibility very seriously.

Any downtime is unacceptable but forty minutes of downtime is doubly unacceptable. We won’t be doing any more major deployments until we figure out exactly what went wrong here and have processes in place to prevent a recurrence of the underlying problem and also have systems in place to make rolling back the release easier. That shouldn’t take us very much time to get in place, but it’s how we work. If something goes wrong we figure it out and prevent it from happening again in the future.

If you have any questions about what happened, want to vent or want a personal apology please feel free to call me directly on my cell phone. My name’s Mike and my cell is 646-417-4702.

We had an issue with a new release. We’ve rolled back the release and are diagnosing the problem. Service is returning to normal but it may take a little while to be fully restored.

stevewoolf:

To Create Blip LA You Must Destroy Blip LA

Have you seen the teaser for Jesse Cowell’s Status Kill? This is such a great concept.

A demo of our new XBOX download ad unit. Also my debut as a narrator. I think I’m going to stick with my day job.

Today’s Advertising Age asks a simple question:

What if your preroll video ads were more than just repurposed-for-the-web-TV spots, the kind agencies have in spades? What if pre-roll could do more?

The answer is simple. It’s already underway at blip, as Ad Age reports:

A group of developers at start-up blip.tv, a purveyor of amateur and semi-pro Web series, was wondering that recently… pondering the best way to help Wieden & Kennedy let gamers see — or better yet, play — a demo of its client Electronic Arts’ NCAA Football 11… Engineers set to work on the problem and developed a unit that allows users to click-to-download a game demo to XBOX consoles.

Yup. We built that. The ad runs against very specific audiences who own xbox 360s. It offers them the ability to download a demo of the game and play it on their own xbox 360. It’s the first time anything like this has ever been done in an ad unit before. It should be obvious, but we’ll say it anyway: gamers who play a demo are much more likely to ultimately buy the game… As Michael Diccicco from W&K says: “With video games in general the best way to sell it is to get the consumers’ hands on it. We’re asking them to spend $60 so it helps if you can get them some play time on it.”

This is all part of something that we believe is fundamental to blip.tv. We exist to solve problems for our stakeholders. We exist to create value. If Electronic Arts wants to sell more copies of NCAA11 it’s our job to help them do that. That’s what advertising is for… it’s why people buy advertising. Similarly if a show producer wants to get more viewership and advertising revenue it’s our job to do help them do that.

As Ad Age says:

New York-based Blip.tv takes no ownership interest in the shows it represents and doesn’t sign any of them to exclusive contracts. It is, essentially, an engineering company and a sales force that builds tools for show creators, and more recently, advertisers. Eleven of its 32 people on staff are programmers or developers. It raised $10.1 million in June and racks up about 100 million views on its collection of shows each month. Blip.tv’s top earners pull down $500,000 in ad revenue a year based on 50/50 revenue sharing.

Bingo. We’re here to solve problems for show producers and marketers. That’s what we do. We help marketers move product off of store shelves (real or virtual) and we help shows become sustainable. And we build whatever we have to, whatever we need to, to make that happen.

So tell us what you need to be successful. How we can help make your show more sustainable, how we can solve problems for you, how we can sell more of your product. How we can actually create value. We’d like to help.

The web series veterans at KATR Pictures just released some special Comic-Con trailers for their new series, Vampire Zombie Werewolf. Visit the site to see the other two.  When you’re done there, you’ll want to check out KATR’s other series, the very funny Life From The Inside.

A shot from the barbecue we threw at our house in Venice in June. Lots of great folks in this shot, including the creators of EPIC-FU, A Good Knight’s Quest, Old Jews Telling Jokes, Ask a Ninja, Noodlescar and more. This was really last minute and a hell of a lot of fun… we’re thrilled to be spending more and more time in LA (and really lucky to have Steve out there full time).

On Flickr: june 6th, 2010: barbecue panorama (by annieee)

The wonderful folks behind Celebrate The Web are organizing their second event - at ComicCon in San Diego July 24th from 3:30pm-7:30pm.

It’s a celebration of scifi, horror, fantasy and gaming web series.

A new set of tickets just went “on sale” (they’re free), and blip.tv is sponsoring the event.

Please RSVP here if you can join - and our own Steve Woolf will be there to say hi as well.  Thanks to the awesome Taryn, Stephanie and Jenni for organizing a Web video mecca during ComicCon!

Red Carpet Run won the reality/unscripted category in the NextTV Competition at the LA TV Festival.  

Red Carpet Run is an entertainment trivia game show that puts celeb-obsessed contestants through the ultimate trivial pursuit, challenging their knowledge of all things Hollywood as they run their final round – high speed! – on a moving treadmill.

Congratulations!  

We’ve built an entirely new video player. It’s called Stratos, and it’s a complete ground-up rewrite of our old player. Built from scratch. Some of the enhancements include: better HD video performance (make sure to watch the HD on this video), more reliable playback for viewers with slow connections and better scrubbing / seek-ahead performance for everyone.

In addition to those significant performance improvements we’ve also got:

• A redesigned playlist display that uses the player’s full width to display episode titles, thumbnails and ratings. The player sidebar is now gone.
• Prominently displayed episode and show names with a look and feel inspired by traditional cable electronic programming guides.
• New and better integrated viral sharing support.
• A completely new end cap with a cleaner look, more featured episodes and new sharing options.
• An updated look and feel that includes refined buttons, fonts and loading indicators.
• A reworked and vastly enhanced JavaScript API.
• Entirely based on the new Open Source Media Framework so that it’s easier to maintain and so that there’s a clear API for third-party plug-ins.
• Support for multiple skins in the future.

If you have any questions or comments about the new player please visit the blip.tv knowledge base article on the new player.

Checks to show producers for their Q2 advertising share went in the mail today (just after this photo was taken).

Fanning here (from left to right) are Jeff, Aaron, Allan, Paul, Katie, Justin Alcon, Sebastian, Kelly, Jon, Justin Day, Nathan, Kobalt (youngest member of the blip.tv family & Nathan’s son), Dina, Charles and Doryon.

It feels awesome to put a check in the mail for $123,000.  We look forward to sending out even more - and larger - checks next quarter.

Paypal payouts (for producers who earned between $25 and $600 during Q2) will go out Monday.

It’s important to note that these checks represent moneys earned throughout the entire quarter - and that day to day eCPMs will fluctuate. 

This is also the photo debut of our new orange sofa for blip.tv’s NYC HQ, which we’re beginning to get used to (and to sit on).

Update: Paypal is taking a long time to transfer funds…grr…payments under $600 for blip.tv folks should now go out Friday or early next week.  Folks who earned $600 or more should have your checks in hand today or tomorrow (they were all mailed out last week). 

Update 2: And….Paypal payments are out!  Please claim your funds, spend wisely, and have a great weekend.

It’s Check Week again here at blip. Mashable has the story. This Check Week is 77% bigger than last quarter’s check week. The number of shows earning $1,000 or more is up 57% (this number grew 30% last quarter too). This quarter’s top earner is getting a check for $123,000. We were thinking about giving them a giant Ed McMahon style check but decided against it. It’s just not our style.

All of the payments for this quarter are earned in the same way: fantastic producers who use the blip platform and participate in our advertising program. Everyone receives the same 50/50 revenue share and reaps the hard work of our national sales team.

Facts and figures are important, but that’s not what Check Week is about. Check Week is about building sustainable shows from the ground up. Check Week is about turning passion projects into lifestyle businesses and lifestyle businesses into major media properties. Most folks aren’t earning enough to quit their day jobs yet, although some certainly are and have. As always: be responsible.

That said, we said in our post about last quarter’s Check Week: we’re building the next-generation television network. Our mission is to make independently produced shows sustainable. These checks put food on the table for show creators. They help people quit their day jobs. These checks prove that it’s possible to start your own show, to bootstrap, to have full creative control, to own your show and still make money.

I’m writing this post from Los Angeles where we’re opening our new office. I’m out here with our West Coast Director of Content Development Steve Woolf and our head of sales Evan Gotlib. We’re working on getting our new office up and running, meeting with advertisers, partners and awesome show producers. We can feel the electricity in the air. It’s incredible.

Every new communications technology — film, radio, television, cable and now Internet video — leads to massive shifts in society, business and creative expression. We’re just at the dawn of a new age. And we’re just getting started. We now have thirty incredibly dedicated and talented people on the blip team, more than fifty thousand amazing show producers, incredible advertisers and a great group of syndication partners ranging from Sony to YouTube to Apple to NBC. And we’re just getting started. We’re building an alternative to the traditional studio and network system that’s dominated entertainment in this country for sixty years. This new alternative is meritocratic, it’s democratic, it’s open to everyone. It takes a long time to build. But we see it happening right now. The electricity is in the air.

evangotlib:

Do you or anyone you know love ad operations?  Do you have a passion for ad trafficking and reporting?  Do you want to be on the cutting edge of the digital video ecosystem?  Do you like free lunch?

Then we have a job for you!  We’re looking for a ROCK STAR Advertising Traffic Manager.  Here is a link to the official job post on LinkedIn or email resumes to andreaATblipDOTtv.

This is definitely worth a look if you’re a fan of Ferguson.  He’s as serious here as he is silly on his show.  

todayonbliptv:

Kevin Pollak interviews Craig Ferguson on this episode of Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show.

UPDATE: Everything is back to normal. Sorry for the trouble.

Statistics will not be updated in the Dashboard for the next 24 hours due to unscheduled maintenance. All stats will still be collected during this time, but may only be intermittently viewable in your Dashboard for the rest of the day.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. If you have any questions, please contact us at support@blip.tv and we’ll be happy to help.

Gobo from blip.tv party.  Thanks to Cait & Jules for the effects (& ordering the cake, too).  Photo by Angus McIntyre.

We believe this is important. Viewership of Web shows distributed by blip.tv peaks during prime time. Not only that, but we’re about to hit a magical number: one hundred million video views per month. We should hit that milestone this month, in June.

These two statistics, together, are meaningful. People are watching blip.tv shows in prime time and blip.tv shows are garnering 10% of the audience of network television shows from ABC, NBC and FOX combined (Hulu does about 950 million video views per month). Now think about the amount of money that has been poured into Hulu and the content on Hulu. Individual episodes cost millions of dollars to produce. Hulu itself has raised one hundred million dollars. The total production cost of all of the content on Hulu is probably in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

And yet blip shows… shows with budgets of a couple hundred dollars per episode… shows produced by striving artists and entrepeneurs for fanatical audiences… are capturing share during prime time. The content on blip.tv probably costs one tenth of one percent of the content on Hulu. But it’s now garnering 10% of the audience — and during prime time. Something important is happening here.

And before you say that we can never get the next Lost this way, two things: 1) it’s unlikely there will ever be another lost, on network television or not because it’s simply too expensive, and 2) the virtuous cycle is our friend. Good content leads to audience leads to ad dollars which lead to better and more expensive content. We’re bootstrapping ourselves into a new television industry.

Thank you everyone for coming last night.

stevewoolf:

OMG.  And I am so NOT THERE.  FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

spytap:

rafimama:

justinalcon:

This a cake

The cake is a lie. That’s a TV.

Thank you to everyone who joined the blip.tv 5th anniversary party tonight!  (And who ate cake.) 

If you’re expecting Steve Jobs announce a Verizon iPhone next week, you’re going to be severely disappointed. So says a Verizon Wireless spokesperson on this episode of Beet.TV.

ericmortensen:

Web series don’t spend nearly enough time on episode thumbnails. It’s extremely hard to find a single image/frame that says it all, but it’s worth the trouble. They aren’t the silver bullet, but when most shows don’t put any effort into thumbs, simply doing the work puts you ahead of the pack. 

Think about all the different places they’ll be seen. Think about the metadata that will (and won’t) accompany them. Think about the different sizes and resolutions at which they will be displayed. Figure out if the goal is to hook new viewers or lure an existing viewer into watching a second episode. Decide whether it makes more sense to focus on the show’s brand or the contents of an individual episode. Find the answers to all of these questions (while asking a few of your own) and then make an active thumbnail rather than a passive one. It’s important to legitimately represent the content of the episode and the show, but it’s even more important to sell it.

This is war. It’s you versus the show next door. You need to make sure yourshow wins. And for your show to succeed, you need to stand out. An Internet-wide thumbnail battle royal is great for shows who need bigger audiences and for web series fans who are desperately trying to figure out what to watch next. Everybody wins. Now get to work!

A few notes on the blip.tv 5th Anniversary Party next Tuesday at the Metropolitan Pavilion, 8pm-10pm (125 west 18th Street):

Everyone who RSVPs by Thursday afternoon (tomorrow) will receive laminated credentials for the Metropolitan Pavilion (Internet Week headquarters) for the entire week.  So please RSVP if you haven’t already.

And: there will be an after-party.  Details to be announced at the (main) party. 

We look forward to seeing you next Tuesday, with a beer in hand, in celebration of all things Internet Week, blip.tv and the NYC tech scene!

Videomaker reports that the Season Finale of HOUSE was filmed entirely on the Canon EOS 5D Mark II. This is incredible — TV and Web production methods truly are converging.

todayonbliptv:

Titus Welliver, AKA The Man in Black from Lost, sits down with Kevin on the latest episode of Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show.

We’re back after roughly 15 minutes. 

blip.tv has grown. In this picture: Katie, Tom, Doryon, Jared, Eric, Dina, Seb, Aaron, Liz, Tom, Nathan, Rafi, Phil, Charles, Alcon, Paul, Justin, Mike and Allan. (Not shown: Andrea, Angela, Angus and Steve)

michaeljung:

mikehudack:

evangotlib:

The blip.tv sales team takes an email break during our 2010 National Sales Meeting.  Been a terrific day so far, more to come!

You guys are awesome.

Got a Mac?

Yes. You’re right.  We did already post about our party.  But this invite is much prettier.

Please RSVP to rsvp/AT/blip.tv

An interview I did yesterday about blip.tv for AllThingsD.

Our mission is to change entertainment by making independent show production scalable and profitable. Think about the music industry. There are more people making a living as musicians today than ever before in history. We believe that the same thing is happening in television. Soon there will be more people making a living as show producers than ever before in history. And, just like in music, they won’t have to sign their souls over to the big guys in exchange for a chance to “make it.”

It’s our job to facilitate that change and to accelerate it. And that’s what we’re going to be using our new funding for. To get to the point where there are more people making a living as show producers than ever before in history.

We’re just getting started. There’s a revolution just getting started in the television industry and we’re intent on leading the way along with our investors Canaan Partners and Bain Capital Ventures.

blip.tv is throwing a 5th Anniversary Party in NYC Tuesday, June 8th.

Come party with us!!

We’ll be taking over the home base of Internet Week that night: the awesomely cool and beautiful Metropolitan Pavilion, at 125 w. 18th Street.

The party will be 8pm-10pm. 

RSVP: rsvp@blip.tv.

We look forward to seeing you then to celebrate independent content creators, beer and five years of blip.tv-ness.

Cheers to June 8th!

UPDATE:  Please notice that we originally posted the wrong date.  The party is on the 8th!

Eagle-eyed blip.tv users might have noticed that we added VodPod to the distribution dashboard this week.  This means that you can now easily distribute your show to the very enthusiastic viewers and curators that hang out at vodpod.com. But a new audience is only half of what makes Vodpod awesome.  Once you’re setup there, you’ll have access to both their widgets and their powerful Vodspot service. The photo above shows a Vodpod widget in use on my today on blip.tv blog. We use it on this blog, too!

Check it out: http://blip.tv/dashboard/distribution/vodpod

dapperapps:

Learn how to find out if AT&T is giving you an early iPhone upgrade this summer in 5 seconds on today’s App Advice Daily.

UPDATE: Problem solved.  Sorry about that.  Leave us a comment if you have any questions.

Today we announced that we’re opening an L.A. office for blip.tv and hiring the awesome Steve Woolf from Epic Fu to be our West Coast Director of Content Development.

Check out the NewTeeVee story by Liz Shannon Miller on blip.tv’s West Coast expansion.

Steve knows all aspects of producing, distributing and monetizing a Web show through his work with Zadi Diaz on Epic Fu.  He’s been working with us as a show creator since we started the company 5 years ago.  We couldn’t be more excited about expanding operations out West, working more closely with the incredible talent in Los Angeles, and having Steve on board.  This is a great day for blip.tv, and for show creators looking to stay independent and build a brand on their own terms. 

Check out Jenni Powell’s insider view of Mike Rotman’s movies-with-attitude Web series Stupid for Movies on Tubefilter.tv here.  The fact that this uber-engaging  show, which is packed with film trivia, is literally shot in a garage makes me smile: I’ll never look at those velvet drapes in the same way.

Congrats to Susan Miller and the entire crew behind Anyone But Me on a terrific interview with TV.com by Tiffany N. D’Emidio.  Susan talks about boosting views of the show from a few hundred to hundreds of thousands, the show’s very tangible connections to New York City, and the importance of building momentum for a Web show (something we are really passionate about as well). 

Institute Benjamenta

via ke—tty

bliptv:

ericmortensen:

rocketboomdev:

In today’s age, we don’t judge books by their covers. We judge them by their thumbnails. We also judge videos, e-books, software, and people the same way. Engaging an audience demands engaging them visually, no matter the medium. Some of our peers in the online video community recently noted that Tumblr allows the display of thumbnails for YouTube embeds on their dashboard, but other popular video sites, such as Vimeo and Blip.tv, are currently left out from showcasing their user videos with a thumbnail image.

Rocketboom R&D, the development unit of the Rocketboom network, has created a simple solution: a browser add-on that allows Tumblr users to see any video’s known thumbnail in their Tumblr dashboard. There’s no platform favoritism; this enables nearly every other common video platform the ability for thumbnail display. The add-on was created using Mag.ma, our own video aggregation service, to do thumbnail lookups for numerous video platforms with our simple API methods. The results? Uniformity for Tumblr users and creative support for content creators.

Get your browser add-on for Firefox, Chrome, or Safari, and visit the Tumblr Video Thumbnails add-on page for information, installation help, and more. Special thanks to our friends at Vimeo, Blip.tv, and Wreck & Salvage for their testing and support.

Yay!  Big thanks to Greg, Andrea and the rest of the RB crew!  Please reblog this like mad so everyone can have a better Tumblr experience.

zombiesatemyneighborsbrainzzzz:

just ran into this video that was on Gonja Sufi’s myspace comments. Shit reminds me of a Matt Mahurin video

deja-visite:

Cycles by Cyriak

via today and tomorrow

whoa.

ericmortensen:

5btv:

It’s Ann Liv Young versus P.S. 1, Round 2.

Ms. Young, a provocative performance artist, was at the center of a controversy in February when the P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center abruptly cut the power in the middle of her appearance, plunging an already chaotic scene into darkness.

[Curator Andres] Bedoya said he had never received an explanation from the museum. Nor did Ms. Young, who fell in the darkness, cutting her knee and spilling a bucket of her own urine on herself and several audience members. Yet Ms. Young and others consider her performance a success.

Now she is planning to return to the museum, having been invited by the artist A. L. Steiner to participate in a performance-lecture addressing the February events. That appearance would be held in the temporary studio that Ms. Steiner occupies in the museum as part of the “Greater New York” exhibition. But on Monday a press officer for P.S. 1, April Hunt, said by e-mail that the return visit, scheduled for Sept. 5, was not happening. She would not comment further, and the museum has refused repeated interview requests.

via NY Times

video (NSFW) via Revel In New York

michkotumblr:

475 VOLVER by Cinthia Marcelle

danielholter:

Five Year Time-lapse of Ants in a Scanner

WATCH THIS NOW.

Ho. Ly. Crap.  and…  Whoa.

I installed an ant colony inside my scanner five years ago.
I scanned the nest each week.

-creator françois vautier

via @brainpicker

tanya77:

ericmortensen:

Ann Magnuson - Made For Television (1981)

Part 2

From Wikipedia:

Her 15-minute video performance piece “Made for Television”, self-produced in 1981, ran on the WNET-PBS avant garde series Alive from Off-Center. Hersatiric featurette found her playing close to 50 roles in a “channel-hopping” series of visual bites parodying television programming game shows to TV-movies to televangelists. As Art critic Sarah Valdez described it, “a bewigged Ann Magnuson consecutively inhabits, at a rate faster than any channel surfer could keep up with, an outlandish, uproariously unfortunate range of female stereotypes”. It was later released by HBO Home Video together with the Cinemax cable-TV special Vandemonium Plus (1987), in which Magnuson starred in a mostly solo stage piece with appearances by actor-singer Meat Loaf and actor-monologist Eric Bogosian.

More @ blog.worshiptheglitch.com/annmagnuson

Ann’s a genius. Trying to get her to expand her talents far into the digital landscape.

brookhinton:

SLOW FORCE GLIMPSE (2004)

Higher quality mp4s with direct download links at http://brookhinton.com/?p=64

kateoplis:

You should take the next 50sec and spend it with this creature. (+)

Kaskade - “Fire In Your New Shoes”

mattybing1025:

Another weird Muppet Show skit, this one entitled Trudge, Trudge, Streak, Streak.

thebluepeninsula:

“I feel like this video should have it’s own category, which would be “motion graphics porn” because it’s such an amazing display of what’s actually possible if you know how to use some crazy programs. The video was made by a fell’a name Onur Senturk who seems like a guy who does motion graphics like this quite a bit, a skill I’m totally jealous of. That said it’s an absolutely beautiful video with so many interesting effects and details. A bit of eye candy for the end of the day.” (via KN | Kitsune Noir)

Jigsaw ep.403 - Videotainment Revolution

Weekly Rites CLXI - crown of hill

dapperapps:

The only review that matters. Walt Mosspuppet’s hands-on review of Apple’s brand-new iOS 4!

Shut up and listen to Walt!  

Facinated by all things extraterrestrial, the creative duo Roethlisberger and Jahic presented their work “The Flying Saucers or In God We Trust” at Scope art fair Basel

tomreynolds:

yourmonkeycalled:

Q: Best Music Video Ever?

A: Yes.

Miike Snow : “Rabbit”

(via HUH.)

The end of this video is about 1000X better than I could have ever imagined.

ke—tty:

love this!! 

Felissimo feat. KATHY

cejona:

Syntagma by Valie Export

Pink Snow

Music: la belle indifference
Video: Raquel Meyers

zadi:

“Fragments - Les bruissements du monde” explores the quest for identity and quietness in the rumble of the world.

Direction, film and music: Jean-Sébastien Monzani

Sock puppets Cassie and Bernie take us on wild business schemes that are completely Sockamamy . Cassie and Bernie come up with their own version of Facespacebook.

Music: Psilodump
Video: Raquel Meyers
Special thanks: Pako aka Al Pacheco de las Rozas, Georgina, Jeroni, Flux and Socksay 
Berlin 2010

Medium Rare - Episode 11

Helga (Lainie Kazan) has her big moment onstage- until Mitch (Brad Dourif) shows up to jam over her song. But that a reason to shoot Mitch???

claytoncubitt:

‘By Your Side’

Long portrait of a couple in distress and working it out. A study in micro facial expressions.

Purchase soundtrack ‘By Your Side’ by Cocorosie

Oppositional Defiant Disorder (O.D.D.) 

Berkeley Kid detects a link between legal child beatings and state torture on BetterBadNews. Security camera photos link Senator Joseph Lieberman to terrorist crime scenes and several companies manufacturing full body x-ray machines.

Radioactive Safety False Flag Terror and You.

This month on The Adventures of Humphrey and Spud: A potato powered time machine, and a rock (boulder, dude) with a dark past…

tuxedobastard:

Weirdest thing I’ve seen all week. They should put this on the end of hairdryers.

Valmonte Sprout performing at Goodbye Blue Monday

The Banana Boys are an interracial superhero duo on a mission to stop all that is evil, unholy and terrible in the land of bananas.

todayonbliptv:

Transylvania Television Episode 1

Batfink helps Count LeShoc understand why TVTV is in the ratings pooper.

TVTV = Vampire Puppets!

—

A dysfunctional family of misfit monsters try desperately to run an obscure television station deep in Transylvania, with worldwide broadcast power and the ability to reanimate dead TV shows. The Vampire Le Shoc is king of his castle, but struggles vainly to maintain order while taking delight in the suffering of his motley crew of minions. And he ain’t your run of the mill Count, either, he’s a LeStat-dressin’, nosferatu-lookin’, Richard-O’Brien-from-Rocky-Horror-talkin’ creep with some serious issues. Furry J. Ackermonster, the station’s new intern, is a bright orange yeti, who having recently graduated from an American college, is struggling with student loans, laziness, and a burgeoning pottery collection. Enjoys beer, snowboarding, and hairy chicks. The station’s majordomo is Batfink, a surf-lovin’, kustom kar creatin’ bat. Think beach blanket beatnik with wings. He manages to keep the station running via the power of the Frankenstein Device, the same contraption that gave life to the Frankenstein Monster. When used to boost the signal of the station, it gives old shows NEW LIFE – and turns them into far-out parodies in the process. They are joined by Dwayne Frankenstein, a fella who’s wired just a little bit differently than the rest of us. The Frankenstein Monster has been done to death, but you’ve never seen him like this: a brain-damaged, working-class Brit soccer hooligan made from 13 different people. He may sound dense but he’s not naïve, and has been known for moments of brilliance in the midst of an otherwise stupefying existence. Tune in to Transylvania Television: the Retro Monster Comedy Series that’s really not for kids, not necessarily safe for work, and known to promote skull decay.

Medium Rare - Episode 6

Helga’s poodle, ALFIE, develops super-powers and seeks revenge on Harry (Burt Young).

todayonbliptv:

The Adventures of Humphrey and Spud - Episode 01

The very FIRST episode of Humphrey and Spud brought to you in stunning 2 dimensions, and brilliant stereo sound! Humphrey petitions to be the next site for a new Mt. Rushmore.

A full-sized sheriff in a miniature town. All of his friends are 8” high, including the woman he’s going to marry. Then he meets a full-sized woman…

invasion earth and beyond

Broadcast from MNN.ORG/NYC.Weekly,FRI,9PM-9:27PM/EST.CH:56-TW,RCN-83./CALLERS:212-757-2076

branekandi:blu sprout

freakcast:

designchick:

Ok. Be prepared to have your mind changed about Die Antwoord forever.

back-to-front-bum demon

Unreleased feature film featuring Timothy Leary gets new life as web series

Medium Rare tells the story of Harry, a B-movie producer who uses a microwave oven to keep a punk from wrecking his wife’s career. But instead of silencing the punk, he creates a killer with superpowers. Among the cast are Burt Young, Alex Winter and Timothy Leary.

(via ericmortensen)

Very Mary Kate (via schlomo)

Gadfly - a view on the efficacy of social intimacy on the self

verdi:

HOLY FUCK BRIAN!

Wild Natures | Wreck & Salvage

Russian WTF? (thanks to @angusm)

Guy Bourdin

freakcast:

Taken from the new Broadcast and The Focus Group mini album ‘Broadcast and The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults Of The Radio Age’ out now to download on Bleep and iTunes and released worldwide on CD and LP on 26th October 2009. Video by House.

Richard Kern - X is Y

(via catchthatbeat)

POLYBIUS ( 2010)
MUSIC: TR1C3
VIDEO: RAQUEL MEYERS

TapCritic takes a look at Almost DSLR for iPhone.  Some very handy functions for those looking to make the most of the iPhone’s photo and video functionality.

AppJudgment takes a look at Jailbreakme.com, the controversial new way to Jailbreak your iOS 4 device.

Take a look at five camera apps for the iPhone 4 that help you take better pictures and apply special effects and other elements when you are done. Includes looks at Camera+, Photogene, Autostitch Panorama, You Gotta See This, and Gorillacam.

via MacMost

Tired of having a phone that fits in your pocket? AppJudgment takes a look at the first 5” Android device: the Dell Streak.

It’s almost time for Comic Con, and AppJudgment has got the ‘con fever! Jackie has 5 comic book apps for the iPhone or iPad to give you something to do while waiting in line for Hall H!

via AppJudgment

A quick review of the iPhone 4 Dock and a recommendation on how to save yourself $29…

via Daily App Show

Apple is pushing for legacy users to update plus the iPhone 4 is taking the music world by storm.

via AppAdvice Daily

The guys at The iPad Show sit down with Dan Hartley of DoubleJump to talk about the state of games on the iPad.

The only review that matters. Walt Mosspuppet’s hands-on review of Apple’s brand-new iOS 4!

iOS 4 is out and ready to download, Pandora releases v1.3 and enables backgrounding, plus some information on apps with delayed updates.

via AppAdvice

Is Reeder the holy grail for iPad RSS readers?

via AppJudgment

All about iPhone 4

The highly anticipated WWDC keynote from Steve Jobs introduce the latest iPhone and OS. Eileen and Mauricio run down some of the highlights (and lowlights) from the announcement.

via AppJudgment

This episode sees Christine stuck in an odd place, with night vision to guide her will she make it to the end of the Episode? And what were the fabulous apps she takes you through?

via Apps and Hats

A look at this week’s new #1 Paid iPad App: Wired Magazine.

via App Advice Daily

An overview of many, many GTD (Get Things Done) iPad apps, including developer Scott Hasbrouck and his featured app Paperdesk. Also multiple Exchange accounts in 4.0 (and currently in jailbreak) and how to print from your iPad with Print Central.

via The iPad Show

Twitter for iPhone (Tweetie 3.0) comes to the App Store.

via App Advice Daily

bigdoor:

http://www.appaday.tv reviews the Ustream broadcaster for the iPhone. Stream live from your iPhone with Ustream Live Broadcaster.

Ustream is the leading live interactive broadcasting platform that enables anyone to quickly broadcast to a global audience of unlimited size. Easily stream live moments from your phone and share with your friends, family, fans, followers and others — and have the recording of your video afterward! This application works on 3G or Wifi, and you can notify your Twitter community when you start broadcasting. Interact with your viewers during your broadcast using chat or Ustream’s Social Stream, which integrates a live feed of Twitter messages.
The Ustream Live Broadcaster enables you to share recorded videos to Ustream, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, and automatically streams and records to your Ustream show page.

Air Video lets you stream videos from your computer to your iPhone or iPad, regardless of the format the videos are encoded in. 

via App A Day

Learn how to find out if AT&T is giving you an early iPhone upgrade this summer in 5 seconds on today’s App Advice Daily.

iPhone 3GS + Pocket Video Projector = 360° Augmented Reality Shooter on today’s App Advice Daily.

Review of the Tilt Shift Gen, a ToyCamera app that will allow you to create retro miniature pictures.

via App A Day

A look at the newly released Dropbox new iPad update.

via Daily App Show

A look at Square for the iPad. Stephanie Chu and David Prager also give you a special hands-on sneak peek of the unreleased iPhone app!

via AppJudgment

Mauricio Balvanera runs you through his top 5 iPad apps for the month of April 2010. Includes looks at Twitterrific, Things, Kindle, Aurora Feint 3, and NewsRack.

via AppJudgment

App A Day reviews Mirror’s Edge for the iPad. Best iPad game yet?

via App A Day

Looking for a new iPhone game? How about one that asks you to diagnose diseases based on photographs? Diagnose the Disease and more reviewed this week on Apps and Hats.

via Apps and Hats

bigdoor:

http://www.appaday.tv reviews Sand Garden for the iPad. Create your own patch of serenity with a Japanese rock gardens (枯山水 karesansui?) or “dry landscape” garden, often called “Zen gardens”. They were influenced mainly by Zen Buddhism and can be found at Zen temples of meditation.

On today’s Appisode: Steve Jobs answers your Flash concerns, Tweetie to become official Twitter app, and a review of Speck’s newest iPad case.

via App Advice Daily

Tired of iPhone OS? App Advice Daily shows you how to install Android on your iPhone 2G, along with a sneak peak at a new wireless syncing app.

via App Advice Daily

Are you fast enough (and smart enough) to fight the zombies? Stephanie Chu reviews ZombieSmash, a game for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

via AppJudgment

bigdoor:

http://www.appaday.tv Reviews the Hipstamatic Camera App brings back the look, feel, unpredictable beauty, and fun of plastic toy cameras of the past! The Hipstamatic keeps the the quirks of shooting old school but gives you the ability to swap lenses, film, and flash settings all with the swipe of a finger.

Can’t watch it? Read my review of Hipstamatic

App Advice Daily talks Gizmodo’s prototype iPhone find, US iPad 3G ship dates and a quick review for Mirror’s Edge for the iPad.

Learn how to follow the British elections with the SkyNews app or zombify yourself with ZombieBooth on this week’s Apps and Hats.

Today’s App Advice Daily asks the question, “Are you nuts?” in regards to the iPad’s international delay.

NDA be damned! AppJudgement has a hands-on preview of the iPhone OS 4 beta.

Tired of carrying around an iPad AND an accordion everywhere you go? Well, now there’s a solution.

via The Daily App Show

Noah from Phonedog TV checks out two ways to stream video to an iPad: Netflix and ABC Player. Also a preview of iTunes video on iPad.

On today’s Appisode: iPhone OS 4 rumors hits, the iPad is finally released, and we have some great apps for you to check out.

Appzilla gives you dozens of random tools and functions for the price of one. At $0.99, it looks like a sweet deal, but what’s the catch?

Gary from Macmost gives his First Look at the brand new iPad.

Belly Bums. Like volleyball, except with your belly.

Dual mode iPad/iPhone apps start appearing in the iTunes Store, Beautiful Planet HD comes to the iPad and task management app Dunnit! goes free.

via App Advice Daily

AppJudgment reviews Miso, Foursquare and Gowalla for couch potatoes.

via AppJudgment

The App Addicts hit the streets to find out what real people say about the popular photography app QuadCamera.

via iPhone App Reviews TV

App reviewers demanding payment for reviews, Amazon and Barnes and Noble are working on iPad apps, and a bunch of games drop their prices to Free.

via App Advice Daily

shawnblog:

ffffone:

It looks like I’ll be buying Frogman for iPhone when it is released in April…

(via ekiwi07)

todayonbliptv:

Apps and Hats - Trendstop, SecretAda, BillMinder, Unicode, Spotify, Guardian

This week the girls look at Trendstop Trendtracker for all your fashion needs, Secret Ada for the codebreaker in you, BillMinder for the forgetful, Unicode for those funky people who want more in their tweets and then a quick shout for Spotify paid for service app and The Guardian Newspaper. Both apps that Christine thinks are worth your cash.

via Apps and Hats

MoreLomo review

Lomography emphasizes casual, snapshot photography. Accidents such as over-saturated colors, lens artifacts, and exposure defects are rehabilitated to produce swirly, abstract effects - a trait emphasized by practitioners. Others use the technique to document everyday life, because the small camera size and ability to shoot in low light encourages candid photography, photo reportage and photo vérité.

via iPhone App Reviews TV

White Lines iPhone App

White Lines is a brilliantly simple, fun, and stimulating memory game for all ages. Players must redraw sequences of lines that appear on screen in the same order and direction as they first appeared. Sound easy? The challenge might surprise you! The sparse visuals, sophisticated sounds and smooth flow of the game make it the perfect down-tempo addiction, and the advanced levels are designed to enhance short-term memory. White Lines also makes a perfect pass and play challenge!

via The Daily App Show

Nostalgia Critic’s three part Animaniacs retrospective features cast/crew/creators from the show. Awesome!

Part 2 | Part 3 

Kevin chats with Adam Scott, of Party Down and Parks and Recreation, on this episode of Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show.

RIP Party Down!

Kids In The Hall discuss Death Comes to Town on this episode of Q TV. 

Missing Reel examines the history of the grindhouse “rape revenge” movies including “Ms. 45”, “They Call Her One Eye” and “I Spit On Your Grave”.

Eric Ripert takes a closer look at craftsmanship and the importance of hands-on skills in cooking on this episode of Avec Eric. 

Greg & Donny discover Lolcats.

5btv:

Squatters - Episode 1

In the city that never sleeps, Hand and Alex are looking for a place — to sleep. They made a bet to live rent free. But what they didn’t know is what it would cost them. There are three rules:

1. No paying for housing.
2. No staying with friends.
3. And you can’t leave Manhattan.

Jay Rosen and Michael Otterman discuss WikiLeaks on this episode of GRITtv with Laura Flanders.

Kevin chats with John Slattery, of Mad Men and Iron Man 2, on this episode of Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show.

Hypnogaja joins host Curt Smith for the first ever episode of Stripped Down Live. 

(via itsthemusic)

The tweet that ended the 20-year career of a CNN journalist and a Russian social networking site that is not for the masses but strictly for those of class, on this episode of Al Jazeera Listening Post.

East LA hipsters Elle and Marci recover from their hangovers and plan for the future on episode one of We Are With the Band.

Max tries to convince a foreign investor from Dubai to fund his masterpiece on episode two of Blue Movies.

Mike and Kelley bought a new house. They can’t afford it. It’s time to find roommates. That’s one way of Saving Rent.

Scott Drizhal finds out just how dangerous space travel can be on episode one of SOLO - The Series.

Over 90% of women make up India’s invisible workforce, with little control over their earnings and no political capital. India Unheard’s Luxmi Nautiyal reports.

Kevin Pollak interviews actor Paul Rudd on this episode of Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show.

The creator of the infamous 70-minute Phantom Menace review, returns with a review of Baby’s Day Out. 

(via redlettermedia)

Psapp performs Mister Ant at Arnold Circus Bandstand on this episode of Bandstand Busking. 

(via itsthemusic.tv)

Kevin Pollak interviews Craig Ferguson on this episode of Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show.

A film student finds himself accidentally placed in an internship at one of San Fernando Valley’s most prolific pornography studios on the series premiere of Blue Movies.

Even when the girls are easy, the Casanovas guys somehow make it hard. 

Matthew Barney’s solo show at Schaulager Basel is dedicated to his Drawing Restraint series. VernissageTV takes us to the opening reception.

What do you do with a bottle of Jackson-Triggs 2008 Sauvignon Blanc? Drink now. Serve with seafood or fish. This episode of Naked Wine Show covers the rest. (1:11)

From Hollywood shoot-em-ups to Pentagon spin doctors, The Listening Post takes a look at the relationship between the military and the media.

dapperapps:

An overview of many, many GTD (Get Things Done) iPad apps, including developer Scott Hasbrouck and his featured app Paperdesk. Also multiple Exchange accounts in 4.0 (and currently in jailbreak) and how to print from your iPad with Print Central.

via The iPad Show

Learn how to use ESP to troubleshoot home appliances on this episode of of paranormal how-to series, How To Survive The Strange.

Jai Kumar, Community Correspondent from Punjab, documents the failure of local police to properly investigate rape on this episode of India Unheard.

The Syndies, joined by Special Guests Ashley Marie & Desiree, talk dating disasters.

A weekend camping trip turns psychedelic (and dangerous) for some of the boys in the band in the dramatic Season One finale of Gemini Rising.

—

Gemini Rising, a 2009 Webby Honoree, is a dramatic, but often very funny, series that recounts the trials and tribulations of a hard-working, semi-successful 1970’s progressive rock band from Levittown, Pennsylvania. Follow brothers Robert and Richard McKenzie as they lead a band of talented troubadours through struggles to realize their unique vision and achieve a respectable level of success in a world increasingly indifferent to their musical art. Revisit the 70’s through the eyes of a group of young dreamers who, talented though they were, didn’t quite make it and have long since been forgotten and lost to the mists of time… until now. Featuring outstanding performances from an ensemble cast, Gemini Rising has drama, romance, humor and, best of all, original music inspired by the era’s best progressive rock. 

Keavy Landreth, owner of Kumquat Cupcakery in Brooklyn, invites us into her kitchen space to see how she makes her secret recipe for what many refer to as “Brooklyn’s favorite miniature cupcakes”…on this episode of “Food. Curated.”

Titus Welliver, AKA The Man in Black from Lost, sits down with Kevin on the latest episode of Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show.

On this episode of Luck and the Virgin…

Valentina, a young women from Texas, leaves her boyfriend with his drug money in tow and heads for San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. While at a tamale stand Valentina runs into Ricardo, a hit man working for a US drug cartel, and the two become involved after their bags are switched accidentally…

At 59, Genesis P-Orridge of Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV and Thee Majesty finally seems to have found peace…on this episode of XLR8R TV.

(via itsthemusic)

Doug recounts the top 11 most awkward Christopher Walken moments on this episode of Nostalgia Critic…so you don’t have to.

Jonathan Katz (AKA Dr. Katz) returns to animated form on this hilarious episode of Doogtoons. 

Felicia Day shares childhood artifacts with Mortified Founder, Dave Nadelberg on a new Mortified segment called The Shoebox Sessions.

How to Survive the Strange presents “Claw Hammer Zombie Kill Technique.”

HOW TO SURVIVE THE STRANGE is a semimonthly (twice per month) web series preparing you and your loved ones for the unexpected. We’ve got you covered with the latest tips on how to survive everything from an alien invasion to a zombie apocalypse. The show is hosted by B-movie horror blogger Bryan White. Directed by John Herman.

During the taping of a routine public service announcement, Smitty and the crew of KNOT are approached by a strange woman. And then taping is thwarted by a hostile attack by a militia group known only as the Sons of the Brotherhood.

—

An outdated, out of touch TV station out in the middle of nowhere risks going out of business if they can’t keep up with the times. An overfunded, under educated militia seeks to spread the news of government plots to infiltrate our airwaves and control our every step. A match made in heaven or a mix of oil and water? Add in office politics, mind control, love, intrigue, conspiracy and off-brand candy addiction and you have “Sons of the Brotherhood,” proving once again that the truth is out there. Way, way out there.

Vivian & Archibald’s comic strip sets off a chain reaction on episode 8 of Anyone But Me’s second season.

Henry Charles Ramos seems to have been one of the greatest barmen in history. The Ramos Gin Fizz is what he is remembered for and when Hilah found an old bar menu from a restaurant in San Antonio that claimed to be “Home of the Famous Ramos Gin Fizz” AND it included a recipe, well, clearly she had to try it out. 

All on this episode of Hilah Cooking!

Factcheck.org’s Just The Facts examines how @dccc, @gopwhip, @rnc and @democratsdotorg have used Twitter to mislead their followers.

Gary Rosenzweig explains Mac windows basics like resizing, closing and opening new windows on this episode of MacMost.  While this functionality will be obvious to most, Windows users might not fully comprehend some of the more subtle differences. 

Kevin Pollak sits down with Justine Bateman on this episode of Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show. (102 minutes)

The Puzzle Maker’s Son - Episode 1

David is working an event in the city when he spots a strange figure watching him. As David approaches, the Suited Man slips out the back door. David follows to no avail. The Man is gone. David returns to the event where a phone call delivers terrible news. Days later. David finds himself in the house he grew up, coming to terms with the death of his father. He confronts his mother and reveals his suspicions of his father’s death. When he returns home, he finds a strange package in the mail and his apartment has been ransacked.

Ari Up of The Slits talks about her music, her history and her love of Brooklyn on this episode of Revel In New York.

(via itsthemusic)

They waited in line for 6 weeks… To see a movie.

Everytime a new Star Wars movie comes out, hundreds of Star Wars fans wait in line for 6 weeks.

Who are these people? How do they deal with people making fun of them and most importantly, how do they go to the bathroom?

Director Michael Rotman and Editor Adam Schenck stood in the “Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones” line with this colorful cast of characters to answer these questions and more.

Star Wait is a 9 episode web series that follows the life of a few Star Wars fans as they wait in line for 6 weeks on the streets of Hollywood, but unlike a typical reality show, Star Wait is 100% real.

@ATubanos & @MattCampagna dive deep into Ironman 2 on the latest @YourGeekNews. Lot’s of clips & interviews! 

John Favreau, Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow are back for the follow-up to 2008’s Ironman, and joining them are Don Cheadle, Sam Rockwell, Mickey Rourke and Scarlett Johansson to bring Tony Stark face-to-face with at least one more iron man of his own design: War Machine!

Coma Period Episode 1 - Marking The Days

The horrible thing about being in a coma is that you don’t know how long you’ve been in one.

—

Dan Humford had an accident. Now he’s in a coma, forever caught in the infinite white canvas of his own mind, where he’s haunted by memories, personal insecurities, and sometimes candy bars, old girlfriends, and a fetus.

Bite-size at 2-4 minutes each, Coma, Period. is a darkly irreverent comedy about our inept hero, Dan, and the ways he torments and rewards himself in the stasis of being in a coma. Starring comedian and web celebrity Rob Delaney, this actively original web series is hilarious, funny, comical, and as many other synonyms as you can find on dictionary.com.

Macchiato from Williamsburg, Brooklyn’s El Beit, one of the few purveyors (if not the only) of 49th Parallel coffee in NYC.

via mydailycoffee

sarahfrank:

lightbox:

Went to see Hannibal Buress-hosted weekly comedy showcase last night at the Knitting Factory in Williamsburg.  He had to deal with a heckler at the start of the show.

Williamsburg comedy just got real. 

Brew York, New York: A Briefing on the Brewery Boom

livelaughlovenyc:

Beautiful day for a walk to McCarren Park.

Manhattan Mini Storage ads always have a strong point of view.  

video via brianjcarney

Gordon Novelty Shop. 933 Broadway. New York, NY. Opened in 1934. 

In the summer of 2001 I was working in topographic surveying, and my boss took me with him to survey this joint. I had walked past it for many years and always admired how it had survived so long. Well, we surveyed all the floors and the roof. The upstairs storage looked and smelled like the 1900’s, if that makes any sense. Just the smell of worn down wood floors and endless crates and boxes filled with whoopie cushions and hand buzzers and vampire fangs and every other novelty imaginable. I mean thousands of boxes of this type of stuff, row after row after row. We climbed a rickety wooden staircase to access the roof and fix coordinates.

We spent a couple of hours inside the place and both of us marveled at having a chance to step back in time. It was as if the interior was caught in a time warp, completely seperated from the changing city outside. 

So believe me, the exterior was only a taste of the sublime “old schoolness” that this place was. I was very lucky to get a last peek inside what was then a living museum of old New York.

text via Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York

photo via Greenwich Village Daily Photo

About 12,500 people live on Roosevelt Island, according to a study of accessibility on the island by a team at Hunter College. If bike-sharing eventually makes it to the whole island, the Hunter team found that it could reshape the way residents and visitors get around.

via Streetsblog

Cannot stop looking at this collection of photos from the NYC subway from the ’80s. This one is by Bruce Davidson. I love how it’s perfectly Bright Lights, Big City.

via doree:housingworksbookstore

justinday:

bestrooftalkever:

Have you ever been walking around in Lower Manhattan and noticed a trail of paint on the sidewalk?

About 3 years ago, one of my friends in school decided to follow the trail around, and noticed that the trail produced the image that you see above; a strange-looking rendering of what appears to be the word “momo.” MOMO is the name of an artist that used to be based in NYC, and sure enough, the one responsible for “tagging his name” across the width of Manhattan.

After requesting a meetup, MOMO told my friend that he accomplished this task by fixing 5 gallon paint buckets to the back of his bike, poking a hole in the bottom of the containers, and riding though the West Village, SoHo, Greenwich Village, East Village, and Alphabet City. It appears that this all happened in 2006, which means that some parts of the line have been covered up with roadwork and redone sidewalks, but most of the line is still visible.

To me, the interesting thing about the line is how similar and different it is to regular graffiti. Essentially, most graffiti writers enjoy seeing their name on things, and the bigger they can get it, the more visible their tag is, the more people will notice their presence and witness the artist conquering their city. MOMO created the largest tag in New York, yet the scale of his work here, so massive that it can’t all be viewed at once, means that thousands of people will walk on it each day and never even notice it. It’s simultaneously the biggest and smallest statement I’ve ever seen an artist make.

MOMO made a video about the line which you can see here.

If you ever walk over it, now you’ll know what you’re looking at.

My aunt posted this photo of the Verrazano under construction on Facebook. While I found the partially constructed bridge cool/creepy, my aunt cannot get over the lack of traffic on the Belt Parkway.

via icanseenewyorkcityfrommyhouse

The bridge is named for Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, the first known European navigator to enter New York Harbor and the Hudson River, while crossing The Narrows. It has a center span of 4,260 feet (1,298 m) and was the largest suspension bridge in the world at the time of its completion in 1964, until it was surpassed by the Humber Bridge in the United Kingdom in 1981. It now has the eighth longest center span in the world, and is the largest suspension bridge in the United States. Its massive towers can be seen throughout a good part of the New York metropolitan area, including from spots in all five boroughs of New York City.

via Wikipedia

Style, in New York City. It is wonderful, beautiful, marvelously weird and original.

As hot as this amazing city ♥

via les5sens

5 Pointz, Long Island City

photo via youfoundmee

Scenes from Blue In The Face, filmed @ 16th St. & Prospect Park West in Brooklyn’s Windsor Terrace. There’s a lot of great stuff here, especially Lou Reed’s rant about the Dodgers. The shop was built especially for the film, but the neighborhood is a perfect fit.  It’s somehow stuck in time, a snapshot of another era.

video via whitestroke

The subsidies are largely invisible to drivers who park their cars — and thus free or cheap parking spaces feel like natural outcomes of the market, or perhaps even an entitlement. Yet the law is allocating this land rather than letting market prices adjudicate whether we need more parking, and whether that parking should be free. We end up overusing land for cars — and overusing cars too. You don’t have to hate sprawl, or automobiles, to want to stop subsidizing that way of life. As Professor Shoup wrote, “Minimum parking requirements act like a fertility drug for cars.”

A great case for how we can start choking off the cars that dominate our cities and towns.

Professor Shoup estimates that many American parking spaces have a higher economic value than the cars sitting in them.

[…]

As Professor Shoup puts it: “Who pays for free parking? Everyone but the motorist.”

via underpaidgenius

The American City from 1917:

There has been agitation this season concerning the vacant city lots, and efforts have been made [throughout] the country to make such patches of land bring in returns in the way of crops, thus relieving the situation incident to the high cost of living. A group of firemen at one of the San Diego stations secured permission to cultivate a lot across the street from their building, which had been left vacant by the removal of an old stable. The soil proved very rich and the fire-fighters soon had the lot in shape for various crops, some twenty different vegetables being grown at one time, including carrots, turnips, lettuce, peas, onions, radishes, etc.

Ben Jervey for GOOD:

My friend, Daniel Bowman Simon, [… who worked] for the Who Farm campaign to lobby presidential candidates to plant an organic garden at the White House (which worked!), is now organizing like crazy to have the same done at City Hall in New York City. This new project is called Peoples Garden NYC, and I encourage any New Yorkers—by geography or spirit—to check out the campaign and sign the petition. 

via kateoplis

It’s Ann Liv Young versus P.S. 1, Round 2.

Ms. Young, a provocative performance artist, was at the center of a controversy in February when the P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center abruptly cut the power in the middle of her appearance, plunging an already chaotic scene into darkness.

[Curator Andres] Bedoya said he had never received an explanation from the museum. Nor did Ms. Young, who fell in the darkness, cutting her knee and spilling a bucket of her own urine on herself and several audience members. Yet Ms. Young and others consider her performance a success.

Now she is planning to return to the museum, having been invited by the artist A. L. Steiner to participate in a performance-lecture addressing the February events. That appearance would be held in the temporary studio that Ms. Steiner occupies in the museum as part of the “Greater New York” exhibition. But on Monday a press officer for P.S. 1, April Hunt, said by e-mail that the return visit, scheduled for Sept. 5, was not happening. She would not comment further, and the museum has refused repeated interview requests.

text via NY Times

video via Revel In New York

Sixpoint Craft Ales - Dr. Klankenstein in HD 

This is a great mini-doc about a new (very old) beer style being made at Sixpoint here in Brooklyn.

via: wreckandsalvage

From the name - “stein” is German for “stone” - we can gather that Germans developed this traditional brewing method. Stein beer was most common in the Alpine regions of Europe, where stones were easily quarried and transported back to the brewery. With the Industrial Revolution came easier means of heating wort, and by the start of the 20th century, the method was obsolete.

Stein beer might have been forgotten had not Rauchenfels revived the technique in 1982. Located in Marktoberdorf, Bavaria, Rauchenfels is the original stein-beer brewery of the modern era. The brewers use “graywacke,” a dark sandstone that resists shattering under superhot temperatures.

via: BYO

Limited to the subway adds at any given station, NYC’s most controversial artist and vigilante, Poster Boy, cuts, splices and reworks these images into pieces of free public art full of social commentary and humor for commuters to enjoy.

Poster Boy @ Flickr

via: Friends We Love

Cowboy Stan in front of Ray’s Candy Store.

Sam Bassett made a documentary about Stan. Here’s the trailer. 

via: Eden Brower AKA Slum Goddess

The New Barber Shop, Chelsea.

photo via: asonnenberg

Run by Manuel Manolo for the past dozen or so years, the New Barber Shop is an unofficial social club, a community center, a home. Men sit in chairs silently or chatting in Spanish, surrounded by pictures of baseball players, boxers, and John F. Kennedy.

A friendly, talkative guy named Marshall (“but people call me Flaco—it means skinny”) introduced himself. A wealth of information and a sort of barber shop ambassador, he knows everything that’s happening up and down the block. He told me that the building is already being renovated to install a gym in the basement on one side and a parking garage on the other.

Flaco emphasized how special the shop is, saying, “You can’t find another barber shop like this. It’s full of characters, like me. In the day, we got the daytime characters. At night, after we close, we got the nighttime characters—the homeless guys come in then—and we all just hang out.” When the barber shop and all the other businesses here are gone, Flaco said, “We’ll have no place to go.”

text via: vanishing new york

Kings County Distillery is NYC’s oldest whiskey distillery, having opened it’s doors in April of 2010.  The city hasn’t seen such a business since prohibition. Recent changes in state laws have made distilleries a viable option again.  

Finally got a bottle of the moonshine from Kings County Distillery, made in Williamsburg Brooklyn. I am glad the neighborhood is at a point where I can pay $20 for a small flask of the stuff sister-fucking yokels chug in Kentucky.

via: deleteyourself

Baron Ambrosia guides you through the delicious and dangerous world of pasteles and patties on this episode of BRONXNET’s Bronx Flavor.

via: maura

Williamsburg, Brooklyn - 7/25/2010 by Eric Mortensen

Squatters - Episode 1

In the city that never sleeps, Hand and Alex are looking for a place — to sleep. They made a bet to live rent free. But what they didn’t know is what it would cost them. There are three rules:

1. No paying for housing.
2. No staying with friends.
3. And you can’t leave Manhattan.

Ebb and Flow:A Day in the Life of Manhattan Traffic

…every car entering the CBD causes an average of 3.23 person-hours of delays. Multiply that by $39.53—a weighted average of vehicles’ time value within and outside the CBD—and it turns out that the average weekday vehicle journey costs other New Yorkers $128 in lost time. 

via: paris87

Moishe’s is the last of the authentic kosher bakeries still remaining in Downtown Manhattan where baking is done right on the premises. 

It’s a Lower East Side institution that recently celebrated its 35th anniversary, but whose roots go back nearly 60 years when owner Moishe Perl’s father first got into the baking business after coming to America from a Nazi concentration camp.

“Everyone comes in here: Christians, Jews — you name it,” he said. “And I haven’t changed one thing from the way I’ve baked over the years. Everything is strictly kosher and I only use ingredients that I would eat at home. It’s all baked from a European tradition and all the merchandise is nondairy, except for the cheese Danish.”

via: The Villager

photo by: ibitmylip

Notorious BIG, age 17, freestylin in Brooklyn. Feels like summer. R.I.P.

Bed-Stuy in 1989, five years after he started selling drugs and five years before his first record.

via: mrmattspangler