I don’t know how you feel about Michele Bachmann, but my mother loves her. And by that I mean she hates her. Not to get into politics too much, but I would imagine you feel the same, Reader. If not, that’s a bit bizarre, and I would think that a lot of the stuff on the Bloglin offends you. But, I don’t know, maybe not.
After their first video uncovering the meaning behind Republican candidate Rick Perry’s epistemology, Bad Lip Reading is back at it again, this time translating Bachman’s alien language into intelligible, or at least, understandable terms. “And when I buy stickers for folks in prison, I bring milk, not backyard meth. It’s a prison party.” Exactly.
If you’re from New York and grew up or worked in or around any of the Hasidic enclaves, you probably caught a glimpse of the Shomrim at night rolling around in their unmarked vans full of stoic looking Jews you wouldn’t want to fuck with. If you’re outside of New York, hell, even outside of Brooklyn, the thought probably seems completely surreal. Most people think of the Guardian Angels as NYC’s vigilante organization since they’ve been fully engrained into our pop culture lexicon; but the Shomrim have been going strong for almost 20 years patroling places like Williamsburg and Borough Park, operating mostly outside of the law. Up above is a recent recruiting film of these badass Jews at work taking down the bad guys, who of course are mostly going to be either black or hispanic.
I found the video pretty campy and surreal, and I know these dudes exist. Shit’s looks like some bad 80′s cop show crossed with a Tim & Eric bit. I wish there ere bonus features complete with the casting call for the “criminal element.” Anyway, If this vid peaked your interest, the Village Voice just did a big expose on the organization who were flung into the spotlight recently because of the brutal murder of Leiby Kletzky. Go check it out and don’t fuck with the Jews.
As rebel forces continue their revolution in Libya and the rebels’ flag is raised in Tripoli, the most striking revelation in the hunt for Gaddafi is that he jerked off to pictures of former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.
During the ransacking of Gadaffi’s Bab al-Azizia compound, rebels found a photo album filled with pictures of Mrs. Rice, or as Gaddafi like to call her, “Leezza.” She visited Gaddafi in 2008 and the two enjoyed a late night dinner together. Gaddafi must have been SO awkward and sweaty as he pined over lovely Leezza!
Rebels also found an impossibly fresh golden mermaid couch – probably covered in matted cum.
In a bit of surprising news, The West Memphis Three will be released from prison today after being incarcerated for 18 years. If you have no clue who they are then you’ve never seen the compelling HBO documentary, Paradise Lost nor it’s follow up, Paradise Lost: Revelations. Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols and Jessie Misskelly (who were teens at the time) were arrested and charged with mutilating and murdering three children in a supposed Satanic ritual. Why were the three arrested? Mainly because they loved Metallica and Stephen King, checked out a few occult books at the library, dressed in all black and quoted Allister Crowley.
Filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky documentary examined the details of the flimsy case and cast plenty of doubt on the boys involvement in the murders along with plenty of suspicion directed at the step-father of one of the murdered boys. I’m not sure why of all the injustices happening in this world, why the plight of the West Memphis Three resonated as hard with me as it did… but it did. Especially, Echols who seemed like a kid a little too smart for his own good and his upbringing being made a whipping boy for what amounted to simple adolescent rebellion.
I’m glad they’re free and surprised that for almost a decade Peter Jackson had quietly been funding their legal battle. They actually had to all plead guilty and got 18 year sentences which were then credited to their time already served to get released. The reason? To avoid a messy and complicated retrial. What happens now to three metalheads being put back into society? Do they try and actually find the killer now? I guess we’ll find out in Berlinger & Sinofsky’s upcoming Paradise Lost: Purgatory which I imagine is going to now get a few new scenes.
For more info head over to the AV Club, The Hollywood Reporter or really any new source of your choice. They’ll probably all be talking about it.
It’s a shame we’ve only got about a year and a half left to live. I was really starting to enjoy this life. What I am referring to, of course, is the long-feared Ancient Mayan forecast that the world will end on December 21, 2012. Personally, I don’t put any stake into these claims, despite how awesome I think the ancient Mayans are. And I’ll explain why, shortly.
For starters, today TheWrap is reporting that the Mexican government is revealing state-held secrets regarding the end of the Mayan calendar to the makers of a documentary, Revelations of The Mayans 2012 and Beyond. According to documentary producer Raul Julia-Levy, son of actor and apparently uncreative namer, Raul Julia, the information, kept classified for over eighty years, is expected to be “shocking,” and will reveal Mayan beliefs regarding future catastrophes.
One of the conditions from the Mexican government regarding the release of the information is that the film must be released prior to the suspected end of the world. It seems somebody’s a little worried. In terms of the actual, mystical information, Julia-Levy has been sworn to secrecy in order to not deter tourists from dropping loads of money on Mexico’s upcoming 2012 Mayan World Program. The real mystery here is why exactly the Mexican government is in possession of these secrets.
The thing about the whole “2012 cataclysm” theory is that it’s based entirely on a misinterpretation of the Mayan calendar, hence the “and Beyond” in the title of Julia-Levy’s upcoming project. Never does the calendar indicate that 12/21/2012 is the end date for life on earth. Quite the opposite, in fact, the long-feared date simply signifies the start of the next b’ak’tun cycle. In the Mayan Long Count Calendar one b’ak’tun cycle is equal to twenty k’atun cycles and contains 144,000 days. So, in other words, no end of the world.
Sorry, or congrats, depending on how you handle being incorrect.
It seems that those lovable internet trouble makers “Anonymous” are up to their old tricks once again. While I can’t speak at length regarding the gang’s past hijinks, this faceless cyber entity has always seemed to function as WikiLeak’s goofy little brother in many respects. Anyway, according to a YouTube video recently issued by a faceless Anonymous member, it appears that this global network of hackers have chosen everybody’s favorite social networking platform as their next target. If we’re to believe the unsettling robot voice featured in the above clip, “Operation Facebook” will shift into effect on November 5th, 2011, essentially knocking the website out for the count.
According to a Huffington Post report which was just posted, it seems that some key members of Anonymous have already started to back away from this particular campaign, but who’s to say which information is valid when you’re dealing with these characters. As much as I truly believe the entire operation to be a hoax, I enjoy pondering conspiracy theories as much as the next jerk. If there is any truth to the startling facts spit out by the programmed narrator throughout the clip, maybe Facebook needs to recieve comeuppance at the hands of these guys anyway.
As far as petty cyber-terror rumblings go, this is one of the more interesting nuggets to come down the mainstream pike in some time. While I’m sure that the absence of Facebook from my life wouldn’t have too profound of an effect, I’m assuming the withdrawal symptoms caused by their potential downfall would be cataclysmic for a percentage of internet users. Just think of the all the useless photographs that would have to go untagged in the wake of Facebook’s disappearance. A wave of sheer panic and terror would surely break out across college campuses nationwide. I mean, how would somebody go about poking somebody else?
There’s a panic on the streets of London (I know, I know, poor taste but I had to) with England seeing one of the worst, most violent and destructive display of turmoil in awhile. The discontented Brits have managed to leave quite a bit of torched property and hospitalized over a few bobbies, cops, in the aftermath. What started as an uprising in opposition to the wrongful death of a Tottenham man, shot in the face, at the hands of police, has turned quickly into a full-blown riot that has spread to every epicenter in the UK over the past three days and caused millions of dollars worth of damages already.
The fires set by rioters have advanced swiftly beyond the borders of the country, affecting the operations of hundreds of independent record labels that, due to the ignition of the Sony DADC (Digital Audio Disc Corporation) headquarters, have had their stock decimated and looted with their foundation fissured. This building was home to amazing labels such as Warp, XL, Thrill Jockey, Drag City, Ninja Tune, 4ad, Domino, Sub Pop, and a laundry list of other crucial players in the rise and expansion of ‘indie’ music worldwide. Pias UK, the distributor of stock for these small manufacturers, are working together to limit the damage but can this blaze be fought and bounced back from?
The answer to that not so simple question is, who knows? After a hit of these proportions things aren’t looking up for a speedy recuperation or a recovery, in general. It really fucking saddens me that something like this happened and that soon we may be sitting shiva in mourning of some of the greatest independent recording companies. This act of ‘un’-civil disobediance has “devastated” the better portion of these labels’ CD and vinyl stock, with Pias being the sole stock-holder for many, severely wounding the music industry as a whole and the mom-and-pops of the business to boot.
At lunch today I asked my friend and coworker who moved here from France not too long ago, what he thought about rioting as a means to send a message to the political powers by any means necessary. His response was a simple “It does more harm than it does good”. Seeing as how he’s from Europe and over there they do things differently, assembling in the streets with weapons and masks ready to do battle against the police any time, any place. He’d said public outcry, like this one, is sometimes more an excuse to flex our nihilistic, self-serving, tendencies as animals, tearing down and stealing without a care as to the consequences of those actions.
I’ll say I agree with him on this matter of people cutting their noise to spite their face when it comes to unrest and mob dissent but there are so many causes that would’ve never been taken into account, altering the course of history, had physical rebellion not manifested itself in the actions of the domestics. Take for example the “riots”, as the media called them, in Watts and in 1992 L.A. after the Rodney King beating, had that racial strife never occurred, blacks might’ve fallen casually into second-class citizenship and been withheld rights for who knows how long. Riots are a sensitive subject that should be judged case by case as shades of grey.
Take a look at what has happened and what has come of it. An innocent man is still dead and with his passing away, music was eradicated in the same merciless fashion the police fired that fatal gunshot. I’m a supporter of airing one’s grievances with the political system and any social injustices that have been committed but this shit is just downright brainless ravaging. I can’t help but be reminded of the UK student protests late last year that went from a peaceful display of solidarity opposing the increase in university tuition costs to a reason for self-proclaimed “anarchists” to wave black flags and break shit. Yep riots are a funny thing but this is serious as ever.
Check out the report over at The Guardian for more info.
Don’t ask me how someone decided that an animated children’s series would make the perfect forum in which to flex their aptitude for media mash-ups. I can’t claim complete ignorance to the phenomenon of a mature audience adapting kid’s TV as their guiding light, seeing as how I wrote a post last month about my obsession, and that of many other 20-something males, with iCarly. There’s no judgment here, ‘bro-nies’ (the self-proclaimed nickname for guys into My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic). It just so happened that there is a whole smattering of these lonely saps that have a thing for fantastical talking horses who, if I were a betting man, would have my money on their appearance on To Catch A Predator in the near future.
The ‘bronies’ don’t just watch the show religiously, collect the toy’s from their daughters’ happy meals, or gather behind closed doors to share their passion for the show with other men of the same camp, they also make fan videos. Mashing the rainbow mares with different songs and movie/TV show dialogue, these fanatics have undergone scrutiny from the press in that they have not only been able to avoid prosecution for copyright infringement but have been glorified by Hasbro studios, the company that owns the rights to MLP (My Little Pony; it’s just easier this way).
These amateur editors are just as guilty of breaking the royalty-reinforcing law as mash-up artists like Girl Talk and video DJ, Pogo in the minds of the public. But what happens when the company whose material is unquestionably being used has their head screwed on straight and decides to shake the hands of the devotees instead of demanding they empty their pockets or face legal action? I’ll tell you exactly what happens, both the owner and borrower share a mutual appreciation for the output instead of suing and countersuing. Hasbro has even released a video that thanks the viewers for their loyalty and promotion. That’s the way it should be but I doubt any significant change will come from this, just a message to the people that artists and DJs (audio, video, whatever) can live together in perfect harmony free of bad blood and court costs.
Have you ever clicked on a YouTube video only to receive a message and a red diagonal-line mouthed face, I think this means uncertainty but they know just what they have done, that reads “This video has been removed due to copyright blah, blah, blah?” Of course you have and that’s because you can’t share anything online anymore without having an army of tight-assed lawyers chasing after you making threats and appeals. I know it’s a little different seeing as how we’re discussing mash-ups and the recognition of their artistry by big business but it’s more of the same, evil bequeathed from the same toughened, lifeless bosom.
Now that I’ve gone completely off the rails we can start talking about video mashing again, an act with same basic premise as sampling beats or songs. I mean we’ve got Seinfeld, The Watchmen, 300, The Dark Knight, Lord of The Rings, Inglorious Basterds, The Hangover, Wu-Tang Clan (one of the most mashed up groups ever), and much more copywritten output being lip-synced by a bunch of ponies for goodness sake.
It doesn’t get any better than this and I’m not alone in my assumption, Hasbro thought so too, and that’s what matters. Meanwhile, I’ve been enjoying these brony videos, the editing is unreal and the hardwork that went into them, clear as day. Bottom line, stop censoring online parodies and tributes. Haven’t you heard of viral marketing, morons?
Variety wrote a full-on analysis of this timeless battle over creative licensing and ownership through the twinkly eyes of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and it’s available to read here. Equestrian Swag!
Sunday morning, Daniel Bobis went missing while surfing in West Lampung, Indonesia. Friends and family have spent the last 24-hours contacting the US embassy in Jakarta and the international media in order to shed light on his disappearance. The consulate has been of no help thus far but seems to be more responsive after the thousands of pleas from family members, friends and the entire community of Long Beach.
Hundreds of people attended a vigil last night (as seen on the Fios1 report) on Long Beach’s boardwalk to pray for Danny’s well being, his safe return and to raise awareness for his Paypal rescue fund which can bring aide to his search and rescue through donations to dannybobisfund@gmail.com.
Danny was my first friend here in the United States and he has been an integral part of my life for the past 14 years. He is a beloved math teacher at Long Beach High, Coach of the LB Surf Team and drummer of Long Island activist hardcore band, Cipher. The New York Post, Village Voice, CBS NY, Gizmodo. CNN iReport and Patch have picked up the story but it is up to us to spread the word until the proper actions are taken and Danny is recovered.
Please spread the word and if possible reach out to anyone and everyone that can help. You can also call the Indonesian US embassy at (62)(21) 3435-9000 or email them at the American Citizen Services of Jakarta. If you have or are looking for any information show your support by visiting the Daniel Bobis Info Facebook page.
“The Only Real Thing In Life Is Action” - Maurice Mitchell (Cipher), 1999.
The recent verdict that found Casey Anthony not guilty certainly came as a shock to most, though it seems no one was quite as stunned, or upset for that matter, as this man who may or may not be the believed deceased, George Carlin (we’re looking into it). Expressing his alarm with twenty-six strategically placed “God damn!”s and a slew of other likely to trend expressions, such as, “Fry bitch, fry!” and “What’d she do, borrow god damned O.J. Simpson’s horse shoe!?” this gentleman’s opinion, though it may indeed be the loudest, is undoubtedly echoed by others across the nation.
With the trial behind her, Anthony is likely looking forward to moving on with her life. Fortunately, Vivid Entertainment, the biggest name in adult films, is graciously willing to help, having already made her an offer to star in a porn film. Vivid co-founder Steve Hirsch thinks she’d make a great star, saying, “We’ve all seen the pictures of her partying and having a good time with friends where she definitely looks hot.” This is definitely the guy you want to get involved with after you are accused of murdering your two-year-old daughter in a nationally publicized case and then found not guilty though the jurors say they think you likely killed her and were sickened by the fact that there wasn’t enough substantial evidence. Yeah, Hirsch is definitely the guy to go into business with here. After all, what better way is there, really, to rebuild your public image than to get into porn?
Additional reports say that Anthony could reap a huge sum by signing a book deal, though what she lacks that other controversial celebrities possess is a pre-trial identity that incites a feeling of compassion. The public was inclined to read a book written by O.J. Simpson because before his trial he was a Hall-of-Fame running back and an icon. Casey Anthony, on the other hand, was no icon before her trial, and unless she writes this purported book in the next few months, the public eye will surely shift to a new scandal and she will be forgotten.
Perhaps porn is the right path for Casey Anthony. It’ll certainly give her some longevity, though the niche market for accused-murderer porn might not be too strong yet. Give it some time. There’s bound to be some people out there looking to see a woman accused of murder defiled for their enjoyment. There’s just bound to be.
It’s hard to say whether or not the old man from the video has seen the above picture of Anthony, but someone should go ahead and show him just in case he hasn’t. Chances are the “God Damn!”s will once again ring out.
