Übergeek "Chic" egregia cum laude

Again, I think I'm meant to miss the boat on Internet phenomena. What have I been doing to miss the obvious? Running a business? Creating art? I don't know.

So here's a shooting gallery of true blue übergeeks. They're not the kind who could be properly exploited by either Madison Avenue or Hollywood. They're probably not the correct archetypes to sell Gap clothing, Apple electronics, or Starbucks coffee. Obviously not for the mainstream, they're not chic in any sense of the word, and neither are they the ironically labeled "indie" hipster. For a moment you might think you're watching a MADtv or Saturday Night Live sketch. Here they are:

Leslie Hall, of Leslie and the LY's and GemSweater.com:


Jay Maynard, the Tron Guy:


Randy Costan, otherwise known as Peter Pan:


They found their "fame" via the pure democracy of the World Wide Web. And while large corporations can't exploit them (and others like them) to sell products to the middle and working classes of world, they've come together for a good cause: Net Neutrality, the very reason why they have their apparent notability today.

Here's their music video:


Anyway, you can go to the clever viral video people (for a seemingly good cause) at WeAreTheWeb.org.

flowchart credit: www.toothpastfordinner.com

Radio@MutinyUniverse.com #13

Ryan talks about himself, much to the chagrin of everyone in the known universe*.

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1. The Sumner Brothers "Girl in the Window"
2. Lythium "Fish Out of Water"
3. Heather Donaldson "Alone in the Dark"
4. Pauline Boeykens "Dolomiten"
5. Michelle Newman "Goodnight Kiss"
6. DREAD:WAR "Blood of the Pharaoh"

*Speaking of the known universe**, check out Google Sky, the Google Earth add-on at earth.google.com.

**Speaking of Mutiny Universe, check out the following links mentioned in the podcast: Mutiny Universe News, Radio@MU Archive, and Elan Vital Blog.

Ring Ring

"Ring Ring" is by a duo from Belgium called Connexion. (Actually, they're a band from England, who were "once big in Belgium.")



They just might be on the cusp of some sort of Web phenomenon (that is, if I'm not six months late...again). The second guy in the duo (the back up singer) steals the show.

Addendum: Apparently I'm about 22 years late, in Belgium, that is. Then again, after watching their other promo stuff...New Wave Spinal Tap, anyone?

Rob Zabrecky

Some great recent projects featuring our Elan Vital mood master, Rob Zabrecky:

Johnathan Rice Press Conference featuring Winona Ryder and Rob Zabrecky


MTV's Room 401 - The Ice Man


MTV's Room 401 - The Claw


MTV's Room 401 - Pull it Through


These are just a few great episodes of Room 401 and Rob Zabrecky. Be sure to check out some more on youtube or mtv overdrive or check your local listings to watch the show on television. You can see Rob in our upcoming film, Elan Vital as the enigmatic singer/guitarist in the lounge band. Stay tuned! Let us know what you think!

Chocolate Rain

I know I'm about six months behind the times (and that's what I get for not being a Youtuber or an active MySpacer or whatever), but apparently Tay Zonday's "Chocolate Rain" is (or was) quite the World Wide Web phenomenon:



And this is Chad Vader's cover. At least I'm slightly "hip" enough to know about the Chad Vader short films:



If you take into consideration the old Warhol prophecy, today's technology, and the spirit of the time...mix all those in together nicely...in my opinion, it's still more desirable to create art than to chase some trend. Mostly it's going to be a careful and thankless process (speaking of which, check out the Elan Vital blog), but isn't the process the real payoff? Ideally, yes...and any residual rewards would be icing on the cake, the cold beer after a hard day's work, and other cliches of the same sentiment.

But if you're in the mood to play the game, then play. Play is fun. (Pardon the truism.) If Mutiny Universe can create an Internet sensation, I'd be happy too (only because I've attempted to try that game once).

My opinion only accounts for at most 20%,
Ryan

Radio@MutinyUniverse.com #12

Social networking, anyone?

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1. Heather Donaldson "Damn Guitar"
2. Pauline Boeykens (tuba), with Barbara Jungfer (guitar) and Eric Schaeffer (drums) "Dolomiten"(Alexander Dannullis)
3. Jimmie Rodgers "Hobo Bill's Last Ride"
4. Starlight Cinema "Left Coast Cinderella"
5. The Outside "Blame You I Do"
6. The Society of Gloves "Who Are Your Friends?"

MySpace, Shelfari, LinkedIn, the list goes on and on...

Women in Film

odd vehicles

Hot Pockets

Jim Gaffigan's appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien (circa 2002) nearly killed me. It was so funny, there was a sharp pain in my stomach, and boiling hot tears streamed down my face. (And I laughed, too.)



It's still funny after all these years.

Radio@MutinyUniverse.com #11

It was recorded in the daytime! (Okay, at sunset.)

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1. The Sumner Brothers "Goin' Out West"
2. Kelly Harrell "Rovin' Gambler"
3. Negatrude "Home"
4. Heather Donaldson "Wrong Man"
5. Moxy Phinx "Leave Me"
6. Albert Wynn's Creole Jazz Band "She's Crying for Me"
7. Katy M. Savage "Denial"
8. Peerless Quartet with Henry Burr and Billy Murray "My Dream of the Big Parade"

Public domain music: Archive.org.
Creative commons mp3s of public domain literature: Librivox.org.

Net Neutrality

As I was browsing through the Internet (actually the links on my Mutiny Universe biography page), I stumbled onto a link on Pearl Jam's activism page: A website called Rock the Net. Apparently really cool bands 'n stuff are for keeping the Net neutral.

And that reminded me of one of my posts on Mutiny Universe's ill-fated discussion forums, from October 31, 2006:

This may not be the most glamourous of socio-political causes, but if you're reading this RIGHT NOW, this definitely concerns you. (Keep in mind that I do not profess to be an expert on this topic, as I'm still gathering knowledge about it.)

It's called Network Neutrality. Basically, it means that over any given network--in our case, the World Wide Web--there is equal treatment to all sources and all data. It's like a freeway without a carpool lane. Videos, emails, music files, and computer viruses (unfortunately but necessarily) travel the same road at basically the same speed limit (the actual speed to your computer depends on your connection, obviously). In the same way, big websites like Google and Yahoo! must also observe the same speed limit as small websites like Mutiny Universe.

My belief is that Net Neutrality is a GOOD THING. Unlike the real world (location, location, location!), this virtual world is an equal-level marketplace (relatively speaking). It seems that true supply-and-demand, non-monopolistic capitalism flourishes under Net Neutrality. The obvious examples of the little guys becoming the big guys on the Net are Amazon.com, Google, MySpace, and YouTube (which Google bought a couple of weeks ago). Because they had the same opportunity to reach your computer as the already-established, wealthier companies, they had an opportunity to succeed. Opportunity doesn't automatically guarantee success, but they did succeed.

Those in opposition to Net Neutrality cite a concern that a free-for-all Information Highway will lead to perpetual rush-hour traffic. Some in this camp propose that there should be specialized lanes for video, audio, text, etc. Some also suggest that virtual toll roads would decrease congestion. Meaning, websites using these premium roads will load faster onto your computer than others. It is also possible that the non-toll road websites will "time out" on your web browser and never load at all.

The problems with charging a toll for the proposed premium road are obvious. Whoever is in charge of the virtual toll road controls the World Wide Web. Small companies cannot afford the premium as already-established, large corporations, so the playing field becomes analogous to the real world marketplace. There will be no more MySpace-type successes anymore; rather, there will be the same old, same old. Furthermore, the gatekeepers of the toll road (most likely telecommunications corporations--phone and cable companies) get to decide who can use the toll road. They might filter out voices due to political affilitation, ideology, and whatever suits their agenda. Bloggers, some of whom rival CNN and Fox News on the Web, will be silenced--effective censorship--if and when they are barred from the virtual toll road.

Anyway, keep your ear to the ground when it comes to issues like these. And remember to vote. For more information on Net Neutrality, you can go to the most dangerous/fantastic source for community information/disinformation: Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_neutrality). You can probably say bye-bye to the Wikipedia if the gatekeepers have their way.

Cheers...alright,
Ryan

Anyway, I went out on a limb and signed Mutiny Universe up as a supporter of Net Neutrality on Rock the Net (my band, The Society of Gloves, also signed up). As it is, we're still one of the little guys, who like to support our peers (i.e., our podcast)...and Net Neutrality will only serve to help us on our journey.

Poetique

This woman is fantastically full of passion and inspiration. I only know her in that cyber sort of way but she must be a kindred spirit. Check her work out at http://www.myspace.com/poetickhaotique and http://www.myspace.com/kacie954. Always support people who spew passion - they give this world the hope that it needs to go on in such wild, wild times.

More Misheard Lyrics

In my opinion, the "Yellow Ledbetter" misheard lyrics video works because there's no official lyric sheet for the song, and therefore no one really knows what the words actually are. I know that "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was satirized more than 16 years ago of its then-perceived incoherent vocals (e.g., Weird Al's parody), but being a big Nirvana fan for the greater part of 14 years (and being aware of them for 16), I am not amused by the new Youtube videos satirizing the lyrics...I know the lyrics too well. It's the same with Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze"...I know the lyrics too well to really laugh at "'scuse me while I this guy."

Or could it be those videos lack some sort of comedic imagery and timing? I'll leave that for the Youtube haters (there are plenty).

Anyway, so here's a Christina Aguilera song, one that I have never heard until I watched this video. Funny.



And this is an AFI song, which I've heard for many years now...but since I'm not a big AFI fan, I have no idea what the actual lyrics were...so this could be them for all I know (but I know they're not).



And EXTRA CREDIT for the use of Buffalo wings from Google Images.