tIoP <3 Indy

Things That Are Wrong

Okay, I promised no more political posts, but I couldn't resist.

I don't even know what to say, other than when I read the description of this, I figured it featured actors impersonating Clinton, Obama and McCain.

Nope.

May I present Wrestling style trash-talking from our candidate. Pardon me while I walk away, hanging my head in shame.

Anyone? Anyone?

So far, no one seemed to have watched my Hillary in the House video. Perhaps it's too clean cut. How about something a little less, to titillate the kiddies?

These are outtakes, kinda sorta, from the eCousinality commercial I shot. I wouldn't say it's NSFW, but you might want to turn the volume down a little lower.

Hillary In the House

After I read this article, I couldn't resist making this.

Scientology in Tom Cruise's words

Like we didn't know he was crazy before...This was apparently leaked from a private Scientology event. Kudos to the hero who smuggled it out.

EDIT: The Scientologists work fast. They've already got the first video pulled ("due to a copyright claim by the Church of Scientology" according to YouTube). I'm going to repost it with a working copy, but if it goes down, please visit Gawker, who is hosting their own copy which they have said they are refusing to take down. Take that, Tom Cruise!

EDIT 2: I've had to repost this three times now, since the videos keep getting pulled-- again, if it doesn't work, check out the Gawker link

EDIT 3: That's at least five times I've changed videos!

EDIT 4: From one of the posted videos:

Scientology mini dictionary:
*KSW (short for Keeping Scientology Working): A policy written by
Hubbard in the 1960's that requires all Scientologists to follow his
words and his rules exactly.
"Orgs: Orgs is an abbreviation for "organizations" and describes
all churches of Scientology throughout the world.
*David Miscavige: He is the current leader of Scientology.
He's the equivalent of the Pope to the Catholics.
*Out-ethics: any behavior that violates any of Hubbard's
rules of conduct.
*Put ethics in on someone else: make others conform
to Hubbard's rules of behavior.
*Criminon: Scientology front group that tries to recruit through the prisons.
* SP: Suppressive Person. Anyone that doesn't like Scientology and/or criticizes Scientology.
*PTS/SP: another bogus Hubbard term to define behavior that goes
against Scientology rules.
*LRH technology or "tech": all the Scientology policies, rules, mandates, procedures

eCousinality

I shot and chopped this 'commercial' for a website called Giuliani Married His Cousin with my production company, Stranger In the Alps Films.

Enjoy!

Happy 37th Anniversary, Whale That Got Done Blowed Up!

Rejected - Don Hertzfeldt

Would you taser this guy?

What does it mean to live in a free society? I know, I know, some of you out there are going to start with the "Bush this," and "NSA that" and Gitmo this," and I wouldn't argue with you. But generally, in a way that impacts our daily lives, we do okay. If I want to write here, "George W. Bush is a borderline fascist who tramples over our civil rights and is perfectly willing to kill hundreds of thousands of people to gain power and profit from it," I can. And I did.

If we want to gather in a public place and exchange these views, we can.

If we want to show up to an event and protest, we can.

If we want to write books, record songs, make movies that are critical of public figures, we can.

Does this mean we're allowed to do everything we want? That we should be able to? You may be able to figure out where I'm going with this. Yesterday a 21 year old college student named Andrew Meyer was tasered during a lecture/ q&a by John Kerry. There is a chilling video of a swarm of campus security zapping the kid with 50,000 volts of electricity as he cries out in pain.

The thing is, to some degree, he had it coming.

First, the video:



It's pretty shocking (pun mildly intended). Here's just a brave American, trying to speak his point of view, and getting assaulted by the Gestapo. There was immediate buzz (yes, I know, but I can't stop) about this event. That video has been viewed over 100,000 times in a day. It was shown on the Today Show.

We talked about it at work. My co-workers all agreed that silencing this guy's opinion was akin to denying him free speech. I disagreed. While I felt that tasering the kid was probably a little extreme (perhaps a lot), I can see exactly why he was dragged away from the mic.

Some opinions that aren't my own.

From a blog at the Washington Post:

There are some important things worth noting BEFORE you watch the video:

1.) Before Meyer is tasered, audience members can be heard applauding the police as they move him away from the microphone. Kerry staffers we spoke with say University of Florida officials told them the student has caused a fuss at similar events before, thus the clapping from members of the audience.

2.) Sen. Kerry was in town giving a lecture on foreign policy. The event was scheduled to last one hour, and had already run about 90 minutes by the time Meyer got to the microphone, according to a Kerry staffer.

3.) In some versions of the video, you can clearly hear Sen. Kerry say he will answer Meyer's questions. Kerry's office made it clear he has a policy of answering questions from anyone who asks at these types of events.

4.) Sen. Kerry's office issued the statement below:

"In 37 years of public appearances, through wars, protests and highly emotional events, I have never had a dialogue end this way. I believe I could have handled the situation without interruption, but I do not know what warnings or other exchanges transpired between the young man and the police prior to his barging to the front of the line and their intervention. I asked the police to allow me to answer the question and was in the process of responding when he was taken into custody. I was not aware that a taser was used until after I left the building. I hope that neither the student nor any of the police were injured. I regret enormously that a good healthy discussion was interrupted."

And from Daily Kos.

"I was at the Kerry speech today, sitting 2 rows away from all the action. I'll let you know how it really went down.

The forum was going to be over at 2 pm, and Kerry spoke for so long that the Q and A portion had to be shortened. He only got through about 7 of the 50 people who were waiting to ask questions. While the final question was being read, some douchebag ran down the aisle, grabbed the mic from the other side of the room, interrupted the kid who was talking, and started yelling at Kerry, demanding that his questions be heard. He started ranting about how Kerry talks in circles or something, and everyone was getting annoyed. The cops are all over him in no time and try to escort him out, but he starts yelling and resisting. Kerry insists that they let him stay and even agrees to answer his question.

After the interrupted guy's question was answered, Kerry keeps his promise and lets the angry guy talk. This is the point where people started taking their cameras and phones out. All the videos floating around youtube start around here. You can see in the videos that his questioning gets kind of inappropriate, so somebody cut his mic. Instead of shutting up, he starts yelling and making an even bigger scene. He struggled all the way up the aisle, and started violently trying to free himself. They threatened to taze him and he wouldnt stop fighting, so he got tazed. They only had to arrest him because he was causing a disruption and wouldn't leave peacefully. He wasn't being silenced for asking tough questions, trust me.

It's a shame that they had to taze the guy, but he had a chance to calm down and didn't take it. He probably didn't pose a physical threat to anybody in the room, but someone can't just hijack the floor of a forum like that and expect not to get kicked out. This wasn't some poor guy who was brutalized for trying to ask some tough questions. He's just an obnoxious guy who had a fit when there wasn't time for his questions and refused to be calm even when he was given the chance to speak. He was looking for trouble, and everyone applauded when he was forced to leave.

Nothing pisses me off more than hearing stories about power tripping cops abusing their power, unnecessarily tazing or arresting people, etc. It's a huge problem and I'm glad it's being discussed. Just don't mistake this for one of those cases"

.

Where do we draw the line at having the right to things, and abusing the right? While you have the right to ask a senator tough questions (and let's be clear: Kerry DID try and answer them), do you have the right to step on other people's toes, act like an asshole, and basically yell at a guy who is trying to give a speech? Especially when you support him?

I'm not saying that the kid should have been tasered. I'm not. He shouldn't have been tasered, or beaten. Should he have been removed? Hell yes. Those campus security folks overreacted, but he did start to push and shove them. That's his own damn fault.

If I showed up where Karl Rove was speaking, and I acted the way he did, I'd expect to be tossed out too. Or if I did it at an Obama speech, a McCain speech, or a Schwarzenegger speech. This isn't a party thing. This isn't a free speech thing.

It's a matter of just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

But what do you think?

Hiatus

The Idea of Progress has returned. You may now cease your weeping and tearing of the clothes. Those of you that are attractive unattached women may continue with the clothes tearing.

What have I been up to in these days (literally! days!) of non-writing?

-Saw Wilco in Millenium Park

- Planned out a short film, a documentary, and a feature length comedy, at least one of which will be completed.

-Planned for a sequel to SLC: Vice! (If you haven't seen it, which is slightly possible, here it is)



-Procrastinated

-Thought about writing new blog posts, but resorted to regurgitating story from the New York Times and posting a funny picture

-Avoided getting a suitable about of sleep

You Tube Fakery

Perhaps I'm just an idealist.

There are many good and bad things about these systems of tubes we call the internets. The list of bad things goes on and on (Ron Paul, kiddie porn, the fact that companies make you visit their websites to report problems rather than let you talk to someone), but he list of positives would take up many many hours of typing.

One of the things I find most charming about the internet is how it provides equal access for people. Anyone can write a blog and get it read, anyone can accidently upload naked pictures of themselves and get themselves fired from Disney. Anyone can make a video and have it seen by millions of people around the world. OK Go is a great example of that. They make one funny music video, people watched it and liked it, and now they are getting name checked by Common on his new album.

Inevitably someone is going to try and exploit this idea of the Everyman making it big. It happened once with the YouTube videos for lonelygirl15. When it turned out she was fictional, a product of filmmakers trying to parasitically feed off of the cultural zeitgeist, people turned against her and them.

It's happened again. A singer named Marie Digby has been posting videos of her playing cover songs on her guitar in her living room. The way the story goes is that the videos came out, people began watching them religiously, she got on song on the TV show The Hills, scored a spot on Carson Daly's show, radio airplay, and finally she got a record deal with Hollywood Records.



A complete lie.

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, it was all cooked up by Hollywood Records executives. Apparently she was signed with them back in 2005, 18 months before she began appearing on YouTube. Carson Daly and radio DJ's introduced her music by saying 'they just sort of found her on the internet,' which was a complete lie, because she was booked on those shows by Hollywood Records. Her MySpace page claimed she was unsigned (it's now been updated to say 'major' label).

Why does this bother me? Marketing has always tried to hitch on to whatever trend was popular at the moment, and this wasn't the first time an artist has misrepresented themselves for publicity. I think what gets me about it is not only the fact that she was lying and her company was lying, but others participated in this.

I don't view Carson Daly as any bedrock of integrity, certainly. But he chose to make a flat out false statement on his show, one that as a producer on his show (and someone who, believe it or not, actually knows a bit about music) absolutely knew to be false. I find that reprehensible, to help further propagate this marketing campaign that that Hollywood Records has started.

Again, I'm aware that this is a pretty small problem in the grand scheme of things, but how would you feel is you found out that something you enjoyed for its intimacy and amateurishness turned out to be nothing more than a product? I'd feel pretty cheated.

Before I sat down to write this, I watched a couple of videos by Marie Digby. Her song choices are pretty lame (Hollywood Records had a plan that she would sing cover songs so people would find them while searching for the real song), but she has a nice voice and she's very easy on the eyes. Maybe she'll become a star, who knows?

I won't be listening.

"Where is Patrick now?...Maybe he got taken for a ride."

In honor of a great Caruso post in Adventure in Self-Loathing.

TV Funhouse

This only ran once. NBC cut it from repeats of the same episode. Hmm, I wonder why?

The Idea Of Progress Will Be On Hiatus This Weekend

Please enjoy this video of Klaus Nomi performing Lightning Strikes:

A Brief Word From Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho)

For the record, I am not gay. I've never been gay, I never was gay, and I'll never be gay. I don't go around anywhere hitting on men, and by God, if I did, I wouldn't do it in Boise, Idaho! Jiminy!.

Here's what really happened. I ate Taco Bell for Lunch. You ever eat Taco Bell? I had a chalupa, whatever the hell a chalupa is. I was in a hurry. I'm a very busy man, as you can quite imagine. The chalupa, and the hot sauce I unfortunately put on it, went through me like tax dollars through a Democrat's fingers (vote Romney!)


I went to the mens's room to, er... relieve myself. That's where a man goes to do his business! What a man does in the privacy of his own bathroom should be kept as confidential as our wiretapping records! The bathroom was full (the Taco Bell was, in fact, quite busy, which may or may not be a coincidence), and I waited for a moment for a stall. What happened next was described inaccurately by Keith Olbermann:



I was merely adjusting myself, and looking for the sports section, which I had carelessly dropped behind the bowl. Is that a crime? How could someone insinuate that tapping my foot was in any way an attempt to solicit a sex act?

My fellow Americans, This is a crime against me, and a crime against our great nation.

I'm not gay.

Colbert

Tonight on the Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert had his cast cut off of his wrist. He has put the cast up on eBay (it's covered in signatures from people like Katie Couric, Bill O'Reilly and Nancy Pelosi), with all of the proceeds going to the Yellow Ribbon Fund. I checked at what the bidding was at four minutes after he announced it at the end of the show. It had gone from $100 to $75,100. In four minutes. Wow. Perhaps I won't make that bid after all.

I'd like to direct your attention once again to his performance at the White House Correspondents dinner in 2006.

My two favorite quotes:

"I believe the government that governs best is the government that governs least. And by these standards, we have set up a fabulous government in Iraq."

and

"Now, I know there are some polls out there saying this man has a 32% approval rating. But guys like us, we don't pay attention to the polls. We know that polls are just a collection of statistics that reflect what people are thinking in "reality." And reality has a well-known liberal bias.

So, Mr. President, please, pay no attention to the people that say the glass is half full. 32% means the glass -- it's important to set up your jokes properly, sir. Sir, pay no attention to the people who say the glass is half empty, because 32% means it's 2/3 empty. There's still some liquid in that glass is my point, but I wouldn't drink it. The last third is usually backwash."

Remember, he said this to the President's face. In front of an audience. On television.

Here's the video, in case you've somehow managed to miss what I feel is the defining act of political criticism of his administration.



and part 2:



and part 3:




I just checked back in at the eBay auction. There must have been some people putting false bids up, because it's now down to $8,200. No, $6,600. No, $6,100. Hey, now someone can buy it for me for Christmas.

Satan Rents a Billboard

So Satan is buying advertising now. How do you think that transaction went? Did Satan just cut them a check and ship the artwork to them? What bank would he use (My guess would be Citibank)? Or did he come in for an appointment, and draw up the materials with an advertising agency?

What other ads do you think Satan was behind? I'd guess this commercial for Skittles:



Maybe that's why that guy is suing them.

And not to mention that he has a website. And that the website, amazingly, isn't foxnews.com.

Yacht Rock, Episode 2

One of the great contributions to our culture...I present to you: Yacht Rock!

This is episode 2, which is my favorite. There's 10 episodes, nine of which are fantastic (the Jethro Tull one is a little weak).

This is it! Stand up and fight for this!

Lily Allen Has Three Nipples. No, Really.

You're Not the Only One Pissed Off About Your Crappy Cell Phone Reception

Why are Australians so entertaining?