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Posts tagged as “Video”

Let Matt Toder guide you through the magic of internet video on Gawker.tv

March 19, 2010 |

Thoughts

My friend Matt, of Steve’s Word fame, loves television more than anyone I know in the whole world. Growing up he wasn’t allowed it by his parents, so he came into it as an adult and devours the stuff with all the fervor of a fresh convert. During pilot season, the man is a veritable trove of TV thoughts, opinions, and commentary. Want to discuss every nuance of last night’s episode of Lost? Matt’s your man. Want to know which pilot will succeed and which will fail miserably? Matt. Want clarify a bet with a buddy about some detail on a television show? Matt. His capacity for detail is amazing.

He and I have had the following conversation numerous times.

“Joe, did you see [insert X show here] last night?”

“No, Matt, I didn’t.”

“What? It was awesome? How did you not see it?!”

“Well, I was making dinner and just didn’t watch. I’ve never actually seen any episodes of [insert X show here].”

“You’ve got to see it, man. It’s great.”

Rinse and repeat.

With that considered, when I saw his sparkling face on Gawker.tv reviewing this weeks hilarious interweb videos, I realized that he’s about one degree away from the job he was born to do: discuss television shows for a living. Well, 30 year old unpaid intern Matt, I hope they let you keep doing this because I will gladly watch every single one.

Matt Toder’s Week in Video: Trailers, Trucks, Swishes, & Drunks

Check it out at the link above.

> Continue reading...Let Matt Toder guide you through the magic of internet video on Gawker.tv

The Great Lucky Charms Challenge of 2009

March 1, 2010 |

Thoughts

Gardner, who I’ve discussed before on The Black Laser, loves pranks. Loves them. He also loves mischief making and bets with people to get them to do outrageous things. He’s a good natured troublemaker, and also a complete pain in the ass sometimes. For instance, I remember one night I was at work making copies of tapes or something and he calls me.

He says, “Hey dude, will you get a tattoo with me?”

I say, “I’m at working, but I’ll go with you, sure.”

“No,” he says, “we have to get the same tattoo.”

“Fuck you,” I say, “I’ll go with you, but I’m sure as hell not getting a tattoo with you. What are you getting tattooed?”

“I can’t tell you. It’s a secret.”

“Wait. You mean, you wanted me to get a matching secret tattoo with you of something you won’t even reveal to me?”

“Yeah, basically.”

“You’re fucking nuts. But I’ll still go with you.”

I meet him and this girl in Washington Square Park and we head over to one of the myriad tattoo parlors in the West Village. Along the way he refused to tell me what he was getting tattooed. When we had selected a fine establishment, the girl and I waited in the waiting area and Gardner went into the back. I convinced her to tell me what he was getting at about the same moment I could see but not hear him describe it to the guy doing the ink. The guy looked at him, laughed, shook his head and went to work.

You know what he got? He got this. Even more hilarious, he went swimming before it fully healed and half the tattoo washed off. Hah!

Anyway, this was all just a preamble to the real story here. Gardner called me last year and asked me to make the most horrifying Lucky Charms based image I could think of. He had challenged a girl at work that she couldn’t eat only Lucky Charms for 7 days. It doesn’t sound all that bad, but if you think about it, it’s terrible. I won’t even eat Lucky Charms for ONE meal, much less for an entire week. What happened was epic, but don’t let me ruin it for you. Instead, enjoy this video.

> Continue reading...The Great Lucky Charms Challenge of 2009

Death by Black Hole.

February 24, 2010 |

Thoughts

As you might know, this site posts to Facebook every time I write something. Fun. Anyway, a friend of mine Matt left this comment:

Hey bro if you go past the event horizon you are fucked, whether by gravity or your inside-out crew — doesn’t matter.

That reminded me of this amazing video that describes what it would be like to be killed by a black hole. Enjoy. Science is awesome.

> Continue reading...Death by Black Hole.

I love this man.

October 26, 2009 |

Thoughts

Any Williamsburger reading this should recognize this guy immediately as the mad who drive around in his red Subaru blaring old pop music and singing along on nice days. EVERYONE knows this guy. When he drives by, people always say, “Hey look, it’s that guy!” and everyone else within earshot is all, “Yeah, we totally know him too.” He’s been driving around in that car for as long as I’ve lived in the neighborhood, some years now. And you know what? Good for him. He’s out there having a damn good time, doing his own thing, bringing joy to those he passes. In the video he talks about some woman who spits on his car, which just baffles me. Why would you be upset about this guy driving around singing in his car? Are you afraid of having a little color in your hood? What is making you so angry? I don’t get it.

For all you folks who don’t live in the neighborhood or have never seen this guy out there, enjoy this fabulous little glimpse into the magic he spreads.

> Continue reading...I love this man.

Dick Raaijmakers & Tom Dissevelt and the Ancient Creation of Electronic Music

October 26, 2009 |

About Music and Music

This is a fascinating look at the prehistory of electronic music (1959!) and early production methods before computers were smaller than large rooms. Neat! Back then, basically a million years ago, electronic music was not the heavily rhythmic, structured style it came to be known as, but an ethereal, spacey, abstract thing, filled with bloops and bleeps and pulses and saws. That’s, of course, because there wasn’t yet any MIDI, drum machines, sequencers, samplers, or any of the modern implements of electronic music production. You can clearly see them actually splicing bits of reel to reel tape to create new sounds, taking a sample in the most literal sense and then manipulating it. Pretty awesome. It all predates even Kraftwerk, the clear grandfathers of the modern electronic music scene, whose breakthrough, genre-defining record, Die Mensch Maschine, wasn’t released until 1978. These Dutch guys in the late 50s were exploring the wild frontier with no rules, no definitions, and no expectations. Everything new and exciting, fresh. The world had never heard sounds like this before.

If this is interesting to you—and it had better be—then I recommend Popular Electronics – Early Dutch Electronic Music From Philips Research Laboratories 1956-1963, a compilation of very early electronic experiments from the Philips lab, obviously. It features music by both of the men in the video, Dick Raaijmakers and Tom Dissevelt, as well as some other folks. It’s not exactly the most listenable thing, especially by modern standards, but it’s fascinating as a historical document. Check it out.

> Continue reading...Dick Raaijmakers & Tom Dissevelt and the Ancient Creation of Electronic Music