Tea Party protesters go to Burger King for sliders
If there’s one thing that makes me want to bitch-slap the trustafarians whining about Starbucks, it’s this:
Yesterday, on the 31st anniversary of the Iranian Revolution, anti-Ahmadinejad protests took place throughout the country. Not so long ago, what went on at protests in countries like Iran was kept from the eyes of the rest of the world (hint: the cops and army fucked people up). This year though, despite the fact that Gmail was blocked in Iran, hundreds of videos have been posted to YouTube that show violent clashes between the protesters and police forces.
And standing up to the government in places like Iran isn’t quite the same as holding up a sign in front of the White House. These people have huge balls, and regularly getting beaten, shot, or disappeared.
So before you paint humans in the Middle East with too broad a brush (and before you talk about the “incredible bravery” of people like those Sea Shepherd douches), you might want to take a look at that YouTube playlist of Iranian videos. A warning though: in a lot of them, the police do exactly what you’d expect, and it’s not pretty (the video embedded here is on the tame side – relatively).
So as if Twitter and Facebook aren’t enough, I’ve started using Buzz as well (I wrote a short piece on Technorati about its launch). We’ll see how it all shakes out, but thus far it’s easier and cooler (to me) than either of the others. Plus, I can get it on my G1 (the battery on which is completely ass-ey, BTW).
You can check out my buzz feed at my Google profile, or just add me from your Gmail account by hitting your Buzz page and searching on my full name (that’d be Bradford Schmidt, folks).
I love watching the America’s Cup. Yes, the boats have gotten pickier and the sailors have gotten less attached to home countries, but it’s still an amazing event to watch (just look at these photos: I know, the old style boats are beautiful, but that thing is really badass looking – now imagine it racing – got a boner yet?).
I’m also well-aware that the Cup is completely bound up in politics and bullshit (and court battles), and I know we’re forced to look at Larry Ellison in sailing gear, and I know defending cup holder Alinghi has a kind of evocative (and not in a good way) name, but I still love it.
Problem is, the heathens ’round these parts (that’d be us Ah-MER-kins), don’t seem to give a shit about the oldest international competition in sport, and there’s little to no coverage of America’s Cup events. Strange too; in a culture obsessed with winning you’d think more people would watch, because we kicked the Royal Yacht Squadron’s ass in 1851 and held the cup until our first loss in 1987. That’s like, 882 dog-years.
Anyway, all of this just makes YouTube a friend indeed right now, as their America’s Cup channel will be providing streaming coverage of every race.
But of course, that’s not all; you can also follow the U.S entry, BMW Oracle, via Twitter and Facebook. Totally worth doing, if for no other reason than the Skipper has the coolest name in sailing: James Spithill.
Finally: something useful to do with the Internet.
News flash: Kutcher and SNL writers are still talentless.
Ashton Kutcher, well known social media junkie and hugely irritating waiter actor, hosted Saturday Night Live this weekend in an attempt to combine two hacky, talentless products of pop culture in the hope that something good will result.
No such luck. When they decided to try for a parody of Kutcher’s Twitter success, SNL’s writers couldn’t come up with anything more creative that fart humor: a new social media site “Tooter,” that not only broadcasts when Special K farts, but sprays artificial fart scent into the the faces of Tooter subscribers.
The only highlight of the video, watching the great John Paul Jones of Them Crooked Vultures saying simply “I was in Led Zeppelin,” was tempered by the fact he’d agreed to be in the car wreck at all (the video, not the band).
But I’d guess that Them Crooked Vultures provided the only redeeming moments of a show that stopped being worth watching over two decades ago (I certainly didn’t watch it Saturday night). Which is no surprise, really, because how can you lose when you combine Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age), John Paul Jones (Zep), and Dave Grohl (Scream)?
You can’t – which is why I’ve chosen to embed THOSE video instead of the stupid fart bit.
Venezuelan President & musical theater fan wants state control over Internet
"Pretty Bird. Now you DIE!"
Well, as goes Mexico, so apparently goes Venezuela. While not as damaging to lives and countries as Bush 43’s attempt to tie 9/11 to Iraq, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez (shown here after trying out for the Venezuelan road company of Pirates of Penzance) is making a claim that may be as off the mark.
Responding to a steady stream of negative comments about himself and his administration, President Chavez has not only called the anti-Chavez Twitter messages terrorist threats, he’s now calling for state control over the internet.
I suppose it’s POSSIBLE that a bunch of terrorists are actually twittering shit like “you distract his body guards, and I’ll fly a plane into him,” but I’d tend to doubt it. Particularly since the hashtag they appear to be most pissed off about, #freevenezuela, is reportedly being used by almost 70 million users.
All of whom, apparently, want to overthrow Venezuela.
Yes, it’s true: Facebook has turned six. I know it’s tough to believe, especially as it seems like only yesterday that you started wasting hundreds of hours trying to increase your friend count, playing Scramble, and trying to reconnect with your high school girlfriend (so you could bang her).
But, as it turns out, today isn’t just about length, it’s also about girth. Facebook founder Mark Zuckeberg recently announced on the Facebook blog that not only is it their birthday, they’ll reached the milestone of 400 million users this week.
Considering the fact a year ago they had less than half that, and they announced the 300 million mark only five months ago, it appears that Facebook’s growth is actually still accelerating.
At this rate, they’ll should have something like four times the entire population of Earth as users by sometime in May. Which definitely increases your chances of finding someone interested in “what’s on your mind.”
Joanna thought of them, I made them, she topped them, Desmond looked on in wonder. Read about our journey (complete with photos!) to meaty cupcake happiness in my New Times column. Online now, in print this Thursday.
Here’s the deal: it’s tough to take it seriously when someone raps “I’m a ninja,” even if the cat goes by the name Ninja. But it’s still worth catching these two videos from Die Antwoord (The Answer) a zef-rap-rave band from South Africa. What’s zef? Open to interpretation it seems: some say it means common, some say it means fucking cool, but I don’t really give a shit.
Whatever it means, the music is very fucking cool, the rapping in Enter The Ninja is kick ass, and the video for Zef Side has Crazy Swinging Penis in it, which is always hilarious (just try to ignore the silly posturing). Plus, that albino-ey chick is awesome.
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