Curious Hats: An Afternoon with Spike Lee & Stew

For the life of me Spike Lee just always sounds like the white one. And I'll never properly recite the title of the brilliant documentary he premiered at Sundance yesterday.

Passing Strange is a Spike Lee documentary, but for all other purposes it is a musical unlike any other. A good friend passed me a comp ticket and despite already hearing how wonderful it was, I could not put 2+4 together, arriving pretty oblivious.

Passing Strange will inevitably land on a Sunday night somewhere between Showtime and HBO. It is an incredible non-Dreamgirls/Moulin Rouge musical. The recording is a documentary of the last two performances it had on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers last summer '08.

Thank you Stew, Spike, etc. The story of Youth has and will continue to inspire me to love more and work harder.

Oh, and we had matching white poofy hats. His marked with a Yankee NY, mine a Peruvian import.

Dealing in Intangibles

What happens to our economy when we lose Blockbuster, Barnes & Noble and the public library? A lot more than industry shift and For Rent sign shortages. We lose the trust, the people, the face to face accountability. When you shopped at a store in the ancient times, you exchanged money (the value of this tangible is up for another lengthy discussion) for a tangible item, such as a CD or book. Amazon and iTunes make this transaction obsolete. Two clicks and you have megabits of data transmitted to you magically.

I got kicked off YouTube for legitimate copyright violations. I also got kicked off for a flurry of poor flags regarding footage I owned. In a flickr, I lost all of the value that my account had accrued. Millions of viewers is lots of potential energy and possible revenue. It IS power. But at a whim, YouTube-Google swiped it away. With quick CPM advertising crunching I could value the loss at $10,000. Ouch.

So, who do I call? How can I avoid this unfair practice from ever affecting me. If YouTube was down the block I'd stop shopping there, bring my business elsewhere. Hmmm. Yahoo! Video? Yeah, right.

Hey, US Justice Dept, is there are problem here.

The Facebook Problem:
Valuation of 15+ billion USD is more than threatening to brick and mortars. That's ten times the value of Coca Cola. That's a bigger price tag than the US auto industry. This presents many issues that we've not had to conceive of except in love and marriage: trust.

Not just to protect your privacy and not abuse the catalog of information they now own. Go to Facebook and you don't see a Book. No facebooks a la collegiate dorm rooms. Just non-brand Dells and hundreds of nerds. They have no assets. Just perceived assets. Projected wealth. Value in an idea that has nothing to show for their value, but a PowerPoint and some Analytics.

The hypocrite ponders. Sitting atop a pile of potential energy, toggling with the output of one's mind. My receipt is vouchers for a promise of further receipts (IOUs for IOUs). Give me a greenback for a word and the cycle will keep me on the dole.

Vegas Ills

Gas station slot machines, pimps sunbathing on the scattered grass patches, eco-abusive use of the 'oasis'. Las Vegas is sad.

To enjoy it, one must load up like HST.

What I'd give to be a gonzo today.

Backstage at the Obama rallies-- like snorting sideways with Cobain in '92.

Viral Pulled

Thanks to Warner Music Group, my run as a YouTube titan ended. Christmas Day the cease/desist style letter was delivered.



My video splice of Shane Mercado's Single Man with Beyoncé's Single Ladies ended the run with over 4 million view and 13,000+ comments.

Most of it's exposure overcame a homophobic flag of '18+/mature' content that required any viewers to be registered (adult) users of YT.

It was fun(ny) while it lasted.

Here is the final victory shot.

No parody laws to hide behind either.

Alcholism en Masse is Saturday Night?

Early. Third year of high school, I was addressed formally. Not in a health class, but a shrink's office. A shrink I didn't pay for. He was a 'mentor'. He ran a legion of Young Achievers that reached out to their even younger counterparts. It was performance art, literally and figuratively. We staged enactments to illustrate the dangers in drugs/sex. Performances.

When I was confronted in a sit-down manner about my dark hour dalliances, it came with great girth. I drank alone. Once. That was the straw. Shrink said my behavior was (displaying signs of) alcoholism. Alcoholics cannot control their consumption. Drinking alone was a sign that the consumption had taken over.

Those whom had consumed strictly amongst friends-- clearly sober folk.

Tonight I drank alone. $2 bottle of Cabernet from the grocery. Cheap, but it's got an 84. I was alone for most of my sipping. I was cooking. This was night two of my culinary charade. And night two of the sipping. If anything came from my sips, it was the deep solace of an easy night. I felt a great sense of indulgence in my own spirit. Nothing like that night last week, when amongst friends I helped a teenager celebrate his birthday by giving him the lap dance of his (thus far) life. Everyone was drunk. It was wonderful.

And healthy.

To life. Cheers.

Mexican Thanks

The entourage ventured south for the holiday weekend. Colin and I have celebrated Thanksgiving in La Mision (c. K58 ) for years now. Since my father migrated to California 18 months ago, he's been accompanying us.

Traffic forced us to cross at the alternative border terminal of Otay Mesa. Our wait time was 3.5 hours. This is longer than normal. Besides the performance by 'Fire Breather', the voyage was terrible.

What in the heck is a barack obama?

The Onion ran that as a faux community comment. It strikes me as exceedingly relevant.

I voted last week absentee. Some of the elections, like the CA state courts, I was totally ignorant to. I hastily scribbled in bubbles without much, if any knowledge of the candidates. Mainly, I chose them on their occupations and names.

I fear I am not the only one that takes to such measures when they feel ignorant.

McCain resonates with the familiarity of an elementary school teacher.

Unfortunately the only thing familiar about good ole Barry's surname is it rhymes with Bin Laden.

Ohhh, phooey.

Good riddance W!