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So I just biked halfway across town (in Birks, no less) to buy craft beer, which I think now officially makes me a hippie. In shop I changed my mind and got Woodchuck, which was cheaper and tastier. In related news, backpacking a six-pack is not the brightest idea, but the rewards are so wonderous. Nyom nyom nyom!

alanlastufka alerted me to a big YouTube announcement on his blog. To become more commercially appealing, they're splashing sponsored content from the Big Six studios on their main page. Their user-generated content is going to be limited to a single Video tab.

I can understand this move coming from a media management background. They haven't turned a profit since their partnership with Google. With the recent boom of Hulu, it only makes sense that they'd want to emulate it. Also, partnering with the Big Six takes care of all those pest copyright C&Ds YouTube must have to go through every day.

Still, this move definitely hurts those who are making original content for YouTube. People who make video blogs or shorts films sometimes rely on that occasional feature on the main page to get views. Being hidden on one tab definitely limits the exposure user-gen content gets.

I know that YouTube has definitely been a lifesaver for me in getting exposure for my shorts and publicity for screenings. I certainly couldn't afford the bandwidth it would take to store video content myself. It just saddens me that YouTube is going the way of Myspace; instead of being a niche for artists, it's become another niche for big business.

I remember sitting in a journalism class, after having to present a paper on female directors and their dismal representation in Hollywood. I argued that YouTube might be the tipping point in getting indie female directors out there. Before I could finish, someone interjected with "What's so revolutionary about looking up Family Guy clips?" Sadly, I think that's just how everyone but a select group of people view YouTube, including the company.

Okay homies, Candytakers DVDs are now available. The DVDs are $8, but if you live in the Huntington area and can stop by my place, I'll knock $2 off for the shipping I won't have to do. If you don't want to/ can't do Paypal, leave me a comment with your email address.

The DVD has the film with two commentaries, outtakes, rehearsal footage, and other goodies.

Candytakers DVD

Huntington area $6.00 DVD + shipping $8.00

A little something I wrote on facebook. I expect some interesting conversation to happen this weekend as a result.

( an open letter about Prop 8 )

ATTENTION athaena AND MY IN-STATE HOMIES:

McCain top aide says he's strong in "real" Virginia

In which McCain's top aide and his brother claim that northern Virginia is not the "real" Virginia because of all the DC transplants, democrats, and communists (direct quote) that live there. Hmmm, a prominent Virginia wealthy elite calling only one part of Virginia real - what an anomaly.

No, wait! Now don't quote me on this, but I'm pretty sure there was a period in time that one part of Virginia wasn't called the "real" Virginia because it was culturally, economically, and politically different than the other area. The "real" part, then, made up most of the government and didn't reflect the views of a large chunk of its residents. This caused that other part to be pretty mad, and I'm pretty sure that some major stuff happened.

That was Western Virginia. In the Antebellum Period.

I've been saying for months now that the cultural and political climates are so polarized that we're headed straight for another Civil War, but jeez, McCain, did you have to make it so fucking transparent?! This isn't the sort of thing to say to all the paranoid anxiety-ridden obsessive-compulsive Blue-South people that know their history! (Namely...me. But I can think of at least ten other people off the top of my head in my own town right now.)

It's stories like these that makes songs of hope like this one so important:

I was reminded of this song and the boss video that it produced through the Huntington Mall and the resulting conversation that Sara and I had on the bus back home. Before we get to that, though, there are three facts you should know:

1) Although this has been established before, I have a raging inner teenybopper and a soft spot for bubblegum pop of any decade.

2) Back in 7th or 8th grade when these guys made it through West Virginia, my friend Owen and I mooned their tour bus. This is the only time I've ever mooned anyone.

3) the following song accompanies my mom's favorite music video.

Thus I give you "Give Me Just One Night (Una Noche)" by 98 Degrees. Though I was into boybands hardcore for a brief period, these guys never showed up on my radar. In retrospect, they have the best voices of all the bands, but the whole cheesecake persona is a big turn off. Still, this song is one of the catchiest of that era, so here it is in all it's glory.

superstition78 inspired me to continue my song posting but do it a bit differently. Therefore, from this point on, I'm posting a song a week. I'm alternating between Space Ship Internet (the weird and the wacky) and Songs I Dig (self-explanatory).

This is a song Sara got me into this week. I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to The Crane Wife when it came out, but I'm slowly warming up to it as an album.

I started a side blog just for my writing bqueenwriter. Add me and check it out if you're so inclined. I made it mostly to get feedback on my writing, so I'm considering leaving it public. At any rate, if you do read the two posts I have up already, please leave a comment.

I'll probably make one for screenplays in the future. But for now, bqueenwriter

Colleges Challenge Bill Requiring Piracy Crackdown

College administrators say that MPAA-backed legislation tying federal financial-aid programs to a requirement that the schools institute anti-piracy programs could wind up increasing student tuition. Steve Worona, director of policy and networking for the nonprofit Educause, told the Los Angeles Times that the vast majority of piracy occurs off-campus and that the new mandate would be ineffective in reducing it. "More than 80 percent of students live off-campus and use commercial networks," he said.

Educause Vice President Mark Luker added that the House-passed legislation was spurred by the MPAA's initial claims that 44 percent of the industry's losses due to piracy were caused by students using college networks. However, in late January the organization, citing "human error," acknowledged that the percentage was about 15 percent. However, the Times reported, some studies indicate that the actual percentage of students using peer-to-peer networks on campus is much lower still, around 3 percent.