Archive for October 16th, 2008
What’s With All the FAIL?
The ever-incisive Slate Magazine drops science on the origins and evolution of the FAIL meme. Haven’t heard of it yet? You will soon enough, dear internet friends and followers.
Thus far, FAIL looks to be this year’s w00t.
Dare we say, 4Chan FTW…again?
imho, yes.
What’s with all the failing lately? Why fail instead of failure? Why FAIL instead of fail? And why, for that matter, does it have to be “epic”?
It’s nearly impossible to pinpoint the first reference, given how common the verb fail is, but online commenters suggest it started with a 1998 Neo Geo arcade game called Blazing Star. (References to the fail meme go as far back as 2003.) Of all the game’s obvious draws—among them fast-paced action, disco music, and anime-style cut scenes—its staying power comes from its wonderfully terrible Japanese-to-English translations. If you beat a level, the screen flashes with the words: “You beat it! Your skill is great!” If you lose, you are mocked: “You fail it! Your skill is not enough! See you next time! Bye bye!”
So it started out in the dark corners of the American arcades…and migrated to the wide world of online message boards:
Normally, this sort of game would vanish into the cultural ether. But in the lulz-obsessed echo chamber of online message boards—lulz being the questionable pleasure of hurting someone’s feelings on the Web—”You fail it” became the shorthand way to gloat about any humiliation, major or minor.
But “You fail it” ain’t exactly catchy. Why not make it one word, in all caps, and italicized?
The phrase was soon shortened to fail—or, thanks to the caps-is-always-funnier school of Web writing, FAIL. People started pasting the word in block letters over photos of shameful screw-ups, and a meme was born.
Which sort of brings us up to speed in late 2008, where a “taxonomy of fail” has been amply indexed and expanded by the uber-popular Failblog.
The fail meme hit the big time this year with the May launch of Failblog, an assiduous chronicler of humiliation and a guide to the taxonomy of fail.
But why is it so addictive and compelling a catchphrase? I blamez teh lolschadenfreudez.
Why has fail become so popular? It may simply be that people are thrilled to finally have a way to express their schadenfreude out loud. Schadenfreude, after all, is what you feel when someone else executes a fail. But the fail meme also changes our experience of schadenfreude. What was once a quiet pleasure-taking is now a public—and competitive—sport.
So let us rejoice in the epic celebration of one another’s hardships and misfortunes — who needs a long and clunky German compound word when we’ve got a single syllable, four-letter, gem that can be applied so effectively?
Tags: Culture | Blogger | Web | meme | fail | interent | w00t | 4chan | ftw | failblog | fail meme
Battlestar Galactica Announces Series Finale
BSG fans will be happy to learn that Battlestar Galactica will be back on television beginning January 16, 2009.
The remaining episodes of the fourth and final season will air on the Sci Fi Channel culminating in the season — and series — finale on March 20th.
The final episodes of riveting sci-fi show Battlestar Galactica will begin airing Jan. 16, 2009, according to Sci Fi Channel.
Presumably the second half of Season 4 will pick up where the first half’s shocking cliffhanger left off. The season, and the series, will end March 20, according to the press release. Presumably we’ll know who (or what) the final Cylon is by then.
Tags: USA | Culture | TV | television | Season | sci fi | Battlestar Galactica | bsg | bsg finale | season four | final cylon | battlestar galactica finale
Leona Lewis, Dizzee Rascal Booed at Mobo Awards
Leona Lewis and Dizzee Rascal were both booed at the Mobo Awards after winning awards — but failing to attend the ceremony to receive them.
That’s just bad form, guys. You’re not doing yourselves any favours by not attending.
X Factor winner Leona Lewis was booed by fans at the Mobo Awards ceremony in London after failing to turn up.
The 23-year-old picked up awards for best album and video, but was booed after it was revealed she was not there to pick her awards up in person.
Rapper Dizzee Rascal was also booed by the crowd for his absence, after being named best UK male.
Tags: Culture | Music | Entertainment | London | Dizzee Rascal | UK | MOBO | leona lewis booed | leona lewis mobo awards
YouTube Partners With The Pulitzer Centre
NowPublic will be updating this story with more information.
Project:Report, You Tube’s partnership with the Pulitzer Center, is one of the most promising expressions of We Media to emerge between traditional and everyday journalists. Essentially a journalism contest funded in part by Sony and Intel, Project:Report was created for non-professional, everyday citizens to tell stories that might not otherwise be told.
The simple and important assignment: Tell a story about issues or events in local communities that addresses a topic or an issue that resonates with people around the world. Video submissions should be 4 minutes or less, and be submitted in English or with English subtitles.
The Pulitzer Center supports in-depth coverage of international affairs, focusing on topics that have been under-reported, misreported — or not reported at all. The Center funds reporting on all media platforms and partners with both traditional and new-media news outlets.
Tags: Culture | citizen journalism | internet | Media | Journalism | YouTube | PULITZER | project:report | pulitzer center
Are Michelle Williams And Spike Jonze Officially An Item?
Michelle Williams and Spike Jonze were seen out in public together at a screening for their upcoming film Synecdoche, New York — and the Hollywood rumour mill is abuzz with claims that the two are officially a couple.
Michelle Williams and Spike Jonze took in the Cinema Society screening of their movie in NYC last night. The couple met on set while filming, Synecdoche. Some are claiming that these two are officially an item and made that public for the first time at this event.
The pair held hands as they walked through the lobby, where they met up with Synecdoche costar Catherine Keener. While the two women chatted and munched on popcorn, Jonze snaked his arm around Williams’ waist again.
“He couldn’t seem to keep his hands off her,” said an onlooker. “It was very cute.”
Tags: Culture | Movies | Entertainment | hollywood | Celebrity | michelle williams | Spike Jonze
Amazon Selling Old MacBook Pros, $700 Cheaper
NowPublic will be updating this story with more information.
Amazon is selling old MacBook Pros for $700 less than they were going for just two days ago. If you’ve ever wanted Apple hardware at a good value, now’s your chance.
Duchovny, Leoni Split Due To ‘Illicit Affair’ With Billy Bob Thornton
NowPublic will be updating this story with more information.
Sex addict David Duchovny and his actress wife Téa Leoni have split up – but not for the reasons one might think.
It was not his ’sexual compulsion proclivity’ that caused the break-down of their marriage, but rather his discovery of explicit text messages on her mobile phone sent by actor Billy Bob Thornton.
Through the texts Duchovny found out she had begun a relationship with Oscar-winning actor Billy Bob Thornton, 53, who was formerly married to Angelina Jolie.
Tags: New York | Culture | Entertainment | hollywood | Celebrity | Billy Bob Thornton | split | Affair | David Duchovny | text message | tea leoni
Jay Leno Sued Over Million Dollar Illegal Vehicle
Comedian Jay Leno is in hot water over the apparently illegal purchase of a $1.7 million Duesenberg.
Leno, an avid car collector, is being sued by the estate of the car owner, which claims that the vehicle was sold to him at a sham auction.
The estate of a department store heir says in a lawsuit that Jay Leno was illegally sold a valuable automobile at a sham auction.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Manhattan by the estate of Macy’s heir John W. Straus. It says a 1931 Duesenberg was sold to the “Tonight Show” host at an auction designed to take that car and a 1930 Rolls Royce while Straus was ill.
Court papers say Leno, an avid car collector, bought the Duesenberg and someone else bought the Rolls. The suit says the cars were worth $1.7 million and were in a Manhattan garage for more than 50 years.
Straus died in May at age 88, and the suit says he paid all that was owed to store the cars.
Tags: California | New York | Culture | hollywood | Los Angeles | car | lawsuit | United States | auction | jay leno | Rolls Royce | deusenberg
James Taylor To Play Five Free Concerts for Obama
NowPublic will be updating this story with more information.
James Taylor will play five free concerts in North Carolina as he tours the state to support Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
Taylor has concerts scheduled in Charlotte, Asheville, Chapel Hill, Raleigh and Wilmington beginning Sunday. Taylor, who was raised in Chapel Hill, has at times used his musical celebrity to highlight political candidates in the state.
Tags: USA | Culture | Concert | Barack Obama | Obama | WILMINGTON | Charlotte | RALEIGH | asheville | JAMES TAYLOR | Chapel Hill
Original Mad Magazine Cover Art To Be Auctioned
Several of Mad Magazine’s iconic first cover images are set to be auctioned in mid-November.
Pictures of the infamous Alfred E. Newman in a range of illustrated parodies will be sold “live and online” at the Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas on November 14th.
Original cover illustrations from Mad Magazine, including many depicting the iconic humour title’s grinning mascot Alfred E. Newman, is set to cross the block next month.
The zany, satirical magazine is set to auction a batch of 36 original cover drawings live and online at the Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas on Nov. 14.
Before the sale, a preview exhibition of the three dozen covers will be held in New York at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art on Oct. 29.
Much of the collection features Alfred E. Newman, including the very first full-cover appearance of the freckle-faced, gap-toothed icon. The late Mad illustrator Norman Mingo came up with the presidential race-themed illustration for the December 1956 issue.
Other pieces from the collection show Alfred E. Newman in parodies of Uncle Sam, George Washington, Superman, King Kong and the “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” monkeys.
Tags: New York | Culture | Dallas | Media | auction | Magazine | Issue | Cartoon | comic | publication | culturite | MAD magazine | cover art | alfred e. newman | norman mingo | Heritage Auction Galleries
