Archive for November 7th, 2008
YouTube to Offer Full-Length Movies
YouTube is planning to offer full-length feature films on its site within the next 30 to 90 days.
Although I like the idea of being able to screen complete movies on YouTube, they have to be of high-enough resolution that they won’t completely pixelate in full screen view.
Otherwise, I’m still renting or downloading (legally, of course) DVDs.
YouTube is trying to make nice with major studios so they can offer feature films on their site. CNet announced the news yesterday that the Google-owned company is in negotiations to launch an ad-supported, streaming movie service (perhaps expanding their Screening Room section?).
“It’s not imminent,” one of the executives told CNet. “But it’s going to happen. I would say you can expect to see it, if all goes well, sometime within the next 30 to 90 days.”
You know what this means? YouTube vs. Hulu fight to the digital death!
Tags: Culture | Movies | Entertainment | hollywood | DVD | internet | tech | YouTube | full length movies | feature films | youtube movies | youtube screenings
No Guns for Christmas Now That Obama is President
Leave it to Fox News to claim that Republicans are “stocking up on guns” now that Obama has been elected president.
Seriously.
When 10-year-old Austin Smith heard Barack Obama had been elected president, he had one question: Does this mean I won’t get a new gun for Christmas?
Tags: Culture | Politics | republican | World | Obama | Firearms | US Election | obama president | obama guns
Eyewitness Recounts Arrest at ‘Reverse Prop 8′ Rally
Buzznet user panasonicyouth recounts his intense experience of being arrested at a Los Angeles protest against the passing of Proposition 8.
During the course of the events, he was also able to make a plea for help on Twitter while he was being arrested.
Read his story below and be sure to check out NowPublic’s extensive coverage on this issue at: NowPublic: Response to Proposition 8
Yesterday afternoon, I attended the rally outside the Mormon temple on Santa Monica Blvd and Overland, in order to protest the Mormon church’s involvement in helping to pass Proposition 8 here in California. My co-worker, Richard Flores, biked with me from the Buzznet office in Hollywood to the rally in West LA.
In the interest of avoiding any legal implications (since I do not have or have not seen a lawyer), I am not going to describe the events leading up to my arrest. Please watch the arrest video for that; I think it speaks for itself. I think it is more important to describe what happened afterwards.
Tags: Same Sex Marriage | BuzzNet
Obama Victory Songs and Celebrity Tears
Since the US election transformed America on Tuesday, ‘Obamania’ has gripped the globe — and celebrities, musicians, and hip-hop artists are rushing to release songs, and shed tears, in celebration of Obama’s victory.
Rappers including Nas, Jay-Z, Will.i.am, Common, and Busta Rhymes have all jumped into the post-election fray and released new tracks and assorted remixes in praise of the first African-American president-elect.
Just since Tuesday, several rappers have added to the growing list of Obama rap songs and released brand new tracks or remixed their old ones in celebration of his victory. There are surely many more where these came from:
• “Election Night” by Nas: Touring in Norway during Election Day, first time voter was so excited that he sat down to record this song early Tuesday morning and had it sent off to MTV by the afternoon.
• “History” by Jay-Z: The seriously-committed Obama supporter gave a sneak listen of his new track, about victory and defeat, on Hot 97 yesterday.
• “It’s A New Day” by Will.i.am: The Black Eyed Pea is perpetually inspired by Barack Obama. The new song, which follows in the footsteps of his “Yes We Can” tribute, was supposed to debut on his Web site yesterday, but it’s no where to be found. Even without listening to it, one can assume that it’s really, really sappy.
• “Changes” by Common: All he wants to do is inspire hope and change just like his fellow Chicagoan…
• “Pop Champagne For Barack” by Ron Browz, feat. Busta Rhymes: Let’s let the lyrics speak for themselves. “We pop champagne for Barack’s campaign/ We voted for a change, now we made it/ No disrespect to McCain or Palin… To all my people in the street that always bang this in their truck/ We celebrating this Barack win/ Put your hands up”
Other hip-hop celebs were also on hand to celebrate Obama’s win Wednesday night.
The Barack Obama afterglow continues in the hip-hop community. Don’t think rappers are going to stop supporting the president-elect just because the election is over. Wednesday night in New York, Diddy, Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige and Keyshia Cole sang Obama’s praises while at a victory party/ Diddy birthday bash at the Mansion nightclub.
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Radiohead is celebrating the end of the Bush era (and the birthday of Jonny Greenwood) with the release of a new remix of “Harrowdown Hill”, a Thom Yorke track from his acclaimed solo album The Eraser.
Yorke wrote on the website: “In celebration of November 5, Jonny’s [Greenwood, guitarist] birthday amid bonfire and fireworks in the UK and the dawn of a new era in politics in the USA, I humbly donate a remix of ‘Harrowdown Hill’ that was finished ages ago during the band webcasts, a small reminder of the dark days of Bush’s.”
Hollywood’s highest-paid scientologist, Will Smith, didn’t release a new Fresh Prince track, but he did cry on Oprah.
Then again, Oprah makes everybody cry.
Will Smith was on Oprah yesterday and he joked around about how he started crying and just “lost it” when he learned that Barack Obama was elected the 44th President. He said all his children were around him when they heard the announcement and listened to Obama’s moving acceptance speech. Smith got a little teary-eyed on the show, but then tried to play it off by pretending he was sobbing and getting down on the ground and pounding the floor.
But Hollywood’s tears didn’t end there. George Clooney, Scarlett Johansson, LiLo, Kanye, and, yes Virginia, even Michael Moore went weepy over Obama being named President.
George Clooney said in a statement: “I congratulate President-elect Obama on his historic victory, and now it’s time to begin unifying the country so we can take on the extraordinary challenges that this generation faces.” Actress Scarlett Johansson, who stumped for Obama throughout his campaign, said the “overwhelming hope that Obama inspires is infectious.” “I’ve always maintained a strong faith in the power of Obama’s positive campaign and am so proud of every citizen who took a stand, participated in the political process and insisted their voices be heard,” Johansson said in a statement. Reacting on her Myspace page, Lindsay Lohan gushed, “OBAMA IS OUR PRESIDENT!” and said that everyone who voted, “no matter their choice … should be proud for voting in the first place.” Kanye West, whose mother Donda died last November, posted a portrait of the president elect on his blog with the message: “HI MOM, OBAMA WON!” Meanwhile, director-provocateur Michael Moore responded on his Web site, saying, “Who among us is not at a loss for words? Tears pour out. Tears of joy. Tears of relief. A stunning, whopping landslide of hope in a time of deep despair.”
Tags: Culture | Music | Entertainment | Nas | Celebrity | Radiohead | Oprah | Obama | JAY-Z | common | busta rhymes | Will Smith | thom yorke | will.i.am | Jonny Greenwood | obama songs
Vancouver’s Secret $100M Loan to Olympic Developer
NowPublic will be updating this story with more information. Check back for further details.
This will certainly add fuel to the city of Vancouver’s hotly contested civic election, which will be held on November 15th.
Vision Vancouver mayoral hopeful Gregor Robertson Thursday called for an emergency council session to allow public debate on reports the city will loan $100 million to developers of the troubled Olympic Village.
He also challenged Coun. Peter Ladner, mayoral candidate for the Non-Partisan Association, to spill what he knows about the deal, apparently made at an in-camera meeting on Oct. 14.
Ladner is chairman of the city’s finance committee.
Tags: Vancouver | Olympics | World | vanoc | 2010 Olympics | Peter Ladner | Gregor Robertson | vancouver olympics | vancouver secret olympic deal | olympic developer | secret loan
Obama’s Private Election Night Photo Set
Barack Obama has made the very web-savvy move to post 82 of his private family photos from election night to Flickr.
But in posting private pics of the first black President-Elect to the popular photo-sharing site, it’s possible that the huge spike in traffic crashed the site, as Flickr has been experiencing downtime this morning.
As of Friday morning, the photo set had already been viewed over 100,000 times.
View the complete set attached to this story: Obama’s Private Election Photos
The world was today afforded an unprecedented glimpse behind the scenes of a presidential victory as Barack Obama allowed personal photographs to be posted on his Flickr account from Tuesday night’s historic election.
The series of 82 pictures begins in a Chicago hotel room as the Obama family waits anxiously for the results to come in. A declaration of his election as the 44th President of the United States is then captured as it flashes up on the television. The next shots show jubilant relatives pouring in, along with the Bidens, to share their congratulations.
The photographs capture a number of intimate moments between family members and colleagues as they celebrate: Joe Biden cupping seven-year-old Sasha’s chin, Mr Obama and Mr Biden sharing a moment of contemplation, Mr Obama holding his mother-in-law’s hand as they watch John McCain’s concession speech, Sasha and Malia playing with their cousins.
Tags: Culture | Flickr | Obama | US Election | President Obama | obama flickr | obama private photos | obama photos flickr | obama private election photos | obama press conference
Hall & Oates Sue Over ‘Maneater’ Copyright
Hall & Oates ain’t lettin’ nobody mess with “Maneater“.
That’s why the soft rock duo are filing a lawsuit over an alleged breach of their copyright in 2006.
And who was it that did the breaching? That’s not entirely clear. Apparently, it’s an “unidentified singer-songwriter” — but I’m inclined to think it could be a certain Victoria-born singer-songwriter who collaborated with a certain Timbaland on a certain pop hit with the same exact song title and a very similar chorus.
And when was that song released you may ask? Well, it just so happens it was in, yep, 2006.
Just sayin…
Daryl Hall and John Oates have filed a lawsuit saying their music publisher failed to protect their rights to their 1982 hit “Maneater.”
The pop duo’s lawsuit, filed in Manhattan’s state Supreme Court, says they learned in April 2007 that an unidentified singer-songwriter had used “Maneater” in a 2006 recording.
Tags: New York | Culture | Music | copyright | Celebrity | lawsuit | maneater | Nelly Furtado | hall and oates | hall oates
Top 9 World Leaders to Get Calls from Obama
After receiving a huge number of congratulatory calls from world leaders on Wednesday, American President-Elect Barack Obama chose to return nine of them.
Here’s Barack’s list of fave leaders — holler back!
The President-elect returned calls to 9 leaders today, thanking them for having called to express congratulations on his election earlier this week. He returned calls to:
1. Prime Minister Rudd of Australia
2. Prime Minister Harper of Canada
3. President Sarkozy of France
4. Chancellor Merkel of Germany
5. Prime Minister Olmert of Israel
6. Prime Minister Aso of Japan
7. President Calderon of Mexico
8. President Lee of South Korea
9. Prime Minister Brown of the United Kingdom
(Do you think he used the Obama iPhone app to call them?)
Tags: Barack Obama | World | Obama | US Election | President Obama
