ABOUT CLICKED

The modern news consumer ignores Weblogs and online citizen journalism at his own peril. But not everyone has the time to keep track of what's going on the Web. With this blog we hope to track the highlights of what's being discussed online so when news breaks from the Web, we're ready.

Will Femia is a Weblog enthusiast who, through good fortune and dumb luck, was introduced to the form as his position as chat producer for MSNBC.com careered into obsolescence. On any given day, Will can be found having already spent an unhealthy amount of time squinting at a computer screen.

Send a message to Will at spotter@msnbc.com



Politics aplenty

Posted: Wednesday, October 29, 2008 1:58 AM by Will Femia

Utterly bizarre Japanese Obama music video. It actually gets weirder the longer you watch.

Ron Howard's get out the vote video is something you probably saw a clip of on TV. Here's the whole thing, from Opie to Fonzi.

Speaking of political ads and resurrecting old characters, the Whazzup guys reunited (did they ever break up?) for video supporting Obama. The best mashup version of that video (and the first one I think of when I hear the whazzup sound) is the Super Friends dub.

Really, the political videos have just been out of control so I'll just keep listing them. This one of Sarah Palin needs to be watched at least three times to really appreciate it. The content is just one of her Katie Couric answers but there's a piano making the most accurate melodic translation of her words that I've ever heard. Depending on my mood it either sounds like it's mocking her or celebrating her, I can't decide.

Still political, possibly the nerdiest thing on the Internet right now.

I'm pretty sure at some point in time I mused that I'd like to see one of these "impeach Bush" activists actually try to carry out the kind of citizen's arrest they threaten if a Bush administration official ever came to their campus/town/speaking event. Well here's what it looks like. About as awkward (and unsuccessful) as I imagined. At least the lady wasn't tazed.

McCain/Obama dance off - Their heads are a little floaty but for what it is the technology holds up pretty well.

Commuter Click: We have multiple personalities.

I couldn't get the AC/DC spreadsheet video to work. The new songs sound good though. (And as throwbacks go, definitely better than the new Guns n Roses.)

A tie fighter made of Starbucks cups. Doesn't seem like there's 50 cups worth of material there but this kind of thing always makes me wonder if I should be saving more junk.

I can't decide if Amazon's new window shop is the future or just an idea that seemed better on paper. Does the practice of literally browsing online really make sense? It feels really inefficient.

Law & Order done with chickens. Amazingly I totally understand every scene in this and I don't speak a word of chicken.

Solar saves the day headline of the day: New solar cell material achieves almost 100% efficiency, could solve world-wide energy problems

There's not a lot to this video of a bunch of shopping carts spilling out the back of a truck but I have some readers with personal histories in the field of shopping card herding, so here's to parking lot shepherds.

Wooden path killed my Saturday night. The more you play, the more you get the hang of it, but there are so damn many bridges it takes forever to work through.

Sexy Halloween costumes - a really funny take on the strange cultural requirement that women's Halloween costumes have to be a sexy version of whatever they're dressed as. (What's the deal with that?)

Speaking of worthy Halloween links, these are the sickest pumpkins ever. More like pumpkin sculptures than anything to do with cutting triangle eyes.

One guy records himself doing 64 different vocal parts in an a capella version of Thriller.

I recently found out that my IT guy had extra docking stations for my laptop but this hanger solution isn't a terrible idea if you're looking to get that hot laptop off your lap.

Nice audio photo series from Magnum on living conditions around the world.

Some fun sketchbook art to make you feel bad about your own doodling skills. (Reminds me of this grocery list.)

Here's that new Watchmen trailer in case you missed it on Spike.

(What I've been working on all this time: Rachel.msnbc.com)

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Comments

Not Dobie, but Opie. Dobie was someone completely different.

Erik, Austin, TX (Sent Wednesday, October 29, 2008 10:18 AM)

We've missed ya, Will.  Thanks for coming back with such a chock-full-o-goodness post.

Steve S., Springfield, Ill. (Sent Wednesday, October 29, 2008 11:12 AM)

Regarding "possibly the nerdiest thing on the Internet right now"

That's the funniest thing I've seen in a long time, though I wouldn't be surprised if many of your readers don't get it. Tabletop RPG jargon is not exactly widespread and the "Rocks fall, everyone dies" meme isn't that widespread either.

Still, thank you for that link; it made my day.

Michael "I'm the GM of my tabletop group" [Last Name Deleted] (Sent Wednesday, October 29, 2008 11:23 AM)

Rather than fill the comments here with all the "you're blowing it, Will" remarks everyone's been making I'll just add this general note. Yes, I know no self-respecting blog goes a week and a half with no posts. And yes, it wouldn't surprise me if the regular readership I've grown over the years moves on. If you aren't coming here through an aggregator, I can't really blame you for losing interest in a site that never updates.

My situation is that I've basically been given another job. I now not only manage Countdown content for their site but also Maddow show content. (And again, I don't create or contribute to the content, I just help get it online.) So I went from mainlining blogging and doing side work on community and UGC stuff for msnbc.com to two full time shows and helping out on other cable site duties (and community and UGC stuff). That's not excuse-making, that's just where things stand. I used to go home from work and do Clicked. Now I go home from work and watch cable shows and then do more work. I've barely even updated my personal photoblog/flickr stream in the past couple of weeks.

The right thing to do would probably have been to just shut down Clicked and maybe start something new when my situation changes again. (I did that once before with Weblog Central in 2003.)

But there are two rays of hope that keep me clinging to the possibility that Clicked will rise again. The first is that everyone here at msnbc.com is working balls-to-the-wall with election stuff. At this point I can barely remember when there wasn't this election hogging the news cycle. I have to believe that my schedule will free up after the election if only because I'll completely burn out if it doesn't.

The other ray of hope is that the TV show sites have a work curve that declines after the initial frenzy of setting up features and workflows. I expect to get some of my time back.

So the bottom line is that I like writing Clicked and I liked where it was going before the election heated up. I completely understand if you aren't interested in hanging around to see if I manage to get my act together enough to make Clicked a worthwhile destination again. Thanks for your patience and understanding and readership.

Will Femia (Sent Wednesday, October 29, 2008 11:32 AM)

That tie fighter pic looks photo-shoppy to me, I'm not sure why.

Caren, Charlotte, NC (Sent Wednesday, October 29, 2008 12:31 PM)

Will, I believe the utterly bizarre Japanese Obama music video, is about the city of Obama, Japan, and not about Obama the presidential candidate. Glad to see you back posting again, and I hope things slow down to a more manageable pace so you can help kill my workday with Clicked.

Pearson, Richmond, VA (Sent Wednesday, October 29, 2008 1:14 PM)

Dear Will,

Clicked often makes my day.  Keep it up when you can; most of us understand what it's like to have too much on your plate.  

August, Seattle WA (Sent Wednesday, October 29, 2008 2:41 PM)

I was getting positively cranky over the fewer posts recently.  But, as you are working on such a magnificent show, I guess I can live.  Hope you get a breather soon and get to update us more often!

Kate, OKC, OK (Sent Wednesday, October 29, 2008 5:02 PM)

Yes the D&D election bit was the nerdiest election bit around, and the funniest.  I particularly thought Hilary's Sarah Palin quip to John McCain was telling:  "Every time you bring one of your rodeo-queen girlfriends in here she ends up playing some succubus infiltrator and killing the whole party!"

Michael T, Hollywood, CA (Sent Wednesday, October 29, 2008 5:39 PM)

I agree with August, I miss you when you're not around, but I also don't think that you have any "obligation" to us to post more frequently.  I check the blog when I get a chance, and if it hasn't updated, I'm disappointed, and then I move on :)  You do great work, so I would like to be one of the people to thank you for that!

Summer, Seattle, WA (Sent Wednesday, October 29, 2008 5:58 PM)

Hi Will,
I can easily forgive you for not posting lately due to work for Rachel's site.  I liked the Amazon browser, I never know what to look for.  The Whazzup video is such a hoot!  I'll keep watching for more on your site, it's worth the wait.

Heather, Portland, OR (used to be La Grande) (Sent Wednesday, October 29, 2008 7:07 PM)

No worries, Will.  After I changed jobs my free time went down to 0.  My blog hasn't been updated in 7 months and I regularly get angry emails from friends wanting to know if I'm alive or not.  Sometimes life does that to you.  Personally, I keep checking Clicked because I love it and I really hope you'll have time to return to it.
As far as content goes I love the sexy costumes link.  And the Law and Order done with Chickens.  It reminds me of the 30-seconds-with-bunnies re-enactments from AngryAlien.

Leslie, Albuquerque (Sent Thursday, October 30, 2008 11:22 AM)

For those of you who are Rachel fans, I've been using http://twitter.com/WillAtWork for stuff related to the show and other TV business.

Pearson, that would explain the one shot of the Obama shoe store. LOL!

Will Femia (Sent Thursday, October 30, 2008 3:33 PM)



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