>> ^NetRunner:


How about the people who will go out, and donate money, volunteer for, and vote for a guy like this? Can they be saved? Can the rest of us be saved from them?


i find this really interesting. i have two really, really badass friends. They're eclectic neo pagans. They support gay marriage. They love pre-marital sex. They love kinky sex. They give their children advice on masturbation and safe sex. They are not themselves swingers, but they hang out with lots of them. They smoke pot. They both have master's degrees in health science fields. They decorate their "yule" tree with pentagrams. They're really intelligent, groovy people. and They love Rick Santorum and Sarah Palin. I can't even ask them about it because we made a pact a long time ago that we wouldn't discuss politics. Because it makes our heads explode. BUT THIS MYSTERY IS MAKING MY HEAD WANT TO EXPLODE.

I recently fell in love with Andrew Bird's 2001 'The Swimming Hour'. It is an eclectic blend of musical traditions, but put together in a way that feels special. It is intimate, passionate, dynamic and features some great playing. I think they recorded the performances live because you can feel the musicians vibing off of each other, (and also because there is one rhythmic flub in the second tune that suggests they tuned weren't tracked with a click). I also love that it is an 'album' and not just a collection of songs. There is flow and purpose from start to finish. The instrumentation is also very eclectic. It reminds me a bit of 'Poses' by Rufus Wainwright. Here are a couple tracks....

Two Way Action:


How Indiscreet:

http://www.amazon.com/Swimming-Hour-Andrew-Bird/dp/B00005ARFB

This is probly a private story, but wtf.

This track (REZ) defined my adolescence. My older sister was a party kid (read: raver) and I thought she and her boyfriend were just about the coolest people on the planet when I was about 14. She had crazy colored hair and hosted all her crew's house parties at our house. He was an "agro-skater" as we called them in the mid-90s, and he taught me how to grind rails and do stairs backward. I used to hang around them like the classic cloying little brother, just trying to absorb all their coolness by proxmosis (that's a term for proximity osmosis I just made up).

Late one night, my sister came in to my room when I was in bed and she popped a disc into my stereo and cued up track nine on some nameless trance compilation and pressed the repeat button. REZ. I listened to that track over and over as I fell asleep that night, and for many nights after. I don't mean to be saccharine, but I think all your inner fourteen-year-olds will understand when I say that it gave me a sense of the universe, of all the sensory wonders this life and body had to offer, and even some beyond what I thought possible at the time. I can recite every note of that melody and every drum line in the track as if I were breathing. I danced by myself in the reflection of my bedroom window, making sure I could hit every beat and even started making up some silly shit I thought I would never show anyone. I spent about two years soaking up all the trance I could get (and thankfully my tastes grew more mature and eclectic as a result) and before too long, it was my turn to step out into the night.

My first party was a small affair at a tiny little club on 28th street, where I danced for an hour before falling fast asleep. As I came out of it, I thought I was still dreaming. It was about 3:30, and every single person in that club was sweating like a demon in an incredible symphony of movement. The first notes of the REZ melody were just coming in. I stood up, still a little unsure, or perhaps so excited I couldn't really believe it, and began to move. Before I knew it, I was writhing with the abandon I'd taught myself in the bedroom window and I truly had never felt so alive. A friend of mine had taught me how to figure-eight with sticks earlier in the night (we didn't have LEDs quite yet), and within seconds I was off. And people noticed. A lot of people noticed. By the apex of the track, I was at the center of a circle of party veterans, who seemed to see straight into the center of my transcendent bliss. I laughed like a madman. I cried like a baby. I danced like an animal. By the time the next track began to wind it's way in, I had made friends who followed me and whom I followed for years to come. I never heard REZ out at a party again, but I knew I didn't have to. It had given me an incredible gift, and I am still inspired and filled up whenever I hear it.

My sister broke up with that dude, and it turned out she wasn't really a party kid after all. But I was. Through and through I was a party kid. My friends and I, some of us wear suits now (@handmethekeysyou), some are still dancing (@youmakekittymad), some, well who knows...but I really do believe that what cemented my bond to that scene, and to the people I came to love, had a lot to do with REZ.

Well, no, I actually have a terrific sense of humor.

We don't SHARE the same sense of humor, that is true.

I was speaking more from a sense of rules of advertising juxtaposed against the fact that your poor first vid is in the hole by two votes.

Which is, by the way, pretty dang funny. In a Ricky Gervais/The Office/comedy of desperation sort of way.

I do welcome you to the Sift. Maybe I'll like your next vid. I have pretty eclectic tastes. You just never know around here.

Welcome!

In reply to this comment by DeadlyTeaParty:
In reply to this comment by bareboards2:
You know, repeating the word "funny" doesn't make it so, sweetpea....

What r u talking about?? Obviously u have no sense of humour!

This is amazing! Now all it needs is a video mashup (somebody get Eclectic Method involved!)

More cinematic awesome sauce by Eclectic Method:

http://videosift.com/video/The-ultimate-Tarantino-mixtape

http://videosift.com/video/End-of-the-World-The-Apocamix

You have been awarded 1 Power Point for fixing the embed code for Dead Pool video Promo of U68 - the short-lived eclectic alternative of MTV. Thank you for helping maintain VideoSift's reliability.

i have some very fond memories of the underground psy trance scene here, from around a decade ago. hallucinogens, strange sounds, eclectic people, wild dancing...

In reply to this comment by enoch:
In reply to this comment by berticus:
i upvote for the spirit of underground dance music, which i miss a whole lot sometimes

but if you wanna see some kick ass poi....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdPXscVBcng

you're such a closet raver.
knew i liked you for some reason..

its type o negative + souxie n banshees w/ a black guy!

loving your posts, i am. thx eklek

keep up the eclectic

Weezer recut the vid themselves and Romanek took his name off it. Eventually they came around to digging the vid and preferring the original to their own cut. I think Romanek got himself into trouble for being too eclectic. He was famous for doing NiN's 'Closer' vid, so perhaps Weezer expected something more aesthetically similar.

Gimme a hug, you magnificent bastard!

If you happen to speak to anyone that I've personally wronged, let them air them air their grievence to me (maybe through you). I don't think I've pissed many people off - I try to not be a douche. (Though I disregard that for humor at times)

In reply to this comment by enoch:
In reply to this comment by gwiz665:
I know you weren't talking about me (I'm still the same chain-smoking, alcoholic axe murderer I always was ), I was just disagreeing.

I'll clarify what I meant, or mean now that I've thought it over some more. I think there's exactly the same amount of different voices and opinions on the sift as there always has, it's just that the amount of like-minded stuff has increased, so the more eclectic seems to be rarer. Of course, this means that the average tends towards a certain opinion, because that's what the majority wants.

Many of the same people are here, and the "paradigm" is obviously guided by the posters. Posters with a certain opinion, for instance netrunner and politics and all of the atheist posters have been active, which has driven the average towards their ends. There's nothing wrong with that. If people with different opinions want in, they have to post more, discuss more etc. I think we're pretty open to let anyone speak their mind here, even when we disagree with them. It's just that people with different opinions aren't very vocal, or alternatively are obnoxious, I point to the cases of billoreilly, captainplanet420 and choggie.

I agree that it's hard to find people here with real different opinions (but there are some I could name, and I'm sure you could too), but really, it's always been hard to find people with fundamentally different opinions. It's always quibbles over minor details and such things.

In reply to this comment by enoch:
i agree with ya bud..on almost all your points.
i think maybe i was not clear enough in my rant so i did try to clarify.
i disagree on how this site has shifted more towards a singlular paradigm though.
it has been a slow and subtle crawl but i notice it.
and you know i was not speaking about YOU.
but i did use that ambiguous pronoun to fish for those who maybe need to examine their own intentions and stop pointing the fingers at others.

i hear ya bud and i am not disagreeing on semantics but rather that i have spoken with many of those people who left..still do.
many of the people were badgered and harrassed,maybe not in the form that choggie chose but the result was the same.
those voices first went silent and then became shadow.
and the sift was less because of it.
i understand full well the power of groupthink.i was just trying to make others aware of it.
i was not attributing some dracnonian intent just pointing to the results.
i got to head out but i wanted to let you know that and the fact i am always amazed how you will take a subject and contemplate it with a pretty unbiased attitude.
i like that about you.
we may disagree at times but i thank you for at least giving what a say some thought before you respond.
that speaks volumes about you my friend.
namaste.

In reply to this comment by gwiz665:
I know you weren't talking about me (I'm still the same chain-smoking, alcoholic axe murderer I always was ), I was just disagreeing.

I'll clarify what I meant, or mean now that I've thought it over some more. I think there's exactly the same amount of different voices and opinions on the sift as there always has, it's just that the amount of like-minded stuff has increased, so the more eclectic seems to be rarer. Of course, this means that the average tends towards a certain opinion, because that's what the majority wants.

Many of the same people are here, and the "paradigm" is obviously guided by the posters. Posters with a certain opinion, for instance netrunner and politics and all of the atheist posters have been active, which has driven the average towards their ends. There's nothing wrong with that. If people with different opinions want in, they have to post more, discuss more etc. I think we're pretty open to let anyone speak their mind here, even when we disagree with them. It's just that people with different opinions aren't very vocal, or alternatively are obnoxious, I point to the cases of billoreilly, captainplanet420 and choggie.

I agree that it's hard to find people here with real different opinions (but there are some I could name, and I'm sure you could too), but really, it's always been hard to find people with fundamentally different opinions. It's always quibbles over minor details and such things.

In reply to this comment by enoch:
i agree with ya bud..on almost all your points.
i think maybe i was not clear enough in my rant so i did try to clarify.
i disagree on how this site has shifted more towards a singlular paradigm though.
it has been a slow and subtle crawl but i notice it.
and you know i was not speaking about YOU.
but i did use that ambiguous pronoun to fish for those who maybe need to examine their own intentions and stop pointing the fingers at others.

i hear ya bud and i am not disagreeing on semantics but rather that i have spoken with many of those people who left..still do.
many of the people were badgered and harrassed,maybe not in the form that choggie chose but the result was the same.
those voices first went silent and then became shadow.
and the sift was less because of it.
i understand full well the power of groupthink.i was just trying to make others aware of it.
i was not attributing some dracnonian intent just pointing to the results.
i got to head out but i wanted to let you know that and the fact i am always amazed how you will take a subject and contemplate it with a pretty unbiased attitude.
i like that about you.
we may disagree at times but i thank you for at least giving what a say some thought before you respond.
that speaks volumes about you my friend.
namaste.

I know you weren't talking about me (I'm still the same chain-smoking, alcoholic axe murderer I always was ), I was just disagreeing.

I'll clarify what I meant, or mean now that I've thought it over some more. I think there's exactly the same amount of different voices and opinions on the sift as there always has, it's just that the amount of like-minded stuff has increased, so the more eclectic seems to be rarer. Of course, this means that the average tends towards a certain opinion, because that's what the majority wants.

Many of the same people are here, and the "paradigm" is obviously guided by the posters. Posters with a certain opinion, for instance netrunner and politics and all of the atheist posters have been active, which has driven the average towards their ends. There's nothing wrong with that. If people with different opinions want in, they have to post more, discuss more etc. I think we're pretty open to let anyone speak their mind here, even when we disagree with them. It's just that people with different opinions aren't very vocal, or alternatively are obnoxious, I point to the cases of billoreilly, captainplanet420 and choggie.

I agree that it's hard to find people here with real different opinions (but there are some I could name, and I'm sure you could too), but really, it's always been hard to find people with fundamentally different opinions. It's always quibbles over minor details and such things.

In reply to this comment by enoch:
i agree with ya bud..on almost all your points.
i think maybe i was not clear enough in my rant so i did try to clarify.
i disagree on how this site has shifted more towards a singlular paradigm though.
it has been a slow and subtle crawl but i notice it.
and you know i was not speaking about YOU.
but i did use that ambiguous pronoun to fish for those who maybe need to examine their own intentions and stop pointing the fingers at others.

I blame the ills of choggie on choggie. Not the ills of the site. This was inevitable with his attitude and his tone. He was a troll with a cloak and for some reason people treat him like the fucking savior. He said he he was "waking people up" by calling them all idiots and spouting obscenities at them. Pfft, I grew tired of that quickly and ignored. Too much ego, too much self-righteousness. And I don't want to say much about his attitude to women (mostly because I do some of the same things) but if you think I was bad, he's worse.

I think the sift will be better for his ban in the end.


@enoch "go to posts two years ago.go ahead..i'll wait.
now..
go check the current top videos on this site.
see anything? notice anything?
it is becoming one big ball of sameness.
as if a giant vanilla cookie cutter was punching out the exact same material.
those people didnt leave because of choggie!
they left because this place started looking like a cheap version of the stepford wives."

People revere obscurity, but it's a hollow praise when they don't vote that way. We have a silent majority that wants what's at the top of the sift right now - who are you, or anyone of the taste-judges who have left,
to say they are wrong in their opinions and tastes?

I was there 2 years ago, it was the same. The people who have quit are the drama queens, the ego maniacs, the people who put their taste above everyone else's. I don't miss them. The rose-tinted glasses of yesteryear colors a lot, but in actuality there was very little difference between then and now.

New egos will rise, new originality will blossom. It's only natural.

If my memory serves, certain prominent members tried to make a video cult site devoted to eclectic and obscure tastes. it's not around anymore, and I didn't expect it to either, because they actively discouraged popularity and that's a recipe for failure.

"because here is the cold hard truth kids.
this place was once a vibrant mecca for the most unique,obscure,challenging and original sites to visit.
populated by interesting people with interesting ideas and to watch the disagreements fly put a smile on my face that lasted for HOURS.
now it is slowly becoming an exercise in banality..
un-interesting and un-original.
so clap your hands together for that kids!
you just succeeded in killing originality!
the drama is even boring!
and that my friends..is the fucking cold hard truth..and you helped usher it in."

Rose tinted glasses again. This was always a liberal, atheist site with a few outliers with different opinions. There are still very interesting discussions and interesting disagreements, but they are stifled with dramaah which someone like choggie was good at making. He had a knack for walking in on a thread and basically killing any hope of a meaningful discussion. I feel just fine that he got himself ousted. I thought it would take less than 6 months, but it was a nice try to give him a second chance - worth a shot, but, for me anyway, it's over now.

Originality is an antithesis to popularity, usually, and the site is based on popularity. This is not a new discussion, it's always been like this.

You just have to look closer for originality. Compare with youtube, you can't find quality there without drowning in a sea of shit - I prefer the sift any day.

Huh Blankfist? I have to say that this video, in all it's self righteousness, is as annoying as you can be. Sure Choggie did some unforgivable things when he thought no-one was looking, like chastising you about Maceo, but honestly he helped keep some of the more active and annoying users in check while here. He said the things that many of of thought but were too polite to say. He added much more to the Sift than you have.

There. I said it. I'm sorry BF, but this post is too self congratulatory not to.

I'd rather have Choggie here than you. But he and his eclectic video tastes and creative thinking and writing are gone, and you and your lowbrow bullshit fecal humor are still here. Sucks for me.

Enjoy your day, you vacuous twerp.