The BookmarkMoney Blog

What’s the best way to guarantee that your internet video will go viral? Make a video spoofing other viral videos. That’s the strategy behind the latest offering from indie music darlings Weezer in the video for their latest self-titled album.

Why does this video work so well? Schadenfreude - that basic human emotion where a person experiences guilty/malicious glee as others suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Humans like watching other humans getting hurt. Period. If it wasn’t so, would reality television programming be so prevalent?

Pork and Beans collects the ’stars,’ and I use that term loosely, of the most popular viral videos of the last few years, and puts them all in one place in a surprisingly amusing piece of internet navel gazing. From Tay Zonday of ‘Chocolate Rain‘ infamy to the excreable Chris Crocker, they’re all here, even reaching back to the late 90’s for an ‘all your base’ parody. This video is 3 minutes of condensed idiocy backed by an amazingly catchy song.

Once again we’re treated to a unique fusion of styles that is instantly recognizable as a Weezer track. Starting with a mariachi style acoustic guitar hook melded with a retro-lounge feel, it slips easily into Rivers Cuomo’s signature distorted guitars and massive feeling wall of sound . Maracas and piano accompaniment are sprinkled liberally throughout the track, and the chorus harmonies are what we’ve come to expect from this band over the last 14 years.

My single gripe is that this song is yet another nerd anthem from Weezer. I love this band, truly, but we’ve been over this ground before. My favorite song off of the Blue album is ‘In the Garage’ their first, and in my opinion, best nerd anthem.

Minor griping aside, this song has me looking forward to the eponymous Red album. I have high hopes for this, especially after ‘Make Believe.’ The song ‘Beverly Hills‘ makes me cringe to this day, and when I heard the radio edit of ‘We Are All on Drugs’ a little part of me died. I can hear them sing about having a ‘Hash Pipe‘ and a ‘Dope Nose‘ but merely saying that we’re on drugs is a no-no? Weak.

The best part of any new album is the tour. My wife and I saw Weezer in Ames in 2002 while they were supporting the ‘Maladroit’ album, and it was the single best concert I have ever been to. The 30,000 capacity stadium we were in was completely sold out, and the atmosphere was like nothing I have ever experienced again. Electric doesn’t even begin to describe it.

When Weezer took the stage, everybody in the audience rose to their feet, and remained standing for the 70 minute set. It seemed like about 80% of the crowd knew every song by heart, and was singing along at the top of their lungs - myself included. Short of a ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show‘ viewing, I can’t imagine the crowd getting more involved without resorting to violence.

After the show my wife and I got separated from the group we were with, and decided to head home. Unfortunately we found out later that they ended up meeting with the the band - sans Rivers - with pictures and autographs to prove it.

Valleywag has a deconstruction of all of the references in the video. Brooklyn Vegan weighs in, as well as the usual suspects at Idolator.

Watch ‘Pork and Beans’ and decide for yourself.

[Read more →]

Tags: Music, Social Networking, Viral Marketing by Jotun
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Monday night I had the pleasure of seeing the Swedish heavy metal band Soilwork live in concert. The venue was a 200 person club that was probably about the size of my basement, which isn’t saying much at all. While I had fun, the experience reminds me why I don’t really go to club shows anymore.

My wife and I arrived at 7pm when the doors opened. The bouncer verified my online ticket purchase, and my wife and I nabbed our seat for the evening. We watched the other patrons trickle in, small groups of two and three, mostly young, mostly dressed in black. As I grow older I continue to become more painfully aware of how I’m becoming the old guy at shows, even though I’m only 29.

After about a half hour, an old friend of mine joined us and we caught up on old times. We’ve both dropped pretty completely off of each others’ radar, and catching up was nice. We chatted for about an hour when the first band took the stage.

Hailing from Iowa City, IA, was Destrophy (WWW | MySpace). I’ve followed this band for about 4 years now, and am continually amazed that they have yet to be picked up by a major label. The lead singer is quite photogenic, can growl like a demon or hit the high notes like an opera singer, and plays the guitar with amazing skill. He is obviously the driving force of the band. The bassist is the only other original member of the band, which has undergone 4-5 personnel changes in the last 2 years, but he’s quite good, and has an excellent stage presence. The secondary guitar player used to play in Stone Sour, and joined Destrophy last fall. The drummer is also better than competent, but I’m not sure who he is, and this is the first time I’ve ever seen him.

This band is amazing live. They have such energy, and some of the most passionate fans I’ve ever seen. Their set lasted 30-35 minutes, and it really set the audience on fire. Ever since they lost their keyboard player in 2005 they’ve used a backing track, which while it does the job, it doesn’t have the impact that live keyboards provide. As Destrophy was tearing down my wife professed her new-found appreciation for the band, which is high praise indeed, since she mainly listens to country/western (ugh). She had also developed a crush on the lead singer.

After a brief interlude Eddie Buzzard took to the stage. I went into their set cold, but with an open mind. The only thing I knew about them was one of my co-workers at a previous job had played with them for a while before deciding that working was more important. It turned out that they were a rather uninspired thrash/grindcore band, that while having some potential, hadn’t really developed it. Their songs were basically cookie monster vocals screamed over chugging, detuned guitars. The problem was, all of their songs sounded the same. The only bright spot was their drummer, who was way too talented for the band. The way he worked his kit put me in mind of the drummers from In Flames or the Children of Bodom. He had a double bass drum setup, and he just annihilated us with them.

About three songs into Eddie Buzzard’s set, I wandered back to the merchandise area, and got the two CD’s my wife had bought from Destrophy autographed. The guys from the band were cool, and I think I’m going to take my digital camera when I go see them again in two weeks. After about 10 minutes of chatting with them, I had to excuse myself, since my wife isn’t really equipped to defend herself with a mosh pit going on around her. Girl just can’t take a punch

After I got back Eddie Buzzard chugged through another three songs, and then made way for Soilwork.

When they entered the club to take the stage, the members of Soilwork walked through the crowd, about three feet in front of me. Those guys were big. Not muscular big, but tall big. I swear the shortest one was about 6′ 3″. With long hair and beards, half of the band looked reminiscent of the Vikings that were their forebears. The rest of the band favored the more practical shaved head.

From the first chords, Soilwork came to rape our women and burn our villiage, musically speaking.The guitars were soaring and urgent, the drums thunderous, and the keyboards injected swirling harmonies that wrapped around the other instruments and enhanced them at the same time. The last concert where I was witness to such awe inspiring musicianship was when I saw the Children of Bodom two years ago.

The first song was off of their new album, but I’m not familiar with the title. Their second song was the single off of their last album “Stabbing the Drama.” Four more songs followed, all new material, all impressive. Unfortunately by that point I had been up for 17 hours straight, my wife for 15, and the beer was taking its toll on her, as the smoke was on me. Reluctantly we left, but not before being witness to a unique experience - that of sonic Vikings conquering our sleepy town.

Destrophy - Why I Hate Goodbye

YouTube

Tags: Music, Reviews by Jotun
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Debating whether I’m going to the day job tomorrow. Had freezing rain all day, and a couple of inches of snow. By tomorrow we’re supposed to have 3-5 inches more of the crap, with high winds anticipated. I’d rather stay home and read ‘Red Dragon.’

I turned in my request for vacation next month. Soilwork is coming through Iowa, and less than 30 miles away from me. I’m totally in. Plus, they’re playing in a 150-200 person club. I’ll be lucky if they don’t literally rock my face off. Next on my wishlist, please come back Rammstein! They came through with Slipknot and System of a Down back in 2001, but I had to miss it for a college class that had 100% mandatory attendance for the semester. To this day the fact that I missed Rammstein makes me sad inside

Speaking of Rammstein, I spent Saturday morning listening to the new album by Emigrate, a side project by one of Rammstein’s guitarists. It’s a pretty good effort, but some riffs seem almost directly transferred from existing Rammstein songs. I didn’t care much for their politics either, but I usually don’t if I’m not listening to Hardcore bands. Overall, I give it a plus, and I do plan on doing an in-depth review at some point.

I went and saw the doctor today. Bronchitis and sinus infection. Just my usual monthly infections. Working with burning metal and aerosolicized petroleum producs takes its toll on my asthma.

It sounds like next weekend I’m going to go read for a part in an indie movie they’re filming close to here. I’m probably just throwing away part of my Saturday, but I’ll be hanging out with good friends, so it’ll definitely be a laugh.

Finally, here’s a recipe for your enjoyment: Buffalo Chicken Salad.

Take 6-8 boneless/skinless chicken tenders and place in crock pot with 16oz Hot Sauce and 1 stick margarine. Cook on high for three hours.
Crush 1 handfull of original Doritos or taco chips in the bottom of a bowl.
Add Lettuce.
Shred chicken and place on salad.
Shred pepper jack cheese over everything.
Enjoy!

Tags: Cooking, Gurus, Linkdump, Music, Plugins, Reviews, Site News, WordPress by Jotun
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Some days the world just seems to crap on you. You wake up in a bad mood, which fades to black in a hurry. No matter what you do, you just can’t find your way to the light. Somehow as the day goes on, the darkness gets darker, and the blackness gets blacker, until you finally hit rock bottom. Days when it seems there’s a boil on your soul, that fills and fills with psychic pus, until you’re sure it’ll kill you.

That was my yesterday.

Somehow, overnight, the boil burst, and I woke up today in a much better frame of mind. Even though I had just finished a three day weekend, I was kind of looking forward to going back to work. I braced myself for the ungodly weather, and disembarked.

Stopping at the gas station on my way out of town, one minute into pumping gas, my hands went numb to the wrist in the driving sub-zero weather. The credit card slot didn’t work. I went inside to pay, and one of my friends from high school was manning the register. He warned me that the road crews weren’t even attempting to clear the roads, and that travel was suicide. I shrugged and decided to attempt it anyway, since I called in sick Friday, and I don’t want to burn up my free time within 3 weeks of getting it.

Leaving town was hard. The highway was about half drifted shut in the westbound lane. The roads were icy from yesterday, and the wind was whipping the snow into white-out conditions. Still, I soldiered on. I passed a compact car stuck in a drift as I turned the corner to head to the neighboring town where I work. As I passed the stranded vehicle, I noticed two of my co-workers, volunteer firemen, helping in the rescue. I would have offered to help, but I didn’t have anything like the cold weather gear they were wearing.

As luck would have it, I was following a DOT truck, so I felt moderately safe. A quarter mile down the road my optimism faded into a dull, aching dread.

Eyeballing the northbound lane to my left, I noticed that it was solidly covered with at least 16 inches of snow and no tire tracks. The road in front of me, plowed only minutes before, was already filling it, and visibility was limited to about 20 feet in the good spots due to the snow in the air.

Still, I soldiered on, if only due to the fact that the other lane was impassable. The flashing light on top of the blaze orange DOT truck was my beacon of hope, and I was determined to follow it, even though I had no other choice.

As I crept southbound the drifts got higher and the roads got worse. Two and a half miles down the road I came across a stopped semi. It wasn’t in the ditch, just stopped in the middle of the road. That’s when dread turned to outright fear.

I called my supervisor to warn him that I was going to be late. He told me flat out to turn around, and not even bother. All of my coworkers who live in my town had all called in. All of them are burly man’s men who drive 4×4 pickup trucks, compared to my late model sedan.

As I was talking on my cell phone the DOT truck drove around the semi and continued down the road, me tailing him at a distance of about 15 feet. We had proceeded about 1oo feet past the semi when the DOT truck’s reverse lights came on.

I stopped, but he kept on coming. Panicked, I threw my car in reverse, and started backing up. The truck wasn’t stopping, and I was actually forced to speed up. We backed up for about 80 feet before I decided I had had enough.

Backing around the semi, in white out conditions, I kept moving knowing that there was a crossing 200 yards to the north.

Suddenly there were headlights behind me. Another semi! I swerved into the other lane, and we missed each other by inches. Terrified, I kept going until I reached the gravel road, and did a three point turn.

I entered the southbound lane and started heading home doing 45 mph in the wrong lane with the snow whipping around me at gale force.

I called my father to warn him of the road conditions, only to come upon him at the end of his gravel road, waiting because he had seen me. He pulled out after me, and suddenly we were a convoy.

We made it to the blacktop heading into town without incident, and I called my brother to warn him not to bother. Right now he’s getting drunk and watching movies with his friends. Lucky.

I got home, got changed and let my wife know what was going on. Then I went downstairs and fired up the computer.

Consigned to the nothingness that awaited me, I fired up eBay, expecting both of my auctions to have ended with no bidders. Again.

Instead, I was greeted with an alert that I had actually sold one of the things I had listed. It wasn’t for a lot of money, but I hadn’t expected to sell it. The day was looking up.

Next I logged into my ClickBank account expecting to see the same old zeros that usually greet me. Instead, I see the total $17.98. One of the AdWords campaigns I had thrown up on a whim last Wednesday had generated a sale. Awesome!

I know this has been a long post, but it does have a point. The saying that “It’s always darkest before the dawn” has never really meant much to me. However, considering how this weekend went for me, it does ring true.

I’ve passed through the long dark night of the soul, and come out the other side stronger for the ordeal. Now that I have results in my marketing efforts, I’m doubly determined to get better at it and make a living at it.

Three good things have happened to me today:

1) I was specifically told not to come to work.

2) I made a sale on an eBay auction.

3) I made a sale using Adsense.

Events, both good and bad, seem to come in threes. I intend on making this streak last as long as possible. Persistence is the key.

The best advice I have been given personally is from Ruck, in his response to me in the comments to one of his recent posts: Keep on keepin’ on.

And that’s exactly what I plan to do.

Tags: Adsense, Affiliate Marketing, Music, Psychology by Jotun
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Well it has been a few days since I started my first Adwords campaign. 9,000 impressions, 0 clicks. Time to rewrite that one I think.

I created two more on the spur of the moment on Wednesday night. Campaign 1: 900 impressions, one click. Campaign 2: 2,500 impressions, three clicks. Slightly better than my first campaign, but only in very relative terms.

Total time spent to setup my campaigns - 50 minutes. Total cost to me - $.38. Money made - 0. Time to dust off the old thinking cap.

Still, I’m not really discouraged. I am getting ideas and insights from the campaigns I’m running, and since I’m a kinesthetic learner, I’m learning by doing. I have a thousands of ideas, so two spur of the moment ones not making money isn’t a heartbreaker. What I’m learning is well worth the $.38 I’m out so far.

Never Blue Ads called yesterday. I need to find a minute and call them back. If I’m not home I’m working, and if I am home I have to use a spatula to pry the kid off of my leg. *sigh* I really wish I had started this two years ago when I wanted to, before the mortgage and kid.

I’m working my way through Ruck’s 60 Days to List Profits in fits and starts. I know I write about him a lot, and it makes me feel like a suck-boy, but I can’t help it. He’s the first affiliate marketer that isn’t peddling re-heated two year old material (on his blog at least), and his insights make me feel like I can do it too. His recent series on the potential of Kaboodle are amazing. Catch up on them: Day 1 |Day 2 |Day 3 |Day 4

I see from my referral logs that Ruck visited here after a trackback. Probably laughed his ass off. I know that’s probably what I would do if the roles were reversed. That’s ok, hate makes me stronger

Spent 4 hours last night looking for software to power the backend of my as yet unannounced project. I swear it’ll blow your mind if I can afford to pay somebody off of eLance to write it for me. I spent a couple hours noodling around with Yahoo Pipes. Talk about your object oriented programming! Very powerful and yet very limited. Spent hours trying to get yahoo to categorize 3 different sets of rss feed items by date posted without regards to the blog they were coming from, but the closest I ever got was listing them by date yet still seperated.

Finally, I’ve noticed that every time I break out “Are You Dead Yet?” by Children of Bodom, it always starts with “In Your Face,” which is my favorite song on the album, and may just be the best one too. I’m definately looking forward to the new album and hopefully I can catch them on tour again. The last time I saw them, they were with Slayer and Mastodon. Mastodon sucked ungodly amounts of ass, and the only reason I stayed for Slayer was so that my friend could say he had seen them. Two songs later we were gone.

Tags: Affiliate Marketing, Music, Site News by Jotun
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