Rumors on the Internets

FOTI #29: Cleveland Hero Charles Ramsey

Fortnight on the Internets…where everyone dies at the end!

On this episode of FOTI, we talk about Charles Ramsey, the man who inspired the entire Internet after saving three women from a Cleveland hell-house. We toast The Lonely Island’s new spring break / manlove anthem. And we ask, is Kickstarter totally played out after Hollywood actors have started using it to fund passion projects? With music from Brendan Benson and lots of great contributions from our Likers.

Four ways to listen:

• Click this link to listen instantly (or right click and “save as” to download mp3)

• Subscribe through iTunes – and rate/review!

• Subscribe through another site or app using the RSS feed: http://fortnightontheinternets.libsyn.com/rss 

• Become a Liker! Follow us on Facebook and listen through the Libsyn Facebook app (using the “Click to Listen” button)

If you subscribe or become a Liker, you’ll be able to get to new episodes faster than everyone else. You’d also be wise to follow us on our @FOTIpod Twitter account, where we often have fun interactions with the people and sites we talk about on the show…

A Kitchen Nightmare takes Facebook by storm!

We had a lot of fun on Monday watching the chaos as Amy’s Baking Company, a Scottsdale AZ restaurant, engaged in open warfare with the denizens of Reddit on its Facebook page. The cray began when owners Samy and Amy Bouzaglo appeared on Kitchen Nightmares, in which world-famous Chef Gordon Ramsey arrived at their restaurant and attempted to help them. He soon learned that they were totally nuts and beyond any help he could offer, and he aborted the mission with extreme prejudice.

After Reddit discovered the episode, its many minions began flocking to the ABC Facebook page and leaving comments, which in turn sent Amy and Samy into a spiral of madness skillfully documented by Buzzfeed. The infamous Reddit detectives got on the case and produced detailed (and completely unverifiable and probably totally false) posts claiming the restaurant was a money-laundering operation and that the couple had a sordid, felonious past. All in all, it was epic.

Of course, in the end, they claimed they were hacked! 

Watch the episode for yourself (it is incredible) and you’ll probably come to the same conclusion we did: no way these people were hacked. Those insane posts were almost certainly 100% Bouzaglo!

UPDATE: We sent a top Liker in there to investigate and the results were AMAZING. More deets to come on the next episode…!!!!!

Report Card

Three super-viral videos made the cut this fortnight, each inspiring deep hilarity.

#1: Cleveland Hero Charles Ramsey

You had to be hiding under a rock to miss this one. The guy who helped liberate three women from captivity gave a ton of amazing interviews and possibly the best 911 call. We celebrate his genius and address the backlash that claims the popularity of this video proves that the Internet is racist.

#2: Whole Foods Parking Lot

This one’s been around for a while, but its truth and tastiness is evergreen. A wonderful video from the Fog & Smog crew. As white honky yuppie Prius-driving gentrifiers, we definitely identified with this jam.

#3: Between Two Ferns / Spring Break Anthem

Somehow we made it through 28 episodes without talking about viral video OGs The Lonely Island. That streak ends now! This subversive and brilliant video contrasts hetero hedonism with samesex romance in a manner so edgy, many viewers didn’t even get the message. We loved it.

Our Musical Guest: BRENDAN BENSON

This episode we’re excited to play some music by the great Brendan Benson, noted for his solo work as well as his stint in The Raconteurs! This guy needs no introduction from us, his skills as a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, performer and producer are WELL documented.

We’re hyping up two things here — his 2012 album What Kind of World, which you need to check out, and all the new singles presently being released through his Facebook page — be sure to Like it and get on top of all the great stuff he is releasing ahead of his forthcoming 2013 album! All of the above is self-produced by Benson in his Nashville lab, and released through Readymade Records.

We’ve added these great BB tracks to our master playlist of all past FOTI musical guests. Be sure to check out the music of Young Hines, produced by Benson, if you haven’t yet!

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Internet Challenge Surprise!

This episode, Alison brings us the webgame inspired by the legendary theme to early-TGIF sitcom Perfect Strangers. It’s all about following your dream and making it come true! The site is Nothing’s Gonna Stop Me Now.

You tell the game your dream and then, as Balki himself, you chase it through the fields of Mypos and the streets of Chicago!

This leads us to a reflection on our favorite show from the legendary 90s ABC family programming block TGIF, including a musing on the extremely dark and depressing end of the puppet series Dinosaurs...

The Uproar Over Kickstarter

A freewheeling discussion of the controversy surrounding the new trend of famous Hollywood actors taking to Kickstarter to crowdfund their passion projects. Is this a new frontier of crowdsourced media content, or a sucker’s game where poor saps are fleeced for their hard-earned cash by TV actors who want to be movie stars? Will this save the $30 million movie in an age of microbudgets and megablockbusters, or is Zach Braff the worst person alive for hitting up his fans to finance his creative vision? We break it all down.

Some pertinent links:

• Richard Lawson’s outraged take on the Veronica Mars movie Kickstarter.
• Tim Heidecker’s screenplay about a man who squandered his family’s last dime on Braff’s dream.
• The founders of Kickstarter defend Braff’s project.
• The controversy surrounding Animal Collective’s Deakin and his Africa-quest Kickstarter.
• Steve Albini vs. Amanda Palmer in re Kickstarter.
• The Most Popular Girls in School Season 2: This is what Kickstarter SHOULD be all about!! Watch it now!

Shoutout to the Likers!

Once again we thank you Likers for being the best community of listeners we could ever dream of! Shoutout also to the lurkers we see creeping into our comment threads…don’t be afraid to come out of the shadows!

As always, Jeni Sue delivered gems on gems on gems, including the incredible website Textastrophe.

Some folks who earned serious props this fortnight:

• Liker Susan Y for being a tireless supporter of the podcast throughout social media! Check out her film Habibi, it’s highly acclaimed…
• Liker Doan for all the tips on the Charles Ramsey situaish. He’s OUR Cleveland hero.
• Liker Nate M. for tipping us off to the Twitter trend #followateen, and Liker Cara H. for tracking the subsequent #followanadult movement championed by Tavi Gevenson

And our Liker of the Fortnight is Liker Derick A! He wrote us an amazing iTunes review and has been awesome about sending in comments and spreading the word. Be like Derick, y’all. Give us a rating and an iTunes review if you’re feeling saintly and YOU could be the next LOTF!

Thanks for listening everyone! See you in two weeks.

Thanks to Skinny Lister and Paul Carey of The Music Management for the great tunes.
Theme song by Snowplows: Check out their songs on Bandcamp!
Cover art by Vicious Rumors.

FOTI #28: The Honey Badger Don’t Care!

Fortnight on the Internets just takes what it wants!

On this episode of FOTI, we throw our usual format out the window! First we discuss the hunt for the Boston Marathon bombers and all the fallout that dramatic event had on the Internet. Then, our collaborator Jeni Sue joins us to report on her adventures at Coachella. THEN, Randall, the expert in crazy, nastyass animals, especially the Honey Badger, joins us for a very special interview. With music from Skinny Lister and so many great contribs from our Likers!

Four ways to listen:

• Click this link to listen instantly (or right click and “save as” to download mp3)

• Subscribe through iTunes – and rate/review!

• Subscribe through another site or app using the RSS feed: http://fortnightontheinternets.libsyn.com/rss 

• Become a Liker! Follow us on Facebook and listen through the Libsyn Facebook app (using the “Click to Listen” button)

If you subscribe or become a Liker, you’ll be able to get to new episodes faster than everyone else. You’d also be wise to follow us on our @FOTIpod Twitter account, where we often have fun interactions with the people and sites we talk about on the show…

“Lucky Suit & Tie”

Before kicking off a content-packed episode, we start things off light with this amazing mashup of the most and least disappointing pop singles of 2013 thus far.

AMAZING work by DJ Daddy K.

The Marathon Manhunt

Mere moments after our last episode dropped, mayhem broke loose in Greater Boston and soon spilled onto the Internet. The drama, hysteria and blizzard of true and false information surrounding the manhunt for the Boston Marathon bombers required us to take an entire segment to unpack it.

Some of the ideas we talk about in this segment:

• Some of the best (and the worst) reporting of this story was done via the Internet. For example, this article on Deadspin (and the amazing graphic above) is the clearest explanation I have seen of what exactly went down as the terrorists went on the run.
• Watching the Reddit detectives — we discuss the much-publicized (and futile) attempt by Reddit users to ID the Boston bombers. Here’s a good piece by James Surowiecki on the topic.
• The sad tale of Sunil Tripathi, the missing Brown University student who was falsely accused of the crime before being found dead a few days ago. Alexis Madrigal of The Atlantic skillfully dissected how the Tripathi meme began and spread across the Internet (with help from Buzzfeed) before being debunked by Pete Williams of NBC.
• When breaking news is taking over Twitter, is it OK to keep promoting your TV show or fun event? Certainly, some people now consider that a breach of digital etiquette. TBD if that’ll be the new standard.
• Can anything useful be gleaned from a killer’s Twitter feed or social media presence — or should we just consign their thoughts and names to the dustbin of history, denying them our attention as much as possible?

Our Musical Guest

Coming off an appearance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, it’s Skinny Lister!

They’re a five piece folk act and they hail from all over England, although funnily enough their bass player is from Hawaii…

They have been named the Hardest Working Band in the UK and they have seriously played every music festival in England and the USA that I have heard of in my entire life. Even the Vans Warped Tour, if you can believe it.

The album is FORGE and FLAGON and it’s highly recommended. Check them out on Facebook and at their own site.

Jeni Sue Survives Coachella

Pictured: “Midsummer Night’s Dream” nymphs

Our star correspondent Jeni Sue rejoins us with a report of her experiences at Coachella.

For hilarious and detailed narratives of her adventure, be sure to check out her blog!

Some of the things we talk about along the way:

• Coachella’s crowd includes so many teens and tweens…many of whom ditched school on Friday, leading to a LA-wide school attendance crisis. 
• Jimmy Kimmel’s hilarious Coachella video (to be fair, clearly edited after the fact)
• Did you know there is a new drug called “pokeballs”? Kids these days!
• High tension in the security line as scads of young women hide drugs in their secret places.
• Desert Festival Fashion: “Midsummer Night’s Dream” wood nymphs for the ladies, short-short shorts for the guys.
• “Standards” that groups of people used to gather in the midst of chaos: giant sunflowers, pool noodles adorned with Christmas lights, Nic Cage’s face!
• Jeni’s favorite part of Coachella: Mango sorbet INSIDE of a mango
• Sleeping through the R. Kelly surprise appearance with Phoenix
• Major Lazer’s hot riddims and Diplo’s Instagram feed (girls twerking non-stop!)

You can always find Jeni’s genius on our Facebook page (look for her trademark “– jsb” tags) and on her blog, Not Lena Dunham.

Randall the Honey Badger Guy!

We’re joined by very special guest RANDALL, the internet’s foremost expert in crazy, nastyass animals!

You must have heard his take on the Honey Badger, the creature he turned into an Internet legend:

Some of the stuff we talk about with the Internet’s foremost animal lover:

• His childhood love of animals and animal-movie narration
• How he came to record the soundtrack to the 60-million-view video on the Honey Badger
• His appearance at Pet-a-Palooza in Las Vegas
• The insatiable hunger of the Internet for more and more content from its top creative folks
• Randall’s talking Honey Badger doll, with profits donated to Animals Asia, and his philosophy towards monetization (“If you’re going to whore out, do it for a good cause.”)
• His guided meditation videos and rap videos and his ongoing quest to set up a Barbra Streisand/Wu-Tang collab
• The pride he feels about Tyrann “The Honey Badger” Mattheu’s selection in the 3rd round of the NFL Draft; and his powerful defense of Mattheu’s recreational drug use
• His “look” and how his fans react to it
• His beef with David Attenborough (“What a ham.”)
• What’s next for Randall?

We thank Randall profoundly for joining us for this great convo. Find more great Randall magic on his Youtube account, on Facebook, on Twitter, and on his own website.

A must-buy!

Shoutout to the Likers!

Hey everyone — subscribe to us on iTunes and give us a rating to help more people find our podcast.

• This Fortnight’s J. Sue Gems included this dramatic interpretation of the viral University of Maryland sorority letter by acclaimed actor Michael Shannon. Thanks also to Liker Natasha R for tipping us off to the letter to begin with! (On a related note, I just now found the amazing version done by Liker Lily V — aka Brittnay Matthews of MPGiS fame!)
• Liker Lindsey found the great men’s follow up to the Dove Real Beauty ads we talked about on the Facebook page a couple of weeks back.
• Liker Jeremy C sent along the new volume of Date-A-Max!
• Likers Doan and Nate M sent along comedian Nathan Fielder’s “drug dealer parent confusion” text prank.
• The dudes from Kissing Contest tipped us off to this hilarious screengrab of Gucci Mane in the courtroom. Their epic Reality Madness episode just dropped!

And the Liker of the Fortnight is LIKER ANDREW W from Austin (via Boston) for lightening the marathon manhunt woe with this amazing image of a man being interviewed on the BBC with a hot pink dildo clearly visible in the background:

Thank you, Liker Andrew W, for your always astonishing contributions to our Facebook page and podcast!

Thanks to Skinny Lister and Paul Carey of The Music Management for the great tunes.
Theme song by Snowplows: Check out their songs on Bandcamp!
Cover art by Vicious Rumors.