Will Hines Dot Net

Enormous Television 7.5 tonight at Kenny’s Castaways. 8pm. $5. See a bunch of comedy people deliver their favorite tunes backed the legitimately good ETV band. I will be channeling the gentleman to the right in the picture above.

• The IMDB lets you type in two movies and it will tell you who worked on both. It’s called a “common people” search. I used it to see who was both in Twentieth Century and His Girl Friday (2 actors, the director plus some crew).
• This post on bad apples in a group environment, inspired by a This American Life episode, will make you wonder if YOU are the bad apple. Though if you’re even worried about it, I bet you’re not.
• I liked Sean McCarthy’s essay about the appeal and problems of Tyler Perry’s “comedies.” The quotes from an extended interview about Perry’s grind-em-out workday were illuminating and sort of depressing.

When I say “fun things” I mean [...]

Today is my last day at AOL, where I’ve been for two years. I’ve been very lucky while I’m here to gain valuable video production experience while working with fun, smart laid-back people. And I got to work with Mo Rocca, who has just always been a funny, hard-working, easy-to-get-along with guy. We put together an indulgently long best-of Mo Rocca 180 montage from the past two years of videos, which I present below.

It’s more for us — so a lot of the moments don’t make sense on their own, but you can certainly tell that we tried a lot of different pieces and [...]

Doing a stand-up set at 7pm tonight (Friday Feb. 20) at Ochi’s Lounge (353 W 14th St, at Ninth Ave, basement of Comix) courtesy of my funny friend Ritch Duncan. Also appearing: Vinny Fallon, Kevin Maher, Alison Castillo, Jeff James and Hannibal Burress. These are some funny people! How the hell did I get in this lineup? Answer: I am friends with the host. Sure, I’m all right at the jokes but being friends with the host speeds up the booking process. My long-term plan for comedic success is to personally befriend everyone in America, one at a time.

Ritch Duncan is hilarious. I forget how I initially met him, but I became friends with him via Brian Finkelstein when [...]

Got to sit in on the “Flophouse” a podcast a few of my friends (Elliott Kalan, Dan McCoy) do where they watch a probably-terrible movie and then review it. This session we watched “Swing Vote,” the Kevin Costner movie where the presidential election comes down to the vote of one man.

The movie was a disconcerting combination of professionally produced and lit while also flat and untrue at almost every turn. Strange exceptions: the fake political ads the candidates engineer just for Costner’s character were hilarious (I guess anyone can do a political ad parody?) and some moments where you meet Costner’s ex-wife were genuinely moving.

But in the podcast: we [...]

Watched, recently: Touch of Evil, Swing Vote, A Scanner Darkly, Amadeus, Fitzcarraldo, BSG, some 30 Rock, some SNL, an episode of Gossip Girl.

Read (books): more of Demonology by Ricky Moody;

Read (comics): Comics: Acme Novelty 16, 17, 18, 19 by Chris Ware; Hey Wait by Jason; old John Byrne FF stuff; Walking Dead.

I want a Kindle just to look at one but I do not read enough to justify it in any way.

Listened to: Vampire Weekend, The Blow, Yo La Tengo and a live Freedy Johnston album recently. And that song “American Boy” by Estelle and Kanye West a bunch.

I gave notice at AOL. Mo’s contract ended and 2+ years felt like enough. I’m going to be an assistant [...]

Oh, I wish I did this! A supposed intro to a 70s tv show. The music and Ben Rodgers’ glasses are almost worth it all by themselves. Then there’s a magician.

Appel is in town for a week and gets this together! APPEL!!!!!!!

(This video is starring Kevin Hines).

Blowjob Documentary/Roadshow. Love the trumpet score and Jon Golbe’s white chest hair.

If its one thing the internet needs, it’s MORE SUPERHERO BASED SKETCHES. So here’s one. Post-Crisis Depression is Real – made in an absurdly short amount of time on Monday for the Defenders of Stan finale last night at Channel 101:NY. Thanks to Dyna for the costume stuff. Idea stolen in a barely recognizable form from an issue of Astro City.

See Dyna and Mitch’s Superlawyers One and Superlawyers Two

Say what you want about Pitchfork and its pretentiousness and its over-compounding genres (emogrindmumblecorerockdisco) — they’ve got the balls to lay down boundaries and declare that popular music is telling a story. Maybe not the story that you, the discerning and picky reader sees, but a clear story. A confident narrator makes for a good tale, right?

So when brother Brian got me the Pitchfork 500 book for Christmas, I was excited. I love lists, blurbs, shorthand histories and learning about pop songs. I diligently carved through the book. I’d read the blurb, listen to the song — one at a time. It took me a month. I didn’t skip any, even the interminable 10 minute electronica bullshit that bored me [...]

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