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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread

Open Thread

by John Cole|  December 15, 20113:07 am| 43 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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I got my panties all in a bunch about some shit and could not sleep. BTW- speaking of Louis CK, I was one of the early downloads, and the routine is great. I still think one of the funnier parts was when he confessed to flying first class.

As to his business model, I am in. I never pirate movies, music, or games, because I think the best way to let people know I like their shit and want more of it is to throw money at them. So when Louis CK wants five bucks for a full, awesome show, I pay it. Was a helluva lot cheaper than the Louis CK dvd’s I bought from Amazon, and I didn’t have to wait a couple days. I paid for it, downloaded it to the mac mini while washing dishes, sat down and laughed.

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Reader Interactions

43Comments

  1. 1.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 15, 2011 at 3:20 am

    I’m not sure how it’s going to happen, but some corporate middleman assholes are going to try to stop this sort of thing. It ruins their meal ticket of skimming off both the artists and the consumer.

    This will not stand.

  2. 2.

    hamletta

    December 15, 2011 at 3:45 am

    Oh, Villago, you are too cynical. Louis CK isn’t doing anything that Radiohead didn’t do years ago.

    Just finished making horsie durvers for tomorrow’s Drupal Xmas party. Used a classic ruggelach dough for little pastries filled with two options: chicken liver and apples, and caramelized pears and gorgonzola. Improvised the latter filling, so I’m interested in how it turns out.

    Also made my trusty veggie black-bean chili and Alton Brown’s Onion Dip. I caramelized the onions in the crock pot, though, so they’re kinda soggy, but I don’t think that’ll matter in a dip.

    Still have some dough scraps left, so I may knock out some ruggelach tomorrow with dark chocolate and raspberry jam.

  3. 3.

    Jebediah

    December 15, 2011 at 3:46 am

    @Villago Delenda Est:
    But they add value! By… ummm… taking some of the money?

  4. 4.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    December 15, 2011 at 3:57 am

    I never pirate movies, music, or games, because I think the best way to let people know I like their shit and want more of it is to throw money at them.

    But software? Fuck the assholes, their shit is overpriced.

    ;)

  5. 5.

    amk

    December 15, 2011 at 4:12 am

    It turns out it is not liberals who should fear the Fox – it’s conservatives.

    A good guardian read on pox news.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/dec/13/fox-news-frighten-america-conservatives

  6. 6.

    bago

    December 15, 2011 at 4:15 am

    Middle management will not stand for this.

  7. 7.

    amk

    December 15, 2011 at 4:23 am

    US flag ceremony to mark end of Iraq war

  8. 8.

    Van

    December 15, 2011 at 5:27 am

    Thanks for the link on that, that show was really great. Louis CK is the bomb and can have my five bucks anytime.

  9. 9.

    Raven

    December 15, 2011 at 5:44 am

    Colonel Jack Jacobs “We love the troops because we don’t have to be the troops”.

  10. 10.

    kerFuFFler

    December 15, 2011 at 5:52 am

    I think the best way to let people know I like their shit and want more of it is to throw money at them.

    Is this a holiday time hint that we should send Cole some money if we like his shit?

  11. 11.

    Linda Featheringill

    December 15, 2011 at 5:57 am

    I heard a Christmas song from my childhood: Gene Autrey singing “Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer.”

    Yes, humans had childhoods even way back then. :-)

  12. 12.

    Raven

    December 15, 2011 at 5:59 am

    Questions about the USMC account of Dakota Meyer’s MOH (and no, it’s NOT the Congressional Medal of Honor).

  13. 13.

    Linda Featheringill

    December 15, 2011 at 6:01 am

    @amk:

    Yes, apparently the war in Iraq officially ended at 5:15 this morning, Eastern Time.

  14. 14.

    Raven

    December 15, 2011 at 6:10 am

    @Linda Featheringill: I wrote a long reflection on this day and the day in 1975 when I watched the choppers pushed of the carrier decks into the South China Sea. Then I deleted it.

  15. 15.

    Schlemizel

    December 15, 2011 at 6:32 am

    @Linda Featheringill:

    54 Iraqis die in not our problem anymore

    http://www.theonion.com/articles/54-iraqis-die-in-not-our-problem-anymore,26766/

  16. 16.

    Baud

    December 15, 2011 at 6:35 am

    The Iraq War is over because ending wars thankfully does not require Congressional authorization.

  17. 17.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 15, 2011 at 6:41 am

    @Linda Featheringill: Good. I am very happy that it is over. I wish it had never been started, but that is another topic for another time.

  18. 18.

    amk

    December 15, 2011 at 6:54 am

    @Schlemizel: Onion or not, it’s not an american problem.

  19. 19.

    amk

    December 15, 2011 at 6:55 am

    Chirac guilty of corruption

  20. 20.

    JPL

    December 15, 2011 at 7:01 am

    @Raven: I hope this section is not forgotten..

    What’s most striking is that all this probably was unnecessary. Meyer, the 296th Marine to earn the medal, by all accounts deserved his nomination. At least seven witnesses attested to him performing heroic deeds “in the face of almost certain death.”

  21. 21.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 15, 2011 at 7:03 am

    @amk: The US does bear a moral responsibility for things that happen there. We went in and changed the landscape. We cannot and should not stay any longer, but what happens there for years to come will have a huge American footprint. FYVM George Bush.

    ETA: @amk: Good.

  22. 22.

    El Tiburon

    December 15, 2011 at 7:12 am

    Agreed Cole. I would rather pay a buck for a song than pirate it. Unless of course the song is not available on iTunes, then wi
    L pirate if must.

  23. 23.

    amk

    December 15, 2011 at 7:23 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: I meant it as no more militaristic misadventures under the guise of ‘saving these poor, poor people’. Agreed that us of a fucked up that place for good and have to keep paying sin tax for decades to come.

  24. 24.

    kd bart

    December 15, 2011 at 7:40 am

    “I think the best way to let people know I like their shit and want more of it is to throw money at them.”

    But I’m entitled to that entertainment. :)

  25. 25.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 15, 2011 at 7:42 am

    @amk: I know you meant it that way, but there will be people who actually do need that reminder over the next few years. I just wanted to get it out there.

  26. 26.

    Schlemizel

    December 15, 2011 at 7:46 am

    @amk:
    You must sleep well at night knowing that the US can upend some country, cause untold death and destruction, enable ethnic cleansing and then simply wash our hands of it all when we get bored of it.

    The war is hardly over and we have not even begun to pay for it. The Iraqis, who have already paid a horrendous price for it will continue paying for it for a generation or more.

    Apparently someone has discovered Douglas Adams “Someone Else’s Problem field” and is using it now.

  27. 27.

    amk

    December 15, 2011 at 7:50 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: Your point proven immediately.

    @Schlemizel: see 25.

  28. 28.

    Jane2

    December 15, 2011 at 9:04 am

    @Villago Delenda Est: Isn’t that the truth. I bought John Hiatt’s latest the same way…paid him via his website offering. It sure beats paying the squids of the RIAA and MPAA.

  29. 29.

    Walker

    December 15, 2011 at 9:17 am

    The reason this worked is because a lot of people already know who Louis CK is. Imagine being a new artist and trying to make this business model work. In fact, when was the last time an indie blogger (not attached to a media outlet) has made it big? It is a lot harder now that the first movers (like John) are done.

    If everything turns into the app store, you are going to see a lot less suUnfortunately corporate media acts as a filter, and they know it.

  30. 30.

    Walker

    December 15, 2011 at 9:19 am

    Damn iPhone. Accidentally hit submit during “superstars” and cannot edit.

  31. 31.

    GregB

    December 15, 2011 at 9:29 am

    I was going to buy it but then I found out he was born in MEXICO!

    I won’t be supportin’ no anchor babies.

    Murka for Merkins.

    Louis is one of the best performers out there, without a doubt.

  32. 32.

    dance around in your bones

    December 15, 2011 at 9:31 am

    @hamletta: Jeez, do I love me some ruggelach. Can I come stay at your house for a while? Just long enough to eat all the ruggelach ;)

  33. 33.

    Jerzy Russian

    December 15, 2011 at 10:06 am

    @amk:

    It turns out it is not liberals who should fear the Fox – it’s conservatives.

    Thanks for the link. It was a good read. Nelson was inside my head pointing and laughing.

  34. 34.

    Crusty Dem

    December 15, 2011 at 10:16 am

    @GregB:

    Today I learned that Louie CK is Mexican, and Carlos Mencia is not. Ok, I knew the second part, but still…

  35. 35.

    Benjamin Franklin

    December 15, 2011 at 10:20 am

    An Obama landslide?

    From Tomaskys mouth to god’s ears.

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/12/13/michael-tomasky-could-obama-be-headed-for-a-landslide.html

  36. 36.

    Benjamin Franklin

    December 15, 2011 at 10:23 am

    Corporations may be reading those same tea-leaves.

    http://www.newsmeat.com/news/meat.php?articleId=124153519&channelId=2951&buyerId=newsmeatcom&buid=3281

  37. 37.

    Benjamin Franklin

    December 15, 2011 at 11:02 am

    @Linda Featheringill:

    It won’t be over until AUMF is over.

  38. 38.

    carpeduum

    December 15, 2011 at 12:26 pm

    Unemployment claims fall to lowest level in 3 years and in true Cole fashion you are like “look at that shiny object over there”….pimping someones website.

    But the first sign Dems or Obama are not giving you a pony today and you soil your diapers.

    Fuck you very much.
    http://youtu.be/2WUD-nhsmkw

  39. 39.

    eyelessgame

    December 15, 2011 at 12:55 pm

    Man, I like almost all of his stuff. And yet – a person I am close to watched his outtake video and at the end said “no”… she really, in a big way, does NOT like rape jokes.

    That may, of course, be why this segment is in the outtakes.

  40. 40.

    carpeduum

    December 15, 2011 at 12:58 pm

    “I got my panties diapers all in a bunch”

    fixed

  41. 41.

    Hill Dweller

    December 15, 2011 at 1:10 pm

    @Walker: While Louis CK had been a highly respected comic(a comic’s comic, if you will) in the comedy world, he’s just really hit it big in the last couple of years. After 25 years, he is now in a position to cash in big, but instead he is taking less money on his TV show in exchange for more artistic freedom/control, and cutting out the middle man for his comedy special in order to make it cheaper for his fans. Additionally, he is talking about doing a tour next year without using ticketmaster, which will reduce ticket prices, despite already charging less than most of the hack touring the country.

    Yes, Louis CK’s popularity(which he worked a long time to achieve) makes it possible, but he should be commended nonetheless.

  42. 42.

    pseudonymous in nc

    December 15, 2011 at 2:52 pm

    What makes Louis CK’s efforts interesting is that he’s always been engaged on the production side: you may have heard the conversation with Marc Maron on WTF, or seen the videos where he talks about fixing shit up in studios, or buying the RED camera, or doing edits on his Mac. Perhaps, then, the best way to buck the system when it comes to produced content is to learn how it works, or to outsource it to fans.

    On the UK side, there’s Go Faster Stripe, which basically started up because a fan of Stewart Lee wanted a DVD of his standup show, found out that there wasn’t a deal to make one, and so arranged with Lee to record it himself and sell it on. It’s a shoestring operation, but it’s still going.

    But thinking of Lee: he’s talked about how, as a standup who isn’t really interested in doing television or film work, he can make a living on a fanbase of 5,000 people who pay him £10 a year. The internet is good at aggregating minority audiences.

    For Louis CK, it’s different, because TV and film budgets are huge. But as he said to Reddit, it’d be nice if this special allowed him to “get some security which i NEVER have had in my life”. Most comics are far from rich, and even the ones who are perceived as successful because they’re on TV find that they’re making less than they would from just gigging.

  43. 43.

    LT

    December 15, 2011 at 7:38 pm

    I was one of the early ones, too! Too fun. And $200,000 profit after four days? That’s pretty alright.

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