Comments (45)

Comments on this Entry:

(Adam Forkner on Jun 3, 2005 11:38 PM) thats one of my favorite ELO songs!!!:-P!!!

(Amber on Jun 3, 2005 11:50 PM) Wait- It's suddenly so sweet (after being so traumatic). I'm not sure what to think, really.

(josh on Jun 3, 2005 11:56 PM) I'm sad this is coming to an end.

(Steve Schroeder on Jun 4, 2005 12:05 AM) TRIIIP OUT HARD!!!!! there were times when we had an idea. but never for sure. bravo. GRIFTED.

(Adam Forkner on Jun 4, 2005 12:36 AM) i second that emotion, steve there were times and always a suspicion but never for sure GRIFTED DEEPLY grifts ah good old grifts so.............who wins?? does it really matter? if james comes to portland we should all try to grift him somehow

(robin on Jun 4, 2005 12:42 AM) AAACK! i can't get through the movie... it keeps stopping right when it gets good -- so i've watched the fabulous intro 10 times now. DId everyone else wait up for this??? [i slept with the laptop next to the bed so i could check out the den first thing, and if i can only find out. it looks like it will be worth it.]

(J on Jun 4, 2005 12:42 AM) Um...I'm at a computer that has no speakers (double damn!). Can someone explain for the uninitiated?

(UB Addict on Jun 4, 2005 12:45 AM) Someone should declare this a mis-blogger and do the whole contest over! 6 more weeks!!

(Lyova Lyubov on Jun 4, 2005 12:48 AM) Addict....I understand this feeling you have.... I also feel sometimes the guilt at our successes, but then I say to me: Willow and Ritchey knows each other, and Willow and Joel lives in same city.....so other peoples could also perform as we did if they wanted it...

(J on Jun 4, 2005 12:49 AM) Help!

(Addict on Jun 4, 2005 12:55 AM) The ultimate alliance! I have watched the intro to "Confessions" three times now... I love it so much. It is beautiful, as are you two.

(Sam Sanderson on Jun 4, 2005 12:58 AM) So they were both students at this university in Taiwan, and James is coming home to Michigan, but Lyova is going home to ?????????????

(Lyova Lyubov on Jun 4, 2005 1:05 AM) I am not a student here. Like I said in videos: I am a bit lost, I don't really know why I'm here... Also, I will not be returning home yet. I have missed Europe much and want to travel it a while. Then later, I will return to my areas. Very few of what I penned for you has been lies. I have withheld informations, I have not altered much. And, as I have already pronounced: truth is sometimes more unbelievable than fiction.

(james on Jun 4, 2005 1:11 AM) i keep getting really teary eyed (secret man code for bawling) when i imagine that this is all coming to an end. i haven't even had time to feel sad about leaving taiwan yet... its been such a wonderful 5 weeks, thank you all for making it so incredible! anyhow... i think i am going to post a zipped copy of the larger file on my site as soon as i get to seattle if anyones interested... also... more importantly... WE FORGOT THE MOST IMPORTANT CONFESSION OF ALL!!! lyova's birthday is not december 11th as was listed on his application, but rather it is MAY 24th!! the same day as mine! we had changed it on the app so as not to draw too much suspicion, but i still regret having all those lovely birthday notes and not having the opportunity to do the same for our dearest lyova (who i am already missing way more than i would normally allow myself to miss someone.) how is that for being banged out in the stars? so... HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY COMRADE LYOVA!!!

(hason on Jun 4, 2005 1:38 AM) crazy brain warp mysteries are solved ultimate blogger you never disappoint BEST REALITY EVER. happy belated birthday lyova. you are real.

(david galli on Jun 4, 2005 1:52 AM) This was truly a BEAUTIFUL grift. I was entirely unbalanced by it. Thank you both for putting so much effort into this, and for playing the game with so much sincerity and intensity at all possible levels! Happy belated birthday to you both.

(robin on Jun 4, 2005 1:55 AM) brill.iant.! well played! the video is amazing. the alliance was amazing. (and you are completely right: willow/ritchie/joel had the same opportunities, well, in fact, everyone had some chance to double deal.) reality TV is eating its heart out. happy birthday, lyova-the-real! If you're going to europe, i make to you the same offer i made to sonny - if you detour through the alps and i'll ask for your autograph and buy you a beer. (or vodka)

(Steve Schroeder on Jun 4, 2005 2:05 AM) totally. i also wanted to make a banged out from the stars references. i think the game overall was better off for these dudes knowing each other. they upped the ante for each other, made each other better, and made everyone else step up to the plate. Crazy. But who will win?

(daniel on Jun 4, 2005 2:23 AM) I LOVE THIS ultimate blogger so much. i feel like it is the end of a school year or something. i don't want to let go. also, i must say, i have meen listning to the playboysandpagers mp3 on reeat tonight.......EPIC! EPIC! EPIC! EPIC! EPIC! LONG LIVE MAXIMUM SLOVIC MEGA DANCE MUSIC! LONG LIVE THE ULTIMATE BLOGGER!

(boggart on Jun 4, 2005 5:07 AM) Congratulations to you both. No critics this time, 'praise them with great praise'! Perhaps that's why you had to go to taiwan for, no? Good luck for your last weeks out there. And Lyova, get yourself a blog. You guys at urbanhonking can be proud of whom you've found. --- a fan

(piu piu on Jun 4, 2005 6:11 AM) that was really sweet. undoubtedly the dualism has made the contest more interesting. u urban hoking guys must be jerking off on all this shit! tho i suspect u knew more than u let on- strategies and then confessions? seems very 'apt' and convenient considering the situation. anyways- why dont u guys get a reunion for as many contestants as u can in portland? obviously some would have difficulty making it...but it would be nice! and maybe give lyova another incentive in life. Lyova- go stay with Mimi in NY. and if u do europe next, and UK is included in that, gimme a shout love piu piu (mimi's twin sis) x

(Joel Conrad Bechtolt on Jun 4, 2005 8:00 AM) Very well done. James and Lyova. Very nice. Thank you. Love, Joel Conrad Bechtolt

(Lucie on Jun 4, 2005 8:51 AM) This contest has been the most fun I've had on the Internet in years. Hats off to Mikey, Steve, Jona and all the UB contestants, with special gold stars to Lyova and James for doing all of our heads in and leaving us breathless. Please don't make us wait too long for Season 2.

(Rebecca on Jun 4, 2005 9:09 AM) I fucking love you, and I love the grift that you have woven with your heaven-sent spinnerets. This one is truly for the books.

(Mikey on Jun 4, 2005 9:58 AM) And it's not even over yet!! We have a winner to announce and ONE MORE VIDEO!

(ritchey on Jun 4, 2005 11:08 AM) you guys are HOTT. With like at least 3 t's. I mean physically--physically very attractive. I have never been so grifted in my life, even though I started knowing about this slowly over time. I AM STILL GRIFTED HARD. I am also in Abilene, Texas, at an internet kiosk in front of a Dillard's where my mother just bought me a nightgown and a pair of Adidas. I LOVE YOU LYOVA AND JAMES. Sincerely.

(boggart on Jun 4, 2005 11:15 AM) Straps and ties rule!

(Lanuska on Jun 4, 2005 12:03 PM) I have watched this competition closely from the beginning, and I had the hots for Lyova from the very beginning. It was because I'm from Central Europe, too. It was because I had spent 3 years in Japan, and at the time I thought he was in Japan, too. But through all of his posts I felt an echo of what I felt in Japan. The feeling some people call homesickness, but it's not a sickness really, cause there is no medicine for it. Except for Zubrowka, of course. I just wanted to say how I love Vladimir Nabokov, Lyova Lyubov, and all the men who know their way around with words, secrets and lies. -a bigger fan

(willow on Jun 4, 2005 12:09 PM) Wow. I dearly love you men. Dearly. Love you. I am NOT READY for the affair to end!

(ebg on Jun 4, 2005 1:51 PM) this rules so much. james, where in michigan are you going to school?

(james on Jun 4, 2005 3:03 PM) grand valley state...

(george on Jun 4, 2005 7:28 PM) ha. with such pride, james.

(ebg on Jun 4, 2005 9:12 PM) cool. i live in ypsilanti, so i was wondering.

(freddy on Jun 4, 2005 11:08 PM) Where is everybody on the internet? I miss you! I want to talk about this awesomest of endings (almost) to this awesomest of games! Who do YOU think will win? FWIW, I am a big big James fan, but Lyova stole my heart from the get-go, and hasn't disappointed since then...but either is a very worthy contender.

(hoppock on Jun 5, 2005 12:44 PM) I think James will win. it sounds like he effed over fewer people in faulty alliances (just willow right? sorry willow), and it sounds like he sort of masterminded the Stalin alliance (or at least that he invited lyova to ultimately blog). I would vote for James if i had a vote. good playing james. welcome back to the united states too.

(Lyova Lyubov on Jun 5, 2005 12:53 PM) Hey Hoppock! Give me more credit, ok? Logically, the one that is mastermind of Stalin is the one that effs the more people over, yes? So you cannot take both like this.... (although, of course, in reality, we are both equaly evil and masterminding because the entire effort was collectivized from startpoint). James will win because he is less controversial, that's all.

(Mikey on Jun 5, 2005 5:34 PM) Let's not forget Richard Hatch!

(maggie on Jun 5, 2005 9:06 PM) i am so sad that this is ending. it was such a distraction from term papers.

(sarah on Jun 5, 2005 9:14 PM) good call lyova- james is no less 'guilty', and isn't necessarily a better blogger, but he is looked upon as less threatening i think. he is the nice guy. personally i would vote for lyova! his posts and presence in this game have been completely and unexpectedly amazing, entertaining and moving. he has mezmerized us all from the start.

(Sonny on Jun 6, 2005 1:06 AM) So you're waiting and you're waiting and you're waiting for something new to be posted to this page. You're really waiting for the video, but it's just a comment this time. It'll do for now...or at least hold you over for the next ten minutes or so. The feeling is a strange one, but one that I'm sure that I share with all of the other UB addicts out there. There's just this anticipation that occupies your entire existence that keeps you glued to the computer. Will something great, something profound, or at least something funny be posted in the next few minutes? I could go to the bathroom or go to sleep, but what if I miss out? I'll just stick around for another ten minutes or so...maybe twenty. This comment is for all of you vampires out there. I hope it satisfies your thirst for a little while at least.

(jenny on Jun 6, 2005 1:48 AM) thanks sonny. you nailed it. it's like christmas eve right now for all the dudes in the the ub land.

(Steve Schroeder on Jun 6, 2005 3:38 PM) Sonny, that is a totally amazing comment. Thank you so much for that. It made me feel really good.

(alison on Jun 6, 2005 8:06 PM) My jaw dropped, but I'm dancing around with happiness.

(Joel Conrad Bechtolt on Jun 11, 2005 6:34 PM) Merry Kwanza, bitches! -Joel

(James Buxton on Aug 13, 2005 2:59 AM) I came across this wired and wonderful site today by the name of cunts corner. It seems that many people go to this site to bitch about people... ITS GREAT lol. - cuntscorner.com

Francois, 47, 4'9" with the physique of a hobbit and eyes which face in opposite directions (east and west, respectively) enters Pimping Pussies most days between the hours of 4 and 6. Francois hobbles over to his favorite table, orders a Bud Light, and after consuming three of these, is inebriated enough to cackle merrily to himself and dance like an extra from 'Saturday Night Fever' with whoever is unfortunate enough to be in his proximity.

Francois has known tragedy in his life. Just ten months ago his mother, with whom he had lived all of his life, passed sadly away.

"It was terrible", recalls Mike, the Pussies' handyman. "He used to come in, order his beer and cry."

One day Don the head waiter saw him, and demanded to know why Francois was weeping so copiously. His mother just died, came the reply.

"Well, if he'd spent a little more time at home lookin' after her, and less time in the fuckin' titty bar she probably wouldn't be dead!"

A pragmatic response.

Francois finally got over his tragic loss when, on Halloween, he won third prize in the Pussies dress-up competition for his memorable effort at recreating Russell Crowe in Gladiator. He recalls this moment, eyes dimmed with tears, every time I hand him a new Bud Light.

Before my heart was softened by over-exposure to the darker side of NY, I may have labelled Francois Prick No. 8 in my 'Pricks I Have Known' Series. But now, older, wiser and sympathetic, he gains a special place in my heart and that of my readers as Gladiator Francois: Favorite Pussies Client of June 2nd, 2005. Congratulations Francois.

Oh and a message for Lyova: I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN YOU BASTARD!!!

Comments (3)

Comments on this Entry:

(Liam on Jun 2, 2005 8:51 PM) I've always been a handy pussyman. (ba-dum-chik) Oh, dear Mimi. How is that you've regained posting privileges? Glad to see you back.

(PAUL on Jun 3, 2005 2:13 AM) go get im

(hason on Jun 3, 2005 10:13 PM) mimi you have been a wonderful contestant, I hope you'll come visit us at the urban honking Rhi-zome Network here in portland. keep writing.

Comments (96)

Comments on this Entry:

(DCS on Jun 2, 2005 10:52 AM) HOLY CRAPPP!!!!!!! WHATTTTTUUUTTTTT!?????? I HAVE A HEADACHE NOW!

(sarah on Jun 2, 2005 10:52 AM) OH MY GOD.

(piu piu on Jun 2, 2005 10:56 AM) ...does noone else remember one of james's first comment to lyova? that their URL was the same...?

(ritchey on Jun 2, 2005 10:56 AM) KEEP GOING!!!!!!!!!!

(willow on Jun 2, 2005 10:58 AM) OH MY GOD!!!!

(DCS on Jun 2, 2005 10:59 AM) I think I remember that. Maybe they're roommates?

(Kelsi on Jun 2, 2005 11:00 AM) Nice chops, Lyova. also, WHOA.

(PAUL on Jun 2, 2005 11:01 AM) Hey guys! Does Mimi not get any love and goodbye kisses?

(piu piu on Jun 2, 2005 11:03 AM) about the URL- its weird 'cause its something i was thinking about the whole contest.... wondering if they met up... or wondering if they knew each other before, and that had been james's way of covering their connection... (maybe someone else would have noticed the same URL too)

(DCS on Jun 2, 2005 11:04 AM) Maybe they knew each other before the contest, and they applied together. This post is way more "stunt" than mysterious though. Especially since the post was made by James, not Lyova.

(piu piu on Jun 2, 2005 11:06 AM) DCS i thought james was ur friend from home? or is taht someone else?

(DCS on Jun 2, 2005 11:06 AM) Did James SAY that the URL was the same? or did someone just notice that their URLs were the same. Anyone notice that either Lyova, or someone posting as Lyova has "nothingness.com" linked through his name. Maybe if Lyova and James live together and post through the same computer, they changed their commenting name in movable type and forgot to change the homepage link?

(piu piu on Jun 2, 2005 11:08 AM) james said the url was the same. who knows. its a definite james post tho- style an all yeh clicked on lyova loads of times and noticed...nothing!

(sarah on Jun 2, 2005 11:09 AM) dcs, well of COURSE it's a stunt. we get it- we're just blown away by the stunt!

(DCS on Jun 2, 2005 11:13 AM) He is my friend, but I haven't seen him since last winter. He went to Taiwan.

(DCS on Jun 2, 2005 11:15 AM) I'm with you Sarah. I'm blown away too.

(piu piu on Jun 2, 2005 11:21 AM) i'm more blown away by the fact that lyova IS actually VERY attractive

(ritchey on Jun 2, 2005 11:24 AM) truly!

(piu piu on Jun 2, 2005 11:28 AM) ...so u wouldnt say no either ritchey?

(Steve Schroeder on Jun 2, 2005 11:44 AM) LYOVA IS REAL

(ritchey on Jun 2, 2005 11:45 AM) well...

(PAUL on Jun 2, 2005 11:46 AM) Do you fancy him too steve?

(enjanerd on Jun 2, 2005 11:49 AM) So, uh... is this his/their contest entry?

(enjanerd on Jun 2, 2005 11:52 AM) Also, there's a dark shot right after the camera passes over the light where they could have cut two videos together... maybe...

(Steve Schroeder on Jun 2, 2005 11:53 AM) I fancy what is happening. HONESTLY. WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT!!??? WTF. Okay, yes, I fancy Lyova.

(Lyova Lyubov on Jun 2, 2005 11:54 AM) So Enjanerd, I do not think that James will be disposed for other purposes than being disposed of. So yes, this must be his final appearance here. And also, I am currently taking orders for things you, the public, want me to suffer on him.

(Steve Schroeder on Jun 2, 2005 11:59 AM) Oh God. We should inform the Taipei City police.

(paul on Jun 2, 2005 12:01 PM) remove his mask....

(Kevin on Jun 2, 2005 12:03 PM) James, hang in there. Lyova, kiss him! This was posted in James's spot but the video is hosted in Lyova's spot- crazy! And what was all this url business? I know that James and Lyova have both been living in Taipei...

(DCS on Jun 2, 2005 12:05 PM) I want to see the behind the scenes video of the making of this video. The one where Lyova and James are giggling and joking.

(DCS on Jun 2, 2005 12:06 PM) I thought Lyova was in Tokyo.

(david on Jun 2, 2005 12:07 PM) This is truly James's most amazing submission—I mean, that is a deep, weird confession I really did not expect from him. It's even an unexpected interpretation of the challenge! I don't know; I wonder what Lyova could pull out to top this clip.

(willow on Jun 2, 2005 12:08 PM) James is looking pretty good too, am I right ladies? Even with the bondage? I am crossing my fingers for a Daring Rescue.

(Lyova Lyubov on Jun 2, 2005 12:09 PM) I can assure you, DCS, that there were only giggles from the one side. It is posted here, because now, of course, I can access James' computer. And I think it is befitting his downfall to have this as his entry. I tried to kiss him but he try to kick me.

(david on Jun 2, 2005 12:10 PM) p.s. It was the IP address that was the same, not the URL. So James said. Click here (or cut and paste) and scroll to the very bottom: http://www.urbanhonking.com/ultimateblogger/den/archives/2005/05/the_game.html .

(DCS on Jun 2, 2005 12:10 PM) I guess I didn't think that this could be James' entry. He's been doing mini-posts before all the challenge entries for a while now.

(Steve Schroeder on Jun 2, 2005 12:12 PM) To clairfy a few things. There was talk about James and Lyova being using the same ISP before the first challenge. The isp was a large one though, the large wifi network of James' school. Lyova has been living in Japan and travelling to Taiwan where his sister works out of, as far as we know.

(DCS on Jun 2, 2005 12:16 PM) Yeah. What is that IP address junk? It could be a cover, in case anyone snooping noticed the identical IP's? And reading Lyova's back posts is hilarious now.. knowing that his English is fine. So funny and crazy.

(DCS on Jun 2, 2005 12:18 PM) Okay. Makes sense. So, the ISP talk before the first challenge was the first connection of the future members of STALIN? They figured they could get together and scheme since they were both in Taiwan sometimes. That's how Lyova was ever able to post videos at all I suspect.

(Steve Schroeder on Jun 2, 2005 12:21 PM) no. Lyova told us in the application process that he recently had obtained a video camera or his sister had and he was excited to use it.

(Sonny on Jun 2, 2005 12:23 PM) Okay, let me guess how this ends. Someone, maybe a merit badger, makes a daring rescue just in time for James to make his final post. Am I close?

(DCS on Jun 2, 2005 12:28 PM) OHHHH, i-i-interesting.

(Steve Schroeder on Jun 2, 2005 12:29 PM) God, I wish it could be arranged that way. just to clarify. we at UltBlog HQ have no idea what is going on with these two finalists. we have never met them, and have no influence on any of their actions.

(DCS on Jun 2, 2005 12:47 PM) I heard somebody hypothesize that Lyova was a grift by the Urban Honking dudes. I totally don't think so at all, and I hoped it wasn't true then, and I know it's not now.

(Lyova Lyubov on Jun 2, 2005 12:57 PM) Also I think it in James' best interest if everyone here, now goes and casts his vote for Mimi here. I will consider propositions for furthering James' fate after you help me help the woman I also loved before I killed her.

(Steve Schroeder on Jun 2, 2005 1:01 PM) I have done this voting. NOW LET HIM GO!

(Rebecca on Jun 2, 2005 1:20 PM) Oh, Lord, I am a'roiling with nerves about the ultimate levels that this contest has ascended to! You have caused it to travel to the halls of awesome meta conspiracy theory. But Holy Hells, don't hurt him! I'm freaking out!!

(Lyova Lyubov on Jun 2, 2005 1:21 PM) I am sorry Stefan.... It does not work this way.... We play the "percentage bar game", ok? The more it rises, the closer James will get to the correct employment of mango ice cream (and I will remove the russian techno from his earlobes). So start clicking.

(DCS on Jun 2, 2005 1:42 PM) I forgot to notice that James is advertising the DAAC. This is the same t-shirt that Jona wears in the "look upon the Wizard Ball" segment back in the UB Summer Edition.

(Rebecca on Jun 2, 2005 1:51 PM) Whoa. Jona, Steve -- why did you fail to mention this link, like when we were narrowing down the contestants? I do not believe that something like this could be a coincidence. And how eager you were to thrust the Lyova application into our unsuspecting hands, how rigorously you did uphold James' position in the finals. I don't know whom to trust. This is starting to feel so Truman Show.

(Steve Schroeder on Jun 2, 2005 1:58 PM) What link? We thrust Lyova because his application was amazing. Everyone loved it. James was the last person selected, I think. What are you talking about?

(Lyova Lyubov on Jun 2, 2005 2:03 PM) I am happy at what I see on Mimi's contest page, this will hopefully grant me more absolutions for my past evils unto her. I would like to add that this is NOT the reason I did this to James. I just thought of this to be good moment to remind you of this thing. James will remain in his basement underworld until the stars of victory are already dawning on my face (and blinding his Orcus). I thank you all for your being with us tonight. It is a good time to be alive I think.

(DCS on Jun 2, 2005 2:10 PM) Division Avenue Arts Cooperative is a venue in Grand Rapids, MI. James and I have both been involved in events and behind the scenes work there. Jona has played there, and I assume he traded his album for the shirt, as most artists are asked to do.

(Mikey on Jun 2, 2005 4:37 PM) So... what happens now?

(willow on Jun 2, 2005 4:52 PM) Sonny, I wish to god I could rescue poor James in full Wonder Willow regalia. Alas, Portland Oregon is far from Taipai, and evil Dr D has constructed a force field that makes me unable to fly to my former comrade's aid. Curses! We can only rely on the mercy of his captor- the sinister villian Lyova. Lyova! Please! Let him go unharmed!!

(freddy on Jun 2, 2005 4:59 PM) What was that about the "correct employment of mango ice cream"? And what does that make the currently incorrect employment?

(hason on Jun 2, 2005 5:03 PM) I clicked to vote for Mimi (again! ballot stuffing!) Lyova you have been wowing the ladies of Portland till now, but our hearts will turn against you if you harm your competitor.... you will become tyrantasaurus rex instead of primo blogman...

(Dr.D on Jun 2, 2005 6:35 PM) Wonder Willow, I have a note here in my Palm Pilot reading "tell superheroine nemesis about gigantic forcefield around her town to keep her from rescuing any innocent civilians" but it just totally slipped my mind. So sorry, my masked friend. I totally owe you one when we get together for the annual 4th of July celebration. That is of course if my plan to destroy your town with enormous satellite-mounted laser beams and some VERY special collobus monkeys I've been breeding in my giant underground lab doesn't come to fruition first. In fraternity, always, Dr. D

(matthew hoppock on Jun 2, 2005 7:40 PM) maybe that's not james. we've not seen his face and it's not really even shown in the video. maybe james told lyova to make a video like that, and gave him his posting information so that he could post it from his account. it's plausible.

(george on Jun 2, 2005 7:48 PM) mango icecream or mangos and shaved ice?

(Lyova Lyubov on Jun 2, 2005 7:58 PM) Actually, dear George, you just acquire me a new idea: ice cream and shaved James!

(Jenny on Jun 2, 2005 8:20 PM) Steve, What makes you so sure that Lyova is real???? Based on his application? What if it was all made up. I see his link goes to his profile on a site called "Friend Finder" and he hasn't visited there since May 2, when the contest began. So, it looks like he created that image at that time to me. He has definitely pulled off some major farce here, if you ask me.

(Steve Schroeder on Jun 2, 2005 9:13 PM) Lyova Is Real is a campaign that is sweeping the nation. He is obvious a real human being. He has showed himself in many videos now. He is obvious in Taiwan. I believe many things about him...some things are unclear. but....anyway about it...whatever comes out... LYOVA IS REAL

(J on Jun 2, 2005 11:16 PM) This is more than I could ever ask for out a reality bloggig competition. Crazy contestants, illegal aliens, heists and conspiracies, hot Russian men... Who could ask for more? Even Puck from the Real World SF wasn't this interesting!

(freddy on Jun 2, 2005 11:30 PM) Matthew, it's totally James; he has photos of himself regularly in his website, and they go back for over a year. Here's just one example.

(Lyova Lyubov on Jun 3, 2005 12:30 AM) OK. Here is the hostage crisis latest updates. James is well and sleeping for past hours. I think we have reached a suitable pact concerning the endgame. But he is still very much in my clutches and I will only release him if you do something for me. I need 10 (or best offer) videos of people (contestants, fans, judges) bobbing their heads. The clips can be very short (5 seconds) and you must be completely serious on them. THIS IS IMPORTANT, NOT A JOKE, OK? Send to: kasanova_voyager@yahoo.com James' destiny depends on this. Lyova

(Joel Conrad Bechtolt on Jun 3, 2005 5:55 AM) OK, I'm game. Here it is: http://homepage.mac.com/straightup/iMovieTheater32.html Be Strong, Stay Safe, Love, Joel & Sara

(Jona on Jun 3, 2005 6:57 AM) Lyova, there is a note for you here.

(me on Jun 3, 2005 7:35 AM) get a blog LYOVA!

(Sonny on Jun 3, 2005 8:44 AM) Does anyone else think that the UHUBUGGG has something to do with this conspiracy?

(Joel Conrad Bechtolt on Jun 3, 2005 8:57 AM) No way. These dudes are legit.

(WuJie Shanghai on Jun 3, 2005 9:00 AM) When did the Stalin pic. in James Merit Badgers posting turn into an eggplant in the sky? Did anyone else notice?

(Jona on Jun 3, 2005 9:10 AM) FREE JAMES! Head bop from Maine

(enjanerd on Jun 3, 2005 9:17 AM) that's the only picture i saw up... i thought it was always an eggplant.

(hason on Jun 3, 2005 9:43 AM) portland morning

(Lyova Lyubov on Jun 3, 2005 10:35 AM) Thank to all these that have sent their heads to me.......but I NEED MORE OF THEM!!! Contestants, fans, peoples of Europe, Asia and the Americas, please send your BOBBING HEADS to kasanova_voyager@yahoo.com

(matthew hoppock on Jun 3, 2005 11:00 AM) i cannot record video of my own head bobbing, but if i could, it would look like this. *bobs head* will you accept my proxy video Lyova? I am begging you. free james!

(matt on Jun 3, 2005 2:08 PM) Cold bobbin' it. (this is what the internet was made for)

(DCS on Jun 3, 2005 2:12 PM) This video is so two pieces edited together by the way. Just frame by frame it just after Lyova says "challenge". That entirely black screen looks "highly irregular".

(John Johnderson on Jun 3, 2005 2:35 PM) Thanks for the tip, Hercule Poirot!

(DCS on Jun 3, 2005 2:38 PM) Well, that was a dick thing to say. I guess you weren't smart enough to be Lyova anyway. JK! Got you back!

(John Johnderson on Jun 3, 2005 2:59 PM) Thanks for the tip!

(george on Jun 3, 2005 3:19 PM) free james, please

(Jona on Jun 3, 2005 3:37 PM) Did you guys catch this? This is hidden in this entry.. everyone should pay close attention to these next posts..

(sarah on Jun 3, 2005 3:50 PM) it's not two pieces edited together- the same staircase (in the same spot) is in both "halves" of the video

(Steve Schroeder on Jun 3, 2005 4:26 PM) Actually, Jona, I believe that image was hidden in Lyova's last post (the one that detailed the Stalin alliance). And this image was in James' last post about alliances. What could it mean. Upon interrogation, they contestants gave up nothing, but we know not to trust them.

(MANDARIN DYNASTY on Jun 3, 2005 4:28 PM) hey guys, mandarin dynasty crew here! we took a break from our rigorous recording of our new album, "METH HORSE" at THE BOLSHEVIK in LOS ALAMITOS, CALIFORNIA to pitch in and help out our old buddy james! "JAMZ FOR JAMES"

(MANDARIN DYNASTY on Jun 3, 2005 4:29 PM) link above didn't work, here's the real URL: http://mandarindynasty.net/video/jamz.mov

(Mikey on Jun 3, 2005 4:33 PM) I give you Les, Dave, Ian, Cabel, Noby, Steven, and myself, all headbobbing for James' freedom. headbobbers.mov FREE JAMES!

(Lucie on Jun 3, 2005 4:54 PM) Cabel, the rules stated that you were to look SERIOUS. Your smirk may have killed James, dammit. I am so upset that I don't have a video camera. I want to bob my head for James. That sounds bad. Rebecca's right, though, he looked alright in the video.

(Lucie on Jun 3, 2005 5:03 PM) Dammit, now I can't find the comment I thought I was referring to. Whatever, it's 1:00am in England and I'm too drunk to stay up and watch the clock tick down to the final UH deadline. I can only pray before I lay me down to sleep... Free James!

(Sam Sanderson on Jun 3, 2005 6:02 PM) What the fuck is happening?

(Amelia on Jun 3, 2005 7:46 PM) http://www.teamyacht.com/~amelia/Amelia-Ice-Cream.html

(matthew hoppock on Jun 3, 2005 9:02 PM) how many people have bobbed? does my bobbing dinosaur count? lyova, we need to know.

(Lyova Lyubov on Jun 3, 2005 10:13 PM) Hello to all! The skies rise up in the clearest blue on this, the last day of the Ultimate Blogman! James is gone now. Flying high on his skybound journey back to his homeland in USA. He seemed OK after his sequestrations. He was happy to be free... Thanks to all of you for the head bobbings! Unfortunately, some of the besto ones were given to me too late, but it is still good, ok? I especially regret that you Mandarin Bolsheviks did not send it earlier : you are beautiful (even if I do not know what you are). So, I am back here....

(james on Jun 4, 2005 12:26 AM) i have made it to korea!! thank you so much for your tender love and bobbins!!!! i feel so loved and appreciated!! gotta run... flights leaving.........yaikes

Continued reading End Transmission...

Comments (14)

Comments on this Entry:

(freddy on Jun 1, 2005 12:28 AM) If Lyova doesn't get immunity the masses will riot.

(josh on Jun 1, 2005 12:29 AM) I don't know what to say. This is all so brilliant. The rules for the subunits? Leaving Joel in to absorb the votes of non-allied players? Even just keeping track of what was secret and what was open was a challenge. Truly awesome. I expect you will win immunity once more with this, this endcap on a tremendous run at the title of Ultimate Blogger.

(ritchey on Jun 1, 2005 12:30 AM) there is nothing that can be said to fully express how amazingly brilliant you are. You have played us all like violins. My mind is absolutely blown and I am left an empty husk.

(Kelsi on Jun 1, 2005 12:41 AM) This is a much more deliciously twisted and sickly satisfying plot than I ever expected. I'm surprised that no one ever noticed, or mentioned, the Stalin pics that were posted. I never thought to click on those mysterious blue bars. You clever little duo!

(Jona on Jun 1, 2005 4:14 AM) You have truly blown my mind. I wasn't expecting anything like this at all in the game.. LYOVA!

(PAUL on Jun 1, 2005 4:21 AM) i dunno- how many ties did u repost this? is taht fair? to keep working on a challenge entry once its been submitted?

(Jona on Jun 1, 2005 4:54 AM) the producers repost the post and change the order to reflect when they were truly posted (the time in movable type saves as the first time you save a draft of a post). to continue to work on a post is fine. he was judged on what we saw at the deadline.

(DCS on Jun 1, 2005 10:40 AM) He's out there scud missle-ing that bad boy.

(Mikey on Jun 1, 2005 10:47 AM) Great call DCS. :)

(Rebecca on Jun 1, 2005 12:53 PM) Leo, my Lyovishka, be gentle when you lay that final blow, whoever in the hell you may truly be.

(Lyova Lyubov on Jun 1, 2005 10:58 PM) Lyova

(james on Jun 2, 2005 4:21 AM) Joel

(Joel Conrad Bechtolt on Jun 2, 2005 7:03 PM) James

(Joel Conrad Bechtolt on Jun 2, 2005 7:12 PM) Fuck strategy. Vote against James, for Lyova, because he is a great blogger. (If he really exists!)

Continued reading i have a lot of explaining to do......

Comments (31)

Comments on this Entry:

(freddy on May 31, 2005 10:51 PM) When/how/why did you and Lyova form STALIN?

(Sam Sanderson on May 31, 2005 11:03 PM) Nice job, second banana.

(james on Jun 1, 2005 12:28 AM) oh boy, we forgot to mention that again. i contacted lyova immediately after reading his comment here... made the offer to form an alliance, spent the next day discussing the contract, found a common love for italo disco.... and then went our separate ways... and who are you calling second banana mister or misses sam sanderson?

(josh on Jun 1, 2005 12:31 AM) So James, what are your plans for beating Lyova in the final challenge?

(freddy on Jun 1, 2005 12:49 AM) Does anyone else remember that a version of this game James describes was in the Piers Anthony book "Golem in the Gears"? Pretty funny to remember that.

(james on Jun 1, 2005 1:33 AM) i haven't made any plans yet. i guess i was just sorta hoping this next challenge would be the sort where the best man/woman won. i gather we won't have to vote, so.. well.. i really have no idea what's going to happen if i make it. if you have any hints or insider tips about how the next challenge is going to work... i'll totally send you some rad chinese vinyls with funny looking kids on the front in exchange (sorry... but they would also have serious water damage). and freddy... im so so so glad you were online! not only did you point out some major foolish writing errors.... but you totally gave me flashbacks of sitting in a hammock pounding through one xanath book after another. mad reading, i think i went through one of those a day in the summer between fourth and fifth grade! and its funny that you mentioned golem in the gears, because that was sitting on the shelf of the bike repair shop i dropped my motorcycle off at last week. i nearly bought it form him just for the nostalgia value!

(DCS on Jun 1, 2005 8:05 AM) JAMES. I WANT YOU TO WIN SO BAD!! I WANT THAT LAST ROUND TO BE WON BY AN 'A'. I LOVE LYOVA, BUT I WANT HIM TO GO DOWN FOR HIS TREACHERY. HE MAY BE THE ULTIMATE STRATEGIST, BUT HE MUST NOT BE THE ULTIMATE BLOGGER.

(ritchey on Jun 1, 2005 8:25 AM) what are you talking about? By his own admission James is no longer an "A." There was treachery on both their parts. Just because James never had to vote for Willow doesn't mean he wouldn't have!! JAMES IS NO A.

(DCS on Jun 1, 2005 9:24 AM) I feel remorse from James. And I know him personally. He drinks the malt liquor right from the can, and he looks you right in the eye. James is not digging this whole Stalin trip as much as that megalomaniac Lyova.

(josh on Jun 1, 2005 9:56 AM) Weird bribe offer. No, I just meant, are you going to poison his soup, or something like that.

(unemployed on Jun 1, 2005 10:00 AM) how did u hide the stalin opics tho? and how can we access them as commentors?

(ritchey on Jun 1, 2005 10:02 AM) David, if the beautiful tribute to my own death does not show remorse from the admittedly megalomaniac Lyova, then I don't know what does. You can't say James is an "A" just because you know him. In this game he and Lyova have both been very decided "B"s. And I personally think it is totally awesome! I am absolutely blown away by their game playing. But let us not fool ourselves about "James," okay??

(willow on Jun 1, 2005 10:15 AM) Okay, James. I forgive you. You are no longer my comrade, but you are my friend.

(DCS on Jun 1, 2005 10:24 AM) I'm saying that I would love to see the strategy stop right now. I would love for the end to be decided on a knock-down drag-out blogging quick draw showdown. AND WOULDN'T IT BE AMAZING IF LYOVA VOTED JAMES OFF!! MY HEART WOULD STOP. Oh, and Ritchey, I imagined you crying at your office desk when you watched Lyova's tribute.

(unemployed on Jun 1, 2005 11:09 AM) I dont get it!!! how do u access those pictures? I've tried and tried and looked and looked but THEYRE NOT THERE!!!

(enjanerd on Jun 1, 2005 11:18 AM) I'm using firefox and have an extension that allows me to turn off images. When I do that, the links are clearly labeled "stalin.jpg" and I can click on them. Otherwise, view source on each of the entries and look for the hidden link.

(enjanerd on Jun 1, 2005 11:21 AM) How they got the link hidden into Mimi's entries, I'm not clear on. The only thing I can think of is that there is a still-secret mega-alliance, involving the remaining three contestants, yet to be revealed. Yeah, that's it... that's the simplest explanation.

(enjanerd on Jun 1, 2005 11:32 AM) Last one, I swear... Looks like a lot of the links now have visible lines added in where there was just white space before.

(unemployed on Jun 1, 2005 11:37 AM) i cant see any...did look at 'view source' and see taht theyre there so thanks for that

(james on Jun 1, 2005 1:51 PM) well.. the visible lines is a PC browser thing i guess (i think i've fixed it though). foiled again. how sad... and here i thought i was being so very clever posting invisible links. also, still-secret mega-alliance's are not yet out of the question... ...neither is interviewing mr. t for that matter.

(james on Jun 1, 2005 1:59 PM) thanks david! im swinging through chicago sometime around the first few days of july if you want to grab some colt 45's and make some Compton's. and as for the next challenge (and in the event that lyova keeps his word of course) i am totally dealing straight A's.. not really much i could do at this point anyhow. but im in big trouble if its a writing challenge... i might have to bring in some guest speakers to compete with his goliath gift to gab. any takers? i'll trade one totally hot mp3 for every two words...

(DCS on Jun 1, 2005 2:41 PM) Lovin' it James. It's not too late to come back from the darkside. Seriously though, were you serious about your doubts about Lyova's persona? Because all this "new shit that has come to light" is really making me think about him more and more. Why do his posts seem like they are in exaggerated broken English?? It seems like he translates them on BabelFish or something. I know that he actually knows English, but all this new junk makes me think crazy things. Is he playing up his foreignness for sympathy votes? Or to look simple to competitors? What the eff? Is he Andrew Peterson? Just kidding. I don't really think he is.. but all of this would be the most amazing of all Andrew Peterson conceptual pranks. But James, tell me what you know about Lyova.

(Steve Schroeder on Jun 1, 2005 3:46 PM) Writing Challenge!??! Oh come on. If you do make it to the final 2 James, you will know exactly what to do. Still playing your modesty card, huh?? Love it. Great job so far, James

(robin on Jun 1, 2005 4:23 PM) i agree with DCS. well not completely. but i think there's something inconsistent about lyova's posts (the varying quality of the english, for sure, but also a variation in how he comes across as a person -- more or less mysoginistic, more or less interesting, not to mention the fact that he doesnt have a blog for us to refer to in order to access his history). and i think that combined with the fact that there was WAY more strategy going on than we could have known, it makes us (well me) consider that lyova could be ANYONE much more than mimi or james could. james has PRESENTED a very consistent persona. so we THINK we know him. and that's the whole origin of the question of who is a B and who is an A. when in fact, we (well i at least) dont know any of them. [that's a lie. now i know sonny and i have an autographed photo.] but we sure like what they post. and now we know to expect the completely unexpected.

(ritchey on Jun 1, 2005 5:03 PM) you guys seriously don't get the lyova jokes?? are you seriously wondering whether those slip-ups are intentional or not?? Come on, people. The Lyova character is deep and wide, like a raging Russian river. The man does nothing unintentionally. I will bet you five million dollars on THAT. Whether or not he is actually a middle-aged woman professor of medieval architecture at Brown, now, that is another question altogether--one which may or may not be answered by the end of the week. I feel like you people are not adequately appreciating the depth of the character this person has created. The pretend broken english is INTENTIONAL. It's all INTENTIONAL. I am totally freaking out!

(Steve Schroeder on Jun 1, 2005 5:20 PM) LYOVA IS REAL

(Lyova Lyubov on Jun 1, 2005 10:50 PM) Lyova

(DCS on Jun 2, 2005 7:05 AM) Lyova, you bastard. I love you. I hate you.

(M on Jun 2, 2005 7:19 AM) James- The Ultimate Brilliant Blogger

(DCS on Jun 2, 2005 9:07 AM) Lyova, I love you. Really.

(Joel Conrad Bechtolt on Jun 3, 2005 12:53 PM) Ha!

There is no best. It's all subjective, and the fact I'm still here and Willow and Ritchie and Sonny and Crash et al aren't, is all to do with downright luck, and being in the right place at the right time when that tactical email hit my inbox... We're all winners, every one of us. If I was a better technical person I would now have a small video piece of kittens and cute, feral creatures hopping through meadows, with some 'Little House on the Prairie' type themesong, good American heartwarming, sentimental slush. All I have is a picture of a small Jack Russell terrier hastily snatched from Google several minutes ago. I've been at work all day. But...I love you guys. I love you all...

Yeah, whatever.

I'm still here because I'm a writer. I'm not a visual arts expert like James, or a sexy Russian God with an obvious boner, or a cute, versatile bubbly Portlander, or a cute, versatile, funny Portlander, etc etc, but I have words, and along with my ability to kiss butt, some good fortune and strong partners, they're what I wielded as my light saber all the way through this competition. Here's how it went for me....

Challenge One: Ritchie and Lyova email me and tell me to vote for Eddy and that we must forge an alliance. I agree, and omit to inform them I have already voted for Lois, so strong is my desire to seem at one with the alliance. I voted for Lois because she seemed disapproving of me. I dislike disapproval and try and thwart goodness and sense whenever possible.

Challenge Two: Ritchie emails me to tell me she has her period. Me too! We are one. Along with the Russian God, we vote for Karsh. I am indiscriminate in my voting, I'm just asslicking Ritchie and Lyova so they don't vote me off.

Challenge Three: James helps me with my photo, and I win. We refrain from discussing tactics. I sense that James is a gentlemen, and aligned strongly with Willow, who scares me because she is nice. Ritchie, Lyova and I vote for Joel, because Joel is mean, and a bit of a prick. Later on we discover that Joel is actually quite sweet. Oh well. There must be no regrets. We must make sacrifices to construct the empire.

Our attention turns to picking on the stronger contestants, feeling that the weaker will fall by the wayside as casualties of their own accord. We decide Willow and James are great threats, but our efforts to defeat them are thwarted by Willow's immunity. No matter. There are plenty more little puppies with which to make the fur coat. The slaughter continues with the innocuous and gentle Sonny as our next victim.

Challenge Five: Ritchey wins. A pleasing result. One must be supportive of one's comrades. But a tie in the voting reveals our alliance power is waning...

Challenge Six: Putting voting in our hands results in a flurry of realignments. As I work 16 hour days, I miss these emails and realignments. Medya emails me to ask me to let him in on our alliance. I ignore his email as I don't receive it until the last minute. The results of the voting revealed Medya, Lois, Willow etc don't like me at all... my suspicions start to grow about the strength of the Russian God's commitment to the faith after the results. Ritchie and I attempt to assuage our fears with excessive emailing about nothing, and we wave farewell to Medya, who turns out to be the real prick, far more of a prick than Joel could ever aspire to be, and Lois, who lasts with dignity until the end, but was extremely enigmatic and distant and slightly foreboding at times.

Our desire to crush Willow grows. It becomes an obsession with Ritchie and I. We plan her demise deep into the night, relishing the destruction of one so nice. It is sick, twisted, dark. It keeps me alive in those darkest hours of sixteen hour shift days in shitty jobs. It gives me strength. And then... we vote her off, the pinnacle of the game, our game... and immediately both feel really mean for doing so and post nice messages on her blog.

Women are bitches. We suck.

Perhaps, James, you missed out the real truth on your post for Challenge Six, which is that Lyova is actually a woman?

Only a woman could have dealt such a mean card to his fellow comrade and supporter, the lovely Ritchie. I felt Ritchie's fall. She was brethren. Lyova - you are a cunt of the highest degree.

But you're still my dream man.

I know that my former compatriot is ruthless, single-minded, and overwhelmingly onanistic. He overpowers the delightful James with the strength of his duplicity, his charm, and his efforts to satiate his greed for ultimateness. It's so damned attractive. I can feel that my weakness as a woman could lead to my imminent demise, and I am resisting with all my strength.

At first it was indiscriminate slaughter, then ruthless assassination, and now fortune and betrayal.

If I had not won immunity in the last round, I feel sure that it would have been my carcass at the wayside, being pecked at by vultures, and Ritchie would be here now.

To be Ultimate is out of my hands. I dodged the bullets carelessly and gleefully alongside the ever-faithful Ritchie, and survived the double crossing with a timely immunity.

I am now strong, and yet sadly weak, even as the former holder of the blessed US passport bequeathed to me by Urban Honking. The incredible journey is drawing to a close. Is it a passport to Ultimateness, or merely to further treachery, betrayal and a final goodbye?

Comments (9)

Comments on this Entry:

(Craig on May 31, 2005 10:13 PM) Wow...it's like a word colonic. I wonder if the guys will be this forthright. I will be disappointed if someone doesn't bust out the rat and the snake metaphor. "Innocuous and gentle", haha. You hear that Sonny? She called you gay!

(ritchey on May 31, 2005 10:22 PM) ARGH! MIMI! You said it so well!

(willow on May 31, 2005 10:59 PM) Wait, you actually RELISHED voting me out? Because I'm NICE? Ouch, man. Fucking stings.

(ritchey on May 31, 2005 11:18 PM) it didn't post my comment! Willer, I had said that Mimi and I relished your death because we had been trying to achieve it for so long with no success. We merely relished the SUCCESS of our EFFORTS. However, Mimi is right when she says that (a) you are nice and (b) we are mean--because look!! We should have been an all-girl alliance. That damn Russian and his lackey have beat us all, all but Mimi. Now we must pray for her, our last standing sister.

(Sam Sanderson on May 31, 2005 11:19 PM) Well, Mimi. Right now I'd say things are looking really good for you. Nice entry, thoughtful, well written, engaging, and honest. I hope you break up the boys club, because those dudes are acting pretty self-satisfied at this point. HONESTLY!

(J on May 31, 2005 11:24 PM) Mimi, You are sick, twisted, and dark! Relishing in the demise of sweet Willow?!? Your challenge post was deeply satisfying. Dark secrets! Sex! Betrayal! Lies! What evil lurks in the hearts of women? Only Mimi knows!

(J on May 31, 2005 11:27 PM) PS. I loved every evil moment.

(piu piu on Jun 1, 2005 4:13 AM) are u the big brown dog. the medium white dog, or the little siamese cat?

(enjanerd on Jun 1, 2005 6:23 AM) :O How did you guys hide that picture there?!

Comments (6)

Comments on this Entry:

(Adam Forkner on May 29, 2005 11:28 AM) good lord

(willow on May 29, 2005 2:23 PM) so amazing!

(Sonny on May 31, 2005 8:37 AM) So wait...why's that clown swallowing a sword? I don't get it.

(james on May 31, 2005 10:32 AM) wow! a sword!!! it all makes sense now! see... i thought he was swallowing something completely different... thus the odd headline 'good clean fun'. i don't know... im ashamed.

(Mikey on May 31, 2005 3:42 PM) I honestly didn't get it was a sword.

(Nancy on May 31, 2005 6:20 PM) James, Is that you??? M

In the latest blogman video, you remember with awesome nostalgics the summer of 1994, and this also was a truly momentous year for myself. I am thinking that perhaps it will be in your interests to see and hear how things was on the other side of the world in that era, ok? And I must say that it was also massive hardcore, full power and total throttle!
The Jarocin festival for music of the young generation was the bigest and best rock festival in the East block. Here, in the dismal 1980's, young people could gather in sonic rebellion against the dictatorships of communism. Those years was very grey for everyone, but in this magical place you would find people that contradict and, dare I say, subjugated their realities in multifarious manners of dress, talk and dancing habits. Here, the people put the safety pins into their cheeks, consumed copious amounts of alcohol and enjoyed punk music to the oblivious point! It was a time to spit in the face of the totalitarians and marxism-leninism in particular. You would meet people here that you rarely saw in everyday life. Awesome people. Awesome music. Awesome struggles. And I, for one, was digging it!It happens that the epochal summer of '94 would be the last time I make the pogo at Jarocin. Of course, at that time we believed - as does your Bryan Adams - that "it would last for ever", but the times were changing in radical ways and it was dawning on everybody, notwithstanding the mayor of Jarocin town himself, that the festival was part of the bygone eras. In the tender years of slavic punks, the rebellion was directed at an evil regime and the prevalent conformists of that era. But with the emergence into capitalist democracy, there was much factional violence, as the punks spent most of the time in organizing urban warfare against the, at this time very fashionable, skinhead movement. And so it was in '94 that the violence swept the festival.
This was not radically inhabitual for me then, I remember many streetfights and vandalisms, and as a young anarchist, it was dangerous to walk about the town in small numbers, because you must always risk ambushes by the opponent guerillas. Personally, I think I was maybe a little lost at that time. I didn't see the impending gloom that struck at Jarocin '94 until it was too late: 70 seriously injured (of which 40 policemen), 300 metres of vandalized buildings, many anihilated vehicles, 6 volleys of rubber bullets, tear gas, water cannon, 3 hours of battle... and, worst of all this: the end of an epoch.
Because of these tragic events, the Jarocin festival received a bad name, but it was not always like this. Above all, it was a place for young people, for anarchist counter-culture, for music. Of course, there was always a deal of violence, but it rarely made results as bad as that of '94.
Eight years before, maybe the best band of Polish New Wave, Republika, played their show that started with many large quantities of tomatos and soured milk being projected onto them, so that the musicians had to ask the public "Does somebody have the rag so that we can clean the instruments?" and surely enough a rag soon was thrown at him. Fifteen minutes later they begun to play and blew away the audience, so that, in the end, everybody was asking for an encore, but the singer says: "You are not a public that is deserving of us! Go to hell!"

Maybe the most powerhouse of the punk bands, titled Dezerter also made great concerts here, in the epochal festival of 1984. Many of the songs I have posted on here is by them, and as you can feel inside your bones, it is like being in contact with God, or maybe rape, or something truly awesome that will never make you untouched and mollusc as you were before!
I was too young to partake with Jarocin when it was King. This is probably something I will always regret. But I acquired multifarious cassettes of the concerts there and I have digged them so much, the tape is getting thin! Ah yes! For you Americans this is exotic, but 1994 is also the first appearance of the CD in my regions (but no one was really buying it until some years later, because the pirate cassettes were cheaper and also the CD players were expensive). After Jarocin, the people also became rich, the punks became fewer, the skinheads (thank god!) also dissapeared and they were replaced by these rich kids the "skates" who wear the big trousers and Vans (I think it is also very popular in USA, yes?) and urban thug, which we call "sportswear", that beats you up but without any political motivations, just to retrieve wallet and watch. I myself also abandoned my radical attitudes that year. The apocalypse of Jarocin was too much for my brains. Later that year, I discovered Miko Mission and Ryan Paris, and thus was another adventure begun: the more smooth, classy and trendy of Italo Disco, to which I adhere until this day.

Comments (5)

Comments on this Entry:

(james on May 29, 2005 12:11 AM) wow... suddenly nirvana and the meat puppets seem like child's play. by the way... republika's 'hity' may be my new favorite album this year! thanks for the tip!

(james on May 29, 2005 12:15 AM) i don't know what punk is like in japan, but i haven't seen anything like it here! it is insane! all these 16 year olds driving around in BMW's and wearing squeaky clean 300$ outfits! i have never seen so many spotless pairs of converse in my life!!!

(Adam Forkner on May 29, 2005 11:30 AM) i always remember david berman in moments like these ah the fading of punk...................its our generations altamont

(Steve Schroeder on May 30, 2005 2:45 AM) Lyova, this post was amazing. It's totally like Lollapalooza but political and dangerous and meaningful. Amazing recap. Great sounds.

(Jasiek77 on Nov 17, 2005 5:24 AM) Ja też tam byłem i jabole piłem :), niestety załapałem się tylko na ostatni gig w 94' I visited this festival in 1994. Greetings from Poland.

the exhibit explored "the conversion between comics and contemporary art" and featured some of the most exciting young artists in east asia, including my favorite yoshitomo nara.

lately, taipei seems to be a hot spot for new and exciting film festivals. the first one i attended was the tailly high film festival featuring young directors from taiwan, japan, thailand, and korea. the tickets were cheap, so i was able to attend nearly every single film on the program, and soon got intimate with the doorman/projectionist (sweet! no ticket, no problem). i'd sit through three or four of these films in a row, jotting down notes and critiques in a little brown notebook. the most inspireing for me, was peep show tv from japan, the collection of korean shorts (man that country has problems), and the washing machine from taiwan. it was refreshing to see these young and critical voices in east asia, making films with the same materials and budgets i have available to me.

bands such as VARO, peppermint, chasing sparrow, the nipples, nylas, LTK commune, and the ladybugs are just a small piece of the incredible new music coming out of taipei. synth-pop, shoe-gazer rock, and (the less desirable) metal are very prominent growing scenes in taiwan, and great new venues for these shows are popping up all over. one of the significant events for me, was promoting the lucky dragons & nylas show in november. though i didn't do that great of a job as a promoter, i did get to spend time with luke and met an incredible amount of young musicians, distributors, labels, and producers. the second big event for me was the childish music multimedia concert, where i was introduced to lullatone (whom i've adored for several years now), kazumasa hashimoto, sora, yuki hayashi, and mondii (of spekk & plop). this re-evoked my passion for melodicas and simple melodies, and reminded me that you can never own enough nobukazu takemura.

one thing i was hoping to investigate while i was in taiwan, was children's literature. my ex-girlfreind introduced to me, 'jimi' (a full name in chinese, i promise), who is now my all-time favorite writer/illustrator. since i first read his book... um... the one that looks like this, last october, i've been recognizing his paintings in advertisments, commercials, stationary, subway tickets, juice boxes, and record covers all over taiwan. his art is colorful and imaginative, and his stories... well.. i don't know how to explain them, but they make me cry more than i'd like to admit. although i have yet to find english translations, sitting down with 10 year old students and have them translate each page for me has been one of my fondest memories teaching here.

so... i hope that wasn't too long. i'd hate to bore someone. its just horrible to try and choose three significant pop culture events out of this last year, when my whole year was built off of them. every single significant event in my life in taiwan either occurred during, or as a direct result of such an event. and... god. im going to stop now... i feel like im writing a five paragraph essay for WRT 150. anyhow... if you haven't heard of any of these artists/directors/authors/musicians, then please check them out. let me know if your interested, i'd be more than happy to send cd/dvds or an email packed full of juicy hyper-links. ok? ok.. bye bye

Comments (6)

Comments on this Entry:

(james on May 28, 2005 11:29 PM) so.. i just realized that its actually been one day less than a year, because i left on the 29th... which would have been the 30th here. anyhow... one thing you won't notice, is that the bassist and drummer in chasing sparrow are the same to lovely ladies in varo... easily the most attractive girls in taiwan. if anyone is interested in exclusive tracks from there upcoming new album, i'd be happy to send them to you, they were recorded to an audience of cockroaches in my kitchen. oh yes... let me know if any of he concert footage doesn't work. im having trouble with the html for .mp4's. and boy i feel dull... it looks like i might be the only one taking the assignment sincerely. this may be my last post, being the sole remaining member of 'the merit badgers'... kind of wish i tried a more clever interpretation. oh well... it was a good day for me to be nostalgic, im leaving taiwan next saturday. 'ai you!' im going to miss this city. actually, i decided yesterday that i might be moving to shanghai next... i've met some new people, and it seems like i have a good opportunity to start a noise rock band and play abandoned buildings in shanghai ghettos. sounds rather romantic doesn't it... ha. i can be so foolish.

(james on May 29, 2005 5:06 AM) oh yeah.. i just read uhubug... thanks for the swell review. don't forget the four concert videos, it looks like people might be missing them. ha... people.... where is everybody tonight?!?

(willow on May 29, 2005 2:39 PM) James! How nice to have you process your last year in writing! I feel like I've learned more about Taiwan in the last month than in the previous 25 years. You've stretched yourself a lot in this competition- used so many mediums, tackled so many subjects. You are my Ultimate Blogger a hundred times over. I'll be crossing my fingers for you until the votes come in... Your devoted amiga, Willow

(Steve Schroeder on May 30, 2005 2:49 AM) Honestly, dude, you have taught us so much about Taiwanese culture. I didn't even know I was interested before, and you have blown my mind with betel gum and girls, snake blood drinks, lesbian bars, and so much more. Thank you.

(Marty on Nov 5, 2005 10:22 PM) why can't I post?

(Marty on Nov 5, 2005 10:27 PM) I think we have some things in common! I spent some time in Taiwan following the music scene. Actually, Lydia mentioned you to me, she told me about the Lucky dragon show. Are you from NY? Too bad we never met. Please Check out my website! www freewebs com islandofsound

Pop Culture is what we think of when we think of America. Blue jeans, Coca Cola, Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Andy Warhol… America is condemned for irrevocably wiping out the corner shop and individuality, and replacing it with sameness, with mass-marketed produce, with stereotypes. And then it’s simultaneously hailed for contributing to the world economy, for giving us a fizzy drink in a can we all recognize and feel safe with. America confuses me. The inter-relationship between event and the consequent spawning of low-brow culture as an offshoot confuses me. It confuses me that everything in America becomes a commodity, something we all recognize, we can all buy in a store, we can all slag off publicly but go home and enjoy privately. Giddy consumerism, laissez faire attitudes, hard partying, excess… this defined New York up until September 11th 2001. New York itself was a product of popular culture. And then it all changed when the twin towers came crumbling. And the twin towers were chosen because they were the defining emblems of that braggart assuredness of the 80’s and 90’s, that untouchability the United States exuded to the poorer countries in the world, that hated and exhorted machine of globalization consuming us all.

So there, I mentioned it, my first ‘pop culture’ event, an event which has been written about to death, photographed, studied, argued over, which started a war, which gave birth to a sickening new 21st century. Although 9/11 wasn’t pop culture, what happened afterwards was - the newspaper articles, the books, the films, the TV articles, even the War. It started a chain of events which has led to the irrevocable sadness of this once exuberant city that I love, that I desperately want to call my home.

I sat with a gay friend in an Italian restaurant several days ago and the more Martinis he consumed, the more the words flowed, words you never say until the alcohol unleashes them.

“The city changed immediately. You hugged people in the street, people were holding hands and singing in Union Square. I came out of the subway three days afterwards, and suddenly I’m praising Jesus and praying to God with a fat black lady from Harlem who I’d never met before. The streets were always crowded in New York, people were spending, and then they weren’t. And it’s still recovering. It’s still going on. I don’t know if it’ll ever recover.”

I went for a sedate journalist’s lunch with some photographers and writers for Harpers and Outside magazine at the weekend. The travel writer who was hosting the lunch suddenly whipped out a picture he took of the planes going overhead his apartment. We were all of us non-native New Yorkers, and sat quiet and sickly fascinated as he described waking up, looking out of his window, seeing a plane go careering past, getting that first phone call, heading up to the roof of his building, watching, watching in silence with the rest of the city. There are some things you never forget, some stories you will repeat over and over again, and some stories which become engrained into the consciousness of the people, into the popular culture, transforming it irreparably, affecting the government, the economy, the social make-up of the people.

What 9/11 means to myself and my friends is immigration. After that fateful day, the United States government issued a call for ‘Special Registration’ – the demand that men over a certain age from predominantly Muslim countries come forward for interview. Kamal Essaheb, a talented young law student from Morocco who I interviewed for an article several weeks ago, took his family along. He recalls how undignified the procedure was. The waiting. The questions. “Do you know Osama Bin Laden?” “Do you hate the United States government?”. Special Registration resulted in a deportation order going ahead against Kamal and his family – they had slipped out of status through his father’s employer screwing up his visa application. He’s an amazing young man. He volunteers for victims of domestic violence, and has the potential to be one of the country’s top lawyers. His story was finally picked up by the New York Times this week. I wonder if it’s too late for him though.

After 9/11 popular culture changed. It became ferocious. It was OK to hate – to hate the French because they opposed the war, to hate Muslims because ‘they’ had instigated the attack, to hate immigrants because they were responsible for the loss of lives in the tragedy, to hate Mexicans, to hate anything or anybody who disagreed with certain accepted doctrines, beliefs, behaviors. And it spread across the world. It’s OK to hate Americans now, it’s OK to blame every American for an unfair war, for the fact a McDonalds replaces your favorite local coffee shop, for the decisions one man makes regarding the lives of millions of others. It seems like the heady consumerist days of the 20th century have just led to unmitigated anger, indiscriminate fury, a Greek tragedy of national proportions, the desire to strike out as if that could assuage all the fear and the anger and the confusion of 2001. The Patriot Act was passed. Immigration laws tightened. The number of work visas was reduced, if you got married the wait time for a green card was extended from 3 to 6 months, it became a more convoluted, bureaucratic procedure to gain even a tourist visa, immigration backlog increased dramatically. Even in 2005 the REAL ID act is a direct consequence of the fear gripping the US after 9/11 regarding immigrants and ‘difference’. It’s a racial fear. And it’s ironic that one white girl from the UK can recognize that, at the same time as suffering because of it despite my ‘preferential’ color.

The fear is irrational. The killers of 9/11 were all in the United States legally. One even got issued a visa posthumously after the attack by the INS. Special Registration didn’t reveal a single thing about Osama Bin Laden’s whereabouts. Iraq had no relation to 9/11. Immigrants rarely take American jobs – we take the jobs American’s don’t want. We all know this. We’ve all argued, attended demonstrations, read The New York Times and the BBC. But it needs repeating. It has led to a terrifying concentration of power in a government who are telling their people it’s OK to hate, and who are holding them continually in fear. The popular culture I see around me now thinly veils a predominant feeling of hatred and suspicion. I see this more than the average person because I’m an illegal, and like my friends Kamal and Amy, we’re the ones who don’t have a voice. We can observe though, and observe we do. We’re the butt of society, because now there’s no Iraq to hate, or Afghanistan to hate, they need somebody else – the people who make this country so different from the blonde-haired, blue eyed, apple-pie ideal. ‘They’ isn’t all ‘you’. I would never be so presumptious as to lump in all the Liberals and brave people who deplore war and sympathise with those who’ve suffered needlessly because of extremist Al-Qaeda supporters. But the facts have to be faced. The driving force in the United States are those who started a war, who sent messages to the people directly after the 9/11 attack that ‘muslims’ were ‘to blame’, and have increasingly concentrated power into one solo, clown like figure, to the detriment of many honest, hardworking people – the man who read ‘My Pet Goat’ on that fateful day.

2001, 9/11, Special Registration, the War and fear of difference – this saw popular culture turn into exclusive culture, a culture just for ‘real’ Americans, ‘non-muslim’ Americans, Americans who were born here. Indirectly, it’s led to me being stuck in this country while my visa gets mulled over by INS officials, and probably rejected. It's led to Kamal facing deportation proceedings. It's led to my friend Amy having to work in a retail store despite her 23 years in the United States, her college degree, her intelligence and her ambition. They can’t be too careful you see. After 9/11 and all.

It makes me so sad.

Comments (14)

Comments on this Entry:

(karina on May 28, 2005 8:30 PM) This is one reason why I've decided to return to Canada - it's just not worth it to me to face this much hostility when there is a perfectly welcoming country, a country where people's ideals don't scare me, and I can plan more than one year into the future without fear of being kicked out. I'm just sorry that everyone in the US has gotten lumped under the banner of a few very powerful, VERY misguided fools who do not speak for them.

(kels on May 28, 2005 9:01 PM) one day i thought to myself...i am an american? its weird. weird. geeeeeez. weird. i live in oregon and i fucking love it so much. it's beautiful and i adore it. my HOME. its my home and its weird that it is also america. i dont know. the whole "individuality" thing and capitalism and all of that...i dont know exactly what i believe in, and i dont know exactly what got put into me by the society, and i dont know exactly what the society IS. as opposed to what is projected. i dont know. fuck fuck i dont know what i am saying or trying to say. humm. just weird. i seriously didnt know that i was american. i mean...i knew that i lived in the usa. its just weird that i as a person was born on this land at this time when there are so many places and times to be born, and now i am an american. its like i dont know how to see what in me is american, and what isnt, but its surely too mixed and mashed up inside that i'll never know. who knows what i am saying. basically though, it makes me sad too, Mimi. cause...sad, sad that more people can't see my home and know how beautiful it is...everywhere must be beautiful i know. ive never left this country. countries are WEIRD. maybe my home isnt actually beautiful and ive just been brainwashed to think it is. but when i took a walk today it seemed great for sure. its so sad. what the hell. i felt compelled to answer this entry, so that is that.

(hason on May 28, 2005 10:18 PM) kels brings up an interesting point, because living in portland, it's easy to ignore most of what is bad about america, to not be so touched by it. I've lived tons of places in the usa, as well as overseas, and portland is truly a magic little bubble, a beautiful utopian what-a-city-should-be in many respects. except for its appalling whiteness. it's not a big city, but an eminently liveable one. and very different from most in the us. kind of like switzerland

(james on May 28, 2005 11:50 PM) living in taiwan has taught me allot about what it means to 'be american'. and surprisingly, not all of it is that bad. for instance, i think americans make good dog owners, i think we have a pretty good grasp on how to keep a house clean without being obsessive, we are capitalists and consumers, but for the most part are aware of it and encourage media literacy and moderation. i know its not enough, and im still far from saying i am proud to be american... but... well... im starting to see that we have some things going for us. god, that was hard for me to admit. anyhow... im worried about coming home. something about being abroad has lifted a bit of the wieght off my shoulders, the pressure to encourage positive change... reform... ect. i don't know how well i can do under that sort of pressure again. this isn't a time in my life that i want to make sacrifices... and it makes me feel like a coward to say that... but i don't need to go to jail again, i don't have energy to be angry about things everyday... i can't afford to protest every weekend... i don't know...

(piu piu on May 29, 2005 3:30 AM) its really good to hear people talk in this way about their feelings towards their home country. I feel very divided about the UK...in many ways I dont feel English (English born and raised in Wales- is that English Diaspora? ) anyway it certainly contributed to a confused identity and inability to feel thoroughly at home. And now I feel alienated from the country BY the country- politics, living, economics, society, culture. Every new person I meet in the UK asks me where I'm from- everyone thinks I'm eastern european, because, they say, I'm 'distant'- i have a lack of connection with this country (and a weird accent and bad english but thats just laziness) a critical outlook that analyses this country in a very non-english way. i want to leave, but to where? its difficult being in a country and not belonging

(sarah on May 29, 2005 11:53 AM) it's true, living abroad as an american drastically changes your relationship with your home country. i became more ashamed and horrified by my government and the ignorance of the american public. but at the same time i often found myself standing up for america more than i ever had before. you see how other countries see us, and it is so sad. partly because you know it's true- the arrogance, the consumerism, the mis-education... it's all true. how sad. but then, there are also such huge misconceptions about this country in the rest of the world. for some reason it's ok to make grand generalizations about americans and hate our country. many people think they understand the u.s. because they watch hollywood movies and hear about us in the news- but they've never been here, and know nothing about what it's really like to live here, about how diverse the people are. it's was too simplistic- 'americans are conservative and uneducated; there government is corrupt' - end of story. i found myself explaining all the time about the good things- about places like portland, san francisco, etc. many people have no idea that there are americans like us (thoughtful, compassionate, educated, at odds with the president). I hate so much about this country, but i love so much about it too. and i wanted others to understand this complexity.

(Craig on May 29, 2005 1:47 PM) There are good things and good people outside of the narrow little band of west coast cities. There are good people in rural parts, in red states, yes, even in the South. Believe it or not, there are even good people who support the President. I know, shocker. What a surprise to find that people outside of our country so narrowly define and stereotype the people here based on portrayals in the mass media. Sort of like people here have a tendency to do towards people who live elsewhere. I guess we're not so different after all.

(J on May 29, 2005 2:18 PM) Mimi, This was absolutely an incredible piece of writing. I was travelling in India during 9.11.01 and though travelling led me to appreciate so much the freedoms I enjoy here in the U.S. it also led me to realize that with power comes a great, great responsibility which is being misused to the detriment of all--especially those countries that even yet, admire the U.S. and wish to emulate it. I hope the INS lets you stay here.

(mimi on May 29, 2005 8:26 PM) Thanks guys... I wanted to point out in the post the ignorance surrounding American bashing as a consequence of 9/11 too - people do lump everyone into stereotypes. I'm guilty on my blog of picking on Republicans and satiricizing them - it's wrong, but they're an easy target. J, I was in India when 9/11 hit - in a yoga school in the Himalayas, Uttarkashi, with some New Yorkers, shocked beyond belief. Where were you?

(boggart on May 30, 2005 10:30 AM) Mimi, you seem to have been everywhere, that's nice. Anyway, the discussion here is as interesting as he post itself. Me too, I don't feel like I belong to my countries, but for americans out here it's more complicated. Because US culture became an important part of the world's culture in general. Or only the strongest, often most aggressive, parts of it. Anyway, I say US culture became "natural". So apparently in order to question your roots you need to question more of yourselves than we do in the "rest of the world". Trouble is, you're also less used to such questionning than we are. At least that's what I'm feeling when I read you guys, Kels and Craig and all : you look a slightly lost, no? One needs it sometimes, but I'm sorry you have to go throught that.

(kels on May 30, 2005 11:17 AM) i grew up with some people that i always see and some places that i love to go, and i knew that it was called america. but also there was a different idea that i had in my head of a different america which people talked about. that america, how i envisioned that america, didnt seem like my home. and now i start thinking about it and maybe some of "that" america IS in me...umm. everything is just so big. too big. first, the usa is so BIG in SPACE...theres so much space to take up and so how could it all be the same or even close to the same. i don't want to "think big" anymore i just don't want to. i feel like just being where i am...suburb of portland...people can say that it doesnt have anything going for it, but i love it dearly. johnson creek, wetlands, nice walking, i just like it. that is big enough for me right now. James. you said something about how you don't have the energy to be angry about things all the time. i think i understand. i have some idea about people just living SMALLER...but its really big enough if they just look at what they have! or something. i don't want to change the world. im not apathetic. i feel like people don't see what is around them...but see, there are bad things around me too...in the usa and in the world...shouldnt i care about that! so what am i saying anyway? im actually ignoring a lot of BAD things maybe. i am also very much ignorant and privileged. i dont know what to do. my dad is a salesman and my mom is a housecleaner. i dont fucking want to go to college next year. i dont want to be a higher learner for some reason. lots of them seem icky to me. i stereotype see. well so its very weird because i can have these ideas...like i just think people should have some farms/make music and be content. but then there is still the sick people, the hungry people, the children, do i want to sponsor a child from india who is starving and if i do not pay he will die? i mean i imply that to myself, that if i do not sponsor him he will die. whooops. okay this is what i mean. part of the thing about being american, to me, is that i am supposed to want to help the people who don't have food like i do. and i feel this thing in me where i fucking dont want to help anybody. maybe THAT is american, too! just help myself. so, you are very right about me being confused. very much so. i mean i cannot ignore these things. i cannot ignore that there is a past to my home...its not a new place and the world is not a new place. i cant pretend like everyone is fine. but i dont know what to DO. am i supposed to feel guilty or what..because i am american and i have it OK so am i allowed to be happy. there's so much more also.

(J on May 30, 2005 11:31 AM) That's so crazy, Mimi...I was in Delhi the day it happened, and then the next day I went to Mussoorie, and later went to Uttarkashi and made the trek to Gomukh. My memories of that time are so surreal--I just kept thinking it must have been an accident, there was no way this was at all in the realm of possibility. It's strange to look back on that time and realize that I had NO idea of what it meant for the world and for me, too. I stayed in India for four months following the attacks; to be in a foreign country during that time made me feel of two different selves--I both ached to come back and receive comfort, yet I knew that the U.S. had turned into a scary place and wasn't what I thought it was at all.

(Craig on May 30, 2005 12:26 PM) Aren't we a little too far gone for Kumbaya and shiny happy people at this point? You can retreat to your small little area and hope that all the evil in the world will remain just a rumor. But know this - there are people in this world who hate you just because you're an American. They don't care if you support President Bush or the war in Iraq, those things are irrelevant to them in much the same way that whether an Arab is a fundamentalist or just another person trying to get by in this world is irrelevant to the warmongers living in this country. To those who truly and deeply hate this country, you are just as much the enemy as Donald Rumsfeld is. So what are you going to do? Are you going to withdraw further from this society in which you live, dividing everyone into "us" and "them" in your mind and feeling more and more hatred for those who take this country in a different direction from what you invision. Just 10 years ago, 168 people lost their lives in a senseless act of violence because of a small group of Americans who had done just that. I question this country's policies all the time. There are many things I'd change if I could. But I'm never going to feel guilty for being an American, and I'm not going to feel hatred towards other Americans who disagree with my views. Hatred is just as pernicious and destructive an influnce when it is felt between countrymen as it is when it is felt between American and Arab, or Arab and Israeli, or American and Frenchman.

(kels on May 30, 2005 1:21 PM) im not really thinking about shiny happy people or kumbaya. i am kind of having a hard time deciding what my positions are. i think about it a lot, but i still have no idea what "my society" is and i don't know where i want to be or what i want to say. i don't know if i want to try and fix things, i don't know what i would fix, how much can i do and what should i not do. there is a lot of stuff everywhere and i think that the reason i want to be away from it is because every time i try to think of it i feel that ive gotten nowhere. i think that it's a mistake for me to be writing all of that which i wrote earlier, because i don't even quite know what i think. i also know that things aren't just rumors, that they are real. i try not to hate people, but i hate some THINGS for sure. things that people do. anyway i like reading what everyone has to say. i am very lost. i love america, but i kind of have a hard time when i think about countries. i can say "i love america" because america is the title given to this large area and i know a small part of that area...but i mean...ugh i dont know. I DONT KNOW! but i would like to acknowledge my appreciation for everybody in the world and everything that people have written here.

Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

as paid homage by my very first completely solo filmic effort (albeit co-written by Andrew Peterson):
Marianna Ritchey Presents: George Lucas' The "Star Wars:"

Comments (7)

Comments on this Entry:

(Adam Forkner on May 29, 2005 2:46 AM) subversive

(Jona on May 30, 2005 1:27 AM) Ritchey, I left the show I was playing in Olympia to go check out UB entries.. yours was the only one posted at the time and I watched your movie while sitting outside of a cafe with wireless access. I laughed real hard and a couple gutter-punky dudes asked me to explain what I was laughing at.. I started to go into it and then had trouble.. this is to say I LOVE YOUR MOVIE SO MUCH.

(Steve Schroeder on May 30, 2005 2:51 AM) Ritchey, I completely disagree with the UHUBUGGG's weak call about this movie. I thought the movie was hilarious. I laughed hard. REAL HARD.

(Gilly on May 30, 2005 5:03 AM) I just laughed so hard that I scared the dog. The baby ewok! The dirt and sticks in the bed! Starring Harrison Ford and DARTH VADER! That was really, really funny.

(Playing A Show Tonight on May 30, 2005 7:33 AM) The dirt and sticks means the dream was real! Huh?????????

(ritchey on May 30, 2005 8:03 AM) THANK YOU! After UHUGBG or whatever made their catty call I thought everyone hated it. I was surprised, because I thought at least some people would laugh at it the way I do. This is happy for me to hear. Thank you, my friends.

(j bomb on May 31, 2005 12:07 PM) ROBBED!!! HILARIOUS! AND ROBBED! :(

Comments (3)

Comments on this Entry:

(hason on May 28, 2005 11:25 AM) thanks for the update James!

(boggart on May 28, 2005 3:35 PM) So the guy wasn't a revolutionary media science specialist in the end. How disappointing! -- roman (currently reading the backlog)

(Craig on May 28, 2005 6:29 PM) Just, apparently, an idiot. How disappointing. I still hope they throw the book at him.

Comments (8)

Comments on this Entry:

(ritchey on May 27, 2005 6:56 AM) goodbye, Willow. You made it far voting only on merit. Yours is truly a story of inspiration. Our bullets passed each other in the night, and my bullet had one more person's hand on the trigger, so it went farther and dug a deeper hole in your heart than the bullet thee sent to me. My death passed, for now, but do not think I didn't feel the whisper of your bullet slicing through the air near me last night as I lay sweating and terrified in my bed. Alas, poor willow...I knew her!

(Liz on May 27, 2005 7:01 AM) Keep the Merit Badge spirit alive, James! Best of luck to you.

(james on May 27, 2005 9: