Flow.tv is an ultra-slick video portal devoted to the world of hip hop, from top stars to underground sensations.

We’ll get to the latter in the second, but first what hits you on the homepage is the serious access and content offered by its wide selection of shows – VIP Lounge and Funk Flex TV feature personal interviews with the likes of Snoop Dogg and Rihanna; Melyssa Ford provides the requisite flesh footage; and the Hip Hop Live Tour follows Brother Ali, Ghostface Killah, and Rakim on tour (billed as “on-stage, behind-the-scenes and on-the-road with a legend, a legend-in-the-making and a future hall-of-famer”). And that’s just a sampling.

Every video on the site has high quality, top-notch production (which makes sense, as shows like Funk Flex TV are broadcast offline as well). And even though the Flash-iness of the interface initially turned me off at first, it’s surprisingly fast and robust – the sharing and deep-linking functionality should win over any blogger.

But what’s the point of a site like this if you can’t rock the long tail, showcasing the kinds of artists you’re not as likely to see on BET or out on tour?

That’s where my favorite series makes some noise – URB’s Next 100, a partnership between Flow TV and URB Magazine. URB’s devoted to underground music, and they’ve been running their Next 100 feature (which scours the globe to find breaking artists and has expanded to 1000 online) in some form for nearly 15 years. Here’s a great video (via PSFK) of the URB brass discussing their roots, Next 100, and the collaboration with Flow TV.

###And the results of this exciting partnership speak for themselves – videos are posted on a more-or-less weekly basis, and the variety between interviews, performances, and music videos provides a real feel for each up-and-coming star.

I first heard about all this because I’m a big Mickey Factz fan and blog reader, so I’ll embed one of his videos below (check this out for even more rockin Factz work). Strangely I could only find it on the Flow TV imeem channel and not the main site, which seems to be a few days behind. Such is the fast-paced world of web video, I suppose.

At any rate, do yourself a favor, watch as much of the series as you can (featuring acts like Pacific Division, Nobody Famous, and B.o.B., who spits mad game at the camera) and then chase down the music – your summer car rides will thank you.

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Colin McDonald
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Again, Jay Smooth is on point. This Democratic Primary season has overextended its welcome. It’s gone on for sooooooo lllllooooonnnnnggggg that neither candidates nor news organizations have anything new to say, and the media’s drowning in a murky sea of election results and prediction analysis that gets deeper and less navigable as the process drags on.

If I could pop a few Waitmates and wake up in late August to hear Howard Dean announce whoever the smoke-filled room decided would be the Dem’s nominee, I would.

But those wonder pills don’t yet exist and, unfortunately, you can’t splice together an entertaining montage that condenses the future like you can for the past. In seven minutes (that’s not exactly Mahalo-like efficiency, but it’s still short), Slate takes you on a informal yet informative, speedy tour of the Democractic Primary season thus far:

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Joshua Cohen
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Just two days after TBS’ Super Deluxe released the first part of Brad Neely’s tour de force, China, Il., Turner announced that it’s folding the online comedy site into its broadcast television brand equivalent, AdultSwim.com. Paidcontent has the internal memo:

“Our management of the Turner Animation, Young Adults & Kids brands requires us to always look for efficient, strategic ways to grow them. In Super Deluxe.com and Adult Swim.com, we have businesses whose potential for individual growth is limited by their increasingly complementary content. Rather than position them as competitors for the same audience, the smarter move is to consolidate the two brands to create a richer, stronger platform that builds on Adult Swim’s number-one position with young adults.”

It makes sense. One of the most successful shows on Super Deluxe – Tim and Eric Awewsome Show, Great Job! – is repurposed from Adult Swim, and the rest of the site’s content library – including The Maria Bamford Show, Bob Odenkirk’s Derek and Simon, Layers, Professor Brothers, and Baby Cakes, and excluding Norm MacDonald’s Fake News – are almost guaranteed to be favorites (if they aren’t already) with Adult Swim’s “edgy,” young audience.

###It’s a mystery why they weren’t one on the same in the first place.

Still, it’ll be sad to see Super Deluxe go. Along with NBC’s DotComedy and Comedy Central’s Motherload, it was one of the first major online video efforts backed by a big old media brand, and has produced some of the best online originals (listed above) to date.

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Joshua Cohen
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If Petronius’ novel, Satyricon had documented any type of entomological tendencies in the debauched life of Roman emperor Nero, then Green Porno – Isabella Rossellini’s new online mini-series for the Sundance Channel – would’ve likely been a scene in Fellini’s 1969 moving-picture interpretation.

Both directed by and starring the Italian model, actress, and former Mrs. Scorsese, the series of short films debuted this week and depict a woman with child-like wonder fantasized into hyper-color costumes of anatomically correct worms, spiders, flies, and other household insects.

With a dramatic string section for a soundtrack that elegantly accents the narrator’s awe, we’re taken on a journey of bug-on-bug action, learning in semi-graphic detail about the little critters’ copulation practices as the dirty deeds get played out on screen.  The end result is an anti-Japanese Bug Fight, or what would happen to a zoology student who took hardcore hallucinogenics on insect day:

Though it has some trappings of a Fellini flick, there’s no Jungian archetypes or metaphors for collective unconscious here. Sometimes a show about insects having sex is just a show about insects having sex.

After working on a number of projects together in the past 18 months, the Sundance Channel asked Rossellini if she’d like to create “flashy” short films about the environment that could be easily viewed on mobile devices. I’d be cute to think of it as the product of a language barrier, that Rossellini took “flashy” to mean “sex” and “environment” to mean “bugs,” but the truth is much more straightforward. As Rossellini states:

“I’ve always been interested in animals and animal behavior. Among the thing you read about is their sexual lives, their reproduction, if they take care of their babies, what they eat, etc. And everybody’s interested in sex, so I figured, let’s go there! I wanted people to laugh, but then to leave and say, ‘Wow. I didn’t know about that.’”

The title’s origin is equally unenchanting. Co-director Jody Shapiro told Wired they chose the title “Green Porno” in hopes of picking up some accidental viewers in search of the interent’s most useful type of media.

It’s not really that hardcore, and it’s not even human, but I bet a lot of those who randomly stumble upon the series will be pleasantly surprised.  It’s great.  A playful excursion to an informative, fantasy land of unitards and cardboard cutouts that’s still real enough to edify and, at times, gross you out.

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Joshua Cohen
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Because I was a big Norm MacDonald fan as a kid – his Burt Reynolds and Weekend Update were my favorite parts of SNL, before he got fired and the show became unwatchable  – I’ve attempted to avoid seeing anything else he’s been in, since everything – aside from a fantastic cameo in Billy Madison – has been panned.  

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Owen Roberts
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Cooking with Coolio and Dinner with the Band are spinoffs, I think.  Jennifer Robbins, a veteran web designer and best-selling author of various books for (wannabe) geeks, started Cooking with Rockstars (Tilzy Page) in 2003, before most of us even realized that the internet might deliver video. 



This novel concept, which aims to reach behind the public persona of indie rockers and uncover their souls through culinary preferences, hasn’t fully realized its dreams just yet, but it is off to a big start.  Logistical restraints have prevented actual cooking with rockstars, but Jen assures me 2008 is the year it will happen.  Despite the lack of hands-on cooking, conversations about cooking with rockstars are refreshingly entertaining.

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They say that social media is all about the connections you make in the real world, and it’s true.  Jennifer Robbins is one of the nicest people on and off the internets.  I was lucky enough to catch up with her at South by Southwest.  Check it.

###

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Stay tuned for what is sure to be some guileless entertainment when real rockstars (and Jen) start really cookin’.

UPDATE:

Jen has assured me that the cooking is “coming right up.” 

“Nada Surf and Dresden Dolls are already in the can.  I am also heading out to LA this weekend to do some cooking with the Submarines… so I made good on my promise, ” Jen said via email.

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Jamison Tilsner
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Chances are, if you’re reading this, you’re likely to be at least mildly familiar with the blogeratti.  In the age of Web 2.0, these “citizen journalists” have helped make Nick Denton rich, Perez Hilton famous, and Jason Kottke a ta

While, at worst, they’re known to spew venomous criticisicm at often-undeserving subject material, the small circle of young media junkies – which has validated blogging as a genuine profession (despite what old people say) – is comprised of those possessing especially clever, original, and – indeed – snarky voices.

The concept is simple: these two buddies – he’s gay, she’s not (but publicly touts her widespread promiscuity) – appear onscreen, answering questions about sex submitted by readers.

And, although they don’t necessarily come out and say it, they’re always blazed.

###Every installation of “Pot Psychology” is highly (!) enjoyable, and whenever I watch I always find myself sporting an unmedicated grin from ear to ear.   If you were to take the pot movie genre and subtract bad writing and cloying actors, what you’re left with is  an effortlessly entertaining display of how funny it is to witness genuinely charming, smart buddies try to channel their energy into doling out advice and refraining from hysteric fits of laughter.  

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Eliot Glazer
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We’re all nerds at heart.  Especially me, and yes, even you.  Admit it, you’re fascinated with scientific phenomena and especially get all hot and bothered when it’s explained to you in plain terms by friendly, ostensibly benevolent, white males.

That’s why people like us have watched Mr. Wizard since its 1951 premiere; that’s why we reveled in its 70s and 80s revivals.  It’s also why we tuned into Beakman’s World and Bill Nye the Science Guy in the 90s.


The magic of television has assured that there’s a TV scientist for every generation.  But what about this internet generation?  Who’s our informative guy with a Ph.D. or equivalent experience, making Newtonian principles and Edisonian experiments accessible to the masses?

Enter veteran science educator Robert Krampf.  Krampf is an endearingly quirky individual, sporting big glasses and an awesome, bushy, salt-and-pepper beard, who has made it his mission to spread the joy that is everyday science to anyone with a computer and two minutes to spare.



Read On…

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Reed Kavner
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So they might be the least exclusive award winners since your elementary school teacher handed out gold stars to the entire class, but their teeming numbers doesn’t signify any lack in quality. The 2008, 12th Annual Webby Awards today released the list of those who’ll give five-word acceptance speeches and take home silvery, springy, spiraly statuettes of binary at upcoming ceremonies during Internet Week in NYC.

Both the panel-of-industry-judges-determined and “People’s Voice” winners were announced. Some favorites include Angry Alien’s Bunny Theatre, Little Minx’s Exquisite Corpse, Wainy Days, You Suck at Photoshop, and Tom Green. Check out the full list here.

An argument could easily be made to substantiate all the winners (i.e. they’re all good), with one exception that Steve points out.

There’s no way the Ricther Scales should’ve won Best Viral Video for Here Comes Another Bubble. Ripping off Billy Joel is neither novel nor entertaining, and their cheesy rendition relies far too heavily on insider humor to be award-winning material. Tay Zonday or Obama Girl should’ve won this, no questions asked, but I suppose all academies are prone to gross errors in judgment.

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Joshua Cohen
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“I see things that other people don’t see sometimes,” says the large, idiot-savant man-child named Baby Cakes, created by Austin, Texas-based cartoonist Brad Neely.  But it might as well be Brad who says the line. 

Drawing single-panel, Creased Comics with implied, universal themes (life, death, the Bible, nature), Neely’s been producing little bits of internet gold for over a decade, telling stories through unlikely characters and revealing sinuous streams of aberrant wisdom that flow into solid sense.  He got some press for his alt narration to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, but went internet famo with his presidential myth on psychedelic steroids, Washington. 

After the viewcounts hit six digits, TBS’ Super Deluxe came knocking, and the web series Baby Cakes and Professor Brothers were born.  Josh recently caught up with with the man behind the crude, un-moving animation at ROFLCon to ask him about process, strip malls, and muses. 

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Neely describes his cartoons as “stories with visual aides…comic books with sound.” The storyboard aesthetic makes for some great visual jokes and doesn’t get in the way of the tale. 

In the case of Baby Cakes, it’s the world through the eyes of a slightly retarded, yet endearing, RPG-playing rapper who lives with his Dad and opines in off-beat philosophic soliloquies.  In the case of the Professor Brothers, it’s the lives of Frank and Steve – sharp-witted, uncouth, spaced-out, community school profs, with signature tag-team humor riddled by random, loose associations. 

In the case of China, Il., it’s a tale of both Baby Cakes and the Professor Brothers. 



###Neely’s 11-minute, 4-part magnum opus (a new episode released every Monday on Super Deluxe and then the whole thing airs on Adult Swim on Sunday, May 25) puts the stars of both series on the same screen:

Like Brad said, Baby Cake’s warm-fuzzy world populated by Wizards and Face Fucklers, accented with epic musical interludes and diary entries, and navigated with the help of a ‘walking potion’ (10% sugar 90% whiskey), is actually the very same world inhabited by Frank’s squeaky, strung-out Steve Zahn of a voice, and Steve’s detached, Kenny Winker cool.  He apparently just wasn’t making the part about them living in the same space very clear. 

But now, for 11 beautiful minutes, fans will look at the world of China, Il. with newfound clarity.  We’ll watch with joy, wonderment, and wide-eyed innocence as these everyman heroes of insight drop poetic knowledge and make astute observations, connecting the dots on pieces of paper we didn’t even know existed, and seeing things that other’s don’t, in a way that only Brad Neely can.

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Nathan Bock
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If Amanda Condgon’s departure as host of Rocketboom taught us anything, it’s that the show’s creator, Andrew Baron doesn’t get enough credit.

After the pair’s public spat and irreconcilable differences sent 2006’s shining star of web video on her merry way, Baron quickly found in Joanne Colan a likable, English-accented, ex-MTV replacement. The transition didn’t occur with Wallstrip-like efficiency, but Colan took upon hosting duties with only minor hiccups, and Baron nurtured the show along a quick and speedy recovery…to the point where he’s now busy expanding the brand and developing more series.

Congdon hasn’t fared as well. Following Amanda Across America – a three-month, environmentally oriented, cross-country trip, where she proved to be a great interviewer and competent host – her work has been mediocre.

Her alleged deal with HBO still hasn’t amounted to anything more than a headline. Her yearlong stint on ABC News was a poor, ill-conceived Rocketboom recreation that never really took off. Her personal videoblog, Starring Amanda, was mired in irrelevance and made-up characters that could only be entertaining to her closest friends.

Sometimesdaily, “an off-beat, interactive variety show exploring life’s theme’s through the inquisitive eyes of Amanda Congdon” looks like it will follow suit:

.

###Judging by the preview, Sometimesdaily seems too attached to its host’s sense of humor to be palatable to anyone who’s not already a Congdon fan. It’s cool if she wants to create videos to be enjoyed by her clique – lots of other people just won’t watch ’em.  

But it’s kinda too bad. As evidenced by her time on Rocketboom, she’s got a helluva lot of accessible entertainment value when working with the right producer. Hopefully the crew at Sometimesdaily will find their flow, or Congdon will eventually get paired up again with someone who can find it for her.

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Joshua Cohen
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Not to sound like Jerry Seinfeld, but what is the deal with The Hills?  As someone who follows pop culture (semi-professionally, may I add), I’ve never fully understood the mass appeal of the MTV “reality” show.  Its producers have readily admitted to manipulating the narrative, which boggles my mind because…ummm…nothing of consequence seems to happen on the show.

If the The Hills isn’t a vapid spin on Seinfeld’s “show about nothing,” it’s about the inconsequential problems faced exclusively by the rich, white, and undeservedly famous.

Filed under: Tilzy.TV by Eliot Glazer
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