Two months ago, I took part in a very special interview. No, it wasn’t the Portia De Rossi and Ellen Degeneres interview, which was amazing by the way, but it was still pretty cool.
As part of a class assignment, some friends and I interviewed a savvy social media connoisseur who told us all about blogs, web tracking, and the infuriatingly popular, Twitter. Let’s call our interviewee Blondie, since this post might embarrass them... well not them, me.
The interview took place in a cramped little office down at Bay and Front. Though there were five of us huddled together, and the sun beamed fiercely through the wall-sized window, Blondie was the only thing making me sweat.
Get your minds out of the gutter, I’m not talking about physical attributes here (well I kind of was, but this is not that kind of blog). Actually, I was mostly impressed by Blondie’s knowledge and enthusiasm throughout the interview. And from this spectacular creature I am now utterly obsessed with three incredible blogs that I firmly believe you should all know about.
Hype Machine: Okay let me ask you something, you know those hip indie kids that hang out at places like the Hideout, the Gladstone, or Rancho Relaxo every weekend? You know how they always know about some hip new DJ, band, mash-up, or remix? Don’t you hate them? Me too. No offense to readers who identify with this crowd. However, since I’ve discovered Hype Machine, I’ve learned that I didn’t hate these skinny- jeans-with-a-vest-wearing hipsters for who they are, I hated them for what they know. They know all the good songs that you never hear on the radio, and now I know where they’re finding it. See, this website monitors all kinds of blogs, music or otherwise, and posts the songs they post for your listening pleasure. Then, if you’re a crooked pirate downloader (a.k.a. thrifty music lover) you can download these songs so you own them too! You can also visit the different blogs and read what they’re saying about the songs if you want to know how it came about or the personal opinions of the fans. I think I could probably find another reason to hate hipsters (they’re so much skinnier than I’ll ever be) but at least I can cross their musical knowledge off my list. And maybe you will too.
i 09: Let me begin by saying that I hate sci-fi and fantasy. Actually, I hate anything and everything to do with sci-fi and fantasy. I once dated someone who was obsessed with this genre of game, video, and film and spent two years of my life being dragged from one aggravating movie to the next. And if I ever voiced an opinion, oh my god, the wrath that would fall upon me. I’m so glad things like siths and hoodoo doesn’t exist because I’m pretty sure my biopsy would list something like that as my cause of death. However, for a sci-fi site i09, is pretty damn cool. What’s great about it is that you don’t necessarily have to be into the genre to be interested in some of their posts. A lot of their stories have to do with symbolism, or philosophy, and even some science fact that was originally thought to be fiction. I’ve always considered myself a realist, which might be why I never got into the fantasy genre, so stories about science are actually really intriguing and for the first time, I am endorsing a sci-fi product. It’s that good.
Trash Menagerie: I know what you’re thinking, “Um Kurt, another music blog? Broaden your horizons fool.” You’d be sort of right if you said that. I mean, it is a music blog that has many of the same qualities as Hype Machine: you can listen, download and post new music that is not necessarily mainstream, and you can learn more about the artists behind the music as well. However, Trash Menagerie has additional features and topics that you can’t find on Hype Machine and that’s what keeps me going back. Art, design, fashion, film and technology are just a feature of the other features that I like to look over on this blog and I have to tell, I have yet to be disappointed. Unlike other blogs about these topics that can be fairly restrictive in terms of the city the writer lives in, Trash Menagerie’s blog seems fairly international and covers a lot of ground.
I’m not going to lie, Blondie is a fox. My whole group agrees with me. But more than looks, Blondie has some really cool interests and since our meeting, I have yet to find a reason to quit reading these blogs.
If you ever find yourself bored at home, in class, on the train or on a plane, have a look at one of these blogs. I guarantee you’ll pass the time just fine.
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