Comments on: Stephen Colbert v. The Decemberists

Stephen Colbert v. The Decemberists

ND¢ — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 07:08:54 -0800

Stephen Colbert has a "Green Screen Challenge". The Decemberists have their own green screen challenge. Colbert calls them idea stealing jerks and issues a "Second Green Screen Challenge": "to edit me into the Decemberists' green screen challenge... Let's see how well they perform their trademark brand of hyper-literate prog rock when I'm slicing off their legs at the knee." Now the Decemberists are saying that awesomely wielding lightsabers was their idea, and that Colbert must have copied them, and they have the "Decemberists vs Stephen Colbert Guitar Solo Challenge".

By: ND¢

ND¢ — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 07:11:47 -0800

Warning: people you may think suck (fascinating, please share) having fun and entertaining people in a way that you may find uninteresting. Previously.

By: briank

briank — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 07:12:10 -0800

As someone once said, "There is no such thing as bad publicity." Jack Benny and Fred Allen "feuded" on the radio to great effect for many years.

By: MegoSteve

MegoSteve — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 07:12:42 -0800

Everything I need to know about marketing and promotion I learned from watching professional wrestling.

By: psmealey

psmealey — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 07:48:45 -0800

Suck (steven colbert) < Suck (decemberists)

By: drezdn

drezdn — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 07:53:10 -0800

Unfortunately, though I love some of the Decemberists stuff fiercely, I don't think they can beat anyone in a guitar solo competition.

By: signal

signal — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 07:53:46 -0800

Warning: preemptive passive aggressive over-defensive behavior.

By: stupidsexyFlanders

stupidsexyFlanders — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 07:58:44 -0800

What happened to the days of celebrities hittting each other in the face with closed fists?

By: ND¢

ND¢ — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 07:59:09 -0800

Sorry signal, but I've had my heart broken one too many times.

By: InnocentBystander

InnocentBystander — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 08:12:03 -0800

Am I the only one who looked at the summary and thought, this is the stupidest thing I've read on the internets in AT LEAST a week? I mean, seriously.

By: grubi

grubi — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 08:14:36 -0800

Am I the only one who looked at the summary and thought, this is the stupidest thing I've read on the internets in AT LEAST a week? Probably. Why grown people being silly as entertainment bothers you, I cannot say nor ponder. Personally, I think it's cute and that's enough to make me smile.

By: furtive

furtive — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 08:16:15 -0800

Can someone distill this down to the best clips? I'm feeling click lazy.

By: jjg

jjg — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 08:31:52 -0800

furtive: For reasons utterly unrelated to this post, the "awesomely wielding lightsabers" link is the one not to miss.

By: dw

dw — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 08:31:57 -0800

I like the Decemberists. I like Stephen Colbert. This all sounds really stupid. What like/hate/stupid/awesome permutations are left?

By: robocop is bleeding

robocop is bleeding — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 08:38:24 -0800

What like/hate/stupid/awesome permutations are left? Meh.

By: four panels

four panels — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 08:39:22 -0800

Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?

By: four panels

four panels — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 08:39:23 -0800

Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?

By: chococat

chococat — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 08:39:46 -0800

I like The Decemberists. I like Stephen Colbert. Two things: That concert footage is one of the nerdiest things I've ever seen. I've long found that Colin Meloy's inability to pronounce his "r's" when singing is pretty annoying.

By: eustacescrubb

eustacescrubb — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 08:51:15 -0800

One wonders if the entire contretemps is not contrived. If not, one must wonder if one is not seeing two entertainers mutually willing to explot the other's fame for access to the publicity and demographic crossover.

By: Saellys

Saellys — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 08:56:49 -0800

I'm afraid to send this link to my boyfriend, for as soon as I do he will go buy several hundred dollars worth of video editing software, as the Decemberists and Colbert are pretty much his favorite things ever.

By: cellphone

cellphone — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 08:57:32 -0800

They both suck.

By: PinkStainlessTail

PinkStainlessTail — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 09:02:17 -0800

One wonders if the entire contretemps is not contrived. One didn't spend a second wondering, one assumed immediately.

By: pardonyou?

pardonyou? — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 09:04:48 -0800

What like/hate/stupid/awesome permutations are left? Hate Stephen Colbert. Hate The Decemberists. Absolutely adore green screen and guitar solo challenges.

By: muddgirl

muddgirl — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 09:15:15 -0800

Like Stephen Colbert. Hate the Decemberists. Hate green screens. Love guitar solo challenges.

By: loiseau

loiseau — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 09:18:00 -0800

Like Stephen Colbert, like green screens, hate the Comedy Central website.

By: wfc123

wfc123 — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 09:23:12 -0800

What's more annoying than this band? The people in the audience-- who seem to think this is entertaining.

By: DenOfSizer

DenOfSizer — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 09:28:07 -0800

When did blue screens get phased out? Why green?

By: briank

briank — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 09:32:04 -0800

Because blue looks good on TV, so news people are dressed in blue a lot, while you don't see too many people wearing that partcular shade of green. They had one too many weatherman disappear into his map because of a blue suit.

By: ND¢

ND¢ — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 09:32:34 -0800

In the past decade, the use of green has become dominant in film special effects. The main reason for this is that green not only has a higher luminance value than blue but also in early digital formats the green channel was sampled twice as often as the blue, making it easier to work with. The choice of color is up to the effects artists and the needs of the specific shot. Red is always avoided due to its prevalence in normal human skin pigments.

By: dflemingdotorg

dflemingdotorg — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 09:51:12 -0800

like colbert. like the decemberists. like the fact that they're having a little fun with their lives.

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 09:58:17 -0800

Jeez, you guys, lighten up. This is both fun and entertaining. Even if I didn't like them both, Decemberists and Colbert, I'd still find this amusing. The bile, it doth speweth unto this thread.

By: yeti

yeti — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 10:08:22 -0800

Except Colbert didn't really initialize the Green Screen Challenge. The Internets did. Fans started modifying the footage themselves before Colbert officially announced the GSC.

By: srboisvert

srboisvert — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 10:10:59 -0800

Warning: people you may think suck (fascinating, please share) having fun and entertaining people in a way that you may find uninteresting. Warning: metafilter. I wonder what the corporate relationship between the Decemberists and the Colbert Show is. This smells like the neverending Death Cab for Cutie shoutouts on the O.C and their ilk...

By: jjg

jjg — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 10:19:45 -0800

Except Colbert didn't really initialize the Green Screen Challenge. The Internets did. Fans started modifying the footage themselves before Colbert officially announced the GSC. Seems like that would be hard to do without the green-screen footage to work with.

By: SmarterChild

SmarterChild — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 10:24:02 -0800

wfc123: QQ

By: inoculatedcities

inoculatedcities — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 10:27:21 -0800

Yeah, I know...I saw the show too. Now please no more posts with the word Decembrists in them unless they're about Russian history. I'm begging.

By: pax digita

pax digita — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 10:44:30 -0800

By the way, who the heck invented calculus first?

By: eustacescrubb

eustacescrubb — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 10:47:27 -0800

When did blue screens get phased out? Why green? The green is favored over the blue for the unique qualities it posseses. For instance, the green is where questions like When did blue screens get phased out? Why green? are asked, wheras the blue is for single-link op-eds, news items and links to internet pipe dreams about a Bush impeachment. And ASCII art of Ceiling Cat.

By: eustacescrubb

eustacescrubb — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 11:21:29 -0800

I wonder what the corporate relationship between the Decemberists and the Colbert Show is. MTV, who's hosting the Decemberists' challenge, and Comedy Central, the channel on which the Colbert Report is broadcast, are both owned by Viacom.

By: Skygazer

Skygazer — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 12:57:35 -0800

Like Colbert, like the post and this stunt could almost make me like the Decemberists if I didn't think they sucked so bad. Sorry ND¢

By: Alex404

Alex404 — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 13:41:51 -0800

Could we not like, sticky a thread at the top of all threads where people can get there hate on over indy rock whenever they feltlike it, and not derail every thread that is even tangentially related to it? Actually, I'm just confused. I'm not quite convinced that people don't like the decemberists. I need to hear more.

By: muddgirl

muddgirl — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 14:03:54 -0800

Alex404, what else is there to discuss? Should all of us Decemberist(/Colbert)-dislikers not post here, and let all the Decemberist(/Colbert)-likers wank on about how cool the band(/comedian) is, for being so original and counterculture, and sticking it to the man and so on?

By: turaho

turaho — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 14:13:16 -0800

Mudgirl is right, she has a responsibility to inform us when she doesn't like a band or a comedian. We should just accept that and suspend all conversation so that her opinion can be heard far and wide.

By: bob sarabia

bob sarabia — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 14:33:15 -0800

turaho: From your cute little comment I guess you're trying to imply that "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all", right? If so, welcome to the internet, that rule doesn't apply.

By: eustacescrubb

eustacescrubb — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 14:38:45 -0800

Yes, where would we be without the cultural elite like mudgirl to tell us what to like? Adrift at sea, we would be, adrift at sea. Thank God for people willing to let us know when bands we like suck.

By: mrgrimm

mrgrimm — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 14:41:22 -0800

Should all of us Decemberist(/Colbert)-dislikers not post here, and let all the Decemberist(/Colbert)-likers wank on about how cool the band(/comedian) is, for being so original and counterculture, and sticking it to the man and so on? Yes.

By: turaho

turaho — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 14:43:09 -0800

bob sarabia: I am implying nothing of the sort, but thanks for the lesson on how the internets work--it's much appreciated! Keep on truckin', little fella!

By: ND¢

ND¢ — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 14:53:37 -0800

Now, now, now children. Let's not fight. The reason that I put the little disclaimer in the first post is because the Decemberists (like Ryan Adams for example) are one of those artists that people love to hate [insert "No, they just suck, that is why people hate them" comment here]. That is cool. This is a site where people discuss things, and it wouldn't be very interesting if everyone always agreed with one another. I thought that this little fake fued was cool. I think it shows entertainers engaging with their fans in an interactive way that wouldn't have been possible a few years ago. It features a band and a comedian whose work I enjoy. Plus I just got a kick out of it and thought that others would too. However, the people who don't like the Decemberists saw a post about something that they had an opinion on, and they made that opinion clear, and more power to them. That is partially what Metafilter is for. Though it seems like there has been a lot of hate in this thread, I think that there has been an equal or greater amount of positive comments. However, I don't think that people saying, "I enjoyed this exchange between two unrelated entertainers, and found it to be interesting" is "wank[ing] on about how cool the band... is, for being so original and counterculture, and sticking it to the man". Nor do I think that the people who thought this was cool had to suspend all conversation so that the haters could be heard far and wide. There is plenty of room on Metafilter for both camps. Some people thought that this was cool, but many did not. I do think; however, that if it had been Colbert v. Random Band X that more people might have either thought that it was a fun silly exchange and gotten a laugh out of it, or just ignored it, rather than taking the time to say "Random Band X sucks".

By: ND¢

ND¢ — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 14:55:12 -0800

I meant 'first comment', not 'first post'.

By: inoculatedcities

inoculatedcities — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 18:09:42 -0800

I'm not hip, this isn't snark, my comments aren't clever. I'm honestly just sick of the number of times I've seen "Decembrists"* in a headline lately. Especially on Metafilter. Honest. *This post also qualifies for any FPP about TV On the Radio.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 23:03:26 -0800

They had one too many weatherman disappear into his map because of a blue suit. Impossible. No such thing as too many disappearing weathermen.

By: paulsc

paulsc — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 23:23:09 -0800

For those of us who first computed in the Paleozoic Era, a "green screen" will always be the beloved IBM 3270 or 5250 series data terminals. For efficient, error free, heads down data manipulation, there is still nothing quite like a block mode terminal and function-keyed macro sequences.

By: The God Complex

The God Complex — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 02:23:27 -0800

Unless someone is a true blight upon music or comedy (see: K-Fed and his ilk), I rarely if ever feel the need to comment in a thread on metafilter about my dislikes. I mean, unless there's some obvious solicitation of opinion, or the article itself deals with whether or not this person is in some way talented, it just seems--I don't know, really dumb? In a week there are probably two dozen things posted to metafilter that are ostensibly funny but which I find mind-jarringly stupid, or boring, and I let people in on that infrequently (and try my best not to ever do it). Even when I agree with someone when they do it, I often find myself thinking that they come across like a pompous douchebag anyway. When I'm not on the internet, I'll talk about bands I love until I'm blue in the face, and I'll rant about shitty mass-production bands until I cry blood, but I don't see the point of ranting about bands that aren't, you know, really fake, and I never go out of my way to tell someone their favourite band sucks, because people like that are almost invariably self-absorbed wankers. Finally, "It's the internet, dude--get used to it!" and all its variants have to be just about the stupidest reason in existence for acting the fool. ---- As for the link in question, it's pretty obvious that Colbert is just playing it up as he tends to do. He makes enough sly digs at prog rock to make me think that either he, or a few writers on the staff, are prog rock fans. It's cool. Part of what makes Colbert so funny is just how outlandish the things he complains about are, especially when they deal with what he perceives to be people slighting him (see: response to White House Correspondents Dinner, etc.). It's even funnier when his outlandishness finds itself legitimized, like "Truthiness" was, and his claims of not getting credit become surreally accurate.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 07:58:24 -0800

The Pompous Douchebags should be a band name.

By: KirkJobSluder

KirkJobSluder — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 12:04:41 -0800

The growing straight-faced use of "internets" and "interweb" suggest that the Singularity is in fact near. The bad news is that this is the other Singularity where the IQ of the "Collective Wisdom" approaches zero.

By: muddgirl

muddgirl — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 20:52:44 -0800

Mudgirl is right, she has a responsibility to inform us when she doesn't like a band or a comedian. We should just accept that and suspend all conversation so that her opinion can be heard far and wide. No, turaho, YOU are right. Thank you so much for showing me the light. Your witty (and, I must admit, somewhat biting) use of sarcasm (often labeled snark) has shown me that opinion and worthless throwaway commentary has no place on the world wide web. From now on, I will make sure only to post hater comments on alt.rec.decemberists.must.die Yes, where would we be without the cultural elite like mudgirl to tell us what to like? Adrift at sea, we would be, adrift at sea. Thank God for people willing to let us know when bands we like suck. Either read what I actually wrote or fuck off. I liked this post. If you like some band that I think is crap, more power to you. I'm sure you'd find my undying love for Tiffany completely disgusting, as well.

By: eustacescrubb

eustacescrubb — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 06:00:22 -0800

Either read what I actually wrote or fuck off. Meh. Either work better on composing your posts so your actual meaning is understood or... get used to people reacting in ways you didn't expect. I liked this post. Never would've known from your last post. If you like some band that I think is crap, more power to you. I'm sure you'd find my undying love for Tiffany completely disgusting, as well. Actually, while I personally don't care for Tiffany*, I also don't care who does and doesn't like her. That's the whole point. Judging people based on their musical taste is so... highschool. And I like a LOT of bands, so the odds are that you think a lot of bands I like are crap, which means that I have.... A LOT OF POWER! clenches fist. How much "more power" goes to me before I have the MOST power? THE MOST POWER! I WILL CRUSH YOU ALL!!!!** *And, actually, since I've only heard one or two Tiffany songs, and barley remember them, who knows if I'd enjoy something by her. I'm guessing she's matured as a singer since the 80s, and maybe she's good. I dunno. **Not really. I'll probably use it to clear brush from my backyard.

By: muddgirl

muddgirl — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 07:15:01 -0800

Meep. Why are we arguing? My comments were more pointed to NDcents defensiveness, rather than the post itself. Also, at the people limiting our right to express contrary opinions. Also, at people who assume I think I'm some "cultural elite." Also, at green screens *shakes fist*.

By: eustacescrubb

eustacescrubb — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 08:17:41 -0800

Meep. Why are we arguing? I don't know. Let's stop and do something else instead. You really like Tiffany, or were you being hyperbolic? Also, at green screens *shakes fist*. What color screen would you prefer?

By: ND¢

ND¢ — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 12:44:56 -0800

Update: I could write for MSNBC. I guess that isn't saying much.

By: juv3nal

juv3nal — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 23:53:26 -0800

It's on right now. All I have to say is: Henry Kissinger.

By: ND¢

ND¢ — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 06:12:10 -0800

Here is a summary for those that missed it.