It’s worth mentioning that this blog was the runner-up in the 2010 Seven Days “Daysie” reader’s choice awards again this year. The sisters LeMay took the top prize for the second time in a row. I was shocked to have made the runner-up spot despite the utter lack of any serious blogging around these parts lately. Thanks, if you voted for Candleblog!

I’m a filmmaking fool these days, having just completed the Baruth campaign film (see it in the previous post), and now I’m deep into a short web video for an environmental start-up. Also, the Pants projects are rearing their heads and gaining some slight momentum. I hope to have something good to report on that front soon.

You must now go and vote for my SXSW panel proposal! You have to register to vote and comment, but I swear it’s really quick and easy. My thirst for hanging out with alpha nerds and rock stars must be slaked.

And if you’re not already following Emily’s Tumblr blog, you should go there now and subscribe. It’s a continuous linkdump of cute awesomeness.

And look at this crazy shit!

• Justin Bieber slowed down 800% sounds ethereal and awesome. They should have used this in Inception.
• Wil Wheaton has quit W00tstock in a fabulous way.
• This short film teaches you How to be Alone.

I cut a 30-second spot for a Lt. Governor candidate a few years back, but that had been produced and shot by other people and I was just brought in as the editor. This piece I was involved with from the start. My VCAM cohort Matt Goudey and I shot all the video over the course of the last year — at Philip’s house, at campaign events and house parties and bar-b-ques. I cut the piece a few days ago. It’s an interesting kind of filmmaking — it’s a promotional piece, like a long commercial, but it’s also a documentary. I had to make decisions about how wonky and issue-specific I wanted the film to be, as opposed to hitting on a more general emotional level. I went for the emotions. I still have tons of footage of Philip being smart and wonky — perhaps for use at some later date.

Meanwhile, the longest tennis match in the history of the game was going on at Wimbledon. They just now stopped play for the night with the 5th decisive set tied at 59 games to 59 games. If you’re unfamiliar with tennis, a normal set is won in 6 or 7 games. Because there are no tie-breakers in the last set, play continues until one player wins by at least 2 games. The Guardian is reporting that this set by itself is longer than any tennis match in history. Holy crapsteak. What a weird, awesome day.

“The blanket moratorium seems to assume that because one rig failed and although no one yet fully knows why, all companies and rigs drilling new wells over 500 feet also universally present an imminent danger.” … “If some drilling equipment parts are flawed, is it rational to say all are?” … “The court is unable to divine or fathom a relationship between the findings and the immense scope of the moratorium.”

Putting aside the fact that nobody is saying all drilling equipment parts are flawed and putting aside his honor’s well publicized ties to the oil industry, let’s consider another situation.

Remember January 1986? The space shuttle Challenger exploded a few minutes after takeoff killing its seven occupants and destroying the expensive vehicle. NASA didn’t launch another space shuttle for nearly three years following that incident. Why? Because the government didn’t know why the accident had occurred and they wanted to find out and fix the problem so that another shuttle didn’t explode for similar reasons. Three years. And the Challenger explosion didn’t cause the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history.

In this light, maybe the president’s six month moratorium on new off shore oil platforms deeper than 500 feet doesn’t seem so egregious.

Some time ago I switched my work schedule and began working primarily day shifts at my job, and the blog took an immediate hit because I was just busier than I had been working nights, and my Internet surfing and posting schedule couldn’t be maintained. A big part of producing content at Candleblog relied on my ability to spend a fair chunk of time surfing around and finding things to link to and write about. That time is just harder for me to come by these days.

Also, social media and micro blogging via Twitter and Facebook has replaced much of the online interactivity that the blog used to provide me. And it’s not just me that’s been affected by this shift — my readers are mostly engaged in these social media outlets too, so Candleblog largely stopped serving the purpose it once had as a link filter — those links being disseminated faster and more efficiently via these other means.

I’m not going to stop blogging. Candleblog still serves one important function for me — it’s a place where I can post longer pieces that wouldn’t be as appropriate on Facebook or Twitter — it’s a place I can write. However, if I can barely find time to surf the ‘net, you can bet my writing time is fairly precious too. So don’t expect a high volume of output from me from here on out at this address. Subscribe to the RSS feed or my Friendfeed to stay up to date, and of course my blog posts get auto-updated on FB and Twitter.

Now please join me as I enter this new, more mature phase of Internet content-creation: the I-used-to-be-a-blogger-when-blogging-MEANT-something phase. Also, get off my lawn.

Aside from the 25 or 30 Premiere League games this year, I’ve also watched last summer’s Confederations Cup, a bunch of World Cup qualifiers, a handful of international friendly games and a bunch of UEFA Cup games. In this process I’ve learned some things…

1. I have a hidden reserve of nationalism I never knew about.

During the first half of last summer’s Confederations Cup final, I actually screamed and threw my hands into the air when the US scored its second goal against Brazil. If I’d been in a crowd that was chanting “USA USA” I’d have joined in, unironically. This nationalism also led me to (subconsciously at first) root for Everton in the Premiership because Tim Howard (the US national team goal keeper) is their keeper and because LA Galaxy (and US national team) midfielder Landon Donovan was on loan to the team for a chunk of the season (and the Everton fans LOVED him, frequently chanting “USA – you must stay!” whenever he did something great on the pitch). This nationalism does not, however, prompt me to watch any Major League Soccer here in the US for two important reasons: US teams just aren’t as awesome at the game as European teams are, and US sports announcers are fucking awful.

2. I’m watching soccer at a really interesting time in the sport.

First of all, World Cup (which comes only every four years) starts in less than a month and my team (USA, per my aforementioned new-found nationalistic pride) is on the rise as a serious world class team, having taken second place in last year’s Confederations Cup in South Africa (basically a trial run for this summer’s World Cup). The US team is still a second tier team, but with a squad featuring a number of really strong players, and it has proven itself a team to take seriously in recent years. A good showing in South Africa next month could really elevate the team’s status on the world stage.

Secondly, Leo Messi. He’s a striker for Barcelona and an Argentine national and at 22, he’s already one of the best players the sport has ever seen. Seriously, I can watch a spate of Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United games, representing the best that the Premiership has to offer, and as impressive as those players are, Messi just outclasses them all. Every time he touches the ball (which is a lot) he does something incredible. His ascendancy in the sport will be fun to watch.

3. Goals are exciting, but it’s the midfield play that makes the game beautiful. Really great one-touch passing is a thing of beauty.

4. US sports announcers are fucking awful. I mentioned this above but it’s worth repeating. I’m realizing my deal with televised sports might actually be more of a deal with the standard sports announcer style here in the US. Why are they yelling at me? Why can’t they just talk like normal people? What are they so angry about? They’re typing in all caps and makes my brain hurt. Someone needs to break that mold fast and throw out the style book in that industry. Yikes.

5. A lot of soccer players have really bad hair. Emily just reminded me of this one. We like to play a game wherein every time a player gets a close up, we decree his hair as either “good” “bad” or “meh.” The “bads” are way ahead in that score. Seriously, what is up with Bacary Sagna’s hair?

Sundays
The Pacific (HBO) – From the Band of Brothers team. It’s on episode 7 of 10 now and it’s not as good as BoB was but it’s close.
Treme (HBO) – David (The Wire) Simon created this post Katrina NOLA ensemble drama. Really great.

Tuesdays
Lost (ABC) – just a few episodes remain of the best SF soap opera ever made. If you’re not on board yet, get the first season and enjoy the ride.
Justified (FX) – Best new series since the ill-fated Kings. Elmore Leonard is an exec. producer and it’s based on his characters. Five star TV.

Thursdays
Community/The Office/30 Rock (NBC) – This slate of single-camera sit-coms is firing on all cylinders – transcendent comedy TV. I hear Parks & Rec got good too. For the record, Community is my favorite of this group.

Fridays
Stargate Universe (SyFy) – This is the only decent outer space TV that’s been on the air since season 2 of BSG. The characters, writing and acting are all excellent.
Party Down (Starz) – I just found out this show is in season 2. I totally missed season 1 but I love the writing and cast. It’s from the creators of (the totally excellent) Veronica Mars and features several alumni from that show, but this one is a comedy about a bunch of caterers in LA.

Set your TiVos accordingly and trust me.

• Here’s the initial story from the WaPo, covering the basic details of the court’s decision.
• Here’s the first really clear-headed reaction piece I read, dissecting (and debunking) the various implications and suggesting some possible fixes.
• The Economist similarly weighs in.
• This piece at publicknowledge.org comes right out and says the court ruling is actually a good thing because it will force the FCC to reclassify broadband under title II regulations.
• Barbershop Punk is a new documentary about net neutrality that features Robb Topolski, the guy who caught Comcast “in the act” of throttling peer to peer connections and started the whole Comcast v. FCC thing.
• Candleblog pal Casey Rae-Hunter put some of his thoughts on the subject up at The Contrarian.
• Congress, for its part, is being… well, congress.

This bad blog was begun in the wee hours of April 15th, 2004, making us six years old today. Please send cake.