I’ve just posted my latest Pop Culture Report both here and on Amazon’s book blog, Omnivoracious. For those who haven’t seen the others, it’s a DIY come-into-my-house-and-look-at-some-recent-cool books kinda thing. Check out the version on Amazon, where I’ve posted links to all of the books mentioned in the report.

Feel free to embed the video on your own blog or site with your own comments about the books I’ve reviewed. And let me know here what you think, too. The more attention these video features get, the more able I am to continue doing them. (Small apology this time around: a lightning strike or two during the filming caused a couple of hiccups.)

Here’s the direct link to it on YouTube.

(Another of Catherine Cheek’s great books)

Go take a look at this week’s Friday Night Videos feature at Amazon, showcasing Catherine Cheek’s winning origami book entry and a video that demonstrates the right way to build excitement for a book tour: using flatulence.

And, for right here right now, DANGER! HIGH VOLTAGE!:

Visit Amazon for the poppet version of Friday Night Videos. Long-time blog visitor David Kirkpatrick was involved in this one.

For your enjoyment right here on this blog, I present baby owls, lazy meerkats, and a mechanical tiger. All mercifully short.

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This time, I’ve saved the YouTube mash-up idea for the Amazon video feature. You’ll note you synch up two videos for one experience, all about a new graphic novel called Bluesman.

As for what I’m “offering” here–two kinda cool new (?) animated films. Curious what you think of them–the second one I really love. And then, two flicks by Svankmajer, the great Czech filmmaker. The second one is a remix in the sense that someone has set a soundtrack to it that isn’t from the original. I’m not sure if it qualifies as a travesty or not, but if you hate the music, the images are still cool. Check out all of Svankmajer’s videos on YouTube. One of my favorites.

Jeff

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I’m not a huge fan of Chris Mathews–I think he’s a bit of a pompous ass much of the time, but here we see him nailing an idiot to the wall.

Here’s the latest Friday Night Video face-off at Amazon: James Frey versus Chelsea Handler.

More (less?!) importantly, below the cut find my first attempt at a YouTube mash-up/mesh-up thing. I don’t know if anyone’s done this before, but my idea was to find three videos you could run at the same time and have them make a rough thematic and aural sense. So, to run this experiment, you start the first one, wait two or three seconds, then immediately start the second and third. And let ‘em run. Some may wish to mute the sound on the last one for the first minute. Your choice.

It ain’t perfect, this first experiment, and in fact may be remarkably lame, but I begin to see how you could take three or four or five YouTube videos and create a somewhat new experience. (In this case, the bottom scene ends first, followed by the middle, until you’re left with the first as a kind of requiem.) Or, maybe I’m just craaaazzzy. Why don’t ya tell me?

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Tonight’s Amazon book blog video face off, for the curious and insane. I suppose I should feel vaguely guilty I posted it right after James Frey did his first guest post…

For those who like neither video, I have surrounded this post with weird cat stuff above and below…

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My Pop Culture video interview, above, and Amazon feature. The book is just out in trade paperback.

No, the thing above isn’t part of Amazon’s Friday Night Videos. It’s what you should play if you’re hanging around your computer on a Friday night. And then, when you’re done watching, go check out the feature: Lebbon and Golden’s Hidden Cities versus a Toddler Reading a Dinosaur Encyclopedia…