Posted in
A.D. Miles,
Animation,
Big Fat Brain,
Coolio,
Don Was,
Donnie Hoyle,
Harry Shearer,
Horrible People,
My Damn Channel,
New Series,
Steve Kerper,
Wasmopolitan Cavalcade of Recorded Music,
You Suck at Photoshop with tags
Big Fat Brain,
Coolio,
Don Was,
Donnie Hoyle,
Harry Shearer,
Horrible People,
Huckabee,
Invasion,
My Damn Channel,
Video Premieres,
You Suck at Photoshop on 2/17/2008 8:53:00 PM by Rob Barnett
A lot of video sites wish they could be YouTube. We don't. We're true to our plan to premiere at least one major video every day.
Here's a cheat sheet for the week ahead:
Monday/President's Day:
HORRIBLE PEOPLE - episode 2 - our brand new evil soap opera continues
Tuesday:
HARRY SHEARER's FOUND OBJECTS - MIKE HUCKABEE - Caught on Tape
Wednesday:
COOKIN' WITH COOLIO - episode 2 - SHAKA ZULU!
Thursday:
CARNIVAL of STUFF CHANNEL - INVASION - episode 2 - our damn animation....and.....more NEW music from DON WAS & THE WASMOPOLITAN CAVALCADE OF RECORDED MUSIC
Friday:
BIG FAT BRAIN CHANNEL - YOU SUCK AT PHOTOSHOP - no....you really suck.
Posted in
Coolio,
My Damn Channel with tags
Coolio on 2/15/2008 7:32:00 AM by Rob Barnett
You Got Served: Cooking With Coolio
By Dove ~Sheepish Lordess of Chaos~
Published Thursday, February 14, 2008
In doing his show independently on MyDamnChannel.com, Coolio is able to give an uncensored, humorous edge to the culinary arts. We caught up with the veteran rapper to chew the fat about the ways he turns soul food healthy and how he’s making true entertainment out of cooking.
AllHipHop.com: Tell us a little about how you came up with the concept for your show and how things developed.
Coolio: The concept came about from just playing around. Me and my cousin was in the kitchen one day hooking up a meal and I said, “Wow, what if we had a cooking show? It would be like this” and then we started acting it out. So we did that for a year to a year-and-a half - people would come over and if I was cooking I would pretend like I was doing a cooking show. It grew from that.
I started telling people about it, and I met this guy that was a writer - we were working on something else together - and he was interested in the cooking show. He had some people draw up some things for kitchen gear, and then he wrote an outline and we just took it from there. We shopped it for a while, and though we had a few offers, nobody wanted to let us do what we wanted to do in order to make it the way we wanted to do it. That’s how we ended up taking it to My Damn Channel, because they gave us the freedom to do it the way we wanted to.
AllHipHop.com: How do you go about creating an episode?
Coolio: That’s Elan’s job, one of our writers and producers. He came up with most of the concepts for the shows - we gave him our recipes and then he tried to come up with concepts for each show. Originally it started out as cooking and comedy, it ended up getting to be comedy and cooking. [laughs]
We started out with concepts for the first couple of episodes, and then we found out that only worked for a few of them. We scrapped some of the ideas and then we just started --freestyling stuff towards the end. After we shot the first day-and-a-half all the ideas started to grow, and then somebody would throw in an idea and it just came together.
AllHipHop.com: Are these recipes that you’ve created personally or are they family recipes?
Coolio: It’s kind of weird, I’ve changed all of my family recipes, because my mom used to cook with all of those high cholesterol ingredients and high fat ingredients. So I just took a lot of her basic recipes and added to them. I think my spaghetti is better than hers, and that was one of my favorite things that she cooked. I just made it a little bit better, I just took some of those flavors out that weren’t absolutely necessary and turned the fat and cholesterol meters down and we just came up with some good things.
Then I create as well. It’s all experimentation, it’s just like making music or doing art or making clothes. You do a model, a sample and then you let people try it and you try it. Usually if I like something everybody else is gonna like it, because I’m real critical of food. If I go to a place and buy a meal and it’s not good, I’ll never come there again.
I pick up some concepts from restaurants that I go to, I’ve even went in the kitchen and asked the chef, “What is this? How do you make this?” I’ve had a bit of formal training, I don’t have a diploma or anything, but I almost finished the whole course.
AllHipHop.com: As far as being on tour and on TV sets where you’re in trailers with catered food and in different environments where you’ve probably eaten really bad food over the years, have there been any red flags for you that said, “Hey I need to change the way I’m cooking right now?”
Coolio: Nah, not really, I got a cast iron stomach and a high metabolism and I’m regular. [laughs] My body does its job pretty well, I don’t have ulcers, stomach problems, problems with gas or anything like that. People get older and they start going through that kind of stuff. No high blood pressure or cholesterol, because I stopped eating that way when I was in my early 30’s. When I cook, or when I’m paying for something and I have a choice, I’m eating pretty healthy stuff. I eat my greens and I get it going, it’s pretty easy for me though. I’ve never had a problem with that.
AllHipHop.com: Has anyone influenced you in particular, watching them go through having high blood pressure, diabetes or things like that?
Coolio: No not really. One of the things that influenced me a lot was eating in Italy, and being in Italy for over a month and how they don’t use butter really at all. They use olive oil, so for a lot of dishes I substitute olive, sunflower or peanut oil for butter.
AllHipHop.com: How many episodes did you start out with?
Coolio: We did 10 for the first season.
AllHipHop.com: Would you entertain doing it on television or are you just really adamant about sticking with this plan [on the internet]?
Coolio: Well, I suppose at this point we’re gonna stay on the net because we have a lot of mature content. But if the money’s right and people are gonna make it worth our while, then we’ll take it to network television or to cable. It’s hilarious, but you don’t even realize that you’re watching a cooking show at some points in it. It’s like you’re watching some comedy, but then at the end when you see the finished product you realize, “Damn, he just showed me how to make some s**t! I could use this.”
AllHipHop.com: What are some other ways that people can reduce cholesterol and unnecessary fat when they cook soul food?
Coolio: You can use sugar substitutes. When recipes call for pork or beef, you can use turkey instead. It just depends on what it is you’re cooking, you look at what you’re cooking and say, “Should I use butter here or not? What kind of oil should I use? Should I use pork in my greens or smoked turkey necks?” When it comes to soul food, that’s all you can do.
I don’t do a lot of soul food. I can do soul food, but people know how to cook soul food. The people that don’t aren’t gonna try to cook soul food, they’re gonna go out and buy it from somewhere. Now if you’re talking about somebody that’s just starting out and wants to cook soul food, if they don’t know anybody that cooks it, then yeah, maybe I can give them a few tips, but for the most part I do fusion more or less.
I do Mexitalian, Blasian - which is Black and Asian - like soul rolls. Soul rolls are eggrolls but they got flavor in them. You’ve never tasted an eggroll that will taste like one of my soul rolls. I came up with that because the traditional eggroll with all of the bean sprouts, they never put enough meat in it. I just kind of flipped that whole concept, I still use cabbage, but I just added a few things to it to make it taste better, and then at the same time it’s still healthy.
AllHipHop.com: Are you calorie conscious when you create your works or are you more about watching cholesterol?
Coolio: It depends on who I’m cooking for. We’re starting a catering business - it depends on what the client calls for. One thing that I refuse to substitute is flavor though. If somebody tells me, “I like really bland food” I’m like, “Oh well you need to get another chef or caterer because I refuse to make food without flavor.” Everything I cook is well-done. I don’t cook any meat rare or medium-rare over here. But one thing about my steak is, you don’t need a knife, all you need is a fork.
AllHipHop.com: It’s hard to make buttery soft steak well-done.
Coolio: Most people try to fry their steak. The only way you can do steak on top of the oven and make it get butter soft is by smothering it. Smothering takes away a lot of the flavor as well, especially if you’re not one of those people that likes some really well seasoned foods. It depends on what you like, some people don’t like garlic and onions. I can make stuff and put garlic in it, and you’ll never know - I hide it with another flavor.
AllHipHop.com: I’m sure a lot of people are going to want to tune in and see what you’ve got going on.
Coolio: I would advise people to tune in. Just go to mydamnchannel.com, it actually airs on Monday of next week. I would advise people to check it out, you’re gonna get some insight and laugh your a** off at the same time. Then I’ll give you some ways to look at some old favorites, like caprice salad. That’s pretty basic, but I’ve actually come up with another way to do it that’s not caprice salad anymore, it’s “Coolio Caprice Salad” that’s got kick. Some people like it real plain and they want to taste the flavor of the cheese, that’s what a lot of people are going for. Especially Italians, they just put a little bit of oil on it and that’s it. But I kind of flip it.
The whole premise of my style is to help people be able to go to a regular grocery store, get a two dollar steak and make it taste like a 20 dollar prime rib. That’s my thing right there.
COOKIN' with COOLIO - episode ONE: http://www.mydamnchannel.com/Cookin_with_Coolio/Cookin_with_Coolio/1CoolioCapreseSalad_530.aspx
Posted in
Coolio,
My Damn Channel,
Radio with tags
Coolio,
My Damn Channel,
Radio on 2/12/2008 9:35:00 PM by Rob Barnett
Episode 2 of "Cookin' with Coolio" will debut next Wednesday, Feb. 20.
Our newest My Damn Channel man will be on your dial that morning across the land. Details on the way.
If you're a radio pal & want him on the air email me or Gary@MyDamnChannel.com.
Posted in
Harry Shearer,
Judith Owen,
Music Videos with tags
Judith Owen,
Valentine’s Day on 2/12/2008 10:15:00 AM by Rob Barnett
There's nothing subjective about the music you love. I love Judith Owen.
My Damn Channel is made up of a buncha boys who sometimes get lucky enough to let a real woman in the house. Judith Owen gave you all a little Christmas present with her version of Spinal Tap's "Christmas with the Devil" (featuring husband Harry Shearer on da bass).
She's back with this Valentine's day gift to the DamnNation. "Let's Hear it for Love" is the first digital single from Judith's next album on Courgette Records: MOPPING UP KARMA (due 6/3/08).
http://www.judithowen.net/
Posted in
My Damn Channel,
New Series on 2/10/2008 11:35:00 PM by Rob Barnett
For Immediate Release
MY DAMN CHANNEL LAUNCHES 'HORRIBLE' NEW LINE-UP
Comic Soap Opera, Animated Shorts, and 'Cookin' with Coolio' Premiere Today
Over 13 Million Views for Original 'DAMN' Videos
'Wainy Days' Season 2 Finale Today
NEW YORK, February 11, 2008 - My Damn Channel (
www.MyDamnChannel.com), the entertainment studio and new media platform, today premieres three new reasons to work less and watch more video: "Horrible People," "Cookin' with Coolio," and "Carnival of Stuff." The company also debuts a new look and all-new features designed by Big Fat Brain and built by Reborn Studio.
My Damn Channel's original comedy and music videos have racked up over 13 million views since launching six months ago. The entertainment studio backs professional artists by producing and distributing videos on its own site and in broad syndication on major portals including YouTube (
www.YouTube.com/MyDamnChannel)
My Damn Channel's music destination is led by legendary music producer Don Was. The comedy line-up includes web phenom Andy Milonakis. Viral hits include videos by Harry Shearer (3.5 million views) and Big Fat Brain's "You Suck at Photoshop" (3.6 million views). David Wain's episodic comedy "Wainy Days" has over 4.1 million views and celebrates its second season finale today with episode 20.
"The best talent line-up in the game deliver original new videos every week," said Rob Barnett, president & CEO of My Damn Channel. "We're building a big brand, mass audience and real revenues at a fast pace without any corporate red tape."
Today's premieres include:
"Horrible People" - an evil comic soap opera
Actor and comedian A.D. Miles ("Wet Hot American Summer," "Dog Bites Man") writes, directs and stars in a depraved soap opera, which takes place at a never-ending cocktail party. Kristin Schaal ("The Flight of the Conchords") and Mather Zickel ("Dancing with Shiva") co-star with A.D. Miles. The series is produced by Jonathan Stern, and new episodes will unfold every Monday at lunchtime for 10 weeks of "addictive workus interruptus."
"Cookin' with Coolio" - the name says it all
The award-winning Hip Hop superstar is on a mission to invade your kitchen and create funkalicious dishes every Wednesday at lunchtime. The series is produced by Dead Crow Pictures.
"Carnival of Stuff" - original branded comedy
Carnival of Stuff is the new online channel for Steve Kerper, creator of HBO's cult series "Hardcore TV." "Invasion," the first of two new projects, is an animated series about two small but determined aliens ordered to conquer Earth, with decidedly mixed results. Kerper writes the series which is animated by Asterisk (SNL's TV Funhouse). In March, Kerper and My Damn Channel debut "Bedtime Stories," based on traditional children's fables retold with illustrations in a very provocative way by host Grace Helbig. Carnival of Stuff episodes premiere every Thursday.
About My Damn Channel
My Damn Channel is an entertainment studio and new media platform created to empower filmmakers, actors, comedians and musicians to co-produce, distribute and monetize original, episodic video content. Programming is created for the My Damn Channel site (
www.MyDamnChannel.com) and for distribution on today's most heavily-trafficked online communities and social networks, such as YouTube and MySpace. My Damn Channel gives its artists 100% creative control and produces a diverse array of music and comedy from talent including Harry Shearer, Andy Milonakis, David Wain, Don Was, Coolio, A.D. Miles, Steve Kerper, and Big Fat Brain. The company is supported by an advertising revenue model, and by licensing the studio's entire portfolio of content across all forms of digital distribution, including online, mobile, VOD and DVD.
Media Contact:
Maria Diokno
My Damn Channel
866.424.8864
Maria@MyDamnChannel.com
3 new channels - launch Monday at 4a pt / 7a et
also Monday -- the Season 2 finale of WAINY DAYS
David Wain & a photo of Paul Rudd are in a front page story in tomorrow's Sunday NY Times Arts & Leisure section:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/arts/television/10itzk.html?_r=1&ref=arts&oref=slogin
Day 2 of the NEW look & all new features on My Damn Channel. We added essential items like SEARCH - VIDEO VIEWS - RATINGS - DATE ADDED - VIDEO LENGTHS - and EVERY SHARING FEATURE WE CAN THINK OF.
Go to the Home Page & check out 'THE NOD' - A thousand years ago, Siskel & Ebert scored with their THUMBS UP / THUMBS DOWN movie rating....dumbing down simplicity to a whole new level. You've got your 3 stars & 4 stars - you had your 'GONG SHOW' - your seal of approval - i'm shutting up now....
'THE NOD' is our way & your way - to pick ONE video every day - from anywhere - to get the My Damn Channel Home Page Luv.
Yesterday we launched 'THE NOD' with two friends - Hollywood's best couple - Sarah Silverman & Jimmy Kimmel - with Sarah's candidate for clip of the year: "I'm Fucking Matt Damon." How 'bout that ABC TELEVISION NETWORK -huh? Somebody's growing some steel ones down below.
Today, 'THE NOD' found a YouTube clip by a guy called CRanga. It's a topless/British/NINE MINUTE review of "WAINY DAYS." Put this very HAIRY dude on your calendar for a lunchtime view. Don't think he's trying to be funny - he gets so much, so wrong. Find Hairy Boy on our home page today.
Email your suggestions for THE NOD to: info@MyDamnChannel.com
Monday is the SEASON 2 FINALE of WAINY DAYS!!!
We're still a baby - just six months old - but today's the day we reintroduce ourselves to you.
I'm Rob Barnett. The driving idea behind my company gives musicians, filmmakers, actors and comedians the respect they deserve but rarely get from old media. We built an oasis and a launching pad for our stars to create and distribute original, episodic video series on a network of channels here: www.MyDamnChannel.com. We also send the videos off to YouTube, MySpace and into mass syndication on dozens of key outlets.
It's all free to you & our talent is free of corporate interference. Our artists do what they want. We're trusting them to trust their instincts. We're trusting you to tell us when we're on the money and to attack and slap us around when we suck (at photoshop). When you find clips you like - spread 'em & support the cause.
We call this blog, "The Night Feed," because I'm awake in the middle of every night helping my wife feed our 4 month-old twin babes. I'll steal minutes most nights to keep a dialogue going with you about what this is becoming & to thank you for the chance to co-create, communicate, embrace a little freedom, and dream up a very fun gig.
Tonight marks the launch of a whole new look and functions on My Damn Channel to make it easier to play with us. Mega Gigoonda thanks and respect go to Warren, Big Fat Brain, Reborn, Harry, Don, David, Andy, Steve, Coolio, Miles, Jon, Asterisk, Elan, Dead Crow, Karen, Wheelhouse, Paul, Kate, Matt, Matt, Maria, Brad, Kym, Kim, Jahnavi, Lindsey, Eric, Marc, Gary, John, Elinor & Bernie, Mike & Joan, Joan & Mike, Bob & Ruth, Sue, Julia, Jessie, Dylan, and Sara.
...shutting up now.
| KATIE WARNS WEB WEENIE Post staff writer |
February 4, 2008 -- KATIE Couric is vowing revenge on the Internet joker who posted unflattering videos of her on YouTube. CBS News started a new YouTube chan nel over the weekend for its primary election coverage.But the CBS anchorwoman used the debut to get a little personal with those who make fun of her on the Internet video site."Hello YouTube viewers," she begins. "You know, it's nice to be on YouTube for a change when I know the cameras are rolling."Then, smiling and shaking her finger at the camera she adds: "Harry Shearer, I'm going to get you!"Shearer, a former "Saturday Night Live" cast member and voice on "The Simpsons," is one of the originators of "My Damn Channel," another Internet site that last year posted two videos of Couric talking when she thought the cameras were off. On one tape, she makes fun of her predecessor Dan Rather.
On the most recent one, posted last month, she is seen at the anchor desk on the night of the New Hampshire primary complaining about her clip-on microphone, cursing and joking with her crew about how Rudolph Giuliani's campaign was dead.
http://www.mydamnchannel.com/channel.aspx?episode=367
Both tapes were presumably intercepted from satellite transmissions between CBS and its affiliates and never intended to air on TV.
Couric's retort to Shearer appears to put him on notice that she is watching him - and may try a prank of her own in the future.
email me at Rob@MyDamnChannel.com if you want to see, snack or attack sneak previews of our 3 new channels launching MONDAY FEB 11