we're friends of rocketboom

Where's the Beef? er...I Mean Boobs!?

noreply@blogger.com (friends of Rocketboom) — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 21:39:23 -0600

In addition to quality content, viewers of Rocketboom (mostly their main demographic, young men) are wondering where their daily fix of Amanda-Boobs went. When RB switched over to HD Widescreen, those hormone-crazed teens thought they would get an eye-full in High Def...but today's Rocketboom cropped out the goods! Is Rocketboom finally taking a stand against the objectification of women? Meh, most likely not, I guess Andrew is still just learning how to frame shots in Widescreen... Don't worry boys, I'm sure those ta-ta's will be back before you know it!

"Rocketboom" on CSI

noreply@blogger.com (friends of Rocketboom) — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 09:17:27 -0600

We here at FORB are THRILLED to see that Rocketboom was featured on the CBS Television show CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Our favorite parts:

-Rocketboom is now reporting on local murders from Las Vegas, no longer just Yahoo News from their shoddy apartment with World Map.

-AMANDA'S TA-TAS!!!

-The main character hides the screen from his wife as if watching internet porn.

-"Don't ask the cops, they don't have a clue!" Brilliant acting.

We congratulate the big RB for completely compromising their daily presentation to, again, whore themselves to be on TV. Hurray for you A & A, you're like totally gonna be famous some day.

Ode to RB: The Haikus

noreply@blogger.com (friends of Rocketboom) — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 10:00:07 -0600

amanda congdon
and her stupid fucking map
rocketboom is lame
------------
why's your shirt so tight?
so we can get more viewers
my mouth is moving
------------
watch my cool hair-flip
and the way i toss paper
really bad acting
-----------
riding the vlog wave
our show is on the tv
soon i'll sell shampoo!

Support Rocketboom: Ebay, Ourmedia=Ironic?

noreply@blogger.com (friends of Rocketboom) — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 09:44:06 -0600

We find it wholly ironic that while Rocketboom whores themselves on eBay, Amanda also happens to be the poster child for garnering donations to the community media site (read free server space) Ourmedia. They just all about da Benjamins. Isn't that what Videoblogging is all about though?

Thanks Intel, Thanks TIVO!

noreply@blogger.com (friends of Rocketboom) — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 12:51:00 -0600

source: http://www.dembot.com/007806.html

RBTV

noreply@blogger.com (friends of Rocketboom) — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 08:48:50 -0600

We all knew it was coming. Rocketboom has always denied that they are TV, that they are following the TV model, and that Amanda (an actress) was chosen for her TV-friendly appearance. But now all those things they denied seem to be coming back to the surface. Rocketboom is now officially a TV show! It is their dream come true! Amanda has always wanted to be on TV (she was in a CVS ad and the short-lived show "The Restaurant") and we are sure that Andrew has always dreamed of making RB a cash-crop. Well kids, it is hard to tell as to whether RB is TiVo's bitch (notice all the ridiculous advertising, including a TiVo sweater that Amanda is wearing) or if RB is making TiVo it's bitch by airing it's crappy content.

Any way you look at it, Rocketboom is officially television, something it has tried to be since day one. Congratulations Rocketboom! You have hit the big time by imitating the beast!

p.s.We heard one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse was Rocket and another named Boom.

Intel Whores, The Worst Acting Ever

noreply@blogger.com (friends of Rocketboom) — Fri, 23 Dec 2005 14:20:54 -0600

Intel made Rocketboom the Mexican ambassadors of videoblogging. Huh?
Amanda's acting gets worse by the day, we swear.

Watch out for Telemundo! They'll kick your butt!

P.S. Educating people about videoblogging should not be a contest. WTF does RB know about educating people?

Michael Verdi on Rocketboom

noreply@blogger.com (friends of Rocketboom) — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 14:27:01 -0600

A little snippet from evilvlog of Michael Verdi talking about what RB is like to work on. Interesting.
See original post HERE.

Could This Woman['s Boobs] Drive Broadband?

noreply@blogger.com (friends of Rocketboom) — Tue, 13 Dec 2005 12:46:06 -0600

For all the young male viewers of Rocket Boom, Miss Congdon no doubt drives their "bands" to be "broad". According to this article entitled Could This Woman Drive Broadband TV? :

" Amanda Congdon, an attractive 24-year-old woman who lives in New York, is the star of a new 3-minute mock newscast featured on Rocketboom, a video blogging site. The video broadcast features her comments on daily Internet trends and occasionally politics, which may not sound new nor particularly entertaining."

You're right, it does not sound particularly entertaining. Mock newscast, hmmm, more like mock entertainment. RB features HER comments? No no. These are Andrew's comments. Amanda don't know jack about internet trends and politics. Why should she, she's just the talking head.

"Ms. Congdon's newscast, which is edited on a laptop, costs just $20 an episode to make."

Again, the $20 myth continues...see the real stats BELOW.

"PC owners are willing to watch Ms.Congdon's newscast on their desktops because it's only three minutes long. (And, she's very cute.)"

More and more, articles site Amanda's looks as reason to watch, yet Andrew denies that this was a marketing ploy in her being hired. Just like television, anchors are rarely hired for their academic achievements, but for their looks. Just like on Rocketboom!

NYT don't know Sh*t

noreply@blogger.com (friends of Rocketboom) — Sun, 11 Dec 2005 13:17:15 -0600

This weekend's article in the New York Times about videoblogging entitled TV Stardom on $20 a Day was a fascinating example of how traditional media still doesn't get what videobloggers are doing. First, the article is entitled TV Stardom On $20 A Day, referring, of course to Rocketboom and their supposedly modest financial costs for making a show that just got contracted to play on TiVo. Second, the $20 a day myth needs to be broken. Lets see the real financial model that everyone seems to neglect as truth. Here are the real costs.

Per episode:
Amanda - $50
Server Hosting - $50
Andrew (since he has no other job) - $200 (10hrs X $20/hr)
Tapes, etc - $20 (this is only expense that gets mentioned)
Total = $320 per episode
That's $76,800 a year!

It's no wonder we don't see more regular people producing something like Rocketboom. Who could afford it? The median income for a family of four in New York is only $69,354! Something like Rocketboom could only be the hobby of the privileged few.

Our favorite quotes:

"...it has occurred to Mr. Baron and Ms. Congdon that they just might be sitting on a gold mine. At a cost of about $20 an episode, they reach an audience that some days is roughly comparable in size to that of, say, CNN's late, unlamented "Crossfire" political debate show."

It has occured to them? As if this wasn't the original intent of the show to make money and be on TV? Um, yeah, it occured to them one day in the early morn after a waking from a dream of fame and fortune in the cozy den at Andrew's penthouse in Central Park West.

"What makes Rocketboom so different from most of the other video blogs, or vlogs, that have popped up in the last year or so is that the daily episodes are consistently entertaining."

We here at FORB beg to differ.

"The fact that she is an attractive young woman probably doesn't hurt either."

see post "Introducing Rocket and Boom"

"They won't always like it. It won't always be their cup of tea," Ms.Congdon said, "but they know a lot of times they will and, regardless, I'm not like screaming at them or telling them what to do. I'm kind of just like 'Hey, I'm here - this is what I think is cool.' "

What? "this is what [you] think is cool"? Give us a break.
Second, "I'm not like screaming at them or telling them what to do." Who would be doing those kinds of things Amanda? Would it be those other videoblogs that aren't "consistently entertaining?" Those boring bedroom vloggers, are they screaming and yelling and telling people what to DO? What planet are you people on?

Congrats RB On Becoming a REAL TV Show!

noreply@blogger.com (friends of Rocketboom) — Fri, 09 Dec 2005 21:08:07 -0600

According to this article, Rocketboom will now be available on your Tivo. This means Rocketboom has blossomed into the swan it's always dreamed of becoming, from wooden puppet to real boy, from crappy 320x240 blog entry to a full screen Television show. A true rags to riches story for the rest of the vlogosphere to be proud of and stand, rank and file behind.

According to this email:
(seems Deirdre Straughan has her NYT Weekend Addtion ahead of the Americans)

From this weekend's NYT:
"Giving up no creative control, Ms. Congdon and Mr. Baron will get 50 percent of the revenue from ads sold by TiVo to appear before and after their newscast, and their show will gain access to more than 300,000 TV sets connected to those new TiVo boxes."

TV, Money, Fame, Glory, TV.
Finally they've made it!
Fuck Videoblogging anyway, you can't make money and get famous doing that.

Amanda Defends Her Man

noreply@blogger.com (friends of Rocketboom) — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 20:35:05 -0600

If you didn't already know, Amanda, contradictory to her derogatory quotes about personal videobloggers, has her own personal vlog called Amanda Unboomed. Clever, did Andrew come up with that title?

One of her latest posts is all about defending Andrew from the latest heat he's received and equally dished out (read about it BELOW) on the Videoblogging Yahoo List.

Our favorite quotes from said post:
"If people really knew Andrew, they would know he would never say "I think personal videobloggers are valuable" if he didn't mean it. It's not just something he uses to buffer whatever statement he makes next. He truly believes it. As do I. He likes to critique and discuss and push the envelope and sometimes those discussions turn heated and ugly. That's too bad, because it clouds his true intent."

Poor Andrew can't say what he really means. How is anyone supposed to get to know this guy when it's always Amanda on the show? All he does it get defensive and point fingers on the Yahoo list. If that's getting to know Andrew, count us out.

"My only wish is for us all to be able to exist in harmony. Why is that so hard?"

Rocketboom Rip-Offs Galore!

noreply@blogger.com (friends of Rocketboom) — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 20:14:23 -0600

We all saw it coming and here they are, more and more Rocketboom copy cats that are equally campy and cliche. Both using the same three minute formula with mildly attractive, mildly talented females spouting their lines like spittle from the queue cards.

Check out the hilarious thread on the Videoblogging Yahoo Group about how the new German equivalent of Rocketboom, Ehrensenf, is great (even though 99% of them don't know German) because the girl is smart and pretty.

Christopher Ivanyi says this:
"In watching this show myself, and not understanding a word of it, I find myself asking why do I keep watching it? It must be to a large degree that the host seems hip and smart, but even moreso, she's young, pretty, and female -- an undeniable element to its attraction, in my opinion."

Andrew responds:
"Considering somewhere around half of all of the human beings on the planet are female and probably half or more of those are young and pretty, I don't find this to be enough of an argument for why someone would go there."

Christopher Ivanyi responds:
"It would be interesting to see how popular a show like, let's say, Rocketboom would be if in fact someone else hosted it instead of Amanda -- say someone not smart, hip, pretty and female. These intregal elements to Rocketboom, I daresay, lend to its success. "

Again, we see that Andrew is in deep denial about why he chooses to have a busty, blonde anchor woman for a spokes person--to get an audience. No one cares what she's saying, bro. She could be running around with a bunch of blue, bouncy balls in Central Park, and you'll get 348 comments on how great it is. The funniest thing is that most RB viewers think Amanda produces the show! Hilarious!

Another weekly show taking a shot at the RB format is Rock n Roll TV. Again, we have a blonde female talking about boring shite. Hell, at least she has some attitude.

Introducing Rocket and Boom

noreply@blogger.com (friends of Rocketboom) — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 12:23:06 -0600

Caution: Not for Children or the Faint of Heart.

Thanks to a loyal reader for this submission.

Tearing Andrew A New One

noreply@blogger.com (friends of Rocketboom) — Sun, 20 Nov 2005 23:50:31 -0600

As rabid readers of the Videoblogging Yahoo List, we here at FORB are loving this amusing and rather entertaining thread. Seems that Andrew is getting called on all his Vlogger dissing quotes. Thank goodness it's not just us! There are others who see Andrew for what he is, an arrogant Television producer who looks down on everyone but themselves. Our favorite is when Andrew, as he consistently does, claims that every quote (8 in total thanks to Michael Verdi in this response) is out of context and therefore not what he meant. It never is in context, is it Andrew? So what the fuck are you ever talking about? Who can tell?

Here are some ass kickin' quotes:

Andrew says:
"I would assume Josh that someone could make the claim from looking through your videoblog that, as a whole, your videoblogging activity does not include fair use because your intent is the pursuit of personal celebrity."

Josh Leo responds:
" HaHa!! What does that even mean? "personal celebrity" I guess we have said that instead of our 15 minutes of fame, we are famous to 15 people...is that personal celebrity? I didn't realize I was seeking Celebrity, I was just making friends and sharing my life...hmmm funny stuff"

Michael Verdi says:
"...couldn't someone make a case that Rocketboom is a vehicle to enhance Amanda's personal celebrity thereby hopefully producing offers of acting jobs? It seems to me that you throw around these comments (this one and others in the past) about individuals videoblogging as if what they (we) are doing is less valid, less bloggy, and now, it seems, to advance our own
personal celebrity as if we were some scheming college student trying to get picked for the next Real World cast."

Andrew reponds:
"Yes, in fact that is one of the many elements to what we are doing. There are so many I wont attempt to list them out, but that one."

[oh so he IS finally admiting that Rocketboom IS to get Amanda another acting gig. Like that time she was on the shitty reality show "The Restaurant".]

Michael Verdi says:
"Here's the deal as I see it Andrew, You'll almost always qualify your statements with something to the effect that individual, diary type videoblogging is good and important but then at the same time you say something really
patronizing and dismissive about it which negates the former."

Andrew responds:
"Yes, and once again, even though you rip this all out of context, so be it. I stand behind all of these statements even as fragments. Its absolutely true that the majority of the videobloggers out there, including yourself, are exactly this way - using videoblogging "to share my life and meet new people, to make friends". Personal diaries. Its like Friendster for video and that is great, its how I met most of the friends I have now.

I still wish and anticipate and can't wait to see more applied use of this medium in the world beyond making friends and showing each other their naked bodies and bodily excretions."

Michael Verdi responds:
"Again, dismissive and patronizing. What arrogance."

[glad we're not the only ones who are noticing]

Amanda at the SSA, PRICELESS!

noreply@blogger.com (friends of Rocketboom) — Sun, 20 Nov 2005 17:30:06 -0600

As we mentioned earlier, Amanda was invited to speak at Coronte's Symposium on Social Architecture. First off we'd be damn suprised if Amanda knew what social architecture was let alone a symposium. Secondly, why was she chosen as the spokesperson for Rocketboom? Perhaps because she represents RB in such a positive and intelligent manner.

Our favorite quotes:
"One thing that's been really interesting about Rocketboom...is figuring out with our audience what we are. Because we don't really know how to define ourselves...We come from the standpoint that our viewers are smarter than us...TV really plays to their viewers like they're dumb and we think our viewers are smart. That's one thing that sets us apart from traditional media."

Interesting! So Rocketboom thinks all their viewers are smart? Even viewers with dissenting points of view? Even viewers who leave comments that Andrew doesn't approve of and then deletes?
How about the viewers portrayed in this episode of RB on Friday November 11th? How about viewers who compose an entire blog about their distaste for all things RB, do you think we could suggest a story?
We didn't think so.

footage from Steve Garfield's Videoblog.

Amanda Speaks at a Conference? Why?

noreply@blogger.com (friends of Rocketboom) — Tue, 15 Nov 2005 17:44:31 -0600

We just had to post this again in it's full and infuriating glory (from chris daniel's vlog). Amanda is currently speaking at the Symposium on Social Architecture at Harvard University. It's amazing that the website calls Amanda "founder and host of video blogging show Rocketboom". Founder huh? Wonder how Andrew is taking the news that he no longer founded RB. How can Amanda be asked to speak at a conference when her only job at RB is to read the ink jet printed telepromter sheets and wear a tight shirt? but then again she DID found (find?) Rocketboom!

Kent Bye keeps Andrew Honest

noreply@blogger.com (friends of Rocketboom) — Tue, 15 Nov 2005 17:27:47 -0600

Check out the conversation happening over at The Rocketboom article on TUAW

Comment by Kent Bye of Echochamber Project:

I do think that there's plenty of room for many different types of "videobloggers" / "video podcasters" / "vidcasters" -- however you want to define the differences in these terms.

So I'll have to disagree with Andrew's value judgment when he says that the diary-based vloggers "don't understand the weblog medium very well" just because they don't have "intense, high-level information from experts that parallels the best in field."

This reflects Andrew's niche preferences which are completely subjective and reflected in his personal blogroll and editorial decisions at Rocketboom. The relative value between the inward-focused versus outward-focused videos is dependent upon who is watching -- and what they are looking for from the experience of watching digitally-delivered videos.

Diary-based vlogs happen to be a really great mechanism for building a community beyond your geography. And video may actually be better suited to communicate non-verbally and to show emotions. So it's possible that there's an element from the diary-based vloggers that Andrew "doesn't understand" just yet.

While there is a community that is developing around Rocketboom that obviously makes it "totally" worth it for Andrew and Amanda, their production is geared more towards a mass audience which sets a threshold for how intimately an individual audience member can get to know either of them.

At the same time, I also happen to fully agree with Andrew's desire to "see more people who are interested in a particular field use the medium to show off that expertise."

It's what I'm intending to do with my own videoblog/documentary -- and I look forward for the day where many other domain experts begin to explore how the video and audio mediums can be used for knowledge management and driving rapid innovation.

Response from Andrew of Rocketboom:

Hey Kent, thanks for the comments. I think for your hypothesis you have re-editied two different things that I was saying and spliced them together to make a false inference. :)

When I suggest that most videobloggers "don't understand the weblog medium very well" my reason for saying that is not at all BECAUSE I think videoblogs need to have "intense, high-level information from experts that parallels the best in field."

I suggested that the stereotypical, outspoken videoblogger, tends to entirely reject this second fold of blogging that is thread, or theme oriented.

[a stereotypical videoblogger? there are like 1200 videoblogs, what is the stereotype? oh, it's everyone who isn't Rocketboom.]

They define videoblogging as being ONLY personal diary-oriented. They can't seem to grasp how Rocketboom could be a videoblog, even though aside from having so much of the similar back-end structure and deliver mech. of a weblog, the content is about other blogs, bloggers and the stuff we find from links around the net. I find that the stereotypical viewpoint of rejecting a theme or a thread is missing half of the picture of weblogs.

[Ok, so Andrew, you think "personal" videobloggers don't get that videoblogs can have themed content and a thread, therefore not fully understanding the web log medium. Though a lot of "personal diary" videobloggers have a great theme...themselves! The thread? It's them! Imagine that. An individual could be interesting and dynamic enough to have ideas that are compelling and attract loyal viewers! We don't think anyone disputes that Rocketboom is a videoblog. Video on a blog using RSS etc for subscription. Case Closed. We deem Rocketboom a videoblog! It happens to suck, but it's a videoblog, sure.]

Here was the exact quote:
"I would argue (the personal diary ones) don't understand the weblog medium very well. They assume it's all personal or "down to earth" or something."

In otherwords, they only see half the picture. To me this is the opposite extreme of journalists who say bloggers are always in pajamas.

[Ah! Lets re-visit our favorite Amanda quote:
"We wanted to have a creative video blog that would be palatable," she says. "A lot of the video blogs out there are by someone in their bedroom, half-awake. Mainstream America is not going to want to watch that. We wanted to get people watching stuff online, to get people interested in this new medium."]

Cheers!

[Cheers...indeed]

Blonde Anchor Women: Not just for Rocketboom anymore!

noreply@blogger.com (friends of Rocketboom) — Tue, 08 Nov 2005 17:55:06 -0600

As you may have noticed there are several sites a lot like Rocketboom, they even copy RB's anchor woman. Pictured above are MoBuzzTV's Katrina and Tiny-Tube's Joan. Why pick a blonde, caucasian anchor woman for all these TV like shows? Hell, it's the eye candy status quo that's why. Were these actresses chosen for their talent and their senses of humor? Seeing as how none of them have any of that with or without their scripts, probably not. Was it because they look like a model that mostly techie dudes would watch daily? YEP! It ain't no crime to have a good looking, busty blonde delivering your daily techie gossip. The crime lies in the denial of fans and creators that this is their conscious method of delivery. Andrew Baron says that Amanda was chosen from hundreds of actresses for the part because of her talent. Seeing as how she has very little actual talent, we're going to wager that it was her chest, long blonde hair, white skin and geeky fake glasses chosen to get the dudes hooked. Not convinced? Well, the 100,000 or more downloads of the RB seem to get the copy cats saying "We need a blonde chic with some forced spunk to deliver our scripts too!" Just like television baby, it's effective marketing. A talking model will get the number of viewers up every time. Why no black or Latino women? Because who would watch the goddamn show then? What about Zadi Diaz, who is Latino, from Brooklyn and is now an RB correspondent after moving to LA? She's a damn talented editor, gorgeous reporter, bilingual and smart as hell. But she ain't the anchor woman and she never will be. Why? Because she's brown, baby. This ain't her demographic, sugar. Who does your audience want to see? A busty blonde like on TV...

Rocketboom T-shirts: A better version, OURS

noreply@blogger.com (friends of Rocketboom) — Sun, 06 Nov 2005 22:08:52 -0600

theirs (boring, predictable)

ours (hott! what people are there to see!)

thanks to one of our loyal fans for the pict.

After One Year RB has a links Page!

noreply@blogger.com (friends of Rocketboom) — Sun, 06 Nov 2005 15:13:13 -0600

Andrew Baron announced on the Videoblogging Yahoo list that Rocketboom will now have a page of community links. Rocketboom has been in production since November 2004 and only links to community sites when they're mentioned on that day's show, which, mind you, is rare. Way to go RB! It's about time!

Shows

noreply@blogger.com (friends of Rocketboom) — Sat, 05 Nov 2005 02:35:47 -0600

Watch the Video

Follow the RocketBoom model, which subsequently follows the TV model...Make a SHOW!

Rocketboom : The Potential of Videoblogs!

noreply@blogger.com (friends of Rocketboom) — Fri, 04 Nov 2005 20:34:17 -0600

Traditonal media has a love hate relationship with Rocketboom. They love them because they're a lot like them: no original writing, recycled content, using actors to deliver stories via teleprompter etc. On the other hand, they hate Rocketboom because they see it as the FUTURE of broadcasting where viewers can download content 24/7 and have cooler commericials that are handpicked by producers like Baron. If that's true, and RB is our future... the future is looking mighty dim.

From an article in Business Week Online-

"These are the early days of video blogging. Most of the postings on the Web are rough and tedious -- little more than home movies. But the success of Rocketboom and a few sites like it underscore the potential of video blogs."

See? They just don't get it. Rocketboom is not the future. Rocketboom is stale to begin with. Using a TV model of recycling little stories and having a blonde anchor woman deliver them. OH but it's on the web! Brilliant.

We here at FORB grace you with a few words from the ever poignant, Amanda-
"This is something so innovative, I wouldn't want to stop doing it," she says. "I feel almost as if we could end up in history books."

Yep, going down in history as a trite tv show on the web....

Our favorite quote? A little slice of truth from momentshowing's Jay Dedman-
"Once Andrew can figure out a business model that other people can copy, we will have a thousand Rocketbooms," says Jay Dedman, co-founder of the pioneering Videoblogging.info community group.

And we won't subscribe to any of them.

Rocketboom to TUAW

noreply@blogger.com (friends of Rocketboom) — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 17:15:28 -0600

The Unnoficial Apple Weblog interviewed Andrew Baron (the creator/producer of Rocketboom) and he gave us all an interesting insight into the world of video blogging:

"Andrew: This gets to the reason why most videobloggers, I would argue (the personal diary ones) don't understand the weblog medium very well."

Well I guess we all have a thing or two to learn before we can be just like Rocketboom!

Rocketboom : Eat up you boring, bedroom vloggers!

noreply@blogger.com (friends of Rocketboom) — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 17:05:52 -0600

"We wanted to have a creative video blog that would be palatable," she says. "A lot of the video blogs out there are by someone in their bedroom, half-awake. Mainstream America is not going to want to watch that. We wanted to get people watching stuff online, to get people interested in this new medium."

-the ever poignant Amanda Congdon from this AP article