Web video might be all the rage now, but I’ve been doing it for TEN YEARS. I know – I’m as amazed as you! I first hit the streets in January in the year 2000, and my very first bit was asking people what an mp3 was. AND MOST PEOPLE DIDN’T KNOW. I did it [...]

One of the things I like to do on my vaguely-alternative news show here is to try something for the first time, ever, out on camera. Kind of like those dumb reporters who get tazed whenever the police taze someone. I won’t be doing THAT anytime soon!
One thing I had never, ever done until I [...]

I often have this same thought over and over and over again. When I read a quote from Giovanni Francesco Gemelli Careri’s Voyage du Tour du Monde (1719) on the first page of Neal Stephenson’s The Confusion (2004), it made me want to video-ize the thought. Here’s the quote: “So great is the dignity and [...]

I am not a fan of pole dancing. I went to a strip club exactly once in my life, and that was more than enough. It wasn’t my catholic guilt/prudishness that made me recoil in disgust at the experience; it was the extreme sadness I felt for humanity that overcame me while watching these naked [...]

One of my pieces for RT – what lengths are you willing to go to in order to ensure safe air travel? Personally, I don’t mind a full-body scanner. It’s the people with BABIES who hold up the lines that I have a problem with.

One of the great things about living in New York City is that you’re constantly exposed to amazing people. It’s really freaking hard to live in a city where just getting your groceries home can involve almost getting run over, getting in arguments with people, and having your arms go numb from carrying all that [...]

One of my pieces for RT. Do you think illegal immigrants should be given amnesty in the US? And considering how the whole healthcare issue has gone down, how do you think the Obama administration will handle the immigration issue?

Man, do I HATE New Year’s Resolutions. I don’t need to tell you why, though, right? I mean, you KNOW it’s because it’s very dull to make a promise to change your lousy behavior just because of our arbitrary calendar, and it’s even duller of you to believe you will actually STICK to it. Clearly, [...]

This year’s Christmas Spectacular is dedicated to the one and only Reverend Billy Talen, whose movie “What Would Jesus Buy?” inspired me to go out and ask people just that. Every year around New York City, there are these Christmas markets where people hawk ridiculous items in hopes that people will buy them as Christmas [...]

Governments everywhere are getting ready to tax soda pop. They call it a “sin tax,” as in a tax on something SINFUL. Now, I’ve always been of the opinion that cigarettes are fair game for taxation to the highest degree. I think the government should be able to slap a tax of anything they want, [...]

I had the pleasure of sitting down for an interview with Mr. Dave Hill recently. He rules. You can check him out here. Special thanks to Lucky 13 for allowing us to drink and shoot in their fine establishment. He’s my favorite person to follow on Twitter, too!
Listen to what others have to say about [...]

I like to talk about religion and/or spirituality on this show a lot, don’t I? I can’t help it, though, because these topics are on my mind a lot. So the idea in this video just popped into my head the other day when I was walking down a street in New York. Just, wham! [...]

One of my pieces for RT: Do you think climate change is real, or is a conspiracy?

For some reason, I was asked to participate in this year’s New York’s Funniest Reporter contest, and for some reason I AGREED TO DO IT. I’ve never done stand up in my life! But by watching this video, you’d never know it. I mean, I’m a total PRO! Just listen to those finely-tuned punchlines! Watch [...]

I really do try to embrace change when it comes, no matter how hard that might be at times. Right now, there seems to be a change in our pop culture that’s super-easy for me to welcome with open arms. That change is a cultural shift in what is popular and what is smeared across [...]

If after watching this video you wonder, who could possibly care about whether or not people call the U.S. “America,” let me answer: A lot of nutters on the internet who continuously email me about it. Seriously! I didn’t just invent this issue. If after watching this video you wonder, how could The Resident, a [...]

A piece of mine for RT: Should civilians be allowed to own and/or carry guns in a society?

Bringing it back to my roots here, folks! Is porn a good or bad force in our society? This is the question I asked people on the streets recently, and let me tell you the answers were as varied as the kinds of porn out there. I mean, not that I would KNOW. I just [...]

In New York City, it is illegal to smoke in restaurants, bars, and work places. AND my apartment. As a non-smoker, I love being able to go into a restaurant now and not reek of cigarettes. Especially as I grew up reeking of cigarettes. Both of my parents smoked it up in my house, and [...]

There are a lot of charities out there who do lots of amazing, great work. Sometimes, though, it’s hard to know exactly what a charity does or where your money is going. That’s not the case with Charity Water, whose mission it is to get clean drinking water to the one billion people on the [...]

The US of A has gone absolutely bonkers over healthcare. Man! What is the deal? People are totally up in arms over it! Is it because healthcare is a highly personal, important issue in people’s lives? I can relate to that. I mean, my insurance coverage is just AWFUL, absolutely, 100% rotten. I pay so [...]

Yes, so, to recap: lots of people are angry with NYC’s current mayor, Mike Bloomberg. So much so that many unconventional characters are coming out to to run against him. One such man is the Reverend Billy Talen, an anti-consumerism pastor/performace artist who completely rules. He has a movie out called “What Would Jesus Buy,” [...]

Hey folks! You might not live in New York City, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the Naked Cowboy’s run for the office of mayor here. A little history: Our current mayor is billionaire businessman, Michael Bloomberg. Many people feel he bought his seat, considering how much money he spends on advertising for his [...]

This is really cool. The Water Pod is a barge floating around New York City where a handful of artists work and live completely autonomously. That is, they filter their own water, grow their own food, and barter for anything else they might need with services or other goods. The residents of the Water Pod [...]

Ok he’s not TECHNICALLY dead. Does make a nice title though, eh? Here’s the skinny on the title, an excerpt from the CounterTerrorism Blog: In a 12 minutes address via an audio tape, al Qaeda’s chief, Osama bin Laden, spoke to the American people on the eighth anniversary of 9/11. The tape was produced by [...]

This one is self-explanatory, really.

This one goes out to Casey Williamson, who figured this out well before me. What is this, you ask? It’s the fact that I am doing MORE than my part in reducing my carbon footprint by not having kids. Which makes total sense, don’t you think? Right from the get-go, new people are a mess [...]

I admit it, I watch terrible reality TV shows. A lot. I watch them and I point and the screen and laugh in disgust, all the while appreciating the fact that these people will disappear into oblivion any minute but right now they think they are the shit. They do disgusting things on TV for [...]

I’m not sure I’ve ever told you guys this, but I was raised Catholic. I went to Catholic school and everything, can you believe it? Maybe that’s why I basically went bananas in college in terms of bad behavior. I had been a goody-goody all my life, so I lived my teenage rebellion in my [...]

I’m pretty sure everyone has asked themselves that question at some point or other, right? Everything just seems to be going wrong and you can’t catch a break and one more stupid thing happens and you look to the heavens, shake your fists, and ask, Why me? This happened to me recently when I was [...]

The news is dying. Have you heard? A slow, innocuous-wound-looking-yet-still-fatal kind of death. The kind of death where you think the bullet only glanced through meaningless cartilage yet really severed a key artery kind of death. That’s a poetic way of saying: NEWS! You’re really going to die. No suture is going to save you. [...]

Years ago I did a video called “Why People Hate the USA” and it got grillions of hits because a lot of people DO hate the USA, and a lot of people mistook me for one of them. Which, if you watch the video and my own response to it, is not the case. However, [...]

t’s been a while since I covered just a flat-out annoying trend, and a verbal one at that. And there is a new one on the scene that just about kills me, so here you go: a new I-hate-this-trend video for you to enjoy. The worst part about it for me is how indicative it [...]

For years, you guys have been asking me to cover the legalization of marijuana in the US as an issue. I haven’t done it yet because to me, it all seems very obvious. Weed is illegal because of money. It HAS to be. There is no other good explanation. And I think it SHOULD be [...]

So I took a trip over to the Green Manufacturing Expo at the Jacob Javits Center recently, only to learn that the expo was only one teeny, tiny part of a general manufacturing expo, where going green was hardly the trend. There was a ton of medical supplies, robotics, and more teeny, tiny pieces of [...]

For those of you who are new here, a little personal background: my dad died of cancer not too long ago. I talked about it publicly, which resulted in a lot of people sharing their cancer stories, well wishes, and words of wisdom. It was really great to hear from people who have gone through [...]

Confession time. I watch inordinate amounts of bad, bad TV. My DVR is chock filled with Celeb-reality awfulness, prime-time network schlock, late-night cop shows, you name it. TV has always been my favorite medium, aside from books. Give me sixty minutes of idiocracy over a two-hour dramatic movie any time. I like my entertainment to [...]

A piece of mine for RT: What’s the difference between political protestors, and rioters? Is all in the eye of the beholder?

I attended the 140 Conference, an event to teach companies, brands, and Internet celebrity wannabes how to use Twitter to pimp themselves. Founder Jeff Pulver positions Twitter as a reflection of how the Internet is becoming a medium of “the now”, meaning it’s coming to life in real-time. The conference took place in a theater, [...]

This video might be funny, and it might contain some social commentary, but I’m filing it under personal videos because I’m so pissed off at people and their crappy email etiquette that it has become, indeed, quite personal. I have friends that think they’re too cool to spend time being considerate in their email replies. [...]

I just read this article online, and it reminded me how annoying our culture can be. Rose Hoare from Stuff.Co.Nz writes: Madonna and Gucci on the United Nations’ lawn. Backstreet Boys’ Kevin Richardson and Elmo on Capitol Hill. Lionel Richie, Angelina Jolie, Sharon Stone at the World Economic Forum. Some of the world’s most troubled [...]

A piece of mine for RT: Who’s afraid of Kim Jong-il? Should we be afraid of him, because he’s going to blow up the world? Or should we not be afraid of him, because he’s a looney tune that’s just acting like a baby throwing a fit? Personally I’ve never met the man so I [...]

Who gets to say who’s a bad guy and who’s a good guy? That has always bugged me. So this week I used the story of North Korea’s nuclear tests to discuss the issue. I read an article online from the BBC that  featured reactions to the testing from people in neighbouring China, Japan and [...]

I get to meet all kinds of interesting people and do all kinds of interesting things in my line of work, and this week was no exception. This week, I got to hang with the one and only Josh Emett, who’s basically Gordon Ramsay’s right-hand man in the kitchen. The man can cook. He also [...]

There are so many things wrong with cars, let’s face it. Environmentally, socially, economically, all of it – all downsides when it comes to cars. I mean, I get that they are cool examples of what mankind can make. And I do appreciate that. But just as like, one-off examples, not as something that a [...]

A piece of mine for RT: How does the media choose what they are going to cover, and who chooses it, and doesn’t it seem like they all collectively decide to cover the SAME thing at once, no matter how much is going on in the world?

A piece of mine for RT: Who’s afraid of swine flu, and should they be?

This week, the whole world went kosher, avoiding bacon and ham like it was the plague! Because the mass media basically told them it was! Here’s the skinny on swine flu so far – very few people have died, most infected people recover as you would from a FLU, and occurrences have been few and [...]

I had the privilege of sitting down recently with Daniel Pinchbeck, author and all around genius who’s an expert on the the apocalyptic theories surrounding the year 2012. For quite a while now, people have been writing in and asking me to cover 2012, and I never knew what it was about other than something [...]

I went to check out this year’s Auto Show at the Javits Center, and I didn’t really know what to expect. I’ve gone in previous years to check out the splashy booths, million-dollar concept cars, and other general monuments to consumerism. This year, though, with the economy going to the crapper and the ridiculous sums [...]

A piece of mine for RT: When do nude pictures stop being artistically graceful, and become obscene?

So, I know this amazingly talented clown named Chalupa. She’s been hard at work, perfecting her craft of being a clown, for about 40 years now. When I heard that Ringling Brothers were holding clown auditions, I told her immediately to go try out. So, she did. And of course, being the great clown correspondent [...]

So for years, I’ve been saying how much I hate MySpace. But I had the damn account for years because everyone told me I HAD to have one for The Resident. OK ok ok. Fine. I gave it an honest whirl,  I really did, but honestly I hated that site from day one. The design, [...]

A piece of mine for RT: It’s been ten years since NATO began bombing the former Yugoslavia. So I tried to find where public opinion stands on the streets of the city.

So, for you young-uns out there who might not know this, there used to be a recurring segment on Saturday Night Live called “Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy.” If you’ve never heard of them, look them up, as they are hilarious. And if you have heard of them or had the pleasure of watching them [...]

I’m probably going to get a lot of crap for promoting Ron Paul right now, but getting a lot of crap from people I’ve never met face to face has never stopped me before right? So I supported Barack Obama for President in 2008 and not Ron Paul for a wide variety of reasons, none [...]

I attended VideoNuze’s Broadband Video Leadership Evening to find out what some high-powered executives in the entertainment industry make of broadband video, and I have to say it wasn’t as dull as all that sounds. It does help that I’m hopelessly geeky, of course, but really – I saw some cool people in the audience [...]

A piece of mine for RT: Bernard Madoff has already appealed his sentence and is now seeking release until he is sentenced. I find out what the people of New York think about the fraudster’s plea.

Before I begin, let me just say that I have a lot of sympathy for people who have been directly affected by the economic crisis, into which the whole people who have been directly affected by the economic crisis, into which the whole world seems to have plummeted. I myself am feeling the pinch, surely, [...]

A piece of mine for RT: As the global meltdown deepens, people’s attitudes towards money is changing. I took to the streets of New York to find out whether the Big Apple believes in the dollar’s bright future.

Yes, this Resident played with Barbies. So when I heard that Bloomingdale’s was having a special Barbie’s 50th Anniversary Display, I had to check it out to relive some of my fondest Barbie memories. Man, I was NOT disappointed! So in this video, clearly all the memories are fake. The names, though, are not. When [...]

One of my pieces for RT: Should Iran be able to build a nuclear program? Who’s to say who can have one and who can’t, anyway?

One of pieces for RT: With almost $US 800 billion to stimulate the economy, many wonder if the US government can be trusted to spend the money wisely.

From The Center for Disease Control’s (CDC’s) Website: Health insurance coverage improves access and quality of medical care and can contribute to the overall health of Americans. According to 2005 data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and the National Hospital Ambulatory Care Survey, 14.8% (43.6 million) of Americans are uninsured. 19.8% (36.5 million) [...]

One of my pieces for RT: As the U.S. plans to increase troops deployed to the war in Afghanistan – a war with seemingly no end – some still feel quite belligerent and doubtful whether it’s worth even talking to the Taliban.

If you’re wondering why I’ve been a big ball of fluffy fun lately, it’s because I haven’t. I’ve been doing weekly serious news pieces for RT – an English-speaking TV network that broadcasts globally and is awesome – where I cover that week’s most pressing global news story. That, in addition to doing another weekly [...]

If you’re wondering why I’ve been a big ball of fluffy fun lately, it’s because I haven’t. I’ve been doing weekly serious news pieces for RT – an English-speaking TV network that broadcasts globally and is awesome – where I cover that week’s most pressing global news story. That, in addition to doing another weekly [...]

So, this year I visited Comic Con for a little grassroots news coverage. Hm. Let’s see. Lots of people dressed up in funny outfits, geeking out on video games, comic books, and lots of tech stuff. And me, unleashed on them. It’s a win-win right there, folks! So I donned my Super Resident costume, grabbed [...]

This week, I visited the International Gift Fair at the Jacob Javits Center, where suppliers displayed their wares to potential retailers. Basically, people who make things set up a booth in hopes that people who own shops will attend the convention and order lots of the things for their stores. So, imagine this: 3 floors [...]

This week, I went to visit another miracle on the Hudson, The Intrepid Museum of Sea, Air, and Space. Opened in 1982, the Museum is centered on the aircraft carrier Intrepid (CVS-11), one of the most successful ships in US history, and now a national historic landmark. In 1943, Intrepid was commissioned and served proudly [...]

For this alternative news video, the good people at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City were kind enough to give me a private tour of the Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth, and I was kind enough to repay them by questioning all their scientific knowledge, beliefs, and general credibility. Why? Because [...]

I had the privilege of sitting down with the esteemed Naked Cowboy recently for a grassroots interview…in his shiny, pimp Escalade, parked in a garage in Times Square underneath the MTV building. You see, that’s where he changes out of his street wear and into his Naked Cowboy uniform: underwear with The Naked Cowboy written [...]

After 8 years of doing my show, I thought it was time to share some outtakes and bloopers. And what a better time to do it than the holidays, right? Usually for my Christmas Spectacular I like to hit the streets and cause some Christmas-y mayhem, but this year I thought some bloopers might make [...]

In this political video, I hit the street to ask the good people of Brooklyn what change specifically they expect President Obama to bring. Some people had good, solid answers that seem feasible. Some people just had colossal expectations short only of the Second Coming. And those people will be greatly disappointed, I’m afraid. I [...]

President Barack Obama ran on a platform of change. It’s been a month since he was elected, and though he hasn’t even taken office yet, the world – led by the media – is already demanding to see this change. This is annoying to me, so I thought it was time for some political commentary. [...]

It’s the holidays, people. I am taking the week off. But I still thought I might try to make you laugh with this funny video. Because what’s better to help you digest Thanksgiving Turkey than watching someone punch someone else hard in the face?

This is some classic alternative news reporting right here for you. I thought I’d hit the streets to ask people how they are handling the global economic recession, and the responses I got were a whole lotta fun. Most people are starting to cut back in sensible ways, like going out to eat less or [...]

Since Obama’s landslide victory, I have received lots of incredibly racist, hate-filled, ignorant emails, comments, and messages for my political videos. There have been a few emails that were so filled with hate and rage, they sounded like the works of a terrorist. Hey, racist guy that emailed me that apocalyptic diatribe. Guess what? Terrorists [...]

The economy is slowly or swiftly tanking, depending on your income level. No matter what your bracket, though, there’s a good chance you’re starting to feel…well…broke. Personally, I don’t think John McCain or Barack Obama have any idea how to fix the problem just yet. so instead of spending another minute hounding them for an [...]

How is it legal to inflate the value of homes, property, or other assets to the point where a market downswing would mean the disappearance of trillions of dollars? To me, that sounds like nothing more than the behavior of someone with a gambling problem. Except this addict just happens to be a collection of [...]

This is a fun political video if I do say so myself. No one would deny this is a pivotal election year in the United States. Since each American has to choose which candidate gets his or her vote, you’d think our media would focus on presenting helpful information to inform citizens’ voting preferences for [...]

Go green. Environmentally friendly. Eco-conscious. Environmentally sound. Environmentalism. Our culture is on this social responsibility bandwagon, folks, and there is no getting out of it at this point. Now, I personally believe that we all should be better inhabitants with cleaner habits. I never litter, and I always make my bed. I’m generally a neat [...]

At the start of this summer, I took a break from my web talk show and went to Cozumel, Mexico, where I stayed at the house of a friend for 10 perfectly awesome days. While I was there, I made sure to check out as much of the local culture and favorite places as possible, [...]

So gem66meg brought up the topic of the death penalty again on the Residential Forum, and it reminded me that it was a social and cultural issue I had been meaning to cover in a political video. Thanks, Gemmeg! Then, I read this story, which is essentially it is about a guy on death row [...]

I lost my father to cancer last year, and it sucked. Before then, I did not know what it was like to not only lose someone, but to lose someone to a disease that kills them slowly, painfully, while all you can do is watch. Not fun. Since it happened, more and more people that [...]

As the US plummets into an economic recession, many bad side effects are being felt by all: the higher cost of gasoline and oil is translating to a higher cost of everything. This sucks. But, I can’t help but wonder: is there a glaring positive side to this social issue for our culture and society, [...]

This episode of my web talk show is a little bit different: I had two of my favorite artists sit down to interview each other on the state of art in our culture and society today. Meet Tomato from the rock band, The Sound of Urchin, and Adam Lough, the director/writer of “Bomb The System,” [...]

A tree now grows in Brooklyn…because of me (and these people). That’s right: Watch this little online video to see me plant a tree in Brooklyn, and then try to tell me that I’m not environmentally awesome! So, yes. I do believe in everyone on the planet being a little more aware of how our [...]

Coney Island rules. The Cyclone might be the scariest rollercoaster ever. Enjoy a ride with me, eh?

Here’s a little political commentary for you: Am I the only American who is sick of the Presidential Election race for 2008? I mean, it’s really an amazing year, a great political and cultural opportunity for our country: we are finally getting rid of our crappy President, George W. Bush. AND we might have an [...]

One of the names people like to call me on social networking sites, which I find extremely irritating, is a feminist. Why does this bother me? Isn’t feminism a good thing? I mean, it’s basically a social responsibility movement bent on giving men and women should have equal social, political, and economic rights (Texas accent [...]

I generally never watch sporting events on TV, whch is why I rarely talk about sports on my web talk show. I like to check out a live game/match/meet now and then, especially if beer and bad food is being served and it’s 80 degrees out. But that’s about as far as my mainstream sports-watching [...]

I’ve never had an abortion, so I have kind of removed or hypothetical political commentary on this one. If you were to ask me hypothetically if I would get one, I could hypothetically say no, I can’t imagine myself ever being able to go through with it. But the real answer is how the hell [...]

If you’re watching this bit o’ social humor web talk show, chances are you have an online name, or a handle. And I’m hoping you’ve signed up here with yours to share your two cents o’ social commentary on all the stuff we yap about over in these here woods. Have you ever come across [...]

See “Prejudice” for the inspiration for this li’l social responsibility video. But this little social humor video is basically me asking people what they are prejudice about, and them actually responding and quite easily ‘fessing up to their cultural –ism of choice. That to me broke one of my preconceived notions. I thought for sure [...]

If you’ve tooled around this site for a page or two, you’ve probably picked up that I have a liberal viewpoint, that I’m an open-minded, countercultural kind of girl concerned with social issues. Low on the bad –isms, like ageism, sexism, and racism. That is to say, I don’t hold much prejudice against pretty much [...]

May 2008 marks Israel’s 60th Birthday. So I figured it was a good time to do a political video to get a handle on the history of the conflict between Israel and Palestine and learn why it’s such a social, religious, and cultural hotbed. Here’s an interview with One Voice’s Darya Sheikh, who offers a [...]

People be getting down on PEOPLE, yo. Admittedly, I get down on people a lot, too. For their trashing the planet, for their stupid trend-following sheeple ways, for the way they get down on each other…but at the end of the day, I think humanity is pretty awesome, yo. So this one is for YOU, [...]

I absolutely love a good steak now and then. Now, it’s become a social responsibility issue, though, this eating of the steak. Here are some facts about how crappy the Livestock Industry is for the environment (with the US being the biggest meat-eating country on the planet, no less): Livestock now use 30 percent of [...]

We can all thank Bonnie Fuller now on my little web talk show here. Let’s all just stand up and give this woman a big, fat, sarcastic round of applause please. If you don’t know who she is, she is the woman responsible for the proliferation of glossy gossip magazines and paparazzi culture we have [...]

We all know life is pretty short, right? And those of us that don’t, well: they’ll find out soon enough. With my short time on the planet, it seems like the most I can hope for is to make some positive difference through social commentary, alternative, news coverage, or other counterculture efforts before I check [...]

One of the biggest social issues relief organizations face in the critical early hours after a disaster occurs – natural or manmade - is coordinating efforts with other organizations. Despite a growing rate of natural and man-made catastrophes, the main tool for rescue organizations in our culture remains the pen/paper combo. Enter Global Relief Technologies (GRT), [...]

People in our society are so convinced that there are sentient beings out there beyond our planet that they’ve developed conspiracy theories, religions, and millions-of-dollars-grossing movie franchises about them. Personally, I haven’t given aliens or UFOs much thought. I haven’t had any personal experience with them. And I don’t feel like we’ll be any match [...]

People in our society are so convinced that there are sentient beings out there beyond our planet that they’ve developed conspiracy theories, religions, and millions-of-dollars-grossing movie franchises about them. Personally, I haven’t given aliens or UFOs much thought. I haven’t had any personal experience with them. And I don’t feel like we’ll be any match [...]

Here’s the facts behind the countercultural medical controversy known as stem cell research: stem cells are basically undifferentiated cells capable of dividing and differentiating into loads of different cell known as stem cell research: stem cells are basically undifferentiated cells capable of dividing and differentiating into loads of different cell types: heart, lung, liver, brain, [...]

Here’s the facts behind the countercultural medical controversy known as stem cell research: stem cells are basically undifferentiated cells capable of dividing and differentiating into loads of different cell known as stem cell research: stem cells are basically undifferentiated cells capable of dividing and differentiating into loads of different cell types: heart, lung, liver, brain, [...]

I don’t know if it’s only my good fortune or what, but a lot of people write in to my web talk show and try to convert me to people write in to my web talk show and try to convert me to their religion. Isn’t that awesome? No. It’s not. Please, everyone who does [...]

This is a really personal video, k? So be gentle with your commentary. K? So, I recently lost a loved one to a very mean and ugly disease. It rocked my world. I’d like to say that I consider myself privileged overall, though, to have made it this far in life and to only be [...]

This is some serious political commentary here now, aight? I’ve never even hit someone. Have you? Have you ever taken your hand, balled it into a fist, pulled it back with all your might, and then let it power forward into another human being’s body, causing them physical pain? It hasn’t even occurred to me [...]

I won’t pretend to know all the information, ins, and outs of the United States of America’s situation with Iraq and all the social, cultural, political, and financial reasons we’re at war with them right now for the sake of this political video. I consider myself a pretty informed human, but the bottom line is [...]

So there are a lot of people who oppose same-sex marriages in this society of the United States of America. They feel that same-sex relations are a cultural abomination, that only one man and one woman should be together. They think same-sex marriages are some crazy countercultural devils. At least that’s part of the political [...]

A brand-new name for me. Thanks, Puffy/P-Diddy/Daddy-o!

This is a pretty fun one, but still a social responsibility study nonetheless. See? Studying CAN be fun! Basically, I think the word “hate” is overused in our popular culture today, especially when paired, as the verb, to the subject, “I”. The overuse of the word hate has kind of sucked the meaning out of [...]

The meaning of a person’s life is a very individual kind of thing, just like the person his or herself. So I’m not going to try to ascribe a meaning that is right for all humankind here in this personal video. That would be dumb. I try not to be dumb, though sometimes it doesn’t [...]

Success is a social issue. A lot of people define it in a lot of different ways in our culture. Some people equate it with financial success. Ok I think a LOT of people do that. And I think that’s kind of lame, which was the impetus behind my choosing Success as a topic for [...]

I hit the streets of New York City for my web talk show to ask this very question: why the hell aren’t you doing what you said you wanted to when you were a kid? How do dreams die so easily in our culture? Why do people give up on what they want? I think [...]

I totally remember life before cell phones. You couldn’t call someone to let them know you were on your way but would be 10 minutes late; you couldn’t call someone from the grocery store to see if they needed you to pick something up; no one could reach you until you were at a location [...]

A lot of people have a tough time with change in their lives; they get all nice and comfy with the way their routines are and change just musses them up. Not me. I generally love change in my personal life, because change is an opportunity to make improvement. That’s why I like this here [...]

I’m going to play my own devil’s advocate here on this social responsibility tip, because I can. So bear with me. We all know the importance of education in society at large. It’s not some radical liberal cause here or anything: both conservatives and liberals will agree. The basics of it are simple: the more [...]

I’m going to play my own devil’s advocate here on this social responsibility tip, because I can. So bear with me. We all know the importance of education in society at large. It’s not some radical liberal cause here or anything: both conservatives and liberals will agree. The basics of it are simple: the more [...]

The meaning of a person’s life is a very individual kind of thing, just like the person his or herself. So I’m not going to try to ascribe a meaning that is right for all humankind here in this personal video. That would be dumb. I try not to be dumb, though sometimes it doesn’t [...]

So here we are, in a new millenium, and many people still feel like homosexuality is a cultural abomination. A choice to give in to devil-driven sexual impulses. At least, that’s the political commentary over it here in the US. Amazing, right? The REALLY amazing thing is that a lot of those people even have [...]

People were bananas when I posted this one on YouTube.

This is a pretty funny video, but still a sociological study nonetheless. See? Studying CAN be fun! Basically, I think the word “hate” is overused in our culture today, especially when paired, as the verb, to the subject, “I”. The overuse of the word hate has kind of sucked the meaning out of a word [...]

Eye. Beholder. All that. I have a really twisted sense of ironic humor most of the time, but I also have a penchant for corny humor. Like these jokes, which you can find more of at The Joke Yard. No alternative news or social commentary here, folks. Just plain fun on this video.

When I posted this political commentary puppy on YouTube, people went bananas over it. I got a ton of flack from folks calling me un-American (whatever that means…the phrase ITSELF is un-American because American is supposed to stand for freedom of the individuality), countercultural riotess, social outcast, and more. To me, that was pretty funny. [...]

When I posted this political commentary puppy on YouTube, people went bananas over it. I got a ton of flack from folks calling me un-American (whatever that means…the phrase ITSELF is un-American because American is supposed to stand for freedom of the individuality), countercultural riotess, social outcast, and more. To me, that was pretty funny. [...]

Success is a social issue. A lot of people define it in a lot of different ways in our culture. Some people equate it with financial success. Ok I think a LOT of people do that. And I think that’s kind of lame, which was the impetus behind my choosing Success as a topic for [...]

So I got to go and cover the 2007 Clinton Global Initiative Annual meeting for this political video, and it was a really neat experience.  First off, being in a room with the socially coolest US President of my generation Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Bishop Desmond Tutu, Michael Eisner, Ted Turner, and hundreds of other [...]

I never thought puppets were funny. Ever. Not even in my “Sesame Street” days. But then I caught “The B-Team” from the guys at Charged, and I found Street” days. But then I caught “The B-Team” from the guys at Charged, and I found myself laughing at some funny online videos of puppetry filled with [...]

So. The issue of immigration has become a huge controversial political issue in this fair country of mine, the USA. Some people are just done with letting other people from other countries come on into this country and be citizens altogether. Some people are still ok with legal immigration, they’re just sick and tired of [...]

So. The issue of immigration has become a huge controversial political issue in this fair country of mine, the USA. Some people are just done with letting other people from other countries come on into this country and be citizens altogether. Some people are still ok with legal immigration, they’re just sick and tired of [...]

This political commentary interview is pretty special to me. The ACLU is one very interesting, culturally significant organization to me, one that gets a TON of flack of being ultra-liberal, yet at the same time has defended such ultra-conservatives as the KKK and super-religious groups. The ACLU is basically all about one thing: protecting people’s [...]

This political video focuses on Affirmative Action. Affirmative Action is a set of policies and laws established in American society to enforce diversity and, as an end result, curb prejudice and racism. Affirmative action has also become a controversial political issue here in the US. My main problem with this is the idea of enforcing [...]

This political video focuses on Affirmative Action. Affirmative Action is a set of policies and laws established in American society to enforce diversity and, as an end result, curb prejudice and racism. Affirmative Action has also become a controversial political issue here in the US. My main problem with this is the idea of enforcing [...]

The OJ Simpson case was at least seven-kinds of culturally significant. A famous black ex-athlete/loved celebrity accused of violently murdering his white ex-wife and her current lover. What’s NOT to be culturally significant and worth of my web talk show about this case in a society still affected by not-too-distant centuries of the enslavement of [...]

A lot of people ask me if I’ve done drugs, to which I say: I will never say. Not unless it’s face-to-face at least. But I will address it grassroots – style. Until drugs become legal in society and accepted outside of our counterculture, I will remain mum. Anyway. I know a lot of people [...]

Do we have a social responsibility to at least try to stay married? The divorce rate in the culture of my country, the US, is something stupid. Either fifty percent or more, something stupid like that. Marriage used to be a sacred vow that people took really seriously in our society, and now it seems [...]

What kind of underwear do YOU wear? That was the big PRESSING question as I hit the street to do an alternative news piece on National Underwear Day last year for the good people over at FreshPair.com. This is not exactly a social commentary video, then, I realize. I mean…it’s about underwear. But the video [...]

Hardly rich social commentary, thought-provoking video action here. This episode of my little web talk show is pretty frivolous. But sooo many people comment on my hair, I thought I’d dedicate an episode to it. Not to MINE specifically, but to everyone’s tresses: what they do with them, do they like ‘em, any cultural trends [...]

Ever notice how a lot of people are big into the Bible? A lot of people in our culture say it’s the best written book, ever. I’m still partial to “Cat’s Cradle.” I just reread it again to see if it still held up to my personal #1, and yep, it did. Anyway. The Bible [...]

This is another classic video for my little web talk show, I think, personally. I hit the streets of downtown Brooklyn to talk to people about what makes THEM happy. Now, pretty much anything I shoot in downtown Brooklyn is instantly a favorite of mine. One, because I live here and it’s really easy to [...]

This is an important social issue, especially in these tough economic times. We are a culture of debtors. I mean financially. Economically. Are you debt? I am! And it’s not because I’m some loser liberal who dedicates all her time to some social cause. It ain’t a liberal versus conservative kind of thing. I started [...]

In case you don’t already know, before I started making my little web talk show chock full o’ thought-provoking videos, I spent some time working for advertising agencies in my day, as a senior interactive copywriter. Advertising is some obvious social commentary about our culture today, no doubt about it. It reflects what we’re buying, [...]

I gots nothing more to say about this here video, except that you should watch this one after it.

Here’s a little Residential secret: I worked in advertising for a long time, as a senior copywriter, for several agencies. These loathsome jobs required me to work in an office. At a desk. Usually in a cube that the office named something cute, like a “pod” or something. Not very countercultural of me, I know. [...]

Ya’ll might know that I’m a bit of a health nut, especially as compared to the rest of my country’s population at large. I eat a ton of vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, and lean proteins on a daily basis. I also run every day. Some of it’s out of vanity. Since I have the metabolism [...]

This little ditty for my web talk show relates to “Ageism.” This funny little online video is about how society is telling me that now would be a good time to have some offspring, and I’m just not feeling it yet. I don’t want kids right now. And I don’t know if I’ll want them [...]

Do you think people can really fall in love on the Internet? That’s what I set out to find in this here social responsibility video. Ok that’s what I set out to laugh about considering I chose downtown Brooklyn as my countercultural fishing pool. Mission accomplished. But seriously folks: do you think you can find [...]

You probably know by now that I hate cultural and social trends, of all shapes and colors and sizes. This extends to word and phrase trends, too. It’s just part of my countercultural personality I guess, that extends vastly into my web talk show. The problem with this, for my own self, is that it’s [...]

Boy, has our popular culture deteriorated our sense of social responsibility. Just look at what has happened to the American Dream, what is supposed to be what makes all our capitalist/consumerist ways ok. But, that’s probably the way every generation feels, right? Like, when the TV was invented and became indoctrinated in our society, I’m [...]

My little social responsibility web talk show comes straight to you from New York City, if you haven’t already gathered by now. I love it here. I love its wide range of culture, counterculture, and everything in between. And it shares my fairly liberal viewpoint, which I don’t mind one bit. I’ve thought about moving [...]

Hi. My name is The Resident, and I am an online addict. There is a good chance you are, too, since you are sitting here reading this or watching this web talk show. Although, this is QUALITY Internet time, to be sure. But MAN. With all the social networking sites out there these days, and [...]

Before blogs, before people knew snark on the Internet widespread, there was TelevisionWithoutPity. TWoP was one of the first big message boards that helped develop the countercultural phenomenon that these communities have now become. I sat down with founder Sarah Bunting to talk about the site, Internet grassroots culture in general, and what she thinks [...]

Here’s a little Residential secret: I worked in advertising for a long time, as a senior copywriter, for several agencies. These loathsome jobs required me to work in an office. At a desk. Usually in a cube that the office named something cute, like a “pod” or something. Not very countercultural of me, I know. [...]

The gaming industry. It is a cultural behemoth. It is pervasive. It is also rich in social commentary. Let’s face it: the game industry is a great place to find out about where our culture is at, because what kids are playing reflects their likes, dislikes, and general mindset. The industry has grown exponentially since [...]

I almost don’t have to write anything else after that title of this social responsibility video, because it pretty much says it all, right? But really: customer service is a casualty of corporate conglomeration over here in the culture of the US of A. The bigger companies get, the less personally connected its employees are [...]

The Residential Definition: -noun. a method of reading and spelling on the Web based upon phonetic interpretation of ordinary spelling. IMHO, grammar and spelling are pretty durn important to our society and culture as a whole. So as I’ve seen more and more people adopt Webonics into their everyday writing, I’ve gotten discouraged. It’s not [...]

This is also one of my favorite personal videos of my li’l web talk show. Please note: you should know my sense of humor right now, ok? Ok. So. I totally know the root of all our problems in this world. Isn’t that cool? We are a culture of symptom treaters. We are really lax [...]

This heartfelt personal video might be my all-time favorite of my web talk show. For real, yo! This video was my first bona fide YouTube homepage feature. They ran it on the top of their homepage on the day Kurt died. And honestly, if there was any video I would have chosen myself to share [...]

Obviously, a topic worthy of my web talk show is the climate crisis, eh? Some people think that it’s an inevitable, cyclical shift that is going to happen no matter what humans do, and that Al Gore is an evil mastermind behind his own corporate interest or ego-driven mania, bent on becoming a countercultural revolutionist [...]

Man, those trendies sure know how to hijack just about everything in our pop culture and society, don’t they? Stars have been interested in charitable efforts for a long time. Remember Live Aid? But now that we have all these glossy rags for stars to show us about their dumb, culturally-empty lives even more, it [...]

So, this little political video was my first to appear on the YouTube homepage, and consequently it was the first to get a whole lotta social networking website hate. Which is funny to me, because I think it’s kind of just a fact that the health insurance system in the United States is seven kinds [...]

Some people think that the climate crisis is an inevitable, cyclical shift that is going to happen no matter what humans do, and that Al Gore is an evil mastermind behind his own corporate interest or ego-driven mania, bent on becoming a countercultural revolutionist that eventually takes over our society starting through a cult-ish liberal [...]

Hark all the bells! Sweet silver bells! Christmastime in New York City: nothing like it. The window dressing at Saks’ Fifth Avenue; ice-skating and carriage rides in Central Park; and of course, the tree in Rockefeller Center. I hit up Rock Center to find out what people were asking Santee Claus for, and I brought [...]

Real estate in New York City is friggin expensive. Even with the rest of the country going into foreclosure all over the place as the recession/depression sinks in and all those second and third mortgages are finally catching up with people, pads in New York still cost an arm and a leg. So for my [...]

For those of you who don’t live in New York City, here there exists a grassroots phenomenon where people throw blankets down on the sidewalk and sell their crap from them. And you can bet, all the items are always really, really interesting. So I decided to check it out as a grassroots marketplace and [...]

This is one of my favorite social responsibility videos o’ mine. I go back to this a lot, because the culture of New York City is steeped in consumerism and having all the coolest toys. Everything in our capitalist society seems geared to owning crap. Buying stuff. Stimulating the economy by working really hard at [...]

Ok, so K-Fed totally played Webster Hall this one Saturday night, so my friend and I figured we had to stand outside to talk to all his weirdo fans to see why they liked him so much for my web talk show. The second-best part of the night was finding out that no one was [...]

Some of these have already come true; others are still taking their time, and looking like they’ll take a decade or so, but they’ll still probably come true. I made this episode of my web talk show not to mess with certain celebrities. I made this to comment on our celebrity culture, the lameness of [...]

So, I admit it: I have a pea-sized bladder. And I actually wrote “pee-sized” at first, by accident, and now I have to go have a laughing fit for a while. Pardon me… Ok, I’m back to my web talk show here. Now, where was I? Oh yeah! I totally have to go to the [...]

I’m totally a tech-geek, I’ll admit it. Well, ok. I’m an everything-geek, and technology is no exception. It’s necessary for all the social commentary, I think: to be tapped into geekdom. So I went to check out Wired’s NextFest to do a little grassroots reporting and see what people had in store for the future [...]

Did you know that, in our culture, record labels basically pay radio stations to play their mainstream artists songs (over and over and over and over and SHUTUPWITHTHESTUPIDTIMBERLAKESALREADY!), and that artists who don’t have enough financial support to buy radio plays or “spins” are just not going to be played on air? And did you [...]

So, I was lucky enough to be invited to do a grassroots news report for Jay McCarroll’s very first fashion show at New York’s Fashion Week. He was the winner of the first “Project Runway,” for all you people with better things to do than watch reality TV (see: “Reality TV Sucks”). When I say [...]

That is all.

Sometimes, spam email is a good read. Sometimes, instead of just tossing it out, perhaps take a read.

I hate the new cultural phenomenon of forwarded junk emails. I really, really do not like it when people forward me these emails. You can tell how much I really don’t like it by the fact that I wrote two really’s. I don’t want a list of one-liners about why men are like beer bottles. [...]

Food made in a petri dish = scary.

“American Idol” has become such a cultural phenomenon, it now has a floating Earth behind its logo. That’s how important it thinks it is to our society. And with all the sponsors throwing so much money at it, it does have its reasons to be so self-inflated. But seriously. It’s just a karaoke competition, and [...]

I love the band, System of a Down. Again, one of my personal, heartfelt favorites. And their song, “Lost in Hollywood,” speaks to me personally about our culture in the US today. I am super-creeped out usually when I spend more than 4 days out in LA-LA-land (Los Angeles for all of you non-US viewers), [...]

So I read a social issue study, which said that we as a society now say we have a lot more friends through social networking websites than we had before the Internet, but that they’re not CLOSE friends. And in fact, in our culture we have fewer close friends than we had before the Interwebbage. [...]

Ever do some drugs? I’m not going to say publicly if I have or not, so you can quit asking me. For reals. If you really want to know, you’ll have to ask me in person, and I’ll have to frisk you for a tape recorder before I answer. Because drugs are unacceptable unless you [...]

If I’m not walking to my given destination, I’m riding the train: these are my favored modes of transportation in this fine society of the City of New York. So I had to do a piece for my web talk show on our awesome train system. If you’ve ever ridden on the trains operated by [...]

The pizzone. Need I say more?
Ok maybe I’ll say a little more. Companies make up some really stupid names for food, I guess as marketing ploys or whatnot. But honestly, it’s FOOD. I don’t know, it just feels WRONG to me. So I made a video about it. Please to enjoy.

I love TV. It is my favorite medium for social and cultural entertainment. It’s true. The boob tube. The idiot box. It’s my favorite. Television is a terrific litmus stick for our culture and predictor of where our society might be heading on a historical sociological level. It’s also buckets of fun. A lot of [...]

You will see my hair in this thought-provoking video, and you will know how old this bad boy of social commentary video action is. The fact that the message rings clearer with time makes me proud. I set out on the streets of New York City back in 2001 or 2002 to talk to people [...]

I consider this a social responsibility issue, though others might beg to differ. But. God, I hate trends. Social trends. Cultural trends. Even counterculture trends. Trends of all kinds, I hate: but especially fashion trends. Because to me, they never look like anything anyone likes: people who wear them just like being told they’re wearing [...]

Social issue number a grillion: What the hell happened to Tom Cruise? How did he go Cruisazy? He did. There’s no denying it. So what happened? He was a cute, spunky little actor in “The Outsiders” one day, and then something like a decade later he’s jumping on Oprah Winfrey’s couch, yelling at Matt Lauer [...]

Did you know that one sign of an empire’s downfall is a fattening of the citizens of its society? As the obesity epidemic continues to spread in our culture here in the USA, I have to wonder if it is, indeed, a flashing red sign that we’ve become too sedentary and complacent to continue functioning [...]

I’m pretty much a dork, if you haven’t figured that out yet. I like nerdy stuff like books and technology and eating right. I’m also relatively law-abiding, despite my countercultural ways. I get angry with people who don’t play by the rules. So it would fit in for me to not like graffiti. And generally, [...]

People be having plastic surgery all the time now. It’s completely socially acceptable for someone to get fake boobs in our culture. There are a lot of grotesqueries about plastic surgery, but right now I’m just going to focus on fake boobs. Girls who implant silicone or I forget the other type, into their bodies, [...]

This was my very first YouTube post. Which is not to say it was my first online video, obviously, but some people out there don’t realize that people like myself have been making Internet video long before the Earth became Googlified. I’ve been making social commentary and other kinds of cultural or grassroots, thought-provoking videos [...]

That’s a GROSS OVERSTATEMENT of a title, I realize. But there was a social movement in that there country to legalize pedophilia, I’m not making that up. Watch the video for details on that story I found. Pedophilia, I’m sure, will continue to make the news throughout future centuries, because some people just find it [...]

This is a fun but still important social issue, IMHO. There is one big fat no-no I have when buying clothes: the item must not be emblazoned with any type of logo. It doesn’t matter if it’s a shirt, pants, sunglasses, purse: logos are not acceptable to me in our pop culture. Why? Because I [...]

Technology is gaining speed in our culture, and with that comes social responsibility. It has pretty much taken OVER our popular culture, at this point. A side-effect? Gadgets are antiquated seconds after you buy them. And even non-tech products are made cheaper and faster through the gift of technology (see: Ikea). You’d think this would [...]

Ageism is an important social issue. Ever hear the dumb phrase, 40 is the new 30? That’s just the worst, man. That really makes me bothered. Why? Because it implies expectation. It implies that in our popular culture, you are supposed to be something at 40, which apparently you were supposed to be at 30 [...]

When I was in third grade, the kids had two lovely nicknames for me: fuzzy bear and moustache woman. Guess why. At a loss? Yes. I was one hairy little mo-fo! Luckily I got most of it under control readily, but being called moustache woman in third grade? Not so heart-warming. Not so great on [...]

This might not seem like a social responsibility issue, but it is. Ever see those stupid purses that are made to look like expensive designer ones, those knockoff bags? They’re particularly rampant in the popular culture of New York City, sold on virtually every corner. Well, I think they’re to-the-max stupid. Why the hell do [...]

Ok watch the video for all the science about how crappy airplanes are for the environment with all their spewed jet fuel and all. That is the point of this little political video. But not of this rant. This rant is about how I’m kind of ok with airline prices skyrocketing, and having to pay [...]

This is a super old, pure fun web talk show video with hardly any social issue value (And check out the hair on this Resident!). I wanted to dive into the subculture of clubbers, to see what they’re made of and what makes them tick. I was hoping for some ironic humor, some insight into [...]

We all know art is an integral part of forming any culture or counterculture. But what IS art? Is it anything anyone intends to be art? Does it have to meet certain criteria to be categorized as art? Or does art become art as soon as someone makes something just to make some art? People [...]

Political satirist Christopher Buckley was the chief speechwriter of Vice President George H. Bush, and he’ll be quick to emphasize that letter, H. He is also William F. Buckley Jr.’s son. He went to Yale, was a member of Skull and Bones, and was the managing editor of Esquire Magazine in his 20s. In other [...]