Cavemen Go in the News

In the last week, Cavemen Go has gotten mentions on two blogs. I want to send out a special thanks to Joshua Toulouse of Fat Train and Amy Bolan of If It Bleeds...

Josh mentioned Cavemen Go in a new Blog column he's developed titled "Best of My Buddies." On July 26, he published the post "Best of My Buddies - Part One, Green Lantern Corps and Creative Cosplay." Featured in that post were Chad P. of Political Jesus for his tweet regarding the fantastic footage from the upcoming Green Lantern Corps animated television program (which is available on Josh's post) and yours truly for the post "Cosplay Gallery: Rise of the Machines." It is an honor to be recognized, and I hope to write even more content worthy of Josh's "Best of My Buddies."

Amy didn't so much mention the blog as she mentioned me. You see, in case you haven't heard, Amy Bolan is my girlfriend. So, when you read her July 28 post "Big Talk - Big Talk," and I'm sure most of you already have, the boyfriend in question is me. Amy decided to quote a discussion of ours comparing the bands Big Talk, The Killers, and The Cars. The first time I ever gave The Killers more than a cursory radio single listen was they released the 2006 album Sam's Town. My original judgment was that The Killers were overrated and should just turn into a The Cars cover band. (At the time, The Cars weren't touring with Ric Ocasek.) For clarification, Big Talk reminded Amy of The Cars, but they reminded me of The Killers, who reminded me of The Cars, and thus, through the transitive property, Amy and I came to the same conclusion. As for Amy, I love any time she finds me interesting enough to mention on If It Bleeds... and shall try to prove myself even more interesting in the future.

I know I've pointed you all to these blogs several times over, but if you're not consistently checking out Fat Train and If It Bleeds, then you are consistently missing out.

Cavemengo: Year Two

As promised, here's a look ahead at what Cavemengo's sophomore year has in store for you.

ARNOLD 365

If you've been following Cavemengo, then you're already familiar with two months worth of Arnold Schwarzenegger clips. Year Two will determine whether I'm capable of completing this ambitious project, if by December 31, 2011 you will have access to 12 months, 365 days, of your favorite Arnold Schwarzenegger clips. LOST 365, much to my chagrin, ended far too soon. Let's hope that Arnold 365 doesn't.

THE GREAT REVISION

 

 

The other day my buddy Josh looked at my blog on his subscription feed and immediately exclaimed, "I hate when you do that!" He was referring to posts I've put up with the obsession keyword, movies, albums and television programs that I promote without ever commenting on. Amy shared Josh's disdain for these posts. Outnumbered, I got to thinking, and the fruit of that thinking was that I would revise each and every one of those posts, one by one, starting with my February 25, 2010 post on David Bowie's Hunky Dory. Furthermore, every such post from here on out will include some sort of Justin Tiemeyer commentary. Why? Because you (namely, Josh Toulouse) asked for it.

THE MAKEOVER

 

 

Let's face it: Cavemengo is visually bland. I've even had complaints that the white text on black background gives people headaches. After viewing my friend Adam's blog for a computer programming course I've decided to change the text color, the background image, the header, and possibly more. I'm still taking suggestions, so please lend me a hand.

All this and much more awaits us on Cavemengo in 2011. Stick with me. I aim to please.

Cavemengo Anecdotes - Arthur

I keep mine short and sweet: irreverence is not the opposite of reverence, it is its better looking but possibly involved cousin from out of town that you wish would switch spots with the local. You know that cousin--the one you only introduce your friends to if they'll admit you're the one who hooked them up. The irreverent challenges while loving simultaneously, obscures by scrutinizing, and is loyal in it's analysis.

Here's to years more of Caveman Go and its foxy appeal as the obtainable mystery seeking ambiguous orthodoxy in the world outside pop.

Cavemengo Anecdotes - Josh Toulouse

So, Justin, the proprietor of this very blog you are reading, asked me to chime in with an anecdote about his blog to help celebrate the one year anniversary (or blogiversary as he put it) for Cavemen Go.

My first thought was obviously…

Who celebrates blog anniversaries? That’s so weird!

My next thought was…

Blogiversary? Seriously? You’re calling it a blogiversary?

After that I thought…

You know what sounds good? Chocolate. Chocolate sounds good right now.

But then I decided….

Eh, what else do I have going on?

So, I said yes.

That brings us, of course, to the next issue I was faced with, which was what anecdote I could tell to help Justin celebrate the one year anniversary of his blog.

I could talk about the annoyance I feel when I’m a little behind in my blog reading and I see a blog post from him posted to Facebook that I haven’t gotten around to reading yet (because Justin links his posts to Facebook after they go off of the front page of his blog). In these situations I will immediately start reading the bit on Facebook after the title that had caught my attention, only to get extremely frustrated because it is only the David Bowie song that he has at the top of the blog site. This has to have happened to me at least 30 times. (Sure, you could say that this is my own damn fault and that I should have learned by now, but I prefer to pass the guilt onto others as I feel less guilty that way, and therefore place the blame squarely on Justin for intriguing me and leaving the same damn Bowie song where it is on his blog, thereby getting me EVERY SINGLE TIME, and I also place the blame on Facebook for somehow dumbing me down while I am on their site so that I haven’t learned to realize that this is about to happen to me again each time I look at one of his posts.)

But, that isn’t very exciting, so I probably won’t talk about that.

The next thing that I could anecdote about (I just made anecdote a verb. I wonder if anyone else has ever done that? Or if anyone else will ever do it again? In other words, am I a trendsetter, or just someone who doesn’t understand the basics of English?) would be all the influence that I personally have had on this very blog. For instance, one time I posted a blog entry about possible guest stars that could play Sweet Dee’s baby daddy on the incorrigible comedy It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. This idea came due to a discussion I was having with Justin in which he told me that he was planning a blog entry about possible guest stars that he wanted to see in some of his favorite television shows.

Okay, okay, I see what you’re thinking here…

You’re thinking that it looks more like Justin influenced my blog instead of me influencing his blog. Before you go all judgey judge, let me finish the story…

After I posted my blog, crediting Justin with the idea, Justin had to go ahead and turn this loosely formed idea he had into an actual blog post himself, since I had advertised it on my site.

Due to my post, he included this little paragraph in his post…

I was originally going to sit on this blog idea for a while to see if I could brainstorm more ideas, but yesterday my good friend Josh, whose brilliant blog Fat Train deals with all the best and worst the worlds of television and film have to offer us, put some fire under me. During a class we both attend, he wrote a blog titled It's Always Funny in Philadelphia in which he linked his internet followers to this very blog post before it was even written. I thank Josh for his kind words and for introducing his people to my blog, but I also begrudge him for forcing me to be less lazy with my blogging.

See! I told you my blog has influenced his blog.

Okay. Okay. So maybe that anecdote just highlights the fact that our friendship has occasionally caused each of us to influence the other’s blog.

Hmm…. This is more difficult than I thought it would be.

I don’t know why I agreed to do this anyway. All that I really think about when I think about Cavemen Go is that I need to blog more myself. After all, it’s only been around for a year and there are already over 500 posts? What is that about? Over 500 posts in less than a year!? This is my sixth year of blogging and I’m barely over halfway to 500 posts! Am I just lazy?

Maybe. Maybe I am.

(Okay. I definitely am.)

But part of it is also the fact that many of Justin’s so-called “posts” (do you see what I did there? I called the posts “so-called” thereby implying that they weren’t really posts, and I also put the word “posts” in quotations thereby implying yet again that they weren’t really posts) are just pictures of people, things, tv-shows, movies, or albums. That’s it. No comments about them or anything, just a picture.

Which reminds me…

I have actually influenced Justin’s blog, because in his second year of blogging, he is going to repost each of these simple pictures with his actual thoughts or other comments he may have on the anniversary of when he first posted just the picture. In other words, he is actually going to blog about them.

And he is doing it because he is tired of me complaining about his cheating ways inflating his blog posts.

That’s right. Influence.

That I have had.

On this very blog.

So really, we should be congratulating me on this anniversary.

Or, I guess you could just keep on reading his blog.

Here’s to another year, Cavemen Go.

(And remember, if you ever get bored, you can always visit me at Fat Train. Justin won’t mind.)

Cavemengo Anecdotes - Chad P

It is said that in our culture that we don't really turn to the internet in order to learn new things and have our worldviews stretched. Instead, en masse, we turn to the internet to find the websites that bolster our already firmly held, but frail belief systems. Well, that is too bad for me. There is no place on the internet that will validate my ugly, chaotic, beautiful, hopeful way of looking at things.

There is no place on the internet that reveals your slightly embarrassing crush on Phil Collins while giving unintentional passive assent to "might makes right" by holding up Arnold Schwarzenegger as a God (specifically Hercules)? There isn't a place you can find a good discussion about video-games as an art form in the same breath with which traditional art forms are lifted up and appreciated. No place I can go where Led Zeppelin sits comfortably aside an exposition of Brad Metzger's Satellite Justice League drama. All of those random things you think about while watching movies blendered with off kilter analysis of the actors that played in them? nope. And the ambivalence of war alongside Purple Rain? Fuggetaboutit.

So there you have it. I am without... what? Cavemen Go? Crap. Don't you hate when you are proven wrong?

In this case, I actually don't

Cavemengo Anecdotes - Adam Friedli

Justin Tiemeyer saved my life. That’s what I told Justin’s girlfriend, Amy, the night they first met. I do tend to play wingman in a very extravagant way. But when I said this, it was an absolute truth. In fact, this has been true on more than one occasion. The first time was when he gave me guidance while I took some time off from school because my life basically got turned upside down. But I want to concentrate on the other time Justin was there for me.

I was still getting over my first big breakup. I really didn’t know what to do. Justin and I talked a lot online during this period, and he really started to open up to me about his past. Way more than usual. We were already fantastic friends, but this was a different side of him I had never seen. And part of his advice he gave was to find some creative outlets. So I thought about things I had wanted to work on for quite some time. That’s when I realized I had never gotten into photo editing. I decided to give it a shot.

Well, if any of you have followed Cavemen Go for awhile, you might have seen how that endeavor worked out. I have always done my photo editing projects for the entertainment of just me and my friends. They might not look like much, but I have a blast doing them. And when Justin started posting them on his blog, I was floored! I never expected that, and it really gave me an extra sense of accomplishment seeing them presented on his blog.

Justin played a large part in opening up my creativity and helping to piece me back together again. Twice. I’m a far better person for it, and I’m really fortunate in having him as a part of my life. Thanks for creating Cavemen Go, and thanks for blazing a trail of glory wherever you go. And Amy’s totally radical too.

Cavemengo: Year One

Much like Batman incorporating all the best of such heroes as Harry Houdini, Zorro and Sherlock Holmes, Cavemengo is nothing if not the product of its predecessors. Here are just a few of the giants whose shoulders I had to stand on in order to make Cavemengo what it is today:

CAPTAIN'S BLOG

Captain's Blog, now defunct, was a strange travelogue (travelblogue?) I kept in order to document any adventure that took me away from home. When the time and the money required to travel disappeared, so also did Captain's Blog. While I continue to post travel pictures on Cavemengo, the most significant contribution from Captain's Blog came in the form of small travel playlists that I turned into mixes.

CORN LIKE AN ANGEL

Also defunct, Corn Like an Angel was a food blog inspired by a quote by Steve Carell as Dan in Dan in Real Life ("This corn is like an angel."). Though the blog nearly got me a writing gig in New York, I shut it down because, like travel, New York cuisine costs money that I didn't have. Since I left New York, I've been able to do some write ups on fantastic food, particularly in Fort Worth, Texas (Love Shack, Charley's, Yucatan, Jesus BBQ, Off the Bone, Five Guys, Mellow Mushroom) and Grand Rapids, Michigan (Mediterranean Grills, San Marcos, Yesterdog, Winchester, Schnitz, Bombay, Jonny B'z), but also occasionally elsewhere (Slows, Skeeter's, American Coney, Czech Stop, Rudy's, Nick's).

ELLIOT MAYO

As the previous subsections witness, I have juggled my fair share of blogs that have narrow purpose and that only last so long as I am still interested in that purpose. The main motivation behind the creation of Cavemengo was when my good friend Elliot Mayo, frustrated with keeping up with all my blog, told me I should combine them all into one. What Elliot didn't know is that I modified my new blog on his Elliot Mayo blog. Like Elliot, I would post on any project I was involved with, be it music, literature or art of any kind. I can say without a doubt that if it weren't for the influence of Elliot Mayo, there would be no Cavemengo.

FAT TRAIN

Though the influence of Fat Train on Cavemengo might not be immediately evident beyond a devotion to popular mass media, its creator Josh Toulouse has been incredibly influential to my blogging. Over the last year I've had the chance to discuss upcoming blog projects (blogjects?) with Josh and get his opinion on my posts. Josh has been one heck of a resource and one heck of a friend. Join me in thanking him by visiting Fat Train often. I know for a fact he's got some great things in store this year!

GET STOP TICKET

Get Stop Ticket is a blog devoted to a Brooklyn band named Get Stop Ticket that I started with friends Elliot Mayo, Becky Prevette, and Fiona Maier. Physically, the group has split up, but we still record music together with the help of the internet and our new guitarist Stephan Mathos. The blog itself has seen better days, but its spirit is carried on in Elliot Mayo's Elliot Mayo, Fiona Maier's A Bjorky Whale, and my Cavemengo. Why don't Becky and Stephan have their own blogs? I don't know, but if you leave enough encouragement here maybe we can convince them to start blogs.

LETTERS TO BOWIE

There is something so creative about my brother Micah Tiemeyer's blog titled Letters to Bowie. In Bowie, practically a folk hero due to our father's obsession with the rock legend, Micah found someone to whom he could confess his freakiest and funkiest thoughts. Following in my younger brother's footsteps, Cavemengo is a response to Bowie's 1972 album Hunky Dory, from the title ("Life on Mars?") to the header ("Oh! You Pretty Things") to the very first post. It was the seed of Bowie, delivered via Micah Tiemeyer, that breathed first life into my blog.

LOST 365

Though Jared Stumpenhorst never accomplished his goal of 365 unique pieces of art based on the hit ABC television program LOST in 365 days, the mere partial undertaking of this enormous project was an inspiration to me. Combined with my brother's sudden Arnold Schwarzenegger obsession upon returning from Vienna, Austria, I had all I needed to start my own year-long project titled Arnold 365. Here's to hoping I can make it to the end.

MUSIC, SWEET MUSIC

If my Denton roommate's web site promoting local music had taken off, my music blog Music, Sweet Music (named after a lyric in the Jimi Hendrix song "Manic Depression") may have earned me my first staff writing position. Like my other previous blogs, Music, Sweet Music can no longer be found on the internet, but my post on Bob Saget covering "Purple Rain" is still available, as are several music related articles inspired by it.

SOQUITCHERBITCHEN

I think Justin Metz was my earliest friend to have a blog, and though he would hardly list it as his greatest accomplishment - Justin's a proud father and husband and, in my opinion, an overall success - I think his music blog Soquitcherbitchen is one of the best things on the net. I've been known to steal a video or two from Justin, if you head over to Soquitcherbitchen more often maybe he'll consider us even...

Cavemengo's One Year Anniversary!

I have difficulty expressing how grateful I am that so many of you have followed Cavemengo, but on her one year anniversary I feel inclined, especially if I wish to call myself a writer, to express that gratefulness in words.

It would be difficult to thank each individual who has made this experience fantastic for me. First, I would like to say that my love goes out to, but is not limited to, each and every one of you reading these words. Second, I want to celebrate you, me and the blog we share with a series of anniversary posts. Expect to see these within the next few hours:

CAVEMENGO: YEAR ONE

I've stolen the title from the Frank Miller comic Batman: Year One, but where that comic tells the origin of Jim Gordon and his ally Batman, Cavemengo: Year One is dedicated to my influences, the blogs and bloggers who made the first year of Cavemengo possible.

CAVEMENGO ANECDOTES

Several friends of Cavemengo, including graphic artist Adam Friedli, have agreed to write short anecdotes regarding their time spent with the blog and some of the events that led up to particular blog posts. It takes a village, and I think it is fantastic that some of the village people are speaking out.

CAVEMENGO: YEAR TWO

Cavemengo: Year Two is a look forward to what Cavemengo's second year holds in store for all of us. I've got some big projects coming up and I'd love it if you could be there with me when they come to fruition.

If you've been silently reading the blog, now is the time to let your voice be heard, be it a celebration or a criticism. Drop me a comment. Subscribe. Heck, unsubscribe if I'm not doing you right. Share Cavemengo with your friends. Tody I want to know who is out there, so make yourself known to Cavemengo in some overt way. Once I know you're out there it will be that much easier to send my love your way.

Rave Reviews

You are a mighty power in the blogging world, sir. Many thanks for this.

-David Carroll