‘Digital Pamphleteer’

February 4, 2008

Several months ago, my good friend Bill Simmon, a terrific filmmaker (and blogger), came to me with an idea: he wanted to do a short film about blogging, starring … me. Now, I’ve never been entirely comfortable in front of a camera — I’m more of a behind-the-keyboard kind of guy — but Bill is practically family to me, so I couldn’t turn him down. Besides, I thought, a short film about me would be a) good publicity for The Carpetbagger Report; and b) exciting for my Mom.

So, last summer, Bill and some of filmmaking colleagues came over and spent the day interviewing me and watching me work. It led to a short that Bill titled, “Digital Pamphleteer.” I’m hardly objective about the finished product, but it did win an award at the Vermont International Film Festival last fall and will also play at this year’s Green Mountain Film Festival.

Bill alerted me over the weekend that he’s now ready to share the finished product with a larger audience, and so I’m inviting interested readers to check it out. How did I first get interested in politics? How many hours a day do I work? How many newspapers do I read? What little pen-twirling trick do I do while I work? Just how big is the bald spot on the crown of my head? All of those questions and more are answered in “Digital Pamphleteer.”

Here’s the link to the high-res Quicktime version that looks and sounds the best. If you have a slower connection, there’s also a YouTube version, though it’s not nearly as sharp.

If you have any questions or comments, I’m sure Bill would love to hear from you. And if you like it, remember, all the credit goes to him — I just sat there; he did all the work.

Enjoyed it.
Good stuff.

  • Excellent little film, Steve. It’s really fun to see behind the words I read every day. (oops excuse me I tried the pen twirl and dropped it on the floor). So it looks like you’re nice guy instead of the swaggering, gin-guzzling pirate persona you display on the blog. 🙂

  • Steve, you’re so cute! But, you’re married and about 300 years too young for me.

    Actually, though, great film. It was wonderful to see the behind the scenes view.

    And, wow. 22,000 people check your site daily!

  • Steve–

    Great film with some excellent insights into how blogs and blogging can help de-clutter things. Keep on going!

  • What a great film – congrats to you and to Bill!

    A couple of months ago, I started hearing your reports on POTUS 08, so I was able to put an actual voice with the writing – now I have a face, as well.

    [And I have to think your page views must be up quite a bit from the 22,000 when the film was made]

  • What a farce! I still have no idea how big the bald spot on the crown of your head is!

    Cool video, I was actually very impressed with the camera work, especially the D.O.F. things Bill was doing.

    Steve, I am constantly in awe of the quantity and quality of work you put out. A great, great job.

    As a Vermont guy, are you familiar with Big East basketball at all? I recently referred to you as the “Tim Higgins of blogging.” Higgins is a veteran ref who seems to turn up officiating an unfathomable number of games—as if there are three of four clones of him. That’s what it’s like when I see the volume of work you put out here and elsewhere—all of it excellent.

  • Cool, Steve. Great to see the man behind the typewritten words.

    12 hours a day? Yikes! Do you have time for any hobbies?

  • Kudos to you and Bill, that was a nice, informative little documentary. Good production values too.

    Here’s hoping even more people see it.

  • Steve, I am constantly in awe of the quantity and quality of work you put out. A great, great job.

    Agreed.

    I too remember that Cuomo speech from my teen years and it was transforming.

  • That was really good. You have in my opinion the most informative blog out there. If I could read only one it would be yours. keep up the good work. It is nice to finally put a face to the pixel i resd daily.

  • Mario Cuomo was the guy who cemented progressivism into my political psyche too. What a great orator and thinker. Imagine what this nation would be like today if he had been elected president.

    Twelve hours a day – working seven days a week? The pay and benefits had better be good to put in those kinds of hours. And we get to benefit from all that work for free. What a screaming deal for us readers!

  • Very nice!

    I’m here at least five times a day – this is a very reliable blog.

    Fun to see you “in person” – you’re a cutie.

  • Duuuude, that was awesome!! It was nice to see Mrs. Carpetbagger get a mention in the credits, although I’m hoping she’ll get a cameo appearance in the director’s cut edition. 😉

    Seriously, it was really great and you should do more of that. Makes us all look good by extension.

  • That was great. Grats man. And I hope your mom is excited.

    Its funny you’re from VT. I’m from that neck of the woods. I’m always surprised by how round the world is.

  • Great video! Now I know the goodlooking face behind the type. Your list of daily news checks is awesome! I stop by twice daily.

  • Awesome!

    From the left coast here, I often wait for your first post of the day before crashing for my morning (after spouse leaves for work) nap. That 5:30 to 9 wait is soo long ^-^; I think I like Kevin’s split shift (he seems to do some blogging before bed) better, but I’m selfish!

    I’ll definitely share this spot around. It really explains political blogging well.

  • That was great! Do you know whether Bill intends to expand it? I feel like it could have been much longer and included footage of other bloggers.

  • I’m glad you all liked it! Some notes:

    Anne – Note that the 22k is unique visitors, not page views which is a totally different stat. I know Bill updated that figure recently, so it should be fairly accurate (though things are all over the place now that we’re in the thick of primary season).

    Hannah – Ha! I’m happy to get him for 2 hours in the evening, and a bit on the weekends. He has no time for a hobby!

    petorado – It is at least 12 hours a day M-F, and I’ve lost track of what he’s doing on the weekends (though we have an understanding now that the less the better. I do like to spend real time with him every now and then!).

    thorin (et al) – We live in Vermont but we’ve only been here for 5 years; we’re total flatlanders (really…we’re from S Florida!).

  • Excited doesn’t come close to my feelings! I have always been and will continue to be so very proud of my son. You have no idea how great he is (and always has been). He and his wife are two of the nicest people in the world – and that’s not just my opinion.

  • Been reading you regularly for years, rarely comment. Cool film – both content and production. It’s nice to put a face and voice with the words I read daily.

  • Great video !!! I’m not sure how I came across this site, but I feel pretty lucky that I did. I’ve been taking a Political Communications Grad course this semester which is very exciting in this political climate and Steve your sight
    has really contributed – thanks for all your work.

  • It was a good film, I do think your also quite photogenic Steve. It made me proud to be a political blogger. Thank you for doing it. When can we put it up on our personal blogs? I think it would give all my fellow political bloggers a much needed shot in the arm..or another way to say it..an attaboy/girl for all the hours we spend doing what we do in the name of speaking truth to power.

  • Excellent! Being on the west coast, I can always count on CB and TPM — my first two morning stops — to give me a strong running start to my political day when I fire up the ol’ browser. It says oodles about Steve’s dedication and abilities that many others feature and pay him to do what most of us others do for free. (Now if Steve would be interested in adding graphics more often….. )

  • I knew you were very smart. Now I see you’re really young.

    Not that this makes me feel inferior. Really. Don’t mind me.

    I jest. This is great. Perhaps post a permanent link somewhere on the site?

  • Dear “Mom”,

    Would you please wash John McCain’s mouth out with soap? Not only would I like it, but I’d bet Steve and Ms. Carpetbagger would too. My software is a bit old, so I could only watch bits of the “Digital Pamphleteer”, but I actually enjoyed it more than the “Yes, we can” one. I’m hoping to find a friend with 21st Century technology, so I can watch the rest. Keep up the good work Steve.

  • Happy to join the crowd here and say a big congrats! I, too, am a frequent Carpetbagger visitor, and I’m always impressed by the volume and quality of your writing and analysis. Best wishes to you and Ms. Carpetbagger (and Mom, too!)

    Keep up the good work!

  • Steve;

    The video is good. It would be great to have it fleshed out with a few of your ‘stories’. I’d love to know the most challenging events for you, controversial stories, posts that produced unanticipated comments, what you feel is a political story likely to break in the next few months. Interview style for the questions would be great – you wouldn’t know the questions so would be more spontaneous.

    Speaking of ‘comments’ I love reading the comments on this site, despise the rants that dominate most other sites. I’m regularly howling with laughter and forwarding them to friends. It great to have a site that generates such high quality comments – a testimony to your dedication and skill.

  • Finally got a chance to watch this. Great video. It’s nice to understand your motivations and the incredible amount of time & effort that you put into your work! It makes me feel much better about the 8 times I check your page each day. This is such a high quality blog with great regular commenters – I truely appreciate all of your work.

    P.S. You are super cute. You should take more days off & spend them with your wife. Somehow we’ll survive without you. 🙂

  • That’s great Mr. CB. No reason why you should consider yourself a keyboard wizard rather than a video presence at all. You and Bill obviously work well together. Aravosis and Sudbay are doing podcasts at Americablog. TPM’s doing it’s Veracifier stuff. You should consider dropping in visual visits to Mr. Benen’s Neighborhood when the mood and the topic strikes.

    Thomas Paine is smiling.

  • Great video – Bill should really expand on this. I have followed this site from the beginning and continued to be awed by the amount of work you put into the site. There is simply no other political blog that compares. Keep up the good work and say hi to Mrs. Carpetbagger.

    • Comments are closed.