God, Please Save These Troubled States

In just four days (or three, depending on how you count it), the United States is about to participate in our most important election in decades. So I thought that I'd invite the photographers of Buzznet, wherever you are from, to contribute your interpretation of a line from a (wonderful) song by The Adolescents!

Full instructions for this week's photo assignment inside...

I've just gotten back from a rather long day (starting at 7:30am) where Carrie and I acted as witnesses to Fall Out Boy's attempt to break the world record for (are you ready for this???) "The Most Interviews Conducted By A Pair in a 24 Hour Period." It took the band just short over 10 hours to break the record....and they kept on going.



Carrie and I arrived at Premiere Radio in Sherman Oaks and signed in with those notarizing the event. We were required to log all of the interviews we were present for. Unfortunately, the lobby we were in was not wired to actually hear the interviews that the band was given, even though Pete and Patrick told us they thought we were going to be able to.



It was a long day; the band broke the record around 12:45pm, but continued on to conduct 74 interviews total 72 interviews. (FOB's latest press release says it was 72 interviews.) In the process, I threw up all over my Twitter. Check them out (and a note: Twitter's read in reverse, so the oldest is at the bottom):




I seriously abuse the caps lock. :( OH WELL. CAPS LOCK IS CRUISE CONTROL FOR COOL.

The band was very, very thankful for our work and for helping them meet their record. They were even nice enough to pose for a photo!



Of course, I brought a camera, so enjoy my gallery of shots from the morning/afternoon!

It almost goes without saying that an Against Me! show is going to be chaotic; their fans are among the loudest and most dedicated in punk rock. But at the final show of their October North American tour, escalating violence involving The Wiltern’s security inspired the band to end the show with an uplifting—and ridiculous—display of affection towards those who loved them.

Find out what happened at my local Against Me show...

We've got less than 4 days until Halloween arrives and if you need something to get you in a spooky spirit, you have to check out the results of this week's photo assignment. When given the phrase, "This is Halloween," Buzznet responded in droves. Let's all celebrate the day of the dead!

Full results of our Halloween themed photo assignment inside...

Did you expect anything else? IT'S HALLOWEEN IN A WEEK! In honor of the absolute best holiday to ever exist in the known universe, this week's photo assignment is an open-ended call to be spooky, creepy, slightly awkward, horrifying, and joyous in celebration of October 31st!

Full instructions for this week's assignment inside...

After many requests from our users over the past year, thanks to Samsung we now have Status updates on Buzznet! You'll be able to blast to all of your friends a brief note about how you're feeling, what you're doing, or any amount of nonsensical joy. Your status lives on your homepage and is sent out to your friends' activity feed each time it is updated.

Find out how to use our new Status Updates inside...

We're all a bunch of superheroes here on Buzznet! This past weekend, your fellow friends broke out their alter egos and shared them with the community for the most recent photo assignment, "There Goes My Hero." How did your peers respond to this week's project?

Full results of this week's superhero-themed assignment inside....

It's time to do a Photo Assignment that's both a little bit silly and a lot more Halloween friendly. The evening of spooks is just two weeks away, so let's imagine that on the 31st, you were somehow granted superpowers. What would your alter ego be? What kind of superhero or secret identity would you have?

Full instructions for this week's Photo Assignment inside...

It's time for Buzznet's trilogy of wildly chaotic political liveblogs to come to an end. First, we all suffered through the Vice Presidential debate; then we were bored out of our minds and resorted to catty macros to survive the second Presidential debate. Now, just 20 days from Election Day, we are set to break all Buzznet records imaginable. Will you be there when the Buzzpocalypse arrives?

Buzznet's final Presidential liveblog inside....

Our most recent Photo Assignment called for you to submit a photo inspired by the lyrics of Rise Against's new album, Appeal To Reason, which would then be given to the band. The Buzznet community responded with over 70 original photographs that interpret the lyrics in varying ways. How did your peers respond?

Results of the Rise Against photo assignment inside....

While the rest of the modern-music world remains locked in an arms race to create even louder loudness, a small cluster of interconnected UK artists is championing a low-decibel revival of raw and traditional folk.

Leading this loose scene of musicians is Laura Marling, former back up vocalist for the folk collective Noah and The Whale. Arguably the most popular and revered of the group (she was recently nominated for the 2008 Mercury Prize, similar to our Grammy Awards), she's been making her mark across Europe and in the States with her debut record, Alas I Cannot Swim, a haunting set of pop-folk songs that offer both catharsis and escape.

What does Laura Marling have planned for the future?...

It's settled: Liveblogging politics on Buzznet is hysterical. If you weren't around for last week's political extravaganza/trainwreck, join us TONIGHT at 6pm PST (9pm on the east coast) as we have a giant party on the Community page and try to, once again, survive 90 minutes of absolute absurdity. It's John McCain vs. Barack Obama Round 2: The Electric Boogaloo. We can't wait!

Full liveblog coverage and comment eruption inside...

In the midst of political and economic turmoil, Rise Against have chosen to release Appeal To Reason as a dire and urgent form of activism. Their fifth record borrows more heavily from mid-90's era Bad Religion than from the hardcore heavyweights that clearly influence their work. The result: the group's stronger-than-ever melodic tendencies shine bright like a musical Molotov cocktail heaved at the pop-punk establishment.

Buzznet's full review of Rise Against's newest record inside...

In light of yesterday's massively successful liveblog, I'm going to go out on a limb and try something new with this week's Photo Assignment. This upcoming Tuesday, Rise Against is going to release their 5th record, Appeal To Reason. Can you create a piece of photographic art based solely off of lyrics?

Instructions for this week's unique photo assignment inside...

To those of us who tuned into the Vice Presidential debate last night (618 comments as of now!!!), we watched Joe Biden and Sarah Palin debate a wide variety of issues, both foreign and domestic. However, we may have witnessed a significant moment in American politics: The moment when professional qualification no longer matters.

How did the debate fare? Who win? How did Buzznet react?

Tonight, at 9pm EST / 6pm PST time, the entire world is set to watch an utter disaster: Sarah Palin and Joe Biden will debate, for the first time, live on television. Will Palin be able to construct a single grammatically correct sentence? Will Biden make wild claims that are grossly inaccurate and over-exaggerated? WHO WILL LEAVE THE THUNDERDOME?

Find out more about this epic debate inside...