My New Metablog

Cognac and Coors: A Metablog

It’s got a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? Cognac and Coors. That’s part of the reason why I gave it the name of my new blog, my “metablog.” Now I’m not sure if other people have used the term “metablog” before. Somebody probably has. But that’s what I’m calling this. I think of it as a sort of offshoot of metafiction, or metafilm–if that’s an actual term.

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Meta Bueller

Think of a couple W.A.’s: Wes Anderson and Woody Allen. Filmmakers who sometimes make it apparent that they’re making a film. In other words, they draw attention to the fact that they’re filming a film. Ferris Bueller knows what I’m talking about when he talks into the camera.

Metafiction though, if I just gave a couple examples of “metafilm,” is like the work of Donald Barthelme, or Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five, or Don Quixote, because they draw attention to the fact that what they’re writing and what you’re reading is a story, something that’s separate from reality. They’re pointing out how the card trick works.

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The Belafonte

What I mean is that it’s not exactly writing about writing, but it’s a sort of irony or satire, making fun of the art form by using that very art form itself. It’s art that points to the tools and tells you “Yes I know you’re reading a book and I know I’m writing a book, but here it is.” Think of how Wes Anderson shows the inside of The Belafonte as part of a stage in Life Aquatic.

This is what I’m getting at. I’m writing a blog, not as an offshoot of journalism or for argument’s sake. I’m writing this blog knowing, and saying, that I’m writing a blog about writing a blog–that this blog is my attempt to get an audience to help drive book sales and further my brand. Because that’s what this is all about, right?

The real medium of modern art is the art of BRANDING.

Now I don’t want to admit that this is shameless self-promotion either. It’s not as bad as when Wayne and Garth put blatant ads into their Wayne’s World show when they get sponsors. What I hope my blog will do is cut through the crap because most of the “art” you see these days are really self-promotions, advertisements. Think about how many rappers only boast about themselves. Think of how Spielberg put in a shot of the Jurassic Park gift shop in Jurassic Park. Yes, it’s an Easter Egg hidden in the film but it’s also meta, and it’s a big fat ad.

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Easter Egg

But I won’t ramble on anymore about this now. And since I don’t want to ramble I’ll just stop and end here. This post is long enough to get a good SEO rating anyway. So tune in next time. 😉

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