Maron, wondering where the crowds are in the Extra Mooga side. Photo by Timothy Krause.

Do you guys listen to Marc Maron’s WTF podcast? It’s pretty much the best, and his whole career arc from struggling, under-appreciated comedy to king of the earnest podcasting world is an inspiration for all of us hustling to make a living doing what we love. Which is why we were excited to hear he was going to be a part of the GoogaMooga fest last weekend (we’re sick of talking about it too, but bear with us), but were then disappointed to learn he would be on the ExtraMooga side so you’d have to pay $250 (at least you did until they refunded the money) to see him chat up Joe Mande, Chuck Klosterman and John Hodgman. On the intro to his podcast on Monday, Maron was openly disappointed by the whole thing. (more…)

Happier vibes prevailed on Sunday. Photo by Rachel DeLetto

In case you’ve been living under a Twitter-less rock all weekend and missed the complaints about the first Great GoogaMooga festival held in Prospect Park this weekend, here is the summary: The lines! There were lines, oh-so-many lines, lines that seemed to go on for ever and end in a kafkaesque slap when you got to the front only to find out the person in front of you got the last fried chicken bahn mi; and lines for beer, no, wait, lines just to get tickets to the beer tent, where more lines awaited, and if you wanted to put some food on top of that beer so you didn’t pass out, a Byzantine maze of lines stood between you and a tiny bite of porchetta sandwich.

By Sunday things seemed to be running more smoothly; the vibe of most everyone we talked to was relaxed, either because people knew what to expect or because they had lowered their expectations. Certainly the decision to ditch the absurdly complicated ticketing system for the beer and wine tents helped (buzzed people = happy people). So what did you think? A good outing for the first of what will likely become an annual free tradition, or something desperately in need of improvement? Here’s our breakdown below: (more…)