In our inexhaustible quest to investigate every minute angle of all things “Hipster,” we realized it wasn’t sufficient to simply get an insider’s take of things. Oh no. We figured to get a more holistic understanding, we had to grill someone who looked upon the scene with a more critical eye. Or better yet, who actually hated it. We figured who better to chat up then than Alex Bragg—best known for his scathing work on Blue States Lose, throwing critical darts at the underground photoblog denizens with hilarious accuracy. Bragg has officially switched his sniper’s scope from the spandex-and-glitter bedazzled hordes of lastnightsparty and thecobrasnake to the inane traipsings of the Lohiltney set, now collecting his paychecks from VH1’s Best Week Ever. Regardless of his victims, though, Bragg pierces the goofiness and self-importance of whoever’s in his crosshairs with consistent wit. He’s kinda the Dos & Don’ts for the shopping mall set.

What is your definition of a “Hipster”? As “hipster” is such an abstract (not to mention non-specific) term that could be applied to a broad range of people and lifestyles, depending on the perspective of the person who’s applying it. To me it usually sounds silly and patronizing when someone attempts to give their singular, all-encompassing definition of the word. But within the context of Blue States Lose, I’d say that it’s lazy shorthand for the people in the photographs who are the subjects of my ridicule.

Do you think the underground/hipster/whatever scene has any artistic validity, or is it simply a bunch of retards getting wasted and posing like ever-more dilettante versions of Paris Hilton? My insight into these “scenes” is pretty much limited to the pictures I see on the sites that you mentioned, so I really don’t know enough about these people to accurately answer this question. Maybe in their off time, the Blue States Lose gang is off creating visionary art of which I’m not even aware. But if you’re asking whether I see any “artistic validity” in the pictures of themselves they post each week, I’d have to say no. Then again, that’s all subjective, so maybe the chicks rolling around bathroom floors in their own puke are genius performance artists and I’m just too intellectually limited to recognize it.

Could you compare that scene with similar NY movements past, like that of the Factory and Warhol’s era? Does either scene deserve any artistic weight, or are both just vapid, transitory social clubs? That’s one of the things I find so funny about the so-called “underground movement” these days; it’s like the kids are all dressed up in Halloween costumes of what they think originality and creativity are supposed to look like, based on what they think it used to look like, as seen in retro fashion spreads in an Urban Outfitters catalog, or Factory Girl or Sid & Nancy or any of the other movies or TV programs enjoyed by most angsty suburban white kids growing up in the suburbs during the ’80s and early ’90s. At least Warhol remembered to actually fucking make something when he wasn’t doing the whole “sex, drugs and rock & roll” thing. The only thing the kids these days seem to be good at (other than looking fabulous and pouting) is promoting their own importance.

Have we passed the Tipping Point on irony? I don’t know, probably. Is it more fun to make fun of celebrities, or New York fashionistas? Which genre presents more of a challenge? They’re both pretty much like throwing softballs at the world’s biggest barn from five feet away, so it’s hard to find much “challenge” in either endeavor, with the exception of the excruciating repetitiveness that goes along with jokes about both. But I guess I prefer the celebrities because they don’t matter in a much larger way.

Have you ever had any unwashed LES/Williamsburg photoblog denizen recognize you and put you on the business end of a serious tongue-lashing? Yes, I’ve run into various members of the Blue States Lose Cast of Characters in various social situations. They tend to be overly friendly; practically grateful for the attention I give them, as dubious as it may be. I also get lots of MySpace/Facebook Friend Requests from these people, which I always find strange.

Is BSL still running? The last post was a couple weeks back. As you noticed, Blue States Lose is no longer running in its weekly incarnation. It might show up from time to time, for nostalgia’s sake, but as much as I love Denton’s money, the whole joke’s gotten so old that it’s not even beating a dead horse, it’s beating a place on the ground where the dead horse used to be.

Do you secretly get a little thrill from seeing a naked hipster slathered with sparkly bodypaint and wearing a goofy hat, or are you instead filled with pure loathing? I don’t really feel visceral emotion of any sort when I see these pictures. I pretty much just click the photo, see if it causes an easy joke to form in my brain, then either move on or write it down.

You seem to know a lot about a scene you allegedly hate. Is this the result of a know-your-enemy research methodology, or are you secretly (and shamefully…?) a Hipster (or Hipster-In-Training)? I dunno, if you sift through 500 photos of the same people over and over every week, I think you just start to pick stuff up.

What’s your five most-listened-to playlists on your iPod? I don’t really listen to a lot of playlists, but some bands I like a lot right now are Sea Wolf, Tunng, Elvis Perkins, Vampire Weekend and Bodies of Water. I’m so fucking indie, pretty soon I’m gonna be running around downtown hipster parties in a sparkly bedazzled onesie.

With your flannel shirt, transparent designer glasses and faux-three-day stubble/short beard, one could say that you’re 3 for 3 on the Aesthetic Hipster Scale. Would that be a fair judgment? Going right for the jugular, aren’t you? Like I said in the first question, it’s sort of subjective, but I guess if you’re rocking Dockers, a Banana Republic sweater vest and shoes with tassels on them, my flannel shirt, facial hair and stylish eyewear probably make me look like Mr. Misshapes.