10 Things to Think About on a Friday

To say it's been a busy week in the world of news and excitement would be an understatement. We closed out February of '09 with all sorts of shenanigans, the majority of which seem to be pot related. There's a groundswell coming, I believe. The job/roommate hunt continues in earnest, and I think the weekend is just what I need to get the head back on straight. Hard to believe it's only been a week since the wine trip that seems like ages ago. At any rate, whatever you're doing to close out this month, enjoy, and here's 10 things for you to think about this Friday.

1) Some neighbors are upset, but according to state officials, there's nothing illegal about this topless coffee shop.

2) As I mentioned, the new administration has encouraged folks to step out of their old way of doing business, and the war on marijuana is most certainly old. Tom Ammiano this week jumped to the front of the line by proposing a bill to legalize and tax marijuana in California for people over 21 in order to save billions in enforcement and create billions in tax revenue. The SF media seems to like it...

3) But what if that legislation doesn't pass? Well, according to US Attorney General Eric Holder, busting medical dispensaries is no longer US policy...

4) And the users out there have proven that if you fuck with us, we will fuck with you. Don't believe me? Ask Kellogg's how they're doing after firing Michael Phelps for his bong photo.

5) I hope you don't want to see Julian back in a Pulp Fiction sequel anytime soon, because if this report is correct, Samuel Jackson won't be anyone but Nick Fury in Marvel movies for quite some time to come.

6) I love that government officials, often the same ones speaking out vehemently against illegal downloads of music, seem to be the ones continually using artists' work without their permission or consent. This time it's French president Sarkozy using MGMT's "Kids."

7) In sports news that I could definitely go along with, word is that the 49ers are interested in acquiring #7, as in Michael Vick, when he's released from jail. Could be potent with Vick and Gore in the backfield. And it seems that he could be released from jail sooner than we think for home confinement.

8) Only fitting that number 8 is about something 8 related. I could think of any number of crass and crude jokes for this one, but instead, I'm just going to tell you that the mother of octuplets has been offered money for a porn movie, and leave it at that.

9) Any interest in a 2.5 million dollar iPhone? Thought not.

10) I'm definitely curious now...is Joaquin Phoenix for real?

That's it from this end folks. Have a good weekend and play nice in the sandbox.

February iPod Update

{for all music related posts, see .Evolving.Music}

For last month's new music update, click here.

February brought some very excellent music my way. An update of 84 songs spanning most genres included some new music as well as some hidden gems from the years past. Enjoy!

Franz Ferdinand, Tonight: In their first studio album since 2005's You Could Have it So Much Better, the Scottish blokes return with another round of rollicking, high energy rock music. The staples of their previous musical endeavors are all here, from the steady lock-step drums to the grinding and rapid guitars, all accentuated with Alex Kapranos's distinct vocals that he ranges from soft caress to forceful leader to out and out yell. While the album doesn't provide much in the way of evolution from previous work, that's not to say it's not solid. In fact, in an era where numerous bands change their face and sound from one release to another, a little continuity isn't a bad thing. They slow it down nicely with "Dream Again," showing a more melodic touch to their sound, and on "Bite Hard" they show their ability to start slow to build to a frenetic and recognizable chorus structure. Don't Sleep On: "Can't Stop Feeling," "Twilight Omens," and "Bite Hard"

Glass Candy, Deep Gems and B/E/A/T/B/O/X: This is a group I just heard about out of Portland, OR. They're currently on the Italians Do It Better label, with B/E/A/T/B/O/X coming out in 2007 and the Deep Gems album of unreleased tracks released in '08. With an eerie female lead vocalist in Ida No, this group specializes in a delicious mixture of 80s pop music fused with dark/deep disco sounds. The grimy bass grooves, melodic keys and moving beats create a vision of dark streets on a rainy night or a dimly lit club for slow dancing hipsters, but would also feel right at home on the Scarface and Grand Theft Auto 2 soundtracks. Imagine a collaboration between Tangerine Dream and Nine Inch Nails with Kelli Dayton, formerly of the Sneaker Pimps, on vocals. If you like 80s, or disco, or just some dark music you can listen to in your cruise to an unmentionable location, Glass Candy will keep your head nodding. Don't Sleep On: "Feeling Without Touching," "Etheric Device," and "Touching the Morning Mist."

Lake, Oh, The Places We'll Go: This relatively new (at least in terms of mass release appeal, just signed to K Records) lo-fi indie pop/rock group out of Olympia, WA caught me by surprise.

To read about the rest of the Lake album and the other music I added in February, click here.

Wine Bus

Saturday morning I wake up to a pounding head (thanks for playing Beirut with Mickey's you dumb ass), and a very dry mouth. I head over to Safeway, buy a handle of rum (you should see the looks that gets at 8:30 in the morning) and head back to the house to shower and roll up. I pack my day trip bag (a backpack that includes items like dental floss, a toothbrush, two flasks, mixers, the camera, and a full change of clothes) and head over to Nini's where I put down a foundation of biscuits and gravy. Katie makes me a to-go double strength mimosa and I'm on the road.

I get to City Tavern at 10:30 and the guests are already accumulating to get on the shuttle bus for Marc and JK's birthday party. The plan is to hit three or four wineries in the Napa valley. The crew is large, Masars, Marc, his new significant, JK, Reich and his girl, Topher and Ya, Vic and Alla, Sutton, and a whole host of other people are there. It's shots in City before the bus loads, mimosas on the bus along with croissants and muffins for the people who actually feel that it's important to eat before drinking.

I feel it's very important to eat before drinking, which is why I eat a brownie on the bus ride before we get to the first winery. Once there, I'm told that drinking from my flask on their premises is a no-go, but that's alright as I can't wipe the smile off my face. They have a cool dog named Pepper there that chases rocks, so I amuse myself with that while everyone else drinks wine. On the way out, the guy behind the counter gives me a glass with ice for the ride and we're back on the bus.

This is where things get interesting. The bus is load, I'm pretty well faded between the mimosas, rum and cokes and brownie, and we're all listening to music and enjoying ourselves. However, when the bus pulls up at the next stop, our location for lunch, there's a problem. It seems that in the wisdom of planning the trip, the lunch location is a winery/picnic grounds and the place is full of families. As I step off the bus, the substances combined with the complete surreality of the scene around me thrusts me suddenly into what I can only describe as feeling like a shroom trip...that feeling where everyone in your group is the same and a part of you, and all these other humans in their weird family/picnic/Saturday outing family time resemble aliens who frighten you.

In the bathroom, surrounded by strangers, Marc is talking about pot at the top of his lungs. The other patrons are clearly not amused. Outside, I decide i need to get as far away from this place as possible, so I go with everyone else across the street to the deli for a sandwich. In line, I remind myself to think about how a normal person might act in this situation and then act accordingly. It involves me standing in line and not saying anything to anyone, partially afraid that I won't be able to get anything but gibberish out. Back across the street, we start eating lunch and the manager of the winery comes out and asks us to please not eat outside food and drinks there. I didn't think we were that obvious, but when I step back from the group I realize that in this family picnic setting, we look like a bunch of hoodlums, drunk 20-something year olds with our own food perched at the very corner of the establishment's boundary.

I feel badly about this, so I leave the group and return to the bus, but not before taking a walk through the less inhabited portion of the winery for some "me" time. Back on the bus, we head to winery #3 where the weather has gotten a bit chillier, making it feel like a winter scene. Here, the group spreads out a bit more as people explore the grounds, do some tasting and some walking. At the end, we have to hold the bus up so that Topher can go back into the winery and give one of the employees Boyars's number...she was too shy to do it herself.

Winery #4 is in Yountville. For those of you that haven't been, I'm not sure that I'd recommend it. It's a rich, yuppy town. The beautiful girl with glasses doing the tastings for us had a ring on that made me wonder how she lifted her hand to pour the wine. The only place I could find to eat was a French cuisine restaurant where I got some escargot. The rain holds back as we finish the drinking, and once back on the bus, all sorts of strangeness ensues, as might only be possible with 34 people playing drunk musical chairs to talk to different people. My night almost takes a turn for the worst when this weird guy Johnny who had been attempting to make conversation with me at various points during the day asks Scott J. specifically to trade seats with him and I get trapped by the window. Johnny asks me if I've ever "met someone that you know you were supposed to meet." I'm getting creeped out. I tell him I haven't and he says that he's that guy. I tell him I need to get something, jump out of the seat and move quickly to the back of the bus.

It's a good move...Reich and his gf are back there as well, with an empty seat and a one hitter. I show him the burn and then blow out through the sweatshirt move. It's not incredibly effective, but it does do the trick, and we spend the rest of the bus ride home laughing at the poor bastards in the front of the bus who have no idea what's going on.

Back in SF, I promptly leave the bus group in the Marina, shower and re-prepare with Za and then head over to T's place to hang out with her brother and his Canadian friends, who are pretty much hilarious in every sense. We hit a bar and then I introduce them to the crepe stand. So from my 8:30 am Saturday wake up call to my 3:30 am Sunday arrival home, I don't think you can argue with the success of the wine bus. Cheers to Marc and JK for putting it on. Pictures are: me with T's new puppy Hudson, Reich and gf at the back of the bus, the bus, our hoodlum status at Winery #2 and the full group at the end of the evening. Next up, Glace's birthday.

Random Neighbors

So Friday night turns out to be incredibly random. It starts out simply enough...Gavroche comes over after dinner at Sushi Sam's to play some Beirut. We start about 9, and around 12, we've decided that we're not gonna bother with going out to the bars. We'll just play a few more games and call it a night. We're midway through a game when I hear coming from outside, "Excuse me?"

This, of course, is the moment I have been dreading. The moment when a neighbor complains about the noise and puts me on caution mode with the level of my music. I look over the fence of the patio and see a girl standing there. Apparently, she's drunk and has locked herself out of her apartment, which is across the street, and is wondering if she can hang out with us until her friend with her house keys comes back. I'm wondering about her sanity in coming into an unknown house with two guys while faded, but luckily for her, she stumbled upon Gavroche and myself.

So we're chatting, she's watching us play Beirut, talking about her friends and the guy she's waiting on who has her keys. As we're reaching that part of the conversation, her friend shows up. She calls him over and as he gets closer, he starts looking more familiar and as he pulls up to the fence, it's not just her friend, it's our long time associate, Nick H., little brother of Paige. Talk about a small world.

Nick's enthusiasm leads us to play several more games of Beirut before passing out, but the damage, so to speak, the odd and soon to be befriended neighbor who might actually increase alcohol consumption in the apartment, was done. She now knows where to find us, and while she hasn't come knocking on the door yet, I'm sure with how randomly she showed up the first time, it's only a matter of time. Potential future roommate Hosin is excited about this fact...

10 Things to Think About on a Friday

Well, it hasn't been the best of weeks with some of the news I've gotten...a search for a new roommate and a new job continue simultaneously. Fun stuff. But we did get the new Zion I album this week, I got tidied up, and all will be forgotten tomorrow when I go on an all day drinking trip. But, in the good news category, it was an absolutely fantastic week for items for the 10 things to think about. So enjoy!

1) Back when we were younger (think 7 years old here), I told a relative that guys were better than girls because guys could pee standing up. She told me that girls could to, to which I said, "Prove it." Well, after standing up on the toilet seat and having pee run down her leg and all over the floor, she admitted that maybe standing up wasn't quite possible. Until now. For those nasty bathrooms or times when you need to win a bar bet, ladies, I present to you "Girl on the Go."

2) Lot of talk about Phelps. I think it's fantastic that the most celebrated Olympian of all time smokes. "Oh you mean smokers aren't all dumb ass Cheech and Chong types?" Surprise!!! While I'm not big on Kellogg's trying to eliminate his sponsorship, I don't have quite the same strong sentiments that Joe Rogan has in this rant against the idiocy of the war on pot...Alcohol is also more likely to cause injury requiring hospitalization? You don't say...

3) Jimi Hendrix wanted people to feel the purple haze all in their eyes...but he most certainly didn't mean Purple Haze Vodka.

4) The man who made us all cheer as he threw his shoes at Bush has finally been allowed to speak about the incident. He makes some great points. Of course, this made me laugh because of the whole fact that they now have a song in Iraq called "throw the shoe at the vampire."

5) We're always talking about "going green." Here are some Buddhist monks who have created entire temples out of recycled beer bottles. But what about something really green that goes beyond recycling? Like replacing all the streets in Japan with grass.

6) Leave it to a Republican politician to take what someone says, rearrange the words and entirely distort the message of the original speaker. Just not often that it's Sarah Palin doing it to her own kid. In other sexual news, what about the idea that through early detection and readily available antiretroviral drugs, we could eliminate HIV using only the medical tools we already have?

7) Good food news!!! Ever wonder why Coke in the bottle from Mexico tastes so much better than canned coke? It's because it uses pure cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. Looks like for a limited time, we're going to get Mountain Dew and Pepsi served the same way. But you need something to eat while partaking in these tasty beverages, don't you? How about a Pizza Burger: a giant burger with two large meat pizzas as buns with bacon, colby and pepper jack cheese?!

8) In the ongoing witch hunt of Barry Bonds, it looks like the prosecution has just suffered another major setback...they're not going to allow positive test results and a "doping calendar" into the testimony because his trainer won't testify. How many years and hundreds of thousands if not millions of tax payer money was wasted on this? And they won't even get a guilty verdict? Find some real criminals people!

9) Anyone who read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand should know that nationalizing institutions is a great way to kill the country. So why are we looking at nationalizing Citi and BofA? Of course, I also question why a strong Swedish car maker like Saab would sell to GM in the first place, and now be in danger of closing because GM's business practices are about as solid as quicksand.

10) In a way I'd like to try getting drunk, you can now shotgun blast shots of booze into your mouth. Shot war anyone?

That's it from this end...have a great weekend!

Zion I - The Take Over

{for all music related posts, see .Evolving.Music}

In 2006, Zion I released their album Break A Dawn, an album previously released only in Japan and brought stateside following the release of their collaboration with The Grouch, Heroes in the City of Dope. And then, radio silence. Without question the group was staying busy with live performances, interviews, AmpLive's foray into remix work with the Rainydayz Remixes of Radiohead's In Rainbows, but the gap between Break A Dawn and tomorrow's release of The Take Over has been the longest drought of new Zion I material since the gap between 2000's Mind Over Matter and their sophomore 2003 release Deep Water Slang. And the good news? The Take Over shows what ten years of maturity, musical comfort and genre influence can do on two people dedicated to their craft. The bad news? It clocks in at under 50 minutes, and when it ends, you can't help but wish their was more.

While The Take Over doesn't carry with it the same continuity of thought that made Mind Over Matter an intro to outro listen, it does bring the most eclectic genre influences into the music since that album. AmpLive's creativity with his hip-hop and stunning ability to incorporate other genres helps create a musical backdrop for Zumbi's lyrics that transcend plain hip-hop or rap. Following the intro, "Geek to the Beat" kicks off the album with a mixture of tribal drums and background chant sounds that are mingled with electro synths and heavy 808s. While it would be very easy for other artists to fall into the trap of using one of these sounds at the expense of the others, Amp has managed to find the balance, alternating between the very simple beat and chants during the verse and then bringing in a heavier electric feel for the chorus. The video below has a snippet of the song performed live on Friday night in Oakland.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OQ9Y_jwlUs]

"Takeover" follows "Geek to the Beat" and provides a much more traditional hip-hop sound. Amp brings in a boom-bap beat with simple keys in the background and a cut up sample that creates a feel of building in the song while you shrug your shoulders to the rhythm and then feel the beat come back underneath. Zumbi sounds effortless in his lyrics, and as it goes to chorus, the "takeover" sample mixes with undulating synths and a soulful sounding male vocalist sample. As the song fades and goes to outro, Amp's musical skills are once again on showcase with a funky electro sound that sets up one of the singles off the album, "DJ DJ."

This track is certainly one of the more out there cuts on the album as it uses techno and fast paced electro sounds with a chorus snippet in Spanish provided by Deuce Eclipse. Amp on here pays homage to his craft by sprinkling in something of almost anything he can find, including 80's synth work that could have worked in almost any dance hall. What is perhaps most exciting about this track is that it goes in so many different directions, yet the potential for the evolution of the song is further enhanced by the fact that the group has released the stems to the songs online for fans to remix their own versions. Below is a brief clip of their performance of "DJ DJ" from Friday night.

For the rest of this album review, click here.

7 Things to Think About on a Monday

What a nutty week. Two Warriors games (both wins), domino night (win) and some tough track workouts made this one fly. Friday the 13th arrived with a power outage, a bad garage door and other wackiness. Apologies for the short and brief 10 things, but I'm due in court in 2 hours. Apparently, I couldn't even get 10 things by the time it was time for court, so here's what I did have last Friday (I got found guilty by the way).

1) For anyone like myself waiting anxiously for the new Batman movie, looks like we'll be waiting a while.

2) Need a drink that goes beyond fruity? How about homemade Skittles infused vodka?

3) Talk about bad luck. You lose your husband in the WTC on 9/11, and then you yourself die in a plane crash...

4) Ever want to see inside a mummy's casket?

5) Talk about exploitation...Madonna does a '79 nude photo shoot for $25 and then the nude photo sells for$37,000.

6) First Charlie Weis called offensive plays for Notre Dame. Then he gave it up. Now he's taking them back? Make up your mind Weis!

7) Michael Jordan is up for the basketball Hall of Fame. Think he'll get in?

Ambassador to a Birthday

Friday evening after Track practice, I got the opportunity to head across the bay and attend the Grand Opening of The Zoo, a huge complex dedicated to legal offices, recording studios and record labels out in Oakland. The event was great with food, drinks, tours of the complex, and culminated in a very nice private performance by Zion I of some of their tracks off the new album, The Take Over. Check back here later today for a review of that album and some video footage from the Zoo opening.

Left there about 8 and head back to the house to change and get ready to go out to celebrate Gavroche's birthday. Sis, Jarles, Turo, and a few others met up to do some pre-gaming, and around 10 it was time to head up to the party. Gavroche had picked the Ambassador on Geary, and had set up for a table to get some reduced cover charges for all the guests. True to form, people came out from all over to celebrate with Gavroche as we had Crystal, San Francisco, UCLA and all other manner of friends, including the chiropractor. About 3 hours and 4 bottles later, the club is closing and it's crepe time. Weird that the main crepe man wasn't around, must have been sick or something, and the back-up just wasn't as good at running the show.

After some 3am crepes and a ride home, it's pass-out until Nini's the next morning. And after Nini's, it's pretty much coma until later that evening. Thinking that I wasn't feeling another drive to the city, I convinced Za and KO to come out and do a little Mateo stumble. KO hadn't been to the burbs before, so after a few drinks we stopped in at Glow, which no matter when you go is an interesting group. Highlight of the bar, or rather lowlight depending on who you're asking, is when a girl sitting on a stool who had been talking to KO goes to re-situate herself on it and all of a sudden is sprawled face first on the floor of the bar. Everyone takes a step back and the bar goes silent as people try to help her to her feet. She's taken such a fall though that her purse is about five feet away on the floor, and even once she gets back on the stool, she looks woozy like she might fall over again.

From there it's on to McGovern's where they had a cover bar playing and were more crowded than usual. A moment of hilarity ensues when Za doesn't understand why everyone in the bar is head banging and singing along to the same song. She's apparently never in her life heard Metallica's "Enter Sandman," which makes me wonder how many childhood/middle school experiences I take for granted that maybe she never had.

We close that bar down and go next door to Mr. Pizza Man. We get our slices, plus an extra one someone had left on a table. From there we head home where we play some late night Beirut as KO passes out on the couch. So a studio grand opening, Gavroche's birthday and a Mateo stumble...it's all in a weekend's work! Up next? The all day wine trip next Saturday.

Dominoes (2/11/09)

So once again deprived of the regular crew, we had two newcomers to the domino game last night held at Bus Stop in SF, and they acquitted themselves admirably. While Topher made a tight run for 1st place, KO KO'd Za to take third. And, as per Bus Stop standards, the drinks were strong. Very strong.
Me: 335
Topher: 325
KO: 170
Za: 155

After Topher left to make curfew, we played one more hand which saw me beat KO and Za 45-35. Nothing helps save the week like Domino Night!

MixMatchMusic Launches Tra.kz!

{for all music related posts, see .Evolving.Music}

It seems that the more accessible and fast information becomes, the greater the urge is to make it go faster. The evolution it took to go from snail mail to e-mail was not only a giant cost and speed leap, but a shift in thinking about the way to convey information simply. From there, IM made short and fast the norm for online communication. With these changes in communication and upgrades in data sharing speeds, artists are now not only able to immediately present new content to their fans, but they're also able to spread the information about that content much more rapidly. Now, as the internet culture reaches another stepping stone in social networking and media, Facebook status messages and sub-141 character Twitter messages have become commonplace, making the need to dumb down traditionally fingernail-on-chalkboard length URLs to something that can link to a site and still hold space for a description. There are numerous sites that provide services like these already, Twitpic for pictures and bit.ly for other content, but this morning marks the launch of a URL shortener specifically made to direct readers to music related content.

MixMatchMusic has been working diligently with the online music community through their site which promotes the collaboration, organization and monetization of user created content. And while online artist content and collaboration remain the primary focus, MMM has been forward thinking in their approach by quickly recognizing and assimilating various aspects of the ever-expanding musical presence on the web, as evidenced by both their Remix Wizard and their site sequencer. It makes sense then that today they offered up a new and incredibly useful tool to the online community in tra.kz, a URL shortener for all things music.

For the rest of this article, click here.

FriFlakes

So y'all know I have no problem calling out the flakes. And boy, on Friday night, there were flakes a plenty. Up for flake of the evening award we have: E, Sis, ChengJ and Gavroche.

So early in the evening, I had spoken with Sis and invited her to come party with me. I figured I didn't have any plans, but once we pre-partied, we could go out to the city or somewhere in Mateo and still have a good time. I got a text from her saying that she was tired, wasn't going to make it out and was going to go for an early evening after a visit to our Dad's house. Fair enough.

I talk to E and he tells me that he'll be at the I at 10ish. When I ask him what that means, he tells me no later than 11. This works as ChengJ had told me he and Foster were going to go to dinner, do some light drinking and then hit the bars. I figured after a pre-game with E, I would be just in time to meet ChengJ and Foster, and tie that in to meeting up with Gavroche who told me he was going to go out to dinner and then go for drinks in the Marina.

I figure that if E says no later than 11, that means about 10:45, so I plan accordingly. I have a few drinks, watch the end of the Warriors game and go to leave my apartment at around 10:15. I'm getting in the car when Sis calls me, and not only is she not at Dad's house, she's in fact already in the city, faded and out with friends. Say what?! For some reason, when I propose something to my sister, she never likes the idea. Either she's too tired, or doesn't want to do it, or doesn't think it sounds fun. And yet, I will then find her doing the exact same thing or something very similar with other people and having a great time doing it. I'm wondering if a) she just doesn't like kicking it with me that much, b) she's just resistant to my ideas because they come from me or c) she's just more open minded to things when her friends suggest them. Either way, when she told me she was having an early night and then was out in the Marina, I was surprised.

I get to the I and E isn't there. I have a drink, wait til a bit after 11, and decide I'm not going to wait any longer. I take off and head to the Marina. ChengJ tells me that they're just about to play a few games of Beirut at Foster's place and then head out. I search for Gavroche who lets me know that not only is he done with his city plans, he's already on his way out of the city. I call Sis who tells me she's at a bar at Steiner and Union. I get to the Marina, park the car and get to Steiner and Union. Where there's no bar. I call her again and she informs me that she's actually at a bar at Chestnut and Pierce. ChengJ lets me know that that's a block from Foster's and I should combine the two meetings. Good idea.

Only, as I approach the bar where Sis said she was, she and her friends are leaving to go somewhere else. Determined to have not walked over there in vain, I tell her I might meet her later and walk to Foster's. ChengJ, who was supposed to be leaving there already, not only lied about the distance (it's more like 5 blocks than 1), but it's 12:10 at this point and they're still in the middle of Beirut. But, we stick around a bit, play another game and get ready to leave. Heading over to City, Sis is still at KT's and E has called asking where I am. I tell Sis to meet us at City, E I might get there later, and we have some drinks. Great moment of the evening occurs when ChengJ calls a girl walking by us "ma'am" and she almost explodes. About the time they're thinking of bombarding some girls in the bar, I decide it's my cue to leave. Sis still hasn't shown up, so I've given up on her for the evening and I head over to meet up with E. He's contrite about leaving me hanging earlier, so he buys me three rounds. He also does this sometimes because he's a general bad ass, but Friday it happens to be because he feels bad.

So while all of this was ticking me off at the time, I end up having a great Friday...the time at City was enjoyable, E and I had a good time, and I scooted over at the end of the evening to get crepes, which, really, will salvage any night, no matter how bad.

10 Things to Think About on a Friday

The first week of February...not a bad thing. Super Bowl was pretty decent, Domino night was great, and I saw Track season return triumphantly with some good runs on an ankle that isn't suffering too many repercussions from my trampoline incident in December. While I'm back to Sunday OHs this week, I'm still excited for the weekend and I'm here to bring you 10 things to think about before the Man lets you go this evening. Enjoy!

1) You broke up with your boyfriend, started dating some other chump, your ex has moved on to two twins and a third girlfriend, and you didn't think it'd be awkward to work for him?! C'mon...

2) So I'm not sure what I find more noteworthy here...is it a) that it took almost a full week for ANY sponsor to drop Michael Phelps over his pot picture, b) that all US Swimming did was suspend him for 3 months (3 months? That's like one race), or c) that all the news outlets continually refer to what he was using as a "marijuana pipe." Has no one in the news media seen a glass-on-glass Roor bong before?

3) I think I have a new love. The Bacon Weave was good, but "Bacon Exposion" be thy name.

4) Leave it to people in New York to think that the smell of maple syrup is a terrorist attack, and then get mad that they have to smell something as nice as maple syrup. What, the urine smell on the sidewalk is better?

5) Here's a new marketing ploy...tell people to only eat a little of your product. That sells pizzas, right?

6) So yesterday, Bush's former chief of staff went on blast to tell Obama to get his ass dressed up when he goes in the White House, damnit! He says that Bush had a suit coat dress code. Is he counting this picture of Bush without a coat on?

7) Great lines go in great songs..."For all the corners cut we got an avalanche of sawdust"

8) Have you read about Lawrence Lessig and Stephen Colbert?

9) Which would you rather get drunk off...Mickey's or box wine? I vote Mickey's. Like tonight maybe.

10) Who do you think you have a better chance of beating in a game of Beirut... Gavroche or @Hosin?

Cheers to all and have a great weekend!

Domino (2/4/09)

A flurry of scoring in the final two hands, and a truncated stay at a restaurant that made us call it in the middle of the final hand contributed to an exciting and excellent game of dominoes last night. Even thought I poured it on, dominoed the final hand and scored a ton, it wasn't enough to catch Za who had built a nice cushion for herself in the previous rounds. The final tally saw Bini retain her 2009 points lead, Za jump Nah for Year-to-Date wins, and helped me leapfrog Bini to regain my All-Time Points total lead. And this is only week 3!

The Colbert Remixes and the Future of Online Collaboration

{for all music related posts, see .Evolving.Music}

Early in January, Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert sat down with Lawrence Lessig. The interview was typical Colbert tongue-in-cheek, but good for a laugh. For those of you not closely following the implosion of the music industry and subsequent recreation as a more inclusive forum, Lessig is the author of Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy, a book that examines methods of creating revenue out of creative work. The example Lessig used while talking to Colbert was Flickr which allows users to post pictures which Flickr can then create revenue from. But Lessig's primary argument is that the war on Peer-to-Peer file sharing has failed (he'll get no argument here) and that the copyright laws are outdated with the vast number of increasing ways people can share, remix and alter original work while making something new. In a way, every blog does this. This post in itself is a remix of two interviews, the functions of two websites and my arrangement of these facts with my thoughts. It's about as close as I come to making music. The DIY explosion in music is part of the culture that has helped spawn mash-ups like Danger Mouse's Grey Album (The Beatles' White Album/Jay-Z's Black Album) and AmpLive's Rainydayz Remixes (AmpLive remixing Radiohead's In Rainbows.) The point is that technology and the rapidly evolving music industry need to find common ground with artists, and not just other musicians, but all artists, as the mixed media medium is something that can only grow from here.

Well, when Colbert was very specific about becoming "possibly litigious' should anyone take portions of his interview and remix it with a dance beat, he had to do so knowing full-well that someone would. He wasn't disappointed as two days later, internet upstart IndabaMusic jumped into the fray with a full site devoted to remixing the Colbert/Lessig interview. But it didn't end there, did it? With Colbert, how could it? Never being one to avoid an opportunity to poke fun at himself, Colbert remixed a video of his own work to a pulsing dance beat, and told the remixers to lay off again, to of course encourage them to remix more. Enter Dan Zaccagnino, head of Indaba who had an interview on Colbert the other night (interview at 14m in) to talk about the remix culture. Of course, these types of remixes are nothing new over at MixMatchMusic, which has had success with their Remix Wizard. While the Indaba/Colbert remix contest is excellent, it is Indaba based. MMM's Remix Wizard is a free widget that can be set-up and used by any artist on their website to host remix promotions. It doesn't even need to have anything to do with music, as evidenced by Remix Sarah Palin.

While Colbert's thoughts in the interviews with Lessig and Zaccagnino are clearly meant to be humorous, they serve a larger purpose in that these episodes help create buzz for a rapidly growing and increasingly important segment of the music industry: collaborative pieces brought about through alternative means. Indaba has managed to create a large community of musicians from around the world who are engaging in internet based musical collaboration, and this is a huge first step in breaking down barriers within the recording industry.

But with every broken barrier comes the question of the next frontier. To read the rest of this article, click here.

January's Movies (7)

A slow month for movies, but the ones I saw were excellent. We started moving Hessica through the Matrix trilogy, and for anyone looking for some seriously good Anime, check out Paprika...amazing! Of course, we had a week or so off when the TV got stolen and we didn't watch any movies, so that's part of the issue here.

4: The Matrix, Tropic Thunder
5: Burn After Reading
6: Persepolis
25: Super High Me
26: Totally Baked, Paprika