{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.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
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...
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...
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
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!
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!
Monday, February 16, 2009
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.
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?
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.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
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!
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!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
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.
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.
Monday, February 9, 2009
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.
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.
Friday, February 6, 2009
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!
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!
Thursday, February 5, 2009
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!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
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.
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.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
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
4: The Matrix, Tropic Thunder
5: Burn After Reading
6: Persepolis
25: Super High Me
26: Totally Baked, Paprika
Friday, January 30, 2009
10 Things to Think About on a Friday
All in all, not a bad week. I saw some awesome movies to finish up the month (if you haven't seen Paprika and like Anime, go get it done), got a coach training to get ready for the start of track season (Monday), played some dominoes and otherwise had quite a decent week putting the apartment back together following last week's break in. With the Super Bowl coming up, this weekend is sure to be centered on massive amounts of celebration and partying. But before you go and drown yourself in booze, here's 10 things to think about as you wind out the work week.
1) Well, there is the matter of protocol, but really, if the President of the United States nods at you, even if you're a drum major, shouldn't you nod back? Instead, this guy lost his job. So much for patriotism.
2) A bit of sad news here, Kim Manners, a long time director for the X-Files, passed away this week.
3) Worried about getting pulled over for speeding? Check out this list of the 10 most and least ticketed cars...
4) I say it almost every week here with a link, and I have to think that eventually, something will come of it, but c'mon, let's stop this silly war on marijuana...Politicians...get your heads out of your asses and do something that benefits our country!
5) Bill O'Reilly is a jack ass. Not only that, but he's recently been shown to be slightly less intelligent on historical foreign affairs than Jessica Alba. That's right, super hot Alba schooled O'Reilly in politics. Bam!
6) Here in the "land of the free and the home of the brave" we just got done limiting marriage rights for same sex couples. Over in Iceland, they're about to have their first openly gay Prime Minister. Wonder which country is more tolerant...
7) Speaking of homosexuality, Mr. Anti-Homosexuality himself, Ted Haggard, was on CNN last night talking about his past indiscretions. Want to talk about an asshole? How about a man speaking from the pulpit to 10s of thousands of people, condemning homosexuality, who then turns out to be having a long and illicit affair with a male prostitute. What's better? He said on Larry Kingthat he's been told by a therapist that he's a "heterosexual with homosexual attachments." I'm still trying to figure out what that means, but I think Mr. Haggard will get along a lot better in life if he just admits that he's bi! Stop hating people!
8) I must say that I hope when I'm 110 I'm having sex with an 80 year old!
9) These are some friends you don't want....say they're picking you up for a party and then ditch you in the middle of nowhere, hoping that you'll die.
10) I was going to link here to an article about Janet Napolitano talking about wanting to get rid of all criminal illegal aliens. But c'mon, we don't like criminals, let alone criminals that are illegal, so what's the point in linking to such a mundane and agreeable topic? How about this...would you rather have sex everyday of your life with someone that you found on the lower end of the attractive scale, or have sex once every 10 years with someone you consider a 10?
Enjoy your weekends and the big game folks!
1) Well, there is the matter of protocol, but really, if the President of the United States nods at you, even if you're a drum major, shouldn't you nod back? Instead, this guy lost his job. So much for patriotism.
2) A bit of sad news here, Kim Manners, a long time director for the X-Files, passed away this week.
3) Worried about getting pulled over for speeding? Check out this list of the 10 most and least ticketed cars...
4) I say it almost every week here with a link, and I have to think that eventually, something will come of it, but c'mon, let's stop this silly war on marijuana...Politicians...get your heads out of your asses and do something that benefits our country!
5) Bill O'Reilly is a jack ass. Not only that, but he's recently been shown to be slightly less intelligent on historical foreign affairs than Jessica Alba. That's right, super hot Alba schooled O'Reilly in politics. Bam!
6) Here in the "land of the free and the home of the brave" we just got done limiting marriage rights for same sex couples. Over in Iceland, they're about to have their first openly gay Prime Minister. Wonder which country is more tolerant...
7) Speaking of homosexuality, Mr. Anti-Homosexuality himself, Ted Haggard, was on CNN last night talking about his past indiscretions. Want to talk about an asshole? How about a man speaking from the pulpit to 10s of thousands of people, condemning homosexuality, who then turns out to be having a long and illicit affair with a male prostitute. What's better? He said on Larry Kingthat he's been told by a therapist that he's a "heterosexual with homosexual attachments." I'm still trying to figure out what that means, but I think Mr. Haggard will get along a lot better in life if he just admits that he's bi! Stop hating people!
8) I must say that I hope when I'm 110 I'm having sex with an 80 year old!
9) These are some friends you don't want....say they're picking you up for a party and then ditch you in the middle of nowhere, hoping that you'll die.
10) I was going to link here to an article about Janet Napolitano talking about wanting to get rid of all criminal illegal aliens. But c'mon, we don't like criminals, let alone criminals that are illegal, so what's the point in linking to such a mundane and agreeable topic? How about this...would you rather have sex everyday of your life with someone that you found on the lower end of the attractive scale, or have sex once every 10 years with someone you consider a 10?
Enjoy your weekends and the big game folks!
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Share a Song in Twitter (or anywhere else)
{for all music related posts, see .Evolving.Music}
While Evolving Music and MixMatchMusic have been Twitter devotees for several months now (check out why one of our writers thinks that musicians should jump on the Twitter bandwagon), I've only recently picked up the site. And I'll be honest, if I hadn't seen the iPhone app Gavroche has been rocking, I probably never would have. I put up an account several months ago, but the idea of just text messages coming in, or needing to look at a browser window seemed ridiculous to me. I'm not sitting at home checking my computer to see what other people are up to. But when Gavroche introduced me to Tweetie where you can post automatically, get a nice streamlined list of responses and other peoples' status messages, I was intrigued. When he showed me how easy it was to post photos to the site from the phone, I was sold. And now, with even more features, I'm beginning to feel like Twitter culture is slowly infiltrating everything (and now to see if they can come up with a workable business model to actually stay in business.)
But up until now, the shortened URLs, the pictures, the @replies...these are fun things that have kept me busy, but haven't yet broken into the main area of interest that I have...namely, big shocker here, music. So when I read about Songly, I was of course intrigued. The service allows you to use ANY URL that is hosting an Mp3 and post it as a Tweet. Here's the kicker though...it doesn't just shorten the URL and make it tweetable...it wraps it up in a flash player so anyone can listen.
To read about how to use Song.ly and check out my first attempt at it, click here.
While Evolving Music and MixMatchMusic have been Twitter devotees for several months now (check out why one of our writers thinks that musicians should jump on the Twitter bandwagon), I've only recently picked up the site. And I'll be honest, if I hadn't seen the iPhone app Gavroche has been rocking, I probably never would have. I put up an account several months ago, but the idea of just text messages coming in, or needing to look at a browser window seemed ridiculous to me. I'm not sitting at home checking my computer to see what other people are up to. But when Gavroche introduced me to Tweetie where you can post automatically, get a nice streamlined list of responses and other peoples' status messages, I was intrigued. When he showed me how easy it was to post photos to the site from the phone, I was sold. And now, with even more features, I'm beginning to feel like Twitter culture is slowly infiltrating everything (and now to see if they can come up with a workable business model to actually stay in business.)
But up until now, the shortened URLs, the pictures, the @replies...these are fun things that have kept me busy, but haven't yet broken into the main area of interest that I have...namely, big shocker here, music. So when I read about Songly, I was of course intrigued. The service allows you to use ANY URL that is hosting an Mp3 and post it as a Tweet. Here's the kicker though...it doesn't just shorten the URL and make it tweetable...it wraps it up in a flash player so anyone can listen.
To read about how to use Song.ly and check out my first attempt at it, click here.
Dominoes (1/28/09)
Since the scores won't ever go official on this game or next week's, here's the breakdown:
AC: 325
HG: 225
AP: 215
CS: 205
Location: Kimball's Pool Hall, Oakland
AC: 325
HG: 225
AP: 215
CS: 205
Location: Kimball's Pool Hall, Oakland
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
January iPod Update
{for all music related posts, see .Evolving.Music}
To see the last version of What I'm Hearing, click here.
While most of this update came from the last few months of 2008, I'm sure a lot of stuff here will be new to some people. But don't worry, we've got some 2009 gems as well, despite the fact that we're only a month in. If the January update is any indication, it'll be a fantastic year for music. January's new iPod music included 70 songs.
Au Revoir Simone, The Bird of Music: Using muted synths, drum machines and various melodic instruments, Au Revoir Simone fashions singer/songwriter tendencies with electro and pop sensibilities on this 2007 release. On some tracks this comes out in a restrained style, the melody gently picked out with bell chimes and a light keyboard as the backdrop for the slow and melancholy voices of Erika Forster, Annie Hart and Heather D'Angelo. Yet on others, ARS delves further into the dancehall of the ‘80s with energetic rifts and go-go adolescent lyrics. The group manages to package their music as cute and gentle without allowing either to become overbearing and washing out the musical talent of it all. It would be very easy for future releases (and as of May '08 they ARS says they're working on one) to go too far in one of these directions, but on the majority of this album they’ve managed to find the balance that brings back the happiness and nostalgia of the ‘80s while infusing it with a shoe-gazing aura. Don’t Sleep On: “Dark Halls,” “Fallen Snow” and “Stars.”
Friendly Fires, Friendly Fires: If their 11 track self-titled September 2008 release is any indication, Friendly Fires of England could easily become the big Indie/Electro/80s/Pop/Alt Rock/Shoegaze group of 2009, not to mention the next big thing from across the pond. Their self-titled debut explores a variety of genres and musical eras while never losing energy. The bass and drum driven power of the tracks incorporates steely guitars and more than a fair share of video game tics and flourishes. At the same time, Fires isn’t afraid to mix in hints of disco from time to time,
To read more about the Friendly Fires and the other music I've been listening to this month, click here.
To see the last version of What I'm Hearing, click here.
While most of this update came from the last few months of 2008, I'm sure a lot of stuff here will be new to some people. But don't worry, we've got some 2009 gems as well, despite the fact that we're only a month in. If the January update is any indication, it'll be a fantastic year for music. January's new iPod music included 70 songs.
Au Revoir Simone, The Bird of Music: Using muted synths, drum machines and various melodic instruments, Au Revoir Simone fashions singer/songwriter tendencies with electro and pop sensibilities on this 2007 release. On some tracks this comes out in a restrained style, the melody gently picked out with bell chimes and a light keyboard as the backdrop for the slow and melancholy voices of Erika Forster, Annie Hart and Heather D'Angelo. Yet on others, ARS delves further into the dancehall of the ‘80s with energetic rifts and go-go adolescent lyrics. The group manages to package their music as cute and gentle without allowing either to become overbearing and washing out the musical talent of it all. It would be very easy for future releases (and as of May '08 they ARS says they're working on one) to go too far in one of these directions, but on the majority of this album they’ve managed to find the balance that brings back the happiness and nostalgia of the ‘80s while infusing it with a shoe-gazing aura. Don’t Sleep On: “Dark Halls,” “Fallen Snow” and “Stars.”
Friendly Fires, Friendly Fires: If their 11 track self-titled September 2008 release is any indication, Friendly Fires of England could easily become the big Indie/Electro/80s/Pop/Alt Rock/Shoegaze group of 2009, not to mention the next big thing from across the pond. Their self-titled debut explores a variety of genres and musical eras while never losing energy. The bass and drum driven power of the tracks incorporates steely guitars and more than a fair share of video game tics and flourishes. At the same time, Fires isn’t afraid to mix in hints of disco from time to time,
To read more about the Friendly Fires and the other music I've been listening to this month, click here.
Monday, January 26, 2009
New Blog Feature: @ Right Now
So after a bit of resistance, a lot of confusion and a strong desire to not have to check the internet for status updates, I was introduced to the iPhone app from Twitter and while I'm not sure yet, I could imagine it becoming a bit of an obsession. That being said, who knows if I'll keep or ditch it within a few weeks or months. But for now, I'll try it out, and you can see my three most recent Twitter posts in the @ Right Now sidebar, which will keep you current!
Cheers!
Cheers!
Friday, January 23, 2009
10 Things to Think About on a Friday
Ok, so not the best week...On Monday I get home to find that the apartment has been broken into and a good majority of our electronics have been taken. I guess the part that pisses me off most is the fact that they took my external hard drive with all my pictures on it, yet weren't smart enough to take the power cord for it, so odds are good that it's lying in some trash heap somewhere because they weren't able to turn it on. But, life moves on...the insurance money should come in today or tomorrow and the objects will be replaced (obviously, however, not all my photos) and we'll be wiser next time around. That being said, there's a lot of good news out there this week, and plenty to keep your mind occupied. It's Friday! Sit back, relax and ponder this!
1) I'll admit it...there's something thrilling about watching just how low politicians can sink. Our recently ousted regime of Bush/Cheney did just that this week. Out of 8 years of undercover dealings, possibly illegal moves and other generally shady shit, Bush and Cheney got caught pretty much red handed only once...when Cheney's office was in some way responsible for the leaking of Valerie Plame's identity as a CIA agent. Yet, despite the fact that this was the only thing they got caught for, and publicly so, Cheney thinks that his boy Scooter Libby deserves a pardon. I say that if this is the only justice the American people are ever going to get for all of the shit these two pulled in our Executive branch, Cheney better shut up and be thankful that he's not going to jail. Here's a news flash for you Cheney...you did immoral things as our VP. You don't deserve a pardon for your friend, nor for any member of your administration.
2) Yesterday was the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. I'm glad that we have a President who is not interested in having government intrude in our personal lives and stands for the rights of women. He's also rescinding Bush's policy of not providing funding for places abroad that support or educate on abortion. But let's not forget about the man who's working with him, Mr. Biden.
3) In not good news at all, try imagining one day being a beauty pageant contestant and two weeks later being in critical condition with amputated hands and feet.
4) It's rough being Kanye West. Not only are people hating on him all the time, but now there's fake interviews saying that he'd do bisexual porn. The guy can't buy a break.
5) One of the most common STDs is herpes, and part of the problem comes from the fact that someone can have it, yet not know if they don't experience an outbreak. And there's no vaccine. How ridiculous is that?! But no, you may not need a vaccine if development of this protective cream continues successfully.
6) Wanna get arrested? Go to Iowa, check a book out of the library and keep it for 9 months. Police should show up sometime after that.
7) Over at Evolving Music, we love remixers. But what does Stephen Colbert think of them?
8) Oh Britney. From Mouseketeer to the bane of parents' existence everywhere. Are you seeking Amy?
9) In the "how stupid can you get" files, we have this couple in Pennsylvania....a word to the wise...when you are going to court to pay a fine for being drunk in public, don't show up drunk! Of course, why deal with any fine or arrest? Do like this almost caught car thief and turn yourself into a goat.
10) The Arizona Cardinals have proven that a team from the NFC West can get to the Super Bowl. So is it too much to believe that with new coach Mike Singletary and now the possible hire of Dan Reeves as Offensive Coordinator that the Niners could get there next year?
That's it from me today people...be good to each other and keep your windows and doors locked.
1) I'll admit it...there's something thrilling about watching just how low politicians can sink. Our recently ousted regime of Bush/Cheney did just that this week. Out of 8 years of undercover dealings, possibly illegal moves and other generally shady shit, Bush and Cheney got caught pretty much red handed only once...when Cheney's office was in some way responsible for the leaking of Valerie Plame's identity as a CIA agent. Yet, despite the fact that this was the only thing they got caught for, and publicly so, Cheney thinks that his boy Scooter Libby deserves a pardon. I say that if this is the only justice the American people are ever going to get for all of the shit these two pulled in our Executive branch, Cheney better shut up and be thankful that he's not going to jail. Here's a news flash for you Cheney...you did immoral things as our VP. You don't deserve a pardon for your friend, nor for any member of your administration.
2) Yesterday was the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. I'm glad that we have a President who is not interested in having government intrude in our personal lives and stands for the rights of women. He's also rescinding Bush's policy of not providing funding for places abroad that support or educate on abortion. But let's not forget about the man who's working with him, Mr. Biden.
3) In not good news at all, try imagining one day being a beauty pageant contestant and two weeks later being in critical condition with amputated hands and feet.
4) It's rough being Kanye West. Not only are people hating on him all the time, but now there's fake interviews saying that he'd do bisexual porn. The guy can't buy a break.
5) One of the most common STDs is herpes, and part of the problem comes from the fact that someone can have it, yet not know if they don't experience an outbreak. And there's no vaccine. How ridiculous is that?! But no, you may not need a vaccine if development of this protective cream continues successfully.
6) Wanna get arrested? Go to Iowa, check a book out of the library and keep it for 9 months. Police should show up sometime after that.
7) Over at Evolving Music, we love remixers. But what does Stephen Colbert think of them?
8) Oh Britney. From Mouseketeer to the bane of parents' existence everywhere. Are you seeking Amy?
9) In the "how stupid can you get" files, we have this couple in Pennsylvania....a word to the wise...when you are going to court to pay a fine for being drunk in public, don't show up drunk! Of course, why deal with any fine or arrest? Do like this almost caught car thief and turn yourself into a goat.
10) The Arizona Cardinals have proven that a team from the NFC West can get to the Super Bowl. So is it too much to believe that with new coach Mike Singletary and now the possible hire of Dan Reeves as Offensive Coordinator that the Niners could get there next year?
That's it from me today people...be good to each other and keep your windows and doors locked.
Opio and Tajai Interview (pt. 2)
{For all music related posts, see .Evolving.Music}
For Part 1 of this interview, click here. In part 2 of my interview with Opio and Tajai, we discussed Bay Area Hip-hop, fan remixes, greatest albums of all time and the life lessons taught by their genre.
ACtual: I think that the Bay Area has some of the best Hip-Hop. There’s always people coming out from the Bay, the Hiero crew, E-40, Nickatina, Zion-I, lot of good groups. What do you think it is about this area that you think produces such good Hip-Hop?
Tajai: We’ve got diverse backgrounds, the port, especially Oakland and San Francisco, we’re the coast. If you look at the array of blue vs. red states, you’ll see that the coasts, where they have more than one type of person, or more than two types of people are places that embrace new and fresh ideas. Beyond that, there’s nothing to do out here. This is the worst place to try to start your career once you’ve made your move, so people are just bored so they make stuff. I could see in LA or New York, you can dress like a rapper, and look like one and hit the clubs and get that whole like, “I’m in the scene” thing. There’s no scene here, so you have to really be who you say you with regards to music. You have to do things yourself to achieve it rather than just looking the part. In other places you could look the part and try to get over like, “you know me…” and try to get in the clubs free, there aren’t any clubs out here. Because the scene is so wack, people are more creative and because we have a diverse background. This isn’t just the place where hella dope Hip-Hop is from. This is the place where the Panthers are from, where the hippies are from, where you look at San Francisco and gay rights, we’re on some other shit out here, we’re on some next level shit.
Opio: We’re trying to have equality out here. So in other places, in order to distinguish yourself and make yourself be something special to make people respect you like, “You’re doing something good, cool!” We ain’t really about that out here. It’s more about everyone is on the same level, so when in the Bay Area people lift you up and say, “Your shit is dope” that’s saying something because they have to see you and hear you and see it for themselves and know it’s true. Cause if not, you’re not going to get it. You might get it if you’re coming from somewhere else because it takes a lot to get on the scene and get heard. But if you come up from the grass roots out here, people are always like, “You’re never gonna do it.” Not that people are negative in general, but we ain’t really starstruck out here. You don’t see a lot of Bentleys and Lamborghinis and all that, and I don’t think it’s cause people can’t have it.
T: There’s a lot of money here. Per capita we’re probably one of the more wealthy cities in America.
O: That’s just not our stilo out here. You’re gonna stand out and make people get mad at you like, “What are you doing all that for? What do you need a Bentley and Lamborghini and all that for?” There’s something wrong with that out here, almost inherently so. People like to see you shine but they want you to be humble, you have to be a real person out here in order to maintain. So I feel blessed that we’re able to get respected out here, in this city in particular, especially being from here in all the years that we’ve been here, it’s a good feeling when we go to the Art and Soul festival or something like that. It’s a community gathering and there’s people from everywhere, but we still get love just like people paid to come see us at a show.
AC: A lot of groups are letting fans remix their work, putting stems up on the internet, doing remix work. Can you see getting into that and letting your fans work with your music like that?
To see what Opio and Tajai think of fan remixes and consider their favorite Hip-Hop albums of all time, click here.
For Part 1 of this interview, click here. In part 2 of my interview with Opio and Tajai, we discussed Bay Area Hip-hop, fan remixes, greatest albums of all time and the life lessons taught by their genre.
ACtual: I think that the Bay Area has some of the best Hip-Hop. There’s always people coming out from the Bay, the Hiero crew, E-40, Nickatina, Zion-I, lot of good groups. What do you think it is about this area that you think produces such good Hip-Hop?
Tajai: We’ve got diverse backgrounds, the port, especially Oakland and San Francisco, we’re the coast. If you look at the array of blue vs. red states, you’ll see that the coasts, where they have more than one type of person, or more than two types of people are places that embrace new and fresh ideas. Beyond that, there’s nothing to do out here. This is the worst place to try to start your career once you’ve made your move, so people are just bored so they make stuff. I could see in LA or New York, you can dress like a rapper, and look like one and hit the clubs and get that whole like, “I’m in the scene” thing. There’s no scene here, so you have to really be who you say you with regards to music. You have to do things yourself to achieve it rather than just looking the part. In other places you could look the part and try to get over like, “you know me…” and try to get in the clubs free, there aren’t any clubs out here. Because the scene is so wack, people are more creative and because we have a diverse background. This isn’t just the place where hella dope Hip-Hop is from. This is the place where the Panthers are from, where the hippies are from, where you look at San Francisco and gay rights, we’re on some other shit out here, we’re on some next level shit.
Opio: We’re trying to have equality out here. So in other places, in order to distinguish yourself and make yourself be something special to make people respect you like, “You’re doing something good, cool!” We ain’t really about that out here. It’s more about everyone is on the same level, so when in the Bay Area people lift you up and say, “Your shit is dope” that’s saying something because they have to see you and hear you and see it for themselves and know it’s true. Cause if not, you’re not going to get it. You might get it if you’re coming from somewhere else because it takes a lot to get on the scene and get heard. But if you come up from the grass roots out here, people are always like, “You’re never gonna do it.” Not that people are negative in general, but we ain’t really starstruck out here. You don’t see a lot of Bentleys and Lamborghinis and all that, and I don’t think it’s cause people can’t have it.
T: There’s a lot of money here. Per capita we’re probably one of the more wealthy cities in America.
O: That’s just not our stilo out here. You’re gonna stand out and make people get mad at you like, “What are you doing all that for? What do you need a Bentley and Lamborghini and all that for?” There’s something wrong with that out here, almost inherently so. People like to see you shine but they want you to be humble, you have to be a real person out here in order to maintain. So I feel blessed that we’re able to get respected out here, in this city in particular, especially being from here in all the years that we’ve been here, it’s a good feeling when we go to the Art and Soul festival or something like that. It’s a community gathering and there’s people from everywhere, but we still get love just like people paid to come see us at a show.
AC: A lot of groups are letting fans remix their work, putting stems up on the internet, doing remix work. Can you see getting into that and letting your fans work with your music like that?
To see what Opio and Tajai think of fan remixes and consider their favorite Hip-Hop albums of all time, click here.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Opio and Tajai Interview (pt. 1)
{for all music related posts, see .Evolving.Music}
Since the early 1990s, Oakland, California based Hip-Hop collective Hieroglyphics has taken on many shapes and sounds, from the lyrically complex and dense solo stylings of Del tha Funkee Homosapien to the rapid-fire and diverse delivery of Hieroglyphics to the smooth and masterful underground sound of Souls of Mischief. Spanning nearly two decades, Hiero and Souls of Mischief have brought new sounds and ideas to the industry while also providing a backbone of creativity that has helped influence the entire Bay Area music scene.
In November I had the opportunity to sit down with Tajai and Opio of Hiero and SOM, two members responsible for an incredible amount of solo and collaborative work for the HieroImperium. In part 1, we discussed their musical backgrounds, the formation of Hiero and the difficulty of staying relevant in a music industry that places an emphasis on the "next big thing."
ACtual: Starting off early, what were both of your initial musical influences and inspirations, and when did you decide that rapping is what you wanted to do?
Opio: I used to be hella into Reggae, really. Yellowman is one of my favorites, obviously Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, they had the swagger that got me on rap. My parents were really into music, so through them I heard Earth, Wind and Fire, Parliament-Funkadelic, stuff like that. When I first really started to hear rap, I heard “Rapper’s Delight,” stuff like that, Grandmaster Flash. They used to play Rock and Roll stations out here, mixing, like college radio. Really the first time I heard “Rapper’s Delight,” I was just hooked to the way he was spittin’, it was cool, and it just evolved from there. All the older cats in my neighborhood were listening to them, breakdancing, graffiti and all of that was a part of it too. At the same time cats were breaking, graffiti artists, so it was that whole Hip-Hop culture, it wasn’t only just the rapping, I was breakdancing, all of that.
Tajai: Funk, I would say Funk was my biggest influence. Parliament, Bootsy, George Clinton, and then Too Short is probably the main reason I rap just because all the other rappers, I saw other people doing it, but I didn’t think that people from here could do it. As a kid, it was just my perception of it was something that other people did until I saw Too Short rapping and then I was like, “He’s from here and he raps.” That’s when I really started seriously rapping.
AC: You two as well as the Souls of Mischief crew met early on. Talk about how all of you met, came together and the creation of both Souls and Hieroglyphics.
T: We grew up in the same area, so I’ve known Casual and A-Plus since like Kindergarten, 1st grade. Del was at the same school as us, we just sort of all had a mutual interest in Hip-Hop, so once Del got on in ’91 he sort of brought us into the industry, but we had been rapping together for a long time before that. Casual went to junior high with Op.
O: The first time I went into the studio ever, me and Casual rented a studio in the 8th grade. Our man Terai came with us, he was in the 7th grade. I wasn’t even rapping then, I was a DJ, so I was DJing, scratching during that time. This is in the 7th/8th grade, me and Casual went to junior high and he already knew them. I would listen to their music when I was in junior high but I hadn’t really started to kick it with Tajai and A-Plus, but he would have tapes and be like, “listen to my partners.” I’d see them up the block and be like, “there goes Tajai right there.” We really started hanging out in high school, but the whole time we lived right around the same area. We all lived around the same block as each other but we weren’t really in communication until high school, and that’s when we really became a lot more serious about the rapping.
AC: You were released on Jive Records in 1993. Talk about the process of creating that album and what working for a major label was like. You were what, 17, 18 when that album came out?
O: Yea. That album to me was something, that, I would listen to songs that they had done when I was in junior high and me and Casual went into the studio, we were kinda serious about the whole rap thing. Tajai and A-Plus were working with Sir Jinks and they had a professional sound that inspired us to get on our business a little more. This is early on, so we had been working on our craft until we came out. We were probably 13, 14 really serious going to the studio.
That album, even though we recorded it in 2 weeks, it was something that was formulating for a lot of years. I really think it was highly influenced also by the whole crew aspect, not just the fact that we were Souls of Mischief, because we’re competitive by nature within Souls of Mischief, but then there was also Del and Casual, Pep Love, we had these other fierce MCs. Even during the time before ’93 til Infinity came out, everybody heard the demos, so we had something to live up to. People would hear the demos and be like, “the album will be wack, whatever,” and they heard other cats around us that were really shining, so it was a long time coming to me, that album getting done, even though it seemed like it popped out of nowhere, we had been working for some years.
AC: When Hiero formed, what was your original vision for the group and how did you go about making Third Eye Vision?
For the rest of this interview, click here.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Thanks for Breaking In
I knew things weren't right when I saw the screens popped off my windows. Then when I saw that you had left my bedroom window wide open, I knew that some worthless cowardly piece of shit assholes had come in today to help themselves to a bunch of things that didn't belong to them.
So do you know me? Did you know you were gonna get a 46" LCD HD TV and you decided it was worth fucking me over so I can't watch the inauguration tomorrow? Or did you just pick an easy ground floor apartment to see what you could get? My roommate's 7 year old iBook was a nice score, I guess...She's glad you didn't take what was on the bed stand table though. Although you should have tried it on your ass, you were already fucking us over, you might as well have done yourself in the process.
So the TV, I can deal with that. That's why I have renter's insurance, because you never know when a flood, or maybe a lowlife burgler is going to attack. But dude, you took my roommate's jewelry, most of which was family heirloom stuff that she can't replace and is worth far less to you. My universal remote? I spent two weeks programming it, so you're not even going to know how to use it. Especially without the instruction manual, which you left here.
You didn't want the digital camera that was on the table? Apparently not, but you helped yourself to my 300Gig external hard drive. Now, the hard drive I can replace, but the 5 years of digital photos that you took on it mean jack shit to you or whoever you're going to pawn my Kanguru hard drive off on, those are gone for good. 5 years of images and memories, fucker. But, the worst part is this...YOU LEFT THE AC ADAPTER. HOW ARE YOU GOING TO PLUG IT IN? Did you even know what you were stealing, or did it just look portable and expensive?
I guess I can thank you for leaving my DVD library intact, my entire AV set-up (and my HD tivo, I could actually kiss you for leaving for me), and thankfully my medicinal stash so I didn't have to not blaze after the police left and listen to music looking at the hole where my tv used to be. I really wanted to watch 24 tonight, ass.
So my missed connection is with you, today, red-handed in my apartment. I almost came home early. And your missed connection is with the rest of humanity. If you want to regain some dignity and show a bit of human compassion, return my hard drive with my pictures on it. You can't even use it without the power plug and it means a lot to me. You can still keep my TV! What a deal! I'd be willing to forget the rest of this whole mess for that hard drive. You can leave it outside my front door, you know the one...you left it open when you walked out of here with our things.
Karma does come around friend. Yours will find you eventually. I hope your score at my place today means you don't have to rob someone else tomorrow. Take a day off, check out our new President...the picture on that television is excellent!
So do you know me? Did you know you were gonna get a 46" LCD HD TV and you decided it was worth fucking me over so I can't watch the inauguration tomorrow? Or did you just pick an easy ground floor apartment to see what you could get? My roommate's 7 year old iBook was a nice score, I guess...She's glad you didn't take what was on the bed stand table though. Although you should have tried it on your ass, you were already fucking us over, you might as well have done yourself in the process.
So the TV, I can deal with that. That's why I have renter's insurance, because you never know when a flood, or maybe a lowlife burgler is going to attack. But dude, you took my roommate's jewelry, most of which was family heirloom stuff that she can't replace and is worth far less to you. My universal remote? I spent two weeks programming it, so you're not even going to know how to use it. Especially without the instruction manual, which you left here.
You didn't want the digital camera that was on the table? Apparently not, but you helped yourself to my 300Gig external hard drive. Now, the hard drive I can replace, but the 5 years of digital photos that you took on it mean jack shit to you or whoever you're going to pawn my Kanguru hard drive off on, those are gone for good. 5 years of images and memories, fucker. But, the worst part is this...YOU LEFT THE AC ADAPTER. HOW ARE YOU GOING TO PLUG IT IN? Did you even know what you were stealing, or did it just look portable and expensive?
I guess I can thank you for leaving my DVD library intact, my entire AV set-up (and my HD tivo, I could actually kiss you for leaving for me), and thankfully my medicinal stash so I didn't have to not blaze after the police left and listen to music looking at the hole where my tv used to be. I really wanted to watch 24 tonight, ass.
So my missed connection is with you, today, red-handed in my apartment. I almost came home early. And your missed connection is with the rest of humanity. If you want to regain some dignity and show a bit of human compassion, return my hard drive with my pictures on it. You can't even use it without the power plug and it means a lot to me. You can still keep my TV! What a deal! I'd be willing to forget the rest of this whole mess for that hard drive. You can leave it outside my front door, you know the one...you left it open when you walked out of here with our things.
Karma does come around friend. Yours will find you eventually. I hope your score at my place today means you don't have to rob someone else tomorrow. Take a day off, check out our new President...the picture on that television is excellent!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Mateo Shit Show
Friday night starts with a debate among Art, Gavroche and myself as to whether we should brace for the trip to the city or stay local. After much hand-wringing, we decide on a local evening and jump into Beirut. The matches are pretty even with almost everyone getting a couple victories in a row in. We then head out and stop at the first bar near home which is Glow.
Glow is a hard bar to figure out. The crowd is never quite the same, sometimes it's really packed and at other times you wonder if perhaps you walked into a time machine and came out on a Tuesday night instead of Friday. Friday was in between and after being left out to dry by Gavroche as a very unattractive young lady approached me for a conversation, we decide to get out of there. Right around now, Da shows up with John which amps the energy of our motley crew up considerably.
Art wants to go to McGovern's. Now, the last time we were at McGovern's, about a month or so ago, Art almost got in a fight with a guy. I remind him of this and make the case to go somewhere else. He insists and eventually there we are at McGovern's. Everything is going ok for a little bit. I buy him a shot, he's talking to a girl, things are cool. Then, as I come back from the restroom, Gavroche explains that Art has picked a fight with some guy with a mohawk. I leave promptly and walk next door to Mr. Pizza Man. I sit down and have a conversation with someone who I can't remember now, and when the food comes and she's gone, we decide to trek to Heidi's Pies.
It's weird...it seems a little bit short and sweet in the post, but Friday night in Mateo was a shit show. Just ask Art...he was hung over until about 7pm the next day.
Glow is a hard bar to figure out. The crowd is never quite the same, sometimes it's really packed and at other times you wonder if perhaps you walked into a time machine and came out on a Tuesday night instead of Friday. Friday was in between and after being left out to dry by Gavroche as a very unattractive young lady approached me for a conversation, we decide to get out of there. Right around now, Da shows up with John which amps the energy of our motley crew up considerably.
Art wants to go to McGovern's. Now, the last time we were at McGovern's, about a month or so ago, Art almost got in a fight with a guy. I remind him of this and make the case to go somewhere else. He insists and eventually there we are at McGovern's. Everything is going ok for a little bit. I buy him a shot, he's talking to a girl, things are cool. Then, as I come back from the restroom, Gavroche explains that Art has picked a fight with some guy with a mohawk. I leave promptly and walk next door to Mr. Pizza Man. I sit down and have a conversation with someone who I can't remember now, and when the food comes and she's gone, we decide to trek to Heidi's Pies.
It's weird...it seems a little bit short and sweet in the post, but Friday night in Mateo was a shit show. Just ask Art...he was hung over until about 7pm the next day.
Friday, January 16, 2009
RIAA Gets its Day in Court (on the internet)
{for all music related posts, see .Evolving.Music}
Last month, the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) admitted a massive defeat when they announced that they would no longer be pursuing individuals guilty of peer-to-peer file sharing. As they attempted to flex their corporate muscles in the dorm rooms of music lovers throughout the country, the RIAA completely ignored the fact that not only was the epidemic of file sharing actually a pandemic that they are virtually helpless to stop (and in reality could cost them more in legal fees than the fines bring in), but they also failed to take into account the fact that without significant portions of the proceeds going back to the artists, the musicians themselves wouldn't back them. RIAA Screws Musicians, 3/18/08
Now, the RIAA, in the final throes of these legal actions, has dropped the ball once again. They claim on one hand to be for the artists, seeking revenue they have lost, but as already stated, they aren't giving the artists any of that money. On the other hand, they claim that their actions are simply to publicize their fight against illegal file sharing. Ironic then that when the judge presiding over the latest hearing and trial brought against Boston University students stated that a live web feed of the proceedings would be allowed to be broadcast, the RIAA opposed it. If you're seeking to strike fear into the hearts of illegal downloaders everywhere, by first announcing that you're no longer going to be hunting them, and then actively trying to block a live video feed of the proceedings, you're not really putting any teeth into those claims. And blocking the feed certainly doesn't give you the publicity you were looking for.
To read more about the RIAA screwing themselves, click here.
Last month, the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) admitted a massive defeat when they announced that they would no longer be pursuing individuals guilty of peer-to-peer file sharing. As they attempted to flex their corporate muscles in the dorm rooms of music lovers throughout the country, the RIAA completely ignored the fact that not only was the epidemic of file sharing actually a pandemic that they are virtually helpless to stop (and in reality could cost them more in legal fees than the fines bring in), but they also failed to take into account the fact that without significant portions of the proceeds going back to the artists, the musicians themselves wouldn't back them. RIAA Screws Musicians, 3/18/08
Now, the RIAA, in the final throes of these legal actions, has dropped the ball once again. They claim on one hand to be for the artists, seeking revenue they have lost, but as already stated, they aren't giving the artists any of that money. On the other hand, they claim that their actions are simply to publicize their fight against illegal file sharing. Ironic then that when the judge presiding over the latest hearing and trial brought against Boston University students stated that a live web feed of the proceedings would be allowed to be broadcast, the RIAA opposed it. If you're seeking to strike fear into the hearts of illegal downloaders everywhere, by first announcing that you're no longer going to be hunting them, and then actively trying to block a live video feed of the proceedings, you're not really putting any teeth into those claims. And blocking the feed certainly doesn't give you the publicity you were looking for.
To read more about the RIAA screwing themselves, click here.
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