August iPod Update

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

{For the music I was listening to in July, click here.}

Well, once again I'm a bit tardy and we have the music I was listening to in August being posted on the first day of September. But, better late than never, and the August music, while a bit late, is pretty spectacular. The August iPod update covers 94 songs from 7 artists (yes, a lot of full album downloads this month), and stayed largely (and surprisingly) away from Hip-Hop. So, without further ado, here's what I'm hearing lately.

As Tall As Lions, You Can't Take it With You: Having been kicking around in various formats since 2001, ATAL has released their third album. The band, originally from New York but recording a good portion of work in Chicago, flirts with rock, Indie and folk in darker soundscapes. The sometimes low, sometimes high or falsetto voice of lead singer Dan Nigro works with lyrics often dealing with depression or anxiety over brooding tracks. Through all of these songs, a feeling of being trapped somehow persists, with snips of guitar rifts floating through deep bass lines or horns whispering in the background. But despite this, the melancholy at times reaches crescendos that speak of freedom through misery. At other points, ATAL is a runaway train of energy on a track like "In Case of Rapture," where the drums keep a frenetic pace. Don't Sleep On: "Sixes and Sevens," "We's Been Waitin," and "Home Is Where You're Happy"

Beats Antique, Tribal Derivations: Fusing old and new, Beats Antique uses World and specifically Eastern-inspired music while adapting it to Western downtempo, glitch and hip-hop. Indian chants, thick stand-up bass, lightly picked harps, sitars and other string instruments are thrown in the pot with tablas and hand drums, frequently to be sprinkled with drum machines and electronic effects. The result is an album with driving, lounging or club music. In some cases you can imagine the hookah smoke drifting around you as dancers move slowly to the tunes, while in others you can imagine a dark lounge. On "Derivation," they take portion of melody from "Summertime," and pepper it with a digeridoo and deep drums. If you're a fan of World music, this is an album for you. Don't Sleep On: "Derivation," "Intertwine," and "Discovered."

Fruit Bats, The Ruminant Band: After working on the fringes of music, Eric D. Johnson, the frontman of the Fruit Bats, signed with Sub Pop in 2002 and have been labeled by music publications as "Zoology Rock," "Boot-Gazer," and "rustic pop." The Ruminant Band is their 5th studio release and offers a sunny panoply of pastoral and easy to listen to (which is not the same as easy listening) rock tracks that feel like they could have come out of another era. Up-beat acoustic guitars back moving guitar riffs, piano dances playfully across the spectrum and Johnson's voice, high and plaintive, is reminiscent of some of Led Zeppelin's tracks. The tracks are on the shorter side, content to bring the listener along, get the idea across and move onto something else without brooding on one sound. An upbeat album perfect for a ride or camping trip, early mornings in the sunshine and dusty backroads. Don't Sleep On: "Beautiful Morning Light," "Primitive Man," and "Singing Joy to the World."

For the rest of the music I was listening to in August, click here.

Movies of August (5)

Another slow month for movies as the start of Grad School has been the main focus and TV has been running towards the summer season finales.

2: The Miracle Worker
5: On Golden Pond
6: Death Race
7: Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
22: Romance (Couldn't find the IMDB for this, but it doesn't matter. It's a not so great French film about a woman whose husband denies her sex. Slow and not that saucy)

10 Things to Think About on a Friday

This has been one crazy week. I've started back to school and have to say that I am absolutely loving the Grad school atmosphere...a novel idea when students are expected to have their readings done when they get to class! Being back on campus is a trip, and I'm still balancing it with coaching and getting out to play ultimate. In short, I have absolutely no complaints! But you must be complaining, because it's Friday and they're still keeping you chained to that thing you call a desk. So, between now and 5, here's 10 things you can think about to occupy your time.

1) Call it Propofl, valium, xanax, whatever...it appears Michael Jackson was sadly on a lot of it when he passed away. Of course, I guess that means it shouldn't surprise anyone that they found weed in his house.

2) So a girl goes missing when she's 11 and they find her now, 29 and two kids later. Turns out she's been living in a locked shed and having children for the couple who abducted her. No, this isn't that weird Austrian story...this is in California.

3) I don't know how Jerry Jones made his billions of dollars, but something tells me he should go back to school when he builds a 1.15 Billion dollar brand new football stadium and puts the scoreboard so low that it gets hit by punts. You did know they were going to play football in there, didn't you Mr. Jones?

4) History is being made by Matt Barkley. When he starts for the Trojans at quarterback in their opener against San Jose State, he will become the first true freshmen to start at that position in SC history.

5) Do you subscribe to the cognitive or transmission theory of teaching?

6) How many children might be left behind when NCLB entreats teachers to train for a government exam rather than actual student growth?

7) Jim from The Office is getting married. No, it's not to Pam Beasley.

8) Do you remember having an "Ah-Ha!" moment in your education career, and if so, how did it happen and who helped you?

9) Would you pay a $100 ticket to go to Outside Lands, knowing that the sound cut out in the middle of Radiohead's performance not once, not twice, but more than three times last year?

10) Would you rather be a Cabbage Patch Kid or a Garbage Pail Kid and why?

That's it folks, have a great weekend and remember: it's only Rum if it's 92 proof.

10 Things to Think About on a Friday

What an amazing, busy and amazingly busy week. It started back on Sunday with a birthday party for my Mom where I managed to get my Grandma and Grandpa both to play a game of Beirut. Tuesday saw a disappointing loss in an ultimate frisbee playoff game, but I bounced back with a 6 mile run and ultimate frisbee game on Wednesday night, the very exciting class registration for Grad school yesterday, followed by an outstanding time out at Nightlife with Za (which included a stop at a bar afterwards as well as the crepe stand)...Now, I'm gearing up for a weekend that will be spent in the comfortable hands of the San Mateo County Fair. Might I say, "Banzai?" Yes, I might. But before you get into the comfortable hands of who or whatever you're trusting this weekend, here's 10 things to think about.

1) In terms of being pissed about something going on in the judicial realm, I think the freeing of the Lockerbie bomber this week is absolutely horrendous. This man put a bomb on a plane, killed over 280 people, got a life sentence, and has just been released from jail because he has prostate cancer and only three months to live, and Scotland wanted to show humanity by allowing him to die at home.

Am I missing something here? Did he allow the innocent men and women he killed to die at home? Did he offer them any compassion or understanding? No, he put a bomb on their plan and then took satisfaction when it blew up over Scotland. The man was given a life sentence (of which he served 8 YEARS) for this crime, which should mean his life. I don't care if he has cancer. He should die in prison, a tiny box that he can't escape from, just as he condemned innocent people to die 20 years ago. Worst of all? Upon returning to Libya, he was given a hero's welcome. How's that for compassion for the dead?

2) Wanna kill yourself without dying? How about trying out for the Badwater Ultra Marathon?

3) Gotta love this...swimsuits that jibe with the Muslim tradition of covering the female body.

4) It's almost time for the new season of America's Next Top Model! I'm quite excited for this year, not because of Tyra or Paulina or any of the other super cool guest judges (I'll refrain from showering too much man-love on Nigel Barker), but because the max height on this season is 5'7". Bets on how often we hear girls in the house referring to each other as "Shorty."

5) I must say, these clips of Heath Ledger's last movie, a Terry Gilliam flick, look spooky good. I'm interested to see how much he had filmed of it before his death.

6) What can it mean for music if Radiohead is "done" making albums and will only be releasing songs? It sounds interesting, but would Kid A really have the same impact piecemeal? To me, it was always the cohesiveness of the album that truly showed their brilliance as a band.

7) David Foster Wallace finally got some much needed pop culture recognition this week when his masterpiece, Infinite Jest, was shown briefly in the newest episode of Weeds. For those of you who don't know about him or haven't read his work, here's a great article on a person I consider potentially the greatest American fiction author of the 20th century.

8) There's a lot of back and forth lately between proponents and opponents of the new health care package. I don't mind people feeling one way or another about it, but it seems that partisan politics and scare tactics have lead to a situation where not many people actually know what's REALLY going on with this bill. While this article doesn't speak to all of it, it does tackle some of the more commonly held myths surrounding Obama's health care push. My jury is still out until I see actual legislation.

9) In news I can really get behind, a judge has fast-tracked the dispute over gay marriage to hit the courthouse docket in January of 2010. Just out of curiosity, what part of "land of the free" do people trying to ban gay marriage not understand? Oh, I'm sorry, it's only about your freedom? How carelessly thoughtless of me.

10) Finally, because I love to eat and eat well, and have become increasingly concerned that one of my favorites, foie gras, might be disappearing due to the feeding techniques used to produce it (not that pigs, chickens and cows in this country don't all live in worse conditions), I was very happy to see this article about a man who has now won awards for free range, non-force fed foie gras. Wunderbar!

Farewell, McButter!

Last Friday night was a sad time indeed, as San Francisco and the rest of our crew had to bid adieu to McButter, one of my favorite dancing partners, as she moved away to New York. So crucially important to her workplace, McButter was transferred for the year to the East Coast so she could jump start a program and make it work. They say it's for a year, but I believe that the glitz, glamor and girls of New York might convince her to stick around a little bit longer.

In celebration, we had a going away party, and as with all good things that are devilishly bad, the party was held at 666 Post in the city. If you're ever looking for a good rooftop to crash and smoke some js on, this is the place (just find the top floor). Upon entering, the building looks like the Tower of Terror at Universal with all sorts of vintage architectural features. I left the apartment at around 9 with Sis and Short Round, a travel bottle of Rum and Coke in tow.

When we get upstairs, the place is pretty crowded already, and a 5 foot wide kitchen contributes to the first accident of the night...as I've just finished filling up my cup with Rum and Coke, Za makes a wild hand gesture and succeeds in flipping the cup out of my hand, end over end in the air. I look down and Rum and Coke is all over the floor, and I look like I've wet myself because it just had to land on my crotch. I think that damage is pretty bad, until the girl standing at the sink turns around and glares. It is then that I realize that while the floor got a good portion of my drink, she has it all over her back. Za is laughing and doesn't notice as the girl makes a sprint for the bathroom. Of course, I do derive a bit of pleasure from this incident as it forces Za to dab at my jeans with napkins, trying to get the drink out.

The party for the rest of the night bounces between the dance floor in the apartment and the unbelievable smoking rooftop. Of course, no party would be complete without someone being a complete and utter jackass, and we're given that at around 1 am. A man comes in and very loudly asks everyone to be quiet, commanding attention. He does it in a way that speaks of authority, so everyone shuts up and the music gets turned down. When he has everyone looking at him, he says, "I'm the landlord of this building, and I need you to turn the music up!!!" Now, he obviously did this thinking he was bad ass and very cool and we were all going to love him, but really people are just kinda annoyed that he made them be quiet just to announce that. It goes over even less well when he pulls the same stunt 15 minutes later.

And that's about the night of it. As the party winds down, McButter knows it's one of her last chances for crepes in the city, so her, myself, Za, Sis and Short Round hop in the car for yet another crepe run to end the evening. McButter is gone now, but thankfully in this day and age, New York is only an IM away.

Bayani Redux

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

I received an email today announcing the release of Bayani Redux. When I saw this, I was under the impression that we were going to get a release of B-sides and remixes for the sophomore album by Seattle based Blue Scholars, Bayani. For anyone who has followed Evolving Music for a length of time, you've seen the concert reviews and album reviews for the duo of Sabzi and Geologic (aka Prometheus Brown.) And yet, I still find trouble reconciling myself with how talented they are and how little mass exposure they have. Granted, some of the best music falls through the cracks and gets chewed up by the massive grinder of the music industry, but I hold out hope that the word of mouth on some of the best underground artists will reach surface and flip the industry on its head.

I feel like the music industry is caught in a bad dream. That dream where you keep running, turning corners, opening doors, all to get away from something, and yet you can't. Every time I turn on the television or flip through the radio dial, it's like I'm opening a door in the dream and finding myself in the same place, listening to recycled music from the past twenty years, sometimes infused with a new trick like auto-tune, sometimes not. But people keep buying, and therefore, labels will keep re-packaging. This is an old rant of mine, but one that came back to the surface after reading the release details for the second coming of Bayani.

When Rawkus Records released Bayani on June 12th, 2007, it was the second album from the duo and one that promised an enormous amount of future material based solely on the progression of the artists between it and their eponymous debut. However, in reading the re-release article, I come to find that only 20,000 copies of it have sold.

For the rest of this article with more details on the upcoming release, click here.

Welcome Short Round!

McButter describes her as "tiny," Marge is already taken as a nickname, and she doesn't want to be Carolina, so I'll now take a moment to introduce you to the new roommate, Short Round.

Small yet feisty, this southern girl hails from North Carolina and has moved out to California to chase her destiny and work for the government. So far, I think she's liking one of those things. Her dad describes her as a "son that was a daughter," and I don't think I'd want to see her on a competition basis. She's addicted to Dr. Pepper and likes the folks on True Blood. Only in town for two weeks, she has already enjoyed some of Cali's finest scenery, visited Nini's, become addicted to the crepe stand and been invited to the Lake House. Not sure when this round of good will for her will subside, but for now, she's living it large.

25 Science Fiction Books

I was asked recently what I found to be the best Sci-Fi book. I find it an impossibly difficult question to answer. Science Fiction, in my eyes more than any other genre, is the hardest to limit in scope and parameter because there is no necessity to stick to any physical, logical or moral rules of Earth generally imposed on other modes of literature. For this reason, each universe, each future and future history, each technological leap or cataclysmic event is completely at the whims of the individual author.

For this reason, some Sci-Fi only takes minor steps of imagination on the part of the reader, should the author deviate only minimally from our current condition, while other authors require great patience and leaps of faith. You won't be able to define everything in a Sci-Fi book. You'll have to be satisfied knowing that there's something called an Armstrong Drive that lets you travel through non-linear space at a rate of several thousand light years per day, without having it explained to you how that works. (A Talent for War) With some authors, you might never know what a word actually means and have to settle for a vague description and general idea of purpose.

Some authors enjoy focusing on the philosophy aspect of Sci-Fi, asking questions about the morality and stability of the structures we've created by looking at future civilizations, while others simply write action stories set in outer space. The best are able to balance these and give you a portrait that seems utterly different from anything you've ever known while giving you a very clear window to look back and examine what you do.

For these reasons, I've tried to structure this list, not in terms of "worst to best" or vice versa, but rather in most accessible to least accessible. The books at the top of the list are ones that I would recommend to any reader as an introduction to the genre, while the ones towards the bottom are books I would only recommend to someone who wanted to delve deeper and had the patience to do so. Of course, this means that in most cases, I've enjoyed many further down the list a bit more than some of the surface Sci-Fi reads. All of them, however, are fantastic books in their own rights. Enjoy!

1. The Road to Science Fiction: From Heinlein to Here, Vol. 3, Compiled by Gunn (A collection of short stories and excerpts with corresponding descriptions of the stories and influences on the genre)
2. Ancient Shores, Jack McDevitt
3. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
4. 1984, George Orwell
5. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
6. Ender's Shadow, Orson Scott Card
7. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein
8. Replay, Ken Grimwood
9. Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick (The author behind the movies BladeRunner (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep) Minority Report, and A Scanner Darkly.)
10. As She Climbed Across the Table, Jonathan Lethem
11. Eternity Road, Jack McDevitt
12. A Talent for War, Jack McDevitt
13. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
14. The 5th Sacred Thing, Starhawk
15. Dancers at the End of Time, Michael Moorcock
16. Gateway, Frederik Pohl
17. Neuromancer, William Gibson
18. Virtual Light, William Gibson
19. The Color of Distance, Amy Thomson
20. Cornelius Quartet, Michael Moorcock
21. Time Enough for Love, Robert Heinlein
22. The Three California Trilogy (The Gold Coast, Pacific Edge and The Wild Shore,) Kim Stanley Robinson
23. Nova, Samuel R. Delany
24. The Fall of the Towers, Samuel R. Delany
25. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany

As for my personal top 5? 5, 7, 19, 21, 25. Special emphasis on 21 and 25. Of course, you can read just about anything by Robert Heinlein and not be disappointed, most readers enjoy Orson Scott Card's ability to tell a story and in reality, what I know about Science Fiction pales in comparison to my Dad's knowledge on the subject. If I'm lucky, he'll concoct a list of his top 25 for me to post here as well.

10 Things to Think About on a Friday

You won't believe this, but today just got more Friday.  As we watch the summer fade away with the last weeks of August (and how nice it'll be to have all those little urchins back in school), we sometimes must reflect.  Personally, I like to reflect on the kind of insanity that has existed in the world this week.  This weekend is sure to be interesting as I'll have a new roommate to introduce to y'all (be nice now), and we'll be working on getting her settled in and ready to live in California (like it's really that hard.)  So, before you go drowning your workweek memories in booze this weekend or start making copies of your face on the printer, here's 10 things you can think about as the day drags to 5.

1)  Well, looks like the Military is taking great concern with the possibilities for enemies to use Twitter feed to gain intelligence.  Therefore, they've banned it.  What I'd like to know is why the NFL feels the need to do the same.  Shouldn't players be allowed to connect with fans on any level that will help raise awareness of the game?  Mr. Cromartie of the San Diego Chargers decided to tweet that the training camp food was bad, and that got him a $2,500 fine.

2)  I'm wondering what kind of strainer we'd need to get all of this plastic crap out of the Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch.

3)  In the opening of Gattaca, the time frame is given as the "Not-Too-Distant Future."  Well, it looks like it's partially here already as China has started providing genetic breakdowns to parents as guidelines for hobbies, interests and future career paths.  Whatever happened to growing up naturally?=

4)  Those Russians are tough.  Bush goes out into the woods with a chainsaw on his ranch and tries to look rugged.  Putin?  That guy goes out to Siberia, does the butterfly in the river and then walks around bare-chested.  Who is the leader of men now?

5)  California, in an effort to reduce over-crowding and free up financial resources, has decided to release 40,000 inmates from prisons throughout the system this year.  No word yet on whether Charles Manson will get to be one of them, but my guess is more than a few stoners.  Which is sad, because when you think about it, what is the overall cash swing when you exchange their 5 years in prison on tax dollars with the tax revenue we would have been bringing in were marijuana legal and taxed and they were smoking for those 5 years?

6)  Here's an idea I can't get enough of...Ridley Scott, director of Blade Runner, bringing his vision and direction to a big screen adaptation of Aldous Huxley's A Brave New World.  

7)  In some bizarre tales, check out this father and daughter who disappeared together 10 years ago and have still not been found.  Tragic regardless of their fates.

8)  If you're a Bay Area native, what do you think the first few things the new roommate should do to get acquainted with the area?

9)  If you had to choose only one album to listen to on repeat for the rest of your life, would it be Radiohead's Kid A or Portishead's Live at the Roseland Ballroom in New York?

10)  Finally, my thoughts are on the sad news yesterday that John Hughes, who I most fondly remember for his direction of Ferris Bueller's Day Off, passed away due to a heart attack.  Directing Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club, Uncle Buck and Weird Science, his movies helped define 80s youth and pop culture, as well as providing some of the more memorable quotes for a generation.  Also passing away this week was Budd Schulberg, the screenwriter responsible for Marlon Brando's breakout performance, On the Waterfront.  "I coulda been a contender, I coulda been somebody."

That's it folks...next up, some more going away parties, new roommate and Madre's birthday next week.  Until then, remember to tie your shoelaces.

Mariah Carey: Battle Rapper? Survey Says No.

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

Well, if it wasn't already established fact that Mariah Carey isn't the brightest crayon in the box, we now have proof. While there has been a consistent and ongoing string of Mariah mentions in Eminem's music stemming from their brief dating history years ago, it was never anything too over the top. I mean, mentioning her ass, or saying you're obsessed with her, these things come off as just more jokes in the comedy arsenal of an already aggressive rapper. But in Rap, unlike in Mariah's domain of Pop music, the diss track is an ongoing war of escalation and attrition. I think she might have forgotten that when she decided to take a shot at Eminem in the music video for her new song.

A few words of advice: if you want to pick someone to have a battle with, I highly recommend you stay away from Eminem. He's shown himself to be a brilliant lyricist, a scathing social commentator, and absolutely unafraid of putting out every negative thing about himself as long as he still gets his shot in at the intended target. When someone has such a complete lack of disregard for his own reputation, you can only imagine the lengths he's willing to go to to take someone else down. But, apparently, the lighthearted mentions of Mariah and Jessica Simpson, the feuds with other rappers and the absolute lambasting of Insane Clown Posse that Eminem has indulged in in the past wasn't enough to convince Mariah to leave the situation alone and be happy he wasn't doing worse. No, she had to go and mock him.

If you haven't heard, Mariah's new single is called, "Obsessed," and while it could be viewed as a general assessment of any over the top fan, the video instead makes a fake Eminem the target of the label, showing him groping at her album covers, following her through town and in other ways being generally creepy. And on listening to the lyrics, there's no mistake that she's directing it at Eminem, mentioning how lame he is, how he's lying about having sex with her and he's chilling in L.A. while she's in the A. with Jermaine. Wrong move. It didn't take more than a week for Eminem to write, mix and release his answer to her video, and it absolutely slams. Eminem is at his best when he's making fun of himself while also taking shots at others. Here, he gets to do that in one take based on a former relationship, and he does so with typical rhyming flare. He doesn't just go after Mariah, he spends over 3 minutes going after everything from her house to their sex life (or what sex life there was), and throwing Carey's boy-toy, Nick Cannon, into the mix for good measure. Now, this song is so scathing and so aggressive, that my only hope is that Mariah doesn't try to escalate this further, because, really, she's already lost, and if you think Eminem doesn't have more to say, you just don't know Eminem.

For the videos to these, click here.

Kero One Interview

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

When it comes to DIY, it doesn't get much more do-it-yourself than Bay Area born and bred Kero One. When he dropped his first album, Windmills of the Soul in 2005, he made it completely at home, charged up his credit card, released it on a self-made label, Plug, and became a hit when one of his original 50 copies found its way to Japan. Earlier this year, Kero One released his sophomore album, Early Believers, and I sat down to chat with him about his upbringing, musical history and thoughts on the evolution of the music industry.

AC: So you talk on Early Believers about your parents moving to the Bay Area. Where did they move from and was it a big culture shock for them?

KO: Well they came from Korea originally; and then they came here when I was...zero. Probably in 1978 or so. From what I understand, it's a little bit different, of course, but you know, they adjusted. What I talk about on “Welcome to the Bay,” it's just some of the experiences that I witnessed when we were in the South Bay growing up. I talked a little bit about that and also, I guess just a little bit about their adjustment in terms of, they're used to a whole different lifestyle and obviously like different types of food and things like that. But, yeah, I mean, it was different, but of course they adjusted. And then we grew up in the south bay, and you know, I've obviously lived there for pretty much all my life.

AC: Whereabouts down there, San Jose?
KO: San Jose, Los Gatos, Santa Clara
AC: So how has your family played a role in the music that you've created?

KO: Well I'd say they made me take classical piano when I was really young, so, in the sense of being forced to take piano lessons, that was a pretty big role because, even though I hated it back then, I'm pretty thankful for it because I use it a lot in my music now. And other than that, not that much because really, they didn't push me to do music; I mean, they're kinda traditional Asian parents in the sense that they wanted the more, “education thing is a big deal,” and going to a good college and getting what they understand is a good job, whether it's an engineer or doctor or something like that. So, they were really pushing for that, and, you know, honestly, when I told them I was rapping, I mean you can guess what their reaction was. Which is understandable, I guess, but now they're fully supportive.

AC: You talked about learning classical piano. That was maybe the first of many instruments you learned; did you go on to learn any others, or was that the only formal training that you had?
KO: Yeah, that's the only one I had formal training in, and I did that for 10 years almost. Technically it was probably like five years because the other five, I was kind of not really there. I hated classical music, but, when I was in middle school, I was really into punk, and I got into Primus and a little bit of rock like Red Hot Chili Peppers, and we all know, Flea and Les Claypool, ridiculous bassists. That inspired me to pick up the bass, and I started messing with the bass a little bit. So, other than that, it's just bass, piano and I play a little bit of percussion; so those are my three things right now.

AC: Do you spin?
KO: Yeah, and I DJ as well. I got into scratching quite a bit when I was in college, so I was into the whole turntables thing, try to beat juggle, flares. I DJ out mostly in the city, one off events and sometimes I go out and DJ internationally, but, yeah, right now I'm just trying to focus on the live stuff.

AC: Do you play your instruments live in concerts?
KO: Well, actually for the last show, what we did was I incorporated a little bit of live keyboard and a little bit of live drumming, but something that I've always wanted to do was play some instruments and rap at the same time 'cause I've never seen anybody really do that. I've seen people sing, but not really rap, so that's what I'm gonna be doing on my new show; just a little bit of that, and incorporate, I got a guitarist, I got a singer, and so we're definitely bringing in like the live element to the live show, 'cause a lot of the stuff on my album is actually played out, it's not samples, so it seems pretty natural to have live instruments.

AC: Out of all those instruments that you're playing, which one are you enjoying playing the most?
KO: I'd say probably the keys. I'm not stellar player in any of the instruments, but when I do play the keys, it's definitely fun when you can come up with a nice chord progression or some good solos, I’d say the keyboard.

AC: So you were talking about Primus, Red Hot Chili Peppers; what are some of your other musical influences and what are you listening to now?
KO: Man, I pretty much am influenced by everything from Mobb Deep in the early 90's to John Mayer to Daft Punk, I listen to it all. Probably the only thing I don't really get influenced by is country -- I mean everybody says that, right -- country or like folk, or something, or obviously classical music. But yeah, I listen to pretty much everything; like I grew up listening to really being into the early 90's hip hop stuff, classic stuff.

AC: What was the first rap album you really got into?

For the rest of this interview, click here.

Movies of July (6)

Another relative slow month for movies, I focused on checking out some movies that are considered standards from the 70s and 80s. Didn't make it out to the theater this month, as I was making a conscious effort to avoid giving anything in the way of money to Michael Bay. Coming Home tells the story of Vietnam war vets and their difficulty adjusting to life back in the states, Silkwood tells of a whistle blower in a plant where she is exposed to radiation and The Accused takes a haunting look at rape.

6: Coming Home
11: Get Shorty
26: Silkwood, Incredible Hulk
27: Deep End of the Ocean
30: The Accused

July iPod Update

{for last month's What I'm Hearing, click here}
{for all music related posts, see .Evolving.Music}

July's iPod update was an extremely diverse one, not just for the artists, but for the songs themselves. Taking a new tact, I made July an all mash-up month, checking out some of the ways in which DJs have started taking on the mix and match genre full-throttle. While Danger Mouse helped pioneer it with the Grey Album and AmpLive took it another step with his remixes of Radiohead's In Rainbows, the mash-up culture is far past those now. But while there is much to be said for the style of Girl Talk where there are more layers than you can reasonably dissect in a listening, I find the club mash-ups utilizing 2 to 3 songs to be a most effective use of the genre. The best news? As all of these are off the grid, they're all available for download, so follow the links to check the music out for yourself. July's iPod update included 118 songs.

50 Cent vs. The 50s, DJ Doc Rok: Currently residing in Washington, D.C., DJ Doc Rok's (djdocrok@gmail.com) work is among the strongest of all artists I heard this month. What's more is that while he does have a collection of odd mash-ups and various artists, he also sets out to create complete albums of one to two artists. On this album, Rok focuses on all lyrics from 50 Cent songs and combines them with Golden Oldie hits from the R&B and Pop genres. The result? 50 Cent party songs with a touch of flair, moved out of the straight club motif that dominates so many of his songs and saturated with style and soul. Using songs like Dusty Springfield's "Son of a Preacher Man," The Four Seasons' "Big Girls Don't Cry," and Booker T. and the MG's "Green Onions," Rok flips the 50 acapellas on their head with fantastic result. Definitely my favorite download of the month. Don't Sleep On: "Rowdy Rowdy/It's My Party (And I'll Cry If I Want To)," "Like My Style/One Fine Day," and "The Good Die Young/Little Susie."

Best of 2007 (Mash-Up Your Bootz), Various Artists: If you're looking for a comprehensive blog that provides a vast cross-section of the variety of mash-ups available online, check out Mash-up Your Bootz. They provide comprehensive year-end wrap-up mixes, links to other mash-up sites, and breaking news in the genre. I downloaded both their 2007 and 2008 Best of Mixes and wasn't disappointed with either. Beck takes on Green Day, AC/DC meets 50 Cent and the Scissor Sisters, Peggy Lee and Iggy Pop collide and Peter Bjorn and John find their whistle backing both Bloc Party and Amy Winehouse. Some of the mashers on this mix include DJ Peaking, DJ Le Clown, CheekyBoy, DJ Lobsterdust, and Party Ben. Perhaps the most pleasant track is by Norwegian Recycling who put together a very simple acoustic mash-up called "How Six Songs Collide" featuring Jason Mraz, Howie Day, Five For Fighting, Angela Ammons, Boyzone, and 3 Doors Down. This one is mirrored nicely with the eerie and melancholy mash of Placebo, Kate Bush and the Pet Shop Boys called, "Love Comes Running Up That Hill Quickly." Don't Sleep On: "Young Folks Rehab" by DJ Topcat (Amy Winehouse's v. Peter Bjorn and John), "Love Comes Running Up That Hill Quickly" by DJ Magnet (Pet Shop Boys v. Placebo v. Kate Bush) and "Break Through Love" by DJ Zebra (The Doors v. Led Zeppelin)

Best of 2008 (Mash-Up Your Bootz), Various Artists: The 2008 mix picks up where 2007 left off and offers an impressive array of very different artists finding their songs blended with people of opposite genres. The album kicks off with Bryan Adams going head to head with Metallica, James Brown duels The Offspring, and Rage Against the Machine gets thrown together with AC/DC, Joan Jett, Queen and Red Hot Chili Peppers. To say that these songs stretch the concept of mashable genres is an understatement. Contributors include Wax Audio, MadMixMustang, DJ Morgoth and Divide and Kreate. Best track has to come when DJ Schmolli brings the haunting guitar lilt of Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game" and fills it with a slowed down Billy Idol singing "White Wedding." The result is astounding. Don't Sleep On: "Wicked Wedding" by DJ Schmolli (Chris Isaak v. Billy Idol v. HIM) "The Low Anthem" by Bass 211 (Flo Rida v. Pitbull) and "Dance Dreams" by Divide and Kreate (Eurythmics v. Lady Gaga)

For the rest of the music I was listening to in July, click here.

10 Things to Think About on a Friday

Perfect storm of a Friday...iPod update, July movie list and 10 Things all at the same time.  Not sure I'll make it to all of them, but figured I'd start with the one that will keep  y'all from doing something stupid at work, like urinating in the water cooler or putting fire ants in your boss's office.  Let's keep it classy and reflect on the things that were important to us this week.

1) When it comes to the question of race, we have a country divided along racial, ethnic, gender, sexuality, economic and religious lines. This leaves us with gaps of understanding as to what we should and should not talk about.  Within the Matrix of Domination, we still have a lot to understand.

2)  Lot of brew-ha-ha over Michael Phelps and what swimsuit he's going to take into the water for the Worlds this weekend.  I loved this swimmer's comments about buying a suit for Phelps if necessary.  Like he needs your money.  He smokes pot and still gets endorsements, I couldn't even remember your name to put it in here, swimmer.

3)  Time to start getting excited.  It was announced months ago that the upcoming season of Curb Your Enthusiasm would have the Seinfeld cast guest starring.  Turns out that it's actually being done in the format of them making a Seinfeld reunion show.  Brilliantly excellent.

4)  Speaking of HBO, True Blood, Hung, and Entourage have all been picked up for another season.  Don't forget Eastbound and Down, which will also return.  HBO seems to have gotten over the doldrums that almost dragged them down with John From Cincinnati.

5)  I watched The Accused last night.  For any of you that haven't seen it, Jodie Foster plays an under-educated borderline white trash woman who is gang raped by three men in a bar.  It brought to mind this question...why are we so willing to have a death penalty, but we're not willing to castrate sex offenders?

6)  What'd y'all think of the Beer Summit up at the White House?  I'm a little curious why the common citizens were smart enough to go with two of my favorite beers, Red Stripe and Blue Moon, and the leader of the free world went with a beer I deem only barely worthy of filling my Beirut glasses.  Has Obama just not tried good beer, and which beer would you ask for if you were invited to booze on the White House Lawn?  I woulda told that man to get me a Mickey's.

7)  This weekend, we must say good-bye to the -amie section of Damie.  What does this mean exactly?  Well, we'll go back to calling him D, we're sure to see more of him out at the bars, and we'll have no one to throw candy at when she's passed out on the couch.  I can only hope that her nickname, "Pass Out ____" makes it to the east coast.  A fond farewell goes out to her on her journey.

8)  As in tomorrow is August, 8/1.  Is it just me, or did this year friggin' fly?

9)  Yesterday, the coach for the University of Hawaii stepped out of bounds and used a homosexual slur to describe Notre Dame's football team.  I'm not sure when people will get it, but using derogatory labels, especially ones that only further subjugate minority groups of any stripe, is uncalled for, wrong and stupid.  Where did these people learn to talk?

10)  Finally, here's a list of 5 folks that you should get on Twitter just to follow...

a) @bakemyfish: "Facebook is the junkie standing on the street corner, nodding out. Twitter is the punk kid stealing his smack and works out of his pocket."

b) @aimee_b_loved: "If I go to work tomorrow hungover I'm blaming peer pressure.

c) @carrmah: "Officer, we can either quarrel over this speeding ticket now or we can resolve this over a few beers with the President of the United States."

d) @jane_bot: "In bed, thought there was an earthquake. Quickly realized it was only my 1-night stand having a seizure. Some men are so "it's all about me."

e) @xrayedman: "My wife asked me to explain my mess. I said All things in the universe attempt to find the lowest energy state.  She did not seem satisfied."

That's it folks.  -Amie's going away party tonight, Foster's tomorrow, be good and remember to floss everyday.

10 Things to Think About on a Friday

I know, I've been lagging. Two Fridays without 10 things to think about, and I can only blame excessive fun, too much tweeting and early departures from work. Wait a second, those are all great things to blame. But, since I'm about to leave, and you probably still have some time here, I'll put you out of your misery with some of life's greatest mysteries to ponder.

1) Finally, they've gotten a budget plan in place to fix California's economy. Of course, it involves no additional revenue from marijuana and cuts 4 billion from schools, but hey, locking up smokers is more important than sending kids to college, right?

2) I don't know about you, but if I were Tom Brady, someone stole my flower pots and sold them, I'd probably just buy some more. Instead, this guy who made the mistake needs to pay for it by panhandling. Justice is served.

3) Those smart Brits. The Royal family is now on Twitter. A huzzah goes up through all the land.

4) Drunk? Suicidal? Lemming? These are the only things that come to mind when I read about someone driving over the edge of the Grand Canyon. I mean, how else do you miss that? It isn't a pothole, it's the grand frickin' canyon!

5) Christian Bale is known for fluctuating his weight wildly to play movie roles. Just a word for Mr. Bale...you look better when you're not doing roles that require you to look like this...

6) Finally music justice has been served. John McCain has been forced to settle with Jackson Browne for his unauthorized use of the man's music. And you say you wanted to be President. Learn how to ask an artist if you can use his work first!

7) In unrelated news, add LeBron James to the list with Michael Phelps of incredible athletes who have smoked pot...

8) This is just plain cool...someone has enough time on their hands to use Legos to recreate famous album covers.

9) Which would you rather be? A lean, mean, and possibly dead fighting machine pit bull in Michael Vick's back yard (could face 4 games of suspension) or a lean, nasty and feces covered chihuahua in this guy's house with 100 other chuhuahuas?

10) First off, jackasses, by delaying a qualified Supreme Court justice, you are making yourselves look retarded. Secondly, don't we have enough financial issues in our country that maybe we should focus our money on problems at home?

And that's it for me today. Remember, if it's not here, maybe it doesn't exist.

Coming Storm

Sad to say,
But that sole sharp edge of your double standard sword
Got in the way.
Rather than find a worthy tree for us to chop together,
You flipped it over and assaulted me
In your time of foul weather –
As if that would build the house that would shelter us from the storm.

But maybe you don’t want to be warm.

Maybe the bitter sting of long burning tears and all too real jeers
Leave you content to stand in the cold,
screaming against the temperature.

Meanwhile, we’re both freezing.
Stripped long ago of innocent notions never come to fruition,
we stand here in the skin we came in.
I’d get dressed,
but in the backpack packed tight with the horrendous experiences of your years,
The only warm clothing are the coats of the abominable forefathers

that I fear,
So size me up and fit them to me if you wish,
But I can’t shoulder their history any more
Than I can wish myself out of pain
or single-handedly mold a solution for all of us out of this sick hurricane.
And the clouds are getting worse,
Threatening to blow us all up up and away
If we can’t find a way to live to agree another day.

In the end,
We can’t make only one sound to hear,
Or one person to be,
Or the same exact sight to see,
But the storm is here and
You and I?
If we want to survive?
We need to trade in our swords for a hatchet we can bury,
And start looking for the same tree.

Free Pizza, Free Beer, Random Girl

This past weekend had it all.  From fun in the sun to heavy inebriation to massive amounts of food, nothing was overlooked.  And, in startling fashion, while I've had great weekends out lately, this one returned to the level of randomness that I had come to expect from weekends.  On Friday evening, after doing laundry and then leaving some of it accidentally in the washing machine, I head up to the city a bit on the later end to meet up with ChengJ, Topher, SG, Mr. Jang, Pao and Marc.  They're playing Bridge, which confuses the Hell out of me, so I watch until they switch to Liar's Dice, which I still only watch.  About 11:15 we decide to head down to Bar None where Sis is working as a beer promoter.  What this means is that for the next 40 minutes, we try to drink the free beer she brings us as fast as we can, and she tries to bring it faster than we can drink it.  This is a win-win competition.  

And talk about out there at the bar.  Not only is Weil from high school there, but one of Spearman and I's old colleagues from the law office is drinking as well.  Of course, the bar is filled with idiots, including two who at one point almost engage in a fight over a football jersey.  I send Marc over to break it up, he steps in and tells them to knock it off before security comes in and throws them all out of the bar.  Luckily, Marc wasn't close enough to be included.  Topher and SG get their ass kicked in a game of Beirut, and CA and Sis start to get marginally fed up with the douchebags hitting on them.

At 12, they get off work and we decide to head en masse over to the Silver Cloud to see Spooky.  There, a bachelorette party is in full swing, and, more importantly, the portable rum and coke I've been working on has started to hit the other members of my party, most notably Topher who has shared a great deal with me.  At around 1:30, CA and Sis are ready to head off, Topher has disappeared and ChengJ and I decide to make a last swing by City where they're in the process of kicking everyone out.  It gives me the spot I need to finish my drink and when we finally do leave at 2, we're both starving.  This is where the night gets odd.

We decide that the line at Orgasmica is once again too long, so we swing around the corner to Pizza Pino.  ChengJ introduces me to some of his friends and I remain outside smoking with them as he heads inside.  He's been in there about two minutes when a brawl breaks out at the corner of Fillmore and Lombard.  And I'm not talking about fisticuffs.  We've got about 15-20 people of mixed ethnicities and genders involved in some sort of dispute that has them throwing each other into walls, hitting each other, a great deal of yelling and to top it off, they can't seem to stay on the sidewalk, twice spilling into Lombard and almost getting one of the combatants hit.  I see one guy take a boot to the face while he's on the ground and another get clocked in the face after being pinned up against a building.  Of course, it's only after 5 minutes that the police finally cruise by, turn on the light and the entire mob scatters like roaches.  I realize that I've been engrossed in this fight for an awful long time and turn around to see that I can't see ChengJ in the pizza place.  

I stand around, slightly confused, looking in, looking down the sidewalk, wondering if perhaps I missed it when he tapped me on the shoulder and told me to come along.  I'm contemplating what kind of mission I need to embark on when I see ChengJ in the pizza spot, coming out from behind the counter with a large pizza in his hand.

I'm even more confused.  He gets out to the sidewalk and I ask him where the hell he went.  "I was making our pizza."  What do you mean, making it?  Well, turns out that ChengJ has gotten himself so in with the late night crew here that they allow him to go behind the counter and make his own pizza.  So the large he comes out with is not only hand produced by him, but, more importantly, only cost him three dollars.  So, there's free food.

Walking back to his place, trudging up the hill with pizza in one hand and the remnants of my rum and coke in the other, we pass by a girl sitting on a stoop.  She looks a bit upset, so I ask her if she's alright.  She says she is, ChengJ offers her a slice of pizza which she declines and we keep walking.  Up at the top of the hill, he and I are getting ready to go our separate ways when I turn around to kick a box off the sidewalk, only to find out upon almost cracking my toes that the box is actually a full 12 pack of beer.  Full as in un-opened at all.  I pick it up and hand it to him.  Thanks for the pizza, here's some free beer!

As I'm getting him into position to take a picture so I can tweet the fact that he's gotten free beer and free pizza all after 2am on a Saturday, the girl we passed earlier starts walking past us.  ChengJ asks her to jump in the picture with him, I snap the shot, bid adieu, and head to a cab as ChengJ starts back towards his apartment and the girl starts up the hill. I'm only 5 minutes at my destination when I get a text from him..."She came back."

**********************************

On Saturday after I almost induce a heart attack at Nini's, Chaz comes over at around 7 to start playing Beirut, which we decide will be well played with Mickey's instead of beer.  This is perhaps one of the greatest decisions of the evening.  The night wears on and Hosin and JPA show up from dinner to continue the festivities, including a rare appearance from Cam and Ri.  The highlight of the Beirut evening comes in Game 7 with Chaz and I tied 3-3.  I hit three cups in a row, and on the fourth cup, I shoot after Chaz starts moving the cup and sink it anyways.  That's the end of that, we play a few more games and head out for a Mateo Shit Show.  

We skip Glow, McGovern's and O'Neill's and head to our new favorite spot, Azul.  It looks like a shady dance club from the front, and the inside doesn't help that image with an all black interior and dance floor, but the back patio at this place is smoke friendly and incredibly pleasant to sit out on during a warm summer evening.  Of course, before we head out there, Hosin thinks it's a great idea to buy us all shots of Patron.  I'm in the mood, figure throwing one back shouldn't be too hard, and go for it.  I've got about a quarter of the shot in my mouth before I realize just how bad an idea it is, and spend the next five minutes on the patio attempting to contain myself and avoid puking.  Chaz isn't served much better, but, of course, Hosin leads the pack and invites us to finish our drinks.  

Jarles disappears, Hosin JPA and myself head up to Mr. Pizza Man where I have the bright idea to completely douse my slices of pizza with the parmesan cheese on the table.  Literally to the point that my pizza looks more like a snowstorm hit it than a piece of dough with cheese on it.  But, we trudge on home and call it an evening.  

And in case you're wondering, when I wake up, I indeed finish what was left of the slice that I had abandoned on the table the night before.

Next up?  Chaz's birthday weekend!

Candy, The Trip From Hell and Pride

The last two weeks...verging on insane. It started on the 25th of June, where, having geared up with Sis to head to Lollipop for Pride festivities, we're told that the morning after, we'll need to fly to Iowa for our Grandma's funeral. Of course, we've already bought our tickets, so we need to go, which I know is about to set up a Friday night and Saturday morning combo that won't be easy to swallow. Friday night I head up to the city around 9, pick up Za, Nah, JJ and a few others and we head over to Lollipop.

I'm not sure why they changed the venue from Kelly's Mission Rock (which is friggin' awesome) to some club in the SOMA, but the change was unappreciated as it offered less in the way of space and smoking areas, and way too much in the way of not enough bars for all the drinkers. The line was long, and my sister of course shows up as we're going in, so rather than go back outside or make her wait in line alone, I simply grab her and move her around the rope and past the bouncer. She's got CK and Hessica in tow. Luckily, no one sees this so it works. The smoke section in there is horrendous...literally an enclosed room, which means I leave most of my js in my back pocket til afterwards, but the vibe is still great, our group found a great open spot to dance upstairs.

After the party ends, it wouldn't be a Friday night in the city without crepes, so we head over there, after which I drive everyone home to various parts of the city.

Here's where it gets fun.

I don't get home until around 3:30-45, and I have to be at the airport at 6 for a 7:15 flight to Denver so Sis and I can meet up with the Gibs family and take a flight to Des Moines. Logically, it makes no sense to sleep, so I stay up, finish packing and get dropped at the airport on time, if not a bit groggy. As our flight is full and we're flying standby, the next hour ticks by and reminds me that I've been up for 24. And another flight leaves full. And another. And another. Sis and I spend the afternoon trudging back and forth from terminal to terminal trying to get a flight to Chicago or Denver or anywhere that might get us closer to a flight that goes to Des Moines.

This leads to multiple airport meals. For dinner, we go to Gordon Biersch where Sis's beer comes with a fly in it, her water glass with lipstick smudges on it, and a "bowl" of clam chowder served in a 10 oz. paper cup. I promptly write an email to the company, and am proud to say that they're going to be sending us out some free beer coupons to enjoy at one of their restaurants in apology. While what happened to us in that restaurant was not fun, the company has gone out of its way to make up for it, so I'm not going to blackball them just yet.

Finally, we get on a plane. It's an 8pm plane, only 13 hours after our scheduled flight, and it's not quite to Denver...it's to Las Vegas. But we're reassured that there's an 11pm flight from Vegas to Denver that looks very good, so we'll aim for that. We get into Vegas, eat at Quiznos and then head for the gate. Only, we don't make this flight either. Which doesn't just leave us stranded in Vegas, it leaves us stranded in the Vegas airport where every chair has an arm rest between it, so you can't lay down on any of them. And the neon lights are on all night. And the music from the speakers is awful adult contemporary into the wee hours of the morning. And the constant sounds coming from the omnipresent banks of slot machines replay through your head at 4am.

I'm exhausted, so I resort to laying down on my back with my coat as a blanket and my garment bag as a pillow. I'm not sure if the "Wheel of fortune!" shout is in my dream, or coming from the slot machines that aren't letting me get fully to sleep. I open my eyes at one point to see a custodian sweeping garbage away from me in a two foot radius.

And, as our luck would have it, we don't make the first flight out that morning either. In fact, the loads for flights look so bad that we're told by a supervisor that our best bet at getting out of the Vegas airport is to fly back to San Francisco, which we do, arriving at 9:30 in the morning. I believe it may stand the test of time as the longest round trip travel plans for nothing, ever.

The grandparents pick us up at the airport and drop us off at home. I lay down for a two hour nap which turns into 4, and when I get up, I'm fresh, ready and shower before heading off to BART to catch it up for my first Sunday Pride ever. The Civic Center is packed on every street, and the people are roaming. I'm not sure what it is, but there's not much I like more than roaming flocks of people on city streets as music pumps and alcohol flows. The whole crew is out there, and I hang around for an hour or two before Za and I decide to hit Bart back to the Peninsula. She passes out on the entire ride back, and when we get back to my place, she passes out. I lock, reload and head to the family BBQ at Casa de F.

The night, weekend and 48 hour period ends Sunday night when we head to Yogurtouille, then back to my place for True Blood. Not a bad way to end it, and certainly more in 48 hours than most people might like to manage. Up next...tales from the 4th of July.

June Movie Jubilee (12)

2: Lock, Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels
3: Layer Cake
4: Human Traffic
7: Brick
9: Up
14: Wall-E, Into the Wild Green Yonder
21: The X-Files: I Want to Believe, Into the Wild Green Yonder
22: Mystic River
28: Layer Cake
30: Oldboy

June iPod Update

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

{for May's edition of What I'm Hearing, click here}

Summer months are traditionally good ones for mega pop hits to patrol the radio airwaves, washing out last year's music and replacing it with something fresh to dance to in the warm weather. May saw some of that, with the new Eminem album, Passion Pit and the Kid Cudi mixtapes. But as June comes to an end and we look towards July, it appears that more of that trend will be upon us shortly. While June's iPod update didn't match May's in quantity, it had everything it needed in terms of quality. 67 songs, over 10 artists, multiple genres. Enjoy!

Black Eyed Peas, The E.N.D.: After "Boom Boom Pow" came out, the Black Eyed Peas ran it into the ground on radio stations, talk shows, award shows and clubs. In fact, as new and futuristic as the song sounded originally, I wouldn't hesitate to say that it has been thoroughly played out at this point, and that was before the album dropped. While the album title stands for "Energy Never Dies," I'd actually argue that it stands for the end of the Black Eyed Peas as we know them. When they first hit the scene in 1998 with Behind the Front, the Peas were an unheard of group making fresh hip-hop. The songs walked that line with hints and traces of pop, but for the most part stayed true to form until they were joined by Fergie in 2003 for their Elephunk release. This addition drew them further away from hip-hop, and now, on The E.N.D., all traces of the group the Peas were are gone. Hip-Hop now forms one of the most minute sections of their music, with pop, dance and electronic taking center stage. But it's almost too much. Will.i.Am's production is amazing, but also fails to bring any sort of coherent thread to the album. He has no problem proving he can do these various genres and mimic them well, but there seems to be no ability to integrate them into an album that makes sense together. For the most part, I wasn't a fan as the album just tries to do more than it can, but "Meet Me Halfway," utilizing a fantastic dance beat and actually showcasing Fergie sounding like a vintage Madonna, is a bit of 80s meets 2009 fantastica. Don't Sleep On: "Rockin' The Beat," "One Tribe," and "Meet Me Halfway."

Camp Lo, Stone and Rob Caught on Tape: Camp Lo has had a rough time of it. After their 1997 release, Uptown Saturday Night, the possibilities for Camp Lo appeared limitless. Their flow was good, the beats were steady, and the retro 70s feel of their songs put them in a niche market of hip-hop of their own. The popularity was growing on college campuses, and then, nothing. While they've had a few releases since, they were sporadic and failed to capture the attention of listeners. They've now returned on a new label with Stone and Rob Caught on Tape, and the sound they bring with them is far different from what listeners of Uptown would expect. The beats are more current and the duo takes on a bit of a harder edge in comparison to the milky flow they used to use. While the long hiatus could have killed the style, Camp Lo has come out on this one slightly changed, but not showing the kind of disconnect from previous music that Black Eyed Peas have. Don't Sleep On: "Diamon Crookz," "Gotcha," and "Ticket 4 2."

k-os, Yes!: When the album begins with "Zambony," k-os's intent is clear. A female voice asks, "Do you have any idea of the chaos you have caused around here? Nobody knows what you're doing!" To which a man responds, "That's exactly the way I like it!" And if his musical career is any example, the anonymity, chaos and ability to make whatever music he wants is exactly what he wants. There are a lot of great unknown acts out there, but I don't think there's a single one with the kind of track record combined with anonymity that k-os has. For those that haven't heard, k-os is from Trinidad by way of Canada, turned to vegetarianism by age 8 and was raised by parents who are Jehovah's Witnesses.

For the rest of this review and the other music I've been listening to this month, click here.

10 Things to Think About on a Friday

What a crazy crazy week. I took Monday easy and watched a movie, but Tuesday got out to play ultimate (a bummer of a loss) and got to see the Giants finish up stomping on the A's in the Bay Bridge series in Oakland. Before the game, E and I went 3-1 on the Beirut table (beating the one team we lost to in a rematch) and afterwards, he, Dolanite and myself took a trip over to the 7 Mile, where I actually did some karaoke, which, if you know me, is rather shocking. Of course, it wasn't as awesome as seeing Dolanite get serenaded in Spanish by a guy singing Mexican love songs. Now THAT made my week! Of course, it's only Friday, and it's Friday of Pride weekend in San Francisco, no less, so this week is really just getting started. But before you go getting your groove on at Lollipop, your march on at Dolores Park or your dancing on at the Civic Center this weekend, here's 10 things to think about this Friday afternoon.

1) I have mixed feelings on this. This week I saw images for the first time of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. Alice is one of my favorite childhood stories and by far my favorite of the Disney movies, so it worries me when they hand it over to Tim Burton. Don't get me wrong, the guy is out there in a mad genius type of way, but I really thought he butchered his remake of Willy Wonka, and that was live action to begin with. There's no telling what he'll do in transferring Alice in Wonderland to live action. The pictures do look stunning though.

2) Gotta love the Republican party. They make a great show of being about family values, marriage and the sanctity of life. Yet then they turn around impede gay marriage, divorce heavily, support the death penalty and run off to do very non-marriage and family value like things. Take Governor Sanford for instance. The man, while taking a 2 week break from his wife so they could strengthen their marriage, instead flies down to Argentina to have an affair. The confusing part? He spent the time they were supposed to be thinking about each other sleeping with another woman, and his wife still said, "He has earned the right of forgiveness." Regardless, I can tell you that Governor Sanford was thanking his lucky stars that his week of shame came the same week as.....

3) Because they always come in threes, we had to watch the passing of three prominent entertainment industry figures, fittingly from the television, movie and music worlds respectively. The week started off with Ed McMahon, Johnny Carson's longtime sidekick and Publishing Clearinghouse man passing away. For 30 years he played sidekick on the Tonight Show, and as part of that stint would have to move down on the couch to let the guests sit down. Well, it wasn't two days later that he did have to move down on the couch for Logan Run's star Farrah Fawcett who lost her well-documented battle with cancer. Of course, knowing that they always come in threes, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. I didn't know it would be the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, from a sudden cardiac arrest. The man who revolutionized music and dancing and brought generations together had faced hard times in recent memory, but his videos, recordings, music and dance moves will never be overshadowed by what happened at the end. While it was strange, Michael's career created memories and connections that cannot be replaced. Over 50 Million albums sold, including Thriller that contained 7 #1 hits.

4) Of course, MJ's passing brings up another interesting question...that is, what happens to the 50% share of the Beatles' song catalog that he owns? I've always been unclear on what Apple owns vs. what MJ owned, but this article does a great job of explaining the difference between owning the songs and owning the performances.

5) The not-so-good news for stars continued this week on other fronts as well. Turns out Michael Madsen, star of Kill Bill, Reservoir Dogs and countless other films is flat out broke. Actually, broke is when you have no money...Madsen owes a ton of money. The best part? He makes $50,000 A MONTH and still can't get it together. You have any idea how much you could do on 50k a month?! Another confusing thing. He's been in a ton of Quentin Tarantino movies, and yet owes Tarantino $1,000,000. Aren't the directors supposed to pay you?

6) In tales from Darwinism, this lovely lass was found breastfeeding her child while drunk. You know, there's a lot of things I enjoy doing while I'm drunk, but the idea of an infant toddler biting the hell out of my nipples isn't one of them.

7) We've heard quite a bit about the martyr, Neda, from Iran who was shot during the riots protesting the presidential election. But what did you really know about her?

8) Speaking of that election, news today shows that a cleric from Iran wants to execute the leaders of the protests to set an example. So much for fair elections. But I'm very glad to see Obama speaking out on it.

9) As if one Jar Jar Binks wasn't enough, now we apparently have Transformers from Michael Bay's new piece of shit movie who are racially stereotyped. Good show.

10) And finally, a quote I thought was spectacular from Michael Jackson that fits the theme of Pride weekend: "If you enter this world knowing you are loved and you leave this world knowing the same, then everything that happens in between can be dealt with."

Cheers and take care.

10 Things to Think About on a Friday

It's been a busy week. I started it with great results from the exam I took last month, followed that up with two great nights of ultimate frisbee (my first week of two nights since December, a great book club meeting where we talked about Augusten Burroughs' A Wolf at the Table, and dinner with Grandma. Of course, that's just in my life, and doesn't even come close to scratching the surface of the insanity people are out there perpetuating on a daily basis. And here we are once more at the weekend, where celebration and other manner of ridiculosity will become commonplace. But before I saunter out of my cubicle or you take your pants off in your office, here's 10 things to keep your mind occupied before the chow whistle blows.

1) Wanna win $50,000? You can, as long as you can beat this teenager who won the Texting Championships. She only sends 12,000 a month.

2) Obama is stepping in and enacting rules that will require the government to offer Federal benefits for employees in same-sex relationships. However, I have to agree that these steps, while significant, stop far short of what we should be doing for our fellow citizens.

3) This guy came out of nowhere this week to claim that he was the man who disappeared as a child 54 years ago. Guess he should check with his real family first...he failed the DNA test.

4) The new iPhone 3G S came out today. I'll wait for my free upgrade, and use the OS 3.0 for now, but for a full review of the new phone, check this out.

5) Last week, I talked about the upcoming Iran elections, and you have to have lived under a rock to not have heard about the aftermath this week when the country fell into protests and the results are being disputed. You add in a government crackdown on media coverage, and you have a situation not many people can understand. Who do you trust? How about the people on the ground. Apparently, while the revolution may not be televised, it most certainly will be Twittervised, as the US State Department requested Twitter postpone a scheduled maintenance so Iranians could continue tweeting about protests. And, in a show of support to help blanket Iranian tweeters from secret police, people started changing their locations and timezones to Iran this week to confuse people looking at Twitter for arrest purposes.

6) Disappointing film news...incredibly talented actor and Academy Award winner Sean Penn has needed to back out of several films he had committed to in order to work on things with estranged wife Robin Wright Penn. Good luck to them, and I hope they fix it soon, we need him in more movies!

7) Like nudity? What about male nudity? What about Bruno? Well wait no more, here's Bruno in the flesh on the cover of GQ.

8) Remember when a phone was just a phone? Well now it's a canvas for artists as well. Check out these iPhone produced images using the "Brush Strokes" painting application.

9) Will the real Mrs. Doubtfire please stand up? How about this guy, who over the last 10 years or so has impersonated his dead mother in order to receive social security and rent benefits to the tune of $100k? Which crime do you like more? This, or a former professional cyclist getting arrested with 200lbs (yes, I said pounds) of pot?

10) Finally, some things from the Twitterverse that made me laugh this week:
a) "Just caught a couple in the stairwell at work, they were either fighting or dry humping. I've never seen them before so I can only guess." - @dolanite

b) "Oh, nature. I can think of about a million better ways to inform a lady that she is not pregnant. A nice fruit basket would be lovely." - @yowhatsthehaps

c) "That white sun dress leaves little to the imagination. Now entering imagineering phase." - @ahugeproduction

d) "I've got a special half-price offer for ex-friends and lovers today...I'll meet you halfway, as long as you get your 55% done." - me

That's it folks, enjoy your weekend and remember...the grass may not be greener on the other side, but it's very likely to taste a little different.

25 Books You Should Read

As an English Lit major and avid reader, one of the questions I get most often is, "Do you have any books you would recommend?" Um, about 200, but what kind of book do you like? Everyone has heard of and maybe even read some of the "classics," and we all of course have a similar background when it comes to fundamental classroom books like Catcher in the Rye or To Kill a Mockingbird. However, regardless of the status given these books, I think they fall far short of what I would consider "required" reading, and often fall far short of giving readers an opportunity to discover and enjoy various types of fiction.

In comes this list. I've compiled 25 books that span from straight classics to futuristic Science Fiction and represent what I feel to be the best of what I've read. In some cases I've included multiple suggestions for an author, or a similar book by a different author to provide diversity and a wider range of options. I've tried to be brief where possible with my descriptions, and asterisks next to titles mean that the books is close to or over 1,000 pages. Whether it's due to style, content or the influence a particular book had over a period, these are the books and authors I consider must-reads, and they're listed here in no particular order. Enjoy!

1) We the Living, Ayn Rand - When people think of Rand, their first thought usually goes to one of her two doorstop books, Atlas Shrugged or Fountainhead, and often the result is trepidation - "They're over 600 pages!" But We the Living is the closest to an auto-biography that Rand ever wrote and is far more accessible while doing much less preaching than the others. Following a young girl in post-Revolution Russia, the book looks at social struggle, class warfare and love in a way that is both melancholy and uplifting. Don't get me wrong, I love both Atlas and Fountainhead, but something about We the Living gets me with every read. It also offers one of the most compelling arguments against religious belief systems I've read.

2) Middlemarch, George Eliot - Don't be fooled by the name. Most people hear "George Eliot" without ever realizing that he's a she. While all of her work is excellent, Middlemarch is a full-fledged social examination of Victorian era England. What is so powerful about this book is that Eliot takes multiple perspectives by focusing on various characters within the society and then examining the way they interact. Eliot's idea is to use "lenses" in order to shift perspective and the result here is a novel that forces the reader to start using a variety of lenses to view the world around them.

3) Ishmael, Daniel Quinn - While Rand works with the notion of "second-handers," Quinn's premise is centered around "takers" and "leavers" in an effort to explain the human condition and debase the notion that we are the pinnacle of evolution. Through educated dialogue between a man and a gorilla, Ishmael works through history and the "accepted truths" of our society in order to provide an idea that things not only can be changed, but in order for the world to survive, they must.

4) Les Miserables*, Victor Hugo - Set in Paris in the early 1800s, Les Miz follows an ex-convict, Jean Valjean, as he attempts to do good in the world despite the fact that his criminal past continues to haunt him. By focusing on an ex-convict and other destitute characters, Hugo creates a backdrop through which he explores religious, political and social issues while simultaneously questioning the ties that bind us.

5) Tess of the D'urbervilles, Thomas Hardy - Say "Charles Dickens" and people will automatically think either Great Expectations or "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," from Tale of Two Cities. But say "Thomas Hardy" and see how many blank stares you get. While often regarded well for his work in poetry, Hardy's novels also provide one of the most overlooked talents in Victorian-era literature. Hardy's prose is poetry. In this novel, the story follows Tess, a young woman who faces the hardships and pitfalls of an extremely patriarchal society, and puts forward questions of social classes, sexuality and morality.

6) Dombey and Son*, Charles Dickens - Forget Great Expectations and Oliver Twist. While these novels are good, in my mind they fail to capture the talent and breadth that Dickens possesses as an author. Dombey and Son was published in the serial novel format (a chapter released at a time) and spanned close to two years. It follows the Dombey family through both wealth and poverty while examining issues of child abuse, family ties and arranged marriages. The characters, as most of Dickens' are, are well-fleshed out and easy to either care for or despise.

7) Animal Farm, George Orwell -While this book is short, poignant and an intriguing reflection on the human condition, it is consistently overshadowed by 1984. The book takes place on a farm where animals come to take over the show and poses the question: Just why do we think we're so much better?

8) Infinite Jest*, David Foster Wallace - This book is not for the faint of heart, but it represents one of the best novels I have ever read in any genre. Wallace was a literary genius, adept at exploring various styles, ideas and themes in one of the widest collection of voices I've ever seen in an author. Infinite Jest is a book about addictions, and through the nearly 300 footnotes Wallace creates to give the stories more context, it becomes an addiction to read and decipher. Centered mainly at an upper-echelon tennis academy and a halfway house for recovering drug addicts, the book takes place in a time where American consumerism has led to subsidized years (no more 2009, just The Year of the Whopper) and a pollution problem so severe that a portion of Canada has been appropriated for dumping purposes, a place called The Great Concavity. Daunting in size, this book is worth every page. Wallace died in 2008 when he hung himself. For a more digestible version of him, try Broom of the System.

9) Life of Pi, Yann Martel - When a ship sinks in the Pacific ocean and leaves Pi on a raft for 227 days with a tiger, he must examine his own ideas of faith, humanity and spirituality. A touching and uplifting story, it has the added benefit of an ending that leaves the reader questioning their own interpretation of the text.

10) 100 Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez - A look at a town and the people in it over the course of an unknown period of time. Marquez looks at history, time, and romance while incorporating hints of magical realism. Through the course of the book, the residents of the town and the members of the family become lenses with which to view the other, and Marquez succeeds in making you care about them all through their struggles and the places they find their nostalgia. Love in the Time of Cholera is also exceptional.

11) Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen - Another Victorian-era author, Austen brings a more female-centered perspective than Hardy and Dickens. In this novel, a group of sisters must set out to find situations that will provide them with security after their father dies and the estate reverts to his male heir. Social intrigue, romantic interaction and the subtlety of both within the time period make this a fantastic read.

12) The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester - When Gulliver Foyle is marooned in deep space and left for dead, he becomes a man bent on revenge. By changing his identity, skill set and material means, he embarks on a mission to extract it. Fans of The Count of Monte Cristo will enjoy this one.

13) The Tortilla Curtain, T.C. Boyle - The issue of immigration and specifically illegal immigration has been a hot button topic for many years now. We often talk about the way the two societies have become entwined, with people from Mexico coming here for physical labor of various sorts in order to send money home and citizens exploiting this illegal labor in order to have cheaper commodities. In this novel, Boyle places an illegal immigrant family in the ravine behind a house in a gated community and then puts the two on a collision course that forces questions of morality and ethics between these two disparate socioeconomic groups.

14) Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card - Widely regarded as one of the best Sci-Fi books of all time, and certainly one of the most popular outside of traditional Sci-Fi readers, this one follows Ender Wiggin, a child soldier in an Army being trained to protect Earth from alien invasion. A page-turner in every sense of the word.

15) Revolutionary Suicide, Huey Newton - In the 60's, the Civil Rights movement was coming to a crescendo and African-Americans were sick of the treatment they had been subjected to in the century following the abolishment of slavery. Out of Oakland, CA came the Black Panthers, a group known for "Power to the people," and carrying guns, they also provided community outreach in an attempt to improve the condition of their lives. In this book, the Black Panther's founder talks about his upbringing, road to social enlightenment and the steps that formed the party while looking at inequality and injustice within the established government and social systems. Soul on Ice by Eldridge Cleaver works as a good companion piece and different perspective from another Panther.

16) Glamorama, Bret Easton Ellis - Some people swear by American Psycho, but I think this is the strongest novel of Bret Easton Ellis. while Psycho concentrated on capitalism and consumerism, Glamorama turns the microscope on obsession with beauty and celebrity. What starts out as a humorous and shallow narrative turns odd and violent quickly as the main character, a supermodel, is exposed to a terrorist ring. In one chapter, Ellis describes a plane explosion in fantastic and disturbing detail, and at the end, as with Psycho, leaves you unsure as to where to draw the line between actual events and figments of the characters' imaginations.

17) Stranger in a Strange Land or Time Enough for Love, Robert Heinlein - One of the most prolific Sci-Fi writers, Heinlein wrote risqué and socially experimental novels that sought to question the parameters society has been constructed on. While the passage of time has made some of his theories and thoughts seem sexist, when they were written they sought to provide greater female sexual liberation than was allowed for at the time. Stranger in a Strange Land is seen as the cult classic Sci-Fi and follows Valentine Michael Smith, a human born on Mars and raised by Martians who returns to Earth. The ideas of free-love, water brothers and "grokking" were adopted from this novel for the counterculture and hippies of the 60's. Time Enough for Love follows the story of Lazarus Long, an Immortal, through centuries of his life, creating a 700 year long span to examine humanity, culture, morality and love.

18) Minor Characters, Joyce Johnson - I'm not much of a Beat-era fan, and I certainly don't understand the mountains of praise heaped on Kerouac's On the Road. To me, the lack of coherence and the random and drawn out scribblings of a man don't make for impressive reading. However, what I did find impressive was this book for the very different perspective it offers. Joyce Johnson was Kerouac's girlfriend and Minor Characters provides a different view of him and a completely different perspective on the Beat Generation from one of its rare female voices.

19) Perv - A Love Story, Jerry Stahl - Incredibly funny, Stahl is the subject of the Ben Stiller movie Permanent Midnight as well as the creative (albeit heavily drug-addled mind) of the 80s TV show Alf. In this one, he looks at childhood romantic ideas and sexual development through the eyes of a teenager trapped in Pittsburgh in 1970 who strikes out on the road to join the waning moments of the Summer of Love in San Francisco. Stahl writes like Woody Allen talks, and the book walks the fine line between black-as-night humor and humorous horror.

20) A Room of One's Own, Virgina Woolf - A thoughtful and incredibly important piece of Feminist literature that puts the female author's point of view into perspective. By speaking about the need for the same types of space and privacy afforded to men, Woolf brings the condition of writers like Jane Austen, George Eliot and the Brontes into greater perspective.

21) Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, A Scanner Darkly, Man in the High Castle - Philip K. Dick. Dick is often regarded as one of the grandfathers of Sci-Fi. In addition to A Scanner Darkly (Robert Downey Jr.), he also wrote Total Recall (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Minority Report (Tom Cruise.) The Man in the High Castle works on the premise that the Germans and Japanese won WWII, and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? was turned into the movie Blade Runner (Harrison Ford.) At the moment I'm reading one of his called, Dr. Bloodmoney or How We Got Along After the Bomb, a book centered around a bombing disaster in the Bay Area. If there's one drawback to Dick's fiction, it's that he often starts with great ideas and fizzles out towards the end of the book. He's just not a closer.

22) The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove - Christopher Moore. Generally, I'm not much of a fan of comedy books, but I've enjoyed every book I've read by Moore including Bloodsucking Fiends (a vampire love story set in San Francisco) and The Island of the Sequined Love Nun. His comedy utilizes everyday people in everyday situations that are faced with supernatural events or characters. In Lust Lizard, a small California town is thrown into chaos when the town psychiatrist replaces all of her patients' prescriptions with placebos and a sea-beast that exudes a pheromone comes out of the cove and tries to mate with things like a gas truck. Hilarity ensues.

23) The Dice Man, Luke Rhinehart. A man decides to make his life as random as possible by making decisions based on the roll of the dice. As he becomes more addicted to the dice, his life slowly spirals out of control (or into control depending on your point of view.) This book looks at the decisions we make, the choices we take and the fundamental problem with relinquishing control that we all face.

24) Crash, J.G. Ballard. Not the Academy Award winner, the one that turned into a Holly Hunter movie about people who get sexually turned on by car accidents. I'd also recommend Empire of the Sun (turned into the Steven Spielberg/Christian Bale movie from the 80s about a British kid in an internment camp in WWII Japan) or Concrete Island, where a man is stranded between portions of a freeway.

25) Great Apes, Will Self. A man wakes up in London to find that the entire world is run by apes. He's looked at as insane as he struggles with the idea that he is actually human and the world has been turned upside down. Better than Planet of the Apes in that it's set in modern times, not post-apocalyptic Earth.