Dave Lucas

RIP Daniel Pádua

2009-11-21T00:44:00.000-05:00

Daniel Pádua [pt] (also known as @dpadua on Twitter) had been recently diagnosed with cancer and lost the battle this week, in Brasília. Always present in open source software and free culture events in Brazil, he was a strong reference for many bloggers in posts about ciberactivism and freedom of speech on the Internet.

Tags: Daniel Pádua, Daniel Pádua

Berkeley Back In The Headlines

2009-11-21T00:02:00.000-05:00

UC Berkeley protest ends with 41 arrests

Way back in the 1960s, Berkeley was at the center of collegiate counterculture: it boasted a reputation for student activism and unrest. Fear not, boomerites! Berkeley is back, with a vengeance! Michelle Malkin posts a tell-all:

Tuition hikes and custodian layoffs were the latest excuse for a UC Berkeley campus tantrum.

The San Francisco Chronicle called the student takeover of Wheeler Hall an “occupation.”

In the old days, dyed-in-the-wool libs would practice civil disobedience and accept their punishment.

In the Age of No Consequences, Berkeley students demand that they be allowed to break rules, disrupt campus life, and create chaos without any repercussions:

Wait just a darned minute, Mrs. Malkin! That sounds like today's YOUTH in general. Breaking rules, being disruptive, creating chaos. Oh yeah, there are many many good kids. But there are a whole lot more than ever before of the unpleasant ornery variety. Somebody needs to come along and do some fixin' --- but WHO?

Ah, smash the state!!!! And bring back the days of OLD BERKELEY!!!

Tag: Berkeley

One Potato, Two Potato (1964)

2009-11-20T23:32:00.000-05:00

Had nothing to do Friday night (for a change) so I turned on the TV and found a 1964 movie: One Potato, Two Potato... it's a black-and-white drama film directed by Larry Peerce and starring Barbara Barrie, Harry Bellaver, Faith Burwell and Bernie Hamilton... and it's about black and white relationships, specifically a white divorcee's marriage to a black man, which could end up costing her custody of her daughter. Now, today this is just another drama, but it was quite a little groundbreaker in its day. If you are NOT planning to watch this picture, here's a spoiler for ya: the ending courtoom scene which is up on youtube.

Tags: One Potato, Two Potato

MTV Deletes "Obama Fried Chicken"

2009-11-20T18:00:00.000-05:00

A recently released music video for "Popular Demand" by the Clipse featured the awning of the infamous Obama Fried Chicken joint in Brownsville, Brooklyn. But in comparing versions of the video airing on MTV and elsewhere, it looks like the TV channel completely erased the restaurant's name from the awning in the video's opening shot. Brokelyn, the Brooklyn blog that first reported the editing, notes it could be one of three possible reasons: {{MoRe}}

Wintry Skies

2009-11-20T17:55:00.000-05:00

Central Avenue, approx. 3pm... a beautiful day but look at those clouds!

Around The Blogosphere 20 November 09

2009-11-20T08:00:00.001-05:00

Rihanna called into the Bert Show in Atlanta and discussed her ex, Chris Brown. Miss Info has the DL

Young Mister O ::: "As you may know, the girls at Occidental College liked to dress up young men and take their pictures. There are some famous pictures of the young Barack Obama while he was at Occidental College in Los Angeles, CA floating on the internet. Posted above, I have the rough equivalent from my own spell at this small liberal arts college. Personally, I was one of the founders of the anti-apartheid group that Obama mentions in his book, Dreams of My Father." [..::d.e.t.a.i.l.s::..] Meanwhile, the President is back from China. But try as he might, he couldn't get the Chinese to translate his name correctly the whole time he was there.

CARTOON OF THE DAY!

The Triple Crown of Venereal Disease: The Gift That Keeps On Giving

Kalsoom at CHUP! – Changing Up Pakistan posts a roundup of the latest news and information on the South Waziristan war against the Taliban.

RantingsbyMM shares a story on how she was able to get back her money from a taxi driver who overcharged her in Vietnam.

Several regional branches of the Indonesian Ulema Council want to ban the movie ‘2012′ claiming the film's content is “unsuitable to be viewed by Muslims because only Allah knew when the world would end, not heathens like the Mayans.”

Resident Evil:::Alyssa Bustamante

2009-11-20T07:59:00.000-05:00

Imagine the horror this poor little girl must have felt... the things that might have rushed through her mind as she realized she was dying at the hands of a young looney. I can imagine. When I was around 11 I came face-to-face with a boy of about 16 years who had similar evil intentions. But I managed to get away. This child wasn't as lucky.

Savage Teen Killer ::: Alyssa Bustamante's MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube profiles are eerie in that "teen who engages in self-injurious behavior and bullshits about being tough" way. Except, when she lists "killing people" as a hobby... the 15-year-old Bustamante confessed to the gruesome murder of 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten, whose throat was slashed and who endured multiple stab wounds.

Tags: Alyssa Bustamante, Alyssa Bustamante

Finally Friday

2009-11-20T06:22:00.001-05:00

This week seemed as if it would go on forver! Much of my time was spent at the Joe Bruno corruption trial. During one of yesterday's breaks, reporters were chatting about how each media outlet (on Wednesday) zeroed in on a different aspect of the proceedings. That day you could have watched TV, listened to the radio and read the papers, and although the witness names were the same, each outlet reported on a different portion of testimony. But that's ok: it happens when things get too long and dry. I expect next week will be quite different, as the trial winds down and the Thanksgiving holiday approaches.

----------
This message is from a Virgin Mobile customer. Enjoy.

Pop Clips » 19 Nov 09

2009-11-19T21:09:00.001-05:00

Poetic & Photogenic::: Bai Ling!

Kramer gets his…

And the best country in the world is…

When 300,000 starlings get together, the result is both fascinating and a little scary…

For World Toilet Day: Composting Toilets and Self Rule http://bit.ly/3vs3QZ

Cuba's Generation Y sends a questionnaire to U.S. President Barack Obama “with some of the issues that keep [her] from sleeping” and publishes his responses.

TechCrunch::: eBay Completes Skype Sale At $2.75 Billion Valuation - eBay has just announced that it has completed the sale of Skype, valuing the company at $2.75 billion.

An anonymous journalist who used to work for a Polish daily tabloid called Fakt, has begun a new blog, BrukowiecStory ("TabloidStory" in English), in which he plans to write the truth about how things really work in the newsroom and in the publisher’s office.

Happy 6 Years of Blogging, LaShawn Barber... And, come to think of it, November represents two blogging milestones for ME... MY first blog was also out in Nov '03 and my Capital Region People blog (the "father" of this blog) arrived on the scene in November 2004!

The influential Oprah Winfrey talk show is to end production in 2011 after more than two decades on air, says .. http://bit.ly/114wK8

French Tweet: Twitter Goes French In Time For LeWeb http://ff.im/-bJjO4

What Twitter's New Geolocation Makes Possible http://retwt.me/1Kzva

MediaWatch 18 November 09

2009-11-18T18:03:00.003-05:00

A great band, criminally overlooked... Wish someone would upload the ORIGINAL music video!!! Pearl Harbor and the Explosions...

VIDEO may have been indicted in the killing of the radio star, but it is being praised for driving InterNet traffic to new heights: " From 2007 to 2012, "traffic will increase sixfold," Robert Pepper, a vice president of Cisco, told the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh." [:m:o:r:e:]

FACEBOOK wants YOU!!! New York Mag reports that Facebook doesn’t care whether you ‘Defriend’ or ‘Unfriend’ - but - why would you want to? Why make someone 'friend' only to delete them later on down the digital road?

Dr. Filomena and Profy reflect on what it means to be a blogger::: "...blogs are convenient places to vent, to share with others one’s experience and opinions, opinions, opinions. Have I mentioned opinions? They are as different as the people who write them. Without editors in place to censor or instil common sense and without owners to set goals to be achieved by their hired managers. Yes, it’s great. Hey, I play the game on occasion. It can be fun, yes. But are they media?" and "...many of the traditional news outlets venturing online with their own blogs have made blogs themselves look more professional (as they are written by professional journalists) but it does not change the image of a normal blogger..."

51% of young Russians (ages 16 - 24) consider the Internet a reliable source of information. This makes the Internet the second most trustworthy source after TV among the youth. This and other findings are available in a newly published report [RUS] by the Public Opinion Foundation.

UH-OH - AP source: NYC papers' circulation offices raided in a probe of possible union corruption.

From "corruption" to economic "interruption" ::: THE ECONOMY could still tank. We're not "out of the woods" yet, as President Obama admits too much debt could fuel a double-dip recession...

The Joe Bruno Trial

2009-11-17T21:39:00.000-05:00

Just in case you're wondering where I've been going most weekday afternoons, I've been heading to downtown Albany to cover the Joe Bruno trial for WAMC.

I'm actually just one member of a team of us (Greg Frye, Karen DeWitt, Steve Felano) pooling our talents, "floating" as it were so that we can keep listeners up-to-date. I'd say we're doing a pretty good job, considering other local radio outlets aren't sending reporters on a daily basis... covering a trial is always a rough assignment, because you just never know what's going to happen, when. But we're staying on top of it. Others are as well: everyday there's Steve Ference from CapNx9, John McLaughlin from WTEN and Bill Lambdin from WNYT... reporters from other TV stations and the people from the newspapers and the AP. Think about it, you folks in the Capital Region are lucky to have so many media outlets bringing so may points of reference to the table, enabling listeners, readers & viewers to get a better understanding of the court case. And with the interNet, folks from anywhere can "tune in" to follow the trial!

Joseph Bruno - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Justice for Joseph L. Bruno | New York

There's a 2008 New York Magazine article entitled "The Un-Reformed," in which former State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno quotes poetry. Here's a snippet:

His first job was at a bakery. He carried trays of pastries to the factory workers for their morning shifts. His pay was what they didn’t eat. In school, he was a failure. “They sort of kicked me along, you know? I told Sister Rose Madeline I wanted to be an altar boy. She laughed at me. Nothing worse. She said, ‘He’s too dumb.’ ” On summer afternoons, he learned to box. A middleweight met him in the park. “He’d get down on his knees and I’d circle around him and he’d wear out his pants circling on his knees. He taught me to punch straight and lead with your left. These kids that used to bloody my nose, I kicked the shit out of them.”

That’s about the time he met Barbara—known as Bobbie. He was 14. She was 13. They met one night at the YMCA, playing Ping-Pong. This was 1947, and Bruno’s job was driving an ice truck. Her father was a surgeon and chief of staff at the hospital, and didn’t approve of him. “Her father said the only way he’d agree to our getting married was if I would live there while I was in college.” He enrolled in Siena College and drove the ice truck to class.

"I bleed. I rise. I fight again." There are words very like the Bruno quote in a very old, very long ballad called 'Sir Andrew Barton': ‘Fight on, my men!’ says Sir Andrew Barton, ‘I am hurt, but I am not slain; I’le lay me downe and bleed a-while, And then I’le rise and fight again. The quote is verse LXIV; the whole thing can be seen online in the Oxford Book of Ballads on Bartleby.

The two lines "I'll lay me downe and bleed awhile,
Then I'll rise and fight again" were also used as a refrain in the poem 'Alastair Buchan', written by the author John Buchan in memory of his brother killed in the First World war.

Text may be read here and also in The Oxford Book of Ballads (OUP, 1969), The Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English Speaking World (Viking, 1956), and English and Scottish Popular Ballads (Houghton Mifflin, 1932).

By the way : I think NYmag's timeline is off... in 2008, Bruno was closing in on age 79, which would have made him 18 or 19 in 1947... comments, anyone?

FROM THE ARCHIVES of this humble weblog ... July 2007: Since this is "older" material, some of the links may no longer be working... you have been warned!

Tags: Joe Bruno, NY Politics

New York's cloutful, colorful Senate Majority Leader is in the Governor's HotSeat! "When politicians do not see eye to eye, you better duck, for the mud will fly." - "J" Peach

From Liz Benjamin's Blog:

Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno continued to fight back against allegations he misued taxpayer-funded state helicopters for political purposes, attacking the Times Union, which first reported the story, and demanding the local DA investigate a alleged "extortion" attempt by the paper's ad department.

Meanwhile, while several people - including Mayor Bloomberg - came forward to say they met with the senator regarding government business on the days in question. More here.

From Capital News 9: Senator Bruno blasts Times Union

Statement from The Times Union:

Since learning of Senator Bruno’s statement, we have thoroughly reviewed the matter he raised. He is correct that an advertising sales representative contacted his office Tuesday to set up an appointment to sell “issue-based” advertising – commonly referred to as advocacy ads – relating to the ongoing political dispute between Senate Republicans and Governor Spitzer.

We believe this contact was made to provide Senator Bruno an opportunity to respond to the recent online advertising campaign launched by the New York State Democratic Committee, which is currently running on timesunion.com and several other newspaper Web sites. We do not believe it is true that the sales representative suggested, as the senator’s press release states, that he “would need to buy ads in the paper if (he) wanted to get fair coverage.”

People who buy advertising in the Times Union and on timesunion.com are seeking access to our readers, but they do not gain any additional access to our news columns when they buy ads, nor does our news coverage in any way respond to the advertising in the newspaper’s pages. In the newspaper business, this is often referred to as “the church-state divide,” and we zealously guard against breaches in the wall that separates our commercial and our journalistic goals.

To imply any breach of integrity by the Times Union strikes me as an unfair attempt by Senator Bruno’s office to redirect attention from recent public reports toward the media company responsible for the initial reporting.

I understand Senator Bruno has indeed cancelled his home delivery subscription, but his assertion that circulation at the Times Union is in decline is also untrue. In fact, readership is up more than 2 percent this year over last, and Sunday circulation has been on a steady rise for 18 months. We do regret losing Senator Bruno as a customer, but it won’t interfere with our fair and truthful coverage of what he does.

From the Times-Union blog:

Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno put out a statement today announcing he’s cancelling his Times Union subscription.

Bruno accused the paper of a “partisan, political agenda,” and also claimed his office received a call today from an advertising salesman at the paper, quoting him as saying that buying ads in the paper “would be an effective way to let the public know about the good things the Senator is doing and to get across his side of the story.”

Bruno characterized the call as telling his staffer “that I would need to buy ads in the paper if I wanted to get fair coverage.”

His office says the call came in this morning, and that the purported offer was declined.

The publisher of the Times-Union, Mark Aldam called the allegation “preposterous” and “baseless.”

Besides JB, not everyone loves the TU:

"I accuse the Times Union of practicing personal destruction against Joe Bruno for contradicting his claims regarding official transportation. To even imply that he is not being completely honest is engaging in personal destruction ..."

Observation from (where else?) The Utica Observer-Dispatch:

The political tiff between Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer and his Republican nemesis, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, has taken to the air, with barbs now flying regarding use of state aircraft.

The sniping not only does a disservice to state taxpayers, but is further indication that New York's weak ethics laws need to be tightened so there's little question of violations. [continued]

As I was writing this blog post, I was trying to find (with no luck, going through all 3,000+ blogposts I've written on this particular blog since 2006) a post I wrote about several older gentlemen whom I admire. I don't recall all of the guys on the list. But if you asked me today to prepare a similar list, Joe Bruno would be on it. 80 years old and still goin' like sixties....Who else would make the list? Definitely Pete Seeger (now 90), Willie Nelson, Keith Richards, Bill Clinton and Kris Kristofferson... probably Jack LaLanne too...

What follows has nothing to do with Joe Bruno, but since I mentioned Keith Richards name, search engines will be pulling people in to this post, so I'll throw out a little bone or two: at right a photo of Bill Clinton with the Rolling Stones, and below, a somewhat obscure article about Mr. Richards. Enjoy!

René de Beauregard writes [fr] about Rolling Stone Keith Richards: To rock or not to rock : Keith Richards pose pour Vuitton Here's a snippet:
"Le vieux forban fait de la pub maintenant. Voilà le genre de nouvelles qui me réjouit. J'imagine son rire carnassier quand il a été approché pour cette campagne. Après Catherine Deneuve, classique, Gorbatchev, pas tellement vendeur, Vuitton va rimer avec Satisfaction.

Il paraît que David Bowie a fait de la pub pour Vittel. Du rock à l'eau plate, c'est vraiment n'importe quoi. La campagne est passée inaperçue, évidemment. Celle-là sera forcément un succès. Tous les ex-fans des sixties au portefeuille et au ventre rembourré ( ce n'est mon cas ni pour l'un ni pour l'autre ) vont pouvoir réconcilier les goûts de leur jeunesse avec leur nouveau statut social.

Keith Richards a toujours eu le cynisme en bandoulière, il pourra le mettre dans son sac Vuitton et ré-interpréter "Papa's Got a brand new bag", le standard de James Brown."[complete post]

MORE Tags: Keith Richards, Bill Clinton

Zhu-Zhu Pets!

2009-11-17T19:20:00.000-05:00

Looking for a ZZP? Check out the ZZPetfinder!

They're in demand here at home and just about everywhere... this year's "must have" Christmas toy!

Pop Clips » 17 Nov 09

2009-11-17T07:49:00.000-05:00

Beyonce and Lady Gaga leak a clip from their forthcoming music video for Beyonce's song Video Phone.

Fox News' Major Garrett will interview Pres. Obama at 9:20pmET tonight. He tweets:

I will interview POTUS on camera Wed am here in Beijing. 4 other networks will too. 10 mins per. Many had asked. Can say now.

Follow @MajoratWH...

Make sure you watch this video at some point today...

Have you been following President Barack Obama's Asian trip? Adam Minter is disappointed by Obama's comment in the Shanghai Town Hall meeting with students, in particular, his expression that “I'm a big supporter of non-censorship”. Cartoon of the day - Rear-ended.

Geoffrey Philp's Blog Spot

For I will consider my Cat Buju - He is not supposed to be alive. My daughter heard his cries from inside a dumpster where she found a garbage bag sealed with duct tape. ::: This reminds me of the poor little doggie who got duct-taped...

Why most movies suck.

Twitter launches MMS

2009-11-17T05:15:00.000-05:00

It's only in the U.K. for now::: TechCrunch reports...

The deal, announced on the Twitter blog by Thau, allows Orange UK Twitter users to send picture messages to a number (86444) to be posted to their tweet streams. The reason this works is because Orange UK runs a photo site called Snapshot, which will host the pictures and tweet out a link to them automatically.

Twitter notes that it is not charging anything extra for this service, and it should work just like SMS does — which is to say that standard carrier rates still apply for these messages. Still, it’s a pretty sweet deal to bring something new to UK Twitter users first. Hopefully something like this can be worked out in the rest of the world too

Around The Blogosphere 16 November 09

2009-11-16T19:05:00.000-05:00

My favorite is #3 on NYMag's Brooklyn Top 40

Miss Info on Rihanna: A great video makes you like a song more, but I didn’t even really like this song…until I saw this clip.

I left this comment on xiaxue.blogspot.com: "Wendy Cheng may one day become a plastic surgeon, using her Photoshop skills to direct surgical laser technology. Just a thought."

Monica Tang has decided to reveal her past...

Kajsa Hallberg Adu reviews blogging flick "Julie & Julia"

.: Signs :. ♥ Court métrage ♥

So you think the Capital Region is just about Paterson, Bruno, Montserrate & Politrix?

2009-11-16T06:57:00.000-05:00

Just to prove that the Capital Region is right up there with the big metro areas, I have two amazing stories that appear on page B2 of the Sunday Gazette (nope, it's not online unless you're a subscriber!)

Which story do you find more incredible? I think the "African Sex Slave" takes the cake!

#1 - "Ballston Spa: Kidnap suspect gang connection a worry for DA" - Wow! There's this guy who has buddies who work in a South Broadway restaurant - they all have ties to MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha)- and (somebody call Michelle Malkin) they're ALL illegal immigrants! The DA wants to examine under a blacklight the skin of a fellow named Victor Hernandez-Perez to see if Vic has any gang tattoos! Victor has been indicted on 15 charges related to the alleged assault of a Saratoga Springs woman who told police she was grabbed off the street, forced into a mini-van, stripped naked and told she would be raped and murdered! Investigators think it was a gang initiation! YIKES! She escaped by bolting and jumping out of the moving van... this would make a good ep of Law & Order!

# 2 - "Albany: Man pleads to attempt to import African sex slaves" - Hang onto your chair! 50-year old Lester Dutcher apaprently wanted to import an African girl to come to the states to cook clean and have sex with Lester and the Missus! (Don't let Lester watch last week's rp of 'Gossip Girl") - Lester is accused of being active online since 2006 trying to arrange a transaction whereby he could purchase women! Thankfully, there's no evidence he ever got anybody to come over!

What Comes Around Goes Around (Especially Monday!)

2009-11-16T06:37:00.002-05:00

Re-set to Monday! This week the world will be buzzing over President Obama's trip to Asia. The price of gold has gone through the roof... but...

Which Way The Economy?

Just a thought: all the so-called experts and analysts seem to agree that the economy is righting itself and that a few European countries are already "out of recovery"... But all those jobs shed. Are they filled? And the repossessed homes and cars... what happened to the people who once owned them? And how can anyone afford to own them now, especially since banks aren't even lending money to folks with good credit?

Trials & Tribulations

Days after the sentencing of two video blogging youth activists in Azerbaijan, other bloggers are starting to speak out about the imprisonment of Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli. The two online activists will spend 2 and 2.5 years in jail after a trial which most consider to be politically motivated.

Across the Capital Region all eyes and ears will once again be looking and listening for information concerning the trial of former State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno.

Here are a few additional Brunotes... from other keyboards!

Joe Bruno...Albany Personified:::"Prior to the Spitzer inaugural, I was invited to Bruno's office where he was holding court with a full table of snacks in a pre-swearing-in fest for the loyal opposition... Joe probably already knew about Ashley...the fact that you had to hire Joe as a motivational speaker in your company in order to get access to government contracts is hardly surprising to anyone, least the pols and media who were marinated in the same Albany stew. Sure, he's guilty....Guilty of governing in our state capital."

New York Daily News:::Whatever its outcome, the trial of former Senate boss Joe Bruno has torn the lid off the cesspool that is Albany.

Last but not least:::

Eman at AquaCool comments on the first Twitter-inspired street name, in a West Bank Palestinian refugee camp.

Beware of the Codec!

2009-11-15T18:25:00.002-05:00

My buddy, who is always careful about where he goes online and what he downloads, just had to wipe his harddrive clean and reload Windows. The other night he went to download a movie (legally!) and of course when he tried to watch it Windows Media Player popped up an advisory it needed a particular codec to play the file. It asked permission to search & download, but hiding inside whatever that codec was: a nasty little virus that hijacked his browser toward unimaginable porn and warez and mlm websites. It was outta control and unstoppable. My buddy is an IT pro and moved the harddrive to his workbench unit to make sure he could writedown the disc to zeros. He says he never encountered anything like this before. I told him, as I tell you now, seek out and grab a free copy of VLC player. I have it on my old WinMe PC. It plays ANY video, crystal clear, no pixellation, repairs broken or damaged video files of any extension, and NEVER needs to go fetch a codec! Google it!

----------
This message is from a Virgin Mobile customer. Enjoy.

The Early Dark

2009-11-15T17:29:00.001-05:00

One of the neat things about living in New York State is the "early dark" that occurs during the holiday season. Just a couple of weeks ago, at 6pm it wasn't dark enough to begin trick or treat, but tonight it was already dark at 5! It makes life a little more cozy and in the city lets the "nightlife" get underway (as opposed to 10pm in the summer... 5 hours difference). On a quiet Sunday evening, it's an excellent opportunity to have a cup of coffee and then go for a walk and have a little quality time, either in solitude or accompanied by a loved one(s). "Because the Night" comes to mind... As do Christmas lights and evening shopping in NYC.

----------
This message is from a Virgin Mobile customer. Enjoy.

the HIVE

2009-11-15T13:37:00.000-05:00

2009-11-15T12:38:00.002-05:00

Above Left, Wendy Cheng (Xiaxue). Right, Monica Tang.

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" - Charles Caleb Colton, Lacon, volume I, no. 183 (1780 - 1832).

We've seen it before: someone becomes fascinated with another person and becomes a "fan" or "follower." Nothing wrong with that, unless it is taken to extremes.

I recall seeing an old old newsprint sheet of some National Enquirer type of weekly that ran a story in the 1960s stating that Jimmy Dean (the singer and sausage Guy) was such a big James Dean fan that he changed his name from Douglas Goodall to Jimmy Dean. There are people who insist Lagy Gaga is trying to be Madonna, and that Madonna and Britney Spears modeled their early "look" after Debbie Harry. There are some people so skillful at re-inventing themselves in a model after someone else that the public doesn't notice. It even happens in books. "The Secret" for example is merely a re-hashing of old Wallace Wattles stuff written in the early 1900s and re-packaged by a band of new age "gurus" like James Arthur Ray. "Everything old is new again!"

Somewhere in summertime back on my blog I dubbed Monica Tang "the Norse Xiaxue." Now the one and only Xiaxue has discovered Monica.

As Seen on Twitter:

OK like a bit freaked out right now... Just saw a girl's blog... And she's like totally similar to me?!??!

Chinese w blonde hair, same dog (hers still pup), same dog BED, same camera, blinged, same computer table, same mp3 player, blinged....

She did say she got her inspiration from me though. I knew I was inspiring but not THAT inspiring! LOLOL

Alright her link is http://monicatang.com/. I'm not offended or anything though, coz she clearly has her own style... Just a bit freaked.

http://twitpic.com/pmt2g - Ok here's a pic of her dog + same pink dog bed as Pumpkin...

http://twitpic.com/pmtd6 - Ok here's her with LX3, silver like mine, blinged and threaded with pearls like mine.

FYI::: There's also Monica's Blog*Spot Blog!

FBImagine

2009-11-14T19:11:00.001-05:00

When attending a press event last week I overheard a reporter talking on her cell phone, telling a colleague (assumption there) "...make sure you delete the files..." and later the same day I passed by a paralegal saying something to the effect of "...make sure you shred the documents..."

I'm amazed by the FBI's ability to produce, day after day, damning evidence at the Joe Bruno trial, in the form of emails, memos and documents. They must have one hell of a team of "diggers"!

Now imagine if the FBI team could ride a time tunnel back to the days of Mayor Erastus Corning... with all of the political shenanigans that supposedly were going on at the time, 3/4ths of Albany would be indicted and half the city would probably be in the penitentiary!

Whatever! When the JB Trial is over (and probably even now, as I write this) lawmakers and politicians and businesspeople running will be scrambling to shred, delete andotherwise dispose of any paper or electronic trails they may have left behind...

♫ New Life For The Old ♥ CD ♫

2009-11-14T14:27:00.001-05:00

In "New role for the CD?" I wrote: "A generation or two stands between the 33rpm vinyl album with its artwork and liner notes and the digital music CD which is what it is. On Facebook this week Yarah Bravo has been plugging her new CD and mentions she won't be pressing any more hard copies. People who had a copy commented back how glad they were to have an original."

I see two great marketing opportunities emerging for artists (like DJ Vadim & Yarah, pictured at left): issue limited edition specially enhanced mixed media CDs, numbered like artists number prints of their works, like "3 of 300" - and - offering an "enhanced download" including liner notes and artwork that can either be printed out or simply viewed on the computer. The CDs have the potential to increase in value over time. Downloaders get more goodies (which cost the artist next to nothing to add to the CD package)"

In the same Posterous Post, I told how "This morning I heard that a local music distributor is closing several retail shops because people are buying and downloading music online." Turns out the radio broadcast I heard left out an important detail of the story: (quoting from the Times Union) "Trans World Entertainment Corp., the Albany company that operates f.y.e. stores, is closing 125 of its locations nationally, although none are in the Capital Region." Comments on the newspaper article run the gamut, from "’m surprised they will only close 125. I’m surprised they are still in business what with Itunes and the internet. I haven’t been in a music store in a decade" to "Trans World, the company that pioneered selling merchandise at a much higher price than manufacturer’s suggested price! Before Trans World, most dealers reduced prices from the suggested list price."

More Good Reading:::

Pearl has "A short interview with DJ Vadim"

Archives:::

Plunge in CD Sales shakes up big labels

One Self – Children Of Possibility

CDs I've Enjoyed

Tags: Yarah Bravo, CD

Saturday INTEL

2009-11-14T14:15:00.000-05:00

Rainy day! This is the view from the front booth in Spinner's, where I had lunch today.

Friday I tied up a lot of loose ends... also cleaned up at the Casino! Nothing like an afternoon of gambling to clear the cobwebs out!

Teddy Jimbo has posted both English and Japanese videos of U.S. President Obama's speech on Asian policies, given in Tokyo... Chinese Netizen Questions For Obama During His Visit ...Some folks are commenting about Obama's visit to Asia on MichelleMalkin.com::: In the mood for some thought-provoking chatter? Head on over to Michelle Malkin's blog for a bit of Saturday Open Thread action!

Major Nidal Hassan is a US military psychiatrist of Arab origins who went on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood in Texas, killing 13 soldiers. He is now facing the charges of premeditated murder. "Psychiatrist or Psychotic?" ask Egyptian bloggers.

India is morphing into a global R&D hub, but can it ever take on Silicon Valley? According to TechCrunch, when Americans think of the Indian technology sector, they still perceive a nation of call center workers and low-level computer programmers...

flaneurose notes that cable TV and the internet are now viable alternatives to mainstream media. The blogger ponders the impact of the diminishing power of mainstream media in Singapore.

I'm snacking on some Sugar Babies from Trick-or-Treat night. Haven't had any of these guys in years, and they taste different than I recall. Initially, they remind me of Kandy Korn, until you get to the caramel. And they seem to be much sweeter they were before.

Sometimes pop music seems sweeter than it was before: Here's a review of Rihanna’s upcoming Rated R album...

CHRIS BROWN pushes back at Rihanna's recent TV tell-alls!

Bai-Ling philosophizes and pictorializes: "...on the moon, there is no time no society no human no obstacles no language no dreams no need and no cold blue color..." D'ohkay!

Too Late for Flowers is a short story by Liberian writer Saah Millimono: “Theresa was in her seventies, lean, gray-headed, with a wrinkled face and almost toothless mouth when I moved into her house as a tenant. She had suffered a stroke that left her right leg crippled and her left arm useless.”

Brunotes

2009-11-13T06:24:00.000-05:00

Will Joe Bruno rise again?

It wasn't a secret - but they didn't ask and he didn't tell* - that's the common denominator running through the parade of witnesses called to testify so far in the Joe Bruno trial.

*er, sometimes he did...

Bruno's corruption trial entails allegations that the former NYS Senate Majority Leader intermingled official duties with private business deals. The 80-year old Bruno says he is innocent. The indictment accuses him of improperly receiving $3.2 Million Dollars from various sources between 1993 and 2006 while failing to disclose that information.

Bruno earned $1.4 Million Dollars from consulting work for the Connecticut investment firm, Wright Investors’ Service. The company’s president told The New York Sun in 2003 that Bruno was paid a part-time salary for referring clients to Wright, that Wright did not manage money for New York State, and that Bruno’s consulting did not involve his work as a senator.

If convicted on federal mail and wire fraud counts, Bruno could face 20 years in prison and some hefty fines.

Daily News columnist Liz Benjamin posted a pair of Brunotes: Here and here...

TIMES UNION Audio: Sen. Bruno calls in

Thursday afternoon's proceedings ended with the judge "flipping out" on Bruno! According to a Bruno associate, the judge misinterpreted Bruno's interactions with his legal team as "something else." Yup - the trial certainly is "something else!"