Mixed Mania

Music for the Long Intermission

noreply@blogger.com (e.a.) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 20:29:00 +0000

Its been a busy month. New house, new dog etc. Posting may be a little less regular until my computer comes to the new house. In the meantime, I've been listening to Crooked Fingers Reservoir Songs recently and insist that you listen to these two songs:

1) "Solitary Man" A Neil Diamond Cover with a great banjo line.

2) I wish I could find a share-able version of Crooked Fingers cover of "Sunday Morning Coming Down", because their take on the Kris Kristofferson classic is depressingly wonderful, but Kristofferson doesn't do a bad job himself. So here's the original.

The Dodos

noreply@blogger.com (e.a.) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 13:29:00 +0000

The Dodos make my life livable.

That's really all I should say.

Listening to Visiter has been one of my greatest pleasures in the last month (and I've had a great month, so that's saying a good deal). If you haven't heard of this band or listened to this album, well, you really should. Hopefully I'll write more about this later, but I just needed to say at least that.

Stalling for Time

noreply@blogger.com (e.a.) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 21:02:00 +0000

There are more posts coming, I promise you, but in the mean time, I thought this nicely captures recent events in our world.

Shows that Make Your Life: Gogol Bordello

noreply@blogger.com (e.a.) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 03:44:00 +0000

Seriously, I could die happy right now. No cell phone photo can do justice to the aweseomeness that was Eugene Hutz (see Everything is Illuminated if you haven't) and Gogol Bordello tonight. I almost don't want to say more. The large banner behind the band read "Gogol Bordello, Gypsy Punk Revolution". This is a revolution I would like to be apart of.

Hutz opened with a rousing chorus of "There were never any good old days. They are today. They are tomorrow. That's a stupid thing we say, cursing tomorrow with sorrow." The band's frenetic energy transformed the Variety Playhouse into some sort of gypsy rave with almost two hours of music that was impossible not to dance along with. The encore was a show in itself, leaving the crowd happily exhausted by the time the band marched off the stage. I thought it wouldn't end, and I was happy for that thought.

Although this video still doesn't capture the experience of seeing these guys perform, it gives a little taste of the band's unique personality and sound:

If you EVER have a chance to see Gogol Bordello live, do it. You'll thank me, I promise.

Mr. W

noreply@blogger.com (e.a.) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 02:18:00 +0000

Watch this.

Silver Jews: A kind of Q and A

noreply@blogger.com (e.a.) — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 04:24:00 +0000

This is a little late, but last Saturday's Silver Jews show at the Variety Playhouse well exceeded expectations. Of note would be the quasi Q and A between one Mr. Z of St. John's College and David Berman himself.

First off, for any Johnnies reading out there, David Berman, with glasses on, is a dead ringer for a young William T. Braithwaite. That said, there is much rumor confirmed by multiple unreliable sources that David Berman attended St. John's college for at least two years, was possibly disenabled and possible gave a graduation address. All of this is uncomfirmed by anyone sober or of upstanding repute (sorry, Josh).

The Q and A went as follows:

(quiet moment in show)
Mr. T: (yelling towards stage) Is it true that you went to St. John's College?
David Berman: (pauses, distractedly mumbles) There are a lot of those, aren't there?
Mr. T and e.a.: (yelling again) The one in Maryland!
David Berman: (into microphone) There's one of those in Annapolis, isn't there?
Mr. T. and e.a.: Yes! That one!
David Berman:...... leads into next song

So the Q and A was ultimately inconclusive, but incredibly satisfying to the inquirers nonetheless.

It should be said that the show was great and David Berman's wife is in possession of both a winning smile and a great voice.

Monotonix

noreply@blogger.com (e.a.) — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 21:33:00 +0000

Montotonix opened for Silver Jews at the Variety Playhouse last night, and while they didn't steal the show, they definitely gave it a "punch in the face" (the words of Ami Shalev, the lead singer).

The band set up their drum kit and instruments in the standing-room area of the Variety Playhouse, walked out, and motioned for the crowd, mostly seated, to walk down to where they are. They then proceeded to put on the most frenetic dance party I've seen a few years. Shalev did headstands in a garbage can, rode on the shoulders of crowd member and stole beers from bystanders to drink or give to his bandmates.

The show was stronger on the performance art end that it was musically, but it was a truly unique experience, and isn't that half the point of live music?

Elevator Conversations: Toast T-Shirt

noreply@blogger.com (e.a.) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 01:32:00 +0000

I got on the elevator back to my office yesterday and found myself in the company of a man wearing a t-shirt that had a cartoon piece of toast on it. He was otherwise well-dressed and had selected one of the law-firm floors, so I assumed he was taking his firm's "casual friday" to heart.

I asked him, "Is that a piece of toast on your shirt?"

He laughed and said, "Yeah, I joined this club and they send me t-shirts sometimes and I like the way this one fits." And with that, he exited the elevator onto his floor.

I was left wondering, what kind of club sends you t-shirts with a piece of toast on it?

Elevator conversations are always just seconds too short.

Movies I Wish I Hadn't Seen: Transsiberian

noreply@blogger.com (e.a.) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 23:50:00 +0000

This will be brief. Transsiberian is shot beautifully, acted well and still manages to be completely pointless. The violence and horrific torture that the audience is asked to sit through might have been worth it if the ending weren't so horribly trite and meaningless.

I can't say more without giving away the entire plot, though I'm almost tempted to do just that, since I really don't recommend that you see this movie yourself.

Poetry for the weekend

noreply@blogger.com (e.a.) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 04:23:00 +0000

The Lanyard

Billy Collins

The other day I was ricocheting slowly
off the blue walls of this room,
moving as if underwater from typewriter to piano,
from bookshelf to an envelope lying on the floor,
when I found myself in the L section of the dictionary
where my eyes fell upon the word lanyard.

No cookie nibbled by a French novelist
could send one into the past more suddenly—
a past where I sat at a workbench at a camp
by a deep Adirondack lake
learning how to braid long thin plastic strips
into a lanyard, a gift for my mother.

I had never seen anyone use a lanyard
or wear one, if that’s what you did with them,
but that did not keep me from crossing
strand over strand again and again
until I had made a boxy
red and white lanyard for my mother.

She gave me life and milk from her breasts,
and I gave her a lanyard.
She nursed me in many a sick room,
lifted spoons of medicine to my lips,
laid cold face-cloths on my forehead,
and then led me out into the airy light

and taught me to walk and swim,
and I, in turn, presented her with a lanyard.
Here are thousands of meals, she said,
and here is clothing and a good education.
And here is your lanyard, I replied,
which I made with a little help from a counselor.

Here is a breathing body and a beating heart,
strong legs, bones and teeth,
and two clear eyes to read the world, she whispered,
and here, I said, is the lanyard I made at camp.
And here, I wish to say to her now,
is a smaller gift—not the worn truth

that you can never repay your mother,
but the rueful admission that when she took
the two-tone lanyard from my hand,
I was as sure as a boy could be
that this useless, worthless thing I wove
out of boredom would be enough to make us even.

Excerpted from "The Trouble with Poetry: And Other Poems” by Billy Collins.

David Cross Tuesday: Fire! Sale

noreply@blogger.com (e.a.) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 01:30:00 +0000

I heard a commercial for some dress outlet having a "fire sale" today and HAD to find this clip. Its not Mr. Show, but its on my top ten for David Cross scenes ever.

Also, sorry about the advertisement that flashes on the bottom. Super annoying, but I guess that's how Hulu pays its bills.

Fugazi on the Brain

noreply@blogger.com (e.a.) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 01:41:00 +0000

Fell, Destroyed - Fugazi

This is absolutely stuck in my head to a point of insanity, so I now pass the insanity to you. Specifically the line,

"You will sleep forever; you will never sleep again."

Note: Song contains language that some might find objectionable. Just a heads up.

Cheers!

Propaganda and Stuff!!! (A little present to me from Adbusters)

noreply@blogger.com (e.a.) — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 18:38:00 +0000

My final birthday gift arrived today. Well, actually, I had to walk to the post office to pick it up (that's a different story involving nearly-treadless tires and Super-Hero Ray at the GoodYear on Howell Mill), but the box made it to my house in the end.

My parents get the real credit as the givers of this gift of the Adbusters "Friend of the Foundation" Package, which includes a two-year subscription to the magazine plus the following items.

Item #1: American Corporate Logo Flag. Really big and kind of cool looking, but ultimately impractical as I will not be flying this from any flagpoles in the near future.

Item #2: T.V. Turn-Off Poster. This one is cool. The design is striking, but again, I can't really see this in a frame in the living room...am I wrong? But I like it anyway and will maybe find a good spot behind a door or something where it can happily glare at anyone fortunate enough to discover it.

Item #3: Production of Meaning DVD. This is definitely the best item in the box. This DVD basically explains the main idea of the Adbusters Foundation in a well-produced, artistic half-hour DVD. Especially interesting was the brief interview with Kalle Lasn, the founder of Adbusters. He was remarkably well-spoken and made some excellent points even in the face of a somewhat "uninterested" reporter.

Item #4: Culture Jam book by Adbusters founder Kalle Lasn. This one I can't comment on yet, as I have not read it. I'll hopefully report back with a full review in the near future.

There is some irony in my excitement at getting all this "stuff" from Adbusters, the voice of anti-consumerism. I think it points to the need to reevaluate our understand of what consumption really means and what we want it to mean etc. etc.

All thoughts for another day, but feel free to leave an opinion if you have one.

Olympic Special Part 2: Olympic Puzzler

noreply@blogger.com (e.a.) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 18:59:00 +0000

There are at least 10 people in the camera section in the photograph below who are NOT going to get a shot of whatever is going on at this moment. Can you find them?

(click on photo to enlarge)

Here's the solution:

(click on photo to enlarge)

Good Beer is Good for You

noreply@blogger.com (e.a.) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 05:35:00 +0000

While the excellent beers brewed by the excellent Monday Night Brewery are certainly the best available in these here parts, I must share that I had a La Chouffe Belgain Golden Ale (brewed with unknown "spices") tonight the Brick Store Pub in Decatur that was possibly my favorite wheat-ish beer yet: light, no fruitiness, crisp, clean, light hops, exceptional balance.

Huzzah.

Olympic Special: The Olympic Shower

noreply@blogger.com (e.a.) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:32:00 +0000

(The Shower of Champions)

So I was watching the synchronized diving competition with some friends last night and couldn't come up with a suitable answer for why the divers jump under a shower after each dive. Were there especially harsh chemicals in the pool? Health regulations? I had no answer.

Fortunately, The Explainer at Slate.com was way ahead of me:

"Diving venues are air conditioned and can feel especially cold after a dip in the pool. Competitors shower in warm water to keep their muscles loose and then often retire to a hot tub. They towel off shortly before the next dive so that their hands don't slip during tucks or other maneuvers."

So, yeah. Now you know. Not really as exciting as I'd hoped.

Last.fm is better than Pandora: Personal Taste Trumps Science Once Again

noreply@blogger.com (e.a.) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 02:14:00 +0000

(free radio, 2.0)

I am way behind the times on discovering last.fm, I know. What I didn't know until a few weeks ago, is just what I was missing out on.

As a longtime user of Pandora.com, I thought Pandora was the proverbial *stuff*. I could listen to all kinds of obscure bands, tailored specifically to my tastes and preferences, musically speaking, based on Pandora's "music genome project". This means if I say I like Elliot Smith, Pandora would analyze Elliot Smith songs for things such as vocal pitch, instrumentation, tempo patterns etc., and would then play me a selection of other artists with similar "musical DNA".

For a station focused on Elliot Smith, the first song is Elliot Smith's "Rose Parade", exactly what I wanted. Track two played is "Your Scars" by Charlemange, followed by "Waitin' for the Superman" by the Flaming Lips. I like both of these songs, but not that much. The Flaming Lips are a band that I've never really loved, although they do have many songs with similar sounds to other music I like very much.

Last.fm, rather than recommending music based on the elements of sound in the music I like, uses a more democratic, social media kind of approach. If I say I like Elliot Smith, it looks at the other music I listen to and then gives me a recommendation based on what other users who like some of the music I like and ALSO like Elliot Smith have been listening to.

When I select a station based on Elliot Smith, the first song is Elliot Smith's "I didn't Understand", not exactly one of my favorite of his, but a great song nonetheless. Next up is "Niagara Falls" by Sufjan Stevens. This song I did not previously know, but I really like. After that is "Song Against Sex" by Neutral Milk Hotel. This one sounds almost nothing like Elliot Smith, but definitely fits my actual taste. I knew this song already, but was more than happy for it to come up on my station.

The downside of Last.fm is that a band has to be listened to by a decent number of people before the algorithm is going to recommend it to other listeners, but also means that the songs put on my stations are that much more likely to be a "hit" in my little world.

Also, Last.fm has a download-able application that keeps track of the music you listen to on iTunes or Windows media player and factors those selections into its suggestions of music you might like. On one hand, I don't like being "watched", but the program can be easily turned off if you are listening to some secret stash of horribly embarrassing music.

But really, good music is good for you, so don't listen to crap songs, if you can help it. And check out both Pandora.com and Last.fm and let me know what you think.

This is Your Brain on Friday

noreply@blogger.com (e.a.) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 20:30:00 +0000

Vegans are So Crazy as to be (maybe) Respectable

noreply@blogger.com (e.a.) — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 21:20:00 +0000

I've mentioned before that I can't eat beef or pretty much anything containing dairy (whey, specifically). Its not that I'm picky, I just swell and stop breathing every now and then, so you'll understand why I avoid the above mentioned substances.

Food allergies are one reason to look more closely at the ingredients in what you eat. Veganism is another.

Vegans (those who chose not to eat or use any products coming from any animal) have always fascinated me. I lived in the unofficial headquarters of the St. John's College Vegan and Vegetarian Club for all of a year and was thereby all but immersed in this self-imposed lifestyle of hyper-conscious denial.

In general, I'm opposed to the adoption of objectively arbitrary rules for living, especially if these rules come along with some kind of moral sense of duty or supremacy. But if you're going to say that it is unethical and bad for body and soul to consume or use animals for your own health and happiness, then why not just go all the way?

That's what Vegan Vegetarianism has going for it. Vegans are undeniably hard core.

So this article, from Slate magazine, about the relaxing of the honey rule (honey comes from bees, remember?), both amused and bothered me. What's the point of being a half-hearted Vegan? Answer: none.

Friendster Fights Back

noreply@blogger.com (e.a.) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:31:00 +0000

Friendster seemed weird and pointless to me back in the days before MySpace and Facebook had taken over our lives (plus, the name and logo irritate me, for some reason). It was the first online social networking platform to really find a niche and the first one to seriously shrink in numbers. Honestly, I didn't know it still existed until I read this article.

From Dusk Til Dawn: Curfews for Our Safety

noreply@blogger.com (e.a.) — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 04:39:00 +0000

This is the new sign on the back gate to my condominium complex that greeted me when I arrived home last night.

Either Cross Creek is trying to protect kids from the dangers of the night, or Cross Creek is trying to protect us from marauding gangs of 13-year-olds.

I like to think its the second.

Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are

noreply@blogger.com (e.a.) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 16:37:00 +0000

I've been following Rob Walker's blog, murketing for almost a year now and was incredibly excited to pick up a copy of his much anticipated book when it was released at the beginning of last month.

Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are is Walker's attempt to flesh out his coined term murketing and its implications on the future of advertising and popular culture.

Marketers and advertisers face a new challenge in our era of television-on-demand and the mainstreaming of independent subculture. It is suggested that today's target audiences are more aware of advertising and attempts on the part of corporations to create needs that don't exist.

Walker proposes that consumers today are not, as many have supposed, rejecting big brands. (Unfortunately for the highly esteemed culture-jammers at Adbusters, the consumer revolution may not be as close as you hoped.) Rather than rejecting the idea of branding, consumers today are taking brands and creating their own meaning to go along with them. This creates a challenge for the companies holding the brands, as they are losing a large measure of control over their brand positioning, and the smarter companies are learning the value of allowing these consumer sub-groups to assign whatever value to their particular product the consumer sees fit.

An interesting example was Timberland boots- the fashion phenomenon that swept the world of hip-hop in the last decade. According to Walker, Timberland's CEO was initially reluctant to market to this new audience as he saw his product as being for more serious blue-collar work needs, not as fashion statements. By finally allowing the consumer to have some control over what his product was about (and producing Timberland boots in pink, blue, green and other colors), Timberland successfully bridged the gap between a new and powerful youth culture while maintaining their reputation of quality boots for working men.

Walker's understanding of not just consumer culture, but generational differences and general human nature, makes this book a real standout in terms of shedding light on the grey area between authentic culture and manufactured meaning. The practices of murketing are likely here to stay, and we could all do well to understand it a little better. Whether these culture-blurring practices should be embraced or rejected is still an open question in my mind, but the need for leaders in the field who are asking good questions and looking towards the future is one that will never go away and Rob Walker is certainly doing his part well.

Saul Williams "Release"

noreply@blogger.com (e.a.) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:25:00 +0000

Ok, I'm stalling on the Rob Walker book review, but I've been a little bit obsessed with this bit of Saul Williams from the Blackalicious album "Blazing Arrow" (Lyrics Born does another part of this same song.)

Anyway, enjoy. Its just the audio, no real video. Just a heads up.

"I can think of nothing heavier than an airplane.
I can think of no greater conglomerate of steel and metal.
I can think of nothing less likely to fly.
There are no wings more weighted.
I too have felt a heaviness."

Oh man, that kills me every time.

Happy Wednesday, everybody.

Twitter Buys "Summize" Techs

noreply@blogger.com (e.a.) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:15:00 +0000

This is week-old news, but it sounds interesting, from a data/statistics nerd kind of view...

Twitter Blog: Finding A Perfect Match

This makes me think, for some reason, of some of the applications for "sensing" Mark Hansen talked about at the Technology and Journalism panel last February.

Rob Walker, Billy Collins and Saul Williams: Summer Reading in Denver

noreply@blogger.com (e.a.) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 02:03:00 +0000

The Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver was the only "must see" on my list for my recent trip to Colorado.

As far as book stores go, this place was incredible. Two floors of nothing but floor to ceiling shelves filled with new and old books of every size and subject. No cd's, no movies, just books, and lots of 'em.

My best find was a book called The Spoken Word Revolution (slam, hip hop & the poetry of a new generation), which includes a CD (ok, so I guess they do have cd's). Considering my recent fascination with all things Saul Williams and the fact that the introduction was written by Billy Collins, another recent favorite, this purchase was a no-brainer.

Purchase number two, in the same line, was a first edition paperback of Billy Collins' Nine Horses, not of any special monetary value, but I was excited to find it anyway.

Oh, and Rob Walker- I finally finished Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are, on the plane ride home. This is possibly the most significant book, in terms of the current changes in media, marketing and culture, I have yet to come across. Hopefully a (slightly) more complete review will be coming soon...