Fell On Black Days

Sunday Comics: Where Is My Goddamn Button?

noreply@blogger.com (Nicholai Black) — Sun, 19 May 2013 16:12:10 PDT

The Most WTF-Worthy Video of 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Nicholai Black) — Wed, 01 May 2013 08:44:56 PDT

I have no idea what's going on here. I can't tell if this is supposed to be comical or not. It's just really fucking weird....and creepy as fuck. Prepare yourself.

Guess What, Guys...

noreply@blogger.com (Nicholai Black) — Wed, 01 May 2013 08:41:03 PDT

Can you believe it?

It's All I've Got Today. Sorry....

noreply@blogger.com (Nicholai Black) — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 16:48:30 PDT

My New Favorite Cover

noreply@blogger.com (Nicholai Black) — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 19:44:35 PST

From The Great Book of John comes a cover of INXS' 1988 'Never Tear Us Apart'. It's a beautiful rendition of the tune. Almost as if Jeff Buckley and The Black Keys got together to perform it. It has been on repeat, either on iTunes or Vimeo, for the last three days. Speaking of iTunes, it looks like that's the only place you're able to purchase the single. Enjoy.

How Do You Find A Vegan At A Dinner Party...Or, "Why I Rarely Go Onto Tumblr"

noreply@blogger.com (Nicholai Black) — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 20:01:10 PST

I swear. No one on that website has a sense of humor. Must you be outraged over EVERYTHING?!

Get Me A Ferret At The Fancy Pawn Shop...And Get A Beard

noreply@blogger.com (Nicholai Black) — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 16:07:37 PST

If you've been following me over the last couple of years, you'd probably guess that I'm not much of a football fan. Today will determine who is going to the Super Bowl in two weeks. At the moment, it looks like the 49ers, and either the Ravens or the Patriots. Personally, I'm rooting for the Ravens. Only because my in-laws are big Broncos fans, and I'm obligated to cheer for the team that ruined their hopes for a championship.

Anyways....what was I going to write about?

OH...With today being a big football day, I thought I would share this video. Whether you like football or not, you'll get a kick out of this. Very funny.

Goodbye 2012, You Amazing, Crazy, Shit Stain Of A Year

noreply@blogger.com (Nicholai Black) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 20:58:10 PST

Let's face it, 2012 sucked. There's no other way to say it. For a number of reasons (that I don't have the patience or time to explain) this year has, quite possibly, been the worst ever. In regards to technology and world events, this year brought us a number of amazing moments. For better or for worse, the morning brings us an opportunity to start over and try to make the world around us a better place.

By the way, I thought this was incredibly interesting. At the :58 mark, when they're doing a search for "for a change", "Stop SOPA" comes up in the search results.

Mashup Monday - Year End Movie Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Nicholai Black) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 20:45:42 PST

I usually share the year-end "Filmographies" of Gen Ip. This year, I think Matt Shapiro has done a much better job at capturing the emotion of this year's films. This is five minutes and fifty two seconds of brilliant editing work. Enjoy.

Mashup Monday - End Of The Year Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Nicholai Black) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 12:35:18 PST

Every December, YouTube is bombarded with year-end pop music mashups. This is one of the better ones. I particularly liked it because, as the video plays, the bottom of the screen lists what tracks are being mixed. I can't say that I'm familiar with some of the songs in the video. I certainly can't say that I'm a fan of some of them, either. However, I can say that Daniel Kim has done a spectacular job.

In case you lost count, there were 55 tracks in eight minutes.

We're Expecting.....

noreply@blogger.com (Nicholai Black) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 11:56:05 PST

...the coming Apocalypse.

TMZ reported this morning, that Kim Kardashian is pregnant...with Kanye West's baby. It seems that the Mayans were about six months off.

Poor kid's going to be nothing but ass and teeth. Seven pounds three ounces of uncontrolled ego.

"But when you get on, he leave yo ass for a white girl...."

Sunday Comics

noreply@blogger.com (Nicholai Black) — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 13:19:45 PST

The Story Of My Life

noreply@blogger.com (Nicholai Black) — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 13:15:38 PST

Copyright Criminals

noreply@blogger.com (Nicholai Black) — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 21:34:44 PDT

I've been having a difficult time getting back into the swing of things. I've really been wanting to write. I haven't done so in more than two months. It has become very hard to get motivated. So, I thought a good way to get my feet wet again would be by doing one of my old standbys...a mashup post.

I couldn't sleep last night, so I watched a short documentary on Netflix. Copyright Criminals took a look at the prevalence of sampling in today's music. More than anything, it asked the question, "Are DJs/samplers musicians?" "Does their work require talent?"

You had some people, mostly on the legal side of the issue, say that DJs and hip hop artists are talentless hacks. They're either not talented enough, or creative enough, to come up with their own material.

Interesting fact: Rick James sold 3 million copies of his Super Freak single. MC Hammer sampled Super Freak in You Can't Touch This. Hammer sold 10 million copies of his single.

Some artists argue that many jazz and funk tunes sampled in hip hop's heyday comprised of beats or trumpet hits that were, for the most part, improvised. The drummer or trumpet player was usually a studio musician that was paid a flat fee to record a backing track. They didn't receive any songwriting credit or any royalties from the track. If they're sampling a trumpet hit from a James Brown tune, why should they have to pay Brown's estate to get permission to use a part of the song he had nothing to do with?

One person in the film likened sampling/mashups to what Andy Warhol did with his work. He took copyrighted photos and painted over them. He took trademarked packaging and painted them on canvas. The world agrees today that he was a genius.

The documentary specifically brought up the case of Danger Mouse's Grey Album. If you've never heard of The Grey Album, Danger Mouse (the second half of Gnarls Barkley) mixed the vocals of Jay-Z's Black Album with music from The Beatles White Album. The result was legendary.

Danger Mouse never had any intention on releasing the album for commercial sale. As soon as he started distributing it on the internet, EMI, The Beatles music publisher, immediately sent a cease and desist. The original artists never filed a complaint. In fact, Jay-Z's label has never said a word about the album. The Grey Album became the most downloaded and widely distributed album of 2004. Had EMI been willing to play nice, everyone involved could have made a lot of money.

Another artist featured in the film was the duo Eclectic Method. Watch this and tell me, "Is this talent or technology at work?" There's a segment at 5:52, where they put a beat together using the swings of a sword. It's pretty badass.

One of my favorite videos is of a mashup done by a 15-year-old French kid. He mashes together 39 of his favorite songs in a matter of three-and-a-half minutes. Can you even figure out all 39 songs he sampled? Even if you could, are the samples recognizable to where anyone listening to it could say, "He ripped off _____."? Considering standard costs related to gaining permission from record labels, this tune could possibly cost $4 million or more in legal fees. Is he stealing the artistic creations of someone else, or has this kid created a completely new piece of art?

Sunday Comics

noreply@blogger.com (Nicholai Black) — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 22:06:05 PDT

Did you know that the account of Jacob wrestling with an angel was the inspiration for 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid'?

Long Time No See

noreply@blogger.com (Nicholai Black) — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 20:22:23 PDT

I feel like I've failed my site.

This is the first blog post I've written in over a month. And, fuck has it been a crazy month. While on my gluten free diet, my health started to deteriorate. The returning symptoms were primarily neurological in nature. Pain, asymmetrical numbness, but very little issues when it comes to my digestive system. I thought that maybe I would introduce gluten back into my diet, and see if I was truly gluten intolerant, or if it was merely a coincidence.

After eating gluten continuously for the last two weeks, I have noticed an occasional stomach issue. The biggest difference I can tell is psychologically. I am much more stressed out and depressed now than what I was before.

Last week, I saw an allergist. They did a series of tests for food allergies. Of the 82 foods I was tested for, I was allergic to none. Not allergic in the least to wheat, barley, oats, malt, or rice. The doctor wants to do another blood test for Celiac, but is saying that it will almost definitely come back negative. It is extremely rare for someone to be allergic to gluten, without having even a hint of another food allergy. I had a number of vials of blood taken to be tested for every auto-immune disease under the sun. I am scheduled to see my doctor tomorrow for the results. I don't know what makes me more nervous, finding out that I have an auto-immune disorder, or hearing that I'm fine.

In other recent news, I have been putting a number of hours into the animal rescue. It's easily the most rewarding thing I've ever done. I love helping these little guys find homes. There are days when it is extremely stressful, though. Not because of the dogs, or the work that I do. But, because of some of the cunts that I have to deal with, and the drama they tend to create. If we could only boot some of the egos and the arrogance from the group, life would be much easier. As it is, there are some days when it's not even worth trying.

I'm tired. It's as simple as that. I'm going to try to schedule out my life, as I have been neglecting some of the things that are very important to me. Dedicate so much time per week to my site. So much to helping my friends with their adoption blog. So much toward my political activism. So much to my family. And, so much to the rescue. It all sounds great in theory. It will be interesting to see how the logistics work themselves out.

Fireworks: Give Us The Finale Only!

noreply@blogger.com (Nicholai Black) — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 15:08:42 PDT

Last night, the three of us drove up to a mall parking lot in Tempe to see the fireworks. We then walked to a bridge that crossed Tempe Town Lake. The show was approximately a mile away at Tempe Beach Park. For standing on a sidewalk, we had a pretty great view.

The show lasted about 35 minutes. Honestly, it sort of dragged on. Jessi and I joked that it would bring so much more bang for the buck (sorry for the pun) if they used the same amount of fireworks, but in a 10 minute production. "Better yet," Jessi said, "wouldn't it be awesome if they just lit everything at the same time?"

For some reason, I envisioned it much like the fireworks scene from Coneheads.

Well...IT HAPPENED.

Last night in San Diego, a computer malfunction caused every firework to light simultaneously. The result wasn't as epic as I had imagined, (I'm sure there weren't any sunburns inflicted) but it was pretty damn cool.

I love the crowd reaction. You could tell they were thinking, "If that's the opening salvo, I can't imagine what the finale looks like." I thoroughly encourage you to watch other videos of the event on YouTube. Kids are crying. Every car alarm in the Bay area was going off. It's hilarious.

Talk about a once in a lifetime occurrence. If it was up to me, every fireworks show would be this majestic. Could you imagine this over Sleeping Beauty's Castle at Disneyland every night?

Happy Independence Day

noreply@blogger.com (Nicholai Black) — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 23:56:41 PDT

I'll leave you tonight with one of my all time favorite performances. Filmed before game 2 of the 2001 World Series.

Photo Of The Day

noreply@blogger.com (Nicholai Black) — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 23:45:41 PDT

God bless America...

Meet Joey

noreply@blogger.com (Nicholai Black) — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 10:50:22 PDT

Two weeks ago, I started volunteering for a local dog rescue. Ohana Animal Rescue pulls dogs from the county shelter that are on the euthanasia list. At that point, foster parents will rehabilitate them, and make them available for adoption. Ohana has adoption events three times per week at a Phoenix area Petsmart. Starting next week, we'll be holding adoption events at a second Petsmart location.

We started fostering Joey last Friday. He's a six-month-old wire haired Jack Russell terrier. He's a sweetheart. We absolutely adore him. In just the last three days, he's almost entirely housebroken. (He pooped on the carpet this morning, but it was right by the patio door.) Poor guy has an upper respiratory infection, so he's barking like a sea lion.

As I was on my laptop last night, he jumped onto the couch and set his head on my shoulder. Thought it was the perfect opportunity to get him on webcam.

An Epic Mashup Monday

noreply@blogger.com (Nicholai Black) — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 21:58:35 PDT

To be perfectly honest, I had no intention whatsoever to create a Mashup Monday post this week. Then, I accidentally stumbled upon Go Home Productions most recent track, which happened to debut today.

I have never heard anything like it. Something so seamless. So...flawless. It's one of the greatest tunes I have ever had the good fortune to hear. So, without further adieu, I present (I Am The) Trampoline (To The Other Side).

My Current Ringtone

noreply@blogger.com (Nicholai Black) — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 21:44:20 PDT

Yes. Believe it or not, I really am 37 years old.

Feel Good Video Of The Day

noreply@blogger.com (Nicholai Black) — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 21:06:27 PDT

This is the latest advertisement for Coca Cola. I've been debating whether to share it or not. It is truly a heartwarming video, but ultimately, it's to push a soda. In any event, this clip helped me to regain a little bit of faith in the human race.

Best JW Baptism EVER

noreply@blogger.com (Nicholai Black) — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 20:48:54 PDT

The following video popped up on YouTube a couple of weeks ago. There is no information as to where or when it was taken, but I'm assuming it was during one of this year's district conventions. Thanks to Chris Fugue for adding Yakety Sax to the video. It makes it all the more enjoyable.

Now, why haven't any of us thought about doing that before? Gotta get wet to be part of their silly club. Makes sense that you have to get wet to get out. Rinse off all of the brainwashing.

300

noreply@blogger.com (Nicholai Black) — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 20:19:03 PDT

THIS.....IS.....AWESOME!!!!!

Tomorrow will be six weeks since I started a gluten free diet. In that time, I have lost 22 pounds. When I weighed myself this morning, I came in at 300.

Today is the first time in my adult life, 22 years to be exact, that I have been at this weight. The last time was during my sophomore year of high school in 1990. It's crazy to think that very soon, within the next day or so, the digital scale will have the number 2 as the first digit of my weight. I have never seen that before.

This is really hard to believe. And, all because of gluten. Wow...