Just a week after I clocked my final hour of undergraduate learning I took a vacation up to Boston to visit my brother and friends. It was a great trip, one that I remember more fondly as time passes. The most memorable event of the three nights I spent there was undoubtedly the unbearable heat. Every night there I would wake up at least once in a full-bodied sweat. Upon reflection it was one of the most cost-efficient saunas I have ever purchased. Save on air conditioning, embrace the heat, clear your pores.

Coming back from Boston I hit a bit of culture-shock. I didn’t realize how fully I had re-embraced Boston life. It easily took me a full day to readjust to the dull-hum of suburban life. It’s horribly dull, this suburban life.

Yet it was short lived for three short days later I was traveling again, this time to Toronto. This was my first time in Toronto, and my second in Canada. The experience driving up was tame fun, punctuated by a ten-minute period of torrential rains. Aside from those moments of acute terror nothing horribly eventful occurred.

Crossing the border into Canada was painless and relatively quick. Arriving at our hotel, the Drake, was just as painless. The two nights of hijinks spent in the bohemian area of Toronto weren’t as pleasant to recover from. After the first night we quickly learned to preclude our night in a wholesale environment so as to not deplete our piggy banks as rapidly. We learnt quickly and it paid in spades. Although next-morning’s cup of green tea could not have come soon enough.

The journey back from Toronto, for me, was an interesting test of endurance. It is a 500 mile drive from Toronto to my town, one that I shared on the drive up. On the way back I was the sole driver, tallying up 500 miles and 10 hours to my name.

The way back was full of mini-adventures and highlights. The first of which was when we came across a wind farm. When we saw our first wind turbine off in the distance, we all began to chatter with excitement. As we drove forward, the wind turbines grew in stature and our excitement was positively bubbling everywhere. However, the excitement we shared for the wind farm was no match to what came next.

Driving through the middle of New York we happened upon an area that had just been hit by a large storm. As we are all aware, what usually comes after a large storm are rainbows – and rainbows are beautiful pieces of natural phenomenon.

Shortly we saw our first glimmer of a rainbow, a prism of light coloring the otherwise bleak sky. We all crowed with excitement. Then we saw another rainbow, this time a little larger. And then another, each time our excitement growing. Rainbows aside, what was fresh on all our minds was the recently viral Double Rainbow video. If you haven’t seen it yet I urge you to do so now.

The apex of our excitement came when we witnessed our own double rainbow, arching across the sky, majestic, beautiful, and magical. Word’s can’t capture the emotions elicited from witnessing such a structure first-hand. So I won’t try.

Arriving home from Toronto and our exciting drive took me a full four days of rest and sleep to recover from. I can safely say that I find myself recovered, and can resume the mundanity of looking for a job.

And this is where I leave you now: writing from my local library, enjoying the hum of the air conditioner unit above my head. I have a few projects in the works that I’ll share soon, but for now, if you haven’t been outside recently, I encourage you to do so. Summer will only last so long.

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A Guide to Meditation for the Rest of Us

This is a nice and brief guide teaching you how to meditate. I find mediation to be useful and extremely helpful in reducing my daily stress levels, and this article is a nice introduction to the subject. Give it a read if you have a lot of stress in your life and too many things on your mind.

The Top Idea In Your Mind

Always a great essayist, Paul Graham, discusses the pitfalls of ruminating on one thought for too long. A nice read with interesting points worthy of your time.

Three Minute Philosophy

If you’re interested in philosophy at any level check out this YouTube account. Hosted here are quick and entertaining three-minute-long overviews of famous philosopher’s views. Although in no ways comprehensive, each video will give you enough material to research that will consume many hours of Wikipedia-ing. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

Mercury Prize 2010 Shortlist

The Mercury Prize is “an annual music prize awarded for the best album from the United Kingdom or Ireland”. This year’s nominations were just released, showcasing a great array of talent over the past year. My money’s on The xx – their album is absolutely impeccable.

Tab Candy: Making Firefox Tabs Sweet

If you’re like any internet user that I know then you make heavy usage of tabs. Aza Raskin, a Firefox developer, has just released a prototype for a new tab management tool. Click through the link to watch a video showing off its sexiness, and if you’re feeling dangerous click the download link at the bottom of the page to try it out yourself. Can you say sweet?

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So as of today (and going forward) I’m going to be posting – usually weekly – a collection of links with commentary that I have found interesting. These posts will help compress the amount of “bloat” posts that I’ve previously written, and also make for an easy reference of the latest happenings on the internet.

Let’s get started with the inaugural Week of Links post, number 001!

‘Avatar’ Heading Back to Theaters This August
This title kind of tells all you need to know. Avatar was so successful that they’re pulling a Titanic and Lion King and re-releasing Avatar back into theaters in hopes of making a few more bucks – which I’m sure they will.

So if you missed Avatar when it was first released, and you want to experience it in IMAX 3D (which is definitely worth it IMO), here’s your chance!

Wilco – “Bull Black Nova” Live Video
If you’re a fan of Wilco and live performances then you should click on this link. This is Wilco performing their song “Bull Black Nova” off their latest album Wilco (The Album) on the live performance website La Blogotheque. If you have more time to kill today definitely watch more live performances from other artists on La Blogotheque.

Google Maps Gets a (Much-Needed) URL Shortener
Not sure if you ever sent someone a link to a Google Maps route but if you have you would know how long those links are. Google has begun testing an URL shortener for Google Maps, making their links much easier to share. Great improvement.

Yankees owner George Steinbrenner dies at 80
In case you haven’t heard the news, long-time New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner passed away this last week. He will be missed.

Get a Free Year of Amazon Prime with an .EDU Address
Amazon Prime is a membership program that gives you unlimited free two-day shipping on almost all items offered by Amazon. The only catch is it costs $79 to be a member for a year. However if you buy many items from Amazon the costs of shipping might offset the membership cost.

However all this doesn’t mater if you have an .edu e-mail account. Currently Amazon is offering a free one-year subscription to Amazon Prime for all students with a .edu account. Go and sign-up now and enjoy the perks of being a student.

Poof! After Wireless, the Computer Mouse Turns Invisible
Researchers at MIT have created a motion tracking system that allows you to use your hand as your computer’s mouse. Looks pretty cool. Check out the bottom of the link for the technology in action.

1000Memories.com
The first actually tasteful website I’ve seen for those with deceased love ones. Check out an example 1000Memories page on their website and learn about this really great service.

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While there I also got a chance to hang with a friend from high school. We met at a bar and shared drinks and stories. It was fun, and what made it even better was what beer they had available.

Almost a year-ago I tasted what is now my favorite ale. I’ve been searching high and low to find it but it seems to only be a regional brew. The beer is called Steel Rail and is made by the Berkshire Brewing Company. It’s a beautiful ale that’s not too heavy, not too soft, and is as sweet as honey while retaining the ale taste.

As written on BBC’s Steel Rail page:

BBC ’s flagship brew, a light colored, medium bodied ale, signature hop flavor and aroma. In the words of renowned beer writer Lew Bryson, Steel Rail EPA is “what the water in heaven oughta taste like”.

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Looking back at my high school graduation seems so far away. I can still remember that summer, the one before I left for college: it feels like a vivid dream, so distant in memory yet so close in feeling. I’ve spent many nights looking through photos taken that year, and during my college years, with each photo set eliciting memories long dormant. Each photo always bringing about a strong feeling of nostalgia.

And now here I am, five years later, roughed up, shook up, but still standing. I’m a man with a degree, one that will hopefully safely propel me into the next stage of my life. Coming out of five long years of learning, I hope all my work pays off. I can’t stand the thought of all that work being for waste. I don’t think it will be, but the current job market is scary. I’ll be the first to admit that.

So last week I was a student, and this week I’m unemployed. A chapter of my life is now complete, and I’m excited to find out what happens next. College? Check. 100 posts? Check. Future? Let’s go.

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Here’s one I drew over the weekend. Let me know what you think.

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I’ve missed having powerful speakers in my room for a long time.  Until today I’ve been subsisting on this to produce music in my room:

I mean sure I have these speakers on my computer desk, but they’re in a separate room, and I gotta have my tunes while I’m computing.

So in summary, thank god for 1/8” to 1/4” adapters and male-to-male 1/8” cords.  Thank the musical gods.

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I want to bring your attention to two new underground rap artists that I have recently come across. They both have a unique style of lyrical delivery that, in its current incarnation, I doubt would be accepted on most mainstream radio stations. I don’t think it’s impossible for them to ever achieve mainstream success however I don’t think it’s their intention. They know what they do, they do it well, and I’m looking forward to hearing more of it.

Sage Francis

The first artist I want to introduce you to is Sage Francis. A little background from his Wikipedia page:

Paul “Sage” Francis (born November 18, 1976) is a hip-hop artist from Providence, Rhode Island . He is credited with being one of the forefathers of the Indie Rap genre.

The first time I listened to one of Sage Francis’ songs was a couple of months back. At the time of my listening I was not in the right mood or state of mind to correctly hear the content of the song. As such it was not until this past month that I was reintroduced to Sage Francis and his music finally ‘clicked’ for me.
The most interesting thing I have found about Sage Francis is the way which he raps: rapidly and verbosely. Similar to Eminem’s quick method of rapping, however I feel as though Sage’s rap’s are even quicker.

He just released a new album, titled L(i)fe. After listening to a few songs from this record I delved into his musical past, and gave his older album from 2002, Personal Journals, a listen. One song has stuck out the most for me is the track titled Broken Wings. Give it a listen below: and

If you liked the track check out some more of his songs on his MySpace page. And if you want even more visit his indie label’s website, Strange Famous Records, and buy something!

Brother Ali

Brother Ali is another powerful underground, indie rap artist. I’m not sure if he’d welcome the label of indie or underground however from my vantage point that seems most correct.

Again, having some context for the artist never hurts. Wikipedia if you please:

Brother Ali was born in Madison, WI, and spent his early childhood moving from city to city in the midwest (mostly in Michigan). Ali’s family settled in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1992. He attended Robbinsdale Cooper High School in New Hope, MN. It was in Minneapolis that Ali converted to Islam and was given the name Ali (he was born Jason Newman).

…

Brother Ali was born with the rare genetic condition of Albinism. This means he lacks the pigment that would normally give the skin, hair and eyes their color. The condition exists in all ethnic groups throughout the world & even animals. Cosmetic evidence of the condition is usually accompanied by visual difficulties. Brother Ali often makes fun of the media’s constant urge to mention his condition in the first lines of their reviews or newspaper articles.

Brother Ali’s style of rapping is more accessible than Sage Francis’, with his songs being structured in a more commonly understood format. The music that accompanies his raps are also a bit more streamlined than Sage Francis’, and for Brother Ali it fits.
The content of Brother Ali’s lyrics is generally controversial and provocative. One of his most provocative songs’ is his track Uncle Sam Goddamn. Aside from its lyrics pushing some buttons people may rather not hear, it’s an amazing track. Lot of emotion and good feel in it. Have a listen below:

There’s more songs on his MySpace page as well. Also there’s a video at the top which I heavily recommend you watch. Very good stuff in there.

Wrap-Up

So there’s two artists for you to munch on. Rap always gets my blood going and keeps me awake. Also great to have on hot summer days, of which we’ve been having plenty.

If you know of any other good rap artists, underground or above let me know about them. I’m always on the hunt for new music.

And if you liked a particular song from either Sage Francis or Brother Ali let me know in the comments.

Happy listening.

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