if ever there was a more certain clue that the corporate 'masterminds' behind the 'big seven' and the 'top three' were sorely missing their heads in the ongoing debate between the writers guild and the top bean counters it's this:
the writers are going directly to the internet alone.
while part of this pleases me a great deal, having posted on the discussion between thom yorke and david byrne before taking some well deserved time off with my family, i have to admit that in a negotiations battle this is a risky move.
at stake: the capitulation of the studios and television networks into recognizing that while they were able to shaft writers on royalty arrangements relating to dvd's - the future of entertainment distribution will include internet downloads.
we all know that michael eisenberg is complaining that he was barely able to break even with is mini drama prom queen but the reality of the situation is this: the studio heads (like eisenberg) need to realize that they cannot go it alone without the writers. barely breaking even in a a new medium is, in itself, a fantastic feat. how long did it take for amazon to make a profit?
the writers on the other hand - well they know how to spell out the letters on the wall (so to speak) and they are deciding to show just how easy it would be for they to dump the studios and start making money on their own.
the downside: well, as chuck d opined years and years ago when he was talking about how the mp3 format would upend his industry, there is less to be made in big packages. if the writers think that they will be able to make it alone and make the same kind of money they were making while writing for 'friends' let's say (my personal opinion is that there should be a ring in dante's inferno for everyone attached to that abomination - but, that's just me) then they are sadly mistaken.
the facts: from a sideliner's perspective the whole debate is a bit like watching a couple of five year olds in a shoving match. as an amateur writer myself it will come as no surprise who i'm rooting for in this particular push-pull of commerce. at the end of the day though, i only watch five hours of television a week and being in canada this means that the cbc shows slated to start should keep my interest at least until april.
what that means? let's just say that i'm willing to wait.
oh and one other thing directed at both sides: QUIT MAKING SILLY REMAKES OF MOVIES/TELEVISION SHOWS THAT WEREN'T THAT GOOD THE FIRST TIME AROUND!
'nuff said.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
survival strategies for the 21st century musician
david byrne gives us a cool appraisal of the landscape and the money making opportunities available for the innovative musician this century.
survival strategies
survival strategies
same as it ever was?
recently radiohead turned everyone's head in the music industry spinning about 360 degrees and frothing pea soup at the mouth as if they were the demonically infested child from 'the exorcist' for one simple idea:
they put up the tracks for their upcoming album 'rainbows' on a server and suggested that the visitors 'pay what it was worth to them' and download the track.
critics and pundits were the first to cry foul (prompted probably by the strong arm of corporate nitwits who were screaming like that little green monster in the nicorette ads) and kept crying that 'it's the end of the age - the doom is upon us'.
funny thing that. after the album was downloaded, the band had made about $3 million dollars and the average payment was around $6. with no corporate payments - this was raw income free from the suits!
futurist song writer, former 'talking heads' front man, business experimenter david byrne sits down with lead singer thom yorke to talk about not only the controversy but also seek to find 'the true value of music'.
they put up the tracks for their upcoming album 'rainbows' on a server and suggested that the visitors 'pay what it was worth to them' and download the track.
critics and pundits were the first to cry foul (prompted probably by the strong arm of corporate nitwits who were screaming like that little green monster in the nicorette ads) and kept crying that 'it's the end of the age - the doom is upon us'.
funny thing that. after the album was downloaded, the band had made about $3 million dollars and the average payment was around $6. with no corporate payments - this was raw income free from the suits!
futurist song writer, former 'talking heads' front man, business experimenter david byrne sits down with lead singer thom yorke to talk about not only the controversy but also seek to find 'the true value of music'.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Thursday, December 13, 2007
commuting costs
the toronto star has a lovely article about the real impact of commuting and it's toll on family time.
not to be snarky, but it's obvious time over there. my wife and i were discussing this the other day how by the time we get home (we both have rather long commutes) to cook dinner and have a chat about the day, well it's time to go to sleep.
i used to be an avid, addicted television watcher. now, i tape two shows a week and watch the other one online at the global tv website. (for the nosy the shows are: torchwood, heroes, supernatural) and even though there's an iTunes in Canada the shows i watch aren't made in Canada so i can't download the episodes.
Commute's True Cost is Family Time
not to be snarky, but it's obvious time over there. my wife and i were discussing this the other day how by the time we get home (we both have rather long commutes) to cook dinner and have a chat about the day, well it's time to go to sleep.
i used to be an avid, addicted television watcher. now, i tape two shows a week and watch the other one online at the global tv website. (for the nosy the shows are: torchwood, heroes, supernatural) and even though there's an iTunes in Canada the shows i watch aren't made in Canada so i can't download the episodes.
Commute's True Cost is Family Time
posting again
it's been a long time
i shouldn't have left you
without a strong rhyme to step to
- eric b. & rakim
just to say that i'm back again trying to take a few minutes each day and post links about what comes through my mental filter.
thank you for finding this as part of your reading schedule. i hope to not let you down again.
i shouldn't have left you
without a strong rhyme to step to
- eric b. & rakim
just to say that i'm back again trying to take a few minutes each day and post links about what comes through my mental filter.
thank you for finding this as part of your reading schedule. i hope to not let you down again.
Monday, September 10, 2007
'my library'
courtesy of google.
i had a longer post but in the process of 'previewing it' before i posted it - it got lost - so here's the shorter post about it.
check out google book search. it allows you to read through books (some of them) and to compile a list of your own recommendations.
for now - i have the starts of mine.
cuervo's recommended readings
i had a longer post but in the process of 'previewing it' before i posted it - it got lost - so here's the shorter post about it.
check out google book search. it allows you to read through books (some of them) and to compile a list of your own recommendations.
for now - i have the starts of mine.
cuervo's recommended readings
Friday, August 24, 2007
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
crows are the 'einsteins of the avian world'
who would have thought it?
;-)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2007/08/17/scicrow117.xml
;-)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2007/08/17/scicrow117.xml
Monday, August 20, 2007
top most unreported stories
time magazine gives up the facts on the ten most under reported stories and i have to admit that at least 7 of them i didn't know anything about.
http://www.time.com/time/topten/2006/underreported/01.html
i mean come on, i know way more about paris hilton than i EVER wanted to know.
http://www.time.com/time/topten/2006/underreported/01.html
i mean come on, i know way more about paris hilton than i EVER wanted to know.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Some notes on change
Hopefully these will be short notes - I don't want to get into a long treatise on what change is - just to point out a few things that have helped me attempt to reframe my stress related to change.
#1 Change causes stress.
This point probably is a painfully obvious one but, remember - there are three types of changes:
those sought after,
those dreaded/feared,
and those unexpected.
All of these forms of change create stress.
Dealing with the stress is a topic for another day but, I think that the best way to cope with the stress of change is to remember two things:
1) at some point every change looks like a disaster
2) every change brings surprises
The essential root of the stress of change is to remember to change expectations. It is our sense of the gap between expectation & reality that creates the perfect breeding grounds for disappointment. Disappointment leads to anger & that, if left unchecked changes into bitterness.
We are never more emotionally dangerous than when we have unmet expectations of those around us. Sometimes the expectations are clearly defined & sometimes they are unvoiced.
Recognizing the change in reality & adjusting to form new clear expectations is the best step towards dealing with the stress. Even those who abhor plans feel better when one is formulated.
#2 No change is permanent
Danny Glover's character in the movie 'Grand Canyon' has a wonderful monologue about his father who said [paraphrase] 'if you live long enough you gonna see bad things come down another way'.
While that might pessimistic or even fatalistic there's an element of truth there.
The other side of the coin is that we, as human beings have a marvelous ability to adapt. To even the craziest of circumstances. The lomg & the short is that @ some point the 'change' becomes the new normal.
This means we should always be planning for the next change. Proper preparation allows us to take the next change in our stride.
Finally, I'd like to give props to Octavia E. Butler's book 'Parable of the Sower' for reframing much of my thinking about the concept of change.
----------------
quoth the raven 'Nevermore!'
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Contributing through your career
Over @ stevepavlina.com, there's a nice little essay about how to benefit others most through one's occupation. I can understand this idea if one is happy & satisfied in their career, feeling as if they are making a difference but, far too often folks fine themselves in spots where the place that they earn their income is the last place in their life to find positive impact on their sphere of influence.
Perhaps it's a negligent or critical supervisor. Sometimes it could be a 'hostile work environment' - the fact remains some of us are put in places where our contributions are limited to the narrow confines of our job specifications.
But that should not be the end of the story. My suggestion is to optimize your workflow in such a way that your stress is minimized if you are in such a spot. This will give back a hundredfold on your ability to impact your world beyond the 'working hours'.
And, always remember to be thankful for what is there.
----------------
quoth the raven 'Nevermore!'
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Overloaded?
@ http://www.lifehack.org/articles/management/opportunity-overload.html# The author comes up with a whack of ways to 'focus' & not be distracted by the 'wealth of opportunities that are out there'
I disagree.
Why? Well, simply put puts a matter of focus. Steve Pavlina points out on his weblog that @ his Tae Kwon Do dojo there is a sign that says 'you a studying to become a blackbelt'. His argument is that this simple minded 'filter' helps focus on the essential.
A very long time before that a great Christian preacher said it pretty much the same way - that those that train for the prize cast off that which hinders them.
Nearly two thousand years later even with the Inter(tube)net we are faced with much the same set of circumstances & the answers are the same - over & over again.
Reduce the clutter. My wife couldn't have said it better.
Focus.
That's my mantra.
Be here now. Know where you want to be & take the next step.
The rest is just spam.
----------------
quoth the raven 'Nevermore!'
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
80|20 rule
On his blog yesterday, steve h young talked about the 'pareto rule'.
The pareto rule states that 80% of the wealth in most countries ends up being in the hands of about 20% of the population.
This concept has a life beyond it's original inception having been found to apply in areas such as the social sciences - to fields as arcane and difficult to understand as orginizational engineering (human factors I think it's called).
Most notably, (in personal experience), it seems to come to play in Non profit endeavors, where one can see that 20% of the workers do 80% of all the work.
I'm treading on ve y familiar ground here because the 'pareto mem' has been trumpeted very loudly by the 'four hour work week' guy, Tim Farris in his book & the blogosphere is all abuzz with the idea, repeating it ad nauseum.
Steve poins out how Mr. Farris reviewed his customers & found the ones who did 80% of the complaining and generated 20% of the revenue & he either worked out new arrangements or he parted ways with them.
While I find the process he went through interesting, I have to say that this is a standard business tactic: identifying the customers who require the most work & bring the least profit is done everyday.
Generally the 'parting of ways' comes during negotiations & everyone walks away justified - the client has separated from an 'unreasonable vendor' & the vendor has freed their capacity to serve more profitable clients.
Furthermore the process of client review fits nicely within any business that seeks to continually improve - not only profits but, also processes.
For the businessperson who honestly seeks to improve their business there needs to be periodic reviews of all the core functions. Any company that does not engage in this activity is not serious about itself. Just because ones Not an entrepreneur, does not mean one should not think like one at least once a week.
For now, i'll wait for Mr. Farris book & see if he can change my mind.
----------------
quoth the raven 'Nevermore!'
the passing of a great one
i couldn't possibly do as well as some of the writers who are sharpening up their pens at this time but, i'll take my shot at it.
you see, michelangelo antonioni has passed on to the great beyond.
cinema has lost another of it's giants as we stumble on into the 21st century. antonioni was known for his depictions of alienation and with his experimintation with the art form itself by the use of editing, camera placement, mise en scene etc. the whole raft of trips and techniques that a film maker was afforded at whatever time in the last fifty years he worked - he used, subverted and made his own to tell his view of the world and by commentary, modern civilization.
my first encounter with him was with 'red desert' and while it's a masterpiece of modern cinema, with the framing and the long takes along grimy city streets - echoing it's depiction of a marriage that fails slowly before the viewer's eyes - it's the film 'blowup' that made me a fan.
adapted from a novel by julio cortázar - it is the story of a photographer in the midst of the hedonism in the sixties london who believes he may have photographed a murder. then again, he may have not.
classic modernims, questioning the 'objectivity' of cinema, of perception, of the entire mode of where the 'frame' is, and what it means to quest for the 'truth'.
rest dear sir, your work has left us staggered and we, now are left in a place of sadness you depicted so well.
you see, michelangelo antonioni has passed on to the great beyond.
cinema has lost another of it's giants as we stumble on into the 21st century. antonioni was known for his depictions of alienation and with his experimintation with the art form itself by the use of editing, camera placement, mise en scene etc. the whole raft of trips and techniques that a film maker was afforded at whatever time in the last fifty years he worked - he used, subverted and made his own to tell his view of the world and by commentary, modern civilization.
my first encounter with him was with 'red desert' and while it's a masterpiece of modern cinema, with the framing and the long takes along grimy city streets - echoing it's depiction of a marriage that fails slowly before the viewer's eyes - it's the film 'blowup' that made me a fan.
adapted from a novel by julio cortázar - it is the story of a photographer in the midst of the hedonism in the sixties london who believes he may have photographed a murder. then again, he may have not.
classic modernims, questioning the 'objectivity' of cinema, of perception, of the entire mode of where the 'frame' is, and what it means to quest for the 'truth'.
rest dear sir, your work has left us staggered and we, now are left in a place of sadness you depicted so well.
Monday, July 23, 2007
biggest time wasters
enough said.
here is a great list of things that get in the way of 'being productive'.
for me, again, being productive is carving out as much stuff in as short a period of time so i can get back to a 'balance' in my life.
not running around in my personal life with the same sort of crazed type of agenda that my work constitutes.
the article
here is a great list of things that get in the way of 'being productive'.
for me, again, being productive is carving out as much stuff in as short a period of time so i can get back to a 'balance' in my life.
not running around in my personal life with the same sort of crazed type of agenda that my work constitutes.
the article
formula for productivity
as i mentioned earlier - i find this idea of 'productivity' somewhat disturbing when applied to my personal life - i like to have my personal life remain something that is well, 'offline' in a certain way.
by that i mean, that the best use of my 'personal time' is when i owe no one or nothing any of my commitment. this means that i can do whatever is in my head at the minute, from walking along queen street west with my wife & looking at the shops and the items on sale or just trying to finish a movie that i've been watching in fifteen minute segments.
so, with some hesitation here is a link to the 'productivity formula' and remember - it's not how much time you have - it's what you have with your time.
by that i mean, that the best use of my 'personal time' is when i owe no one or nothing any of my commitment. this means that i can do whatever is in my head at the minute, from walking along queen street west with my wife & looking at the shops and the items on sale or just trying to finish a movie that i've been watching in fifteen minute segments.
so, with some hesitation here is a link to the 'productivity formula' and remember - it's not how much time you have - it's what you have with your time.
procrastination formula!
i can't believe this! it's amazing.
someone put into a mathematical formula the reason why we don't finish what we start, or in my case - sometimes don't even start it.
The equation reads: Utility = E x V / (Gamma) x D
here's the article, & i'd like to point out that the originator is a canadian!
someone put into a mathematical formula the reason why we don't finish what we start, or in my case - sometimes don't even start it.
The equation reads: Utility = E x V / (Gamma) x D
here's the article, & i'd like to point out that the originator is a canadian!
Sunday, July 22, 2007
self organization
while i wait for a phone call today - i'd like to put you up on something that i find very cool.
pocketmod which is a very handy website for those of us who are becoming more and more obsessed with maximizing our time.
after my life change - i've become slowly more and more obsessed with saving more time. wondering things like - if i can do this on my pda while i'm on the way to such and so place - will that help? should i make notes to follow while standing in line at the grocery store?
for me it has much less to do with being productive - i hate that term - it's almost as if while i'm in my personal life i have to think about things like workflow, i mean it's my personal life.
so, if it's not about 'being productive' (as if this were still the industrial revolution you know?) then what is it?
it's about maximizing my personal time so that i can have things done and still have time to kick back, spend time with my wife and make sure that we're not spending all of our time doing the 'essentials' required for living life.
because one of those essentials is 'getting things done so you can relax.'
pocketmod which is a very handy website for those of us who are becoming more and more obsessed with maximizing our time.
after my life change - i've become slowly more and more obsessed with saving more time. wondering things like - if i can do this on my pda while i'm on the way to such and so place - will that help? should i make notes to follow while standing in line at the grocery store?
for me it has much less to do with being productive - i hate that term - it's almost as if while i'm in my personal life i have to think about things like workflow, i mean it's my personal life.
so, if it's not about 'being productive' (as if this were still the industrial revolution you know?) then what is it?
it's about maximizing my personal time so that i can have things done and still have time to kick back, spend time with my wife and make sure that we're not spending all of our time doing the 'essentials' required for living life.
because one of those essentials is 'getting things done so you can relax.'
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
location, location, location
if you're not full up to your ears yet with all the web 2.0 blather you should check out techconsumer's article 'why web 2.0 isn't enough'
they're right really.
it isn't enough. i won't be satisfied until i get fast internet where ever i am, relevant to my location situation. if i'm standing in the musee de civalization in front of their amazing tintin exhibit, i want to have wikipedia START with a listing of entries relevant to my spot.
if i'm waiting in line in a movie theatre, i want a listing of all the best movies i should spend my money on. and if there aren't any then i want some suggestions to go to blockbuster and rent.
first it's the organization of information, tech consumer says next is the location (and i'll add to that the whole semantic web movement too) and finally, i want my internet browser to not spy on me, but to help me live my life in a better way. not just be another tool to exploit me for someone else's purposes.
they're right really.
it isn't enough. i won't be satisfied until i get fast internet where ever i am, relevant to my location situation. if i'm standing in the musee de civalization in front of their amazing tintin exhibit, i want to have wikipedia START with a listing of entries relevant to my spot.
if i'm waiting in line in a movie theatre, i want a listing of all the best movies i should spend my money on. and if there aren't any then i want some suggestions to go to blockbuster and rent.
first it's the organization of information, tech consumer says next is the location (and i'll add to that the whole semantic web movement too) and finally, i want my internet browser to not spy on me, but to help me live my life in a better way. not just be another tool to exploit me for someone else's purposes.
open library
check this one out!
the open library has a nice starting collection of books that they have lovingly scanned in.
reading online has never been so much fun.
openlibrary
the open library has a nice starting collection of books that they have lovingly scanned in.
reading online has never been so much fun.
openlibrary
return to the north
canada is the 'true north' indeed and in his follow up story to the white stripes' show a few weeks back, ben rayner from the toronto star lightens up my day with a smallish profile of the capital of nunavut.
i tell you this - i'm a city slicker, born and bred. you put me out in the country and i start getting twitchy fast. but, there is something about nunavut that has called out to me from the first time that i ever heard about it.
iqaluit
i tell you this - i'm a city slicker, born and bred. you put me out in the country and i start getting twitchy fast. but, there is something about nunavut that has called out to me from the first time that i ever heard about it.
iqaluit
Saturday, July 14, 2007
crown city rockers part deux
tracked this one down after watching the video for 'b-boy' again this morning.
fresh for you all it's called 'slam'
fresh for you all it's called 'slam'
lacrosse - it's not what you think
here's a nice write up on how the 'canadian summer sport' of lacross is uniting native communities in north america.
the article focuses on the oneida who live both in upstate new york and in canada and how they are coming together united around a sport that is a diversion from the community ills that have plauged first nation peoples for the last five hundred years.
obligatory wikipedia entry:
lacrosse - 'official entry'
new york times article
'indians widen old outlet in youth lacrosse'
the article focuses on the oneida who live both in upstate new york and in canada and how they are coming together united around a sport that is a diversion from the community ills that have plauged first nation peoples for the last five hundred years.
obligatory wikipedia entry:
lacrosse - 'official entry'
new york times article
'indians widen old outlet in youth lacrosse'
Friday, July 6, 2007
outsourcing your life
this seems to be something as one interviewee in the wsj.com article indicates as being 'coming out of the early adopter's phase'.
the long and the short of it is that firms in india, canada, and the far east are beginning to offer personal assistant services at reasonable rates to ordinary folks. i discovered this by accident while reading a blog entry that pointed to tim ferriss' book '4 hour workweek' where he (tim) talks all about outsourcing the 'mundane' parts of living to an overseas 'virtual assistant' for a fraction of what he feels his time is worth.
i think the last part of the last sentence is the telling point alright - how much is our time worth? what do we consider it to be? is it only the hours while we're at work? could we 'do more'? for instance, if one were to calculate what they feel their time is really worth as opposed to what their boss pays, then would the cost of a personal assistant seem more worthwhile?
i don't know but i found a whack load of sites in my mini research mode.
who knows? perhaps i'll be emailing a virtual assistant fragmentary ideas for blog posts and having them research for me and provide a precis.
nah - that would be too much like the management.
on to the links:
outsource your life @ the wallstreet journal online
brickwork india - a knowledge workers outsourcing firm
tutorvista - an outsourcing location for online tutorting
four hour workweek - which seems to be a pointing spot for many of the blogs i found that referenced it
get friday - great slogan 'got work? get friday'
get friday reviewed at firstpost.co.uk
the long and the short of it is that firms in india, canada, and the far east are beginning to offer personal assistant services at reasonable rates to ordinary folks. i discovered this by accident while reading a blog entry that pointed to tim ferriss' book '4 hour workweek' where he (tim) talks all about outsourcing the 'mundane' parts of living to an overseas 'virtual assistant' for a fraction of what he feels his time is worth.
i think the last part of the last sentence is the telling point alright - how much is our time worth? what do we consider it to be? is it only the hours while we're at work? could we 'do more'? for instance, if one were to calculate what they feel their time is really worth as opposed to what their boss pays, then would the cost of a personal assistant seem more worthwhile?
i don't know but i found a whack load of sites in my mini research mode.
who knows? perhaps i'll be emailing a virtual assistant fragmentary ideas for blog posts and having them research for me and provide a precis.
nah - that would be too much like the management.
on to the links:
outsource your life @ the wallstreet journal online
brickwork india - a knowledge workers outsourcing firm
tutorvista - an outsourcing location for online tutorting
four hour workweek - which seems to be a pointing spot for many of the blogs i found that referenced it
get friday - great slogan 'got work? get friday'
get friday reviewed at firstpost.co.uk
Friday, June 29, 2007
Thursday, June 28, 2007
white stripes play iqalquit
600 folks turned out to see jack and meg pound the 'icky thump' in nunavut.
for nunavut that's pretty good folks.
iqalquit opens white stripes with open arms
for nunavut that's pretty good folks.
iqalquit opens white stripes with open arms
when sci-fi grew up
the funny thing is that for any serious reader of the genre it's been 'grown up' for a long time.
i suppose what the guardian's article means is when 'tv' grew up about sci-fi.
the new sci-fi
on a side note - i hope they bring 'life on mars' over the lake. i'd like to see a show about a time traveling policeman.
i suppose what the guardian's article means is when 'tv' grew up about sci-fi.
the new sci-fi
on a side note - i hope they bring 'life on mars' over the lake. i'd like to see a show about a time traveling policeman.
Friday, June 22, 2007
fantasy role playing just got grimey
i have to admit, i was always confused as to what the tabletop game wanted to be but seeing the trailer for the computer game it all makes sense.
mix one part 'lord of the rings' and one part 'grand theft auto' and you end up with something like 'shadowrun'.
here's the trailer. enjoy
mix one part 'lord of the rings' and one part 'grand theft auto' and you end up with something like 'shadowrun'.
here's the trailer. enjoy
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
don't be a drone
you know the type - they're always there early and they're working late.
perhaps they have one of those phone/email things and they are always working away on it.
perhaps it's the person in the cubicle next to you that needs to make absolutely positively certain that the staple is in the right spot and God help the person that tries to correct them on something they feel is right, when it's not. it's like experiencing your own personal dilbertized version of the roman legion with wave of wave of emails and phone calls etc. etc.
perhaps it's the person that feels that life really is all about putting in the 100 hour work week fifty weeks a year, so they can pressure their family into doing as much as possible in a two week vacation. after all, they have to put as much work into their vacation as they do into the work right?
perhaps that person is you. i certainly hope not.
but, here is a list on how to find ways to not be a drone - i.e. ways to learn to live and not merely exist paycheque to paycheque. i found it off a link on digg.com and while i'm not as extreme as some of the examples i put up - i have my own issues that this one addresses. mostly related to spending time on the internet.
i have a life now and i want to find deeper ways to make it more worthwhile. i think this is a great start for those of us who are becoming drones. it's an ever constant battle.
39 ways to live not exist
perhaps they have one of those phone/email things and they are always working away on it.
perhaps it's the person in the cubicle next to you that needs to make absolutely positively certain that the staple is in the right spot and God help the person that tries to correct them on something they feel is right, when it's not. it's like experiencing your own personal dilbertized version of the roman legion with wave of wave of emails and phone calls etc. etc.
perhaps it's the person that feels that life really is all about putting in the 100 hour work week fifty weeks a year, so they can pressure their family into doing as much as possible in a two week vacation. after all, they have to put as much work into their vacation as they do into the work right?
perhaps that person is you. i certainly hope not.
but, here is a list on how to find ways to not be a drone - i.e. ways to learn to live and not merely exist paycheque to paycheque. i found it off a link on digg.com and while i'm not as extreme as some of the examples i put up - i have my own issues that this one addresses. mostly related to spending time on the internet.
i have a life now and i want to find deeper ways to make it more worthwhile. i think this is a great start for those of us who are becoming drones. it's an ever constant battle.
39 ways to live not exist
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
songs to check out
more fora.tv news
great article on wall street journal online about the site i blogged on a few months ago called fora.tv
matters of the mind
matters of the mind
gold farming
great article (found via slashdot.org) about what could possibly be one of the strangest jobs i've ever heard.
the 'new sweatshop' seems to be related to online role playing games where workers toil in the back rooms clicking, clicking, clicking on dead corpses and slaying virtual baddies all to hand over their hard earned loot to the boss who pays them roughly 30 cents an hour. their boss in turn takes their loot and sells it for $3 to an online reseller who then is able to sell to players in the first world for $20.
a small shop with three workers can bring in about $80,000 a year.
loot farming
the 'new sweatshop' seems to be related to online role playing games where workers toil in the back rooms clicking, clicking, clicking on dead corpses and slaying virtual baddies all to hand over their hard earned loot to the boss who pays them roughly 30 cents an hour. their boss in turn takes their loot and sells it for $3 to an online reseller who then is able to sell to players in the first world for $20.
a small shop with three workers can bring in about $80,000 a year.
loot farming
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
living off the sun
from slashdot.org comes this interesting open source idea that tries to use the 'wisdom of crowds' (as our friends over at digg.com opine) to come up with a functional solar/geothermal solution for electrical generation.
if you own your home and want to experiment, this might be a great place to start looking.
solar heat pump electrical generation system
if you own your home and want to experiment, this might be a great place to start looking.
solar heat pump electrical generation system
Monday, May 14, 2007
canada is point of low gravity!
for real.
guess canada went on a great diet. ;-)
p.s. i read this on my honeymoon but didn't want to post until i got back and was settled in.
i'm officially settled in folks.
and happily married btw.
guess canada went on a great diet. ;-)
p.s. i read this on my honeymoon but didn't want to post until i got back and was settled in.
i'm officially settled in folks.
and happily married btw.
new interview from aesop rock
just back from my honeymoon to catch up on emails and discovered that on his blog (from aesop rock wins) aesop rock has posted a nice interview with media pitchfork.
interview
interview
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
inuit throat singing
probably last post for a while
:) life changes on the way and good ones, Lord willing.
i've been keeping up with my blogging for a while now since there are other more urgent things to handle and several of them are a bit behind on the old time chart.
i'll leave you with these youtube videos which are examples of some of the rich diversity of the canadian experience: inuit throat singing.
obligatory wikipedia link here
Qimiruluapi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_z6ko-fEJ3E
(user denied visitors from embedding video)
windsong
qimiruluapi (different singers)
so that's it. short i know.
those of you who'll be on hand for my life change - i thank you already for being there for me.
amorcita - to you always and forever: my love.
:) life changes on the way and good ones, Lord willing.
i've been keeping up with my blogging for a while now since there are other more urgent things to handle and several of them are a bit behind on the old time chart.
i'll leave you with these youtube videos which are examples of some of the rich diversity of the canadian experience: inuit throat singing.
obligatory wikipedia link here
Qimiruluapi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_z6ko-fEJ3E
(user denied visitors from embedding video)
windsong
qimiruluapi (different singers)
so that's it. short i know.
those of you who'll be on hand for my life change - i thank you already for being there for me.
amorcita - to you always and forever: my love.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
courtney to sell kurt's stuff
courtney love is going to have a christies auction to sell of stuff from their life together with a few things set aside for his daughter frances bean.
article link here
what i liked best about the article was the fact that she confessed to still wearing kurt's pajamas to bed every night.
it's the prosaic details that we sort of generally overlook when thinking about heroes. and yes, both of them - warts and all i consider heroes. kurt for his refusal of all things 'rockstar' and courtney for well, being courtney i suppose. all i can say is that i remember watching the mtv news clip of her reading kurt's suicide note to fans and inserting her bitter, hurt, grieving commentary along side.
three brillant voices of my generation went silent by various means in the space of three years and i cannot think of one without the other two:
kurt cobain: april 5, 1994
2pac shakur: sept 13, 1996
biggie smalls: march 9, 1997
article link here
what i liked best about the article was the fact that she confessed to still wearing kurt's pajamas to bed every night.
it's the prosaic details that we sort of generally overlook when thinking about heroes. and yes, both of them - warts and all i consider heroes. kurt for his refusal of all things 'rockstar' and courtney for well, being courtney i suppose. all i can say is that i remember watching the mtv news clip of her reading kurt's suicide note to fans and inserting her bitter, hurt, grieving commentary along side.
three brillant voices of my generation went silent by various means in the space of three years and i cannot think of one without the other two:
kurt cobain: april 5, 1994
2pac shakur: sept 13, 1996
biggie smalls: march 9, 1997
superman vs spiderman
well sort of - it's more like a parody of the mac/pc ads but fun none the less.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
mutevj
i just came across a massive list of good freeware and amidst the stuff found something new.
for me, if it's not too geeky (i.e. code related) then i've probably seen something like it, tried it, or already use it.
this one is a bit new. i'm providing the video link from revver.com to give you a glimpse of what the future may be with regards to electronica.
for many years now there has been a steady increase of 'laptop based' musicians. i would count aphex twin an bjork amongst them without a single moment of hesitation. and looking at all the work that trent reznor is doing with his 'year zero' album, i would probably put him in that category as well.
but here's the thing - what if all those electronica kids got bored with just tweaking beats and started tweaking videos.
for a geezer like me who remembers cutting super 8 and 16mm film the idea of what this software does is nothing less than staggering.
for me, if it's not too geeky (i.e. code related) then i've probably seen something like it, tried it, or already use it.
this one is a bit new. i'm providing the video link from revver.com to give you a glimpse of what the future may be with regards to electronica.
for many years now there has been a steady increase of 'laptop based' musicians. i would count aphex twin an bjork amongst them without a single moment of hesitation. and looking at all the work that trent reznor is doing with his 'year zero' album, i would probably put him in that category as well.
but here's the thing - what if all those electronica kids got bored with just tweaking beats and started tweaking videos.
for a geezer like me who remembers cutting super 8 and 16mm film the idea of what this software does is nothing less than staggering.
Friday, April 27, 2007
trent strikes again
from the slashdot article this morning - i note that cleveland's bad boy made good has followed up with his claim that he would release every track off 'year zero' in remixable form. [scroll to the bottom to find the links].
i will note that if you are not using garageband (i.e. not using a mac) then you should act quickly. the posting for 'survivalism' doesn't seem to exist anymore and someone on his webpage has decided to cut bandwidth costs by posting .torrent files of the rest of the files rather than using the movies.apple link that is there for the garageband format.
it does strike me a bit odd that the garageband files are being hosted by the apple movies hosting centre (check the link if you don't believe me) but then again - an artist deliberately releasing the broken out tracks to their songs is a bit weird too. especially for someone not as experimental as say 'bjork' or 'bare naked ladies'. though i will point out that bnl wants you to pay for the tracks which as a semblance of sense as well.
if you're interested in what is being done with what's being released you should check out the official ninremixes.com site.
and if you still don't get what the hubbub is all about then check out the myspace.com page http://myspace.com/nin where the whole ablum is listenable still.
the whole release of this album strikes me as being very strange. nothing like it that i can think of, has happened before. especially with the alternate reality game and the fake websites and all the general ambience of the release. from the obligatory wikipedia link apparently trent has gotten tired of fighting with the record labels to release his stuff and went sideways on the whole process.
i'm very happy with what i've heard of the album from the myspace page and all the weird little side effects. especially that it's no longer just about his emotional torment (though apparently he hates 'emo music' and he's the godfather of that genre if you ask me) but about a concept.
well, perhaps it's all too good to be true. time will have to tell.
*update 23:46 local time*
well it appears that i scooped even digg.com because they started posting an article talking about the irony and weirdness of the .torrent files from the nin website.
digg article
my favourite was the person wondering if there was an embedded watchdog sentry on the whole thing. now there is someone more paranoid than me.
i will note that if you are not using garageband (i.e. not using a mac) then you should act quickly. the posting for 'survivalism' doesn't seem to exist anymore and someone on his webpage has decided to cut bandwidth costs by posting .torrent files of the rest of the files rather than using the movies.apple link that is there for the garageband format.
it does strike me a bit odd that the garageband files are being hosted by the apple movies hosting centre (check the link if you don't believe me) but then again - an artist deliberately releasing the broken out tracks to their songs is a bit weird too. especially for someone not as experimental as say 'bjork' or 'bare naked ladies'. though i will point out that bnl wants you to pay for the tracks which as a semblance of sense as well.
if you're interested in what is being done with what's being released you should check out the official ninremixes.com site.
and if you still don't get what the hubbub is all about then check out the myspace.com page http://myspace.com/nin where the whole ablum is listenable still.
the whole release of this album strikes me as being very strange. nothing like it that i can think of, has happened before. especially with the alternate reality game and the fake websites and all the general ambience of the release. from the obligatory wikipedia link apparently trent has gotten tired of fighting with the record labels to release his stuff and went sideways on the whole process.
i'm very happy with what i've heard of the album from the myspace page and all the weird little side effects. especially that it's no longer just about his emotional torment (though apparently he hates 'emo music' and he's the godfather of that genre if you ask me) but about a concept.
well, perhaps it's all too good to be true. time will have to tell.
*update 23:46 local time*
well it appears that i scooped even digg.com because they started posting an article talking about the irony and weirdness of the .torrent files from the nin website.
digg article
my favourite was the person wondering if there was an embedded watchdog sentry on the whole thing. now there is someone more paranoid than me.
Monday, April 23, 2007
fett's vette
can't get this song out of my head.
all last week i was going around singing "my backpack's got jets/i'm boba the fett/i bounty hunt for jabba hutt/to finance my 'vette"
so here is one of the many youtube videos made in honour of the song.
at least mcchris has a since a humour and won't be trying to sue anyone for being creative with it.
and, at least george lucas realizes that his fans actually aren't doing anything wrong by creating tribute songs to one of his creations.
oh, and because i would be wrong to post without a wikipedia link: boba fett
i mean really. did you expect me to not have a wiki link to boba fett?
here's the vid:
all last week i was going around singing "my backpack's got jets/i'm boba the fett/i bounty hunt for jabba hutt/to finance my 'vette"
so here is one of the many youtube videos made in honour of the song.
at least mcchris has a since a humour and won't be trying to sue anyone for being creative with it.
and, at least george lucas realizes that his fans actually aren't doing anything wrong by creating tribute songs to one of his creations.
oh, and because i would be wrong to post without a wikipedia link: boba fett
i mean really. did you expect me to not have a wiki link to boba fett?
here's the vid:
Sunday, April 22, 2007
visual novel theory
admit it...you've wondered if a visual novel is the same thing as a game haven't you.
it's kept you up late at night - tossing and turning.
you've been a worry to friends and family as all conversations work their way to the existential crisis of 'are visual novels games? or are they not?'
apparently the question bothered mikey over at renaigames.net so the author decided to work through some catharsis with the question.
for the rest of you, those who don't remember my last post on visual novels: here is the totally expected wikipedia link.
it's kept you up late at night - tossing and turning.
you've been a worry to friends and family as all conversations work their way to the existential crisis of 'are visual novels games? or are they not?'
apparently the question bothered mikey over at renaigames.net so the author decided to work through some catharsis with the question.
for the rest of you, those who don't remember my last post on visual novels: here is the totally expected wikipedia link.
Friday, April 20, 2007
will wright and brian eno
amazing discussion on how cellular automata influenced two of the most groundbreaking artists of our time, and more - with the artists themselves.
essentially 'cellular automata' is a mathematical study of computation - how simple rules set for a mass of items create a more complex result. not all that dissimilar from what is often called 'emergence theory' or the rise of the appearance of cohesive intelligence from minute particles.
sounds very deep but i have a perfect example - ants.
yep, each ant has a specific role in the hive but their rules are not more complicated than "find food and come back and tell us where it is" and "go bring the food back to the queen".
from those two simple rules a fascinating society is built up around the following of thousands, if not millions of automata following those simple rules.
both brian eno (think 'ambient music' and the ground breaking album 'music for airports') and will wright (think 'sims', 'sims 2') took the ideas in different ways. brian works with creating music outside of the idea of notes and scales and traditional harmony and will wright uses c.a. to create some of the most fascinating videogames of the last decade.
join them for a talk.
essentially 'cellular automata' is a mathematical study of computation - how simple rules set for a mass of items create a more complex result. not all that dissimilar from what is often called 'emergence theory' or the rise of the appearance of cohesive intelligence from minute particles.
sounds very deep but i have a perfect example - ants.
yep, each ant has a specific role in the hive but their rules are not more complicated than "find food and come back and tell us where it is" and "go bring the food back to the queen".
from those two simple rules a fascinating society is built up around the following of thousands, if not millions of automata following those simple rules.
both brian eno (think 'ambient music' and the ground breaking album 'music for airports') and will wright (think 'sims', 'sims 2') took the ideas in different ways. brian works with creating music outside of the idea of notes and scales and traditional harmony and will wright uses c.a. to create some of the most fascinating videogames of the last decade.
join them for a talk.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
neil gaiman talk
found a great website called fora.tv from a link off slashdot.org pointing to wallstreet journal online.
at least these folks, gaiman included seem to realize that this might be a fun thing to do and they offer an embedded video option. thank you for recognizing me as a fan and an enthusiast and not treating me as if i was someone with nefarious intentions.
i hate that. ruins the whole mood.
anyways. haven't seen it but if you check the links on the fora player you'll notice they also give one the options to download the mp3, and two flavours of the mp4 as well as a pdf of the transcript.
for a site with the motto 'the world is thinking' it's nice to know that someone finally has their head properly situated about their body in relation to the whole internet video thing.
them and the bbc. for instance - bbc signed a deal recently with youtube (as opposed to viacom which decided to use a lawsuit as a negotiating tactic) and in regards to questionable clips states:
"the BBC would not be hunting down all BBC-copyrighted clips already uploaded by YouTube members - although it would reserve the right to swap poor quality clips with the real thing, or to have content removed that infringed other people’s copyright, like sport, or that had been edited or altered in a way that would damage the BBC’s brand”. from here.
i always did like them blokes. real heads on their shoulders them.
anyways - here's mr. neil. enjoy.
at least these folks, gaiman included seem to realize that this might be a fun thing to do and they offer an embedded video option. thank you for recognizing me as a fan and an enthusiast and not treating me as if i was someone with nefarious intentions.
i hate that. ruins the whole mood.
anyways. haven't seen it but if you check the links on the fora player you'll notice they also give one the options to download the mp3, and two flavours of the mp4 as well as a pdf of the transcript.
for a site with the motto 'the world is thinking' it's nice to know that someone finally has their head properly situated about their body in relation to the whole internet video thing.
them and the bbc. for instance - bbc signed a deal recently with youtube (as opposed to viacom which decided to use a lawsuit as a negotiating tactic) and in regards to questionable clips states:
"the BBC would not be hunting down all BBC-copyrighted clips already uploaded by YouTube members - although it would reserve the right to swap poor quality clips with the real thing, or to have content removed that infringed other people’s copyright, like sport, or that had been edited or altered in a way that would damage the BBC’s brand”. from here.
i always did like them blokes. real heads on their shoulders them.
anyways - here's mr. neil. enjoy.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
how i geek out
mm....sometimes when i'm in a really good mood, like today - i kind of geek out.
here is how:
i discovered several new artists:
malicious, reppin' montreal - the ill mtl and you should check out 'heavy mtl' off his playlist
dead celebrity status - not sure where they're from but the videos for 'we fall we fall' and 'turn the lights out' are pretty sick
sweatshop union - holding down the left coast. check out the video for 'broken record'
and there are a couple of videos from dresden dolls.
dresden dolls vs. panic! at the disco
backstabber by dresden dolls
you'll notice that i'm not embedding videos at the moment.
it all has to do with the fact that myspace is currently, apparently beefing with a whole bunch of folks, to and including youtube.
and well, youtube is getting sued so it's kind of hard to figure out and i don't really like thinking too hard about it.
all of the above artists have links to either myspace videos or youtube videos which is great. i'm a child of the 80's and while i like a good song to listen to on my mp3 player - a well made video is better. sorry to be like that, but it's the truth.
and no, a 'well made video' doesn't have to be worth millions of dollars. check out the funny videos that amanda plummer did or the 'china invitation' of from malicious. those, really are worth their weight in gold to me as a fan because, well it didn't go through any sort of number crunching machine to 'target it to the right demographic'.
on the whole myspace thing - beefing with youtube isn't necessarily the best thing.
most of the 'target demo' seems to have abandoned myspace for facebook anyways.
i remain 'social networking neutral' and use whatever i feel like using at the moment. for now, finding new music is related to trolling the pages of the myspace pages of the artists that i do like and checking out their 'friends' to see what new music i could find.
i mean, if it wasn't for the internet i doubt that i would know 70% of the music i know.
and for the record, i despise p2p networks.
i have a friend who is a struggling musician and think of him when i see someone bragging on how they found this or that on whatever the flavour is version of p2p network.
on the flipside - myspace, facebook, youtube etc are doing a nice job of eviscerating the wall between the fan and the artist and hopefully (as chuck d opined would happen way back in 1999) cut out a good portion of the middle man.
or at least trade the a&m men from the sole monopolists left to apple for a while.
and then again - many artists are tired of the old regime - they know they're getting ripped off as courtney love does the math in a napster era salon.com article.
or as kinnie starr talked about when i flat out asked her why she put embedded youtube videos on her page - perhaps it's a combination of pragmatism and philosophy for some.
as for me - i see a paris hilton album and i want to run out and give money to folks like shad k (who's iq is so high you fly to it) or juanna molina (who's simply the most unique artist since i first heard bjork) or baba brinkman, who went and invented his own genre, and 'blind faith' is a song that gives me hope as an asipring novelist.
here is how:
i discovered several new artists:
malicious, reppin' montreal - the ill mtl and you should check out 'heavy mtl' off his playlist
dead celebrity status - not sure where they're from but the videos for 'we fall we fall' and 'turn the lights out' are pretty sick
sweatshop union - holding down the left coast. check out the video for 'broken record'
and there are a couple of videos from dresden dolls.
dresden dolls vs. panic! at the disco
backstabber by dresden dolls
you'll notice that i'm not embedding videos at the moment.
it all has to do with the fact that myspace is currently, apparently beefing with a whole bunch of folks, to and including youtube.
and well, youtube is getting sued so it's kind of hard to figure out and i don't really like thinking too hard about it.
all of the above artists have links to either myspace videos or youtube videos which is great. i'm a child of the 80's and while i like a good song to listen to on my mp3 player - a well made video is better. sorry to be like that, but it's the truth.
and no, a 'well made video' doesn't have to be worth millions of dollars. check out the funny videos that amanda plummer did or the 'china invitation' of from malicious. those, really are worth their weight in gold to me as a fan because, well it didn't go through any sort of number crunching machine to 'target it to the right demographic'.
on the whole myspace thing - beefing with youtube isn't necessarily the best thing.
most of the 'target demo' seems to have abandoned myspace for facebook anyways.
i remain 'social networking neutral' and use whatever i feel like using at the moment. for now, finding new music is related to trolling the pages of the myspace pages of the artists that i do like and checking out their 'friends' to see what new music i could find.
i mean, if it wasn't for the internet i doubt that i would know 70% of the music i know.
and for the record, i despise p2p networks.
i have a friend who is a struggling musician and think of him when i see someone bragging on how they found this or that on whatever the flavour is version of p2p network.
on the flipside - myspace, facebook, youtube etc are doing a nice job of eviscerating the wall between the fan and the artist and hopefully (as chuck d opined would happen way back in 1999) cut out a good portion of the middle man.
or at least trade the a&m men from the sole monopolists left to apple for a while.
and then again - many artists are tired of the old regime - they know they're getting ripped off as courtney love does the math in a napster era salon.com article.
or as kinnie starr talked about when i flat out asked her why she put embedded youtube videos on her page - perhaps it's a combination of pragmatism and philosophy for some.
as for me - i see a paris hilton album and i want to run out and give money to folks like shad k (who's iq is so high you fly to it) or juanna molina (who's simply the most unique artist since i first heard bjork) or baba brinkman, who went and invented his own genre, and 'blind faith' is a song that gives me hope as an asipring novelist.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
intellidating
what a goofy title for something quite fascinating.
i think that with an era of the internet and things like 'speed dating' which is quite popular here in ill-dot something that is popping up in ny (as an import from Britain i might add) might be making it's way up here soon.
intellidating is essentially making things like debates, museums, lecture series and the like more 'sexy' and more of a way for people who hate paris hilton, don't know or care what the latest 'it thing' is and have mixed feelings about the nebulous world of 'internet dating'.
personally, i would be all for this idea. it's time that those of us with more than a few brain cells find better ways to meet than soaking them in liquid poisons and call that 'socializing'.
i said i would be all for the idea except that i am happily off the market for good. soon and very soon (as the old hymn goes) i'm getting married and am quite glad that in the very near future i'm going to take vows to spend the rest of my life with the woman i love and can't live without.
so, for the rest of you - best of luck and if you can write complex sentences with sub clauses and find a book more interesting than doing shooters at your local pub - you might want to see if you can put something like that together here in ill-dot. those of us who have already found our special someones will wish you the best from the sidelines.
i think that with an era of the internet and things like 'speed dating' which is quite popular here in ill-dot something that is popping up in ny (as an import from Britain i might add) might be making it's way up here soon.
intellidating is essentially making things like debates, museums, lecture series and the like more 'sexy' and more of a way for people who hate paris hilton, don't know or care what the latest 'it thing' is and have mixed feelings about the nebulous world of 'internet dating'.
personally, i would be all for this idea. it's time that those of us with more than a few brain cells find better ways to meet than soaking them in liquid poisons and call that 'socializing'.
i said i would be all for the idea except that i am happily off the market for good. soon and very soon (as the old hymn goes) i'm getting married and am quite glad that in the very near future i'm going to take vows to spend the rest of my life with the woman i love and can't live without.
so, for the rest of you - best of luck and if you can write complex sentences with sub clauses and find a book more interesting than doing shooters at your local pub - you might want to see if you can put something like that together here in ill-dot. those of us who have already found our special someones will wish you the best from the sidelines.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
rakim vs. franz ferdinand
nice remix.
err mashup.
whatever those wacky kids call these things these days...
err mashup.
whatever those wacky kids call these things these days...
Friday, April 13, 2007
Thursday, April 12, 2007
and so it goes...
kurt vonnegut died last night. one of my teenage writer-heroes passed into the dark night after 84 years on the planet.
the link above has the nytimes obit notice which goes a long way towards explaining most of his novesl. which is sort of said - they should be experienced not explained away in one's obit notice.
i read 'player piano' and 'sirens of titan' back to back in grade eleven. i still think back to that time of scribbling down what came to be hundreds of poems and reading my head off of stuff that i thought would matter.
kurt vonnegut's work mattered.
you'll be missed kilgore trout.
at long last, rest in peace.
the link above has the nytimes obit notice which goes a long way towards explaining most of his novesl. which is sort of said - they should be experienced not explained away in one's obit notice.
i read 'player piano' and 'sirens of titan' back to back in grade eleven. i still think back to that time of scribbling down what came to be hundreds of poems and reading my head off of stuff that i thought would matter.
kurt vonnegut's work mattered.
you'll be missed kilgore trout.
at long last, rest in peace.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
'year zero' preview
ok so i'm seriously late on this one but i have to tell you but cleveland, ohio's bad boys of industrial rock nin (nine inch nails) have released a preview of 'year zero' on their myspace page - presumably until the album comes out in five days.
i have to say that i've always had a mixed reaction to their work - trent is sort of all over the map and when nin first came on the scene i was a hardcore industrial musical fan. 'mind: the perpetual intercourse' by canadian rockers skinny puppy still ranks as one of the most amazing albums i've ever heard.
if you haven't heard it - and you like stuff that doesn't sound like it was compiled from recording screams from vivisected animals along with rusty scrapes along open wires then you should probably avoid them. and probably industrial music in general - it's always been a music that reminded me of dancing to the sounds of the apocalypse. truely at times, the electronic version of the music that nero must have played while rome was torn down to the very bits.
i will say that i'm listening while i type this and it's trent at his finest - going from soft mutterings to screams - from blips and burps to screeching guitar solos that echo out into nothing and then come back with distored banshee fury and it makes me remember what i liked about this music in the first place.
only this time, instead of being the pre-eminate proto 'emo', he's come up with a concept album and it's nicely done i have to say. full of voices talking about a post apocalyptic earth torn between war mongering and finally a higher power steps in to 'sort it out'.
this album will probably be the fodder of many secondary school essays on the symbolic meanings and subtext but hey - it's an industrial album full of context that you can dance too!
:D
oh yeah - trent also tweaks all the pre web 2.0 folks out there by releasing the tracks to 'survivalism' on the nin.com website so that anyone and everyone can remix them - any old way they want.
of course - tons of artists have been doing that for a while - public enemy's 'revolverlution' was comprised of remixes of selected songs that chuck d released on the publicenemy.com website so that the listeners/remixers could do their own mashups.
now trent has joined the crowd and i for one am happy. good show.
i wonder how far that particular meme will go? i mean letting the 'audience' in on the fun.
i have to say that i've always had a mixed reaction to their work - trent is sort of all over the map and when nin first came on the scene i was a hardcore industrial musical fan. 'mind: the perpetual intercourse' by canadian rockers skinny puppy still ranks as one of the most amazing albums i've ever heard.
if you haven't heard it - and you like stuff that doesn't sound like it was compiled from recording screams from vivisected animals along with rusty scrapes along open wires then you should probably avoid them. and probably industrial music in general - it's always been a music that reminded me of dancing to the sounds of the apocalypse. truely at times, the electronic version of the music that nero must have played while rome was torn down to the very bits.
i will say that i'm listening while i type this and it's trent at his finest - going from soft mutterings to screams - from blips and burps to screeching guitar solos that echo out into nothing and then come back with distored banshee fury and it makes me remember what i liked about this music in the first place.
only this time, instead of being the pre-eminate proto 'emo', he's come up with a concept album and it's nicely done i have to say. full of voices talking about a post apocalyptic earth torn between war mongering and finally a higher power steps in to 'sort it out'.
this album will probably be the fodder of many secondary school essays on the symbolic meanings and subtext but hey - it's an industrial album full of context that you can dance too!
:D
oh yeah - trent also tweaks all the pre web 2.0 folks out there by releasing the tracks to 'survivalism' on the nin.com website so that anyone and everyone can remix them - any old way they want.
of course - tons of artists have been doing that for a while - public enemy's 'revolverlution' was comprised of remixes of selected songs that chuck d released on the publicenemy.com website so that the listeners/remixers could do their own mashups.
now trent has joined the crowd and i for one am happy. good show.
i wonder how far that particular meme will go? i mean letting the 'audience' in on the fun.
(e)nterview with kinnie starr!
first of all - i could blather about kinnie starr for forever and a day. she happens to be one of the most interesting artists i've seen in recent years, blessed with an incredible spirit of creativity and a flat out funny brain. listen to some of her spoken word some times at the shows and you'll realize just how funny the lady is.
i first saw her at the indigenUs people's festival in toronto in 2004 playing at the brigatine tent (for those that's been there it's this funky open tent bar type thing that they have late shows) and having caught the first set of the lucie idlout show i meandered down to see this artist listed as a first nation hip-hop artist.
i found that the listing was as accurate as it was understated. kinnie was noodling about with a guitar at first and i remember thinking "what in the world" and then she proceeded to have finished tuning it up and wipe the floor with my brains. never in my life have i seen an artist with the vibe of 'anything can happen while i'm onstage' as ms. starr has. one minute she's playing a song off 'tidy' and the next she's doing spoken word about her first horse riding lesson.
forever embedded in my brain was this show and i proceeded to make sure that she was first on my lips when i was talking to people about new artists they probably haven't heard of.
about 18 months later i saw her again at the imaginative film festival and this time, while other acts were performing she made her way through the crowd dancing and talking to friends and fans. no diva this woman. at least not on a perfomance night.
one of the first gifts my fiance ever gave me actually, was a copy of 'sun again' when we were first going out - a ways before things got serious with rings and the like. :D
not long ago i was talking to mi amorcita about the blog and she mentioned that since i had (e)nterviewed shad k, and baba brinkman - why not ask kinnie starr if she would be interested. i pushed the idea away because it seemed a bit far fetched i suppose but after a while i thought i would ask. well, i happen to know now that kinnie starr is about as real with it as you can expect and remains top flight in my experiences relating to musicians. within 48 hours of asking the question she has the answers and i present them to you now.
thanks kinnie starr and this (e)nterview is dedicated to mi amor because she started it all.
1. there has been a lot of lawsuits going around relating to mp3 downloads and especially now youtube videos. i notice that you have links to your videos via youtube and that you often have offered mp3 downloads on myspace in contrast - is this due to a philosophical or practical consideration?
i put up free shit on my site becasue people dowload and jack it anyways .....
there is a philosophical reason behind this as well, which is that i firmly believe ideas and art are public domain. for instance if ideas about medicine were shared freely instead of cures and knowledge being patented as intellectual property, there would be a whole hellofa lot more healthy people/babies/communities.
2. in a recent aesop rock blog posting, he mentions the hassles of the self promotional aspect of being an artist and baba brinkman has a funny song about that called 'stand buy me' - how do you balance this necessary element of getting your name out there vs. staying in the lab creating new work?
i just try to get good paying gigs and stay focused when i write. they are not the same thing. you can play shitty music at a great paying gig but you ultimately have to produce material from the heart to be able to sleep at night.
3. is there an instrument you feel most comfortable composing with? i notice you seem as at easy with an electric axe as you do with a sampler.
yes, my ensonic sampler is my friend, and i love electric and acoustic guitar. i have also been known to rock a fairly mean drum kit.
4. in 'super clever' you reference a record deal which seems to relate to the whole island/def jam experience. has this experience made you wary about large labels?
no. all labels are the same, large and small. it's the people who work there that distinguish the end result. there are assholes in both small and established companies.
5. what appeals to you the most about blogging? you seem to get a great deal of enjoyment and have a deft hand at touching controversial topics.
thanks. i discovered blogging when i discovered myspace, about a year or so ago. APTN had asked me to blog for them before but i didn't know it was so easy.
for years i tried to set my web site up interactively, so blogging is just plain common sense to me... it's like grafitti in a sense but it allows people to draw back. i love it.
6. is there anywhere that someone is selling the 'learning 2 cook' demo? or is that safely locked away in the starr vaults?
locked away. thank god.
7. your talent leads you to break down artificial boundaries such as those between hip-hop and spoken word and between hip-hop and electronica - is this intentional/philosophical or more of an intuitive process?
intuitive. i love sound and melody and it takes many shapes and form, including visual form at times. sometimes a song LOOKS like an image and i have to draw it first.....
8. do you have (or will you have) showings of your visual art?
hey!! that's funny that i just touched on that on the last question ...
ummm... yes i have wanted to do a show of my photos for a long time ... paintings and drawings too... some day ,.,,,
9. as a first nation hip-hop artist, what would you say the current state of the scene is and do you have hopes for where it might go?
i think natives are making the best hip-hop here in canada for sure. manik, 0512, mils, suga-d, eekwol, war party... the list goes on.
as to hip-hop itself ... i think we need some major fuel as far as creativity ... like nas says, hiphop is dead.
10. this is your question. if there's a question you always wanted asked - you can ask it of yourself and answer.
thanks a lot.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
and now for something completely different
'tijuana bass' by nortec collective
oh yeah - in case you don't know what nortec means:
the invariable wikipedia link nortec defintion
i happened to see these guys last summer here at ill-dot's harbourfront centre and there were cowboots and big buckled dudes dancing along club kids who would have been just as happy waving glo-sticks to dj keoki so cross cultural relations were fostered all around.
and folks have the nerve to wonder why i love this city so much.
hmph.
oh yeah - in case you don't know what nortec means:
the invariable wikipedia link nortec defintion
i happened to see these guys last summer here at ill-dot's harbourfront centre and there were cowboots and big buckled dudes dancing along club kids who would have been just as happy waving glo-sticks to dj keoki so cross cultural relations were fostered all around.
and folks have the nerve to wonder why i love this city so much.
hmph.
Sunday, April 8, 2007
mystic's 'the life (dj habit remix)'
well. i don't have much to say about this except that i'm very protective of songs that mean a lot to me and while mystic's entire album comes close to being a perfect piece of cd for me (especially 'ok alright' which has gotten me through more dark days than anyone should have to go through) this song was the first and the remis is very reverential.
ghetto lullaby
old/new song from mystic who reports on her blog that the 'ghetto lullaby' song she wanted on 'cuts for luck and scars for freedom' cd but it never made it.
apparently she's on a european tour so wishing her the best out there.
while you're over on her myspace page - check out 'current events' which remains probably my favourite b-girl braggadacio rap since mc lyte's 'i am the lyte'.
apparently she's on a european tour so wishing her the best out there.
while you're over on her myspace page - check out 'current events' which remains probably my favourite b-girl braggadacio rap since mc lyte's 'i am the lyte'.
Friday, April 6, 2007
shadk
if you go back through the archives on my myspace page (note it's myspace residence) you'll find that i interviewed the artist on the link below.
i have to say that there are very few artists these days that i ache to see hit the big time more than shad k. his modestness and humble attitude give proof that a lot of the times the dude with the most skill is the one over in the corner generally getting ignored.
recently, shad k opened for lupe fiasco here in ill-dot and his label earwaks.com managed to get a nice documentary out of it.
shad k documentary
i have to say that there are very few artists these days that i ache to see hit the big time more than shad k. his modestness and humble attitude give proof that a lot of the times the dude with the most skill is the one over in the corner generally getting ignored.
recently, shad k opened for lupe fiasco here in ill-dot and his label earwaks.com managed to get a nice documentary out of it.
shad k documentary
Friday, March 30, 2007
drive by - new jack style
how drive bys carry the internet via buses and motorcycles in remote parts of india, cambodia, and paraquay.
new jack drive by
new jack drive by
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Sunday, March 18, 2007
jack wilson x2
jack wilson (from pittsburgh) puts a few lines down mixing the urban setting with first nation imagery.
and if you don't know - his name is also the non pauite name of the originator of the ghost dance sect which was active in the late 1800's and linked forever to the massacre at wounded knee.
wikipedia entry on ghost dance
and if you don't know - his name is also the non pauite name of the originator of the ghost dance sect which was active in the late 1800's and linked forever to the massacre at wounded knee.
wikipedia entry on ghost dance
Saturday, March 17, 2007
results for jungian test
| Jung Ideal vs. Real Test
|
personality tests by similarminds.com
Thursday, March 15, 2007
sage francis
it's funny to find artists that are completely slept on.
and i found another one.
first thing in the morning - to present to you, to get through
sage francis live and direct in total effect
ok, i'll stop my poor rhyming
sage francis at the basement
sage francis 'sea lion (remix)'
and i found another one.
first thing in the morning - to present to you, to get through
sage francis live and direct in total effect
ok, i'll stop my poor rhyming
sage francis at the basement
sage francis 'sea lion (remix)'
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
how stupid does one have to be?
think about it. there is a recent study that shows that exercise boosts brainpower. now, to some of us - those that were/are taunted by the muscle types in our lives this might seem counter-intuitive until you look at the facts.
at looking on the facts one thing repeatedly has come to mind since i stumbled on this article yesterday: if exercising boosts brainpower - how really truely stupid are the jocks that exercise? i mean really and truely. if this is them operating at boosted strength - how might their brain power and intellect be without exercising?
very much a scary thought to have this day.
at looking on the facts one thing repeatedly has come to mind since i stumbled on this article yesterday: if exercising boosts brainpower - how really truely stupid are the jocks that exercise? i mean really and truely. if this is them operating at boosted strength - how might their brain power and intellect be without exercising?
very much a scary thought to have this day.
Monday, March 12, 2007
bedroom divas
current.tv the source for viewer created content (that doesn't suck) has a great 8 minute documentary on two british singer/songwriters called 'bedroom divas'.
check it out.
i mean, that's like two commercial breaks.
bedroom divas
check it out.
i mean, that's like two commercial breaks.
bedroom divas
Friday, March 9, 2007
alien 5
yeah, alien 5.
apparently 20th century fox doesn't have an issue with a movie made with a digital camera and hasbro toys though i do remember they shut down a modifcation pack released by amateurs that allowed players of 'doom 2' to fight against the alien.
in retrospect, that was probably when early talks were going on for a game called alien vs predator (based on the comic book and then made into a movie).
so here you go, all four 'chapters' of the original alien 5.
apparently 20th century fox doesn't have an issue with a movie made with a digital camera and hasbro toys though i do remember they shut down a modifcation pack released by amateurs that allowed players of 'doom 2' to fight against the alien.
in retrospect, that was probably when early talks were going on for a game called alien vs predator (based on the comic book and then made into a movie).
so here you go, all four 'chapters' of the original alien 5.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
witchblade
i was never really much of a fan of the comic book but, became a huge fan of the storyline through the ill fated two season run on television.
while the first season is this dry run into hell, the second season lightened the dark corners just enough to keep the whole thing from shimmering apart. i mean we've got completely the stuff of comic books, an ancient alient sentient artifact that bonds with the wearer (almost always female) who happens to be a new york city detective searching for the killers of her father, her partner, and her best friend. by the end of the first season the character is painted into such a dark corner that the only way out is through and when i mean through - i mean through. and that's all i'm saying because it's a humdinger of a plot twist.
so, let's just say i'm excited when i find a posting on imdb.com about a potential movie. made for dvd or cable or whatever. i'm excited if for no other reason than the hope that the series will be released in entirety because i missed some spots and this is not a show that goes lightly on viewers who aren't always paying attention.
imdb.com link
witchblade #1 can be read on the topcow.com website
while the first season is this dry run into hell, the second season lightened the dark corners just enough to keep the whole thing from shimmering apart. i mean we've got completely the stuff of comic books, an ancient alient sentient artifact that bonds with the wearer (almost always female) who happens to be a new york city detective searching for the killers of her father, her partner, and her best friend. by the end of the first season the character is painted into such a dark corner that the only way out is through and when i mean through - i mean through. and that's all i'm saying because it's a humdinger of a plot twist.
so, let's just say i'm excited when i find a posting on imdb.com about a potential movie. made for dvd or cable or whatever. i'm excited if for no other reason than the hope that the series will be released in entirety because i missed some spots and this is not a show that goes lightly on viewers who aren't always paying attention.
imdb.com link
witchblade #1 can be read on the topcow.com website
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
manga of the month: snow
clean lines, sense of humour.
light touch.
not the normal stuff i like but the editor seemed to praise it and from what i could see before i had to sign up i was impressed.
tokyopop's snow
light touch.
not the normal stuff i like but the editor seemed to praise it and from what i could see before i had to sign up i was impressed.
tokyopop's snow
up for performance review?
check out this nytimes.com article which details how to use various sites to find out what your position is worth (assuming your boss hasn't given it some obscure or unrelated title that makes it impossible to cross correlate with reality).
but, don't expect much. remember, you know your boss better than any writer for the nytimes would.
use the web to increase your salary
but, don't expect much. remember, you know your boss better than any writer for the nytimes would.
use the web to increase your salary
david lynch says film is dead
not in the sense of storytelling - though his films are about as post-anything as you can think of, if you don't believe me then check out lost highway, muholland drive, or season one of twin peaks.
but, in terms of the actual silver halide stuff.
film is dead says lynch
but, in terms of the actual silver halide stuff.
film is dead says lynch
Monday, March 5, 2007
cost of living
i used to be a huge fan of those simulation games where you get to try to farm the land or land a space ship on the moon.
in this fairly difficult you face the dangers and the tribulations of raising your family on a poor island country.
cost of living
in this fairly difficult you face the dangers and the tribulations of raising your family on a poor island country.
cost of living
why comicbooks might be important
in a semi serious way there is something to be said about media such as comic books and television to anyone interested in narrative storytelling.
the main fact is that the turnaround to publication is so short that the authors are not allowed really much time to navel gaze, to get profound or basically become self indulgent. there is the story, the story, and sometimes some commentary, but mostly just story.
after giving the whole comicification of the movie industry some thought i think that there are two things going on here:
1. hollywood is looking for another short cut to creating franchises. by utilizing the characters and stories from the comicbook scene they have two things - a built in audience (i.e. revenue stream) and a lack of need for any real creative input. as i've said elsewhere, those of us who are fans of a comic story - when put on screen the only thing we care about is if it is true to the original art.
2. inherent market synergy. rather than team up with marvel to create a comic based on their work - use their work and pay them money. you instantly have comics, toys, etc all built around your little franchise.
okay so perhaps that's one idea. no one said that hollywood was known for more than one note symponies - at least not lately anyways.
the funny thing is that marvel is doing exactly the opposite. i think they decided they were getting ripped off by the guys in the suits so they rolled up their sleeves and started producing their own films. some of them direct to dvd - a brilliant idea by the way and some of them slated for the silver screen.
not to be outdone - cable franchises also take part in the action - showtime a few years ago created series based on the french post-apocalyptic comic 'jeremiah' and hbo is slated to produce an animated adaptation of 'preacher' the cult independent graphic novel series.
back in the day, quite a few student film makers i knew studied comics almost as seriously as theye studied godard, truffaut, spielberg, and preminger. i asked one of them and his response was that where else could someone who is interested in visual storytelling get so many examples of narrative directness than this? he made a good point that is still valid today. about a year ago i picked up one of the recent incarnations of the x-men and found a fantastic story that takes place in 30 seconds of 'real time' but took and entire book to tell - detailing an attack by the sentinels upon rachel summers' family.
last but not least is stephen king. a recent visit to his website shows that he has partnered with marvel comics to come up with an 'inspired by' series based on his 'dark tower' series.
the main fact is that the turnaround to publication is so short that the authors are not allowed really much time to navel gaze, to get profound or basically become self indulgent. there is the story, the story, and sometimes some commentary, but mostly just story.
after giving the whole comicification of the movie industry some thought i think that there are two things going on here:
1. hollywood is looking for another short cut to creating franchises. by utilizing the characters and stories from the comicbook scene they have two things - a built in audience (i.e. revenue stream) and a lack of need for any real creative input. as i've said elsewhere, those of us who are fans of a comic story - when put on screen the only thing we care about is if it is true to the original art.
2. inherent market synergy. rather than team up with marvel to create a comic based on their work - use their work and pay them money. you instantly have comics, toys, etc all built around your little franchise.
okay so perhaps that's one idea. no one said that hollywood was known for more than one note symponies - at least not lately anyways.
the funny thing is that marvel is doing exactly the opposite. i think they decided they were getting ripped off by the guys in the suits so they rolled up their sleeves and started producing their own films. some of them direct to dvd - a brilliant idea by the way and some of them slated for the silver screen.
not to be outdone - cable franchises also take part in the action - showtime a few years ago created series based on the french post-apocalyptic comic 'jeremiah' and hbo is slated to produce an animated adaptation of 'preacher' the cult independent graphic novel series.
back in the day, quite a few student film makers i knew studied comics almost as seriously as theye studied godard, truffaut, spielberg, and preminger. i asked one of them and his response was that where else could someone who is interested in visual storytelling get so many examples of narrative directness than this? he made a good point that is still valid today. about a year ago i picked up one of the recent incarnations of the x-men and found a fantastic story that takes place in 30 seconds of 'real time' but took and entire book to tell - detailing an attack by the sentinels upon rachel summers' family.
last but not least is stephen king. a recent visit to his website shows that he has partnered with marvel comics to come up with an 'inspired by' series based on his 'dark tower' series.
improve your self confidence
face it please, you're sick of people that shouldn't have confidence having too much and you feel like you have none.
7 helpful tips to immediately increase your self confidence sounds like a come on from an infoblog.
actually - it appears to be a teaser for a book on self confidence.
stilll it ended up on digg.com for some reason
7 helpful tips to immediately increase your self confidence sounds like a come on from an infoblog.
actually - it appears to be a teaser for a book on self confidence.
stilll it ended up on digg.com for some reason
Sunday, March 4, 2007
baba brinkman interview
for any of you who've been reading me since i started on myspace, you may recall that i did an email interview with a couple of musicians that i am a fan of.
one of them is baba brinkman and he's apparently liked my e(nterview) well enough to reprint it on his blog.
if you've not read the original - here's your chance to read it.
p.s. he calls me an online journalist - i don't see myself as that - only as someone who's perennially curious. ask my fiancée, she'll validate that comment.
baba brinkman (e)nterview
one of them is baba brinkman and he's apparently liked my e(nterview) well enough to reprint it on his blog.
if you've not read the original - here's your chance to read it.
p.s. he calls me an online journalist - i don't see myself as that - only as someone who's perennially curious. ask my fiancée, she'll validate that comment.
baba brinkman (e)nterview
clarification and all of that
sometimes i think about what i wrote and have to review it in my head for a while and then re-state a few things.
a while back i was talking about my love for 'dark fiction' aka horror stories and i made a comment about being able to explain derrida to semi-literates.
see, now i talk about derrida to a lot of folks. he's one of my personal heroes and so i talk on and on about him (if you get me started. i'd advise you not to though - unless literary theory is a hobby or something).
it occured to me recently that if someone i know read my blog and we had chatted about derrida that it could taken as a dis.
it wasn't - because here's the context for the comment: years ago i used to chat online. i worked second shift and it was a way to keep my world from becoming limited to the people that i worked with, who of the marjority were not the ones that i would hang out with at a party sad to say, anyways.
i was having a discussion with an acquaintance of mine who was doing her masters in some ridiculously difficult area like physics or something and we got to arguing about wittgenstein vs derrida and this idiot (sorry to say but the guy had a problem with spelling - and no it wasn't ghetto spelling neither, dude had issssssuuuuuesss with the english language) kept butting in going 'who's this, who's that' and whatnot.
so, i patiently explained derrida's importance and some of the particulars of our debate (which i can't remember in detail but had to do with something like: which was more relevant: wittgenstein's statment that words are actions or derrida's commentary on western civilization's preference for oral over written word authority...*sigh* and it was like 2a.m. as well) he promptly asks my conversation partner if she has any nekkid pix she wanted to send him.
so, for the record - there it is and it shows me that we need to focus. all of us.
a while back i was talking about my love for 'dark fiction' aka horror stories and i made a comment about being able to explain derrida to semi-literates.
see, now i talk about derrida to a lot of folks. he's one of my personal heroes and so i talk on and on about him (if you get me started. i'd advise you not to though - unless literary theory is a hobby or something).
it occured to me recently that if someone i know read my blog and we had chatted about derrida that it could taken as a dis.
it wasn't - because here's the context for the comment: years ago i used to chat online. i worked second shift and it was a way to keep my world from becoming limited to the people that i worked with, who of the marjority were not the ones that i would hang out with at a party sad to say, anyways.
i was having a discussion with an acquaintance of mine who was doing her masters in some ridiculously difficult area like physics or something and we got to arguing about wittgenstein vs derrida and this idiot (sorry to say but the guy had a problem with spelling - and no it wasn't ghetto spelling neither, dude had issssssuuuuuesss with the english language) kept butting in going 'who's this, who's that' and whatnot.
so, i patiently explained derrida's importance and some of the particulars of our debate (which i can't remember in detail but had to do with something like: which was more relevant: wittgenstein's statment that words are actions or derrida's commentary on western civilization's preference for oral over written word authority...*sigh* and it was like 2a.m. as well) he promptly asks my conversation partner if she has any nekkid pix she wanted to send him.
so, for the record - there it is and it shows me that we need to focus. all of us.
Saturday, March 3, 2007
shift your shape
or is it shape your shift?
either way tune into shapeshifters.net if you want to connect with other creative types around the world and actually get something going.
i'm for real.
either way tune into shapeshifters.net if you want to connect with other creative types around the world and actually get something going.
i'm for real.
gorgeous tiny chicken machine show
i suppose this is a parody of wacky talk shows - or some kind of arch post-modern half-ironic commentary on modern television.
i just like the song and dance numbers :D
Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show (Episode 1)
i just like the song and dance numbers :D
Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show (Episode 1)
Thursday, March 1, 2007
put a fork in 'em
according to upi.com (by way of digg.com thank you very much) it appears that the winner of the oscar prize for the short film premiered on myspace first.
now i don't know how closely any of y'all are following this but it represents a fairly big deal - after all, if myspace users were citizens in a country they'd be the 11th largest country in the world.
and so it goes, as close as the 'old media' comes to truely understanding what is going on with all this web 2.0/online mmorpg/blogging/socialnetworking stuff - the fact of the matter is that pretty soon - when it comes to delivering stuff to eyeballs (their stock and self preening stock in trade)... well the days of that distribution model are fading fast.
i have given some thought to the whole deal and agree with the assertation that the blogging/weblogging/vlogging/p2p-ing phenom is actually as important to those of us who are 'wired' (and wireless for those of you 802ing it) as the gutenberg press was to well, gutenberg.
fact of the matter is (for anyone who knows the history of martin luther and a little thing protestants like to call the 'reformation') without the gutenberg press there would have been no Bible in the 'common tongue' and the Holy Mother Church would have still conducted the means and the ends of most theological discourse.
oops i started waxing socio/histo/philosophical on you all but the fact of the matter is that if you are of a certain age - you don't watch television. if you're in the States you can legally watch your television shows online free of charge with a bare minimum of commercial interruptions.
this means, of course, that the television networks are no longer going to be forced to straddle the line between what their advertisers want to support (leaving them vulnerable to viewer blackmail via boycotting) but can actually be content creators.
.
but so many of these 'content creators' aren't really interested in creating content. nope - they're interested in eyeballs and selling advertising. television is the filler between the commericals a teacher of mine once said and it's sadly true.
bands like icp and rappers like lupe fiasco are finding that they can build their fan base through places like mySpace and now - crown jewel so far - they can win. the little bald golden man statuette.
so, go on with your bad self. make something we all want to watch. we're dying of boredom out here as it is.
i mean why else are they trying to sell us new formats for our dvd collections? because their brains are pickled and there are no new ideas flowing out from the hollywood 'south'.
now i don't know how closely any of y'all are following this but it represents a fairly big deal - after all, if myspace users were citizens in a country they'd be the 11th largest country in the world.
and so it goes, as close as the 'old media' comes to truely understanding what is going on with all this web 2.0/online mmorpg/blogging/socialnetworking stuff - the fact of the matter is that pretty soon - when it comes to delivering stuff to eyeballs (their stock and self preening stock in trade)... well the days of that distribution model are fading fast.
i have given some thought to the whole deal and agree with the assertation that the blogging/weblogging/vlogging/p2p-ing phenom is actually as important to those of us who are 'wired' (and wireless for those of you 802ing it) as the gutenberg press was to well, gutenberg.
fact of the matter is (for anyone who knows the history of martin luther and a little thing protestants like to call the 'reformation') without the gutenberg press there would have been no Bible in the 'common tongue' and the Holy Mother Church would have still conducted the means and the ends of most theological discourse.
oops i started waxing socio/histo/philosophical on you all but the fact of the matter is that if you are of a certain age - you don't watch television. if you're in the States you can legally watch your television shows online free of charge with a bare minimum of commercial interruptions.
this means, of course, that the television networks are no longer going to be forced to straddle the line between what their advertisers want to support (leaving them vulnerable to viewer blackmail via boycotting) but can actually be content creators.
.
but so many of these 'content creators' aren't really interested in creating content. nope - they're interested in eyeballs and selling advertising. television is the filler between the commericals a teacher of mine once said and it's sadly true.
bands like icp and rappers like lupe fiasco are finding that they can build their fan base through places like mySpace and now - crown jewel so far - they can win. the little bald golden man statuette.
so, go on with your bad self. make something we all want to watch. we're dying of boredom out here as it is.
i mean why else are they trying to sell us new formats for our dvd collections? because their brains are pickled and there are no new ideas flowing out from the hollywood 'south'.
did you know - shift happens
some i did, some stuff i didn't.
check it out. my favourite fact is: if you are one in a million - in china you are one in 1,300
check it out. my favourite fact is: if you are one in a million - in china you are one in 1,300
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
artist of the day
skittlesgenesis has a nice fanart series apparently based on neil gaman's characters from sandman.
requiem
requiem
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
in the days of kings and queens i was a jester
atmosphere's 'trying to find a balance' finds slug pouring out his lyrics in a rage upon those that want to crucify him and/or worship him/mock him or celebrate him.
there are very few sacred cows in the is song - he finds bitter bile for those who live to eat, to drink, to defecate, to procreate and who will leave nothing behind but their credit card bills having added nothing to the world but their own evil intentions.
it is perhaps a condition of being an artist to at times respond at the tipping point when the need to put something back out into the world rather than just let it pass by as if it was nothing but for one's own entertainment.
he has equal scorn for those who would co-opt hip-hop for their own ends and shows his passionate knowledge of the genre when he refers to krs-1's 'my philosophy'.
so this one is dedicated to artist surrounded by fools who will leave the world untouched by their passing except for the crappy things they bought as if the world was nothing but a giant sized wal-mart.
there are very few sacred cows in the is song - he finds bitter bile for those who live to eat, to drink, to defecate, to procreate and who will leave nothing behind but their credit card bills having added nothing to the world but their own evil intentions.
it is perhaps a condition of being an artist to at times respond at the tipping point when the need to put something back out into the world rather than just let it pass by as if it was nothing but for one's own entertainment.
he has equal scorn for those who would co-opt hip-hop for their own ends and shows his passionate knowledge of the genre when he refers to krs-1's 'my philosophy'.
so this one is dedicated to artist surrounded by fools who will leave the world untouched by their passing except for the crappy things they bought as if the world was nothing but a giant sized wal-mart.
and i will remember your name and face
on the day you are just a fun house guest/and i will remember your fall from grace/when it came from the sky as "none shall pass"
aesop rock back with the full version of his blistering song about the hypocrisy of backstabbers.
so i send this one out to all of us who are surrounded by the double tongues who act as if they are looking to help but really are looking for the soft spot of the back to put their blade in.
none shall pass
def jux compilation page on adult swim (where the 'clean' version of aes rock's song is)
the entire def jux compilation for adult swim by def jux
aesop rock back with the full version of his blistering song about the hypocrisy of backstabbers.
so i send this one out to all of us who are surrounded by the double tongues who act as if they are looking to help but really are looking for the soft spot of the back to put their blade in.
none shall pass
def jux compilation page on adult swim (where the 'clean' version of aes rock's song is)
the entire def jux compilation for adult swim by def jux
Sunday, February 25, 2007
make your own blank book
there are lots of ways to do this.
my fiancee and i happened to be in an arts store recently and i was killing time looking at the bookbinding books because, well they were there and i have a natural curiosity. plus, i felt like my fiancee would get what she needed done faster if i was just out of the way so i amused myself as i am want to do.
i ended up finding a quick and dirty way to create a pocket notebook by taking a piece of 8.5x11 sheet of paper and folding it a few times twice over and then slicing a bit in the middle and folding it accordian style until you end up with an eight page notepad. after seeing that this rather simply bound instruction book on beginning bookbinding was on the order of $30, i promptly placed it back on the shelf and went to find my amorcita.
later, bored in a situation i should have been paying attention, i managed to work up a mock up simply from memory of the figure.
at home with my next prototype, i grabbed a glossy ad for rogers (local cable conglomerate) and worked up a 22 page version. i was so excited i took a magazine, ripped the front cover off and promptly created a 42 page version.
i leafed through the magazine until i found an add that i liked and promptly made a 78 page version. so now i have three very personal, rough around the edges notepads.
i can't wait until i can get my hands on some paper other than my printer type. perhaps some of that resume paper.
so, in that spirit i present a few posts on book assembly. perhaps you'll get the bug too.
toby craig book assembly photolog
brian sawyer book assembly flickr log
my fiancee and i happened to be in an arts store recently and i was killing time looking at the bookbinding books because, well they were there and i have a natural curiosity. plus, i felt like my fiancee would get what she needed done faster if i was just out of the way so i amused myself as i am want to do.
i ended up finding a quick and dirty way to create a pocket notebook by taking a piece of 8.5x11 sheet of paper and folding it a few times twice over and then slicing a bit in the middle and folding it accordian style until you end up with an eight page notepad. after seeing that this rather simply bound instruction book on beginning bookbinding was on the order of $30, i promptly placed it back on the shelf and went to find my amorcita.
later, bored in a situation i should have been paying attention, i managed to work up a mock up simply from memory of the figure.
at home with my next prototype, i grabbed a glossy ad for rogers (local cable conglomerate) and worked up a 22 page version. i was so excited i took a magazine, ripped the front cover off and promptly created a 42 page version.
i leafed through the magazine until i found an add that i liked and promptly made a 78 page version. so now i have three very personal, rough around the edges notepads.
i can't wait until i can get my hands on some paper other than my printer type. perhaps some of that resume paper.
so, in that spirit i present a few posts on book assembly. perhaps you'll get the bug too.
toby craig book assembly photolog
brian sawyer book assembly flickr log
Friday, February 23, 2007
song of the day
it's a little late for Christmas but this song is still one of my favourites from my favourite irish rock band (sorry u2) the pogues.
artist of the day:veraguta
perhaps i'll have time for something like this - an artist of the day.
today's will be veraguta out of siberia via deviantart.com
today's will be veraguta out of siberia via deviantart.com
you know you want to be a deviant(artist)
deviantart.com has become a huge time waster for me.
and i know why - where else can one see so much art, good art, bad art, just plain old weird art for free. there are subscription levels but, the artists can sell their work and i can just sort of geek out on some fantastical work.
for example frixin has some mindblowingly surreal photos.
and i know why - where else can one see so much art, good art, bad art, just plain old weird art for free. there are subscription levels but, the artists can sell their work and i can just sort of geek out on some fantastical work.
for example frixin has some mindblowingly surreal photos.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
make your own manga
it's probably just a matter of time before someone latches on to this and makes a free version for *nix or something but i have to admit that i was tempted to download the demo and take it for a whirl.
then i remembered i'm getting married soon and don't have time for that kind of thing, or much of anything.
so much to do, so much to do. :D so excited, am i
manga studio
then i remembered i'm getting married soon and don't have time for that kind of thing, or much of anything.
so much to do, so much to do. :D so excited, am i
manga studio
song of the day
'fully alive' by flyleaf.
somehow this band reminds me of what tool would be like if alanis morrisette were the front woman. but, that could be my caffeine deprived brain working overtime this morning.
somehow this band reminds me of what tool would be like if alanis morrisette were the front woman. but, that could be my caffeine deprived brain working overtime this morning.
british teen saves family farm via biodiesel
well, not really but it caught your attention
from autobloggreen (by way of digg.com) comes this fantastic story out of britain about a home schooled student who up and decides to make biodiesel and ends up saving the family quite a pound in the long run.
the story is a bit of a fluff piece, nothing much on the particulars other than the kind that get it dugg and or re-blogged around the planet.
much like i'm doing this morning.
make yer own biodiesel
from autobloggreen (by way of digg.com) comes this fantastic story out of britain about a home schooled student who up and decides to make biodiesel and ends up saving the family quite a pound in the long run.
the story is a bit of a fluff piece, nothing much on the particulars other than the kind that get it dugg and or re-blogged around the planet.
much like i'm doing this morning.
make yer own biodiesel
ummm *feeling speechless*
this photo...is apparently not a photo. it's a computer rendered image.
i think i need another cup of coffee...my reality isn't ready for this yet.
though i'm feeling oddly inspired.
i think i need another cup of coffee...my reality isn't ready for this yet.
though i'm feeling oddly inspired.
aliens save laptop - or why geeks matter
well, put it this way - can matter.
ms. melin is a novelist and aspiring screenwriter. the house she and her husband share was broken into and the computer she is using for notating all her hard work is taken.
enter the brave husband - geek to the core, programmer and all who has installed the distributed software for finding life other planets (SETI@Home for those interested) and sure enough the system was 'calling home'.
he turns in the data to the cops, cops locate the system and return it safe and sound.
aliens save laptop?
ms. melin is a novelist and aspiring screenwriter. the house she and her husband share was broken into and the computer she is using for notating all her hard work is taken.
enter the brave husband - geek to the core, programmer and all who has installed the distributed software for finding life other planets (SETI@Home for those interested) and sure enough the system was 'calling home'.
he turns in the data to the cops, cops locate the system and return it safe and sound.
aliens save laptop?
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
manga rules
it does. as i posted recently about the dearth of good storylines in most modern comics i have to represent that there is a visual storytelling artform that is holding it's own in terms of producing massive amounts of stories on a regular basis.
it's manga and by checking my collection, i see that there are two main publishers here in north america that distribute content - shonen jump and tokyo pop.
but, for the uninitiated, what is manga?
well, the wikipedia entry for manga starts with a definition that explains the etymology of the word. (and if it was you - yo! in the back going etya what? get yerself over to dictionary.com and look it up. i don't have time this morning).
long and short of it is that it's japanese comic books. or even japanese style comic books. 99% of them are in black and white (and for those that just tuned me out - you have no idea what you're missing in b&w comics - you probably don't rock the old school movies either) and the artwork is highly stylized.
it takes a while to get used to the art form but once it does you find that the depth of the stories generally surpasses those of north american counterparts. and more stories. instead of a handful of superhero stories, you'll find tons. when i check out the manga section of world's biggest bookstore here in ill-dot, i see that it's twice the size of their graphic novel section and can easily hold down the amount of stories that are in the silver snail (another ill-dot fixture - this time for comics).
so, after finding marvel online - i thought i would check out shonenjump and sure enough shonenjump.com has free 'previews' of their work. and they don't force you to register.
i think this is something that i disliked the most about the marvel website. they wanted my email address so they could monetize my visit. my response is 'stop being so neurotic'. for real - shonenjump and tokyopop both seem to realize that if they give enough decent content online that they will make money at the retail level by selling their work. someone will eventually want to get a papercopy of their work.
links:
shonenjump.com
tokyopop
the dreaming
it's manga and by checking my collection, i see that there are two main publishers here in north america that distribute content - shonen jump and tokyo pop.
but, for the uninitiated, what is manga?
well, the wikipedia entry for manga starts with a definition that explains the etymology of the word. (and if it was you - yo! in the back going etya what? get yerself over to dictionary.com and look it up. i don't have time this morning).
long and short of it is that it's japanese comic books. or even japanese style comic books. 99% of them are in black and white (and for those that just tuned me out - you have no idea what you're missing in b&w comics - you probably don't rock the old school movies either) and the artwork is highly stylized.
it takes a while to get used to the art form but once it does you find that the depth of the stories generally surpasses those of north american counterparts. and more stories. instead of a handful of superhero stories, you'll find tons. when i check out the manga section of world's biggest bookstore here in ill-dot, i see that it's twice the size of their graphic novel section and can easily hold down the amount of stories that are in the silver snail (another ill-dot fixture - this time for comics).
so, after finding marvel online - i thought i would check out shonenjump and sure enough shonenjump.com has free 'previews' of their work. and they don't force you to register.
i think this is something that i disliked the most about the marvel website. they wanted my email address so they could monetize my visit. my response is 'stop being so neurotic'. for real - shonenjump and tokyopop both seem to realize that if they give enough decent content online that they will make money at the retail level by selling their work. someone will eventually want to get a papercopy of their work.
links:
shonenjump.com
tokyopop
the dreaming
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
myths over miami
one of the most amazing things about the current state of the internet is that i can pull this article up and still present it to you - it was published in 1997 and since we're (checks calendar) yes in 2007 it shows that the early adopters of the internet have a dividend of material to offer.
yay.
anyways, dictionary.com defines myth as being "a traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or hero or event, with or without a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation, esp. one that is concerned with deities or demigods and explains some practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature"
i came across the usage of this article in a tv show called jeremiah, which was one of those post-apocalyptic way in the future kind of things. and there was this episode that feature this new religon the children of that age were believing in which featured God having left heaven and the angels regrouping for a counter-attack.
it was sort of a post traumatic stress disorder version revelation for sure and was semi-central to the particular episode but nothing was explored following up.
i forget how i stumbled upon this article but the similarities were enough to convince me that the myths that homeless children have (those with parents on the streets and those without) was the basis for the research for the writer's subplot to that particular episode.
so here it is without furhter ado - myths over miami
yay.
anyways, dictionary.com defines myth as being "a traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or hero or event, with or without a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation, esp. one that is concerned with deities or demigods and explains some practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature"
i came across the usage of this article in a tv show called jeremiah, which was one of those post-apocalyptic way in the future kind of things. and there was this episode that feature this new religon the children of that age were believing in which featured God having left heaven and the angels regrouping for a counter-attack.
it was sort of a post traumatic stress disorder version revelation for sure and was semi-central to the particular episode but nothing was explored following up.
i forget how i stumbled upon this article but the similarities were enough to convince me that the myths that homeless children have (those with parents on the streets and those without) was the basis for the research for the writer's subplot to that particular episode.
so here it is without furhter ado - myths over miami
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