Published June 27th, 2006
in Uncategorized.
I heard this great cover version of Ron Sexsmith’s “Secret Heart” on The Hills (shut up! =) the other day and it turns out it’s by Feist. I should probably know that since I really like Feist, but the thing is I never got around to listening to her whole album. Oh well. Also (and this has very little to do with the first part), in trying to find out more info about The Whitest Boy Alive (Erlend Øye’s side-project band) I came across a recording of them supporting another Norwegian (?) band called Cat 5 on a song called “Sexy” which I can’t tell if it is kind of good or just a dumb song. You’ll hear the chorus and see what I mean:
Feist - Secret Heart
Ron Sexsmith- Secret Heart
Cat 5 (with Whitest Boy Alive)- Sexy (Live)
Published June 27th, 2006
in Uncategorized.
On Cell Phones:
There’s a misconception out there that the U.S. is a backwater. [But], in a comparison with European countries, Britain leads in terms of use of mobile Internet-based services, but the United States is ahead of France and Germany by a significant margin when it comes to downloading ring tones, for example.
So, in other words, we are world leaders when it comes to the most asinine use of cell-phones. Go team!
Published June 21st, 2006
in Uncategorized.
gapingvoid.com directs us to some cool articles of late. First is a brief meditation on Bill Gates’ retirement which argues that Bill and the (ugh) “remix culture” of today have more in common than not. Bill, after all, cherry-picked the best and most innovative software made by other companies and packaged it in a consumer friendly (sometimes) format.
Next, and more interestingly, is the latest from Paul Graham, who asks, “Why Do Startups Condense in America?” (and also, what can other countries do to compete). This essay is full of great questions and observations about what makes certain places more “innovative” than others. It’s focused on the business end of things, but Graham’s points could just as easily help explain what makes one city more “interesting” than another. Example:
A state that bans chewing gum has a long way to go before it could create a San Francisco. Do you need a San Francisco? Might there not be an alternate route to innovation that goes through obedience and cooperation instead of individualism? Possibly, but I’d bet not. Most imaginative people seem to share a certain prickly independence, whenever and wherever they lived. You see it in Diogenes telling Alexander to get out of his light and two thousand years later in Feynman breaking into safes at Los Alamos. Imaginative people don’t want to follow or lead. They’re most productive when everyone gets to do what they want.
He makes another good point in his take on the state of American schools:
Those worried about America’s “competitiveness” often suggest spending more on public schools. But perhaps America’s lousy public schools have a hidden advantage. Because they’re so bad, the kids adopt an attitude of waiting for college. I did; I knew I was learning so little that I wasn’t even learning what the choices were, let alone which to choose. This is demoralizing, but it does at least make you keep an open mind.
Certainly if I had to choose between bad high schools and good universities, like the US, and good high schools and bad universities, like most other industrialized countries, I’d take the US system. Better to make everyone feel like a late bloomer than a failed child prodigy.
Published June 21st, 2006
in Uncategorized.
Does anybody remember Catatonia? I liked them. I know that Cerys Matthews put out a solo album after the band split up, but I never checked it out. And I think she has a new one coming out soon. Maybe I’ll see if I can track it down. In the meantime, here is some vintage stuff:
Catatonia - Mulder and Scully
Catatonia - My Selfish Gene
Catatonia - Dead From the Waist Down
Catatonia - Dazed, Beautiful and Bruised
Tom Jones (with Cerys Matthews) - Baby, It’s Cold Outside
Published June 9th, 2006
in Uncategorized.
‘Unforeseen’ property taxes help balance BART budget. On the other hand, at least CTA manages to keep their trains running past midnight. BART still has some things to learn… =P
Published June 9th, 2006
in Uncategorized.
I’m a big fan of Beulah, particularly their final album, Yoko. All this time (a year or so) that I’ve been listening to it, I never noticed anything amiss. Then I was at work and I didn’t have access to the hard drive with my Beulah MP3s on it, so I just downloaded Yoko again. Started listening… WTF is up with this mix? Is this some remix? Did some Googling and found out that nope… What I’ve been listening to lo these many months has been not “Yoko” but “The Yoko Demos” CD that Beulah sold on their last tour. Whoops! Anyway, the tracks are all the same (plus a couple new verses) and honestly there was nothing really “lacking” from the production of the demos. That being said, these new mixes that I have now are a little bit more multilayered and cool. Particularly some of my favorite songs which are kind of slower and more atmospheric. In honor of my disillusionment, here are a couple of my favorite Beulah songs:
Beulah - A Man Like Me
Beulah - Hovering
Something about the metaphor and syntax in these tracks strikes me as being just about perfect. From “A Man Like Me”:
I’ve been waiting all night long,
I’ve been waiting to sing your song,
Tonight, if you help me,
Just help me find your key.
I run my hands down your neck,
Across your back to another fret,
I know you’re fragile, bound to self destruct…
And “Hovering”:
Watching the planes land over the bay
I wish they could hang in the air forever
holding the patterns for days
I hope they
Will be delayed forever
…
And when she lands
I race for the crashing ground
The oxygen from the mask
That only words I let pass
I never meant to clip your pretty wings
And while we’re busy posting lyrics (God, this should really go on Myspace or last.fm, right? =P) here is this one bit from a Saturday Looks Good to Me song that I also really like the meter of:
I hear your conversations with your boring friends; You know it doesn’t matter what you’re telling them And you’ll be sleeping over when the party ends And we’ll wake up tomorrow and we’ll start again And anything outside of that is just pretend And if you tell them different then you’re lyin’. The things that people say don’t make no difference Now we can talk it over or just go to bed Or we can go to all the places where the money’s spent And buy whatever new distractions that the suits invent. They know the demographic that we represent Because they heard all our secrets through the heating vent, So write another song about your discontent, Or wax nostalgic for a time less turbulent, With metaphors like closet doors that won’t open, And you can use your list of words that rhyme with opulent…But there isn’t any doctor or medicine That’s gonna make you feel less insignificant.
Saturday Looks Good to Me - When the Party Ends
Published June 9th, 2006
in Uncategorized.
This morning Kottke directs us to the official Powers of Ten website (and to a a YouTube post of the whole thing), which if you’re not familiar, is a sort of proto-Google Earth-type film by Ray and Charles Eames. The camera pulls back from a picnicking couple in Chicago all the way out through the outer reaches of the universe and then back down into the subatomic particles in the picnicking man’s hand. Along the way you get to learn about exponents. The site has a lot of cool supplemental info about the film, including a reminder that October 10th is “Powers of Ten Day”. (So this year when you’re out getting trashed at your office’s “Powers of Ten Day” party, don’t forget that my birthday is the next day!) I first saw this at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago and I think I watched it about 4 times in a row. It’s pretty frickin’ sweet, I tell you.
Published June 8th, 2006
in Uncategorized.
Not been posting on here much lately because things have been pretty hectic at work (doing more project mgr. stuff, deadlines this week and last) and out of work (moving, hanging out, etc.) But I’m sure things will settle down again. Strikes and gutters, ups and downs. That’s the way The Dude rolls. In the meantime, here’s some pix from one thing I checked out lately. It was the Squid Labs Light Salon which happened a couple blocks away from Backbone in Emeryville.
Published June 6th, 2006
in Uncategorized.
You better believe that’s a paddling.
Published June 5th, 2006
in Gaming.
This news story sounds suspiciously familiar to the plot of Ecco the Dolphin. But I suppose this is a pretty arcane thing for anybody whose job doesn’t involve playing Ecco the Dolphin to know…
(via robot wisdom)
