do you have 22 minutes?

then please watch TALK TO ME! it's a short film documentary about a man, Mark Craig, who accumulated twenty years' worth of answering machine messages, and what he did with them.

sorry 'tisn't embeddable. the Guardian UK wrote an article on the film back when it was shown at a festival in 2007. and many many thanks, once again, to one of the best finders of cool s*&^ on the internet: JeSha!!!

bad poster, bad!

thx to my friend DaOf who sez: "Racism in the workplace is unacceptable, unless HR is doing it."

yikes.

the awesome dancing traffic cop! plus Mo Rocca.

this was on CBS Morning News this weekend.

Watch CBS News Videos Online
other than the fact that i want to go to Providence, RI now, i was surprised to hear how familiar Mo is (and Officer Lapore too) with so many dance terms/names of dance movements...

my newest favourite Jeopardy guy

Nellis commander completes 6-show run on 'Jeopardy!'

i should've/could've watched all personal info segments during the show, i suppose...but i learned more about DAVE BELOTE recently from Nellis Air Force Base's website. AlSto, our friend JaHe and i were wondering what rank he was, and it turns out he's a colonel. and also the 12th highest Jeopardy winner...?!

what a smart guy... and i can't wait to see him in the T o' C!

the last song on R.Kelly's new album is called Pregnant

HUGE thank you to RiSmi for showing me this, of the song PREGNANT, featuring Robin Thicke and The-Dream... (see it here in case the following is not visible! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fkbxxe5StKM )

who comes up with this stuff? closing ceremonies

beautiful (and a little creepy) stuff from LIFE MAGAZINE.

i wish Smaug could see this...

a co-worker sent me the following email today:

Jennifer and Luke were getting very high water bills and could not figure out why. Despite all their attempts to conserve water, the bills continued to be very high. They figured they must have a leak somewhere in their house so they hired a plumbing specialist to investigate their entire system. He could find no problem whatsoever. One day, Luke was home sick and while in bed on the second floor, he heard water running continuously below him. He decided to find out the source of the running water and soon discovered the cause of their problems. He decided to videotape this for posterity… Please watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIVsZRPx_Dw

regretsy!

weird, weird, weird. there are many more examples of 'handmade stuff that looks like it was made by someone's feet'. thank you to SarMan for turning me on to this site!!!

this is funny stuff...may be NSFW

Thanks to RiSmi for this one!

HI-larious!!! but NOT the College Avenue bridge.

OOPS I JUMPED THE GUN, AGAIN... NOTE THE DOUBLE-DECKER BUS IN THE BACKGROUND?! THIS IS NOT NOT NOT THE COLLEGE AVENUE BRIDGE!

dear architects: how much research goes into the testing/real-world application of designs?

this is a photo taken at the new College Avenue bridge in Appleton, WI:

ahahhahahhahahaa many thanks to FB and longtime friend SteKwo, and HIS friend JenFos for posting this!

happy birthday, Craig...

...or rather, Happy Spirit Journey Formation Anniversary.


Spirit Journey Formation Anniversary

Joe MySpace Video
with special thanks to MaMcWa for the reminder...

you saw it on the Soup, now see it in its entirety...

ladies and gentlemen, i give you DRUNKEN EWOK RAMPAGE!!! Thanks to WaDi for first telling us about this, even before Joel McHale!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

...cos you're hanging out just twiddling your thumbs!

remember Timer? of course, Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick do!

this week's VENTURE BROTHERS featured a quote from the Monarch, referencing the animated little top-hatted cool guy from ABC:

"...or whatever turns you on." i love that. if you use TiVO, the scene happens at about the :25 point.

adorable!

here is a lovely Brock Sampson painting of Bigfoot and Steve Austin from the Venture Brothers.

and stay tuned for the Smaug the Desolate memorial posting and party...!!?

another WTF???!!!! video...

in anticipation of the upcoming film for Where the Wild Things Are, i followed a link from the Twitt'r and found an incredible site/blog called We Love You So. (i think /hope he's talking about loving Sendak...!)

VIDEO: trailer for we live in public

another thank you to JeSha for her awesome YouTube links!

i [HEART] James Carville...and Bill Hader's impersonation too...

Thursday's SNL News Update marks the return of Amy Poehler in a subtle lead-in to her not-so-funny tv show, but please see the the entire show is pretty good, especially the Joe Wilson bit at the beginning...but Bill Hader's crazy Carville is the best, Jerry, the BEST! watch beginning from the 7:20-ish point in the video below:

MUSIC: i still [HEART] Dizzee Rascal and underestimated Calvin Harris...

i am very excited by some old new music (old to the world, new to me) cos i just heard the latest from Dizzee Rascal. i love his new direction! the newest video from DIZZEE RASCAL is called "Holiday" with an infectious piece of dance music heaven on the track, by Calvin Harris...


for the record, i don't really care for the bikini video but seeqpod is gone now so i can't easily post audio samples... :(

and here's the previous single, which is another dance monster, this time collaborating with ARMAND VAN HELDEN on a track called "Bonkers"!!!!

like interactive Kutiman

another gem from JeSha via the Facebook:

http://www.inbflat.net/

news: good and bad about cats

first off, MANY MANY THANKS to each and every friend and family member who has expressed concern for smaug and for us! the three of us love you very much.

well, smaug is returning home after his exploratory surgery today (after much human fear and anxiety)! dr. took biopsies of intestinal wall and the masses, which have spread to other organs, but there's not much else a surgeon can do for him. an oncologist may be an option, but we'll have to wait and see for results... it seems chemotherapy isn't the best option for senior cats to undertake, and in this case radiation has a lot of side effects which could hurt smaug even more in the long run.

as of this morning, dr. said smaug is "really doing very well" recovering from the surgery. he did receive a blood plasma transfusion, because he was having trouble clotting yesterday...but otherwise he is eating and up and alert. :))

and in case you didn't see this video from the HuffPo today:

sometimes, i wish i prayed.

erm, i mean, rather, sometimes, i wish i was a pray-er.
god this sucks.

...but, i really think we have to try.

La Cañada/Flintridge fire time lapse

Thanks to CraBru for this!

smaug isn't diagnosed yet...

last week: normal glucose meant no diabetes. hooray! went home with Reglan for vomiting and bacteria supplements to help digestion.

although bloodwork showed normal liver and kidney function, and (i think) normal free T4 level so no hyperthyroidism...there was high WBC count, so now he's on antibiotics.

xray today showed 'a mass' in his intestine. going for an ultrasound tomorrow morning.
now hoping it isn't intestinal small cell lymphoma.

video of Asian kid from the (Web) Soup

this week, the Soup showed a clip of an Asian kid reacting to some Vanessa Hudgens video he saw... it's kinda disturbing.


UPDATE: this kid is wild! he's got a whole bunch of videos online...

cat massage

Thanks to DanOf!

El Bullì or BUST!

after course 12, i imagined i still would have been hungry. after course 30, maybe not so much...? check out the beautiful photos (and videos!).
http://www.amateurgourmet.com/2009/08/dinner_at_el_bu.html

MANY thanks to ArBa for the link to this!

all hail our own hypnotoad!!!

if you know me, you know my brother Kaze is a collector of wildlife, of sorts...


recently, AlSto and i found out that this little gentleman (i anthropomorphize everything as male, apparently...but how does one gender reptiles, anyway?) lives in our kitchen area. isn't he the awesomest!???

Kaze calls him an 'ambush predator'. how cool is that??!

Ukraine's got talent...in creepy intense packages.

Many thanks to MaMcwa for this video (via EW.com)!


this girl reminds me of Emily the Strange.

i wish i spoke Ukrainian to get the full impact of the emotion of her drawings. according to Agnehka on Youtube, 'she writes at the end "You are with us always" (with the meaning, it doesn't matter how far you are - you are in our thoughts, so we are together).' along with the 1945 year, when the Nazis first attacked?

i feel kinda icky about this...

Thanks to ChriCa (via the Latin Loop)!
This article tells us about a new educational toy for our youngsters. From Spain comes "a new era of dolls, a doll called Bebe Gloton, or Glutton Baby, that can be used for breastfeeding practice..."


???!!!

another PS gem and Shakira too

another POST SECRET secret:

and this one is soooooooooo awesome!
My husband installed a medicine cabinet with a false top in our bathroom. Every time we have someone over to our house for the first time, we remove everything that's in the cabinet and fill it with ping pong balls. We know which of our friends are secret snoops when we hear all the ping pongs balls crashing all over!

oh and in case you have seen this most hideous of music videos! please, make it stop.

only readable until next week...

POSTSECRET was quite good this week.

i'm posting this cos my friend JoMa got a binary doormat, which he figured out, says 'Welcome'. well, this is supposed to say "I'm in love with two men. I'm not married to the better of the two."
(Decoded by Alex & Troy of the Post Secret Community)

MUSIC: excited about new BASEMENT JAXX

there's new music and goings on, ramping up for a fall release of the new album called Scars by the almighty BASEMENT JAXX on XL Recordings. leave it to Felix and Simon to make pitch-shift auto-tune vocal processing less annoying!!!



check this recording from the Live Lounge hour on BBC's Radio1! they sound like they have four live singers in the studio with them:


there's also a new song with Sam Sparro, called 'Feeling's Gone'; the audio is from Pete Tong's BBC show, i think...

compare and contrast

check the END of this short video (start around :49) and watch the alternative fuel motorcycles on the legendary corkscrew at Laguna Seca race circuit:

(BTW that was our friend BriKa #88 at the :30 point)

and NOW check the same section of the track using combustion engine bikes during MotoGP! (Gooooooooo Rossi!)

MUSIC: Huun Huur Tu are back!

everyone's favourite overtone singers from Tuva are back! along with prolific electronic/dance music producer CARMEN RIZZO, their new album is called Eternal and it's out now on Rizzo's Electrofone Records.


the mix of electronic and organic instruments, many of them indigenous to Tuvan music, really work well together. i've been a fan of Huun Huur Tu ever since i first heard their album 60 Horses in My Herd on Shanachie Records (i believe), and even though i must admit i don't know each guy's name, i can tell you the voices are the same...except for possibly one. i recognised deep-rumbly-guy, high-voice-guy and pure-voiced-guy-who-sings-the-melodies right away.

Huell Howser freakout

last one.

Thanks to WaDi.

Robo-Geisha.

via Whalt, via paulscheer via Robertpopper.com

Monzai: BEYOND Matrix Ping Pong

taking the Matrix ping pong concept to new heights!

via JaHe.

Del Taco Orange Shakes, and from SNL so-so to full on koo koo

i forget the difference between a dreamsicle and a creamsicle, but this shake sounds pretty, pretty, pretty good! i learned about the return of the orange shake from the fabulous Orange County Mexican Food blog.

and...my friend WaDi mentioned the recent fundamentalist crusade of Saturday Night Live's Victoria Jackson. and of course i forgot about it. until i read an entry today on William Lobdell's blog, that began like this:

"Obama legally kills babies and now he can legally kill Grandmas! "

you're gonna like this!

this video is amazing. thanks to ChMatrix for sharing.

it's like being on acid but the stuff is actually moving on the building!

and THIS is indescribable:

but, as @shwood said, "Without the slightest trace of irony, this is the best thing Chriss Angel has ever done."

RIP Andy Hughes of the Orb

with all the MJ news yesterday, today and forever, "and ever and ever and ever and ever"...it is with great shock and sadness that i have learned of the death of ANDY HUGHES, formerly of the Orb.

there's a period of my life marked by brilliant and wonderful dance music records. even into the late 1990's, so many albums were life changing for me, cos the artists and producers of the dance music world were just hitting their stride. that's where the classic 'Toxygene' came in, off the Orblivion album.

pure beauty. in between all the MJ stuff, or even instead of, give it a listen. i swear that train whistle is from BANCO DE GAIA's 'Last Train to Lhasa'.

Black Eyed Peas and their uncleared sample of Freeland ---WTF??!!

another reason why i like T-Pain

More CMT Shows More CMT Videos

latest tshirt from Despair, Inc.

Despair Inc. is the BEST, Jerry, the BEST!

Rock Hudson and Bea Arthur Sing About Drugs!?

For some, it's ...
Another brilliant video via @JamesUrbaniak, who is Dr. Venture, dammit!

JaHe on YouTube!!!

watch against the wall from :35 point, after all the cars begin to pull out...and maybe AlSto @2:53, after the motorcycle goes by the orange one?

see what playing frylock will get you?

T-Pain's 10lbs. and 197 karats. via pyroradio.com on the Twitter...

i'd rather be at wok.

the BRIAN LYNCH blog says '30Rock is a Ripoff of the Muppet Show'. need proof?


Pete is Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Kenneth is Scooter, Jack is Sam the Eagle, and so much more!!!!

btw just for timeline purposes: this past weekend was mellow for me (just wedding on Sat.), and crazy for the mister (Tesla rally, Lakers game). JaHe and DeRa were both in the house all weekend and we went to King's X Saturday night with PhiLe and DaLo.

DJ Shadow/E3/DJ Hero and Def Jam Rapstar

Def Jam Rapstar at IGN.com

ANOTHER gem from JeSha...

From David Fullarton's "What i do at work when i'm supposed to be working" collection.

There's more! Check BEHANCE for photos and the SISYPHUS OFFICE EXHIBITION for more info.

who's a good boy?

via JeSha on FB!

you think i spoil Smaug??!

yeah, these cost $200. and i bet these guys are all kittens and therefore kitten-sized? i fear i will have to wait for the IKEA version.

thanks to Kaze for this! More info on AKEMI TANAKA's design at Supermarket.

there is an episode of Aqua Teen called "Sirens"...

and this isn't it.

instead, i present to you the PILLOW-FIGHTING SLAVE LEIAS.

Via Mike Fix on Facebook, originally via ELOKETH on Flickr.

Sweet jesus...

Via @JamesUrbaniak, aka 'Dr. Thaddeus Venture'.

LGBT Military Hero on Rachel Maddow

i don't know what to say, except something needs to be done to stop the military's policy on 'don't ask don't tell'...

In case you can't see the video below, here is a link to my blog:
http://venusthesomnambulist.blogspot.com/2009/05/lgbt-military-hero-on-rachel-maddow.html

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

and here's a link to the video itself:
http://rss.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/30632259#30834555

VIDEO: Make the Girl Dance - Baby Baby Baby

i wish this song wasn't so darn good. If you wanna skip to the good parts, just go to :12, :58, and 2:08-ish. Many thanks to my friend and co-worker Arjun for this one!

Make The Girl Dance "Baby Baby Baby" ( official video )
Uploaded by placeblancherec - See the latest featured music videos.

comedy according to Jonathan Goldstein

How would you define your brand of comedy?

"An attempt to confide my saddest, darkest thoughts about life to people in a way that doesn’t compel them to run away from me."

-Jonathan Goldstein via enRoute

a video of everything the Anthem Magazine party was NOT.

JaHe and i were there, in all the alcohol-poisoned, heat-exhausted, testosterone-drenched, microbe-laden, piss-soaked, vomit-splotched, alpha-female disorganized clusterf(*&^ of it all. in other words, this is NOT what we experienced, whatsoever:

Anthem Ranch Party, Coachella '09 from Anthem Magazine on Vimeo.

UNBELIEVABLE. the Anthem Magazine Coachella Party was disgusting, and a hazard to one's health. anyone who disagrees, and believes this video is actually what went on, is either delusional or hallucinating, or was in the quiet air-conditioned comfourt of the ranch house itself...and not suffering with all of us idiots outside.

fun food...n'est pas haute cuisine.

now i'm going to stick dried spaghetti into any food that i can boil. except spaghetti.
via Twitter via http://maraz-m-moroz.livejournal.com/255878.html

yeah, no thanks.

MUSIC: TV on the Radio at the Glass House in Pomona, CA AND MORE!!

i was fortunate to attend this BRILLIANT show with AlSto and dear friend PhiLe. until i can sync my Flickr account with my blog, i will have to provide you with a link to their set list.

release-wise, i am also really enjoying the following records, the latest:
FISCHERSPOONER: Entertainment on FS Studios - yeah, can't quite explain this one, but i like it for some reason.

NEKO CASE: Middle Cyclone on Anti - god have i talked about this one, already? i can't get it out of my head. this record is really, really good! and if you know me, you know i don't really like girl bands/singers...

NICO VEGA: Nico Vega on Myspace Records - yeah, i didn't think stuff on Myspace Records would be any good, but so far, most of their releases have been much better than average, at least in this old music snob's ears. And Nico Vega is pretty good. If the link above doesn't work, i dunno, check amazon.com.

TOSCA: No Hassle on G-Stone - i wish wish wish downtempo could just go back to those amazing K&D daze. Dorfmeister still remembers, though. lovely album. please listen.

so, we're seeing My Bloody Valentine tomorrow night at the El Rey. i feel too old to go to Coachella this year, but we've been EVERY year...so why stop now?!!

photos and a video of Rick Warren in support of Prop. 8

this is the latest Postsecret and it's a favourite, especially since i STILL haven't finished my tax return yet. i wonder if this person was an IRS employee, or someone like at H&R Block???

Next up is a photo via my friend ArBa, and it reminds me of the GeeWhiz episode on Aqua Teen Hunger Force... cos i swear i see the image of J.C. in that candy bar; look close!

lastly, i saw this video of Reverend "i've never been a supporter of Prop. 8" Rick Warren. i still can't tell whether the video was doctored or not, cos upon playback, there are quite a few glitches. you tell me if this video is authentic, or not:

whew, i'm NOT schizophrenic.

you know the 'hollow mask illusion'? it's what happens when you can't tell the outside from the inside of a mask, like those 'sculptures' in the Haunted Mansion. now i want to stick around at Disneyland and listen to the crowd to see who isn't fooled...and thus who has schizophrenia:

Not everyone struggles to correctly determine the mask's orientation. New research shows that people with schizophrenia are immune to the effect – a finding that means the illusion could provide a diagnostic test for the condition.

Via New Scientist via digg.com

THE WORST...

the worst homemade Star Wars costumes. strange how Stormtroopers and Boba Fett are so often attemped, so seldom successfully.

PHOTO: Post Secret, mean people and anorexia...

here's some Saturday Secrets...the top one bugs me, but only because i really don't think i'd do the same if i pulled someone over with a ___ sticker. but i guess that's why i'm not a cop.

i couldn't remove the next photo from the first. speaking of which, did you see the article on the man with anorexia in the L.A. Times? kinda disturbing.

via Postsecret.com

MUSIC: Fever Ray and Röyksopp !!!

FEVER RAY is Karin Dreijer Andersson of THE KNIFE.
RÖYKSOPP performed the song from the caveman Geico commercial.

And they both came together on a Röyksopp track called This Must Be It . (hear it via the Hype Machine.)

could it be...FOREST WHITAKER??!

i read FOREST WHITAKER is a voice in Where the Wild Things Are! is that Dave Eggers of McSweeneys/AHWOSG who is writing the screenplay? interesting. many thanks to ElOs for the link to the trailer:

i know i suck but i can't tell, is that POLYPHONIC SPREE or ARCADE FIRE? (probably neither...)

The Universal Record Database

Thank you, Jonathan Goldstein, for turning me on to the UNIVERSAL RECORD DATABASE. The creator of the site supposedly holds the record for Most Bananas Fit Inside a Pair of Pants While Still Wearing Them:

On this week's Wiretap called "Fishin' for Glory", we learn that Jonathan is a long-distance complainer and his friend Mike holds the record for the most number of complaints said in a minute. You can download and listen to the unofficial Wiretap podcast.

Baaa-studs continued...and reasons why i wanna go back to Wales.

by now, you've seen the EXTREME SHEPERDING video. the Samsung link doesn't have squat for information. i still can't tell whether it's real or not, but i really hope it is real!

a quick search has produced a little more information on a few of the sheep artists (although i noticed the dogs didn't get any credits at all!)

• BERNARD LLEWELLYN - "the General": and an agritourism entrepreneur
• GERRY LEWIS - "the Player": ha, i thought this was a pseudonym! or maybe Jerry Lewis got his name from Gerry... anyway, Gerry is indeed a Welsh national sheepherding champion!
• EMRIS WILLIAMS - "the electrician": i'm not sure, but there's a guy named EMRYS WILLIAMS who has written books on electronics.
• ROBERT JONES - "L.E.D master": there are a LOT of Robert Joneses.
• WYN GRIFFITHS
• RHYS FRANCIS

has anyone seen Monsters vs. Aliens?

and if so, did you see the trailer for Where the Wild Things Are? a colleague at work had even wondered whether he should skip theatres just to see the trailer... now this movie, i WILL see in the theatre.

NOW maybe they'll bring back the interactive WTWTA area that used to be at the Metreon in San Francisco??! (psssst...Spike Jonze...how about a live-action Chicken Soup with Rice next??!)

Baaaa-studs, indeed! and a great way to start a flight.

via GuardianTech in the UK, via Viral Video Chart.

and see the rapping flight attendant on Southwest:

MUSIC: Bell X1 on David Letterman 17/3/09

here is the BELL X1 VIDEO from Letterman.

again, i beg you, does anyone know what guitar he is using?!!?

browser keeps crashing...

...cos the embed code on the jimmy fallon site SUX. and i can't edit the last post.



so here is a not-so-good version of the performance.

MUSIC: Public Enemy & Bell X1 aka screw Coachella? i wanna be in Philly!

if you happened to catch PUBLIC ENEMY on Jimmy Fallon's show this week, their brilliant performance of Bring the Noise was accompanied by Antibalas' horn section and the Roots. the appearance of PROFESSOR GRIF with Nation of Islam-esque steppers, and TERMINATOR X on the turntables behind CHUCK D. and FLAVOR FLAV????!!! come on, now!



that audience was way too mellow.

and that was merely a taste of what's yet to come. turns out, not only are they scheduled to play the ROOTS' PICNIC in June, in Philadelphia...but PE will be performing their epic It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back in its freaking entirety. oh yeah, and TVOTR will perform, too.

oh yeah, did u happen to catch BELL X1 on Letterman? this is the second album i've heard, and they are both great...but tell me this song (The Great Defector) doesn't sound like the Talking Heads 2009?! no video clips yet, but you can hear them on Myspace.

oh, and could someone PLEASE tell us what guitar he is using???!

MUSIC: the new Dead Weather song is a Gary Numan song!!!

Jack White's latest endeavour, THE DEAD WEATHER, is all over the press today. i hope they mention Are Friends Electric is originally a Gary Numan song!

it looks like the bass player is the same guy from the Raconteurs. and you can hear the Dead Weather's version of it on their website or on iToons.

how do you re-blog on blogger/blogspot?

blogger is a pain. often.
OK so here are posts from the TAG (The Animators' Guild) blog. i'm a little behind on reading.

• How to get in to the animation biz
• Goodbye to King of the Hill

the latter, i'm kinda bummed about...cos with the exception of the 'Peggy episodes', as AlSto and i call them, it is a really great show.

who is KUTIMAN?

i sometimes call my cat Smaug CUTEYman.

wow, i can only imagine how long it took to do this...audio AND video! holy crap. but please give a listen, i know you'll enjoy it!

anyway, a huge thanks to JaHe for this.
this guy rocks. see KUTIMAN's other videos too.

not robust enough: the time my internet search skills failed me

today, i saw the largest automobile funeral procession i have ever seen in my life. it was going westbound (i was just grateful they were headed the opposite way than i was) on Rosecrans Ave. in Sante Fe Springs, La Mirada or Norwalk...i'm not sure...between Carmenita and Valley View.

there were at least 200 cars, led by about two dozen rebuilt and restored classic 1950s era Chevrolet cars. by the time i figured out what was going on, and got my camera out to take a photo, the Chevys had all driven past...and then a pod of Harley Davidson motorcylists followed, with the entire procession for miles down the road. it required three sets of funeral escorts on motorcycles.

so, i tried for about half an hour to look for information about whose passing would have been memorialised and attracted such a large group on this day. i couldn't find anything. i tried everything, from your usual search terms, all their synonyms and the date. i tried looking up mortuaries and their schedules. i tried online maps, newspapers, blah blah. no dice. so i'm posting here so that maybe i'll remember to look again someday.

MUSIC: Heavy Metal Bee Gees cover band!!!???

A heavy metal Bee Gees cover band is TRAGEDY. Literally.
Thanks to JaSo for this disturbing amalgam of two diametrically opposite music genres. Or, so i thought they were...

SAM MAYNARD wants to teach you how to fix your car!

Mr. Maynard is available to teach you basic automotive repair skills...And he's in L.A.!

The 70 year old mechanic says there's no place he'd rather be than under the hood. "Oh, it's my passion, it's my passion!" i wonder if he'd teach a small group class of us...?

Listen to the story here. And, read a little more about Mr. Maynard, too. Photo via NPR/Christopher Johnson.

The Animators' Guild Blog...

...is something i have been turned on to, lately. Today, they wrote that the Simpsons will indeed be renewed for two more seasons. Huzzah! and Caloo Callay!

NO.

Are we ready for flavoured bourbon?

It's backwards day.

100 Days, 100 songs, 100 locations, 100 dances.

SO awesome! thanks to WaDi for this.

BOOMBOX from Ely Kim on Vimeo.

Shane Battier in NYT Magazine

there was a great cover story in New York Times magazine about Houston Rocket/former Memphis Grizzly SHANE BATTIER. love that guy!

the weak-end

my boss, SteLa, sent me the above image. he's the coolest.


i'm ashamed to say we watched like six straight hours of "Lockup" about the New Mexico penitentiary system. Myspace has banned all links to this blog cos i updated my Myspace blog with a link to THIS. i wish i had attended the Postsecret event at UCR last week...they choose weird venues to visit when they come to Southern CA. i think we're going dancing tonight(!!!) but i'm tired.

Fish paste, i think, is kamaboko.

Via BOING BOING, thanks to JaHe...shrimp, sesame, fish paste and all!

wtf is 'democratic chess'?

many thanks to JaHe for this!! as i was saying to him, the 'democracy' is in that each piece's player's ability to weigh in before the real player makes a move, right? i think i'd move contrary to the ones that heckle my game, just to spite them.

isn't the beauty of chess being able to play one side, or both sides, by oneself? i imagine a couple of different scenarios: 1) all skill/knowledge will be parceled out and weaken a person's game, kinda like what wikipedia has done to all of our generally brilliant friends; or 2) better players will have the pieces that can't see well and will screw up gameplay cos they couldn't see the big picture.

(hey, can someone check the source code to find out when the artist put this page up? i wanna know what how long ago he started this, especially since he mentions "finishing in a couple of weeks"...)

Renee Stephens is just pissed she can't control all the minds on the internets...

i was reading about some backlash against a husband that was awful toward the woman who traded places/families with his own wife, Renee Stephens, on a reality tv show. In turn, Renee Stephens apparently disrespected and used all kinds of condescension on the family she was placed with...to put it nicely.

An Owen Thomas article (on Valleywag ) about the WifeSwap contestant posted the wife's online apologies, in which this woman claimed her husband had only agreed to participate in the show to please her. So, i looked around online to see if this woman was for real.

Renee Stephens' active and poorly designed website is undoubtedly from back in the day when she couldn't afford to send her kids to a $40k a year private school.

She puts a lot of worth on one's education, and seems to insult people without advanced degrees. Although her current blog containing the apology was taken offline, there is a blog entry from 2007 on ourhypnospace.com in which she states "I'm entering a doctoral program in Psychology in the Fall at the California Institute of Integral Studies..." and she "holds an MBA from the London Business School, and BA with Distinction from the University of Virginia. She is a Certified Hypnotherapist, Certified Master Practitioner of Neuro Linguistic Programming, Certified Life Coach and Certified Destination Coach".

This woman was only trained and qualified to sell things...which she did, by inventing her own weight-loss method.

So, WTF is 'neuro linguistic programming'?!!! (to find out, see Slate.com, Skeptic's Dictionary and this NLP website) Let alone, a 'certified destination coach'? i still have no idea, except it has something to do with controlling your own brain's function. Then, there's the part about hynotizing yourself and believing you can persuade others through your words. Sounds like a marketing class taken to the self-help level to me...but, maybe it worked on the poor man who fell under the spell and married her.

wtf is she talking about?

politics, change and (cognitive) therapy...

i was listening to the press conference today, and thinking about the huge paradigm shift that has to occur in the 'usual way' things are/have been done in D.C. and how impossible it seems to accomplish in four years, let alone 100 days. i suck at understanding politics and history and 'seeing the big picture' and 'reading between the lines'. still, i am hopeful that my apparent novice outlook isn't simply naïve or idealistic...

all this led me to think about friends who have benefited from the cognitive-behavioural model of psychotherapy, and the reasons why it is considered a best practice in terms of length of treatment in relation to effectiveness, especially in this day and age of short-term non-preventative responses to acute illness.

according to the National Association of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapists:

"Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy... is a form of psychotherapy that emphasizes the important role of thinking in how we feel and what we do."

sounds pretty obvious...and i still only grasp its application to help individuals at the highest levels of functioning: e.g. people who need a little help in their day-to-day and NOT people who are severely psychotic and have difficulty with reality orientation. this being said, i don't think our political system is completely psychotic, just repairably dysfunctional...and so perhaps the two seemingly diametrically opposed governmental parties have to come to a realisation that they need to change their way of thinking before anything can change, assuming, they feel there is indeed a need for change.

like a person who goes into therapy.

i haven't been in school or in a clinical setting for some time, but i DO remember a few things i learned from working with clients in a mental health setting:

• things get worse before they get better
• practice makes perfect, or at least practice makes it easier to utilise skills in an attempt to move toward better
• practice has to take place in a safe, structured environment with trained professionals
• healing, rehabilitation, recovery or whatever you want to call it requires trust (trust in the doctor, yourself, pharma, therapy etc. etc. etc.)
• nothing is solved or cured overnight or even in a few days/hours

i guess i'm thinking that the country has been removed from its own enabling (i.e. being stuck in the status quo) or self-destructive situation, and thankfully there is a system in place to try and get it better. some approaches work and some approaches fail...but most of the time we have to rely on evidence-based interventions to supply education and tools needed to improve the way one reacts to stressful situations. an inductive method encourages us to look at our thoughts as being hypotheses or guesses that can be questioned and tested...and if the tests fail, we need to find a better solution. if the tests succeed, then it reinforces things for next time.

but in the words of Carl Branananalewski:

"It don't matter. None o' dis matters."

Barack Obama is tired of your motherfucking shit

i know, i know, you heard these already when you listened to the audiobook of Dreams of My Father...but taken out of the context of the book, these are hilarious! i would LOVE to hear the outtakes. (do they ever include them with an audiobook, like a DVD special feature?)

Barack Obama is tired of your motherfucking shit

Posted using ShareThis

i should have thought of these.

These things actually cost $5 for 25!!! i think there should be other styles, like "Thanks a lot, douchebag." and "What a DB you are!"

why i hate Orange County...part 2 (?)

The Obama room is too much for customers of Anaheim's White House Restaurant. And i'm not talking about the price!!

There's a little too much gold décor, but i'd like to eat there, anyway...

What OT level is Bart Simpson at?

Join Scientologists at their Flag World Tour Event! There will be all kinds of cool stuff, like auditing, Nancy Cartwright (who is at OT Level 7) aaaaaaand Bart Simpson!

Inaugural Gigapan

See the INAUGURAL GIGAPAN.

Photog DAVID BERGMAN "made this Gigapan image from the north press platform during President Obama's inaugural address at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on January 20, 2009. It's made up of 220 images and the final image size is 59,783 X 24,658 pixels or 1,474 megapixels."

i wonder if i can buy these in bulk?

Japanese lap pillows and slip n slides...

LITERALLY!!
many thanks as always to WaDi for turning me on to some really weird sh*^. please note the hosts' affinity for the use of 'lotion' in the clip below:

DJ Shadow on Studio 360

i haven't been downloading podcasts as diligently as i used to, so i missed this when in first aired. but, i heard it today, and i wanted to share it with you...

this has got to be called something else...

not the 'LOVE' part...the Obamicon.Me part.

how about 'Shepardize Me' or 'Faireyize Me'??!

haven't been to PostSecret in a while...

AlSto and i were talking to JaHe about the difference between paranoia and suspicion the other day...

i never go on this site anymore cos once i do, i can never stop reading... here i go again.

Obama's West Wing: Can reality match the liberal White House fantasy?

Leave it to the Guardian to give us a rundown of the new administration, explained in terms i can understand: by drawing parallels with the characters from Aaron Sorkin's series The West Wing!

ART: Entropa by David Cerny

"An art installation at the European Council by David Cerny has caused an uproar. In what was supposed to be art that unites Europe, the piece appears to insult nations. Bulgaria was represented as a series of hole-in-the-floor toilets. And Italy was represented as a soccer field with soccer players engaged in questionable public behavior. " Romania, left, is depicted as a Dracula castle.

See the NY Times article.

which came first?

ok ok, they're not THAT similar...

proud to be a redneck

weekend america
Originally uploaded by brian.scroggin

WHOA.

More electronic cigs at CES 2008

CIMG5909
Originally uploaded by cnull

WTF?!

Again, from cnull via Yahoo!

Electronic Cigarettes (!!!?) at CES 2008

CIMG5861
Originally uploaded by cnull

hmmm, i don't know how i feel about these.

Thanks to cnull via Yahoo! (who uploaded on 8 Jan 09, 3.47PM PST)
for a glimpse into this year's CES. it's 4.29PM, now!

the ELIICA???!

Sure, our friend BriKa may have his Tesla, but how about THIS beauty? Many thanks to bro Kaze for sending the link to the ELectric LIthium-Ion CAr (get it?)!

TOP ALBUMS OF 2008

so, for the past few weeks, i've been going over this list and trying not to miss anything, and then i realised it's getting pretty damn close to the end of the year, so i better get a move on! be warned: this is like the total antithesis of a hipster Pitchfork countdown (no offense)...meaning, you will find no Lil' Wayne or Kanye on here, even though you will find M83 and TV on the Radio.

with my apologies (esp. to WaDi), i present to you (with further ado) in alphabetical order, by name of band/artist:

ALL THE SAINTS: Fire on Corridor X on Touch and Go - yeah. i really like this one. sounds like the Jesus and Marychain collided with a groove and then was possessed by a grunge band. can't really make out all the words, but the production sounds awesome and is everything i like about analogue recording...riffs + noise + distortion = good.

BLOC PARTY: Intimacy on Atlantic - with the exception of 'Mercury', Bloc Party put out an album with all the stuff you'd expect from a band that now has a little more time and cash to release records. hmm, that doesn't sound like the most glowing review, does it? they still sound like that familiar post-80s city-dwelling band you didn't listen to in high school.

CATZ 'N DOGZ: Stars of Zoo on Mothership - awwwwwyeeeeaaaah!!! tech-house music at its finest, from the Claude von Stroke-related (via Dirtybird) Mothership label. these guys are dance masters straight out of Poland, and they'll make you want to moooooove.

EAT STATIC: Back to Earth on Interchill - one of my dance music hero groups. they released a lot of b-sides and now have compiled them into this full-length record, which is a masterpiece...except for two songs. they tread everywhere from house to spacey sci-fi to ambient, with Eat Static precision and production.

ROY HARGROVE QUINTET: Earfood on Decca - i mean, seriously. this record is f*&^ing fantastic. Decca Records' offshoot EmArcy has truly released relevant, modern, cool jazz records all year. trumpeter Hargrove hasn't updated his MySpace since summer, but i don't care, if it was because he was working on this record. and, if you even remotely like jazz, you must hear this! every single song is strong, and it just may lure people from the outside in to the room, wherever you have this on.

JUNO REACTOR: Gods & Monsters on Metropolis - psytrance and then some, juno reactor's drum sounds are still like no one else's. there's a little less tribal stuff and a little more spacey stuff on this album, but it's a solid release that unfortunately didn't get much attention. they blew through L.A. with their live show at the start of November, which we missed for one reason or another...but i am SO glad they're making music still!

JAPANESE POPSTARS: We Just Are on Gung Ho! Recordings - i'm sick of asian-sounding record labels, like Dim Mak, Ace Fu, and now Gung Ho...but i'll overlook it for now. this album is part Prodigy, part Justice, part Chemical Brothers and part name-your-favourite-electronic-band-here. In the scene in Ireland, they've been around for a while now. Listen to Total Distorted Mayhem! and you'll see what i mean. jump in jump in, jump...jump in jump in, jump...

JOZI: Title Unknown on African Swim - there were some promos that ran for a brief while, during the commercial breaks on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programmes, and they showcased some pretty incredible hip-hop/rap crews i've never seen or heard of before. once you find the AFRICAN SWIM section of the Adult Swim site, there are mp3s and videos of a group called Jozi who sound like Zulu music "mixed with the crunk". the result is something so much more exciting and original than any of that tired, homogenous crap rap out there.

KING KHAN & THE SHRINES: The Supreme Genius of King Khan & the Shrines on Vice Records - this is punk-soul mixed with a little psychobilly, featuring a full band complete with horn section and organ. It's like a gospel revival meeting coming out of a garage band.

LADY DOTTIE & THE DIAMONDS: self -titled on Hi-Speed Soul - many thanks to my friend and indie music radio promoter Liz Koch for this one! it's a young band with modern sounds, and not at all lacking the life/pain/experience/soul that goes into the blues. Lady Dottie has the energy and ferocity of only the best singers, and in person she is far-out, man!

JAMIE LIDELL: Jim on Warp Records - if you don't like R&B vocal sounds coming out of the mouth of a 30 year-old through a processor, or if you don't like the sounds of yesteryear coming through a 20th century filter, you might not like this...but, since i still have a lot to catch up on in terms of classic soul, i am excited about hearing a sound like this. Jamie Lidell is one my most favourite contemporary singers, for sure. this album didn't have the electronic quirkiness of the (Multiply) that made me fall in love with him, but that's ok, because this time, he was backed up with a very talented live band who also toured with him.

M83: Saturdays = Youth on Mute

N*E*R*D: Seeing Sounds on Star Trak

POP LEVI: Never Never Love on Counter/Ninja Tune - the first time i ever heard Pop Levi's 'Sugar Assault Me Now' i was completely annoyed and in love at the same time. that song's full album, last year's The Return to Form Black Magick's Party, was fantastic, as is this new album. this guy just has so many freaking melodies in his head! apparently, he used to be in Ladytron, but i won't hold that against him. how a person can be so prolific and catchy at the same time is beyond me. plus, he plays all the instruments on the album...and i love how it all sounds like a giant, freaky folk rock and pop music collision in a manic phase on helium. i'd love to see him live, but i don't want to be disappointed if he doesn't pull it off. i say listen to the first five songs on the album. and then listen to the rest of it.

THE RACONTEURS: Consolers of the Lonely on Warner Brothers - this came out in March, and i almost forgot how much i love it. there is nothing to not like about the record...unless you don't like Jack White's voice, i suppose... the songwriting is different; it sounds simple but has a lot going on, and nearly every song has a memorable riff or melody. the instrumentations and arrangements are clever and unusual. and, a true test of catchiness is that i still wake up in the morning with one of their songs stuck in my head.

TV ON THE RADIO: Dear Science on Interscope - this album made it onto a lot of people's favourite lists this year, so i probably don't need to write about it. all i can say, tho, after you've read everyone else's description of it, is: listen to the album all the way through.

an honourable mention goes to...
BRYN CHRISTOPHER: My World (on ? as an import) - here's a singer who didn't seem to get too much attention in the States, but he got quite a bit of chart recognition in the UK. this guy can sing! He has a powerful, soulful facility with his instrument that sounds feminine at times... the song 'Smilin' ' sounds like Gnarls Barkley 2.0 and is just as accessible as 'Crazy' and just might get stuck in your head on your first listen. i hope this guy gets the recognition he deserves.

and out last year, is an album i loved this year...
CHRISTIAN SCOTT: Anthem on Concord Records - remember that Miles Davis album, Doo-Bop? i fear it was too acid jazz/trip hop for the jazz purists, and too jazz for the electronica heads, but it was a great record, nonetheless. Anthem has all these great horn lines set solidly on a hella groovy rhythm foundation. good stuff.



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