TRAVELS AND TRAVAILS of somnambulist

MUSIC: new Orbital album 'Wonky' !!!

2012-01-17T14:36:00.000-08:00

ORBITAL is back, baby!!!!! the new album WONKY is due out 3 April, and will be supported by a half-dozen dates, in the UK. this is the video to the first song, Never.

&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;gt;N&lt;/p&gt;

and check the new cover art:

Orbital's Wonky LP, due out 3 April 2012.

BIG thanks to Steve LOOPZ and SiouxZ at Magnum PR for this!

1% blows it for 99% of Post Secret app users

2012-01-01T11:30:00.000-08:00

would you believe...an app has become TOO POPULAR??!

i don't know if this is true, or real, or neither, but i just read Frank Warren's post on his POST SECRET blog. he states:

It pains me to announce that the PostSecret App is now closed. In some ways, this is because of its success. It reached the top-selling spot in the App Store and users shared over 2 million creative secrets.

Like the PostSecret Blog, the App was designed so each secret was absolutely anonymous. Unfortunately, that absolute anonymity made it very challenging to permanently remove determined users with malicious intent. 99% of the secrets created were in the spirit of PostSecret. Unfortunately, the scale of secrets was so large that even 1% of bad content was overwhelming for our dedicated team of volunteer moderators who worked 24 hours a day 7 days a week removing content that was not just pornographic but also gruesome and at times threatening.

and so i ask, dear app programmer/coder types, please, isn't there a way to fix this? not to fix the evil 1%, but to make it easier for the dedicated team of Post Secret moderators?

maybe not. but thanks, Frank, for trying to make it work!!!

some of my favourite music of 2011

2011-12-31T23:59:00.000-08:00

i just have a few minutes so here is the start of my list, in two word description form

SMALLER LABELS
3:33 : EP1 on Parallel Thought - brilliant sounds
Amon Tobin : ISAM on Ninja Tune - groundbreaking, original
Anna Calvi: Anna Calvi on Domino - dark guitar
Joker: The Vision on 4AD - beyond dubstep
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks: Mirror Traffic on Matador - totally underrated

it's two minutes until midnight...so i'll post my BIG LABEL and HONORABLE MENTIONS in a few....

thanks for reading! :))

some of the best stuff i've heard lately: JOKER

2011-12-12T13:49:00.000-08:00

Joker's BACK IN THE DAYS - gorgeous song with brilliant rap and an absolutely captivating vocal line:

all i can say is, you've got to hear his instrumental stuff, too.

and IF this is dubstep, then yes, i DO love dubstep. but, it's more like the SOUNDS are dubstep, but this songwriting and production go WAY beyond...

donors may receive compensation for bone marrow

2011-12-03T11:56:00.001-08:00

THANK YOU, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals!In a December 1, 2011 ruling, the three justice panel ruled that compensation may be allowed for bone marrow extracted from a donor's blood through a process called apheresis (as opposed to the usual method via extraction through one's hip known as aspiration).The LA Times states that although the 9th Circuit extends to nine states, this is the first federal ruling of its kind and may extend to the entire country. Please see the DOREEN FLYNN ET. AL. v. ERIC HOLDER ruling on the

i love this song!

2011-11-23T19:05:00.000-08:00

CHILDISH GAMBINO's Bonfire. hilarious! sorry for the commercial. i am AMAZING SPECIALIST.

in case something happens

2011-11-23T10:19:00.001-08:00

approximately 10.05am on Wednesday in Orange County, the city of Orange, CA at business on Yale Ave.
incident began while driving south on Main St. after turning from eastbound Taft Ave.
white dodge ram pickup, windows NOT tinted, with no rear license plate
after truck was driving very slowly and weaving in and out of right lane, v honked loudly and drove around the truck to make a right onto westbound Yale Ave.
v pulled into parking lot and was followed by and blocked in by truck.
one 20-something white male; uneven pink flawed skin, curly hair, bluish or otherwise light eyes; southern accent ["you better watch what you do." "...b1*c^!" ] exited truck and came up yelling to v's vehicle's closed window
this white male struck driver's window very hard with open palm
two other males in truck, unidentifiable
truck drove westbound in parking lot, went around and exited out west driveway

Vince Clarke + Martin Gore x Überzone = YES

2011-11-21T16:46:00.000-08:00

Mute Records announced an upcoming collaboration between two of my and many others' (especially those who grew up as i did, in the 80s) personal heroes, Vince Clarke and Martin Gore called VCMG.

This weekend Alx and i ran into Q aka Überzone, described as "the influential Californian electronic artist" in the above link, who has been busy in the studio mixing the album for VCMG! It comes out in spring 2012.

More info about the VCMG project is on FB here.

crazy rammstein video

2011-11-11T18:35:00.001-08:00

possibly, one of their best ones, yet! via the band's vimeo.

Rammstein - Mein Land from Rammstein on Vimeo.

who was playing at Truetone Music in Santa Monica...

2011-10-24T16:44:00.000-07:00

...Friday night, at their newly opened CLUB FENDER annex? i watched from the street with a handful of other people, through the glass of the storefront. holy wow, they were amazing.

here's a video of the last song they played last night, recorded by Don Was:
they were JACKSHIT, featuring guitar player VAL McCALLUM from Jackson Browne's band and two guys from Elvis Costello's Attractions and Impostors, respectively drummer PETE THOMAS and bassist DAVEY FARRAGHER.

i CAN have the mango...!??

2011-10-16T23:17:00.000-07:00

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!

"...i hope i get it, i hope i get it..." i sounded like Elaine Benes' old roommate a week ago. i hinted to @winphonesupport on the Twitt'r. i gently pleaded with my formerly-employed-by-microsoft friends. and then, today, i got it.

yes, i need to spend some time with this update before i can offer any feedback as to whether it is everything i had hoped it would be. however, after much research before and leading up to today, i learned a few things, of which three in particular helped me greatly:

if you have misplaced your original samsung focus charger (read - the usb to micro usb cable), you must replace with a cable which 'came with your phone'. meaning, you gotta use a samsung focus specific cable, not a universal or compatible AT&T one. otherwise, you cannot be recognized and will be UNABLE to have zune recognize your WP7 phone and thus you won't be able to connect to your computer for updates. yes, it's idiotic, but trust me on this. i will try and find a reference, as well.
your main screen or homepage or whatever they call it on your WP7 phone will not necessarily notify you of a Mango update, and neither will there be a notification under Settings : System: Phone Update . believe me, i was looking for it! instead, i suggest you connect your phone to your computer via zune just to see if your phone is due for an update... it worked for me.
Mango is expected, anticipated and reported to be otherwise known as / also known as / aka Windows Phone 7.5 or WP7.5 . however, it is actually (look in Settings : System : About ) in reality Windows Phone SOFTWARE 7.5 . it is also simultaneously operating system or OS 7.10.7720.68 - wtf ??!!! please see this for reference - http://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1116245&start=6800

there is also some additional information on the Windows Team blog, which i mistakenly read as 'Window Steam blog'. regardless, begin with this link: http://windowsteamblog.com/windows_phone/b/windowsphone/archive/2011/10/03/windows-phone-7-5-update-status.aspx

let us not forget, 16th of October 2011 is also the same day IndyCar driver DAN WHELDON passed away due to a horrific accident at the speedway in Las Vegas, as did many other beloved people around the world. today is also the day the MARTIN LUTHER KING MEMORIAL was officially dedicated in Washington, D.C. and it was also 2011 NATIONAL PLUG IN DAY.

i'm not quite like this...

2011-09-22T11:46:00.000-07:00

...YET.

Heinz, you've done it. and now, everyone's going to do it.

2011-09-20T10:46:00.001-07:00

if you know me, even a little bit, you know i've often asked, how come they don't make stupid plastic condiment packets easier, bigger and easier to biodegrade??!

i saw this today, and now i'm wondering what great invention or patent i should be working on next?

grrrrrrrrrrr

9/10/11 an hour past 12 in an electric sportscar.

2011-09-10T23:26:00.000-07:00

AlSto and i spent the day with BriKa driving in the 2011 Southern California Tesla Rally. Tesla owners/VIPs came from as far away as San Diego and Arizona to participate in the third annual drive. it had the largest turnout yet, with about 40 all-electic powered vehicles and roadsters!

we began at the Hawthorne Design Centre, where the prototype of the new S-model Tesla is rumoured to be stored.

i had the privilege of riding co-driver in car #125 AND #77 this year. more short videos are on youtube, including some confusing topsy-turvy footage as we embarked with the help of Hawthorne's finest(?, below).

not bad for a Saturday!???

JLP, Kid Congo, Patricia Morrison = perfection.

2011-09-02T13:57:00.000-07:00

listened to all of GUN CLUB's Las Vegas Story today.

this video is about as good as it gets... with the exception of the weird back and forth switch editing toward the middle. i still hope they play this entire album at my funeral.

Brazil, the green lantern and bicycles

2011-08-30T21:52:00.001-07:00

if you know me, you know how much i loathe commercials and most marketing in general. however, i dig lenticular images and innovative approaches to nearly everything...including, however rare that is: hollywood. i guess, if you've got to promote the release of the Green Lantern film in Brazil, you may as well figure out a cool and original geographically/ demographically appropriate or relevant way to do it...?!

via WORLD OF SUPERHEROES because they came up in my search. Creativity online's TiVOcast first turned us on to this.

immediate #vma impressions

2011-08-28T23:32:00.000-07:00

...rather, my not-so-live blogging of the show due to my TiVo'd broadcast (which, btw allowed me to scan through an hour of uselessness in about ten minutes.):

gaga=UGLY man. bieber=gorgeous girl. no one's ever heard of Jessie J. Chris Brown=YES. Kanye ♥s music. woo! is that the LXD?!! cool way to repurpose the spiderman musical flying rig thing. Adele sings, thank god. awesome Tyler the Creator deserves it. who's the guy in the skirt? snuki ist kurz. well done, RuBra...oooh is this a psa?...is that a hologram?...we miss u Amy...Bruno Mars' pompadour = better than gaga's. weird, Lil' Waye is a mix between Flavor Flav and Lil' Jon.

holy crap it's burning man time again.

revelations of a music snob

2011-08-27T15:00:00.000-07:00

regarding:

* new STEPHEN MALKMUS & THE JICKS record - i couldn't say it much better than Tiny Mixtape's Ed Comentale:

"Ultimately, Mirror Traffic doesn’t quite recapture the shaggy
grandeur of Wowee Zowee, and, perhaps to its detriment, it abandons the proggy
jam-band bliss of Real Emotional Trash."

it's still a pretty great freaking record, though. you just need to skip tracks 1 and 3.

* bass guitar - SPECTOR2112 is my new favourite youtube guy. if you look at the selection of stuff he plays, it's like he grew up with me...or at least down the street from me...except, he has the Rush, Frente and BN Ladies songs (so i guess that means he actually was up the street from JaHe! ahahahahahaaahahaha ). :(

* taylor swift - made the following observations in no particular order:
- LA crowds kinda suk, even at arena shows: the entire audience sang along to every song, loudly. but, hardly anyone applauded or hooted in between songs. in fact, some pauses in the show were downright silent. AlSto sez it's cos everyone was busy texting or otherwise doing something else to occupy their attention-deficited minds.
- fathers seated next to a person other than his daughter on one side are oblivious when their ample backsides begin to slide over to occupy part of the other person's seat for more than one song.
- i can recognise a justin bieber song in less than four notes.
- justin bieber can dance pretty well even when he's half-a$$ing it.
- t. swift's backup dancers dance better than justin bieber.
- her guitar players are the type of guys i don't like, meaning too much hairspray and too many Les Paul guitars for their age. and they can play so-so.

(click for more photos, but not of the guitar players!)

- t.s. puts on a decent show, she really does! and i'm talking about the entire production, not just her. the sets are beautiful, and she does the quick-change thing that would put most people, including Chinese opera singers, to shame.
- it's funny cos a bunch of people asked if she really couldn't sing or uses autotune live. i was watching her closely. there was a slight lag between the stage and video screen. i think there might be a little backing track action happening, but what do i know?
- even if one doesn't think one knows t.s.' repertoire, one does. it may also be because a lot of her songs sound the same...but still, they're tolerable and written well.
- t.s. prefers audio technica handheld mics and she holds it in her right hand. always. i think she plays Taylor guitars, too, but that is a little on the nose.

who knew one could score points with the kids (my friend ScoTe's daughter, EmTe) and some coworkers (who are parents) simultaneously?!!!??

things that make me laugh

2011-08-19T20:27:00.000-07:00

click to the 9:25-ish point, if you must... but please just watch this LOUIS C.K. interview on Conan (if you haven't already)!

Terry Gilliam is god

2011-08-05T11:26:00.000-07:00

thx to the LAUGHING SQUID for delighting me always...

tessellation... fractals... all that junk.

2011-08-03T15:19:00.000-07:00

VIDEO: AlxZomZom

2011-07-29T10:49:00.001-07:00

video and music by kaze, from images by djvenus.

a few updates from the most recent to the most past

2011-07-24T00:15:00.000-07:00

...more or less in order, i have - learned some basics of panguingue; enjoyed the Lake Elsinore Casino; mourned Amy Winehouse; hated what i believe was the traffic caused by Comic-Con; learned the Sun-Maid raisin girl's name is LORRAINE COLLETT;

wished i could be hanging out with Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick; learned Marc Maron will have a syndicated-ish version of WTF on KCRW; learned the Sklar Brothers (who are already fairly annoying on KPCC) will have a show on KPCC; became annoyed with G+; went to court; finished traffic school; watched coworkers ride a mechanical bull; brought home a candle we made; found my next new favourite Jeopardy! contestant JAY RHEE; learned Valencia, CA's residents are really friendly; discovered Popcornopolis; joined G+; made a candle with AlSto; enjoyed the new season of Louie; listened to the new Loney, Dear album; drunk more tequila than bourbon; missed Buckethead at HoB Anaheim; ate at Denny's; went to the Varnish; saw Harold Lloyd's film Safety Last; went to Medieval Times.

MUSIC: you must listen to Pictureplane...

2011-07-06T11:11:00.001-07:00

the album starts with a retro rave sound set on an old school breakbeat/d&b rhythm...but it doesn't stay there.

what strikes me about this record, is that every sound matters, on every song. somehow, Pictureplane manages to synthesise so many qualities/ elements of my musical past life. and then, he doesn't resurrect or reincarnate them; it's like he reanimates them...

THEE PHYSICAL by PICTUREPLANE

freaking fantastic stuff...but so NOT the type of show AlSto will enjoy going to with me... ;-P huge thanks to TERRORBIRD for turning me on to yet another record!

lordy lordy look who's turning 4040!!

2011-07-01T12:04:00.000-07:00

A Physician Ahead of Our Time: RIP Dr. Jack Kevorkian

2011-06-05T16:06:00.000-07:00

"No man who is occupied in doing a very difficult thing, and doing it very well, ever loses his self-respect." - from George Bernard Shaw

even from a young age, i always thought doctors were hardcore...so hardcore that i knew i could never be able to make it through med school...so i wrote off that possibility pretty early on in my life. one of the most hardcore of the hardcore physicians i had ever learned about, and wish i had had the privilege to know, is Dr. Jack Kevorkian, who passed away on Friday 3 June 2011, reportedly listening to Bach. (i wonder, which piece it was... !!?)

if you know me, you know i'm pretty good at placing high expectations on people, especially those who serve others. why shouldn't i, and why shouldn't they have high expectations of themselves? this is why i was blown away by every detail i ever learned about Dr. Kevorkian, from his interest in transfusing blood from dead to live soldiers in the field, and his photography of patients' eyes to determine the exact moment of death, to his fantastic artwork, and finally his most recent battles with U.S. society regarding euthanasia. he had a lot of vision and dared to consider ideas and ask questions which i feel were mistaken as morbid, inappropriate and bordering on human vivisection. if anything, Dr. Jack was a pretty astute publicity and PR user, and i think he should've been nicknamed 'Dr. Dying' and not 'Dr. Death'.

btw i woke up late and i gotta go to work for an hour or so so i will post reference links later...

MUSIC: CHLLNGR's eerie video makes their song even better.

2011-06-03T02:20:00.000-07:00

i really dig BLK JKS and THE VERY BEST. so, learning that Mpupi Mo of the former and Mo Laudi of latter had a hand in remixing this CHLLNGR track really got me excited!

CHLLNGR "Ask For" from CHLLNGR on Vimeo.

According to the Vimeo description, the video was

"filmed in a Danish forest two hours outside of Copenhagen, Bjorn Stig Hansen and Steven Jess Borth II had only one bright light and one camera to make this happen in a period of two summer nights."

i wanna go to Denmark now.

HUGE thanks to the fine folks at TERRORBIRD MEDIA, especially Tim, for sending along this bit of brilliance!

this is gorgeous!

2011-06-02T15:28:00.000-07:00

my god, i'm speechless...Kuroi-Tsuki san, you are a master. (his name means 'black moon' in Japanese, btw...)

Venture by *Kuroi-Tsuki on deviant ART

"It's about the beauty of failure. It's about that failure happens to all of us... Every character is not only flawed, but sucks at what they do, and is beautiful at it and Jackson and I suck at what we do, and we try to be beautiful at it, and failure is how you get by... It shows that failure's funny, and it's beautiful and it's life, and it's okay, and it's all we can write because we are big... failures." -Doc Hammer

Kuroi-Tsuki goes on to say: "I love Venture Bros with a passion, it's one of the most amazing comedies out there. If you're not a fan, you're really missing out. Anyway, I can't wait for Season 5."

and ROCK ON, Dr. O!!! woo! huge thanks to THE MANTIS-EYE EXPERIMENT for turning me on to this.

sausage fattener plugin by dadalife

2011-06-01T13:25:00.000-07:00

be sure to watch @1:11 -
"that sound is super fat...and that's because of this guy's face."

many thanks to JusKle at REPHLEKTOR INK for this cool bit of software news.

'a grip' and its equivalent...

2011-06-01T02:25:00.001-07:00

AlHo told us his classmates in Kansas didn't know what he meant when he referred to 'a grip' of something.

and then, i saw this today on POST SECRET: an F.T. - that's a lot, right? (i wish i knew who/what the secret-submitter was referring to... i don't know if he/she knows what he/she is talking about...)

a new way for me and the husband to hang out together

2011-05-31T12:05:00.000-07:00

this one is called ANIMALS; the new one is called FOOD. stay tuned!

that IS what Prince played that night!!?...

2011-05-30T00:32:00.000-07:00

Edit this setlist | More Prince setlists

these are the songs Prince played at the forum on the final night of his 21-show residency in Los Angeles...i was lucky to attend with BriKa (and thanks also for the setlist link!) and AlSto.

a Noble Experiment, indeed...

2011-05-26T00:39:00.000-07:00

in San Diego. many thanks to the incredible team of Pedro, Eric, Anthony, Erica and Hayley (sp?) for a truly memorable evening!

25 May 2011 - Photo from FLICKR: djvenus - at Noble Experiment

and, as it states on the back of the menu:

Certain gentlemen of other days

who made of drinking one of the pleasures of life

not one of its evils, and who,

whatever they drank, proved able to carry it,

keep their heads and remain gentlemen,

even in their cups.

Their example is commended

to their posterity.

i HEART foetus

2011-05-10T03:00:00.000-07:00

...née JG Thirlwell, et al!

thanks to JACKSON PUBLICK's blog for this awesome bit of live music:

Steroid Maximus: Venture Bros Medley from JG Thirlwell on Vimeo.

Brian Matrix has me feeling progressive...

2011-05-03T14:16:00.000-07:00

...musically, that is.

DJ Rap's imprint and management company, Propa /Impropa Talent recently sent a track called FIRE produced by Southern California's Brian Matrix.

for as much as i've been bored with most progressive house lately, there's something about his straightforward yet solid production that really catches my ear. turn this track up and listen to that stuttered string thing...he uses it just enough to take it to that next level. i hope the DJs are all over this one. now, let's DANCE!
Brian Matrix - "Fire Sound" by BrianMatrix

11.49pm on Friday, 29th April 2011 - Dogs in Traffic

2011-04-29T23:46:00.000-07:00

they should be wrapping up about now...??

photo from FLICKR; djvenus

Dogs in Traffic was the best band you missed out on, that you never had a chance to hear.

here's the web listing for the Dogs in Traffic "reunion" (read: their first gig in longer than the band was actually playing music together the first time), sans lead singer Ringo, at Fitzgerald's Pub in Huntington Beach, CA.

i do stuff like this...

2011-04-26T21:36:00.000-07:00

...refer to events in my life as before or after "x", i mean...

via the Laughing Squid via XKCD.

obviously, Rob Bell has never heard of Bishop Carlton Pearson...

2011-04-21T18:22:00.000-07:00

i was annoyed to see that a Time Magazine story 'Is Hell Dead?' by John Meacham got so much attention this week.

it focused on Rob Bell, a pastor in Michigan. he is hardly the first person to come to the conclusion that mainstream Xtian practice is both hypocritical and hurtful. further, hell may have been mistranslated to mean a literal, separate place where evil exists...underground, even. for this unoriginal, 'controversial' viewpoint, he received a full write-up upon the release of his new book, in a national magazine.
take the Bishop Carlton Pearson, leader of the New Beginnings church (above, with his wife), who was prominently featured in the brilliant HERETICS episode of This American Life from Chicago Public Media. Bishop Pearson believes the Church's exclusivism is inconsistent with the nature and intent of the teachings of Jesus. he was thinking about this back in 2006. he began to think so much about this contradiction and its inherent problem that he later formed what he called the gospel of inclusion.

if you know me, you know i really don't care for religion, and i really have a problem with most practicioners of it...and this is why Bishop Pearson's message struck me so deeply.

one of the most astounding things about the Time article is how it states Bell's philosophy is to emphasize "discussion rather than dogmatic teaching." freaking imagine that. it's something my friends and i have been doing since, i don't know, the tenth grade. Bell did not nearly lose his entire congregation and support system for expressing his beliefs. he was just fortunate to have a stylist, a bigtime publisher and a publicist...and perhaps a not-so-subconscious desire to be Rick Warren.

the 'friendliest...and most radically inclusive' church and god is what i, and everyone, should want.

why you SHOULD sign that license agreement with us...

2011-04-18T18:27:00.000-07:00

...or maybe not.

many thanks to WaDi for this! here's the grid of Musician Digital Royalties upon which the above visualisation (by the awesome INFORMATION IS BEAUTIFUL) is based. the idea came from an article at THE CYNICAL MUSICIAN (btw, a favourite blog!) who is the rarest of musicians...that is to say, he apparently has a graduate degree in business.

and, if you know me, you may know i used to always say, "All a band needs is a manager and a lawyer." i stand corrected.

who did it? politicians' speeches and Rick Astley song

2011-04-15T23:56:00.000-07:00

you've seen the awesome display of cooperation in Oregon's state legislature. i'm talking about the video in which a number of Oregon lawmakers agreed to insert pieces of Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" lyrics into their actual speeches, as they spoke in front of their colleagues during actual legislative sessions.

oftentimes, people forget how the process is more rewarding than a result or outcome. rarely do we see politicians who have a sense of humour, let alone any who would agree to attempt something like this. what a way to show bipartisan cooperation! only music, even bad music, reaches across the aisle...or at least most of them.

i imagine most 'serious lawmakers' would simply dismiss a similar project as a frivolous waste of time...or maybe i'm too quick to assume that congresspeople are all business and no human. then again, how come the guy responsible for coming up with this idea only has 516 'Likes' on Facebook as of midnight on April 16th 2011?

according to NPR, state representative Jefferson Smith (OR-D) was behind this true act of congress. Smith represents Oregon's 47th District. a LegislativeStudyGrp account is credited for uploading the rickroll to YouTube. [vks opinion - however, isn't a legislative study group really just any number of legislators who (ideally) gather, present and consider facts or statistics with the goal of providing accurate information to its members?] the only official 'Legislative Study Group' online seems to be a state caucus out of Texas.

Oregon's House of Representatives has 30 Democrats and 30 Republicans. this carefully planned and crafted video took not only Smith's creativity, but also the concerted effort of many congressional aides, in addition to the state representatives who agreed to participate. filming took place over days, but no public money was used in the effort. it took the work of volunteers to produce the final edit in time for release on April Fool's Day. listen to the story behind how it all came together.

i don't know if it's a good or bad thing, but apparently all the bills presented on the legislative floor which contained the song lyrics passed. unfortunately, i didn't have the time to compare the congressmen/congresswomen in the video with their photos, but i'd love to give props to the men and women who took part. if you know the names of any of the participants, please email or leave a comment. thanks!

the little prince is being (re)made into a movie!

2011-04-02T21:21:00.000-07:00

(other than Maurice Sendak and Dr. Seuss' work, possibly) Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's THE LITTLE PRINCE is a book which resonates beyond one's (my) childhood. a movie of the book was made in 1974 and it was claymated it in 1979.

now, it's being remade, at least according to a blog entry by artist THUROP VAN ORMAN, creator of the brilliant and amazing animated nickelodeon series The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. he says he's started to do concept art for the movie (and also has an entry by the same title, with a release date in 2014).

prelude to April Fool's 1 April - is 30 March aka Prank Day?!

2011-03-30T10:54:00.000-07:00

...or is this just early so it will go viral in time for the first? she is pitching to the Venture Capital Fundraising Club of Silicon Valley (VCFC). or is she?

thanks to the Madeline Brand Show and Dinner Party Download for this! video created by an online video marketing and production company called Spiral Moon.

who is UFC's Jung Chan Sung? what is SSEDA? btw NICE twister!

2011-03-26T22:35:00.000-07:00

we quite enjoyed featherweight MMA fighter Chan Sung Jung's charismatic win over Leonard Garcia this evening (especially after stepping in at the last minute after Nam Phan dropped out)...didn't you?even though i don't really dig the nickname THE KOREAN ZOMBIE, the twister submission was worthy of several TiVO replays. UFC Fight Night 23 was the second time the two have competed against each other in the mixed martial arts arena.

so far, i haven't found much information about Jung, except for a page on the Facebook, a FightWiki entry and this official-ish site peddling Korean Zombie tshirts. he studies Eddie Bravo's twister technique tapes (why don't they name the move 'a Bravo'?!). see below for video one of TEN, featuring Bravo's theory and strategy behind the technique.

and, Jung also trained in hapkido, or Korean aikido, and has competed in sambo tournaments in the past...

Jung's sponsors include MUSCLEPHARM, real estate broker/agent SELLITGTA.com (GTA stands for Greater Toronto Area!?), and sports management company IRIDIUM SPORTS AGENCY. Jung's main sponsor is SSEDA, or Seong An Save Safety Equipment for Dangerous Areas. the company manufactures and supplies gear to the construction industry, mainly in the form of hard hats, safety helmets, bump caps, harnesses, lanyards and anchor systems.

both photos above are from Korean Zombie tshirt. thanks (kinda) to bruceleroy and the other contributors to Sherdog's 'Korean MMA thread'... and no, SSEDA is not a collective of MMA gyms in Korea!

MUSIC-ish: Space Ghost with Radiohead's Thom Yorke (and Björk)

2011-03-25T22:47:00.000-07:00

in honour of radiohead's KING O' LIMBS release, i give you this early interview with mr. yorke, courtesy of ADULT SWIM. it's a video rewind!

MUSIC: Iron & Wine's cover of "One More Try" by George Michael

2011-03-17T18:11:00.000-07:00

a little something for my husband AlSto and our dear friend PhiLe:

Iron And Wine covers George Michael

btw have you heard GM's not-very-good cover of New Order's TRUE FAITH? You can hear it on George Michael's website.

MUSIC: rest in peace, Nate Dogg! Mark Ronson's Ooh Wee video...

2011-03-16T12:18:00.000-07:00

with Ghostface Killah, Nate Dogg, Trife & Saigon!!?? (btw language: NSFW)

from 2003, Mark Ronson's HERE COMES THE FUZZ album.

let's just say, we placed an honest FOURTH at geekswhodrink

2011-02-16T07:03:00.000-08:00

thanks to JaHa and MaMcWa for being such great teammates. and, AlSto too. ♥ he even won a prize (again, thanks to JaHa!)! the final scores were as follows:

Killer B Minuses                 76
Reverse Zombies              
  (WON AT ARMWRESTLING!)       75
Penis Penis Penis Penis Penis  
  (LOST THEIR ”DIGNITY”)       75
The Pumphouse                    70
Dungeons & Drag Queens           65
Rocket                           65
Say No to Babies                 62
Sentient Toasters                62
5 ft, horse teeth,
     drag queen Gremlins       55
Grundlechode – Grenade           52
Singles Awareness                46
Halvo*  White Devil              36
Disney Boobies                   33
Jelly Belly                      30
Landgull                         27
Oman                             12

wanna join us next time?  please do.  see geekswhodrink.com!

groove armada DJ set at supperclub los angeles

2011-02-13T17:52:00.000-08:00

i was bummed that we got there in time to catch JASON BENTLEY for only ten minutes... ten minutes of which it took me to adjust to the spectacle that is the Supperclub. Dirty Vegas was meh, even though i really like their hits and i'm quite excited about their new record. oh, and did anyone warn Andy and Tom that a girl drops down out of the ceiling every few minutes during the DJ's sets to twirl around on a harness-hammock? no one warned me!

GROOVE ARMADA play a great DJ set. they really do...even when they're playing in a space where the volume of patrons' talking is louder than the volume of the music...AND, the number of people standing and talking exceeds the number of people dancing.

and, if the greatness of a nightclub or concert venue is measured by the total number of people pushing past you hard enough to knock your shoulder backward (hard enough to have a foul called on you in the NBA or to have started a fight if you were still in jr. high) with nary an 'excuse me' or any type of acknowledgment, the Supperclub_LA is the mother of all clubs.

not only that, but at this one-of-many-former-L.A. movie theatres-turned-semblance-of-an-Ibiza or Las Vegas-hotspot, you may also experience the level of difficulty, hassle and/or confusion involved for a person to simply find the outdoor smoking area [photo on left] is a 9+, while the level of difficulty, hassle etc. involved to find a decent parking space (on a Saturday night in Hollywood!!?) close to the venue is only an 8.

outside, i met a very easy-to-engage guy with glasses who taught me that carbon dioxide being nozzled into an enclosed space requires humidity in order for CO₂ to 'cryo' properly.

aside from the uneasy feeling i got from seeing hordes of people in the vip areas, standing with their shoes on on white suede-like bed /couch things [see photo below right], i was fascinated by yet another phenomenon: bottle service.

the areas around the club's perimeter are strictly reserved for the bottle serviced. i wondered whether vip access would or could be granted to, say, 50 people or 'new friends' i somehow convinced to chip in at $2 each to buy one fifth of liquor. speaking of which, i peeked over the shoulder of one of the waitress girls as she frantically typed in one of the vip tables' order...and i swear i saw the price for one bottle of their grey goose vodka cost more than i paid for two nights at a bed and breakfast. (and i'm still convinced that the bottles are diluted in the back with water to make the vodka go further...especially since it appears the waiters bring the bottle up to you and 'open it for you' without demonstrating an unbroken seal...but unfortunately, i have no proof of that. ;-| )

incredibly, the doormen/door guys and bouncers at Supperclub_LA are extremely nice, smiley AND helpful...they really are. so, be sure to thank them, and smile back. because otherwise, you'll never find the smoking area.

BTW, just follow the right side of the dancefloor to the very front. follow the velvet rope, but take care to stay on the left side of it. otherwise, you'll get pushed and sneered at by the vip's and/or the vip's server. keep going and make a right. i swear the smoking area is out there, just past yet another friendly, smiley doorman.

2011 jeopardy online test questions to get on show

2011-02-10T23:00:00.000-08:00

video capture of west coast adult contestant jeopardy test questions 2011 -
here* is what AlSto and i did at 8pm this evening:

simultaneously elsewhere, my friend FraKa drove to wait in line overnight in one of three zip codes (90803 at fingerprintz, 90036 rumoured to be at the El Rey Theatre, 90026 at origami origami) for the 12 noon Friday ticket onsale to the 'secret' Los Angeles/Hollywood Arcade Fire show that was announced on the Twitt'r and kayrock radio station; whilst my friend BriKa watched the lakers come back from behind against the celtics in Boston; and [what did you do?].

btw please forgive the borders of the screen capture - 'twas my fault. oh, and huge thanks to Kaze and his awesome find: the almighty powerful open source streaming video capture software CamStudio !

*please note: this was NOT AlSto's nor my test. or was it?

Zombie Tabernacle Choir and more interesting stuff...

2011-02-06T19:36:00.000-08:00

today's piece of awesomeness is an interactive zombie choir! the animator's website itself is pretty cool. at least he makes the load time interesting and bearable! (below is not the zombies, but taken from Schnall's site.)
i can always count on Ji Lee to show me something i've never seen before. you must find him on the Twitt'r...he'll rock your world!

aaron sorkin: on writing while bartending, sarah palin and more - cbs sunday morning

2011-02-06T11:38:00.000-08:00

take a lesson from Terry Gross, Leslie Stahl.

i watched Stahl’s AARON SORKIN interview segment on CBS Sunday Morning News today; it was hardly a more appropriate place to have seen her poor skills as a journalist, than say, 60 MINUTES. it’s just a drag that most people aren’t up at 7am on a Sunday to watch (or know to TiVO) the segment. and, CBS Sunday Morning IS a pretty great show.

god you are one of the worst interviewers ever and you just repeat what your interviewee says in reply to your question…but with so little emotion, the technique essentially stops the flow of the interview in its tracks. watch Huell Howser to see how you can inject some charm and genuineness into your work. and WHY would Sorkin mention the Zuck’s gf even if he knew about her? the film, Leslie, “is NOT a biopic.”

as a Sorkin fan, i liked the backstory about his ‘survival jobs’ before he experienced success with his A FEW GOOD MEN script…but the segment wasted time with footage of him folding a Cats tshirt. i can’t believe Stahl chose to mention SPORTSNIGHT, then chose not to not mention THE FARNSWORTH INVENTION, and then chose to bring up Sorkin’s crack use.

i liked hearing what he believes about who should run the country…although, anyone who enjoyed the WEST WING may be aware of and even have very similar opinions:

“i have a big problem with people who glamourise dumbness and demonise education and intellect. and i’m giving a pretty good description of Sarah Palin right now.

“S.P., she needs a therapist, ok, we need the smartest guys, the best PhDs around to be solving these problems. i don’t have patience for the glamourisation of dumbness.”

Sorkin does have patience for some things, especially when it comes to mediocre news correspondents. Stahl needs to stop trying to get validation from her subjects.

Stahl’s auto-strokefest begins in the broadcast after Sorkin has the honesty to admit:

Sorkin: “…the first time i ever saw (Zuckerberg) on television was being interviewed by you two years ago.”

Stahl: “Did that influence you, that interview?”

um, yeah, it did.

and then, in reference to the ‘Is that a question?’ line from the SOCIAL NETWORK film, she asks:

Stahl: “i wondered if you got that little moment from us, did you?”

Sorkin: “i did”

Stahl: [satisfied smile]

i don’t even know whether the FB movie deserves an Oscar, since i watch so few movies, but yes, it was indeed a good movie. but, you’re right, Leslie Stahl, you do have what it takes to write dialogue for Academy Award –nominated films. are you an entertainment host , screenwriter wannabe, or a freaking tv journalist??!!

Sitting harnessed... (or our Joe Frank / Facebook adventure)

2011-01-30T22:01:00.001-08:00

he following was taken verbatim from JOE FRANK's FB wall. the entry was first posted at 15.11 on Saturday 29 January 2011.

JoFra: Sitting harnessed to a high chair, the bitter odor of coffee, the sweet odor of cigars smoke, gazing at the traffic passing on the street before me. People talking and laughing, someone lifts a spoon of custard to his mouth, a valet rushes into the street clutching luggage, hailing a taxi and hit by a colorful double decker bus. (Continues below in comments)
==
JoFra: Commotion, sirens, flashing lights, police talking on radios, man removes sports jacket and covers valet knee deep in water screams What's the matter with you, you whore. Crowd parts for stretcher carried into ambulance, doors close, helico...pter overhead while sitting in high chair small tables around dance floor where man wearing bandanna sits at white piano accompanying couple dancing the tango and waiter carrying silver doomed tray to table, steps back to reveal cheese souffle.(photo from steamykitchen.com)

Large broad boulevards, statue of Evita, held in arms of huge crowd that gathers in plaza before 2nd story balcony where a big, fat man with a mustache, wearing a general’s uniform with a plumed helmet and an oversized gold-plated side-arm using a European baby on all fours as a foot stool, a sword hanging from his belt wearing riding boots receives adulation, What's the matter with you, you whore, and marbled buildings, echoing hallways, hushed meeting rooms, green velvet lampshades overlooking boulevard with island planted with shrubbery and flowering trees and outdoor cafes where people sit and talk and a baby in a high chair stares at shiny automobiles visible in a showroom floor
...

MiBe [JF fan also posting in comments]: It's getting dark now. Across the street a band is playing The Internationale while old men in ancient uniforms watch over the boiling street scene. The flashing lights on the ambulance light the brass section to flash like gold. The neon... lights from the local sustantivo reflect as jewels in the gleaming instruments. The General, oblivious to the fate of his dying valet, stares down with an expression of rage and hate. Momentarily, he considers retiring inside for a nap, but instead, he dials his phone, ordering an attack on the crowd below.
...

VeKiSto: ...and squints as the fat man laughs out loud, his footstool squealing out of pain but partly out of boredom, and the stomach of a dog the size of a large supreme burrito grumbles loudly What's the matter with you, you whore as it nestled ...uncomfourtably beside a designer wallet, probably a knockoff, a leash designated as humane by the ASPCA, three or four slightly used lipsticks, hand sanitizer, some keys, a folded up to-go menu, loose change, bits of glass, a nearly empty prescription bottle, a pen with no cap, crumpled kleenex, a cellular phone, blinking and buzzing, an iPod, a sports bra, old sticks of gum and one piece of chewed gum, the dog sometimes able to breathe inside the enormous, impossibly heavy imported leather handbag carried by an impeccably dressed, slightly insecure, youthful-looking, college-educated woman in a hurry, with nails manicured, breasts believably enhanced and beginning to sweat ever so slightly because the last time she ate was the last time she
...

LaHa: [another JF fan post]
It was becoming more difficult for him to fit into the highchair, it teetered, threatened to topple, with his every move. Sometimes the ashes from his cigar dropped into the hair on his chest, that odor was not quite so sweet.
It didn't seem... to matter how chaotic the social order became, revolution, flood, plague. As long as he continued with the charade, agreed upon in a long forgotten past, life continued.
The tap dancers were coming on next, then the tigers, that was his favorite part.

KCET is no longer channel 28, at least on Time-Warner cable

2011-01-21T19:49:00.000-08:00

late last night, i was confused when i saw a black, empty screen on channel 28, which, since childhood (at least in Orange County), was usually the former Los Angeles PBS station KCET. i thought it was a TiVO mixup, but today, even worse fears were confirmed, as stated in this press release (or programming alert?) issued by Time Warner cable:

"Beginning on or about January 17, 2011, KCET, which is currently made available to customers in an analog (or both analog and digital) format will be made available in a digital format only. KCET will remain on the Broadcast service level. Viewing on certain television sets may require additional equipment that can be provided by Time Warner Cable or that may be available for purchase from retail stores in certain locations. "

as we all know, KCET no longer carried PBS as of the first of the 2011 year. i was surprised to see just one other analogue cable 'dinosaur' on a local Los Angeles Yahoo! forum was noticing, let alone complaining, this recent development, that 'TWC drops analog KCET (ch.6)'.

what's worse is, even if we HAD digital KCET in Orange County, we would be forced to accept KCET's 24/7 Kids and Family channel, rather than their so-called "new" independent programming...which i was kinda digging, what with all the cool cooking shows (YOUR JAPANESE KITCHEN, RICK BAYLESS, ERIC RIPERT etc.), plus H.R. PUFNSTUF and LIDSVILLE!!?!

CES, Polaroid and tardiness

2011-01-18T09:46:00.000-08:00

via SUBTRACTIVE:

"...Lady Gaga, the official creative director for Polaroid. Gaga arrived about 40 minutes fashionably late to her event at the camera company's booth. The pop star demonstrated a portable photo printer she said she designed herself, which she carries in her purse, and a pair of sunglasses with a camera built in to it."

PLEASE put this on your status...

2011-01-08T00:32:00.000-08:00

PLEASE put this on your status if you know someone or are related to someone who has been eaten by DRAGONS. Dragons are nearly unstoppable, and in case you didn't know, THEY CAN BREATHE FIRE. 93% of people won't copy and paste this, because they have already been eaten by dragons. 6% of people are sitting in the shower, armed with fire extinguishers. The remaining 1% are awesome, and will re-post this. Will you?

[THX to ErRo for this!!!]

milhaus.

2011-01-06T22:08:00.000-08:00

from ETSY.

many thanks to Little Mountain (MiTau) for this! :))

Avec Eric: Ripert with Bourdain, Chang, Achatz, Fearing, Andres...

2011-01-04T11:15:00.000-08:00

best episode EVER. i love...
José Andres' cigars and airs; Dean Fearing's throwback respect; Achatz' matter-of-factness; David Chang's intensity and high-strung Asian-ness; Tony Bourdain's insecurity (he sounds like Marc Maron!).

you gotta watch the entire episode.

The CAYMAN COOKOUT , avec Eric Ripert and friends, is happening 13-16 January 2011. this year, we're talking $3k for TWO DAYS, people! total bliss.

a music snob's not so humble opinion of 2010's best records

2011-01-01T14:02:00.000-08:00

i wanted to get this out tonight; otherwise, i won't ever (see last year). i'm not gonna comment on everything cos a lot of my choices are a lot of other people's 2010 choices... although i bet the reasons i have for picking these are different.

didn't get a chance to look over my FB archive (i'm only going to post music stuff in tumblr now so i will have a permanent record) so here are, let's say, over a dozen titles, in alphabetical order by band/artist's first name...this time in electronic and non-electronic forms:

Electronic-ish/Dance Music - like
FOUR TET: There is Love in You on Domino
ESKMO: Eskmo on Ninja Tune
GROOVE ARMADA: Black Light on Om Records
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM: This is Happening on Virgin/EMI - ok i know i said i wasn't going to talk about the albums that everyone else listed but i must point out here that if you are pooh- poohing me and everyone else who dug this record, i suggest you go back and listen to it again!
SEI A: White Rainbow on Turbo Recordings
TAKE: Only Mountain-beat music is beautiful... especially when it sounds like Take.

VARIOUS ARTISTS: Five Years of Dirty Bird - just as i thought i was getting over my San Francisco envy of pesto pizza and the Hardkiss Brothers, i discovered the fabulous, most brilliant label Dirtybird Records, fronted by the almighty Claude VonStroke and anchored by the very talented Martin Brothers, Justin and Christian. Dirtybird's brand is what tech-house music should be all about: obscene titles/names (a la VonStroke); carefully crafted production, with sparsely placed, minimal tracks; AND voices or sounds that are tweaked just so it will drive you crazy and running to the dancefloor. listen to Sascha Braemer's "Club Foot" to hear what i'm talking about...it's on the second disc, song #12...and it's totally sick.

NOT Electronic-ish/ NOT Dance Music-like
the ALBUM LEAF: A Chorus of Storytellers on Subpop
BLK JKS: Zol! on Secretly Canadian - forget all this indie-meets-Paul-Simon crap, a la Vampire Weekend. listen to BLK JKS. they have hooks and rhythms, a great voice that requires several listens to understand, far-out guitar and compelling songs that you can't ignore...these guys are the real deal.
DANGER MOUSE and SPARKLEHORSE: Dark Night of the Soul on Capitol - not recommended for communal listening and party situations, but such a freaking perfect record, despite the David Lynch freakout vocals...for solitary drives or rainy days home alone or late nights at the office or quiet moments with your partner or times when you have nothing to say.
PHILIPPE JAROUSSKY: La Dolce Fiamma - Forgotten Castrato Arias on Virgin Classics - gorgeous music of J.C. Bach with Jérémie Rhorer conducting Le Cercle de l'Harmonie

JAMIE LIDELL: Compass on Warp
MENOMENA: Mines on Barsuk
SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS: Disconnect from Desire on Ghostly International/Vagrant - not to be mistaken for Sleigh Bells or Broken Bells!
STEVE MASON: Boys Outside on Domino - seriously, probably the best record of the year for me. [mostly because, there was once a band called the Beta Band, and before i could begin to dislike them, they vanished...poof!...never to be heard from again. and so, this is the record i was waiting for them to release.]
TOUBAB KREWE: TK2 on National Geographic
VARIOUS ARTISTS: Next Stop...Soweto Vol. 1-3 on Strut Records - fantastic deep jazz and abstract funk, straight outta South Africa. for all the unabashed praise i and others give the Luv n Haight label, Strut has been releasing hard-to-find gems and little-heard-before tracks from the vaults.

honourable mentions:
THOMAS ADÉS: Tevot; Violin Concerto; Three Studies from Couperin; Overture, Waltz and Finale from 'Powder Her Face' on EMI Classics - various performers including Simon Rattle and the Berlin Phil.

DAFT PUNK: Tron Legacy soundtrack- most impressive. hope they tour this year.
GOLD PANDA: Lucky Shiner on Spectral/Ghostly International- a fantastic record from an artist (sorry, Matthew Dear fans...) at one of my most favourite labels!
CONAN O'BRIEN: The Minty Theme Song - the less said, the better. otherwise, i'll wake up singing this damn song again and again and again...
UNDERWORLD: Bark on Om Records
DOMINO RECORDS IN GENERAL: i don't want this list to look totally out of balance, but 2010 was such an excellent year for the Domino label. you really have to hand it to them...i mean, there was TRICKY's Mixed Race, CLINIC's Bubblegum, THE FALL's Your Future Our Clutter and CHIEF's Modern Rituals.

2010 grievances. yeah, i got 'em.

2010-12-30T23:58:00.000-08:00

i figured, if google can do their 2011 thing two hours before the 31st of December (i'm in the pacific time zone), i can list my first-world problems with 2010 on the penultimate day of the year.

and so, in honour of Festivus, i would like to list a few of of my grievances for the year 2010. [however, unlike the Seinfeld Festivus tradition, when one "tells their friends and family all the instances of how or when they disappointed the person during the year", my grievances are toward/with the world in general. this is because i have no control over a lot of stuff and i like to complain, but it is especially so because i am extremely fortunate since my friends and family were the only things to NOT disappoint me this year.*]

venus' grievances are as follows:

Dr. Alexander Shulgin is unable to afford required treatment for a stroke, experienced earlier this year, and for a stubborn foot ulcer. ** speaking of which, reminds me of...
Gov. Schwarzenegger's vetoes against Assembly Bill 3632 [AB3632].*^ for more info, please also see CA Dept. of Mental Health website.
KCET in Los Angeles is no longer carrying PBS programming as of 1 January 2011. what to do, southern california? hellooooooooooo KOCE!
whenever i highlight a word to edit in my Blogger entry, an extra word is deleted along with the highlighted word.
Twitt'r accounts used by cities, government, entities, professionals and/or organisations in general to simply market and advertise, instead of providing real or true information, action, interaction and/or feedback.
the prevalence of Liz Lemon/Tina Fey-shaped eyewear, and the dearth of Penelope Garcia/Kirsten Vangsness-shaped eyeglasses. speaking of which, reminds me of...
the mediocrity of my optometrist's front office staff. they can't be bothered to find the right eyeglass frames for me...and they're too busy upselling stuff that ends up falling apart. s.o.w.r.m.o...
the rude front office chicks at my doctor's office.*** s.o.w.r.m.o...
good therapists who don't take my insurance. and, the bad ones who do.
our PS3's broken blu-ray drive. s.o.w.r.m.o...
TV repairmen in Orange County or Los Angeles who refuse to make housecalls to repair CRT televisions.**^ s.o.w.r.m.o...
Guitar Hero haters. s.o.w.r.m.o...
the small number of available Rockband keyboard songs and Pro songs.
CREDO formerly known as Working Assets for having a terrible online payment system which forced us to lose our long distance telephone service.^*
blizzard entertainment. love what they do, but i hate how they make you register for an account to get a stinking gametime gift for someone.****
product placement in general, but especially on the Jeopardy game show.
sites use the FB to login with, more often than openID.
point-and-shoot/point-and-click digital cameras have all these supposedly cool features one can adjust and use...yet the user manuals give no information as to how or when they are to be used...just that they can be used.
sebastien loeb.*****
city of Buena Park's city council election, which was won by the highest spender(s).
hipsters' (and others'!) outright rejection of MySpace. s.o.w.r.m.o...
the absolutely pathetic web presence of most stand-up comics/comedians and magician/illusionist types i like.*^^^
ALEX WONG's injury.***^
Jack in the Box has no fish and chips. And Wendy's has no baked potatoes.
water + gravity = yikes.
celebrities. these non-experts're taking away all the voiceover jobs and officiant jobs and other jobs traditionally held by other experts. s.o.w.r.m.o...
--$ha and the Beebs.**^^ s.o.w.r.m.o...
Kristen Wiig.
jerks still email me nasty things about how i don't deserve to have the mdma.com domain.
MAX KARAOKE is too far away and too expensive.

==because footnotes are next to impossible on blogger==
* omg I LOVE MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!! [here are a few of them.] i also love a lot of other things, such as animals, my job, music, health and... um...my family and friends.
**Dr. Shulgin is a man who, through his tireless scientific research of 3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine (and many other chemicals with true therapeutic potential) in the face of mounting scrutiny, has benefited, and continues to benefit, many of us. as far back as 1985, MDMA was vilified by the media and was made a Schedule I drug by the DEA in the United States. it is a total shame that just one dollar has not been given in thanks to this brave man, by every person who has been touched by ecstasy in a positive way...especially, in this supposed world of "happy happy raver" b.s., also known as PLUR (or Peace Love Unity and Respect). see articles in Time magazine, May of the year 2000 and in June of the year 2000
*^ not to mention, the effects of his attempt to balance the California state budget, at the cost of helping those with homelessness and autism.
***however, i love the nurse at my dr.'s office.
**^i will pay a couple of hundred dollars cos we cannot afford to buy a new flatscreen/LCD/plasma television for several more hundreds of $$$!!!!
^*YES, i DO KNOW i should use skype or some other VoIP thing.
****yes, you can buy WoW gametime at amazon, but, um, not for one month.
*****as opposed to: HURRAH PETTER SOLBERG!
*^^^THANK YOU, marc maron, wonderground in Las Vegas, StandUp! Records and Punchline mag!!!
***^see more non-SYTYCD videos here.
**^^despite my love of the song they used on the Simpsons and the song they slowed down.

POST SECRET: not really 6 of one...and half dozen of the other

2010-12-30T18:17:00.000-08:00

i admit, this "secret" is not much of one, unless the person who submitted it is keeping their condescending attitude toward mental illness and psychiatric drugs, specifically toward antidepressants, a secret...

i should get like i do, and tell this person that the enjoyment of music is more often related to stimulation of the limbic system in the brain, and been shown to be related to the activity of the neurotransmitter phenethylanine. in contrast, sertraline or Zoloft® and fluoxetine or Prozac® work in/on different parts of the brain, inhibiting the reuptake of serotonin, which is a completely different neurotransmitter. (please leave a comment if you need me to cite references...)

i suppose both brain mechanisms result in some sort of euphoric feeling...but then again, so do endorphins from running and opioid/mu receptours when we bang our hand by accident and experience pain. i just didn't want this person to get it twisted.

Dr. Shulgin helped us, so now let's help HIM!

2010-12-12T20:40:00.000-08:00

To Read Click Here: http://shulginresearch.org/imgs/helpsasha2010.jpg

last night at the MAPS event, i learned some very unfortunate news: one of my personal heroes, Berkeley pharmacologist DR. ALEXANDER SHULGIN, experienced a stroke in November 2010. Dr. Shulgin's pioneering discoveries, relentless drive and tireless work in psychopharmacology has personally touched many of our lives, very deeply. If you, or anyone you care about, has experienced the effect of Dr. Shulgin's contributions, now is your opportunity to give back and show your appreciation. You can send Dr. Shulgin a donation via PIRYX if you don't use Paypal. And here is a link to donate if you do use Paypal.

Please see this new Blogger page for further details, links and information about Dr. Shulgin.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!

= = =

Credited with MDMA's popularisation in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Shulgin also championed the treatment of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) through the psychopharmaceutical use of MDMA. In subsequent years, Shulgin discovered, synthesized, and bioassayed over 230 psychoactive compounds. This means he found, made and tested over 230 psychoactive compounds in vivo , or in a whole, living organism...namely, himself! In 1991 and 1997, he and his wife Ann authored the books PiHKAL and TiHKAL on the topic of psychoactive drugs. [Excerpted and adapted from Transform Press bio.]

You can follow updates from Ann, Dr. Shulgin's wife, on CARING BRIDGE, and see the documentary film DIRTY PICTURES which was made about Sasha's life and work. If you use the Facebook, there is now a page dedicated to fundraising for Sasha:

If button doesn't work use THIS LINK.

maps.org afterparty in downtown l.a. was fun and hot (photos & video)

2010-12-12T17:00:00.001-08:00

for AlSto's #39, we stayed home as AlSto received dozens of visitors, phone calls and FB good wishes. otherwise, since we went to PhiLe's studio to play cards and Rockband until late the previous night, we just watched Scarface on TV and not much else...

in the evening, we went to see friends and hear DJs at a party at the Temple of Visions art gallery in downtown L.A. MAPS.org (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) was in town for their CATALYSTS conference. some events were to raise money for their upcoming research project which will study therapeutic use of MDMA on Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who have chronic post-tramautic stress disorder (who have not responded to other treatment).

**NEWS: DR. ALEXANDER 'SASHA' SHULGIN NEEDS OUR HELP. PLEASE SEE THIS PAGE FOR INFO.**

what a serious people-watching bonanza: attendees included physicians, scholars, authors, artists and overall enthusiasts who wandered, danced, sat and slept (see a few photos here). we met pharmacist NICK BERRY (and contributed to his sharpie-decorated labcoat), a girl named Tammy/Tami and ___ , who i remember as 'Rock' for the namepatch on his blue speedsuit/jumpsuit...

on to the music. at the turntables (oops i mean CDJs!): Dela played a squelchy dub set first; EASTERN SUN's Brian Saitzyk (Ball of Waxx) was next with a set of chilled breaks, minimal dubstep and some beat music (i think he played a song by Take!!?); i think Imagika followed. the inside of the gallery was almost unbearably warm so we ran up the street with BriKa to Seven Grand bar, arriving there right before last call. when we got back, psychonauts filled the dancefloor and Moontribe's DJ BRIAN was in full effect. (sorry for the poor video quality! 'tis super short cos i was running out of battery!)

stuff my husband sez

2010-12-08T23:31:00.000-08:00

re: Nicholas Cage

"He named his kid Kal El* !? i hope he beats the crap out of him when he gets old enough."

* superman

the holidaze make me think of the crumpus...

2010-12-06T21:46:00.001-08:00

'tis actually spelt KRAMPUS. he's a.k.a. the holiday devil!

Gruss vom Krampus / Gruß vom Krampus (Greetings from the Crumpus) Everyone!

"On December 5th and 6th, in Austria, Switzerland, Croatia, Germany and other regions of European, children greet kindly St. Nicholas with his bag of toys and sweets only to find the Saint's devilish assistant trailing behind. Hideously costumed as a devil or wild man with a whipping switch or chains, Krampus comes to frighten the mischievous children into contrition."

...and see more info on this awesome website, KRAMPUS.COM!

video from A VERY VENTURE CHRISTMAS on the Venture Brothers

give the TSA something to look at...

2010-12-06T21:03:00.001-08:00

thanks to my TiVO casts, i was turned on this evening to 4TH AMENDMENT WEAR, which uses metallic ink to make messages appear (actually, the Constitution's Fourth Amendment) under airport body scans. you can even purchase some of the garments on Etsy.

via Creativity Online

Justice John Paul Stevens is my hero.

2010-11-29T22:03:00.000-08:00

and he's America's hero, too! the honourable JPS was on 60 MINUTES this week.

the entire episode was pretty cool, actually. you should check out the segments about the crazy Spiderman + U2 musical and training the Afghani police force.

thank you, Frontline for "Facing Death"

2010-11-23T01:03:00.000-08:00

powerful.

SPIDER'S KISS: Venture Bros. cocktail from "Operation P.R.O.M."

2010-11-22T10:21:00.000-08:00

's the second drink recipe, as mentioned by JACKSON PUBLICK. on the bump of the VENTURE BROTHERS season finale (the exciting, long-awaited, double-long final season 4 episode that made me a little emotional! plus, SHORE LEAVE is a total badass), Mr. Publick quickly ordered this drink before cutting to commercial:

Spider's Kiss Cocktail

1 oz. green melon liqueur
1 oz. vodka
Squeeze of fresh Lemon
Grenadine (optional)
Chocolate syrup

Draw a chocolate web into a cocktail glass. Place in freezer and chill. Shake melon , vodka and lemon juice and strain into glass. For a blood effect, drizzle grenadine down the side of the glass. Garnish with a chocolate-dipped orange slice.

Recipe from DRINK OF THE WEEK website created by Victoria D’Amato-Moran, courtesy of Midori®.

[BTW here's the drink Doc Hammer ordered in the same bump.]

WE LOVE YOU TOO, MR. HAMMER AND MR. PUBLICK!!!

another Venture Brothers cocktail: HOT MOMMY (Hot Mummy?)

2010-11-22T09:57:00.000-08:00

for all you DOC HAMMER - like skinny-minis (whinnies?) out there, here's a drink recipe for the beverage Doc mentioned at the end of the bump during amazingly brilliant, awesome, near-perfect VENTURE BROTHERS season finale on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim (no, not the arsenic in a coconut, sorry!):

Hot Mommy (Skinny Vacation Cocktail)
1 oz. coconut rum (50 calories)
4 oz. club soda (0 calories)
Splash of pineapple juice (16 calories)
Splash of orange juice (14 calories)
Garnish with a fresh slice of pineapple (20 calories)

Total calorie count? Just 100 calories for your fabulous vacation cocktail! Compare that to 530 calories and in the same size pina colada or 740 calories for a margarita...

(Thanks to the HOT MOMMY HAPPY BABY blog for the recipe...)

the REAL drummer in Cee-Lo Green's live band: Brittany Brooks!

2010-11-17T19:45:00.000-08:00

so, you've seen Cee-Lo perform his song "Fµ¢k◄You" / "Forget You" (or "Fox News" on Colbert) on tv, with a 'live' band of women/girls...

well, BRITTANY BROOKS was the one bandmember who actually played the drums while the guitar, bass and keyboard ladies played to a backing track (at least on Colbert they did!)... and she's a pretty great drummer! she even has a cymbal sponsor.

follow her on the MySpace as brittanyabrooks and the Twitt'r: @brittanyAbrooks ! (i think thadrummindiva on MySpace is her, as well...)

here's Cee-lo and Ms. Brooks in a video from Later with Jools Holland:

and thank you, KEEP IT SIMPLE on the Drummerworld forum, for leading me to Youtuber NEWZAPPA for the info on Brittany's name! (plz. check the video's comments for his source.)

= = = =
postscript -

Dear TOM TOM MAGAZINE *, may i please be one of your writers? ;-P OK OK, how about a researcher, then?

*btw TomTom is an awesome online and print mag about female drummers! find them on the FB and the Twitt'r too: @tomtommag

Cock Play, Not Fight....from National Geographic Magazine Contest

2010-11-17T13:35:00.000-08:00

Photo and caption by Ario Wibisono

Cockfight - Suradita Village, West Java, Indonesia (2010). Children playing with their rooster. Actually it was not a real cockfight because the rooster didn't wear blades on their feet. Children likes to play this game because they almost never have toys in their life. From 2010 National Geographic Photo Contest - Galleries - National Geographic Magazine

something for WaDi, MoVerSpe and Mags in the other CA...

2010-11-17T00:25:00.001-08:00

Marwencol is the next place i want to go...

2010-11-12T17:21:00.000-08:00

first learned about this on the MADELINE BRAND SHOW:

aka the "Crazyass Japanese Thing of the Day"

2010-11-12T01:06:00.000-08:00

[no, JaHe & AlSto, it's not me!]

big THANKS to SarMan for this! my bro Kaze wants to go to one of these. and i'm thinking, how come a Dethklok or a Gorillaz show couldn't be like this??!

see original video here.

judith griggs of cook's source magazine...

2010-11-11T19:12:00.000-08:00

learn more about

JUDITH GRIGGS,

the flippant Cook's Source editor.

lol.

MUSIC: Kele Okereke - Tenderoni

2010-11-09T13:58:00.000-08:00

how could i have missed this album? it's KELE OKEREKE (not Okoreke) from Bloc Party! it's a great freaking song.

original video here.

what Ninja Tune XX meant, and what Ninja Tune means to me

2010-10-31T12:45:00.000-07:00

there was a time when labels meant something, when they were synonymous with a certain aesthetic, roster of artists and calibre of quality and musicianship (and for these reasons, i still love Relativity, SST, 4AD, Wax Trax, Moonshine, Planet Dog etc. etc.); and Ninja Tune was, and still remains, a label you can count on...

Gary Numan is headlining two nights at the El Rey next week. favourites from my 20s have reunited and toured again recently. hell, even the Chemical Brothers are still actively making music and touring. for all the shows we could have gone to but didn't go to, either because we couldn't afford the $ or the energy it would take to attend, there were two shows i was absolutely not going to miss, two shows this near 40-yr old was looking forward to since summer: KRUDER & DORFMEISTER and NINJA TUNE XX.

musically speaking, in the early 1990s, i was still making my way between the remnants of alt-goth clubs and the burdgeoning Los Angeles rave scene. i was in college, futilely still pursuing a career in the music business, interning the 2-6am shift at radio station MARS-FM. just a few years later, i fell in love with my husband, and all our friends and we were falling in love with Kruder and Dorfmeister, Fila Brazillia, Quango Records, and all things downtempo (yes, thanks largely in part to Jason Bentley, his show Metropolis and KCRW). i think ENIT was still in effect, via Lollapalooza. at about this time, there happened to be an extraordinary UK label which had already been releasing great music for several years, called Ninja Tune.

i think i have loved the Herbaliser and Coldcut and Cinematic Orchestra and DJ Food and DJ Vadim and Mixmaster Morris and all Ninja Tune artists for the simple fact that they've always made my head nod and my ears listen...in that order. most everyone knows the Mr. Scruff song "Get a Move On" that was in the 2005 advert for Lincoln cars. see? i know you remember the song, even if you don't remember the commercial. and NO, it wasn't Moby.

really, one shouldn't need to know much about keyboards, turntables, editing software and samplers to enjoy music. maybe, sometimes, it helps, cos then you see someone get on stage and pull off everything live, like ESKMO did last night...and you're blown away.

i feel lucky to live in L.A., where Ninja Tune XX happened to touch down on one special evening. i think i was worried there would be too much competition in town: 'twas the Saturday of Hallowe'en weekend; Of Montreal was playing at the Palladium; HARD L.A. was up the street near usc (and there was a [an?] usc game on campus, i later learned). i was so happy to see the line was already around the corner, 30 minutes after doors had officially opened. of course, all the people waiting outside meant there were very few people inside to watch the opening acts... we only saw one song of Cut Chemist, who was in a hurry to get down to KCRW's Hallowe'en bash (oh, that was yet another thing going on on the same night). and GHOSTBEARD played a good, solid abstract set upstairs, and man, the sound was awesome.

one of my biggest complaints is when a music-based event fails to make their audio a priority, but NOT Ninja Tune! they made sure the audio was sounding excellent and trouble-free in every way. every piece was in place, with the possible exception of KID KOALA's crossfader fail...which was not truly a fail. that's because he deftly replaced the fader on the spot with true Kid Koala showmanship. He talked us through the process, stopping himself short of describing in geeky detail the part that had malfunctioned, although i would have loved to hear about it, and joking about his hopes that his sponsorship from Rane mixers wasn't dropped...even though the mixer had already lasted for a purported 400 previous shows! what a charming guy!! and THEN, Kid Koala proceeded with the show, enthusiastically standing on top of the monitors as he played the 'only song [his] two year-old daughter likes of [his] entire record collection', kinda like this:

...and many more. Amon Tobin played a gut-rattling dubstep-inspired set, while upstairs, DK and DJ Food brought out an all-Ninja-Tune-and-Big-Dada set, spinning their way through the recorded history of the label. freaking fantastic! unfortunately, :(( we were unable to stay for DJ KENTARO, who i am sure blew minds away with his turntablism and skill!!

the term 'ninja' is so apt in describing the artists working their magic on Ninja Tune's music. we were all really lucky to have been at the Echoplex last night, in the presence of some of our music superheroes! looking through their commemorative book, Ninja Tune: 20 Years of Beats & Pieces (which was painstakingly put together to be released as an accompaniment to the limited edition, and now sold-out, four-CD boxset), one may notice how all the gents have a little more grey in their hair and maybe a little more weight on their bodies, or at least just wedding bands on their fingers.

Panasonic officially announced they were ceasing production of their analogue turntables last week, but they hadn't heard the news at Ninja Tune's birthday party last night. the most incredible thing was to be at a place where the love of music was clearly so apparent and palpable. you could touch it in on the face of every artist; you could hear it in every molecule of the air; and you could see it in every bobbing head, both onstage and off.

BTW a huge thank you to LysWo, JuBla and CaiVe of THIRD SIDE MUSIC and TiJo of TERRORBIRD MEDIA!!!

MUSIC: Faithless' new album THE DANCE is worth a listen

2010-10-27T18:06:00.000-07:00

This is "Feelin' Good" from Faithless.

i can't wait to hear a remix of this song. welcome back, Sister Bliss and Rollo!!!

video is nicely made, and the song isn't too bad...

2010-10-20T22:09:00.000-07:00

thanks to DoGre (actually, his brother) for this video!!

d(*&heads = d&^%bags, i guess...

aftermath.

2010-10-12T10:17:00.000-07:00

for Smaug the Desolate's One Year Memorial...

2010-10-12T06:04:00.000-07:00

in honour of our kind, sweet, strong and sensitive guy...

Smaug the Desolate - Februaryish 1993 to 12 October 2009

he is so dearly missed, and we think of him often.

we love you, smaug!!!!

yes, Virginia, there really is a WALT DISNEY.

2010-10-11T09:56:00.000-07:00

BIG thank you to MaMcWa for this!! ;-)))

MUSIC: Maximum Balloon, David Byrne and "Apartment Wrestling"

2010-10-06T17:05:00.000-07:00

From THE GUARDIAN in an interview with TVOTR's Dave Sitek, whose side project MAXIMUM BALLOON released a great new album!:

"I was playing some of the instrumental tracks to a mutual friend of ours. He was like, 'Man, you know who'd kill this? David Byrne'. I was like, 'Yeah right, and then I'll get Jimi Hendrix to play guitar'. But he called David, who said he'd do it and then I crapped my pants … And then I changed my pants and we recorded the song. It's amazing, David's been a huge influence on not just me but everyone else on this record. When I first heard what he'd done it blew my mind. Then it blew my mind all over again two weeks later when I realised what the lyrics are about. The song is fucking twisted. There's actually an old porno magazine from the 70s called Apartment Wrestling – it featured scantily-clad girls grappling and having pillow fights with each other. Pretty far out."

HEAR IT: Apartment Wrestling by Maximum Balloon v's David Byrne

MUSIC: new SEI A lp WHITE RAINBOW on Turbo is sick sick sick

2010-10-01T19:49:00.000-07:00

thank god there's techno.

i swear you've never heard it so good...if you like techno, at least. no joke, i got chills listening to SEI A's track 8, Who Dares Wins. from his new WHITE RAINBOW album. i even stopped the track to do something, and then put it on a little later. chills again.

and then there's Stars. pure, classic and an absolutely mouthdropping production standard. my god, on Body of Eyes, too. you'll get chills, i tell you!!!!

listen to something on SOUNDCLOUD...

all this could be yours, some day.

2010-09-30T13:09:00.000-07:00

MENOMENA.

their album Mines is brilliant. here's a live video for a performance of very good song called "Five Little Rooms":

my favourite song on Mines is "Oh Pretty Boy, You're Such a Big Boy". the production on the album is everything i would want to accomplish on a record. plus, i just love their piano arrangments and parts. i haven't heard the bari sax sound so good since Morphine...AND i think their lyrics are pretty awesome, too.

why did i have to fall in love with this record AFTER they had already played through Los Angeles?

find out more and hear other songs on their label BARSUK's website.

THIS is why you gotta know the Bible!

2010-09-29T15:10:00.000-07:00

taken from the executive summary of a new Pew Research survey on religious knowledge:

"...Atheists and agnostics, Jews and Mormons are among the highest-scoring groups on a new survey of religious knowledge, outperforming evangelical Protestants, mainline Protestants and Catholics on questions about the core teachings, history and leading figures of major world religions.

On average, Americans correctly answer 16 of the 32 religious knowledge questions on the survey by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life. Atheists and agnostics average 20.9 correct answers..."

http://pewforum.org/Other-Beliefs-and-Practices/U-S-Religious-Knowledge-Survey.aspx

FOOD: Triumphant Orange County Return of Grill 'Em All Truck or NOT??!!

2010-09-24T02:41:00.000-07:00

it speaks volumes when FoodTV's Great Food Truck Race (GFTR) is the only reality show my husband AlSto dares admit watching. luckily, we had the privilege of eating GRILL 'EM ALL truck's brutal cuisine before people chose to wait in line around the block this evening!

Grill 'Em All was scheduled to arrive at 6pm, at Fullerton's Bootlegger's Brewery, but they were running late. i was on the road at the time, but AlSto got periodic updates from our friends who had been waiting in line since 5pm-ish...

by 7pm, according to our friends' reports, no orders had been taken yet, but someone was out in front of the line, rallying supporters, the faithful and the hungry. we were at home still. AlSto considered (aloud) heading down to Fullerton, Pig amp in hand, to play 'Fight Fire with Fire' a la Venice Beach's Harry Karry (sp?) sans rollerskates and head dress. seriously. except i'm just kidding about the Harry Karry part.

despite a bunch of cheaters cutting in line, our friends managed to get their hands and mouths around the BEHEMOTH (but search for 'behometh'. doesn't that sound/look like something from the bible?!). they hadn't run out of food yet, but the Orange County health inspectors were supposedly onsite, doing what health inspectors do. or were they?

the following two twits were all i could find in the Twitter universe:

RT @englishboila: @GrillEmAllTruck got harrassed by health inspector nazis in Fullerton so they are running really late!! We need to stop this harrasment!! (sic) - via search.twitter.com

@englishboila: Apparantly they let @GrillEmAllTruck go tonight cos of huge line but they won't be allowed in OC again until pass OC codes!! (sic) - via search.twitter.com

as of 2.49 Friday morning, OC Register had nothing more current than their post announcing Grill 'Em All's planned appearance. the OC Weekly had nothing to report, either...but on STICK A FORK IN IT my guys Edwin Goei and Dave Lieberman had said some of the things i had wanted to say about the outcome of the GFTR. and those damn nom noms.

so did anything really happen tonight? i don't trust rumours when i have nothing to support or substantiate... so please fill me in, Grill 'Em All guys!

or, help us, Gustavo Arellano !

-Thursday, 23/9/2010 Twitpic via @threefrenchs

Mehlman and Maron

2010-09-22T00:20:00.000-07:00

if you haven't read MARON's tweet series (on Gawker) as he was seated next to (former GOP chairman) Ken Mehlman on an airplane yet, you must.

i HEART Roger Craig (not the athlete)

2010-09-19T09:36:00.000-07:00

i must say, ROGER CRAIG is a total badass. i absolutely love his demeanour, his strategy, his signaling technique, his brain and his personality! and i'm only two of four days into our TiVO list of Roger Craig's astonishing winning run.

so now, here are v's favourites in order:

Colonel Dave Belote

Roger Craig

Vijay Balse

Justin Bernbach

Stefan Goodreau

confessions of a Jeopardy! groupie...WOOOOOO!

i've always wanted to go on a cruise...

2010-09-19T01:46:00.000-07:00

REPOST. wow!

thanks to@pleaseenjoy via Gizmodo.

Not Just Broken Bells (of Kristina Hendricks)

2010-09-17T17:28:00.001-07:00

Broken Bells - The Ghost Inside OFFICIAL VIDEO (Protein Exclusive) from Protein® on Vimeo.

Pappy Van Winkle's Sicilian Lifeguard à la Terranea

2010-09-16T14:04:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night 15/9/2010 with AlSto and BriKa in no particular order... or maybe, in order of recall:

the S.C. thing is apparently brash spicy tomato sauce, briny caper berries, sweet currants, sharp scallions, and soft balls of Israeli couscous:

"I have never actually met a Sicilian lifeguard, but if one were to cook up a pot of calamari, this is how he or she might make it." - Mario Batali

sounds kinda gross to me. i didn't have it but i did have tiny vegetables. but please find a reference or definition of the Sicilian Lifeguard preparation without Batali, other than at MAR'SEL (sea salt! geddit? and their salt was really quite extraordinary) or its super young chef MICHAEL FIORELLI (worked under both MARK MILITELLO and SUSANNA FOO?!! holy crap. but i still don't like K Simon). then, please tell me cos i'm too lazy to page through 10 pages of results.

- per Saveur article of BABBO.

gin IS vodka. - per CHOWHOUND

long, slow and wet = braising! - per EPICURIOUS

don't be a jerk. thanks to waiter George. he takes care of you! ask for him.

j'adore l'amuse bouche! caramelised shallot tart with sofrito sauce. i heart odd numbers on a plate. seashell-shaped café mocha chocolate for dessert.
check out the small world of bourbon...PAPPY VAN WINKLE is bottled at the BLANTON'S plant!

the distillery has a webcam of several different rooms! Frankfort is about 70 miles from Loretto, Kentucky...for when we eventually go on our KY Tour. and PVW is related to Ole Grandad (just kidding. but maybe it should be!).

JUSTIN cabernet sauvignon is pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good.

did i forget anything?

cats

2010-09-10T11:53:00.000-07:00

...not eels.

i know you've seen this but i lagged posting it first...even before my brother Kaze sent me a link.

via ADWEEK.

did you know...?

2010-08-25T14:24:00.000-07:00

The LEARN SOMETHING NEW site has many more things to learn each day, authenticated for the most part, in picture form.
Thx to @pleaseenjoy for always posting such interesting stuff for us to enjoy! :)

am i just envious? jealous, even?

2010-08-23T13:22:00.000-07:00

check it out, yet another reason to support why i say de caza is so over-the-top bourgeois in every way possible... POLO LESSONS.

pretty crazy... and read how during the lesson, you will be riding, not on a horse, but on freaking WHALEBACK (see circled) with a referee who is HALF HORSE, HALF MAN, i.e. a centaur. wow. must be nice. they're probably eating bald eagle over there, too...

COOL! Painting "Fin Investigates a Rape" by Jeff Ramirez

2010-08-02T17:04:00.000-07:00

Taken from "These Are Their Stories", a series conceived by Brandon Bird. Thx to JeRo for the link!

i wish i could draw.

2010-07-15T17:47:00.000-07:00

from the Astonishing Art of Siri Stahlberg

Cool!

sorry, Rob Brezny, 'thas been a while...

2010-07-03T01:46:00.000-07:00

Free Will Astrology for the Week of 1 July 2010!??

Cancer (June 21-July 22)
Let's do a check-in on your progress so far in 2010, Cancerian. The year's half over, and I'm wondering if you've been cashing in on the unique invitations that life has been sending your way. The way I understand it, you've been summoned to emerge from your hiding place and go wandering around in exotic and unfamiliar places. Events that in the past may have turned you inward toward thoughts of safety have in recent months nudged you out in the direction of the Great Unknown. Have you been honest enough with yourself to recognize the call to adventure? Have you been wild and free enough to answer the call? If not, I suggest you find it in yourself to do so. The next six months will be prime time to head out on a glorious quest.

wow. this is the first time in a very long time, when i can remember Rob tell me something other than "All systems are go!" during my bday week. he's a cancer, too, you know. not that i believe in any of this stuff...

MUSIC: Dizzee Rascal

2010-06-14T12:08:00.000-07:00

WOW every single song from the DIZZEE RASCAL album Tongue N Cheek gets better and better... See the video for Dirtee Cash below, along with the original STEVIE V song, below below, from which Dizzee's people borrowed the sample!

a chart of Crayola crayon colours, from 1903 to 2010.

2010-06-03T18:51:00.000-07:00

from Stephen Von Worley via NPR