Totally unannounced set at the Velvet. I should do these lists more often. Figure the odds.
Shameless plug time (click through to see in HD):
Godzilla of the Four Corners from Toomb Paine on Vimeo.
The playlist:
1. The Young Gods - Speak Low (5:13)
2. The Magnetic Fields - Swinging London (2:35)
3. Rasputina - In Old Yellowcake (4:05)
4. Yma Sumac - Malambo No. 1 (2:57)
5. Kevin Bloody Wilson - New Christmas Song (3:20)
6. Camera Obscura - Happy New Year (4:03)
7. John Valby - Frosty [Explicit] (1:15)
8. Bing Crosby - Mele Kalikimaka (Merry Christmas) (2:55)
9. Louis XIV - Illegal Tender (Album/EP Version) (3:13)
10. Original Broadway Cast - Happy New Year (3:23)
11. Nina Gordon - New Year's Eve (3:28)
12. The Capitol Steps - Sunni Side Of Tikrit (2:25)
13. Saint Etienne - Kiss And Make Up (Album Version) (5:14)
14. Ben's Brother - Kiss Me Again (Stuttering) (3:23)
15. Camera Obscura - Anti-Western (3:10)
16. Pink Floyd - Any Colour You Like (3:25)
17. JAMES NEWTON HOWARD - De Profundis (From "The Sixth Sense") (2:23)
18. Stuart M. Frank - Liverpool Judies (Instrumental) (1:11)
19. Indigo Girls - Left Me A Fool (4:53)
20. Leszek Możdżer - Zapraszamy do Sekretariatu (1:13)
21. The Dreamside - Apaika (4:36)
22. Dialogue - You're My Wicked Life (1:14)
23. The Upsetters - Apeman Skank (2:29)
24. Céu - Lenda (4:17)
25. David Bowie - Leon Takes Us Outside (Album Version) (1:26)
26. The Magnetic Fields - Sugar World (3:19)
27. Jon Brion - Peer Pressure (1:12)
28. Patricia Kaas - L'enterrement de Sidney Bechet (3:04)
29. Yo La Tengo - Fourth Time Around (Album Version) (5:10)
30. Sarah McLachlan - Mary (3:55)
31. Blake Leyh - Apophenia (3:17)
32. Mary Gauthier - Drag Queens in Limousines (5:39)
33. Bert Jansch - The Bright New Year (1:28)
34. Ani DiFranco - In Or Out (3:06)
35. Teresa Stratas - Youkali Tango from Marie Galante (6:38)
36. Lucie Blue Tremblay - Getting Old (4:20)
37. Austin Lounge Lizards - Leonard Cohen's Day Job (4:42)
38. Zeb - The Tango I Saved for You (from the film Gaily, Gaily) (Zeb's The Tango I Stole From You Remix) (5:13)
39. Donovan - Legend of a Girl Child Linda (6:56)
40. Sinéad O'Connor - Jah Nuh Dead (3:20)
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Vimeo makes toys!
Here's a feature for the marching band videos. It's just a little "toy" to display (I think) videos in one of the groups, channels or other sorting schemes I set up to highlight marching band videos I like, in the hopes of sparking a little bit of discussion and sharing of tricks and tips among those of us who spend a good deal of time shooting marching band footage for various reasons. It should appear below and there might be more video fun below the fold.
I'll add more of a narrative later, perhaps.
I'll add more of a narrative later, perhaps.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Because if I post about Veronica Bowers...
... I may just go catatonic.
So instead, here's a Rahm Emmanuel parody.
Meanwhile, here's a pic of Veronica Bowers and child, not yet shot down by the CIA. The link in her name, meanwhile, will take you to one of the stories about her and the need to get the facts from those implicated in her death and the death of her baby when their plane was suspected of being some sort of drug plane. She was a missionary, by the way.
Not much after the fold.
Maybe I'll pull together a longer story about Veronica Bowers, her baby and the government that shot them down sometime later. If I can get over the feeling of hopelessness such stories tend to instill in me.
So instead, here's a Rahm Emmanuel parody.
Meanwhile, here's a pic of Veronica Bowers and child, not yet shot down by the CIA. The link in her name, meanwhile, will take you to one of the stories about her and the need to get the facts from those implicated in her death and the death of her baby when their plane was suspected of being some sort of drug plane. She was a missionary, by the way.
Not much after the fold.
Maybe I'll pull together a longer story about Veronica Bowers, her baby and the government that shot them down sometime later. If I can get over the feeling of hopelessness such stories tend to instill in me.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Kareem's mom - wallpaper version
I was touched by the photo that came to light when Colin Powell asked, essentially, if not in these words, "What the frack is wrong with being Muslim in American?"
Here's the pic which I've reprocessed a little to make it work as tiled wallpaper.
I'll be keeping this as my wallpaper until the election is over, at least. Please feel free to do the same.
Please feel free to do the same.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Don't understand mortgage-backed derivatives?
This may or may not help.
Sad to say, there's more truth than comedy in that routine. But it was intended as comedy.
The following bit was not designed as comedy.
Last of all, this video almost manages to explain what is going on here.
Sad to say, there's more truth than comedy in that routine. But it was intended as comedy.
The following bit was not designed as comedy.
Last of all, this video almost manages to explain what is going on here.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Living in the Madhouse
The present campaign has me thinking a lot about why many Americans seem to be allergic to hope.
(Please note: This is a draft, and something I want to say as clearly as I'm able, so comments, especially if they provide any basis for further editing, will be greatly appreciated).
I was three years old when JFK was assassinated. While I can't tell you where I was at that moment, images of the assassination, the funeral and his children are much of what I remember seeing everywhere around me from a young age.
I expect there are many my age who are like that, with JFK, RFK and MLK. I do remember hearing about and seeing on TV the coverage of the RFK and MLK assassinations. I also recall Nixon with a special loathing. Something about him, well before the resignation just ate on a nerve.
It couldn't help but color my reaction to politicians, and when I speak to most people who remember that era, I find that, or infer that those memories have a lot to do with our basic distrust of the political process and suspicion towards any politician who manages to remain breathing. It's taken a very long time to appreciate that not all politicians are fully-owned and operated proxies of some shadowy force or another, and it has also primed me (and many others, I expect) to almost immediately see any living politician as a testament to and an example of a politics that is run almost entirely by some shadowy, hidden cabal, some Star Chamber, some shadow government or international conspiracy of whomever.
Looking at this fully would probably take up a book but this is just going to be a reflection on some of the suppositions that have tended to come, most of them largely unexamined for me, until recently.
I look at Obama and see an honorable man, someone who represents almost a caricature of the American Dream that I grew up thinking of as a myth. He's Harvard-trained. He's a conciliator, a consensus-builder, someone who doesn't give in to the easy and pervasive cynicism that has become a sort of rotting heart of American political culture, especially when one considers the many grown-up citizens who so often have simply refused to vote as a way, perhaps, to remain untainted by the insanity of our politics. I'm sure he's not a saint, but every real fact I've learned about him tends to leave me in awe that someone this good and decent could survive the American political process.
And of course that has me scared.
Maybe more scared than I should be, because my fear comes not so much from what I see for real, but from the things I can imagine based on very scant evidence from video clips of his opponent's political rallies... rallies that the polling numbers and my conversations with others suggest are attended increasingly by a rapidly thinning population of people who feel they have been marginalized by American culture, when in fact they have managed to take the reins of a once-powerful political party.
A sub-set that have alienated, by many accounts, a large share of those whose views are at the center of what the "average American" now believes about politics, economics and most other elements that are seen as the legitimate sphere of party politics in America.
Kevin Phillips has been talking about much of this, directly and indirectly, for many years. Just as he astutely dissected the ascendancy of the form of Conservatism that was most represented by Ronald Reagan, he has likewise dissected the gradual wreck and self-parody that Republican success (and popular disregard for politics) have enabled.
It seems clear that we are at a turning point here. And not one that is necessarily dependent on the survival of one person, though I feel it would be so much better for our collective sanity if we could avoid losing this one to another nut-case, or dark conspiracy -- whichever you may think was the guiding hand in assassinations going back at least to Lincoln's.
Please, let the Civil War be over, at long last.
(Please note: This is a draft, and something I want to say as clearly as I'm able, so comments, especially if they provide any basis for further editing, will be greatly appreciated).
I was three years old when JFK was assassinated. While I can't tell you where I was at that moment, images of the assassination, the funeral and his children are much of what I remember seeing everywhere around me from a young age.
I expect there are many my age who are like that, with JFK, RFK and MLK. I do remember hearing about and seeing on TV the coverage of the RFK and MLK assassinations. I also recall Nixon with a special loathing. Something about him, well before the resignation just ate on a nerve.
It couldn't help but color my reaction to politicians, and when I speak to most people who remember that era, I find that, or infer that those memories have a lot to do with our basic distrust of the political process and suspicion towards any politician who manages to remain breathing. It's taken a very long time to appreciate that not all politicians are fully-owned and operated proxies of some shadowy force or another, and it has also primed me (and many others, I expect) to almost immediately see any living politician as a testament to and an example of a politics that is run almost entirely by some shadowy, hidden cabal, some Star Chamber, some shadow government or international conspiracy of whomever.
Looking at this fully would probably take up a book but this is just going to be a reflection on some of the suppositions that have tended to come, most of them largely unexamined for me, until recently.
I look at Obama and see an honorable man, someone who represents almost a caricature of the American Dream that I grew up thinking of as a myth. He's Harvard-trained. He's a conciliator, a consensus-builder, someone who doesn't give in to the easy and pervasive cynicism that has become a sort of rotting heart of American political culture, especially when one considers the many grown-up citizens who so often have simply refused to vote as a way, perhaps, to remain untainted by the insanity of our politics. I'm sure he's not a saint, but every real fact I've learned about him tends to leave me in awe that someone this good and decent could survive the American political process.
And of course that has me scared.
Maybe more scared than I should be, because my fear comes not so much from what I see for real, but from the things I can imagine based on very scant evidence from video clips of his opponent's political rallies... rallies that the polling numbers and my conversations with others suggest are attended increasingly by a rapidly thinning population of people who feel they have been marginalized by American culture, when in fact they have managed to take the reins of a once-powerful political party.
A sub-set that have alienated, by many accounts, a large share of those whose views are at the center of what the "average American" now believes about politics, economics and most other elements that are seen as the legitimate sphere of party politics in America.
Kevin Phillips has been talking about much of this, directly and indirectly, for many years. Just as he astutely dissected the ascendancy of the form of Conservatism that was most represented by Ronald Reagan, he has likewise dissected the gradual wreck and self-parody that Republican success (and popular disregard for politics) have enabled.
It seems clear that we are at a turning point here. And not one that is necessarily dependent on the survival of one person, though I feel it would be so much better for our collective sanity if we could avoid losing this one to another nut-case, or dark conspiracy -- whichever you may think was the guiding hand in assassinations going back at least to Lincoln's.
Please, let the Civil War be over, at long last.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Cancel the Debates?
This is priceless.
McCain Postpones the Debates from Tremendosaur on Vimeo.
How could I say more than this? Except to urge you to chase the video down at vimeo itself, to see it in all its HD loveliness.
McCain Postpones the Debates from Tremendosaur on Vimeo.
How could I say more than this? Except to urge you to chase the video down at vimeo itself, to see it in all its HD loveliness.
We NEED a damaged President
Yes, we truly need another four years of general panic and fear-based decision-making, because it's so clear how much good that has done for everyone who still has a job. Look at how strong out reputation is among the nations of the world! Look at how strong our dollar is in worldwide currency markets!
I swore I would keep my service record out of this election cycle, but, following the example of our Great Statesman of Straight Talk, I see now that commitments and past convictions are not nearly as important as doing everything possible to see that John McCain gets a chance to be our Final Finalist in the Panoply of P!$$-Poor Presidents.
I seriously doubt I will live through the next president's term, whether that president is Obama (my true preference, should it be unclear to the irony-impaired) or McCain, whose campaign I've decided to try on for size here, since I'm dead anyway and won't have to live with the consequences. At least I hope that's the case, but then I've been unlucky before. Still, a lot of things would need to change very fast and very dramatically in this country to ensure I would make it to 2012.
Some background first. I served in the U.S. Army on active duty from May of 1980 through May 1984, and then for 2 years of inactive reserve before getting an honorable discharge, including a Good Conduct medal and some other bolo badges in 1986. It is very likely that the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis that is part of why I doubt I have 4 more years to live, came in large part from that period of service. But unlike McCain, I'm not claiming that as a qualification for high office. Heck, I'm too depressed to even go through the pointless humiliation of trying to get the Veteran's Administration to reject my claim for disability payments. And now I understand that this was probably my personal failing all along, not considering my greatest personal liability as my greatest selling point for the Presidency. I too should have decided that my ex-spouse was too ugly and damaged and that I needed to trade up for someone with better hair, more money and no need for a back brace.
I no longer have access to meaningful health care, though that may not be a bad thing, since I really don't relish living through the aftermath or the cleanup period made necessary by the past eight years of executive mismanagement and outright theft of the American Dream, or the principles that it -- however imperfectly -- was once based on.
What I have to wonder is this:
Why is a jerk-off fighter jock, who never got along with his fellow service members, who has never been respected or carried much weight at his present day-job as U.S. Senator -- why is this sort of record considered a qualification for the Presidency? Why is anyone -- press or public citizen -- taking this jerk seriously? Maybe that's the true mystery behind McCain's enigmatic smile? Or perhaps the world ended years ago and we're all actually in Hell.
That's it! The Rapture came, I was Taken, and this is all just a bad dream. Thank you, Jeezus!
I swore I would keep my service record out of this election cycle, but, following the example of our Great Statesman of Straight Talk, I see now that commitments and past convictions are not nearly as important as doing everything possible to see that John McCain gets a chance to be our Final Finalist in the Panoply of P!$$-Poor Presidents.
I seriously doubt I will live through the next president's term, whether that president is Obama (my true preference, should it be unclear to the irony-impaired) or McCain, whose campaign I've decided to try on for size here, since I'm dead anyway and won't have to live with the consequences. At least I hope that's the case, but then I've been unlucky before. Still, a lot of things would need to change very fast and very dramatically in this country to ensure I would make it to 2012.
Some background first. I served in the U.S. Army on active duty from May of 1980 through May 1984, and then for 2 years of inactive reserve before getting an honorable discharge, including a Good Conduct medal and some other bolo badges in 1986. It is very likely that the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis that is part of why I doubt I have 4 more years to live, came in large part from that period of service. But unlike McCain, I'm not claiming that as a qualification for high office. Heck, I'm too depressed to even go through the pointless humiliation of trying to get the Veteran's Administration to reject my claim for disability payments. And now I understand that this was probably my personal failing all along, not considering my greatest personal liability as my greatest selling point for the Presidency. I too should have decided that my ex-spouse was too ugly and damaged and that I needed to trade up for someone with better hair, more money and no need for a back brace.
I no longer have access to meaningful health care, though that may not be a bad thing, since I really don't relish living through the aftermath or the cleanup period made necessary by the past eight years of executive mismanagement and outright theft of the American Dream, or the principles that it -- however imperfectly -- was once based on.
What I have to wonder is this:
Why is a jerk-off fighter jock, who never got along with his fellow service members, who has never been respected or carried much weight at his present day-job as U.S. Senator -- why is this sort of record considered a qualification for the Presidency? Why is anyone -- press or public citizen -- taking this jerk seriously? Maybe that's the true mystery behind McCain's enigmatic smile? Or perhaps the world ended years ago and we're all actually in Hell.
That's it! The Rapture came, I was Taken, and this is all just a bad dream. Thank you, Jeezus!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Why Any Bailout At All?
Here is one seemingly simple question to ask yourself about the looming promise of a bailout for those who created the current financial crisis.
Q: How would any bailout proposal actually help Main Street?
The sole credible answer I'm hearing to this one is that a bailout would somehow create liquidity that is threatening to dry up at the moment. Apparently, though, the current proposals are mainly aimed at having the Treasury buy up derivative contracts for which no one in the broader market seems to have the guts to even guess at a price. Or at least not a price that they're personally willing to risk actual money to buy. Here's a thought... perhaps this is because these contracts have no intrinsic value?
Let's look at what derivative contracts actually are:
Once upon a time, you could buy debt in a fairly simple form. It was called a bond, most of the time. The bond consisted of many things, mostly principal and interest, but its price was also a reflection of the market's collective guesses about how likely it was that the debtor would pay back both the capital borrowed, and the interest agreed upon.
The brilliant idea of derivatives was to treat this debt a little big like a pig carcass, only Wall Street boys being the creative sorts they've become in recent decades, they got the big idea of splitting up such obligations into finer and finer sub-divisions.
Carrying on with the pig metaphor, they figured, okay, we can sell the pig meat (the principle) as one derivative contract, and the extras (bone, fat, hooves, head and whatever is left) as a different derivative contract. Maybe we can even get more creative and sell each of the separate extras as a different derivative -- someone will be sure to buy them, right?
And if this bailout goes through, they will have been proven right, because the American Treasury, by which I mean mainly the American taxpayer, will have bought the rotting pig bones, hooves, exhaled pigsbreath and whatever else these imaginative titans managed to call a "product."
The question stands, why on earth would we do this?
Going back to the question I asked first off, how does buying a worthless asset create liquidity?
Q: How would any bailout proposal actually help Main Street?
The sole credible answer I'm hearing to this one is that a bailout would somehow create liquidity that is threatening to dry up at the moment. Apparently, though, the current proposals are mainly aimed at having the Treasury buy up derivative contracts for which no one in the broader market seems to have the guts to even guess at a price. Or at least not a price that they're personally willing to risk actual money to buy. Here's a thought... perhaps this is because these contracts have no intrinsic value?
Let's look at what derivative contracts actually are:
Once upon a time, you could buy debt in a fairly simple form. It was called a bond, most of the time. The bond consisted of many things, mostly principal and interest, but its price was also a reflection of the market's collective guesses about how likely it was that the debtor would pay back both the capital borrowed, and the interest agreed upon.
The brilliant idea of derivatives was to treat this debt a little big like a pig carcass, only Wall Street boys being the creative sorts they've become in recent decades, they got the big idea of splitting up such obligations into finer and finer sub-divisions.
Carrying on with the pig metaphor, they figured, okay, we can sell the pig meat (the principle) as one derivative contract, and the extras (bone, fat, hooves, head and whatever is left) as a different derivative contract. Maybe we can even get more creative and sell each of the separate extras as a different derivative -- someone will be sure to buy them, right?
And if this bailout goes through, they will have been proven right, because the American Treasury, by which I mean mainly the American taxpayer, will have bought the rotting pig bones, hooves, exhaled pigsbreath and whatever else these imaginative titans managed to call a "product."
The question stands, why on earth would we do this?
Going back to the question I asked first off, how does buying a worthless asset create liquidity?
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Straight Talk About Climate Change
Melting Lands from Hemmings House Pictures on Vimeo.
If you don't like Johnny Cash, or hate remixes, here's a more sentimental piece focusing on the human costs of ignoring global warming and pretending that climate change is a myth. Enough said.
Not sure whether I linked to this before, but there's an excellent essay on DailyKos about the impacts of Palin's pet project, the TransCanadian pipeline, and why it's not a good solution to our energy problems.
Here's some fresh air
I'm loving this guy.
I found this thanks to a link in Jeffrey Feldman's Daily Kos Diary, which, if you're sick to death of seeing/hearing Sarah Palin stories, is a very good piece to read.
Move along, nothing to see.
I found this thanks to a link in Jeffrey Feldman's Daily Kos Diary, which, if you're sick to death of seeing/hearing Sarah Palin stories, is a very good piece to read.
Move along, nothing to see.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Do you really want 4 years of this?
Funny. Scary. True. Really, really scary.
Discuss war policy. Pick your city.
Discuss war policy. Pick your city.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Glacialmelt Reggae - the new big chill
Alaska Prays to Become Arabia (Cry Cry Cry) (Glacialmelt Reggae Remix)
This is now a second rough entry in the Johnny Cash remix thing, building off a little from the more subtle invention of Alaskan Reggae in that less "on the nose" entry.
Here, Johnny Cash counterpoints with "Cry Cry Cry" as Sarah Palin states her faith and exhorts prayer to build her favorite pipeline, sell Alaska and rid the world of community organizers once and for all. Remapped to a defective reggae beat. Not enough skank (guitar) I realize now. Here's the rough cut of the music video. VH1 (or MTV), I'm waiting to hear from you.
Alaska Prays to Become Arabia (Cry Cry Cry) from Toomb Paine on Vimeo.
This mix is a refinement of several earlier versions. Palin vocals have been rebalanced somewhat, and some of the repeats have been thinned out to be a little less annoying. Most of the samples of Palin that were not from the RNC come from the full speech from which the following video is an excerpt:
This may be my final revision on this particular remix. That doesn't rule out adding more mixes that are derivative of this basic track, however.
I was listening to a radio interview with Tom Friedman as I was making the final adjustments to the video for this remix. Here's a Tom Browkaw interview where he likens the "Drill Baby, Drill!" chant at the RNC to a convention of executives chanting "IBM Selectric Baby, IBM Selectric" at the dawn of the microcomputer revolution. For investors, though, this brings up the question -- just where is the Microsoft or Apple of alternative energy production? Enjoy the movie.
This is now a second rough entry in the Johnny Cash remix thing, building off a little from the more subtle invention of Alaskan Reggae in that less "on the nose" entry.
Here, Johnny Cash counterpoints with "Cry Cry Cry" as Sarah Palin states her faith and exhorts prayer to build her favorite pipeline, sell Alaska and rid the world of community organizers once and for all. Remapped to a defective reggae beat. Not enough skank (guitar) I realize now. Here's the rough cut of the music video. VH1 (or MTV), I'm waiting to hear from you.
Alaska Prays to Become Arabia (Cry Cry Cry) from Toomb Paine on Vimeo.
This mix is a refinement of several earlier versions. Palin vocals have been rebalanced somewhat, and some of the repeats have been thinned out to be a little less annoying. Most of the samples of Palin that were not from the RNC come from the full speech from which the following video is an excerpt:
This may be my final revision on this particular remix. That doesn't rule out adding more mixes that are derivative of this basic track, however.
I was listening to a radio interview with Tom Friedman as I was making the final adjustments to the video for this remix. Here's a Tom Browkaw interview where he likens the "Drill Baby, Drill!" chant at the RNC to a convention of executives chanting "IBM Selectric Baby, IBM Selectric" at the dawn of the microcomputer revolution. For investors, though, this brings up the question -- just where is the Microsoft or Apple of alternative energy production? Enjoy the movie.
One Quick Reminder Before I Sleep
It seems that our soldiers abroad are no more thrilled about the "winning surge" than most of the rest of us. Soldiers are donating hard-earned pay to Obama at a 6:1 ratio.
And for those who might be unconvinced or skeptical about what people mean when they say Sarah Palin is a "red meat" Republican, here's another video.
I especially cringed at the images of brave hunters shooting wolves from airplanes. I guess there's a risk they could fall out, or shoot the propeller off the plane? That makes it "sporting," right?
And for those who might be unconvinced or skeptical about what people mean when they say Sarah Palin is a "red meat" Republican, here's another video.
I especially cringed at the images of brave hunters shooting wolves from airplanes. I guess there's a risk they could fall out, or shoot the propeller off the plane? That makes it "sporting," right?
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Toomb Paine Beats the Net
Just started, a place where you can listen to or download insane remixes and other compositions of Toomb Paine, Patriot in a despicable age.
The page is on AcidPlanet. You can also find the link over there in the righthand margin along with other fun stuff.
World Beaten-down Folk-Funk for the 21st Century. Aren't you glad you're alive in this interesting age?
The page is on AcidPlanet. You can also find the link over there in the righthand margin along with other fun stuff.
World Beaten-down Folk-Funk for the 21st Century. Aren't you glad you're alive in this interesting age?
Saturday, September 6, 2008
The List Just Keeps Getting Longer
Small wonder McCain would like to focus on the non-issue of Sarah Palin's personal life or that of her children. Better that than look closely at the long list of liberties she's alleged to have taken with public resources in order to advance her own career as a spectacularly ill-prepared, but personally charming government official.
The list comes from the Daily Kos. I hope to add other, less partisan sources as the days go on and we find out more, hopefully more than McCain himself knew, when he made this impulsive decision.
Analysis may follow.
The list comes from the Daily Kos. I hope to add other, less partisan sources as the days go on and we find out more, hopefully more than McCain himself knew, when he made this impulsive decision.
Analysis may follow.
Does this mean I need to believe in God?
This caps it. The mean-spiritedness of the wacked-out right has reached new lows.
Then, of course, there's the remix. Maybe not as great as the dance hit that Bill-O made possible, but pretty cute anyway.
It seems God does listen to the prayers of the mean-spirited and arrogant after all.
Then, of course, there's the remix. Maybe not as great as the dance hit that Bill-O made possible, but pretty cute anyway.
It seems God does listen to the prayers of the mean-spirited and arrogant after all.
"Bounce" folklore
NOTE from 9 Sept. -- apparently this post may have been wishful thinking on my part. A lot of the same factors that provoke strong feelings of disapproval for me are, of course, selling points to a large fraction of the U.S. electorate. Or at least that might be the lesson to draw from the latest polling data. At the same time, legendary "bounces" have a way of succumbing to gravity as people consider the details, especially when a candidate is as unknown to all but the right-wing fringe of that electorate. In the spirit of showing that I'm as human and fallible as Candidate Palin, I'm leaving this bit of hubris in place. Consider it a bow to my Puritan ancestors or something of that sort.
It seemed clear to me that there was none of the widely touted "bounce" for either candidate in the aftermath of either convention, so I did some looking.
Seems there hasn't been a "bounce" in many years, at least since party conventions learned to turn themselves into content-free, no news zones, something usually blamed on the '68 Democratic convention in Daley's Chicago, and the damage it was said to have done to the Democrats at that time, in a year when Nixon was already a widely reviled figure to many, at least many who would have (or did) vote Democrat.
It also led me to track down what many now tout as the best alternative to opinion polling as a predictor of the November result. There's more on market-based prediction in this MSNBC piece from Friday.
Here is the price history from the Iowa Electronic Markets for this election.
Check out the Iowa Electronic Markets site for more details and more stats.
If this one gets stolen you know the fix is in and the democratic process is no longer at work in the U.S.
It seemed clear to me that there was none of the widely touted "bounce" for either candidate in the aftermath of either convention, so I did some looking.
Seems there hasn't been a "bounce" in many years, at least since party conventions learned to turn themselves into content-free, no news zones, something usually blamed on the '68 Democratic convention in Daley's Chicago, and the damage it was said to have done to the Democrats at that time, in a year when Nixon was already a widely reviled figure to many, at least many who would have (or did) vote Democrat.
It also led me to track down what many now tout as the best alternative to opinion polling as a predictor of the November result. There's more on market-based prediction in this MSNBC piece from Friday.
Here is the price history from the Iowa Electronic Markets for this election.
Check out the Iowa Electronic Markets site for more details and more stats.
If this one gets stolen you know the fix is in and the democratic process is no longer at work in the U.S.
Stop Asking Questions
I agree that the media should focus not on Palin's personal life but on her vast record of public service. Doing that alone should sink her (and McCain) faster than the Titanic. What I don't understand is how on the one hand McCain can ask the media to leave her alone on these sideshow personal embarrassments and signs of household and home-front failures, but on the other hand keep the woman under virtual house arrest from now until the debate, as seems to be the current strategy.
MSNBC put out this story a few days ago.
And last, here's Bill Maher's take on the Palin candidacy. Catch this while you can... I expect vimeo may remove it since it violates their TOS. If so, buzz me and I'll try to find another linkable version.
Real Time - Sarah Palin from brian on Vimeo.
Here's the YouTube backup.
MSNBC put out this story a few days ago.
And last, here's Bill Maher's take on the Palin candidacy. Catch this while you can... I expect vimeo may remove it since it violates their TOS. If so, buzz me and I'll try to find another linkable version.
Real Time - Sarah Palin from brian on Vimeo.
Here's the YouTube backup.
PUMA Petulance
Can these individuals really be Democrats? Hint: Search "PUMA" on YouTube (or most anywhere else for that matter -- their websites are a real hoot). After you recover your balance and your appetite, ask yourself just how likely it is that more than a tiny fraction of these people are what they claim to be.
At least a few members of the media have noticed how absurd these shills are, and how threadbare are their stated positions. Seems to me those signing up to play the traditional Republican games of distraction from a corrupt and destructive platform are even more transparent than usual?
Then again, I have a habit of voting for lost causes. Something tells me, though, this time at least will be different.
At least a few members of the media have noticed how absurd these shills are, and how threadbare are their stated positions. Seems to me those signing up to play the traditional Republican games of distraction from a corrupt and destructive platform are even more transparent than usual?
Then again, I have a habit of voting for lost causes. Something tells me, though, this time at least will be different.
Friday, September 5, 2008
More on community organizing
Hope this works. When I paged through to YouTube the video looked like it might have been nuked.
Obama responds on community organizing
I'm very happy now. Before the Republican convention and the unveiling of their assault momma, Sarah Palin, electoral vote predictions narrowly favored Obama. Lastest look shows this:
301 to 224. That's some post-convention "bounce" for the blingtard right.
And here's Obama yesterday, gently confused about the "significance" of one of Palin's biggest applause lines. The man knows how to deal with medium cool.
It's still too early to declare the election over, but one can hope.
301 to 224. That's some post-convention "bounce" for the blingtard right.
And here's Obama yesterday, gently confused about the "significance" of one of Palin's biggest applause lines. The man knows how to deal with medium cool.
It's still too early to declare the election over, but one can hope.
Don't Worry About the Government
We'll tell you all you need to know about our candidates. No need for messy middlemen of the press.
This story is simply astounding. That's right, the Republican Party actually wants you to believe that their Vice Presidential candidate deserves the sort of special protection that will keep her out of uncontrolled speaking engagements and serious Q&A sessions from now until November. I guess this is why candidates typically put off announcing a running mate for as long as they can?
Is it merely coincidence, I wonder, that McCain spokesmodel, Nicole Wallace, shares names with a fictional character described as follows?
Seriously, though, Wallace's comments in this clip seem to give the last bit of "proof" I needed to conclude that Republican's are floating all the various pregnancy and adultery stories mainly as a way to distract attention from Palin's lack of qualifications, and take away attention from her fringe beliefs, her extra-legal approach so far, as demonstrated by her acts as an executive officer -- the shit-canning of a state police official who would not rubber-stamp her efforts to go vindictive on her ex-brother-in-law's case, and other shady deals sure to come to light from now until November (or for the next 4 years in the unlikely event this ticket manages to take the White House).
More background on the real-life Nicole Wallace -- her slug line in this interview is "McCain Senior Adviser Nicolle Wallace, a former CBS News analyst and communications director to President Bush".
One wonders given her spin mistress act in the video up top, was Wallace a strategist in suggesting how to use Palin's personal embarrassments and other irrelevant facts and rumors as tactical weapon in delaying and deflecting most substantive issues to the sidebars where the Republican's hope that anyone voting on likeability and other irrelevancies would scarcely care to venture?
This story is simply astounding. That's right, the Republican Party actually wants you to believe that their Vice Presidential candidate deserves the sort of special protection that will keep her out of uncontrolled speaking engagements and serious Q&A sessions from now until November. I guess this is why candidates typically put off announcing a running mate for as long as they can?
Is it merely coincidence, I wonder, that McCain spokesmodel, Nicole Wallace, shares names with a fictional character described as follows?
"A sociopathic con artist, thief, and serial killer, Wallace has 20 known murders to her name by the Season 7 episode, "Frame". She has the chameleon-like ability to reinvent herself after each crime, going from her refined, intellectual lifestyle as a university professor to that of a charming wife of a wealthy man, then to a shacking up in a cheap apartment with a female lover, and later as a surrogate wife and mother to a broken family." (Wikipedia's summary of Nicole Wallace's career -- not the Republican spokesmodel... or IS she?)
Seriously, though, Wallace's comments in this clip seem to give the last bit of "proof" I needed to conclude that Republican's are floating all the various pregnancy and adultery stories mainly as a way to distract attention from Palin's lack of qualifications, and take away attention from her fringe beliefs, her extra-legal approach so far, as demonstrated by her acts as an executive officer -- the shit-canning of a state police official who would not rubber-stamp her efforts to go vindictive on her ex-brother-in-law's case, and other shady deals sure to come to light from now until November (or for the next 4 years in the unlikely event this ticket manages to take the White House).
More background on the real-life Nicole Wallace -- her slug line in this interview is "McCain Senior Adviser Nicolle Wallace, a former CBS News analyst and communications director to President Bush".
One wonders given her spin mistress act in the video up top, was Wallace a strategist in suggesting how to use Palin's personal embarrassments and other irrelevant facts and rumors as tactical weapon in delaying and deflecting most substantive issues to the sidebars where the Republican's hope that anyone voting on likeability and other irrelevancies would scarcely care to venture?
Shockingly Bad Speech
Here's an evaluation of the John McCain convention speech from Jeffery Toobin, on CNN.
Jeffery Toobin is a CNN legal analyst, writer for The New Yorker and former federal prosecutor.
Jeffery Toobin is a CNN legal analyst, writer for The New Yorker and former federal prosecutor.
Raising (Mc)Cain
I'm surely not the only person to think, while hearing McCain's convention acceptance speech that all this talk about "stand up and fight" stood in stark contrast to the facts of McCain's wartime service.
I feel sympathy for the man's pain, but let's face it. His claim to fame is based in large part on being a prisoner.
And it seemed to me that, during this speech he again looked like a prisoner.
Check out this excerpt on the BBC site to see whether you agree or disagree.
This time though, he appears to be the prisoner of the right wing fringe elements that have largely taken control of the Republican party, especially in these "last days" when moderate Republicans seem to be largely unenthusiastic about his candidacy.
I suppose this was inevitable, given how split Republican kingmakers were about his candidacy in the first place.
For some other perspectives please follow the links to one of my favorite Kos entries of the moment.
I feel sympathy for the man's pain, but let's face it. His claim to fame is based in large part on being a prisoner.
And it seemed to me that, during this speech he again looked like a prisoner.
Check out this excerpt on the BBC site to see whether you agree or disagree.
This time though, he appears to be the prisoner of the right wing fringe elements that have largely taken control of the Republican party, especially in these "last days" when moderate Republicans seem to be largely unenthusiastic about his candidacy.
I suppose this was inevitable, given how split Republican kingmakers were about his candidacy in the first place.
For some other perspectives please follow the links to one of my favorite Kos entries of the moment.
Thoughts on Vice
Vice Presidents, that is.
The sad truth that political pollsters and campaign managers know all too well, is that the average voter doesn't have time to sort out facts, positions or the other "boring" details that may most predict what an elected official does once elected.
Right now the focus of political junkies seems to be on Sarah Palin's lack of qualifications, and next on her not-too-hard to decipher political positions. Again the political junkies who support Democrats (many of them while trying to hold down lunch as they elect the lesser of two evils) seem to be forgetting the recent history of vice presidential nominees. Perhaps this is because Cheney, the current schmo, is an exception that seems to prove the rule.
What's worse that an empty suit or vacant (or would that be vacuous?) tailored suitdress as V.P.? Maybe it's a Vice President who is the Acting President.
Besides Cheney, what do we have by way of former V.P.s? Well, there is Daddy Bush, but again, he was something of an exception. Then we have Agnew, and Quayle. Each of them long-running punchlines that reassured the general public that the person in the office of vice president really didn't mean that much, all things considered.
Palin is very much cut in the cloth of the "punchline" Vice President. The problem being that with both Nixon and Bush Daddy, there was relatively little concern that the rigors of office would kill or incapacitate either candidate.
In the case of Nixon, I think many of us who remember him found it hard to imagine he would give up the post even if pronounced dead.
The sad truth that political pollsters and campaign managers know all too well, is that the average voter doesn't have time to sort out facts, positions or the other "boring" details that may most predict what an elected official does once elected.
Right now the focus of political junkies seems to be on Sarah Palin's lack of qualifications, and next on her not-too-hard to decipher political positions. Again the political junkies who support Democrats (many of them while trying to hold down lunch as they elect the lesser of two evils) seem to be forgetting the recent history of vice presidential nominees. Perhaps this is because Cheney, the current schmo, is an exception that seems to prove the rule.
What's worse that an empty suit or vacant (or would that be vacuous?) tailored suitdress as V.P.? Maybe it's a Vice President who is the Acting President.
Besides Cheney, what do we have by way of former V.P.s? Well, there is Daddy Bush, but again, he was something of an exception. Then we have Agnew, and Quayle. Each of them long-running punchlines that reassured the general public that the person in the office of vice president really didn't mean that much, all things considered.
Palin is very much cut in the cloth of the "punchline" Vice President. The problem being that with both Nixon and Bush Daddy, there was relatively little concern that the rigors of office would kill or incapacitate either candidate.
In the case of Nixon, I think many of us who remember him found it hard to imagine he would give up the post even if pronounced dead.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Dreamscapes
Something I liked a lot.
Eden from Justin Kane on Vimeo.
Just seeing how things work and trying to provide another insight to the present status quo (which is so not quo...)
Eden from Justin Kane on Vimeo.
Just seeing how things work and trying to provide another insight to the present status quo (which is so not quo...)
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
This is fast becoming a video blog
The following video leads to other interesting exercises in video based on still images or other approaches not necessarily stuck in the mode of "hi def" makes everything beautiful in a sort of homogeneous fashion.
FOTOFILM 7 from TRISTÁN on Vimeo.
Not really sure that period belongs there at the end of the html squib. Apparently it did, since that was the "caption" you should see below the video screen itself.
I'll have to remember that in the future. Hard to remember things in the past like this, unless one happens to be Dr. Manhattan. Beware, Watchmen references are likely to become annoyingly omnipresent.
FOTOFILM 7 from TRISTÁN on Vimeo.
Not really sure that period belongs there at the end of the html squib. Apparently it did, since that was the "caption" you should see below the video screen itself.
I'll have to remember that in the future. Hard to remember things in the past like this, unless one happens to be Dr. Manhattan. Beware, Watchmen references are likely to become annoyingly omnipresent.
Friday, August 15, 2008
More about video than it is about Second Life
This is somewhat related to the posts below. Maybe it's just that I'm spending a lot more time lately on video projects than I am in Second Life. Anyway, this is still something of a spanner post, but again, it's a technique that has a lot more video applications than it has anything really direct to say about Second Life, where photosourcing has something of a bad name.
Using Photographs to Enhance Videos of a Static Scene from pro on Vimeo.
The video pasted above here spells out a way to use photos to compensate for poorly shot video, or video that comes from a substandard source. At present I'm not sure the technique is commercially available, and it's not clear from what I've seen so far whether the grad student whose project it is has a plan to release this code into the cultural commons in a way that will make it widely accessible or a matter of open source.
There are weaknesses to this approach, foremost among which would be that I'd imagine using this method would require one to become extremely well organized with one's footage and the still that should, by all rights, be taken more or less at the same time as the video, unless one wants to wind up with some jarring mismatching of lighting conditions.
It may also require more sophistication about shooting technique than one can reasonably expect from most people likely to be drawn to the technique. Or perhaps not... only someone pretty obsessed is likely to take all the steps needed to use this method, as I see things.
Using Photographs to Enhance Videos of a Static Scene from pro on Vimeo.
The video pasted above here spells out a way to use photos to compensate for poorly shot video, or video that comes from a substandard source. At present I'm not sure the technique is commercially available, and it's not clear from what I've seen so far whether the grad student whose project it is has a plan to release this code into the cultural commons in a way that will make it widely accessible or a matter of open source.
There are weaknesses to this approach, foremost among which would be that I'd imagine using this method would require one to become extremely well organized with one's footage and the still that should, by all rights, be taken more or less at the same time as the video, unless one wants to wind up with some jarring mismatching of lighting conditions.
It may also require more sophistication about shooting technique than one can reasonably expect from most people likely to be drawn to the technique. Or perhaps not... only someone pretty obsessed is likely to take all the steps needed to use this method, as I see things.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Techniques to Acquire, Render, and Display Human Figures
Presenting recent work for acquiring, rendering, and displaying photo-real models of people, objects, and dynamic performances. The presentation in the video provides an overview of a fairly efficient means of recording ambient lighting information for a given location at a given time, and combining that information with a 360-degree photo capture of a real-world environment that can, at least in theory, be used to recreated in the studio or in composited video or film a realistic approximation of a location that might not be available for an extended location shoot.
Whether practical for low-budget productions, this technique is almost certainly going to be applied in larger-budget commercial films where practical concerns prevent a live shoot in the desired location.
The gist is that these techniques offer some image-based "replacement" lighting techniques for photo-realistic compositing and reflectance acquisition which have been used to create realistic digital actors
read more | digg story
Whether practical for low-budget productions, this technique is almost certainly going to be applied in larger-budget commercial films where practical concerns prevent a live shoot in the desired location.
The gist is that these techniques offer some image-based "replacement" lighting techniques for photo-realistic compositing and reflectance acquisition which have been used to create realistic digital actors
read more | digg story
Too much for skin makers?
Someone in FashCon Cafe last night asked me to take a look at a couple of skins she'd made and it had me thinking again about how to get more realistic skin detail in Second Life. This technique may be beyond the capacity of Second Life but it's still very fascinating.
Comments are more than welcome.
Comments are more than welcome.
vimeo rocks
I can't say I've often found a site that draws me the way this one does. Granted, the "Lays Potato Chip" effect of YouTube isn't really there, and so I'm sure I'll continue to upload at least most of my public videos there as well, but the quality is so much better, and the creativity of the user base is also incredible, in part, no doubt, because the site is limited to videos that the uploaders had an active part in making.
I've started a channel there for the various Camp Albemarle Chorus videos. Once I have more of other types there I'm sure I'll add more channels.
It's hard to describe just how good much of the work there is, and it's far more rewarding for anything that's not a retaping of the Daily Show or some other item. Granted, YouTube is still a fantastic place for finding obscure and largely non-commercial documentary clips and other rarities. There's nothing that wrong with YouTube unless your a bit of a perfectionist and want to have things stream at the best quality practically achievable given the newer codecs (such as H.264)
I've started a channel there for the various Camp Albemarle Chorus videos. Once I have more of other types there I'm sure I'll add more channels.
It's hard to describe just how good much of the work there is, and it's far more rewarding for anything that's not a retaping of the Daily Show or some other item. Granted, YouTube is still a fantastic place for finding obscure and largely non-commercial documentary clips and other rarities. There's nothing that wrong with YouTube unless your a bit of a perfectionist and want to have things stream at the best quality practically achievable given the newer codecs (such as H.264)
Sunday, August 3, 2008
YouTube Alternatives
Partly it's the result of seemingly increasing issues like this one, pointed out by Torley Linden, slashdot and many others, especially the tech geek perfectionist (well, perhaps just adequateist) denizens of YouTube. Partly it's the low profile of any video on YouTube that does not involve suggestions of nudity or dismemberment.
Whatever the real reasons might be, I've been thinking about giving up YouTube or at least finding a main place for uploads that doesn't destroy quality so consistently and further fuel my own sense of hopelessness and learned powerlessness. Maybe I should be thinking of the same things where Second Life is concerned, but in Second Life's favor, at least there is an active and engaged user base that share knowledge in many different ways and forms.
Here's a Vimeo widget -- and it seems to have worked quite well on first attempt. It has certainly been far better than my usual zero-feedback experience with YouTube. Given the vast number of uploaders and watchers of YouTube it is reasonable to expect that they would make direct contact and support a very low priority, and put their efforts instead towards making the upload process fairly simple and foolproof in at least the broadest terms, meaning, "Yes, your video uploaded. It looks like crap? Well that's probably because it is crap." A one-size-fits-all answer will cover a multitude of sins, and YouTube is all about the eyeballs. It's not that reasonable to expect it to operate differently and still support the massive traffic load and bandwidth that it does sustain. Both of the videos presently available in this viewer are also available in some form on YouTube. That's likely to remain the case, as there's really no point in taking them down from YouTube.
Please note: as with YouTube's blog widgets, the best quality rendering is available if you click through to the vimeo.com site rather than view directly from the widget. At the same time, the quality of the view here in the widget is at least as good and likely a good deal more clean than even the best quality rendering that YouTube presently supports.
These will be my follow on notes about this site (Vimeo). So far I'm favorably impressed. The user community there is a lot more focussed and able to communicate than many others I've seen. The quality of some videos is incredible. Then again, the site does seem to attract a fair number of people who shoot film and video for a living.
Whatever the real reasons might be, I've been thinking about giving up YouTube or at least finding a main place for uploads that doesn't destroy quality so consistently and further fuel my own sense of hopelessness and learned powerlessness. Maybe I should be thinking of the same things where Second Life is concerned, but in Second Life's favor, at least there is an active and engaged user base that share knowledge in many different ways and forms.
Here's a Vimeo widget -- and it seems to have worked quite well on first attempt. It has certainly been far better than my usual zero-feedback experience with YouTube. Given the vast number of uploaders and watchers of YouTube it is reasonable to expect that they would make direct contact and support a very low priority, and put their efforts instead towards making the upload process fairly simple and foolproof in at least the broadest terms, meaning, "Yes, your video uploaded. It looks like crap? Well that's probably because it is crap." A one-size-fits-all answer will cover a multitude of sins, and YouTube is all about the eyeballs. It's not that reasonable to expect it to operate differently and still support the massive traffic load and bandwidth that it does sustain. Both of the videos presently available in this viewer are also available in some form on YouTube. That's likely to remain the case, as there's really no point in taking them down from YouTube.
Please note: as with YouTube's blog widgets, the best quality rendering is available if you click through to the vimeo.com site rather than view directly from the widget. At the same time, the quality of the view here in the widget is at least as good and likely a good deal more clean than even the best quality rendering that YouTube presently supports.
These will be my follow on notes about this site (Vimeo). So far I'm favorably impressed. The user community there is a lot more focussed and able to communicate than many others I've seen. The quality of some videos is incredible. Then again, the site does seem to attract a fair number of people who shoot film and video for a living.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Prepping for the show tonight (and afternoon). I spent so much time on this one "quickie" video. I feel like such a shmoe.
Okay, stream of consciousness here maybe? I've seen several movies and they shaped the playlist a lot.
It started with Dans Paris and went on to Be Kind, Rewind, King of California, and the ever popular Idiocracy.
Oddly enough, Be Kind, Rewind probably triggered this whole Situationist obsession I've been having, as well as causing me to stumble upon a speech by Lewis Hyde at Harvard Law's Berkman Center. This is mainly because both items dealt with the idea of a creative commons, in the second case, drawing on research Hyde has been doing to clarify Benjamin Franklin's stated attitudes toward intellectual property, and how in some ways it was radically different from the current environment where patents and accusations of intellectual property theft are rife, even in a place like SecondLife. Or perhaps that would be especially in a place like SecondLife.
I'm still digesting the hour-and-a-half of history and discussion that appears in the Berkman Center lunchtime seminar.
There was a lot more, maybe too much for my kind of blog entry of late. Anyway, the set promises to have a but of everything thrown in, including bits from Bernard Herrmann from throughout his career.
Okay, stream of consciousness here maybe? I've seen several movies and they shaped the playlist a lot.
It started with Dans Paris and went on to Be Kind, Rewind, King of California, and the ever popular Idiocracy.
Oddly enough, Be Kind, Rewind probably triggered this whole Situationist obsession I've been having, as well as causing me to stumble upon a speech by Lewis Hyde at Harvard Law's Berkman Center. This is mainly because both items dealt with the idea of a creative commons, in the second case, drawing on research Hyde has been doing to clarify Benjamin Franklin's stated attitudes toward intellectual property, and how in some ways it was radically different from the current environment where patents and accusations of intellectual property theft are rife, even in a place like SecondLife. Or perhaps that would be especially in a place like SecondLife.
I'm still digesting the hour-and-a-half of history and discussion that appears in the Berkman Center lunchtime seminar.
There was a lot more, maybe too much for my kind of blog entry of late. Anyway, the set promises to have a but of everything thrown in, including bits from Bernard Herrmann from throughout his career.
Driving While Black (and Pregnant)
Watch the video below and be the judge -- that phrase is like fingernails across a blackboard to me -- but you probably will judge, it's only human.
If so, though, if you might want to be responsible about it, and if you try, you'll need to sift through a lot of conflicting stories, rumors and innuendos. Especially if you're gathering your "facts" here on the internet.
And just in case you've never come across the term "Driving While Black" just click the link there for a primer. A personal account of experiences of DWB also appears on at least one woman's blog. Elsewhere on a blog, a pastor who investigated the story further found that the outstanding warrants that are made so much of by those wishing to demonize Sofia Salva were in fact all poverty related. The most serious charges of child endangerment stemmed from her difficult but reasonable choice to leave her children unattended as she went out to get food.
The officers involved have since been fired on charges related directly to this event and Sofia Salva's miscarriage which took place immediately after her release from jail -- the release was precipitated when Salva passed a large blood clot.
The charges against the officers can be read for Officers Schell and Spencer at the links under their names.
What I find particularly of interest here is the third count in Officer Schell's charge sheet, where he failed to take the allegedly "fake" tag into evidence. I find myself remembering the stories my mother once told me about riding through Salt Lake City with hispanic work associates, and getting a first-hand taste of what it's like to be pulled over for "driving while non-white."
I'll be expanding this when I learn more details.
And while I agree with Midtown Miscreant that the officers should be (and now have been) fired, I think he missed the boat by a step or two. If you read the charges against these officers, they were fired for violating at least three specific departmental policies, not for racial profiling per se, or anything explicitly tied to the race of Ms. Salva.
I haven't found a copy of the referenced policy manual (yet) but, for those un-inclined to read the charges, they appear to have been:
1. Despite repeated statements (clear on the video) both officers failed to arrange for Ms. Salva to receive medical attention for her bleeding and suspected miscarriage;
2. Both officers treated her in a generally disrespectful and unprofessional manner;
3. Neither officer managed to take into evidence the alleged proof of the cause of their apprehension of Ms. Salva, leaving in doubt whether or not the tags were indeed "fake." We have only the officers' word, therefore that the tags were in fact a problem.
True, there are many possible scenarios that could be used to excuse the officers' behavior, but in essence they were operating under the assumption she was guilty of "something" and their subsequent behavior seems just as likely to have been an attempt to create probable cause for the stop as it does anything else. Then again, I do not have before me any of evidence against Salva, such as alleged warrants. But, warrants were never mentioned during the run of the tape, so far as I could make out -- there are, though many statements on the tape that are less than crystal clear.
While it seems likely that Salva is no angel, it also seems clear that she was distressed at the time, quite possibly due to the bleeding and her own stated concerns that she could be in the process of miscarrying. I've yet to see actual evidence and documentation of any wrongdoing on Salva's part which does not come from hearsay on some blogger's site, or derisive comments posted to various versions of the YouTube-d copy of the officers' dash cam.
Whatever her own issues and imperfections might be, it is not the business of police to play at judge or jury during an initial pull-over. Equal protection under the law must extend to all U.S. persons, not just those an officer assumes are being duly respectful, coherent, articulate, likely to know a good lawyer, and whose skin is an acceptable shade of pink.
If so, though, if you might want to be responsible about it, and if you try, you'll need to sift through a lot of conflicting stories, rumors and innuendos. Especially if you're gathering your "facts" here on the internet.
And just in case you've never come across the term "Driving While Black" just click the link there for a primer. A personal account of experiences of DWB also appears on at least one woman's blog. Elsewhere on a blog, a pastor who investigated the story further found that the outstanding warrants that are made so much of by those wishing to demonize Sofia Salva were in fact all poverty related. The most serious charges of child endangerment stemmed from her difficult but reasonable choice to leave her children unattended as she went out to get food.
The officers involved have since been fired on charges related directly to this event and Sofia Salva's miscarriage which took place immediately after her release from jail -- the release was precipitated when Salva passed a large blood clot.
The charges against the officers can be read for Officers Schell and Spencer at the links under their names.
What I find particularly of interest here is the third count in Officer Schell's charge sheet, where he failed to take the allegedly "fake" tag into evidence. I find myself remembering the stories my mother once told me about riding through Salt Lake City with hispanic work associates, and getting a first-hand taste of what it's like to be pulled over for "driving while non-white."
I'll be expanding this when I learn more details.
And while I agree with Midtown Miscreant that the officers should be (and now have been) fired, I think he missed the boat by a step or two. If you read the charges against these officers, they were fired for violating at least three specific departmental policies, not for racial profiling per se, or anything explicitly tied to the race of Ms. Salva.
I haven't found a copy of the referenced policy manual (yet) but, for those un-inclined to read the charges, they appear to have been:
1. Despite repeated statements (clear on the video) both officers failed to arrange for Ms. Salva to receive medical attention for her bleeding and suspected miscarriage;
2. Both officers treated her in a generally disrespectful and unprofessional manner;
3. Neither officer managed to take into evidence the alleged proof of the cause of their apprehension of Ms. Salva, leaving in doubt whether or not the tags were indeed "fake." We have only the officers' word, therefore that the tags were in fact a problem.
True, there are many possible scenarios that could be used to excuse the officers' behavior, but in essence they were operating under the assumption she was guilty of "something" and their subsequent behavior seems just as likely to have been an attempt to create probable cause for the stop as it does anything else. Then again, I do not have before me any of evidence against Salva, such as alleged warrants. But, warrants were never mentioned during the run of the tape, so far as I could make out -- there are, though many statements on the tape that are less than crystal clear.
While it seems likely that Salva is no angel, it also seems clear that she was distressed at the time, quite possibly due to the bleeding and her own stated concerns that she could be in the process of miscarrying. I've yet to see actual evidence and documentation of any wrongdoing on Salva's part which does not come from hearsay on some blogger's site, or derisive comments posted to various versions of the YouTube-d copy of the officers' dash cam.
Whatever her own issues and imperfections might be, it is not the business of police to play at judge or jury during an initial pull-over. Equal protection under the law must extend to all U.S. persons, not just those an officer assumes are being duly respectful, coherent, articulate, likely to know a good lawyer, and whose skin is an acceptable shade of pink.
détourne, détourne, détourne...
This is sort of fascinating.
There's also a much longer video that breaks all the "rules" of YouTube but is an amazing discourse on the uses of anonymity, and the late 18th century nature of the anonymous author. I know that sounds elitist and such, but give it a few minutes at least before you change the channel.
See, that wasn't so bad. I've long been fascinated with Lewis Hyde's writings on property and creativity. Take a look at his books where you can find them. Especially, The Gift: Creativity and the Erotic Life of Property.
There's also a much longer video that breaks all the "rules" of YouTube but is an amazing discourse on the uses of anonymity, and the late 18th century nature of the anonymous author. I know that sounds elitist and such, but give it a few minutes at least before you change the channel.
See, that wasn't so bad. I've long been fascinated with Lewis Hyde's writings on property and creativity. Take a look at his books where you can find them. Especially, The Gift: Creativity and the Erotic Life of Property.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
The Redmapped Collection is here at last
And I know you were holding your breath for its coming. ;)
Here are a few pics.
More below the "tear line."
And this comes after.
Monday, July 14, 2008
“Ani Ma’amin” - Camp Albemarle
Another update. I think I'll be taking a break soon. Please see my post from 6 July 2008 for an updated playlist/viewer of all the YouTube videos I'm aware of that feature Camp Albemarle choral performances from 2006 to 2008. Please leave comments if you are aware of other videos on the web featuring performances from Camp Albemarle. Thanks!
This, and several other videos were made from footage and sound recorded in August 2006. Severe camera operator issues, particularly being seated and blocked by others in the audience, made me decide not to edit these performances at the time. I've tried to work around those problems as best I could but the video still leaves much to be desired here. Still, best to click through on these and view them in high quality, directly on YouTube as that will also give you the best sound available online at present.
This, and several other videos were made from footage and sound recorded in August 2006. Severe camera operator issues, particularly being seated and blocked by others in the audience, made me decide not to edit these performances at the time. I've tried to work around those problems as best I could but the video still leaves much to be desired here. Still, best to click through on these and view them in high quality, directly on YouTube as that will also give you the best sound available online at present.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Enough of my videos for a bit...
Take a look at a hidden gem in Selma Blair's opus, oevre... whatever! Okay, you need to follow to the next section to see the viewer.
Welcome to what I think viral and online video does best, creating a viable venue for short films. The cameo appearances and the wit of this one are awesome (and not just awesome like a hot dog).
One does tend to wonder, though, just why is it that Selma Blair tends to attract the directors and projects that make her such an object of offbeat and borderline offensive abuse? Her facial expression through out this surreal short are to die for.
Welcome to what I think viral and online video does best, creating a viable venue for short films. The cameo appearances and the wit of this one are awesome (and not just awesome like a hot dog).
One does tend to wonder, though, just why is it that Selma Blair tends to attract the directors and projects that make her such an object of offbeat and borderline offensive abuse? Her facial expression through out this surreal short are to die for.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Sing Camp Albemarle, Sing!
Below the fold you'll find a viewer that contains YouTube videos from summer concerts given by the young musicians of Camp Albemarle in Princeton, NJ. Videos feature performances from the last three summers, 2006 through 2008. Camp Albemarle is the summer camp program of the American Boychoir School, a coed camp that concentrates for each of several 2-week sessions on choral music and related musicianship skills for campers ranging in ages from 7 to 14.
Videos of performances by various sessions of Camp Albemarle, the summer music program sponsored by and resident at the American Boychoir School, Princeton, New Jersey. Included in the playlist as well are performances by other groups of compositions and choral arrangements by the much beloved music director from at least fourteen past summers, Paul Caldwell.
Videos of performances by various sessions of Camp Albemarle, the summer music program sponsored by and resident at the American Boychoir School, Princeton, New Jersey. Included in the playlist as well are performances by other groups of compositions and choral arrangements by the much beloved music director from at least fourteen past summers, Paul Caldwell.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Fireworks: Rough Edit
Fireworks for your 4th. For best quality, click thru the videos here and watch them in best quality on their YouTube pages. Most viewers will only see the fairly awful flash video versions when watching through this widget.
Gotcha! This widget actually contains various test renderings, using the fireworks footage. To see these in all their glory, though, you will need to go to YouTube and be sure you select the "high quality version" for viewing (where that version is available. Descriptions and end credit placards give, in most cases, the details on the rendering method and file formats sent to YouTube for processing and relay to others.
Gotcha! This widget actually contains various test renderings, using the fireworks footage. To see these in all their glory, though, you will need to go to YouTube and be sure you select the "high quality version" for viewing (where that version is available. Descriptions and end credit placards give, in most cases, the details on the rendering method and file formats sent to YouTube for processing and relay to others.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Retrospect: Another RAW Machine Player
The other one has scrolled off somewhere where you're unlikely to find it on this blog, so I'm adding this one here again. Wish I could think of a more elegant way to present it (and keep it near the top of the blog).
Don't bother going to the "Read more!" link.
I told you not to bother, but did you believe me? Nosireebob.
Don't bother going to the "Read more!" link.
I told you not to bother, but did you believe me? Nosireebob.
Imagine
Another shameless plug for my daughter's group. The Lennon classic (#3 song of all time, according to Wikipedia) was performed with minimal practice. They are improving but you'll have to trust me on this. There's a family story about this song, but I'm not prepared to post it just now, though it probably has some bearing on the tearful look from the singer toward the end of this video.
Don't bother following past the fold...
There's really not much there.
Don't bother following past the fold...
There's really not much there.
What Fresh SLell® Is This?
I find myself struggling again with the entirely rational impulse to pull the plug on my time spent in Second Life. Why? Well, one reason jumps to mind. And it's fairly pathetic, so if you read this you know I was a mess when I pressed that "Publish Now" button.
The key problem is there is just too damned much talent and creativity in the world right now. Partly it's just simple math. Too many people in general = Too many creative people.
You say, "What's the problem? This sounds like a good thing! Lighten up, dude!"
Here's the problem. More creative people, more access to outlets, even crappy badly programmed, DRM-crippled outlets like SecondLife® mean there's less and less chance of ever breaking even, much less make anything like "a living" from one's creative output. There are no customers. Or at least scarcely enough customers to make it a practical choice, at least not one that can be explained to most parents, spouses or other flesh-and-blood entities in need of cash-like stuff for luxuries like rent and groceries and bandwidth.
Digital serfdom is here with a vengeance? More below the fold?
If I had more to say, this is where I'd be saying it.
And don't tell me this isn't an original thought. I know that already. Haven't seen an original thought anywhere since the early Greeks, or maybe some of the wackier gnostic cults that constellated around the Christians who didn't yet know they were Christians. So save it.
Instead, say something mean or sarcastic, like: "You're not creative, you no-talent hack." Then I can list you in my suicide note. Yum yum.
Better yet, post a video reply somewhere that earns you millions and makes me look a fool. Well, a bigger fool than is already so nakedly apparent to those who know and are frustrated or disappointed with me for a wasted lifetime.
Hmmn. Gotta massage the tone of those last few 'graphs.
Hell is a world without kindly editors or bloodsucking agents who nonetheless help their hopeless charges because there's a percentage in it for them.
/me wonders whether it's time to re-read Marx and Bakunin and other 19th century fun guys? Cold comfort reading.
The key problem is there is just too damned much talent and creativity in the world right now. Partly it's just simple math. Too many people in general = Too many creative people.
You say, "What's the problem? This sounds like a good thing! Lighten up, dude!"
Here's the problem. More creative people, more access to outlets, even crappy badly programmed, DRM-crippled outlets like SecondLife® mean there's less and less chance of ever breaking even, much less make anything like "a living" from one's creative output. There are no customers. Or at least scarcely enough customers to make it a practical choice, at least not one that can be explained to most parents, spouses or other flesh-and-blood entities in need of cash-like stuff for luxuries like rent and groceries and bandwidth.
Digital serfdom is here with a vengeance? More below the fold?
If I had more to say, this is where I'd be saying it.
And don't tell me this isn't an original thought. I know that already. Haven't seen an original thought anywhere since the early Greeks, or maybe some of the wackier gnostic cults that constellated around the Christians who didn't yet know they were Christians. So save it.
Instead, say something mean or sarcastic, like: "You're not creative, you no-talent hack." Then I can list you in my suicide note. Yum yum.
Better yet, post a video reply somewhere that earns you millions and makes me look a fool. Well, a bigger fool than is already so nakedly apparent to those who know and are frustrated or disappointed with me for a wasted lifetime.
Hmmn. Gotta massage the tone of those last few 'graphs.
Hell is a world without kindly editors or bloodsucking agents who nonetheless help their hopeless charges because there's a percentage in it for them.
/me wonders whether it's time to re-read Marx and Bakunin and other 19th century fun guys? Cold comfort reading.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Kids Don't Need No Education
Had mixed feelings posting this to YouTube, as the performance is admittedly rather raw and lacking in confidence in spots. It was a performance with very little prep time, and the group is getting better, especially with the addition of an excellent new bass player. Rip these videos now, as you never know when they might be rare early glimpses of someone with a major PR juggernaut backing them.
If you have the bandwidth, click through to YouTube itself where you can elect to see this in stereo and much better resolution.
If you have the bandwidth, click through to YouTube itself where you can elect to see this in stereo and much better resolution.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Art Galleries of Second Life: Group Griefing? Good Grief!
You might want to read this blogger's comment if the title intrigued you. Otherwise you might want to get back to something useful.
Art Galleries of Second Life: Group Griefing? Good Grief!
All this tsurris for what amounted to roughly US$2.00? Is the Czech economy possible even more messed up than the U.S. at this point? Or is the person in question simply bored out of zir skull?
Well, in this case there wasn't much more to see.
Art Galleries of Second Life: Group Griefing? Good Grief!
All this tsurris for what amounted to roughly US$2.00? Is the Czech economy possible even more messed up than the U.S. at this point? Or is the person in question simply bored out of zir skull?
Well, in this case there wasn't much more to see.
Barbie vs. Nellie @ The Velvet
It was a long and off-beat set, with summer setting in, Lolothehe at a conference, Jasper in the hospital and many, many regulars with login troubles during the night.
Started a bit before 6 pm (SLT) due to a missing Ceawin, and eventually checked my e-mail to realize that Lolo would be a no show thanks to what I thought was paying work, but turned out to be an anime con.
Silly me, as usual, forgot to take names and keep prisoners.
Here's the playlist:
1. 311 - My Stoney Baby (3:44)
2. Guided By Voices - Teenage FBI (3:19)
3. A Fine Frenzy - The Minnow & The Trout (4:28)
4. David Bowie - Andy Warhol (3:52)
5. The Shins - Caring Is Creepy (3:20)
6. Rob Mayth - Barbie Girl (Bangbros Instrumental RMX Edit) (2:55)
7. Nellie McKay - G.E.S. (1:42)
8. Billy Idol - White Wedding - Part 1 (4:10)
9. Alma Cogan - Tennessee Waltz (German Version) (2:13)
10. The Submissive - Big Sister Sir (1:19)
11. ABBA - Chiquitita (5:24)
12. Regina Spektor - Ode To Divorce (3:42)
13. Robyn Hitchcock - N.Y. Doll (3:45)
14. The Raveonettes - Blitzed (3:02)
15. Neil Young - Captain Kennedy (2:53)
16. David Byrne - Carnival Eyes (4:04)
17. Xiu Xiu - In lust you can hear the axe fall (3:30)
18. Tiny Tim with Brave Combo - Girl (3:05)
19. The Submissive - Lesbian Bikers Clubhouse Slut (0:20)
20. God Is My Co-Pilot - About How I Hate Boys (0:25)
21. RuPaul - Supermodel (You Better Work) (4:00)
22. Tiger Lillies - Car Crash (2:52)
23. Judy Garland - Over The Rainbow (2:47)
24. Rob Mayth - Barbie Girl 2007 - Alex M. Rmx Edit (3:31)
25. The Beatles - Polythene Pam (1:12)
26. Annie Lennox - Ghosts In My Machine (3:30)
27. Tori Amos - Lust (3:53)
28. Pink - God Is A DJ (3:45)
29. Alma Cogan - Itte Kudes (Japanese Version Of Tell Him) (2:15)
30. Liz Phair - Divorce Song (3:20)
31. GET SET GO - Die Motherfucker Die (4:46)
32. Android Lust - Dragonfly (edit) (3:41)
33. Nellie McKay - Clonie (1:56)
34. Hepburn - I Quit (3:55)
35. Le Tigre - This Island (3:23)
36. Truckasauras - Up, Up, Down, Down, L, R, L, R (3:01)
37. Leonard Nimoy - A Visit To A Sad Planet (3:05)
38. Thomas Lunch - Leonard Nimoy (2:53)
39. Ben Harper - Touch From Your Lust (4:27)
40. Rasputina - A Quitter (3:59)
41. Thomas Lunch - I Love You When You Throw A Fit (3:00)
42. Regina Spektor - Sailor Song (3:15)
43. Michael Kamen - Besides You / Divorce (3:53)
44. Robyn Hitchcock - 'Cause It's Love (Saint Parallelogram) (3:23)
45. Neil Young - Quit (Don't Say You Love Me) (Album Version) (6:02)
46. Four Star Mary - Pain (Slayer Mix) (3:40)
47. Eddie From Ohio - Clear and Present Danger (4:39)
48. Caroline Herring - All The Pretty Little Horses (3:06)
49. Czech - Angel (3:15)
50. Talking Heads - The Book I Read (Album Version) (4:10)
51. Robyn Hitchcock - Museum Of Sex (4:00)
52. K’Naan - In the Beginning (3:22)
53. Regina Spektor - *** (0:44)
54. Caroline Herring - Paper Gown (4:31)
55. Roxy Music - Angel Eyes (2:51)
56. Camera Obscura - Books Written for Girls (5:13)
57. Regina Spektor - Carbon Monoxide (4:59)
58. Rasputina - At The State Fair With A White Trash Sucker (Joseph Bishara Remix) (4:36)
59. M.I.A. - Paper Planes (3:23)
60. Angelo Badalamenti - The Bookhouse Boys (3:29)
61. Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa (3:34)
62. Nellie McKay - Pink Chandelier (1:38)
63. Timbaland - Come Around (3:54)
64. Gaudi - Theme from Carrie (Gaudi Remix) (7:35)
65. Aimee Mann - Calling It Quits (4:09)
66. Astrud Gilberto - Once I Loved (Album Version) (2:13)
67. She & Him - Black Hole (2:12)
68. Belle & Sebastian - The State I Am In (4:58)
69. The Postal Service - Such Great Heights (4:26)
70. Nellie McKay - Toto Dies (4:02)
71. Rob Mayth - Barbie Girl 2007 - Candy Boyz Vs Klubbstylerz Rmx Edit (3:38)
72. William Shatner - Ideal Woman (Album Version) (2:25)
73. Nellie McKay - Mother of Pearl (2:10)
74. Rocky Horror Show (Revival) - Time Warp (3:14)
75. Pink Floyd - Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2) (4:01)
76. Elvis Costello & The Imposters - My Three Sons (3:06)
77. Patti Smith - We Three (4:19)
78. Bob Marley - Three Little Birds (5:20)
79. Pine Valley Cosmonauts - Great State of Texas (2:42)
80. Dar Williams - And A God Descended (4:15)
81. Dar Williams - The Christians And The Pagans (3:06)
82. Nelly Furtado - Legend (3:34)
83. Jacques Brel - Ne Me Quitte Pas (4:12)
84. Rocky Horror Show (Revival) - Dammit Janet (2:23)
85. Ofra Harnoy - And I Love Her (2:10)
86. Richard Shindell - Texas Rangers (4:09)
87. A Fine Frenzy - Come On, Come Out (3:35)
88. Austin Lounge Lizards - Stupid Texas Song (3:33)
89. John Fahey - Fight On Christians, Fight On (2:03)
90. Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Joan of Arc (3:37)
91. Vangelis - Mechanical Dolls (2:52)
92. Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Requiem (The Fifth) (2:59)
93. The Knux - Cappuccino (4:06)
94. Herman's Hermits Starring Pete - White Wedding (4:31)
95. Paul Anka - Smells Like Teen Spirit (2:42)
96. Austin Lounge Lizards - Maverick: A Love Song (2:55)
97. Mike Craver - Kalamazoo (4:58)
Started a bit before 6 pm (SLT) due to a missing Ceawin, and eventually checked my e-mail to realize that Lolo would be a no show thanks to what I thought was paying work, but turned out to be an anime con.
Silly me, as usual, forgot to take names and keep prisoners.
Here's the playlist:
1. 311 - My Stoney Baby (3:44)
2. Guided By Voices - Teenage FBI (3:19)
3. A Fine Frenzy - The Minnow & The Trout (4:28)
4. David Bowie - Andy Warhol (3:52)
5. The Shins - Caring Is Creepy (3:20)
6. Rob Mayth - Barbie Girl (Bangbros Instrumental RMX Edit) (2:55)
7. Nellie McKay - G.E.S. (1:42)
8. Billy Idol - White Wedding - Part 1 (4:10)
9. Alma Cogan - Tennessee Waltz (German Version) (2:13)
10. The Submissive - Big Sister Sir (1:19)
11. ABBA - Chiquitita (5:24)
12. Regina Spektor - Ode To Divorce (3:42)
13. Robyn Hitchcock - N.Y. Doll (3:45)
14. The Raveonettes - Blitzed (3:02)
15. Neil Young - Captain Kennedy (2:53)
16. David Byrne - Carnival Eyes (4:04)
17. Xiu Xiu - In lust you can hear the axe fall (3:30)
18. Tiny Tim with Brave Combo - Girl (3:05)
19. The Submissive - Lesbian Bikers Clubhouse Slut (0:20)
20. God Is My Co-Pilot - About How I Hate Boys (0:25)
21. RuPaul - Supermodel (You Better Work) (4:00)
22. Tiger Lillies - Car Crash (2:52)
23. Judy Garland - Over The Rainbow (2:47)
24. Rob Mayth - Barbie Girl 2007 - Alex M. Rmx Edit (3:31)
25. The Beatles - Polythene Pam (1:12)
26. Annie Lennox - Ghosts In My Machine (3:30)
27. Tori Amos - Lust (3:53)
28. Pink - God Is A DJ (3:45)
29. Alma Cogan - Itte Kudes (Japanese Version Of Tell Him) (2:15)
30. Liz Phair - Divorce Song (3:20)
31. GET SET GO - Die Motherfucker Die (4:46)
32. Android Lust - Dragonfly (edit) (3:41)
33. Nellie McKay - Clonie (1:56)
34. Hepburn - I Quit (3:55)
35. Le Tigre - This Island (3:23)
36. Truckasauras - Up, Up, Down, Down, L, R, L, R (3:01)
37. Leonard Nimoy - A Visit To A Sad Planet (3:05)
38. Thomas Lunch - Leonard Nimoy (2:53)
39. Ben Harper - Touch From Your Lust (4:27)
40. Rasputina - A Quitter (3:59)
41. Thomas Lunch - I Love You When You Throw A Fit (3:00)
42. Regina Spektor - Sailor Song (3:15)
43. Michael Kamen - Besides You / Divorce (3:53)
44. Robyn Hitchcock - 'Cause It's Love (Saint Parallelogram) (3:23)
45. Neil Young - Quit (Don't Say You Love Me) (Album Version) (6:02)
46. Four Star Mary - Pain (Slayer Mix) (3:40)
47. Eddie From Ohio - Clear and Present Danger (4:39)
48. Caroline Herring - All The Pretty Little Horses (3:06)
49. Czech - Angel (3:15)
50. Talking Heads - The Book I Read (Album Version) (4:10)
51. Robyn Hitchcock - Museum Of Sex (4:00)
52. K’Naan - In the Beginning (3:22)
53. Regina Spektor - *** (0:44)
54. Caroline Herring - Paper Gown (4:31)
55. Roxy Music - Angel Eyes (2:51)
56. Camera Obscura - Books Written for Girls (5:13)
57. Regina Spektor - Carbon Monoxide (4:59)
58. Rasputina - At The State Fair With A White Trash Sucker (Joseph Bishara Remix) (4:36)
59. M.I.A. - Paper Planes (3:23)
60. Angelo Badalamenti - The Bookhouse Boys (3:29)
61. Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa (3:34)
62. Nellie McKay - Pink Chandelier (1:38)
63. Timbaland - Come Around (3:54)
64. Gaudi - Theme from Carrie (Gaudi Remix) (7:35)
65. Aimee Mann - Calling It Quits (4:09)
66. Astrud Gilberto - Once I Loved (Album Version) (2:13)
67. She & Him - Black Hole (2:12)
68. Belle & Sebastian - The State I Am In (4:58)
69. The Postal Service - Such Great Heights (4:26)
70. Nellie McKay - Toto Dies (4:02)
71. Rob Mayth - Barbie Girl 2007 - Candy Boyz Vs Klubbstylerz Rmx Edit (3:38)
72. William Shatner - Ideal Woman (Album Version) (2:25)
73. Nellie McKay - Mother of Pearl (2:10)
74. Rocky Horror Show (Revival) - Time Warp (3:14)
75. Pink Floyd - Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2) (4:01)
76. Elvis Costello & The Imposters - My Three Sons (3:06)
77. Patti Smith - We Three (4:19)
78. Bob Marley - Three Little Birds (5:20)
79. Pine Valley Cosmonauts - Great State of Texas (2:42)
80. Dar Williams - And A God Descended (4:15)
81. Dar Williams - The Christians And The Pagans (3:06)
82. Nelly Furtado - Legend (3:34)
83. Jacques Brel - Ne Me Quitte Pas (4:12)
84. Rocky Horror Show (Revival) - Dammit Janet (2:23)
85. Ofra Harnoy - And I Love Her (2:10)
86. Richard Shindell - Texas Rangers (4:09)
87. A Fine Frenzy - Come On, Come Out (3:35)
88. Austin Lounge Lizards - Stupid Texas Song (3:33)
89. John Fahey - Fight On Christians, Fight On (2:03)
90. Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Joan of Arc (3:37)
91. Vangelis - Mechanical Dolls (2:52)
92. Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Requiem (The Fifth) (2:59)
93. The Knux - Cappuccino (4:06)
94. Herman's Hermits Starring Pete - White Wedding (4:31)
95. Paul Anka - Smells Like Teen Spirit (2:42)
96. Austin Lounge Lizards - Maverick: A Love Song (2:55)
97. Mike Craver - Kalamazoo (4:58)
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Miranda July on TSOYA
Just plugging this interesting interview with performance artist, Miranda July. Found it in the archives of The Sound of Young America -- it was an "of related interest" link to the recent Nellie McKay interview, described briefly in the previous blog posting.
Miranda July is a fiction writer, film maker and someone who, as a recording artist, sort of follows in the "tradition" of Laurie Anderson and other "hard-to-classify" acts.
The Sound of Young America: Miranda July
Miranda July is a fiction writer, film maker and someone who, as a recording artist, sort of follows in the "tradition" of Laurie Anderson and other "hard-to-classify" acts.
The Sound of Young America: Miranda July
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Too Short? Or Too Long?
I was late, it was the holiday weekend. Whaddayawant? I was stuck in the car for about 40 minutes, listening to this "Sound of Young America" interview with Nellie McKay. It's not especially revealing, but it does include an interesting solo version of "Mother of Pearl". {Dance Break!}
The Sound of Young America: Nellie McKay
Playlist from Friday's show (The Velvet) --
2. My Morning Jacket - One Big Holiday (5:21)
3. Patti Smith - Rock 'N' Roll Nigger (3:23)
4. Elvis Costello & The Imposters - Flutter And Wow (4:23)
5. R.E.M. - #9 Dream (4:38)
6. Bruce Cockburn - Peggy's Kitchen Wall (3:33)
7. Annie Lennox - Through The Glass Darkly (3:29)
8. Johnny Cash Feat. Joe Strummer - Redemption Song (3:27)
9. Camera Obscura - Lunar Sea (4:58)
10. Kimya Dawson - Viva La Persistence (Album Version) (3:47)
11. Bizarre - Gospel Weed Song (3:37)
12. Tiny Tim with Brave Combo - Hey Jude (3:46)
13. Dar Williams - Highway Patrolman (6:12)
14. Elvis Costello - Alison (3:25)
15. Joey Ramone - Don't Worry About Me (3:55)
16. Annie Lennox - Ghosts In My Machine (3:30)
17. Xiu Xiu - F.T.W. (2:56)
18. Brave Combo - Rondo a la Turca (1:52)
19. Roxy Music - Pyjamarama (2:52)
20. Céu - Bobagem (2:17)
A shortish set I know. But then the reason was stated already. {Dance Break!}
The Sound of Young America: Nellie McKay
Playlist from Friday's show (The Velvet) --
2. My Morning Jacket - One Big Holiday (5:21)
3. Patti Smith - Rock 'N' Roll Nigger (3:23)
4. Elvis Costello & The Imposters - Flutter And Wow (4:23)
5. R.E.M. - #9 Dream (4:38)
6. Bruce Cockburn - Peggy's Kitchen Wall (3:33)
7. Annie Lennox - Through The Glass Darkly (3:29)
8. Johnny Cash Feat. Joe Strummer - Redemption Song (3:27)
9. Camera Obscura - Lunar Sea (4:58)
10. Kimya Dawson - Viva La Persistence (Album Version) (3:47)
11. Bizarre - Gospel Weed Song (3:37)
12. Tiny Tim with Brave Combo - Hey Jude (3:46)
13. Dar Williams - Highway Patrolman (6:12)
14. Elvis Costello - Alison (3:25)
15. Joey Ramone - Don't Worry About Me (3:55)
16. Annie Lennox - Ghosts In My Machine (3:30)
17. Xiu Xiu - F.T.W. (2:56)
18. Brave Combo - Rondo a la Turca (1:52)
19. Roxy Music - Pyjamarama (2:52)
20. Céu - Bobagem (2:17)
A shortish set I know. But then the reason was stated already. {Dance Break!}
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Under Construction - A Home for JIRANON
Thought you'd like to see a first look at the new home of JIRA Addicts Anonymous (aka Jiranon).It will probably morph soon into a decaying, semi-abandoned church, but for now it's sort of Barney Rubble meets East Berlin socialist housing project.
If you'd like to visit you can find this most excellent edifice in Huineng.
The link is the SLURL. I feel so unclean whenever I say that.
Aza
Thursday, May 8, 2008
डेथ मेटल कोप्स ऑफ़ थे वर्ल्ड
This is a death metal rendition of Phil Ochs' Sixties anti-hegemony, anti-imperialist ballad, "Cops of the World." This entry soon to be revised with the lyrics, since death metal does not particularly lend itself well to lyrics that are easily interpreted by the ear of anyone above a certain age (or so I've been told).
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
R.A.W. Machine videos
R.A.W. Machine are a Central NJ indie group, made up of high school and upper middle school students. They perform original work and cover versions of well-known songs, mostly with a anti-war, anti-torture point of view. RAW, in this case, being an acronym for "Revolutionary Anti-War." (My daughter reminds me that I should point out the reversal, though I told here I thought it was too obvious to mention.)
The videos on this playlist include their own performances and a smattering of videos that relate to their thematic concerns as a group.
Just in case there's any confusion, The R.A.W. Machine is a different group than the Portuguese heavy metal band with a very similar name.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Requiem for Jimmy McNulty
It was a combination wake and premature St. Patty's Day wail-fest.
A re-imagining of the wake of Jimmy McNulty. Or not. You be the judge, jury and hangman. Oh, and we start this set with the Spanish version of "Fernando" as recorded by the classic punk rock quartet, ABBA.
R.I.P. Jimmy!
Spun on behalf of the "Greeks."
A re-imagining of the wake of Jimmy McNulty. Or not. You be the judge, jury and hangman. Oh, and we start this set with the Spanish version of "Fernando" as recorded by the classic punk rock quartet, ABBA.
R.I.P. Jimmy!
Spun on behalf of the "Greeks."
The Warm-up Set --
2. Selena - Techno Cumbia (3:47)
3. Flogging Molly - Laura (4:15)
4. Randy Newman - The Great Nations of Europe (3:24)
5. David Bromberg - Dehlia (7:50)
6. The Smothers Brothers - Crabs Walk Sideways (5:10)
7. Joan Osborne - St. Teresa (5:21)
8. Clannad - Rince Philib a'Cheoil (1:51)
9. Meav - A Maid In Bedlam (2:26)
10. Jack Hardy - Killkelly (5:15)
11. Tom Waits - Lost In The Harbour (3:45)
12. Phil Ochs - Santo Domingo (Live Version) (5:59)
13. The Young Gods - Seerauber Jenny (5:52)
14. Indigo Girls - Fugitive (4:37)
@ 6:00pm --
15. Abba - Fernando en Espanol (4:17)
16. ANNA TSUCHIYA inspi' NANA(BLACK STONES) - Anarchy In the Uk (3:21)
17. Ockham's Razor - Whiskey & Pills (2:37)
18. Steve Earle - Way Down In The Hole (2:55)
19. the Cat Mary - Step By Step (3:46)
20. Wire - "Why would anyone ever wanna leave Baltimore?" (0:24)
21. The Pogues - The Body Of An American (4:48)
22. Randy Newman - Baltimore (LP Version) (4:05)
23. Dominic West, various actors - Scene in the key of "F" (the Wire, S1,Ep4) (5:44)
24. Marissa Jaret Winokur & Ensemble - Good Morning Baltimore (3:40)
25. Angel - Baltimore (Featuring Mystic) [Explicit] (5:52)
26. Paul Weller - I Walk on Gilded Splinters (4:58)
27. The Bobs - Slow Down Krishna (5:26)
28. Fountains Of Wayne - Halley's Waitress (3:35)
29. Steve Earle - Oxycontin Blues (2:54)
30. John Fahey - Fight On Christians, Fight On (2:03)
31. Lúnasa - O' Caralon's Welcome/Rolling In The Barrel (3:49)
32. David Bromberg - To Know Her Is To Love Her (3:03)
33. The Bobs - Now I Am a Hippie Again (2:01)
34. David Bromberg - Child's Song (4:42)
35. Al Stewart - Year Of The Cat (6:42)
36. Patti Smith - White Rabbit (Album Version) (3:54)
37. Tom Waits - Way Down in the Hole (1:44)
38. Bruce Cockburn - Last Night Of The World (4:51)
39. Flogging Molly - Tomorrow Comes A Day Too Soon (3:39)
40. Dar Williams - This Was Pompeii (3:58)
41. The Welch Boys - Friend Or Foe (1:59)
42. Siouxsie & The Banshees - Hong Kong Garden (3:10)
43. Beirut - Mount Wroclai (Idle Days) (3:15)
44. The Bobs - PsychoKiller (3:33)
45. Anna Tsuchiya - Taste My Skin (3:11)
46. The Aquabats - Theme Song! (1:48)
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Impromptu, Traditional and Not Trad
Playlist from an impromptu set at the Velvet, Wednesday, 5 March
1. Clannad - Banba Oir (3:26)
2. Peter Gabriel - Before Night Falls (2:19)
3. Aimee Mann - Wise Up (3:31)
4. Christine Lavin - Somebody's Baby (3:51)
5. Roxy Music - Could it Happen to Me? (3:36)
6. Roxy Music - Nightingale (4:11)
7. Clannad - I Will Find You - Afterlife Mix (3:40)
8. Brave Combo - Who Stole The Kishka (1:57)
9. Christine Lavin - Downtown (3:38)
10. Brave Combo - Happy Wanderer (2:32)
11. John Fahey - Fight On Christians, Fight On (2:03)
12. Patty Griffin - You Never Get What You Want (3:42)
13. Le Tigre - Eau D'Bedroom Dancing (2:55)
14. Clannad - Caide Sin Do'n Te Sin (4:22)
15. Suzanne Vega - Machine Ballerina (2:57)
16. David Bromberg - I Want To Go Home (3:06)
17. Moby - Natural Blues (4:13)
18. Brave Combo - Jesusita En Chihuahua (1:43)
19. Moby - Extreme Ways (Bourne's Ultimatum) (4:22)
20. Tom Waits - I Wish I Was In New Orleans (4:53)
21. Arlo Guthrie - City Of New Orleans (5:24)
22. Roy Zimmerman - When the Saints Go Marching In to New Orleans (3:53)
23. Various Artists - Procession To Orleans (1:32)
24. Utah Philips & Ani DiFranco - Half A Ghost Town (4:22)
25. David Bromberg - Mrs. Delion's Lament (4:25)
26. Roxy Music - She Sells (3:39)
27. Christine Lavin - Good Thing He Can't Read My Mind (3:05)
28. Talking Heads - Stay Hungry (5:37)
29. Ben Folds Five - Satan Is My Master (1:33)
30. Harry Waller - Cockroaches On Parade (2:28)
31. Rufus Wainwright - Cigarettes And Chocolate Milk (4:44)
32. Dar Williams - February (3:54)
33. Talking Heads - Love Is All Around (3:42)
34. Randy Newman - Bless The Children Of The World (Remastered LP Version) (3:50)
35. Dar Williams - Highway Patrolman (6:12)
36. Cry Cry Cry - Cold Missouri Waters (4:34)
37. Cry Cry Cry - The Ballad of Mary Magdalen (5:22)
38. Dar Williams - I Won't Be Your Yoko Ono (3:39)
39. Liz Phair - Fuck And Run (3:07)
40. Stereo Action Unlimited - Hi-Fi Trumpet (Boys From Brazil Mix) (4:17)
41. Brave Combo - Crazy Serbian Butcher's Dance (1:50)
42. David Bromberg - Sheebeg And Sheemore (2:26)
43. Ani DiFranco - Two Little Girls (4:57)
44. Barry Louis Polisar - All I Want Is You (2:37)
45. James Brown - Papa's Got A Brand New Bag (Live) (3:14)
46. The Fort Knox Five - The Brazilian Hipster (3:47)
47. Fred Holstein - The Thanksgiving Song (2:52)
48. Harald Paulsen - Kanonensong (2:08)
49. Sophie B. Hawkins - Live And Let Love (4:13)
50. Frank Zappa - Help, I'm a Rock (4:43)
51. Scissor Sisters - It Can't Come Quickly Enough (4:39)
52. Talking Heads - Thank You For Sending Me An Angel (2:15)
53. Madrugada - The Kids Are On High Street (4:57)
54. The Chieftains & Sinéad O'Connor - The Foggy Dew (5:20)
55. Madrugada - Ramona (3:55)
56. Brave Combo - I Could Have Danced All Night (4:18)
57. Joan Osborne - Dracula Moon (6:18)
58. Laurie Anderson - Language Is A Virus (4:15)
59. 及川リン - She Said from "Kamikaze Girls" (2:43)
60. John Gallagher Jr. & Boys - The Bitch of Living from "Spring Awakening" (2:53)
61. Patsy Cline - I Fall To Pieces (2:51)
62. Aimee Mann - You're With Stupid Now (3:29)
1. Clannad - Banba Oir (3:26)
2. Peter Gabriel - Before Night Falls (2:19)
3. Aimee Mann - Wise Up (3:31)
4. Christine Lavin - Somebody's Baby (3:51)
5. Roxy Music - Could it Happen to Me? (3:36)
6. Roxy Music - Nightingale (4:11)
7. Clannad - I Will Find You - Afterlife Mix (3:40)
8. Brave Combo - Who Stole The Kishka (1:57)
9. Christine Lavin - Downtown (3:38)
10. Brave Combo - Happy Wanderer (2:32)
11. John Fahey - Fight On Christians, Fight On (2:03)
12. Patty Griffin - You Never Get What You Want (3:42)
13. Le Tigre - Eau D'Bedroom Dancing (2:55)
14. Clannad - Caide Sin Do'n Te Sin (4:22)
15. Suzanne Vega - Machine Ballerina (2:57)
16. David Bromberg - I Want To Go Home (3:06)
17. Moby - Natural Blues (4:13)
18. Brave Combo - Jesusita En Chihuahua (1:43)
19. Moby - Extreme Ways (Bourne's Ultimatum) (4:22)
20. Tom Waits - I Wish I Was In New Orleans (4:53)
21. Arlo Guthrie - City Of New Orleans (5:24)
22. Roy Zimmerman - When the Saints Go Marching In to New Orleans (3:53)
23. Various Artists - Procession To Orleans (1:32)
24. Utah Philips & Ani DiFranco - Half A Ghost Town (4:22)
25. David Bromberg - Mrs. Delion's Lament (4:25)
26. Roxy Music - She Sells (3:39)
27. Christine Lavin - Good Thing He Can't Read My Mind (3:05)
28. Talking Heads - Stay Hungry (5:37)
29. Ben Folds Five - Satan Is My Master (1:33)
30. Harry Waller - Cockroaches On Parade (2:28)
31. Rufus Wainwright - Cigarettes And Chocolate Milk (4:44)
32. Dar Williams - February (3:54)
33. Talking Heads - Love Is All Around (3:42)
34. Randy Newman - Bless The Children Of The World (Remastered LP Version) (3:50)
35. Dar Williams - Highway Patrolman (6:12)
36. Cry Cry Cry - Cold Missouri Waters (4:34)
37. Cry Cry Cry - The Ballad of Mary Magdalen (5:22)
38. Dar Williams - I Won't Be Your Yoko Ono (3:39)
39. Liz Phair - Fuck And Run (3:07)
40. Stereo Action Unlimited - Hi-Fi Trumpet (Boys From Brazil Mix) (4:17)
41. Brave Combo - Crazy Serbian Butcher's Dance (1:50)
42. David Bromberg - Sheebeg And Sheemore (2:26)
43. Ani DiFranco - Two Little Girls (4:57)
44. Barry Louis Polisar - All I Want Is You (2:37)
45. James Brown - Papa's Got A Brand New Bag (Live) (3:14)
46. The Fort Knox Five - The Brazilian Hipster (3:47)
47. Fred Holstein - The Thanksgiving Song (2:52)
48. Harald Paulsen - Kanonensong (2:08)
49. Sophie B. Hawkins - Live And Let Love (4:13)
50. Frank Zappa - Help, I'm a Rock (4:43)
51. Scissor Sisters - It Can't Come Quickly Enough (4:39)
52. Talking Heads - Thank You For Sending Me An Angel (2:15)
53. Madrugada - The Kids Are On High Street (4:57)
54. The Chieftains & Sinéad O'Connor - The Foggy Dew (5:20)
55. Madrugada - Ramona (3:55)
56. Brave Combo - I Could Have Danced All Night (4:18)
57. Joan Osborne - Dracula Moon (6:18)
58. Laurie Anderson - Language Is A Virus (4:15)
59. 及川リン - She Said from "Kamikaze Girls" (2:43)
60. John Gallagher Jr. & Boys - The Bitch of Living from "Spring Awakening" (2:53)
61. Patsy Cline - I Fall To Pieces (2:51)
62. Aimee Mann - You're With Stupid Now (3:29)
Friday, February 1, 2008
Hmmn, so little progress, so much time
Maybe this is a bad time to say this? Consider that I'm too tired to think straight so of course I'm tempted to take on a whole amorphous project involving putting up a tutorial on the very most basic notions of 3D design as it applies to making sculpties.
What would this actually entail? Break it down:
What would this actually entail? Break it down:
- Let's talk vocabulary. What is a NURB? What is a UVmap and why does it give off so little light, and not actually get us any place real? Which terms are the biggest bugaboos?
- What does someone with no prior 3D modeling experience actually need to know to be able to understand sculpties?
- Is understanding overrated? Maybe we just need tutorials that focus on walking us through making something very useful (or very destructive)?
- What's the fourth question?
- Where's the UPS guy with my Japanese grammars and dictionaries?
- Does any of this have anything to do with Edward Albee's newest play, Me, Myself & I?
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Don't write scripts
Looking at this blog and the fact that it has not seen an update since before Turkey Day, here's my sincere New Year's resolution. Don't write scripts unless you're very fast. I don't really mean that, but maybe I do mean to say that writing scripts that require heavy trig, when you haven't touched much trig since high school (and high school is a fast-fading memory) is probably not the best idea in the world.
I only managed to get back to art and design in the last week or so because I was almost entirely away from computers, and well away from any connection or hardware that could run Second Life. And I can't add any new pics at the moment because SL is down with inventory flu.
I only managed to get back to art and design in the last week or so because I was almost entirely away from computers, and well away from any connection or hardware that could run Second Life. And I can't add any new pics at the moment because SL is down with inventory flu.
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