Flying The Sky

The People Of Wal*Mart Rap

2010-01-06T21:33:00.000-08:00

I had the greatest intentions of completing the Best Of The 2000's post. A lot of other projects came in and happened in between.
So that's a wrap, at least for now. I came across this video after a night out with friends. My friends and I were actually drawing pictures of people we know who are just some characters.

This video is by JDirty and he made up a rap about the website, The People Of Wal*Mart

COMING SOON: The 2000s - The Decade Of Decidin'

2009-10-10T00:02:00.000-07:00

In the Y2K the digital music revolution became full force. It was in the late 90s that MP3s began to appear, here and there, on messageboards and virtual trading posts. In 1998 a big cross-section was infamous for posting, Who's got MP3s of the new___INSERT ARTIST(S) HERE___
A college kid named Shawn Fanning developed the first fully functional Peer-To-Peer network and pissed off an aging Lars Ulrich enough to draw the attention of the Whole Wide World. Napster. Com started as a free file-sharing site in 1999 and was shutdown in 2001 before a corporate buy-out. Metallica, a band as dependent on the standard commerce of the record industry did not have the technical foresight to see the upcoming paradigm shift. In 2007, Radiohead, another multi-millionaire rock group offered up their album for any price to the end user.
And Bill Gates who found much success in the previous decade, saw his archnemesis Steve Jobs finish building his Apple Empire. Gates has been quoted saying that his family isn't allowed to bring Apple products into the home. I'm not sure if he was joking or not. Around the time Napster was being corporatized, Apple introduced the iPod. Shortly after the Twin Towers were a fiery heap of twisted metal, college kids were coming out of University Square with thin white wires attached to white ear buds in their coat pockets. The first generation iPod sold itself without an ad campaign. ----to be completed----10/10/09

Bleak For The Future?

2009-08-25T21:32:00.000-07:00

From the BBC

As the world's population grows, competition for food, water and energy will increase. Food prices will rise, more people will go hungry, and migrants will flee the worst-affected regions.

That's the simple idea at the heart of the warning from John Beddington, the UK government's chief scientific adviser, of a possible crisis in 2030.

Specifically, he points to research indicating that by 2030 "a whole series of events come together":

The world's population will rise from 6bn to 8bn (33%)
Demand for food will increase by 50%
Demand for water will increase by 30%
Demand for energy will increase by 50%

He foresees each problem combining to create a "perfect storm" in which the whole is bigger, and more serious, than the sum of its parts.

Population growth threatens food, water and energy shortages

"Can we cope with the demands in the future on water? Can we provide enough energy? Can we do it, all that, while mitigating and adapting to climate change? And can we do all that in 21 years' time?" he asked the SDUK 09 conference in London, in March.

Some of the problems reinforce each other, in obvious ways. For example, intensive agriculture swallows up large amounts of water and energy.

But Professor Beddington also points to other complicating factors and worrying possibilities.

CLIMATE CHANGE

WATER SCARCITY

See where water will be scarce

There is a risk that climate change will have drastic effects on food production - for example by killing off the coral reefs (which about 1bn people depend on as a source of protein) or by either weakening or strengthening monsoon rains.

Also, some scientists are predicting that the Arctic will be ice-free by 2030, he points out, which could accelerate global warming by reducing the amount of the sun's energy that is reflected back out of the atmosphere.

URBANISATION

Not only is the world's population predicted to grow (until the middle of the century, at least) but more people are moving to live in cities, Professor Beddington points out. The growth of cities will accelerate the depletion of water resources, which in turn may drive more country dwellers to leave the land.

INCREASING PROSPERITY

As people become wealthier in some parts of the world, such as China and India, their diets are changing. They are consuming more meat and dairy products, which take more energy to produce than traditional vegetable diets. Like city dwellers, prosperous people also use more energy to maintain their lifestyle.

BIOFUELS

The more land is devoted to growing biofuels, in response to climate change, the less can be used for growing food.

Source information: Energy data graphic derived from World Energy Outlook © OECD/IEA, 2008, figure 2.2, p. 81 and modified by BBC News.

Professor Beddington says he is optimistic that scientists can come up with solutions to the problems and that he is encouraged by signs that politicians are listening more to scientific advice.

But he adds: "We need investment in science and technology, and all the other ways of treating very seriously these major problems. 2030 is not very far away."

The President's 100th Day Hoopla Is Over Now

2009-04-29T21:40:00.000-07:00

It's finally over. The over-sensationalized news media fixation also known as the "First 100 Days of the Obama Presidency" is now a wrap.
Jon Stewart did a fantastic piece on The Daily Show last night on the topic. I had to wait 24 hours for it leave my mind before I attempted to take a look at this.

Firstly, I think the 100 days timeframe goes back to the Kennedy Administration to when JFK said the President Of The United States' job should not be measured by one hundred days, but by one thousand days. But he got merked, so what did he know. 100 days it is, the media purports.
And holy Shi'ite Muslim Sectarian Party did the television news media have a field day, fuck - a field month with this 100 day nonsense.
But the BBC put together a very substantive, comprehensive analysis of the developments of the new administration

Also an interactive map that sees how the world views Barack Obama
Here's my $0.02 [soon to be adjusted for inflation]
It's 100 days! 100 days following 2920 days of damage. I'm no mathematician, but I think the task of a new Presidential administration to accomplish some meaningful new policies and restore and sustain prosperity and betterment for its nation needs to be more than 14 weeks.
This is just like people to put so much pressure on a brother.
Off the top of my head, the new Administration has rolled out new bailouts for more banks and now automakers. Guantanamo Bay's closure is in full effect.
Accountability on the interrogative torture methods are out in the open - the Neo-Cons have had their vacations abruptly interrupted.
The doors to new healthcare reform have been reopened. Alternative energies are being explored, cultivated. Those Green jobs the President promised in his campaign, I've heard from a couple of people who now have them.

Much of the campaign promises have been realized already. The only thorn I see in Obama's side is the War in Afghanistan. But most of all, like many will find in the above links, people are finding the President to be the antithesis to Governor Bush and his 8 years in stolen office.

29 Brilliant Music Videos

2009-03-22T11:06:00.000-07:00

Stumbled onto this page some time ago. Definitely is a nice collection of videos, some of that didn't get enough attention when they dropped.

Videos by:

UNKLE
Nick Cave & Kylie Minogue
Radiohead
Moby
The Strokes
Arctic Monkeys
Sigur Ros
The Avalanches
Blur
Boards Of Canada
Daft Punk
RJD2

29 Brilliant Music Videos

The January Thaw

2009-01-23T18:40:00.000-08:00

Something I recognized once was that January is typically an uneventful month - here in the States. It may be on a symbolic level; a new beginning (as far as the calendar makes it)
It may be the culmination of the previous year with the end of the holiday season, for all its greatness and woes, has forced us all to slow down. So we can work our way back to to it again.

I always take politicians words with a bag of salt. I learned this from my old man.
I was in junior high when Bush Sr. was running for President.
H.W.'s centerpiece campaign promise was, "Read my lips, no new taxes!"
He was elected for one term. Only to generate new taxes.

In the essence of time and importance, I'll leave it to that sole example.

I noticed something different this week. My Web news feeds used to have 2, maybe 3 - very predictable articles about the same U.S. governmental policies at work. The radio reported it similar, a few pieces on the stalemate positions, punctuated with some concern.
It's interesting to see those same news feeds - with now 4 to 6 articles on new, somewhat surprising executive moves:

Gitmo - otherwise known as Guantanamo Bay - in the beginning stages for shutdown.
Waterboarding, and all forms of interrogative torture methods - BANNED
Economic Stimulus - this one based on rebuilding U.S. infrastructure (highways, roads, bridges) - being written up for a bill as I type this

I have my feelings about all three of these major game-changers, but I want to hear some of yours. So leave a comment below.

The Line Between The Internet & Television Begins To Blur

2008-12-04T22:40:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, right here at this little blog of mine, I made mention and gave props to a fledgling cable network called 'The Tube." It was the only TV network in this age of new information and new media that continuously played music videos. Well, they folded a couple of years ago due to financial difficulties.

In the middle of this year during my obsessive viewership of the Presidential primaries, I tuned into "Current TV"
This is a description off their website:

Since its inception in 2005, Emmy award-winning Current TV has been the world's leading peer-to-peer news and information network. Current is the only 24/7 cable and satellite television network and Internet site produced and programmed in collaboration with its audience. Current connects young adults with what is going on in their world, from their perspective, in their own voices.

With the launch of Current.com, the first fully integrated web and TV platform users can participate in shaping an ongoing stream of news and information that is compelling, authentic and relevant to them.

Current pioneered the television industry's leading model of interactive viewer created content (VC2). Comprising roughly one-third of Current's on-air broadcast, this content is submitted via short-form, non-fiction video "pods". Viewer Created Ad Messages (VCAMs) are also open to viewer's participation.

Current's programming ranges from daily pop culture coverage to political satire in "SuperNews," unprecedented music journalism in "The Current Fix," and unique insights into global stories through Vanguard and Citizen Journalism.

Yeah, that's what it is.

Interesting.

Innovative.

Interactive.

I should contact their marketing department and sell them that. :-)

And here's where it is on your TV:

channel 358

directv
channel 196

dish network
channel 107

comcast
channel 189

at&t u-verse
check listings

time warner

The People Have Spoken

2008-11-04T14:46:00.001-08:00

Barack Obama is the 44th President of the United States. A new day is near, where like Dr. Martin Luther King once proclaimed, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
A sea change of culture and the way we view each other is coming. Whether it is evident in the most backwards and devolved areas of this country, the ripple has already been sent out in the ocean of humanity when my nation, my nation! finally can elect someone no matter what bullshit the conservative media filtered out on the airwaves, they elected the person who is the best qualified for the job ahead.

As Decision2008 Comes Around The Final Corner....

2008-11-02T23:52:00.000-08:00

I pulled this off from Gallup.com right now,

These are the stats on the race as of early Monday morning

Election 2008

Democrats Lead Big on Generic Ballot

Double-digit lead among likely voters is biggest since 1980

November 2, 2008

Gallup’s final pre-election allocated estimate of the national 2008 vote for Congress gives the Democrats a 12 percentage-point lead over the Republicans among traditional likely voters, 53% to 41%.More ...

Final Presidential Estimate: Obama 55%, McCain 44%

Independents break for Obama, boosting Obama’s broad Democratic base

November 2, 2008

As the 2008 presidential campaign draws to an end, the final USA Today/Gallup pre-election poll shows Barack Obama with a 55% to 44% advantage over John McCain in the allocated estimate of the 2008 presidential vote.More ...

Gallup Daily: Obama Continues to Outpace McCain

Holds 8-point lead among “traditional likely voters”

November 2, 2008

Barack Obama leads John McCain by eight percentage points among “traditional likely voters,” 51% to 43%, with 5% undecided. His lead stretches to nine points among “expanded likely voters” and a theoretical 11 points among all eligible voters.More ...

Life Satisfaction Predicts Voter Preferences

Satisfied Republicans Prefer McCain; Optimistic Democrats Prefer Obama

November 1, 2008

Republicans who are more satisfied with their current lives more strongly prefer McCain in the presidential election. The preferences of Democrats have more to do with their expectations about their future lives. Those who expect to be more satisfied in the future more strongly prefer Obama.More ...

Gallup Daily: Obama 52%, McCain 42% Among Likely Voters

Largest lead for Obama among likely voters to date

November 1, 2008

Barack Obama leads John McCain in Gallup Poll Daily tracking interviewing conducted Wednesday through Friday by a 52% to 42% margin in both of Gallup’s likely voter models. Obama leads by a similar 52% to 41% margin among all registered voters.More ...

Blacks Appear Poised for High Turnout

Constitute 11% of both of Gallup's likely voter groups, up from 8% in 2004

October 31, 2008

Blacks constitute a higher percentage of Gallup’s projected likely voter pool than in previous elections, based on increased thought given to the election and greater self-reported likelihood of voting. They are also far more likely to report having been contacted by Obama’s campaign than by McCain’s.More ...

Update: Little Evidence of Surge in Youth Vote

Obama campaign has contacted about one in three 18- to 29-year-olds

October 31, 2008

Gallup continues to find scant evidence to suggest a surge in young voter turnout compared to other age groups or to the 2004 election. Twice as many 18- to 29-year-olds report that the Obama campaign has contacted them in recent weeks (31%) as report that the McCain campaign has done so (16%).More ...

Obama Retains Slight Edge Over McCain on Taxes

Americans still more likely to say Obama will increase taxes

October 31, 2008

After two consecutive weeks of a tit-for-tat over tax policy between John McCain and Barack Obama, Americans continue to favor Obama over McCain on taxes, but Obama’s edge is only 6 percentage points, smaller than it was in mid-October.More ...

Gallup Daily: Obama’s Lead Widens Some on All Bases

Advances to 8-point lead among “traditional likely voters”

October 31, 2008

Barack Obama holds an eight percentage point lead over John McCain among “traditional likely voters” -- 51% to 43% -- his largest margin to date using this historical Gallup Poll voter model. He leads by nine points among “expanded likely voters.”

Politics And Hip-Hop (Like It Should Be)

2008-10-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

This track was passed on to me the other night. A politically charged hip-hop track, free for the taking:

Meet The Press

A Retro Cartoon Post

2008-09-21T19:38:00.000-07:00

In the 1980s, wonderful things began to happen when Japanese and American artists worked together. The Transformers. Voltron. G.I. Joe. And a little-known Saturday morning CBS cartoon called Galaxy High.
The premise: Two foreign exchange students travel to a different high school. One is a brilliant scholarship recipient, the other is a slacker jock. Both of them are from Earth, now attending a high school in outer space.
This is the first episode of the series, broken into 3 parts:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Are You A Republican? The Republican Quiz!

2008-09-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

Here's the best way to find out if you are a part of the Republican Party base.
Answer each of the questions and look at the bottom for the answer.

1. Do you believe it is our God-given right as Americans to bear arms?
[YES] [NO]

2. National Security means keeping our country safe from the terrorists.
[YES] [NO]

3. Do you believe women should not have a choice but to have their baby?
[YES] [NO]

4. I believe the wealthy should pay less taxes while the hard-working middle class should pay more taxes.
[YES] [NO]

5. It is of my strong conviction that all Muslim people are my enemies.
[YES] [NO]

6. It is of my strong conviction that all homosexual people are my enemies.
[YES] [NO]

7. I feel that we do not need to try new ways of using energy. We need to own new regions where oil is available, and hey - Nuclear power.
[YES] [NO]

8. Wars are unfortunate. Nobody wants to start them or go through them. I don't need to question anything about it because it's not happening in my country.
[YES] [NO]

9. Fear is not only a great motivator, but it gets people to do the things you want them to.
[YES] [NO]

10. Once it was the separation of church and state that made laws fair and equal. Now in order to be fair, an equal amount of churches need to support the state, not by law, but for their faith.
[YES] [NO]

------->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>-------

If you answered 3 or more questions YES, then you are a Republican.
If you realized that there were only 2 questions, then you aren't a Republican. You win a free 100% Cotton XXL Tee:

The Top 10 Reasons Why John McCain Should Not Be The Leader Of The Free World (The Remix)

2008-09-01T00:30:00.000-07:00

This week, the Twin Cities host the Republican National Convention to nominate John McCain as their presidential candidate. To be proactive this time around, the GOP have taken to issue statements and raise concerns about the imminent destruction of Hurricane Gustav. At this time it is unknown how many days of the RNC will be lost due to the emergency. But just like another emergency that happened 7 years ago, the relief effort and tactical preparations (which should always be expected to happen) will be subverted for political purposes.

3 months ago, the original 'Top Ten Reasons...' was posted here. This is the remix, the remix . . .

TOP TEN REASONS WHY JOHN McCAIN SHOULD NOT BE THE LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD

10. He's 72 years old. The pressure and stress that comes along with being commander-in-chief is likely to send him into a cardiac arrest.

9. Presidents need to travel constantly. Every week a new state, a new nation. All those road trips are likely to send him into a cardiac arrest.

8. McCain's unhealthy. A recent three-hour medical examination revealed he has kidney, skin, sleep and circulatory problems. This guy's going to need a government-based healthcare system the most.

7. John McCain sees an exit from Iraq by at least year 2013. With a U.S. economy that's progressively tanking, that means another trillion dollars for war. That means $12 a gallon for gas.

6. Congress is comprised of mostly Democrats right now. More than half of the Senate doesn't support the wars in the Middle East. A McCain Administration would only perpetuate more gridlocks in foreign policy.

5. He's a hypocrite. He supports W's war yet he sees a need for energy conservation. The carbon emissions from a fleet of naval aircraft carriers alone represents the amount of carbon produced by the entire population of New Jersey.

4. As Senator of Arizona, John McCain voted for legislature to repeal Dr. Martin Luther King Day as an observed holiday 25 years ago. If elected president, he promises not to repeal President's Day because working with Abraham Lincoln to form the Republican Party shaped his political career.

3. Journalists say his old guy smell is almost unbearable in warmer climates. (Just kidding, but this is probably true)

2. McCain takes many kinds of medications for health-related illnesses including Ambien for sleep aid. How's he going to wake up at 3 A.M. for the phone call?

and #1 ................. He simply is interested in furthering the Bush-Cheney foreign affairs agenda. By agenda that means a McDonalds in both Kabul and Fallujah by 2015.

Life Imitates Art Once Again

2008-08-04T02:04:00.000-07:00

Source

Parents forget child at airport

A flight attendant escorted the girl on her eventual flight to Paris

Staff at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel have found a three-year-old girl alone in a duty-free shop after her parents accidentally took a plane without her.

The parents boarded the flight to Paris with four of their five children.

The parents did not realise their mistake until the captain of the plane informed them after take-off, according to police.

The girl was put on the next flight to Paris. The parents will be questioned when they return to Israel.

"It is usual that travellers in a rush forget their luggage but not a child. This never happens," AFP news agency quoted a police official by as saying.

The Dark Knight (Review By Roger Ebert)

2008-07-17T02:00:00.000-07:00

In the world of film reviews, Roger Ebert is the G.O.A.T. Nowhere else can you get an objective, analytical and thoughtfully considerate critique of a film. Tonight, The Dark Knight opens in theaters, block-booked and destined to become the highest-grossing movie of all time. It stars Christian Bale, the late Heath Ledger, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine. Here is Roger Ebert's critique, pulled from his column on the Chicago Sun-Times website:

The Dark Knight (PG-13)

Ebert:

Heath Ledger stars as The Joker in a scene with Christian Bale, who plays Batman in "The Dark Knight."

The Dark Knight

// / July 16, 2008

Cast & Credits

Bruce Wayne: Christian Bale

The Joker: Heath Ledger

Harvey Dent: Aaron Eckhart

Alfred: Michael Caine

Rachel: Maggie Gyllenhaal

Gordon: Gary Oldman

Lucius Fox: Morgan Freeman

Warner Bros. presents a film directed by Christopher Nolan. Written by Christopher and Jonathan Nolan. Running time: 152 minutes. Rated PG-13 (for for intense sequences of violence and some menace). Opening today at local theaters.

Printer-friendly »
E-mail this to a friend »

By Roger Ebert

“Batman” isn’t a comic book anymore. Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” is a haunted film that leaps beyond its origins and becomes an engrossing tragedy. It creates characters we come to care about. That’s because of the performances, because of the direction, because of the writing, and because of the superlative technical quality of the entire production. This film, and to a lesser degree “Iron Man,” redefine the possibilities of the “comic-book movie.”

“The Dark Knight” is not a simplistic tale of good and evil. Batman is good, yes, The Joker is evil, yes. But Batman poses a more complex puzzle than usual: The citizens of Gotham City are in an uproar, calling him a vigilante and blaming him for the deaths of policemen and others. And the Joker is more than a villain. He’s a Mephistopheles whose actions are fiendishly designed to pose moral dilemmas for his enemies.

The key performance in the movie is by the late Heath Ledger, as the Joker. Will he become the first posthumous Oscar winner since Peter Finch? His Joker draws power from the actual inspiration of the character in the silent classic “The Man Who Laughs” (1928). His clown's makeup more sloppy than before, his cackle betraying deep wounds, he seeks revenge, he claims, for the horrible punishment his father exacted on him when he was a child. In one diabolical scheme near the end of the film, he invites two ferry-loads of passengers to blow up the other before they are blown up themselves. Throughout the film, he devises ingenious situations that force Batman (Christian Bale), Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) to make impossible ethical decisions. By the end, the whole moral foundation of the Batman legend is threatened.

Because these actors and others are so powerful, and because the movie does not allow its spectacular special effects to upstage the humans, we’re surprised how deeply the drama affects us. Eckhart does an especially good job as Harvey Dent, whose character is transformed by a horrible fate into a bitter monster. It is customary in a comic book movie to maintain a certain knowing distance from the action, to view everything through a sophisticated screen. “The Dark Knight” slips around those defenses and engages us.

Yes, the special effects are extraordinary. They focus on the expected explosions and catastrophes, and have some superb, elaborate chase scenes. The movie was shot on location in Chicago, but it avoids such familiar landmarks as Marina City, the Wrigley Building or the skyline. Chicagoans will recognize many places, notably La Salle Street and Lower Wacker Drive, but director Nolan is not making a travelogue. He presents the city as a wilderness of skyscrapers, and a key sequence is set in the still-uncompleted Trump Tower. Through these heights, the Batman moves at the end of strong wires, or sometimes actually flies, using his cape as a parasail.

The plot involves nothing more or less than the Joker’s attempts to humiliate the forces for good and expose Batman’ secret identity, showing him to be a poser and a fraud. He includes Gordon and Dent on his target list, and contrives cruel tricks to play with the fact that Bruce Wayne once loved, and Harvey Dent now loves, Assistant D.A. Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal). The tricks are more cruel than he realizes, because the Joker doesn’t know Batman’s identity. Heath Ledger has a good deal of dialogue in the movie, and a lot of it isn’t the usual jabs and jests we’re familiar with: It’s psychologically more complex, outlining the dilemmas he has constructed, and explaining his reasons for them. The screenplay by Christopher Nolan and his brother Jonathan (who first worked together on “Memento”) has more depth and poetry than we might have expected.

Two of the supporting characters are crucial to the action, and are played effortlessly by the great actors Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine. Freeman, as the scientific genius Lucius Fox, is in charge of Bruce Wayne’s underground headquarters, and makes an ethical objection to a method of eavesdropping on all of the citizens of Gotham City. His stand has current political implictions. Caine is the faithful butler Alfred, who understands Wayne better than anybody, and makes a decision about a crucial letter.

Nolan also directed the previous, and excellent, “Batman Begins” (2005), which went into greater detail than ever before about Bruce Wayne’s origins and the reasons for his compulsions. Now it is the Joker’s turn, although his past is handled entirely with dialogue, not flashbacks. There are no references to Batman’s childhood, but we certainly remember it, and we realize that this conflict is between two adults who were twisted by childhood cruelty — one compensating by trying to do good, the other by trying to do evil. Perhaps they instinctively understand that themselves.

Something fundamental seems to be happening in the upper realms of the comic-book movie. “Spider-Man II” (2004) may have defined the high point of the traditional film based on comic-book heroes. A movie like the new “Hellboy II” allows its director free rein for his fantastical visions. But now “Iron Man” and even more so “The Dark Knight” move the genre into deeper waters. They realize, as some comic-book readers instinctively do, that these stories touch on deep fears, traumas, fantasies and hopes. And the Batman legend, with its origins in film noir, is the most fruitful one for exploration.

In his two Batman movies, Nolan has freed the character to be a canvas for a broader scope of human emotion. For Bruce Wayne is a deeply troubled man, let there be no doubt, and if ever in exile from his heroic role, it would not surprise me what he finds himself capable of doing.

Well It's 50 Cups Of Coffee & You Know It's On

2008-07-01T23:00:00.000-07:00

Summer time is in full swing now. The 4th of July is in a couple of days. Since it is the 10th anniversary of the Beastie Boy's next-level album, Hello Nasty on July 14th - I've ripped and uploaded the album in MP3 form. It's the Japanese import that I ordered on CDNow before Amazon.com upstarted and bought them out. The major distinction between the U.S. and Japanese version is that on the latter, The Grasshopper Unit (Keep Movin') is the original, "Can't Won't Don't Stop" that couldn't make it past sample clearances. Also there is a bonus track of MixMasterMike with the B-Boys live performing "Slow And Low," the song that they found at Def Jam records, written by Run-D.M.C. , released on their first and last album on Def Jam.
This is a dope album to play for the summer time indeed.

Description:
Hello Nasty, the Beastie Boys' fifth album, is a head-spinning listen loaded with analog synthesizers, old drum machines, call-and-response vocals, freestyle rhyming, futuristic sound effects, and virtuoso turntable scratching. The Beasties have long been notorious for their dense, multi-layered explosions, but Hello Nasty is their first record to build on the multi-ethnic junk culture breakthrough of Check Your Head, instead of merely replicating it. Moving from electro-funk breakdowns to Latin-soul jams to spacey pop, Hello Nasty covers as much ground as Check Your Head or Ill Communication, but the flow is natural, like Paul's Boutique, even if the finish is retro-stylized. Hiring DJ MixMaster Mike (one of the Invisibl Skratch Piklz) turned out to be a masterstroke; he and the Beasties created a sound that strongly recalls the spare electronic funk of the early '80s, but spiked with the samples and post-modern absurdist wit that have become their trademarks. On the surface, the sonic collages of Hello Nasty don't appear as dense as Paul's Boutique, nor is there a single as grabbing as "Sabotage," but given time, little details emerge, and each song forms its own identity. A few stray from the course, and the ending is a little anticlimactic, but that doesn't erase the riches of Hello Nasty -- the old-school kick of "Super Disco Breakin'" and "The Move"; Adam Yauch's crooning on "I Don't Know"; Lee "Scratch" Perry's cameo; and the recurring video game samples, to name just a few. The sonic adventures alone make the album noteworthy, but what makes it remarkable is how it looks to the future by looking to the past. There's no question that Hello Nasty is saturated in old-school sounds and styles, but by reviving the future-shock rock of the early '80s, the Beasties have shrewdly set themselves up for the new millennium. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AMG

Super Disco Breakin' [2:07] The Move [3:35] Remote Control [2:58] Song for the Man [3:13] Just a Test [2:12] Body Movin' [3:03] Intergalactic [3:51] Sneakin' Out the Hospital [2:45] Putting Shame in Your Game [3:37] Flowin' Prose [2:39] And Me [2:52] Three MC's and One DJ [2:50 Can't Won't Don't Stop [3:01] Song for Junior [3:49] I Don't Know [3:00] Negotiation Limerick File [2:46] Electrify [2:22] Picture This [2:25] Unite [3:31] Dedication [2:32] Dr. Lee, PhD. [4:50] Slow And Low [BONUS]

http://rapidshare.com/files/117835316/beastieBoysHelloNasty.rar.html

George Carlin 1937-2008

2008-06-23T20:59:00.000-07:00

I spotted a decent obit for the one and only George Carlin. Just wanted to share some of my feelings about the man. I discovered the comedy of Carlin when I was coming-of-age, probably around 10, 11 years old. My father and I would go to the video store to rent his HBO specials. One of the first things you recognize about George Carlin when you see his stand-up comedy is his profound logic and insight into the world. His love for language - non-sequitirs, colloquialisms, cliches, in how he deconstructs them for their absurdities. Carlin was well-known for his nonconformist attitude towards societal norms and trends. He was an extremely intelligent and funny guy. I spoke to a friend about his impact earlier tonight who is around the same age George was and he said that the times he saw him perform live, he always left the venue with his sides hurting from all the laughter. When I learned the news today of his death, I was shocked and very saddened. He was someone who impacted and shaped a part of my life and for many others too. Thanks for your contributions, George - the fifty years of comedy, Brain Droppings, and all the prolific material you shared with us.

By Susan Wloszczyna, USA TODAY

George Carlin attacked religion, authority figures, bureaucracy and even something as ridiculously oxymoronic as "jumbo shrimp" — and became one of the country's most influential and controversial humorists.

The iconoclast, who died Sunday from heart failure at 71, was practically a one-man history of American comedy — from the rise of '60s counterculture through the war on terrorism. For more than 40 years, this harsh critic of our shared foibles was determined to set us straight every step of the way. In nightclubs and eventually cable television, he did so in a pointed, profane style that challenged our standards for what could be said on the public airwaves.

It seems quaint in the more coarse pop culture of today, but Carlin's "Seven Dirty Words You Can Never Say on Television" routine led to a 1978 Supreme Court ruling that established the U.S. government's authority to regulate "indecent" language in broadcast shows — but made him an enduring symbol of First Amendment speech rights.

"Prior to George, all comedians wore ties and wanted to play Vegas," Jay Leno, host of The Tonight Show, said in an interview Monday. Carlin made 130 appearances on the show, beginning in 1961. His appearances reflected his shift from his clean-cut, suit-and-coat days to his grungy beard-and-ponytail era.

"I loved that he hated golf," Leno adds. "He'd say that these hundreds of acres were wasted just so that two guys could hit a ball. I think he was as riled up on the day he died as he was in the '60s when I first saw him."

Along with such contemporaries as Richard Pryor and Robert Klein, Carlin evolved as the USA changed in the 1960s and '70s. The idea of a stand-up routine went from being a series of star impersonations and mother-in-law gags to more of a stream-of-consciousness series of observations on life's vagaries and cultural ills.

Carlin was at the forefront of that movement, which continues today in some of the nation's most popular comedic acts. Today, his influence is seen in the observational humor of Jerry Seinfeld and Jon Stewart, as well as saltier routines of Chris Rock, Lewis Black and Sarah Silverman.

Changing stand-up

Carlin "was the guy who really made stand-up comedy relevant to a new generation," says Richard Zoglin, author of Comedy at the Edge: How Stand-Up in the 1970s Changed America.

"He showed that a stand-up comedian could be a social commentator and not just a guy getting laughs. Here was a guy on a stage talking about all the things young people were talking about: sex, drugs, the hypocrisy of middle-class America. He would call into question conventional wisdom of any kind."

The blue-collar Irish Catholic evolved into an atheist whose religion was the power of speech.

His "Seven Dirty Words" routine first showed up on his 1972 album Class Clown, and he would be arrested on obscenity charges shortly afterward after performing it in Wisconsin. He did a reprise on his next album, which was aired in the middle of the afternoon on New York radio station WBAI.

When a driver listening with his young son complained to the Federal Communications Commission, it ignited a legal dispute that led the Supreme Court to decide that Carlin's act was legally indecent, but not obscene. The decision gave the FCC the authority to ban such words from radio and TV broadcasts when children were most likely to be listening.

That's why Carlin wound up directing most of his profanity-riddled insights toward pay TV, in a series of specials on HBO.

Not that he didn't appreciate having made such an impact on broadcast law.

As he told the Associated Press this year, "My name is a footnote in American legal history, which I'm perversely kind of proud of."

Irreverent to the end

Before anyone piles on too much praise, be aware that one of the many things Carlin did not like was false idol worship.

The Bronx-born funnyman launched his 14th HBO special this year, It's Bad for Ya! (which will air on the cable channel along with his other specials this week and repeat throughout July), by daring to verbally give the bird to such revered national heroes as Lance Armstrong and Tiger Woods.

As he told his audience to cheers, "I'm tired of being told who to admire in this country."

It wouldn't be surprising if the curmudgeonly funny man — who had a history of substance abuse, suffered the first of three heart attacks in 1978 and survived two open-heart surgeries — might have chosen this inconvenient moment to take his final bow on the planet.

After all, a crowd of fawning sycophants at the Kennedy Center is scheduled to honor him in Washington, D.C., this fall. The honor? The Mark Twain Prize, a lifetime achievement award presented to outstanding comedians.

His unimpressed response to the recent announcement: "Thank you, Mr. Twain. Have your people call my people."

Admiration for Carlin came organically, sort of like the marijuana he acknowledged using since he was a teen.

"He was the first stand-up act I learned as a kid," says Bill Hader, 30, a current member of the Saturday Night Live cast who saw Carlin three times when he was in high school in Tulsa.

"He was always sharp and insanely truthful, and every time he had a stand-up special, it was something new that you hadn't seen before. He could have stopped doing comedy in the mid-'80s and everyone would still be like, 'George Carlin is the man.' But he didn't. That was his job."

Conventional beginnings

The caustic commentator was fairly straitlaced when he began appearing on CBS' The Ed Sullivan Show in the early '60s.

However, popular routines such as "Al Sleet the hippy-dippy weatherman" ("Tonight's forecast: Dark") often hinted at a less buttoned-down maverick beneath the tie.

Carlin was emboldened to take on the mantle of cultural critic and change his image to a shaggy hipster after seeing a performance of the original shock comic, Lenny Bruce, whose way with words often got him in trouble with the law.

"It was an epiphany for George," says his onetime standup partner, Jack Burns.

"The comedy we were doing wasn't exactly groundbreaking," Burns says. "George knew then he wanted to go in a different direction."

Carlin summed up his new approach this way: "I think it is the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately."

He briefly fell out of favor during the late '70s, when the more escapist and surreal humor of Andy Kaufman and Steve Martin became the norm, and he stopped performing for a time.

It later came out that he was wrestling with drug addiction and had suffered a heart attack.

But he rallied and made a triumphant return to the stage and HBO with the 1982 special Carlin at Carnegie. As a treat, he ended the show by rattling off a seemingly endless list of 200 more dirty words.

During his fifth decade, he comfortably grew into the role of Comedian Emeritus to a new generation of entertainers, and won teen fans in two Bill & Ted films.

A softer and more childlike side was exposed by his stint in the '90s as the voice of the train conductor on Shining Time Station and the narrator on Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends.

Once in a while, Carlin kept it clean.

Even 9/11 wasn't off limits

At the end of his life, though, Carlin's worldview grew darker and angrier. There was no topic that was taboo. Cancer, natural disasters, suicide bombings, rape, genocide, cannibalism, abortion, beheadings. All were ripe for the riffing. Not even post-9/11 security issues were off limits.

Especially galling, he thought: You couldn't joke about bombs at the airport.

"Why is it just jokes?" he mused onstage. "What about a riddle? How about a limerick? How about a bomb anecdote? You know, no punch line. Just a really cute story."

Save for a couple of breaks between heart attacks, he never stopped writing and refining material.

Carlin's pace would have challenged a healthier, younger man. He toured constantly, did 14 HBO specials, 23 albums, five best sellers, five audio books, 16 movies and was the voice of flower-power-era VW van in 2006's animated Cars (both of which endeared him to an even younger demographic of fans), winning four Grammys and five Emmys.

He hosted the first Saturday Night show (later Saturday Night Live) in 1975 after what he acknowledged was a cocaine bender.

As recently as last weekend, he was performing at the Orleans Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas.

In his last HBO special, Carlin kidded about his advancing age and how he worried about when it was proper to erase (or digitally delete) the increasing number of deceased people from his address list. His suggestion: six months.

"George always maintained he was going to live to 90-something," says filmmaker Kevin Smith, who cast the elder comic in such films as Dogma and Jersey Girl. "He had done the math, based on how long his father lived, and he was convinced."

Contributing: Anthony Breznican, Marco R. della Cava, Donna Freydkin, Bill Keveney, Gary Strauss

$23 Billion In War Corporatism

2008-06-10T13:39:00.000-07:00

BBC uncovers lost Iraq billions

By Jane Corbin
BBC News

Waxman: "It may well turn out to be the largest war profiteering in history."

A BBC investigation estimates that around $23 billion may have been lost, stolen or just not properly accounted for in Iraq.

For the first time, the extent to which some private contractors have profited from the conflict and rebuilding has been researched by the BBC's Panorama using US and Iraqi government sources.

A US gagging order is preventing discussion of the allegations.

The order applies to 70 court cases against some of the top US companies.

War profiteering

While George Bush remains in the White House, it is unlikely the gagging orders will be lifted.

To date, no major US contractor faces trial for fraud or mismanagement in Iraq.

The president's Democrat opponents are keeping up the pressure over war profiteering in Iraq.

Henry Waxman who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said: "The money that's gone into waste, fraud and abuse under these contracts is just so outrageous, its egregious.

"It may well turn out to be the largest war profiteering in history."

In the run-up to the invasion one of the most senior officials in charge of procurement in the Pentagon objected to a contract potentially worth seven billion that was given to Halliburton, a Texan company, which used to be run by Dick Cheney before he became vice-president.

Unusually only Halliburton got to bid - and won.

Missing billions

The search for the missing billions also led the programme to a house in Acton in West London where Hazem Shalaan lived until he was appointed to the new Iraqi government as minister of defence in 2004.

Judge Radhi al Radhi: "I believe these people are criminals."

He and his associates siphoned an estimated $1.2 billion out of the ministry.

They bought old military equipment from Poland but claimed for top class weapons.

Meanwhile they diverted money into their own accounts.

Judge Radhi al-Radhi of Iraq's Commission for Public Integrity investigated.

He said: "I believe these people are criminals.

"They failed to rebuild the Ministry of Defence , and as a result the violence and the bloodshed went on and on - the murder of Iraqis and foreigners continues and they bear responsibility."

Mr Shalaan was sentenced to two jail terms but he fled the country.

He said he was innocent and that it was all a plot against him by pro-Iranian MPs in the government.

There is an Interpol arrest out for him but he is on the run - using a private jet to move around the globe.

He stills owns commercial properties in the Marble Arch area of London.

Top 10 Reasons Why John McCain Should Not Be Leader Of The Free World

2008-05-29T16:08:00.000-07:00

TOP TEN REASONS WHY JOHN McCAIN SHOULD NOT BE THE LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD

10. He'll be 72 years old in a few months. The pressure and stress that comes along with being commander-in-chief is likely to send him into a cardiac arrest.

9. Presidents need to travel constantly. Every week a new state, a new nation. All those road trips are likely to send him into a cardiac arrest.

8. McCain's unhealthy. A recent three-hour medical examination revealed he has kidney, skin, sleep and circulatory problems. This guy's going to need a government-based healthcare system the most.

7. John McCain sees an exit from Iraq by at least year 2013. With a U.S. economy that's progressively tanking, that means another trillion dollars for war. That means $12 a gallon for fuel.

6. Congress is comprised of mostly democrats right now. More than half of the Senate doesn't support the Iraqi war. Conflict of interests. That sounds awfully familiar.

5. He's a hypocrite. He supports W's war yet he sees a need for energy conservation. The carbon emissions from a fleet of naval aircraft carriers alone represents the amount of carbon produced by the entire population of residents in Detroit, Michigan.

4. As Senator of Arizona, John McCain voted for legislature to repeal Dr. Martin Luther King Day as an observed holiday in 1990. If elected president, he promises not to repeal President's Day because working with Abraham Lincoln to form the Republican Party shaped his political career.

3. Journalists say his old guy smell is almost unbearable in warmer climates. (Just kidding, but this is probably true)

2. McCain takes many kinds of medications for health-related illnesses including Ambien for sleep aid. How's he going to wake up at 3 A.M. for the phone call?

and #1 ................. He simply is interested in furthering the Bush-Cheney foreign affairs agenda. By agenda that means a McDonalds in both Kabul and Fallujah by 2015.

A Pardon From One Ruler To Another

2008-05-26T17:53:00.000-07:00

New York State Governor David A. Paterson announced Saturday that he has granted Ricky Walters a full and unconditional pardon of his 1991 attempted murder and weapon convictions, in order to allow Walters to seek relief from deportation from the federal immigration courts. Mr. Walters, who was born in the United Kingdom, was lawfully admitted to the United States at age 11, and he was raised in the Bronx. He gained fame as Slick Rick, a popular rapper who has since been credited with being a pioneer in the development of hip-hop music and culture. Slick Rick was incarcerated for six years, and was released from prison in 1997.

“Mr. Walters has fully served the sentence imposed upon him for his convictions, had an exemplary disciplinary record while in prison and on parole, and has been living without incident in the community for more than 10 years,” said Governor Paterson. “In that time, he has volunteered at youth outreach programs to counsel youth against violence, and has become a symbol of rehabilitation for many young people. Given these demonstrated rehabilitative efforts, I urge federal immigration officials to once again grant Mr. Walters relief from deportation, so that he is not separated from his many family members who are United States citizens, including his two teenage children.”

Slick Rick faces deportation under a federal statute that mandates the removal of a lawful resident alien upon conviction of an aggravated felony or a weapon offense. For certain offenses removal can be avoided by a Governor’s pardon, but for weapon offenses, even after receiving a pardon, a non-citizen must seek discretionary relief from deportation from the immigration court. He was granted such relief by an immigration court in 1995, but that decision was later vacated because the Board of Immigration Appeals issued its decision 33 days after the expiration of a statutory deadline. Slick Rick has been unable to re-apply for discretionary adjustment of his immigration status because of his attempted murder convictions, but he will be eligible to do so as a result of the Governor’s pardon.

Slick Rick, now 43 years old, has lived in the Bronx without incident since his release from prison in 1997. He is presently employed as a landlord and rap musician. He has a wife and two children, all of whom are American citizens.

O' NO HE DIDN'T

2008-04-28T20:22:00.000-07:00

BARACK O ' BAMA 08

As the propagating misinformation machine, FOX NEWS continues to further the agenda of the neo-cons, the Democratic Party might have to lighten up. As the race for the presidency gruels on for the Dems between Obama and Clinton, Republican candidate John McCain is good for taking shots at the frontrunner Obama and the underdog Clinton for their embroiled feud that no one really cares to watch anymore. Clinton wants to debate Obama as Obama's sights are more proactive in that he wants to debate McCain in October.
Wouldn't it be funny and parodical if Senator Obama poked fun at FOX NEWS for their greasy efforts of trying to equate his middle and last name with fundamentalist Muslims? For all those viewing this blog from outside the States, this did happen earlier this year. It became the archetype for all the current questions regarding his patriotism and religious beliefs. Obama could have a little fun and throw an apostrophe between the first two letters of his surname to obscure the difference between him and McCain.
What I have vowed to do as a result of overkill is to distance myself from delving into coverage of the primaries and caucuses simply because at this point it's like watching a baseball game go into the fifth extra inning. I just want it to end already. But Americans love their excess, and this is yet another ongoing story that can be milked for all the news coverage a camera crew and a satellite feed can bring to the homes of those who have to be told what to believe and feel for.

Oil, Gas & Old Men With No Class

2008-04-26T18:00:00.000-07:00

NO CORRECTIONS FOR OLD MEN

First the NYC cops responsible for the death of Sean Bell are acquitted , and now the two old-timers who wheeled their expired friend into a check-cashing spot to collect on his Social Security money have been cleared of all charges. The two opportunists - featured above, did not kill their friend. Rather they concocted the scheme when they realized he wouldn't be needing the money. Their defense lawyer claimed it was an isolated incident for the two men who had no prior convictions.

In other news, if you are planning to hit the road this Memorial Day weekend for a vacation getaway, or just to find cheaper gas - you can bet your mortgage that you will be dropping close to $4 for a gallon. It makes no sense to post the current price of a drum of crude oil because within a week or two it's going to change. The U.S. media does no service to explore why this is happening - it's clear the information would damage the integrity of the Bush administration. Haha , I said the Bush administration has integrity.

Ralph's Nadir and Clintonian Warfare

2008-03-11T12:00:00.001-07:00

Ralph Nader, consumer advocate and perpetual political party-crasher has vowed to enter the '08 Presidential General Election Race. Nader cites both Democratic and Republican parties involvement with lobbyists and big business a good enough reason to run again. Democrats despise him, faulting him with stealing crossover votes and votes from independents. The GOP appreciate him, because he unravels the bipartisan system for the Democrats, forcing them to form different campaign strategies - enabling them to work harder for the other 9% of the vote.
But Ralph's nadir is his recent delusion to run for the highest office - he is as old as Sen. McCain and just as stubborn. And just as stubborn as McCain and Nader is Sen. Hillary Clinton, who has made just as many desperate attempts to influence voters why she is better than Sen. Barack Obama, who had a non-stop primary streak broken recently. Clinton has done exactly what she has called Obama out on in the smear tactics recently surfacing in Ohio. It boils down to a popularity contest that is contingent on more than mudslinging, more than the possibility of a Black male or female president. It boils down to character, and hopefully the public trust will not fall to betraying their better judgment. Do Americans truly want their country to resemble ancient China with revolving dynasties? Bush / Clinton / W. Bush / Mrs. Clinton: It's the same recipe just in a different package.

The New Industry Standard

2008-02-20T00:00:00.000-08:00

It is decidedly so. The two year battle between Sony's Blu-Ray and Toshiba's HD-DVD is over with the former coming out victorious. The future is Blu-Ray for everything high-definition and extra capacity. I predicted this would happen last year despite Sony's unfortunate history with failing to control industry formats during the 1980s Sony BetaMax vs. the JVC-developed VHS war to the Sony MiniDisc that no one seemed to invest in. I knew that Sony would lock up this market for a few reasons: In 2006, when Blu-Ray and HD-DVD each entered the market, I saw both writable discs side-by-side on display in a local electronics store. On a practical level, it was Blu-Ray that offered more storage capacity. On an aesthetic level, it was Blu-Ray again that had the better design, packaging and logo. Fast-forward some months later and Sony launched PlayStation 3 - a next-generation game console that gave its users faster computer processing speeds, allowing higher definition graphics and sound. As well as including a wireless game controller for the first time, the PS3 also came with a built-in Blu-Ray player. This allowed Sony to have the edge in the market with 10.5 million Blu-Ray players in homes already before the sale of their stand-alone Blu-Ray players. By contrast, Toshiba has only sold one million HD-DVD players. Just after the following companies agreed to only sell titles in the Blu-Ray format, the final nail in the coffin of HD-DVD had been hammered:

Matsushita (Panasonic)

Warner Bros

Wal-Mart

Walt Disney

20th Century Fox

Blockbuster
Netflix

The Strike Forges On

2008-01-20T11:49:00.000-08:00

That is Julia-Louis Dreyfus (Saturday Night Live, Seinfeld, The New Adventures Of Old Christine) in the picture above on the picket line supporting the writer's strike. She looks like she might be on a hunger strike too. The strike continues in its third month with no deal negotiations in sight. Strikes are a game of endurance, perseverance and logic. It's a game because one side will eventually concede or be defeated. I have been supporting the Guild's decision to fight for their rights to collect on their work's residuals. They have the foresight to see the direction New Media is going and don't want their work's profits to be compromised. Television has been affected already with many shows out of production. It's going to be a test of time to see how long it will take the networks to get tired of recycling their programming. With the Grammy and Academy Award shows around the corner, it might be the moment of levity the WGA is hoping for.

Here's a fun jazzy spoken-word track by the now-defunct Soul Coughing you can sample download called

Screenwriter's Blues

Screenwriter's Blues

Exits to freeways
twisted like knots on
fingers.
Jewels cleaving
skin between
breasts.

Your Cadillac breathes
four hundred horses
over blue lines.
You are going
to Reseda
to make love
to a model
from Ohio
whose real name
you don't
know.

You spin
like the cadillac was
overturning down a cliff
on television.
And the radio is on
and the radioman is speaking
and the radioman says
women were a curse.
So men built Paramount
studios.
And men built Columbia
studios.
And men built
Los Angeles.

It is 5 am
and you are listening
to Los Angeles.

And the radioman says
it is a beautiful night out there!
And the radioman says
Rock and Roll lives!
And the radioman says
it is a beautiful night out there
in Los Angeles.
You live
in Los Angeles
and you are going to
Reseda; we are all
in some way or
another going to
Reseda someday
to die.
And the radioman
laughs because
the radioman fucks
a model too.

Gone savage
for teenagers with
automatic weapons and
boundless love.
Gone savage for
teenagers who are
aesthetically pleasing,
in other words,
fly.
Los Angeles beckons
the teenagers
to come to her
on buses;
Los Angeles loves
love.

It is 5 am
and you are listening
to Los Angeles.

I am going to
Los Angeles
to build a screenplay about
lovers who murder each other.
I am going to
Los Angeles
to see my own name on a
screen, five feet
long and luminous.
As the radioman says
it is 5AM
and the sun has charred
the other side of
the world and come
back to us
and painted the smoke
over our heads
an imperial violet.

It is 5 am
and you are listening
to Los Angeles.

You are listening...
You are listening...
You are listening...
You are listening...

...to Los Angeles.

When Check Cashing Fraud Goes Dead Wrong

2008-01-09T11:40:00.001-08:00

Wed Jan 9, 2008 11:11am EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two New York men wheeled the corpse of their friend around the sidewalks of midtown Manhattan in an office chair in a failed attempt to cash his $355 Social Security check, police said.

Virgilio Cintron, 66, had died of natural causes when two of his friends, both aged 65, brought him to a check-cashing store in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood Tuesday.

"They were trying to pass him off as still being alive," police spokesman Paul Browne said.

The two suspects left the corpse on the sidewalk while they attempted to cash the check, but the clerk knew Cintron and asked to see him.

The two men promised to bring him right back, but when they went outside to retrieve him a crowd had gathered around the dead man. An on-duty detective who had been eating lunch nearby spotted Cintron and immediately realized he was dead, putting an end to the caper.

Write + Unite / Major League Ballbuster

2007-12-14T00:00:00.000-08:00

To all the graf and hip-hop heads, there's another global bombing video put on by Magic Moments, the folks over here
EDIT: The four-part video has been taken down at the site, so if you're interested in the video, you have to cop the DVD.
The end result of this post which was created the first week of this month is there are no videos to embed anymore. Trust me when I say they did an incredible job putting it together; the music, the flix, an all around great video for the graf heads. Go to the site and see it there.

Now to shift gears a bit, this story made big headlines in the American sports world today:

Barry Bonds
Roger Clemens
Eric Gagne
Jason Giambi
David Justice
Chuck Knoblauch
Andy Pettitte
Gary Sheffield
Miguel Tejada

These are the new names among many others to surface today amidst the anabolic steroid allegations in the MLB. At first glance, one can see a grip of New York Yankees from past and present. The new report led by former Senator George Mitchell who has close ties to the Boston Red Sox ballclub, claims that all 30 teams in the league have been affected by the use of steroids.
Mitchell's vision is to see a new era of the game where penalties and annual testing are not just implemented but taken seriously by the players themselves. Each of the forenamed players have yet to respond to the allegations with the exception of Barry Bonds whose case was brought to court already. Mitchell's platform in the controversial case is to "level the playing field" and also to deter children and college athletes from using performance enhancing drugs. He also notes that the use of HGH (Human Growth Hormones) are on the rise because they are completely undetectable.

SE7EN + Radiohead

2007-11-19T21:40:00.000-08:00

The other week, Radiohead delivered a webcast of some odds-and-ends multimedia stuff. This is one of the items that someone with editing software expanded on.

Vocabulary Very Helpful

2007-11-12T02:00:00.000-08:00

I learned about this through the BBC News website. Free Rice is an internet word game where for every word you correctly find its definition, the website donates money to buy 10 grains of rice through the UN's World Food Program to aid impoverished peoples. The money is provided by the assortment of advertisers on the site. Here's a link:

Modern Art Is Not Static

2007-11-05T22:22:00.000-08:00

Takashi Murakami, (born February 1, 1962) in Tokyo is a prolific contemporary Japanese artist.

Murakami works in both fine arts media, such as painting; as well as digital and commercial media. He attempts to blur the boundaries between high and low art. He appropriates popular themes from mass media and pop culture, then turns them into thirty-foot sculptures, "Superflat" paintings, or marketable commercial goods such as figurines or phone caddies.

This guy captured my attention yesterday morning. They profiled him on CBS Sunday Morning. Most notably, he did the artwork for Kanye West's "Graduation" album. He gets compared often to Warhol except his work transcends mere canvas. Plus he looks like my old boss at Domino's Pizza.

Saul Williams Sees Radiohead, Raises Them In Bitrates

2007-10-29T18:34:00.000-07:00

Earlier this month, it was Brit rockers Radiohead who went upside the head of the global music industry and released their new album, 'In Rainbows' directly through a proxy website they set up. Making the album available through 160Kbps MP3 digital downloads at a name-your-own-price policy, they sold an estimated 1.2 million downloads the very first day.
Now avant-garde spoken-word poet/rapper Saul Williams is raising the bar that Radiohead set: Williams' new album, that Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails executive produced, "The Inevitable Rise And Liberation Of Niggy Tardust" will be made available several different ways from his website Niggy Tardust:

192Kbps MP3 - if you choose not to pay a cent for it
320Kbps MP3
FLAC lossless audio

All versions include a PDF with artwork and lyrics
All files are 100% DRM free, and can be played on any device. The last two high-grade quality offerings are available for some price that is not yet known.

OK Consumer

2007-10-01T01:00:00.000-07:00

Radiohead have always been ahead of the curve. The British band that defies categorization - do you want to call them rock, alternative, prog-rock, electronic rock, is it that important? - have completed their seventh LP, titled 'In Rainbows'
How they are releasing it is truly next-level: either by digital download or fans can buy the £40 disc-box set, complete with vinyl records, CDs, a digi-download and a book to be shipped out in the beginning of December.
The digital downloads will be offered on October 10 through their proxy site. Note I used the word offered; consumers will be allowed to offer a price for the music plus one small transaction fee. This will most definitely set forth new challenges for the music industry. Somewhere on the planet, near the holidays the band will be enjoying the outcome.

Playoff Clinch! Let's Get Those Rings!

2007-09-26T21:17:00.000-07:00

The Yankees clinched their 13th straight post-season appearance. Time to buckle down, focus and get through the ALCS unscathed.

Television : All Hail Grand Pixelated God

2007-09-24T21:02:00.000-07:00

The title of this post, "Television : All Hail Grand Pixelated God" is a direct quote of the opening lyrics to the Aesop Rock track, "Basic Cable"
I couldn't think of a more expressive and more suitable header for this entry.
Back in the day - in the ol' 20th Century, TV watching was an event. For the millions who followed the primetime Dallas, you were there in your living room at night, tuning in, waiting to see the drama unfold. The same rules applied to sitcoms: Seinfeld, which was and still is an institution to many, bolstered NBC's Thursday night lineup. The network that once sloganeered the 'Be There' concept took it a step further to become 'Must See TV Thursday' which was a few hours of prime programming.
And now, in the digital information age you can watch your favorite shows on a few different mediums. There's cable OnDemand, webcasts, shit - you can even own a season of your show of choice on DVD, HD-DVD or Blu-Ray. No need to attempt taping a season on a handful of those clunky ancient VHS cassettes. The season discs for sale even come packed with a bunch of extras.
So whoever thought television - the drug of a nation, might lose the fight to the interactivity of the web was half-right. Reality television, strangely enough still attracts a grip of viewers, even though it is everything but realistic. FOX has a reality network out now to even out its broadcasting conglomeration with its news and whether networks. Whether a series lasts on FOX1 is determined by Jack Bauer.
Advertisers pump an incredible amount of money into everything you see on television, so the century old medium is not going anywhere anytime soon. Yet technological innovations like TiVo and DVRs make it much more pleasant to watch. Fast forward through commercials you don't want to waste time seeing and keep the show in the queue in case someone else in the house didn't get around to see it.
Sometimes I flip on the TV and after scouring through a few hundred different channels, there is really nothing on - and these new mediums make it much easier
to sit back and indulge.

Fashionably Lame

2007-08-16T19:47:00.001-07:00

After yesterday's excessive AT&T billing entry, this story begged to be blogged:
The world's most influential fashion magazine, Vogue, has done something that caught my eye. This is extremely random because I don't follow the world of fashion. When I saw it I couldn't believe it. The September issue, now available has the most pages ever published for a magazine. Care to guess - 200, 300? No, Condé Nast Publications took the new issue to Harry Potter proportions with a grand total of 840 pages. Is this excess or is it art?
On the cover of the issue, in bold font is the boast itself - the biggest issue ever, fashion, fashion, fashion...
I didn't flip through the pages to see how much of it was advertising space and how much of it was well, advertising space. I could only imagine this phonebook-sized fashion rag taking up the entire wall inbox at the doctor's office. Not sure if Condé Nast Publications recycles the unpurchased copies that get returned to them. Not sure if its readers will be more interested in it because of the 840 pages. The one thing I do know about fashion is Spring and Fall are prime seasons for new collections. What better way to spend this entire next season than to thumb through all those glossy pages to see all the waifs model clothes that might fit your 10 year-old brother?

Carbon Neutrality. Not So Much With AT+T.

2007-08-15T20:02:00.000-07:00

UNNECESSARY DISCLAIMER: No worries, this blog is in fact carbon neutral. Unless of course, if you decide to print it out.

(ripped smoothly from Yahoo News)

First iPhone Bills Arriving—and They're Pretty Heavy

Mon Aug 13, 2007 11:37PM EDT

Apple has modified its products as it attempts to build greener computers, but I think they forgot to tell AT&T about their latest environmental efforts. This weekend a few AT&T subscribers received their first iPhone bill inside inch-thick packages.

Ars Technica writers were among the first to complain about the size of their first iPhone bill, which would surprised even the most heavy Treo or Blackberry user. Apparently, the bills were 30-50 pages long, detailing every data transfer made on both sides of each page, and since iPhone users have unlimited data plans, all the recorded transactions amounted to a big fat zero.

Justine Ezarik captured her experience on video as she unwrapped her 300-page iPhone bill. She told Gizmodo, the bill accounted for almost 30,000 text messages and 200 minutes of talk time on her iPhone alone—I wonder if she holds a record? Lucky for her, the total bill was $274.81, which included activation charges. This obviously goes to show iPhone users are really taking advantage of their all-you-can-eat data plans.

While it's great that AT&T does a very thorough job in detailing every call and kilobyte exchange, do you really want to open a phone bill that's 300 pages long every month? Next time, AT&T should mention their online bill options to new subscribers. It might save a few trees.

Good Music For The Spirit

2007-08-08T00:00:00.000-07:00

Ten years back I gave serious run to DJ Shadow's Endtroducing . . . I was always on the lookout to find the video to my favorite cut, "Midnight In A Perfect World" on MTV2 that they used in their promo spots. I finally caught it a few years ago and now it's on the sky :

DJ Shadow
Midnight In A Perfect World
Endtroducing . . .

Bells Were Rocked

2007-07-30T11:50:00.000-07:00

It's a done deal. Newly reformed Rage Against The Machine and most of the legendary Wu-Tang Clan have rocked the spot at this years NYC stop of the 2007 Rock The Bells festival. My wife and I were there for day two.
The show was at Randall's Island located directly under the Triboro bridge. The stadium, currently undergoing construction, proved to be a difficult experience for the average concertgoer. Where the old concrete seating once was, a strip of the partly built new seating now stood. All of these areas were naturally fenced away from the people making places to lounge almost non-existent. It was consideration good in theory to place lots of porta-potties all throughout the venue, but the end result - it just plain stinks. Imagine yourself trying to eat food around that. My wife and I didn't have to use our imagination. For a good three hours starting at Immortal Technique's set and ending before Rakim's set there was a downpour. I rationalized it as paying dues for no hot sun and humidity, as the people experienced at day one. My last gripe before I break down the entertainment has to do with the crowd control staff who remained incompetent and ignorant of simple tasks and knowledge about the venue. Having your civil liberties violated is degrading and dehumanizing. Being told that you and less than a dozen of people can't leave one way because they blocked off a grip of people waiting does not fly. And for the female staffer who started a shouting match with my wife when we told her we had to leave to get home to our baby girl - you get the infamous four-lettered. Okay, now that I got all that off my soul, the first set we saw was Immortal Technique's. His politically radical, street revolutionary style energized and informed the crowd. His brother, rapper Diabolic and C-Rayz Walz joined the stage as Immortal did tracks off the Revolutionary series and also included "Bin Laden" for good measure. Pharaohe Monch brought his A-game with a high level of excitement and a live band to a crowd that were mostly uninterested or preoccupied. He still gave an excellent performance, pulling out some oldies as well as doing some of the new ones from 'Desire'. Talib Kweli caught a concertgoer urinating in a cup and called him out on it. On the second stage, Brother Ali seemed to be gaining new fans with his earnest and personal rhymes while Mos Def was working the main stage. Rakim along with Kid Capri flipping different beats behind the ones and twos gave an all-out tremendous performance. Breathing new fire into his classics and rocking the crowd, it was unforgettable. For some reason, Erykah Badu was a no-show which pushed Cypress Hill up a few spots, causing small stampedes of drunk and weeded white people to rush the stage. Slug and MURS (Felt) traded rhymes on the second stage about women and Slug made it a point to tell everyone that he loves California. Public Enemy, powered by Flavor Flav did justice to all of their classics including a special guest appearance by Scott Ian from Anthrax for "Bring The Noise." Flavor Flav then shamelessly thanked everyone for making his reality shows on VH1 popular. Then to our right we heard some noise coming from the second stage again. I looked carefully to what appeared to be a fat man wearing a green jersey. I was very confident he was wearing a metal mask too. There lied the definitive conflict of interest: do we go see a few minutes of Doom before the Wu take the stage or do we stay put because they could show up any minute? We made the right choice and stayed put. Very soon after that, we saw an image on the stage's backdrop. Could it be the Shaolin Temple? Indeed it was the Wu, represented this time with the RZA, GZA, Inspectah Deck, Raekwon, U-God, Masta Killa and Method Man. A high-energy performance from the Clan reciprocating from the crowd, they did most of their catalog one or two verses deep each and did a track off the upcoming '8 Diagrams' album. Displaying their street savvy, they incorporated Cypress Hill's "Hand On The Pump" chorus into one part of their rhymes. The Wu also did a tribute to O.D.B. (Shimmy Shimmy Ya) and asked the crowd to join in the spirit. Headliners Rage Against The Machine took the stage and all of the crowd's culminating energy exploded when they went through their material. Guitarist Tom Morello's sharp signature stylings were executed well and frontman Zack De La Rocha's politics were slightly updated with a call to try George W. Bush as a war criminal to be hung and shot. To deal with the aforementioned weather and stadium issues were the dues to be paid. We got to experience a lot of quality music as bells were rocked, and a lot of money was spent this weekend.

When Thuggin' It Out Turns To Huggin' It Out

2007-07-18T00:00:00.000-07:00

Pulled from the headlines:

WASHINGTON - Police on Capitol Hill are baffled by an attempted robbery that began with a handgun put to the head of a teenager and ended in a group hug. It started about midnight on June 16 when a group of friends was finishing a dinner of marinated steaks and jumbo shrimp on the back patio of a District Of Columbia home. That's when a hooded man slid through an open gate and pointed a handgun at the head of a 14-year-old girl.

"Give me your money, or I'll start shooting," he said, according to D.C. police and witnesses.

Everyone froze, including the girl's parents. Then one guest spoke.

"We were just finishing dinner," Cristina "Cha Cha" Rowan, 43, told the man. "Why don't you have a glass of wine with us?"

The intruder had a sip of their Chateau Malescot St-Exupery and said, "Damn, that's good wine."

The girl's father, Michael Rabdau, 51, told the intruder to take the whole glass, and Rowan offered him the whole bottle.

The robber, with his hood down, took another sip and a bite of Camembert cheese. He put the gun in his sweatpants.

The story then turns even more bizarre.

"I think I may have come to the wrong house," he said before apologizing. "Can I get a hug?"

Rowan, who works at her children's school and lives in Falls Church, V.A., stood up and wrapped her arms around the armed man. The four other guests followed.

"Can we have a group hug?" the man asked. The five adults complied.

The man walked away a few moments later with the crystal wine glass in hand. Nothing was stolen, and no one was hurt.

Once he was gone, the group walked into the house, locked the door and stared at each other — speechless. Rabdau called 911, and police came to take a report and dust for fingerprints.

Police classified the case as strange but true. Investigators have not located a suspect. The witnesses thought he might have been high on drugs.

"We've had robbers that apologize and stuff but nothing where they sit down and drink wine. It definitely is strange," said Cmdr. Diane Groomes, adding that the hugs were especially unusual. "The only good thing is they would be able to identify him because they hugged him."

___

Information from: The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com

iT Came Out Today

2007-06-29T18:50:00.001-07:00

Today, Apple released its long-hyped iPhone; the latest gadget that's one part cell phone, one part Internet, and one part music library. The iDiot pictured above is one of the few thousands who were able to fork over $600 for the first-generation piece of electronics and also fork over hours of wasted time calling Apple tech support in hopes of debugging it. Many camped out this week at the flagship Apple store off of 5th Avenue in midtown Manhattan awaiting the arrival of the sleek electronic carrot.

(Taken from nbc.com) ****- Some bullish Wall Street analysts have predicted sales could hit as high as 45 million units in two years.

“That’s nuts,” said Rob Enderle, an industry analyst with The Enderle Group. “Over-hyping this thing just puts it at risk of being seen as a failure.

“Apple will break (sales) records for a phone of this class,” he said, “but selling tens of millions of units so quickly is going to be tough. First-generation products always have problems that you don’t know about until the product ships.”

More likely, Enderle and other analysts said, Apple will grow iPhone sales by refining its models and improving the software features — much as it did with the iPod, which has fueled record profits for the company.****

In the end, the best thing to do is wait. Maybe by Christmas, Apple will iron out all the kinks with the phones and quite possibly a second generation model will be around the corner. Personally, I don't have any near-future plans to cop the iPhone. Maybe when they release the iPhone Nano for $249.99 and can allow you to hook up with a better carrier than AT&T.

Top 20 Best Pop Hits Of The Last 20 Years

2007-06-21T11:30:00.000-07:00

Exactly five months ago, The Top 20 Worst Pop Hits Of The Last 20 Years was published here at the Sky. Now, here is its counterpart.

#20 . House Of Pain - Jump Around - In 1992, we learned white boys can't jump, but they can jump around. Rappers Everlast and Danny Boy along with DJ Lethal were House Of Pain, an act that had a few critical elements : Irish pride, swagger, and well, they can fuck your shit up. Referencing pop culture from Sega to Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jump Around can still amp up a party.

#19 . Sade - No Ordinary Love

The British R&B singer, Sade (pronounced Shar Day) always had a cool mystique to her, and No Ordinary Love captures it to the fullest. The smooth soulful and airy vocals, the otherworldly musical arrangements and total chill-out vibe made this one a definite nightcap track.

#18 . Aerosmith - Janie's Got A Gun - After being revived by Run D.M.C. - 70s rockers Aerosmith broke serious ground with this song that created their new ballad template : guitars, synth and Steven Tyler's manic crooning vocals harmonized with Joe Perry. The subject matter; a troubled youth executing revenge on her tormentor set this one apart from their occasional (and most other rock groups) power ballads.

#17 . Jesus Jones - Right Here, Right Now - In 1991, the world experienced a paradigm shift. Communism fell in the former Soviet Union and Europe. The U.S. declared war on Iraq and a U.K. dance pop band reflected on it. They weren't Christian rockers, don't be fooled by the name. The song was a statement about being excited and content in the most momentous of moments.

#16 . The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army

To place this song so low in the list is difficult because Jack & Meg White play by their own rules and create great music. In terms of the song's pervasiveness, it was minor compared to the lot. The track's minimalist wailing guitar, the steady thump of a backbeat and Jack's passionate vocals sent a necessary rock n' roll ripple into the mainstream of 2003.

#15 . Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under The Bridge - Anthony Kiedis of the R.H.C.P. penned this song as poetry before superproducer Rick Rubin told him it was beautiful and should be committed to music. A song about experiencing the bottom of a physical drug addiction and wanting to break free became the band's biggest hit to date.

#14. Gnarls Barkley - Crazy - When DJ DangerMouse and the soulful Cee-Lo teamed up to make a record, they wanted to chew pop music in all its hybrid glory and spit out something Andy Warhol would smile at. Who wouldn't smile or feel good when Cee-Lo sings a gospel-tinged, "Bless your souuuuuul"
The smooth frenetic groove with a touch of sadness owned the summer of 2006.

#13 . Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer

This larger-than-life megahit had it all; the crisp vocal stylings of one time Genesis frontman Peter Gabriel, exuberant horns, a gospel choir and the climactic lyrics, "I kicked the habit / Shed my skin" It was a thrill park ride on record that owned the charts and won a ton of awards exactly twenty years back and you'll know why when you hear it.

#12 . Nirvana - Come As You Are - The murky sounds of the toned-down guitars make it seem to appear that the Seattle grunge figureheads are taking you into the depths of the Pacific Ocean. The witty simplicity of the lyrics, "Take your time, hurry up / Choice is yours, don't be late" and the now haunting, "No I don't have a gun" are the top layer of this sleek sounding gloom tune that followed up that other one they did about deodorant.

#11 . Alanis Morrisette - You Oughta Know - Canada's Alanis Morrisette apparently wrote this angry, intelligent vengeful song for her ex-lover; also Canadian native Dave Couiler, famous for his role on the sitcom Full House. With quasi-explicit lyrics about what she offered in a movie theater, her honest feelings of being jilted brought something to the mainstream music landscape of 1995 that was missing.

# 10 . OutKast - Hey Ya! - Andre3000 in full faux-Prince mode had a whole new generation asking their parents what Polaroids were. The infectious driven electric rock and synth dance track was a runaway hit despite its unconventional double-digit time measures.

# 9 . Dr. Dre - Nuttin' But A G Thang

N.W.A. alum Dr. Dre paired up with Snoop Dogg (known as Snoop Doggy Dogg in 1993) and consequently rocked this party anthem that set-checked L.A. county with his trademark brand of gangsta funk that was easily imitated, but hardly duplicated. The general "we don't give a funk" attitude lent the track its edge and reminded everyone that the West coast is doing thangs.

# 8 . Pearl Jam - Jeremy - Pearl Jam can be credited as forewarning America about troubled teenagers with this bombastic, crooning angsty track about an anti-social boy named Jeremy. Recess ladies everywhere now line their bras with Teflon.

# 7 . Ricky Martin - Livin' La Vida Loca - Ex-Menudo member Ricky Martin ignited the Latin music explosion in 1999 with this C-4 dancefloor hit. The lyrics are the weakest element but that is easily eclipsed by the swingin' band's backing guitars, horns and drums building into a juggernaut rhythm.

# 6 . MC Hammer - U Can't Touch This - Rocking the dropped crotch oversized jammie pants, Stanley Kirk Burell (Hammer) hyperdanced and rapped his way into multiplatinum record sales. He did it with the help of his crew from Oakland, California and a Rick James sample. This vibrant and ubiquitous hit had some negative effects too. Music critics thought of categorizing everything rap as pop music and Rick James received enough new royalties to burn a new hole in his nose.

# 5 . Guns N' Roses - Welcome To The Jungle - GNR frontman Axl Rose entices the listener with the opening lyrics, "Welcome to the jungle / We got fun n' games"
Fun n' games are good, Axl, tell us more about this jungle . . . "If you got the money, honey / We got your disease"
Shit! Hold up - didn't know you were inviting us to the seedy underworld of L.A. nightlife. This monster of a thrash rock track ripped into the mainstream and kicked every manufactured heavy metal hair band's collective asses from California to New Jersey.

#4 . Tracy Chapman - Fast Car

A heartbreaking tale of the child of an alcoholic father desperate and determined to experience a better life became a pop sensation in 1988. It also brought new songwriter/musician Tracy Chapman a grip of Grammy Awards.

# 3 . Eminem - Stan - The controversial Caucasian rapper Eminem (ne Marshall Mathers) wrote an artful track about an obsessed fan for his sophomore album. Using a verse from British songbird Dido's "Thank You" and the sounds of incessant scribbling, he told an intense emotional story through two fictitious fan letters and his would-be response note. Ten years from now, this will be the one Eminem track best regarded.

# 2 . U2 - I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - A soulful spiritual song by the uber-band who had their own iPod, packed with one of their albums on the market. But this track off their worldwide commercial breakthrough, The Joshua Tree, spoke of a journey to find God (in the Christian sense) The good thing about it was you didn't have to be of the faith to appreciate it.
It was lead singer Bono's powerful voice that gave the track everlasting life.

# 1 . Nine Inch Nails - Closer

He was noted as one of the 25 most influential musicians of the 20th century. For the second single off the Nine Inch Nails breakthrough masterpiece, The Downward Spiral, NIN mastermind Trent Reznor and Interscope Records selected 'Closer'
With the provocative and carnal refrain, " I want to fuck you like an animal, I want to feel you from the inside," the track, complete with another radio-friendly version soared into ubiquity. It was post-industrial techno with Reznor's signature piano and noise-rock programming. The song broadened Reznor's audience by mass proportions and catapulted him into arena-rock performances. That's quite a feat for a song that suggests rough sex could bring you closer to God.

That's a wrap. If you didn't see the flipside to this list - click here:
The Top 20 Worst Pop Hits of The Last 20 Years
Of course some of the best pop hits didn't make the cut. Here are the honorable mentions:

(Sting - If I Ever Lose My Faith In You, Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock - It Takes 2, Faith No More - Epic, Alicia Keys - Fallin' and Beastie Boys - Sabotage)

20 Whatever

2007-06-18T20:52:00.000-07:00

Marty McFly: Where are we? When are we?
Doc: We're descending towards Hill Valley, California, at 4:29 pm, on Wednesday, October 21st, Twenty Fifteen.
Marty McFly: Two Thousand And Fifteen? You mean we're in the future?
Jennifer: Future? Marty, what do you mean? How can we be in the future?
Marty McFly: Uh Jennifer, I don't know how to tell you this, but... you're in a time machine.
Jennifer: And this is the year 'Two Thousand And Fifteen'?
Doc: October 21st, Two Thousand And Fifteen to be precise.

Above is an excerpt of dialogue from the motion picture, Back To The Future Part II.
You can note that the Doc character first presents the information about that future year as Twenty Fifteen, until the Marty and Jennifer characters say it as Two Thousand And Fifteen.

I remember a very rainy day back in 1997. It was a violent downpour of a storm. The type of rain that feels like it can penetrate through you. A few friends were over my place and I pondered what will we call the next decade? "This is the Nineties and the decades past were the Eighties and Seventies and so forth. Will we call it the Two Thousands, The Zeroes...?"
Someone asked why I would consider The Zeroes and I said I was thinking of place value.
Even now in 2007 there hasn't been any defined term for the decade and more importantly a smooth way of saying each year. If you ask any English speaking person what year it is, who doesn't wear tin foil and talk to their self without a BlueTooth headset, they'll tell you it's Two Thousand Seven or Two Thousand And Seven. No one will tell you it's Twenty Seven or Twenty and Seven.
Perhaps we do this from what we have heard long before the 21st century. In 1968, Stanley Kubrick's imagined 2001 : A Space Odyssey was pronounced Two Thousand and One. There was a segment on Late Night With Conan O'Brien called "In The Year Two Thousand." The huge Y2K scare in the late Nineties had many concerned if all the computers in the world could adjust to the year Two Thousand.
So will the Two Thousand prefix remain the standard? Some linguists disagree.
They believe that most of the time how we say things comes from rhythm and not logic.
Some linguists believe that we will affix the Twenty sometime in the year 2011. Simply because it is easier to say Twenty Eleven than Two Thousand Eleven. And why not in 2010? Twenty Ten or Two Thousand And Ten, which flows better?

Gratitude

2007-06-03T17:36:00.000-07:00

There are many things to be grateful for.
We have a lush temperate rainforest in front of our backyard space. It obscures our view of the neighbor's homes from across the way and of course provides a substantial amount of oxygen and shade. We are 19 months away from a regime change. This is a good thing and a bad thing depending on what other nation is behind the scope of the Neo-Cons.
Paris Hilton will be incarcerated in a few days for her drunken driving road head incident. Maybe I'm mixing up her offenses.
Finally, the Rock The Bells festival kicks off next month in NYC with a line-up of hip-hop legends and greats no other hip-hop festival this year can produce. Headliners are the newly reformed Rage Against The Machine and Staten Island's first and finest crew, Wu-Tang Clan and a whole mess of others. Just watch this little promo video they made:

Back Again With The Rap Cats My Man

2007-05-10T11:08:00.000-07:00

I was going through the older posts of this blog so I can watch the Quasimoto Rap Cats video to find YouTube removed it. Luckily, there was another file for it and I'm putting it up again.

God Bless You, Mr. Vonnegut

2007-04-11T20:37:00.000-07:00

Kurt Vonnegut
1922 - 2007

I was thinking up an idea for a blog entry. As the concept came into clear focus and all the little microorganisms of funniness began coming together, I heard the news at the end of the eleven o'clock broadcast that one of the great American satire and fiction writers died. Kurt Vonnegut at the age of 84.
At a small party in 1996, someone told me about Slaughterhouse Five. They said it was a funny unconventional anti-war story I should check out. I got myself a copy and read it in a few days. After that I read Breakfast Of Champions, which was something entirely different in terms of a book that I have read. The absurdly scrawled pictures, the extra personal details of the characters, it was just zany counterculture fiction gone wild.
When you go into the world of Vonnegut fiction there will be twists and turns and shocking images and statements. This is to be expected in all of his works. It's sad that he is now gone.
So it goes. Someone once attended one of his last in-store book signing appearances for his last novel, Timequake and brought me back an autographed hardcover. For that I am very grateful. Usually, an autograph from a celebrity like an actor to me is banal and uninteresting. But when a writer or a musician who employs writing to their respective crafts, gives you their autograph, it's way more authentic to me. It's like the writer is saying to you personally - thanks for reading my stuff. And you can say back - thanks for writing it. Thanks for writing, Kurt.

The [What The Fuck] Of The Week

2007-04-03T22:25:00.000-07:00

Keith Richards, longtime guitarist for The Rolling Stones admitted in an interview this week
that he snorted the ashes of his cremated father along with some cocaine. I don't know the exact follow-up quote, but it was something to the extent of - he wouldn't have given a shit about it.
In related news, avid Rolling Stones fans are awaiting the death of Keith Richards to place a bid on his ashes. Says insider, "Keith's ashes have got to be the most potent high on the planet. The man was high on copious amounts of coke and heroin for at least 40 years. Expect bids starting anywhere from ten dollars and peaking at ten thousand."

Woke Up This Morning . . .

2007-03-28T17:36:00.001-07:00

It's that time again. In less than two weeks, HBO will be premiering the first episode of the final season of the wildly popular series, The Sopranos. Incidentally, that day falls on my first wedding anniversary, but that's an entirely different story.
For 8 years with breaks in between, many cable subscribers have become fixated on the series about a depression-riddled New Jersey crime family boss who visits a psychiatrist to seek balance from his hectic life.
The series that managed to portray an authentic look at the modern-day Mafia lifestyle with its array of intense and wild characters while doing its best to avoid Italian stereotypes will be coming to an end. From what I heard; this season will serve its purpose to tie up all the story's loose ends from the Russian mob to the ongoing FBI investigations.
I believe the show has had a very good run and it is definitely time for its end. I feel compelled to compare it to how it was when I graduated grade school. When I did graduate grade school (it was almost the same amount of time [8 years] , Pre-K to 6th grade) I was a bit sentimental - I had some great teachers and classmates and lots of interesting memories, but it was time to move on to bigger and better things. I remember feeling a little sad a couple of weeks after and wondering what life in junior high school would be like.
Before I fall off on a tangent, I'll leave it at that. After this show wraps, I think many will experience a void where The Sopranos was. Fortunately for myself, I have already substituted with another fantastic HBO series, The Wire. One of the greatest things about that show is that it's a quiet storm, a well put-together crime series that explores a multi-tiered community in Baltimore from the insides of the schools to the crime syndicates to the police to the politicians of the city. It's shocking how this show isn't that mainstream popular yet.
Perhaps after The Sopranos are long gone, either dead, in witness protection or in a federal prison, the mainstream American TV audience will find out how really good The Wire is.

"Could you double-check the envelope?"

2007-02-25T21:47:00.000-08:00

Martin Scorsese's mob epic "The Departed" won best picture at the
Academy Awards on Sunday and earned the filmmaker the directing prize that had eluded him throughout his illustrious career.
Way to go, Marty! It's been a long time coming for many film watching connoisseurs including myself to see you take the home the golden statue for "The Departed" which I haven't seen
yet. And if it shares or transcends the contained intensity of its incredible original "Infernal Affairs" then I will certainly understand why the Academy finally gave you props.
It's not like I haven't heard only good things about the film. I asked my wife to add it to our Netflix queue so I should get a chance to see it sometime after her obsessive, early seasons of The Wire binge.

Negative Press > No Press

2007-02-02T17:21:00.000-08:00

First watch this:

What's going on in that video are two men hired by Cartoon Network's Adult Swim executing a guerrilla marketing campaign for the upcoming feature length film,
"Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters"
Instead of filtering hundreds of thousands of dollars or even more into conventional mass media advertisements, these two among others installed many of these light-up devices

in ten major cities from New York to San Francisco. But it was the city of Boston with their way-too-serious emergency response to the situation that catapulted the story into the nation's top headlines. Boston authorities shut down many of the city's major roads, bridges and tunnels to investigate the Lite-Brite images of the Mooninites.

While some say after all it was Boston's Logan airport where hijacking occurred on 9/11, giving way to a necessary hyper-sensitive attitude, many are laughing right along with the two men catching the heat for all of this. Legal experts say prosecution is very unlikely for the two individuals and parties involved because it is difficult to prove terroristic intent. Brilliant work from the Adult Swim camp for putting it all together.

Top 20 Worst Pop Hits Of The Last 20 Years

2007-01-21T21:29:00.000-08:00

I'm usually not the one for most top lists. Aren't there enough of them nowadays? I remember looking at the cover of a Spin magazine a couple of years ago and the whole issue was about them.

I compiled this list of the worst pop songs I've ever experienced.

# 20 . UB40 - I Can't Help Falling In Love With You - This cover of the Elvis Presley crooner was made for the soundtrack to the movie "Sliver"
A terribly bad song fitted for a terribly bad film. It really just sounds like the band is loaded up on morphine and sedatives phoning it in.

#19 . Tag Team - Whoomp! (There It Is!) - This monster hit came out just shortly after southern bass music group 95 South dropped "Whoot! (There It Is!) Up until this point in hip-hop, the originators get the props and the seniority, but the contrary happened here. Maybe the Atlantic City based Tag Team benefited from a more clean and polished sounding track. As a longtime fan of hip-hop and rap music, I have found this one to be limited, repetitive and annoying after the third listen.

#18 . C+C Music Factory - Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) - Cliviles and Cole, two producers emerging from obscurity formed this fake group in the early 90s. Taking their cue from Milli Vanilli, they featured a young attractive woman singing the hook in the music video that was sung by an older, heavier woman in the studio. That coupled with a guy rapping who sounded like Ice-T if he was German and grew up in Nazi Germany, (telling us to get up and move on the dancefloor, now!) made this commercial club track an awful distraction.

#17 . Britney Spears - Hit Me Baby One More Time

#16 . Bloodhound Gang - Bad Touch - With the horrendous hook, "You and me baby ain't nothin' but mammals / So let's do what they do on the Discovery Channel" one-hit wonders Bloodhound Gang crapped this retro sounding synth fodder into a 24-track mixer and took off before they could see how bad it stunk.

#15 . Sugar Ray - Fly - The award for premature songwriting self-importance goes to Mark McGrath, the singer of Sugar Ray for the line, "All around the world statues crumble for me"
Add reggae icon Super Cat to the formula and it still yields horrible results.

#14 . Madonna - Ray Of Light - She never got by on her vocal stylings. It was mostly her image, attitude and over-the-top sexuality that propelled her through the stratosphere of pop music. She also took many risks women in music before her never attempted. She also took a great risk when she crafted this frenetic dance track with her high pitched notes cracking breaking and faltering throughout the song.

#13 . Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You - This was a case of the theme song to a movie that was bigger than the movie itself. Unless you were living in a dungeon in 1992, you couldn't escape this bombastic ballad that ends with Ms. Houston holding on to a note that begs furiously to disappear.

#12 . Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories- Stay (I Miss You)

Another soundtrack single for the list? Are you starting to see a pattern? Stay ( I Miss You) makes it to the worst 20 pop hits list because of three major reasons:
It's whiny co-dependent psycho babble, which was a decade early for its time.
The stripped down acoustic guitar sound works best with gutsy folk rock or hippie rock
and this isn't either.
The narrative goes from first person to third-person storytelling without any legitimate point. If someone spoke to you like this in your life, you would leave too.

#11 . Jennifer Lopez - (I'm Still) Jenny From The Block - The jury's still out on what J. Lo has in common with any of today's Bronx boriquas. Maybe she heard someone say that you can take the girl out of the city, but you can't take the city out of the girl. There is no way that J. Lo would still ride rapid transit (unless her record label payed the New York MTA to block off a line for a day) nor would she live outside of her posh Hollywood Hills mansion or any of her luxurious homes around the world. She even jerked Bronx rappers/beatmakers The Beatnuts over on the beat she pulled from one of their tracks.

#10 . Backstreet Boys - I Want It That Way - 1997 marked the year of the return of the bubblegum pop teeny bop groups in America. Just a few months before the Spice Girls burst on the scene, the Backstreet Boys scored a minor hit with another track, but it was this harmonious pile of dextrose top 40 crapola that caught too much airplay.

#9 . The B-52's - Roam - The B-52's followed up their success with "Love Shack" with this constantly annoying high register track. Unfortunately, it was briefly revived a few years ago by a wireless phone company plugging their diplomatic roaming charges policy.

#8 . Bayside Boys - Macarena - It's the song that inspired a ridiculous dance craze that doesn't rely on using your feet; great news for paraplegics and couch potatoes. But unlike other dance crazes, this one spanned various generations - people did the Macarena with their gram gram at their cousin's wedding. The song however was a synthesized mindfuck of an experience.

#7 . Marcy Playground - Sex & Candy - Maybe it was the slow melancholy rhythm added to the trying-so-hard-to-sound-like-Kurt Cobain vocals that made this miserable song a massive hit.

#6 . Chumbawumba - Tubthumpin' - A song about hanging out in a bar or pub getting hammered on a combination of different drinks lands a statewide success, then female singer of the band provokes Americans to steal their album in a major record store chain on a late night talk forum. It only led me to think, "was she tubthumpin' that night?" The song also left a lot to be desired, much like the whole bar and pub experience itself.

#5 . Spice Girls - Wannabe - The U.K. introduced us to Sporty, Posh, Ginger, Baby and Skanky Spice and the rest was history. Carrying a simple message, "Girl Power!" was all they needed to win the hearts of slightly retarded girls in America. The confusing demand "if you wannabe my lover, you gotta get with my friends" opened up a new world of possibility with group sex that was previously unexplored.

#4 . Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby

Looking like a half-Elvis half-Uncle Sam car dealership cardboard figure, Vanilla Ice (ne Robbie Van Winkle) entered the pop music landscape in late 1990 and singlehandedly set white people back forty years. Rhyming on this track about blasting a nine and rollin' in his Ford Mustang, he took rap storytelling to a whole new low. Eventually exposed for the poseur he was, he attempted to reinvent himself several different times with no success. Now you can see him on the VH1 washed-up celebrity reality shows.

# 3 . Harvey Danger - Flagpole Sitta - There were misconceptions about this group when they tapped through alternative radio airwaves in the late 90s, being called indie rockers, they rode the wave of mainstream hoopla on the strength of this profoundly annoying song. The lyrics that spoke nonsense and the singer's whiny and nasal presence made this one a definite radio knobturner.

# 2 . Hanson - MmmBop! - A band of very White heartland kids make a godawful infectious pop song about (what, I have no idea) and it hits the top of the BillBoard charts. They harmonized their high range vocals and kept a clean groove, but they didn't have any remorse for anyone with the creation of this musical tumor.

# 1 . Celine Dion - My Heart Will Go On - Her name is Canadian for "crappy diva."
The highest grossing film of all time at the moment is "Titanic" and unfortunately this overly done exaggerated love ballad didn't sink with it. Celine must have thought the name of the song was "My Note Will Go On" explaining why she awkwardly sang certain parts as if trying to send an emergency bulletin to Jupiter. This wonderfully awful song managed to be played all the time in 1997 and 1998, probably because little girls flooded radio stations with their requests.

That's the worst of it. Check out the other side here:
The Top 20 Best Pop Hits Of The Last 20 Years
Naturally only twenty songs made the top twenty but there are quite a few honorable mentions:

(Gerardo-Rico Suave, US3-Cantaloop, Ace Of Base-The Sign, Barenaked Ladies-One Week, Aqua-Barbie Girl, Sisqo-The Thong Song, Third Eye Blind-Jumper, Creed-With Arms Wide Open, Ricky Martin-She Bangs, Green Day-Good Riddance [Time Of Your Life] )

U.S. Defense Department Pulls A Paranoid Schizophrenic Move

2007-01-18T18:48:00.000-08:00

Something that may or may not hold any truth appeared in the press today. Where once a paranoid schizophrenic individual might be concerned about the radio in the car talking implicitly to them or that the FBI and CIA, working together to plant a recording and transmitting device into their teeth, the U.S. Defense department has retracted a claim about spy coins. Here's the story:

U.S. retracts Canada spy coins claim By TED BRIDIS, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Reversing itself, the Defense Department says an espionage report it produced that warned about Canadian coins with tiny radio frequency transmitters was not true.

The Defense Security Service said it never could substantiate its own published claims about the mysterious coins. It has begun an internal review to determine how the false information was included in a 29-page report about espionage concerns.

The service had contended since late June that such coins were found planted on U.S. contractors with classified security clearances on at least three separate occasions between October 2005 and January 2006 as the contractors traveled through Canada.

"The allegations, however, were found later to be unsubstantiated following an investigation into the matter," the agency said in a statement published on its Web site last week.

Intelligence and technology experts were flabbergasted over the initial report, which suggested such transmitters could be used to surreptitiously track the movements of people carrying the coins.

Experts said such tiny transmitters almost certainly would have limited range to communicate with sensors no more than a few feet away, such as ones hidden inside a doorway. The metal coins also would interfere with any signals emitted, they said.

Experts warned that hiding tracking technology inside coins would be fraught with risks because the spy's target might inadvertently give away the coin or spend it buying coffee or a newspaper.

Robert Moroz, who organizes an annual technology conference in Canada said one vendor in 2005 attached coin-sized transmitters to casino chips as part of a proof-of-concept demonstration.

Moroz also cited previous industry proposals — later abandoned — to build such transmitters into the euro. But he was skeptical about the Defense Department's claims even before the Pentagon said its own report was false.

"To make it work with current, commercially available technology — I don't see how it could work," Moroz said.

The now-disavowed report never suggested who might be tracking American defense contractors or why. It never described how the Pentagon discovered the purported ruse, how the transmitters worked or even which Canadian currency allegedly contained them.

The service initially maintained that its report on the spy coins was accurate but said further details about the spy coins were classified.

The report was filled with other espionage warnings. It described unrelated hacker attacks, eavesdropping with miniature pen recorders and the case of a female foreign spy who seduced her American boyfriend to steal his computer passwords.

They (Quite Possibly) Will Run For President

2007-01-18T11:03:00.001-08:00

They are in the media a lot these last few days. Appearing on morning news programs, releasing videos and statements about their possible bids for presidency. They are juicing their very own hype machines that will continue to grow as the stage is being set for a presidential election likely to have more issues to debate over than the history of a halfway house.

But why does a strong and charismatic personality like Senator Barack Obama need to form a presidential exploratory committee , which I think is a litmus test to his own popularity in the general public. Forming this committee is a brilliant idea because on one hand he is easing himself into the platform he will choose to run on without finalizing his decision to go for the presidency.

That gives people who aren't supporters some time to warm up to him and his politics. On the other hand, the committee can explore what's happening up on Capital Hill between the lobbyists, the other senators and folks who are in the middle of a bipartisan paradigm shift.

Hillary Clinton on the contrary, is going to have to really come on the campaign trail with some
fire. Even though she has much more experience in politics than Obama; she has done major work while husband Bill was in office for two terms and her Senate position in New York recently, she has a history that will be scrutinized by the Republican party.
There was the incident in the Oval Office between Bill and a government clerk involving a cigar.
There were pointed stands on issues, and botched attempts at gaining support for them.
It looks like Hillary has a lot to eat when she aims for the primary race.

Ultimately, these two folks are up against some serious odds. Obama needs to overcome the racial barrier while Hillary needs to take advantage of the relatively new concept of women in high political office; Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House setting the bar for more women to make major moves. Both Obama and Clinton have a lot of work to do, and sure enough they will.

Media Blitzkrieg In Short Form

2007-01-14T18:52:00.000-08:00

This is the media blitzkrieg, short form style.

Item #1: Apple has released its latest technological innovation,
the iPhone
It's a phone, an iPod and a mobile internet device. Everybody is going to want one of these. People love new innovative gadgetry and Apple has been cornering the market with their multiple lines of iPods the last four years. My bottom line on the iPhone - how about a cell phone that simply is a cell phone? The battery life on these things are ridiculous if you do anything outside of placing a call. I want a cell phone that doesn't drop my calls and has quality sound. That's it. No 1.1 megapixelated camera or 1G mp3 storage. I don't need a keyboard that flips out.

Item #2: Meat Loaf
Who has a new album out titled: Bat Out Of Hell III which is wack for the lack of creativity in the title alone. The rock opera concert shtick is played out and there's no room for it now. Mr. Loaf, your role as Bob in Fight Club was exceptional, but this shit has got to stop.

Item #3: The tabloid media coming up with the catchy one-word celebrity name mash-ups
I think it all started with Bennifer, the one-word pseudo buzz phrase to say when regarding the relationship of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez.
It's just plain stupid and only adds power to their unreasonably exalted celebrity status. So no more TomKats and Brangelinas, you fake fickle tabloid newspeople. I don't want to see the name you would create if Skeet Ulrich started dating Queen Latifah.

Item #4: It's 2007 and you still have the Bush-Cheney '04 bumper sticker on the back of your ride
It's a bumper sticker, not to be confused with the Support The Troops or We Support The War magnets you also like to put back there too. Rip them off already. This is for your own good and credibility as someone who has a vested political interest. The way things have been going, this administration is destroying its image and character faster than Pee-Wee Herman's hand in a Florida pornhouse.
The same deal applies to all of you out there with the John Kerry - A Better America bumper stickers. We know you want people to keep in
mind you voted for the lesser of two evils, and you are not as naive and misguided as the other camp. It's 2007 and there are some new political figures to consider.

January Mostly Uneventful

2007-01-08T21:36:00.000-08:00

The truth is, January is a mostly uneventful month aside from that big Sunday game at the end of the month and the occasional presidential inauguration. The only thing to really look for are the W-2 tax stubs your employer will have sent to you in the mail.

There is a somewhat highly politicized discussion whether breathalizers or a comparable system of detecting blood-alcohol levels in drivers will be made standard in all motor vehicles. The talk about some of these devices disengaging the ignition when the driver proves to be inebriated is not extreme in my opinion.

As I was driving south on the parkway last night, trying to change lanes because a woman decided to text message someone while doing 80, I gave it some thought.
Making these devices mandatory in all vehicles would do much more justice than just installing it in DUI offenders' vehicles. It would serve to be a true preventitive measure.
As I type this, I know there are probably a dozen or so companies working feverishly to be the one to have their brand name on the devices. Toyota has already produced a system that detects blood-alcohol levels from the sweat glands in the driver's hands. Any measure to reduce and remove the amount of careless and selfish destructive drunk drivers out there should be taken into consideration.

Nothing Needs To Be Added To This Story, Except Maybe A Heading

2006-12-08T21:09:00.000-08:00

Flying Farts

From the BBC:

Flatulence leads US jet to divert

An American Airlines plane made an emergency landing in Nashville after passengers reported the smell of sulfur from burning matches.

The matches were found on the seat of a woman who had attempted to conceal the odor of flatulence with the matches, Nashville airport authorities said.

All 99 passengers and five crew left the plane while it was searched.

The woman was questioned by the FBI but released without charge and allowed to board another American Airlines flight.

"It was determined that she was trying to conceal body odor," said Lynne Lowrance of the Nashville Airport Authority.

She had "no malicious intent but had struck matches which is against [Transport Security Administration] rules," Ms Lowrance said.

The unidentified woman had an unspecified medical condition, Associated Press news agency said.

She was carrying safety matches, which the TSA allows in carry-on luggage.

The matches are not allowed to be struck, however.

Think Outside The Bell

2006-12-06T00:00:00.000-08:00

YUM , the parent company of both Taco Bell and KFC is
undergoing yet another tragedy this week after 5 customers
died and others became ill with E. coli poisoning at a Taco Bell restaurant.
It has not been determined yet if the source of the E. coli
can be traced to a malfunction in the heating lamps or from the
dirty plastic gloves of the workers. As a means of consolation,
Taco Bell will be giving out an extra paper bag with every meal
so its customers can cut out the middle man and flush it directly down the toilet.

Font Fun With Flickr

2006-11-08T22:40:00.000-08:00

A relatively new site, flickr - allows you to type in text and see the letters come to life in a variety of different flavors.

http://metaatem.net/words/

Something New In Cornflower Blue

2006-11-05T23:38:00.000-08:00

Rant is a novel by Chuck Palahniuk that is due to be released on May 7, 2007. The following has been said by the author in regards to an official description:

"For 'Rant' I borrowed the form of an oral biography, wherein dozens of people are interviewed about the same person, then those interviews are cut together. Like a talking head type of documentary film. The only person not present is the subject: Rant Casey, an updated Huckleberry Finn in a messy, crowded near-future. Cars, traffic, and accidents all play parts, with chunks of the through-line action presented as radio traffic reports. Of course there's a romance. And of course it's confronting and occasionally violent. And sickening or sexy. The glory of the oral biography form is how it allows the story to cut instantly from one plot thread to another, or from the camera perspective of one character to another, while both describe the same event. This let me boil each statement down to the minimal plot point so that the action moves blam, blam, blam through the entire twisted life and death of Rant."

Charlie Parker Style

2006-10-22T11:18:00.000-07:00

Charlie Parker - Celebrity (1950)

Getting the hang of this videoblogging feature. This is Bird performing "Celebrity"
Notice how he is digging Buddy Rich on percussion midtune.

Take It Way Back

2006-10-20T17:36:00.000-07:00

Not a new video but a good one. Something to enjoy after the incredible NLCS series finale.

Quasimoto - Rapcats

A Music Television Revolution

2006-10-15T15:41:00.000-07:00

Les Garland, the mind behind MTV, VH1 and The Box has set out to bring music television back without all the crap. No reality shows, no award shows, no interactive live request shows with an on-air personality - The Tube is an all-music video format that plays an eclectic mix of 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s music. It harkens back to the beginning of MTV in the early 80s and the beginning of VH1 in the mid to late 80s when a deep appreciation for music was found. Without blatant corporate sponsorship and the need to gain ratings, this new station is at its best right now. How long that will last is anyone's guess. It's still a fresh alternative for Gen-Xers and anyone who would rather see something artful than the line of oversexed and oversaturated videos being made today.

http://thetubetvinfo.com

Kudos To The Metros

2006-10-11T10:48:00.000-07:00

The NY Mets move on to the last round of the playoffs after sweeping the Dodgers. Not the Orel Hershiser 1986 Dodgers, but the Dodgers nonetheless. I'm hoping it's going to be Detroit and the Mets in the Series this year. It's been a long time since the Tigers had their shine, and that would make for an interesting bunch of matchups.

No Repeat

2006-09-21T17:02:00.000-07:00

As the Mets advance by clinching their division title with a squad more than eager to see October, it makes it difficult to consider the inevitable. Who really wants to see a repeat of the 2000 World Series? New Yorkers and the Tri-State demographic. Not to say that the Mets will easily be rocked by the Yanks, they do have some incredible pitchers.

And they do have power, but nothing like the Yankee ballclub. There is no doubt a few line-up changes and carefully selected starting pitchers will bring the Mets more opportunities. A big part of me would be satisfied if the Mets won the Series this year. It would be exactly 20 years since they last did. Then all the fans at Shea can tear the grass off the field again, winning bragging rights and their third respective championship.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like

2006-09-17T23:09:00.000-07:00

Both NY juggernauts have matching records in this year's pennant race [90-58]
Can both Torre and Randolph continue the momentum? I say hell yeah. The Yanks need to focus on the Tigers and getting Sheff back behind the plate, putting up numbers.
At the beginning of this year it wasn't even a concept for me to subscribe to. The thought of another subway series in 6 years time - infuckincredible.
This is a deviant stance, I know - I wouldn't be upset if the Mets took it in 5.

9. 11 Five Years Later

2006-09-10T06:00:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow marks 5 years since the September 11 attacks. The entire world has changed on many different levels from airport security to heightened sensitivity of political matters to the way financial institutions conduct business.

9. 11, terrorism, the war on terror; have all become buzz words to delineate the horrific events of that day to propel a national interest in new foreign policy. What that policy is remains uncertain as we march into the fourth year of the war in Iraq. Many of our men and women in the military aren't coming home, the public view of the situation is steadily declining into dissatisfaction and there has been no support from other non-English speaking nations to aid in war efforts.

But it's not as bad as it sounds. There have been no terrorist attacks on American soil in the last five years, all incidences of planned attacks have been thwarted and it looks like the Israeli-Lebanense conflict is headed for a resolution. That's simply wishful thinking, considering the tension has been barbecuing over there for a very long time.

In New York, politicos and the families of the victims of the World Trade Center have been working out a way to begin the memorial structures at Ground Zero. Not quite sure whether the architects have been commissioned, but it seems as if the sensitivity surrounding the issue about building on the space has been filtered out.

Good Bye, Pluto

2006-08-24T20:10:00.000-07:00

No, not Disney's "Pluto."

The IAU (The International Astronomical Union) met in Prague to finalize the decision of the status of newly discovered celestial bodies.
Three years ago, NASA and their respective scientists found a new small planet, dubbed
2003 UB313 and a few other masses and moons to boot.
The meeting of over 2,500 scientific minds concluded that Pluto's place in the solar system as a major planet is over, mainly because its orbit overlaps Neptune's orbit. New guidelines have been put in place.

In order for a celestial body to be considered a planet:

It must be in orbit around the Sun.
It must be large enough that it takes on a nearly round shape.
It has cleared its orbit of other planets.
What happened here is that because these new masses were discovered 3 years back, Pluto's spot got blown up. Now the tiny icy planet behind Neptune is knocked out of the crew, henceforth changing the old school mnemonic device to remember the planets. Here at flyingthesky, I will take the liberty to offer up a new one:

My Very Evil Mother Just Served Us Napalm

Tony Bennett Turns 80 Tomorrow

2006-08-02T12:19:00.000-07:00

After the death of Ol' Blue Eyes [aka Frank Sinatra] there was a void in the adult contemporary pop music landscape. Tony Bennett, who for years was just as popular as Sinatra - became a fair alternative to the departed crooner. In fact it was in 1994, as grunge alternative rock and G-Funk gangsta rap reached a dual apex, Tony Bennett was dubbed a true alternative to the scene, established so by MTV with his hit, "Steppin' Out With My Baby" that catapulted his album, earning him the Grammy for 'Album Of The Year.'

Tony Bennett was born Anthony Benedetto out of Astoria, Queens on August 3rd, 1926. It wasn't until 1949 after performing in jazz clubs and lounges that he began to see his name on marquees. He wrote his signature piece, "I Left My Heart In San Francisco" after this formative period and still performs the song to this day.

Bennett has always maintained a fair, nice-guy friendly image unlike the male vocalists of his era who were known to be alcoholics, gamblers and womanizers. Happy born day to the O.G. microphone crooner from Astoria, and many more.

The Administration Dropped A New Video

2006-07-25T13:50:00.000-07:00

This isn't a leak. This isn't rare footage of military prisons in Iraq. This isn't a time-released Osama video. This isn't any half-stepping diplomatic hand-shaking across the table photo op, this is Jurassic 5 and Dave Matthews Band's new video for their album, "Feedback," which was released today. Enjoy.

http://www.spitfire-media.com/movies/newj5link.mov

Quiet On The Set

2006-07-18T13:09:00.000-07:00

The tongue in cheek moment in the upcoming film, "This Film Is Not Yet Rated" happens when one of the movie's makers calls the MPAA.
He asks the receptionist how to get a rating for the movie as it is essentially writing itself. Clever concept for a documentary of the Michael Moore caliber.

Let's go back in time four years ago : a documentary covering the issue of American violence is released. A snappy title and a well-versed and at times exploitative essay complete with a myriad of footage and interviews of folks from all different areas on the subject. A formula is born.

Who can blame them? Find an executive of some high-brow, already established production company willing to finance and anyone can have a low-budget special interest film. It's better than reality television. You can make your own hours.

Let's go back to 2006. "This Film Is Not Yet Rated" delves into the constraints of censorship filmmakers infamously have to put up with. The Motion Picture Association of America, a quasi-governmental entity gets officially audited with no real manipulative direction. The dialogue is real and within context.

The film explores their pointed agenda to prioritize censorship on racy and suggestive film content while ignoring movies with dark and violent themes.
Is this something for movie-goers or filmmakers? The answer is yes.

Lost Episodes For A Lost World

2006-07-15T12:17:00.000-07:00

With so much drama in the world today, it's kinda hard being a bird known as Jay.
On the west coast of the states, numerous wildfires are having their annual picnic with forests and some fear the fires will spread into each other potentially causing the biggest firefuckball to hit California since Arnold Schwarzenegger took office.

In the southeastern region, hurricane season is now under way. Although it's still early, there is a definite ensuing apprehension over the area as citizens expect the worst and hope for the best.
Early this week, a tornado ravaged through Westchester, New York causing major flooding, power outages and surprise as the local folks of the area witnessed such a weather system.

A national heatwave on top of all that is merely the next layer as tensions in the Middle East reach a supernova with the Lebanese and Israelis in an escalated conflict.

I can't think of a better time for the lost episodes of Chappelle's Show to be aired, even though last week's jump-off gave reason to why they were lost in the first place.

It's The End Of The World (As We Know It) And George Carlin Feels Fine

2006-06-24T16:55:00.000-07:00

The other night I caught a new HBO stand-up special from George Carlin. He has finally grown into the angry curmudgeon we all started seeing glimpses of in comedy specials past. Always the nihilist, Carlin proclaimed the pure joy and entertainment value he gets from seeing the world fall to shit. Talking about natural disasters like hurricanes, tsunamis and floods, he finds the karmic repercussions of humanity's calamities in the equation of man destroying the environment and the environment ruthlessly finding its balance.

In 1990, my eighth-grade environmental science class learned about the possibility of global warming and the realization of the Greenhouse Effect in our lifetimes. We learned how chemicals such as CFCs and how high gasoline emissions will begin disintegrating what's left of our ozone layer and making our world a more hotter, cancerous and miserable place to live in. I thought it would be one day maybe in the year 2040 when I'm old and wrinkly and when I'm 64 that I might peel my carcinogenic, geriatric ass off the couch from watching Superbowl LXXIV to turn the main ultra aquapurification filter on so I can take an evening shower without boiling my skin.

But Al Gore has a movie out that documents this stark reality. Instead of challenging the supreme courts of justice that were perverted in order to bypass and overturn his win for presidency 5 1/2 years ago, he has set out to warn everyone about how the environment will make a turn for the worse. Yeah, thanks Al, you're like the innocent guy who escapes the bank robbery and is on the street speaking to the six o'clock news.

After Hurricane Katrina completely destroyed New Orleans because of faulty levees and lack of warning and preparation, you would wonder if the government and FEMA would be on top of their collective games this time. As hurricane season begins to unfold and new weather systems form and approach, you would hope these agencies will do more than report the discrepancies and casualties this time around.

Let's face it - Mother Nature is pissed and she has us all bent over her knees, spanking the living daylights out of us until we finally learn how not to mess with her. Think about that the next time your lease runs out and you're thinking of upgrading your SUV to a bigger model. Because you might need that monstrous behemoth of a car that takes $50 to fill the tank, who knows if your kid may develop a progressive pituitary gland disorder that will have him at 6' 10'' and 395 pounds at nine years old. Then you can really justify ownership.

Don't get it twisted, I'm not opting for hybrid cars in the carpool lane and treehugging politics, I'm just opting for some common sense. Gas prices are rising as the war for oil rages on without an intelligent plan for action and we are buying right into the matrix. We have more dollars than sense. Statistics say that we are spending more at the pump than contributing money to environmental protection agencies. It's not like the government is going to subsidize tax dollars for funding. They could give a shit about what happens to the environment.

George Carlin remarked at one point during his special that as long as people are getting struck by natural disasters, he will be tuned in to the television to watch it happen because it truly entertains him. It's not ironic that other rich old white guys are doing the same.

Hip-HopTTP

2006-05-20T16:25:00.000-07:00

CLICK ON STRIP FOR A CLOSER LOOK

A few years ago, someone I knew from a hip-hop messageboard (yeah that's right, messageboards can be hip-hop!) entertained the idea of starting a hip-hop site focusing on record reviews of classic and obscure albums by a close-knit community of knowledgeable writers. The website got off the ground and is now reaching into the sky with ambitious writers, creative artists (agent b) and funny parodies of the culture. If you're not into the culture beyond commercial means then you probably just won't get it.

www.ohword.com

Imagine This

2006-04-30T22:37:00.000-07:00

W's striking rendition of John Lennon's proposal of peace, "Imagine"

http://rapidshare.de/files/19325547/07-New_Artist___Imagine_This.mp3.html

Borders On The Books

2006-03-28T14:12:00.000-08:00

On the base of the Statue of Liberty, the iconic US monument, rests a plaque of the poem, "The New Colossus" written by Emma Lazarus. In the famous last lines it reads:

Give me your tired, your poor
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me
I lift my lamp beside the golden door

Over 12 million immigrants passed through Ellis Island, where that plaque and the statue it sits upon still remain. These transplanted men and women came with or without families they had no choice but to leave behind. They arrived at a nation beginning to slowly welcome cultural, economic and social diversity.

The direct results of the immigrant influx were a new variety of business enterprises and thousands of new citizens eager to join the American workforce. Their presence also contributed to different styles of art, music, cuisine and culture.
That melting-pot diversification of the new American culture gave life to an incredible new eclecticism recognizable by all, a long-needed change for a society built on a genocidal reduction of Native Americans and enslavement of Africans for nearly a half millennia.

So now in 2006, Congress doesn't know how to handle a quickly growing problem involving illegal immigrants from Mexico crossing the California border.
The Republican Party, divided over the issue, have recently proposed a few alternatives after abandoning hopes of criminalizing the immigrants.

The most extreme idea to surface was to put up a fence on the lines of the border kind of like they tried at the first two Woodstocks. This concept, all too similar to the Berlin Wall, or even the Great Wall of China to prevent undesirables from entering the Empire.
The other idea proposed by the administration to limit people's stays and/or grant citizenship provided they pass criminal checks and learn English look most sensible.

When it comes to the bottom line, the USA is struggling at the moment to maintain its workforce. Availability for jobs in some industries are going the way of energy source suppliers - onto foreign soil. However, jobs to cultivate our own soil namely, landscaping, gardening and lawn fertilization are often too physically demanding for most Americans. Latino workers without a certified education do their jobs very well in order to support themselves and their families who may or may not be still living in South American countries.
The Latino community is the fastest growing minority population in the United States. It won't be long before Espanol becomes the secondary language.
With that being said: juntos somos fuertes. (together we are strong)

The Cell Phone Zone

2005-06-02T10:30:00.000-07:00

An interesting yet disturbing phenonema has taken precedent in many parts of the globe. Much like any modern technological distraction, the cell phone and its user have become an entity unto itself. Next time you are on the interstate, freeway or major road and find the driver in front of you travelling 10-25 miles or kilometers below the speed limit wondering why they're slow, you might have entered the cell phone zone.

Some U.S. state governments have passed legislation outlawing the use of cell phones when driving. It remains to be seen how well it is being enforced. According to current statistics, automobile accidents caused by cell phones are on the rise. It hasn't surpassed the leading cause of accidents, DWIs and DUIs, yet it is leaving a strong enough impression to bring the attention of politicians and lawmakers respectively.

The cell phone zone can be alleviated with hands-free gadgetry such as headsets and speakerphone cradles, freeing up motorists from the cumbersome activity of driving with one hand.

The cell phone zone also works in a pedestrian context. Just like the iPod, the cell phone can bring its user into a state of minimal peripheral awareness. I've witnessed first-hand a slew of people looking down at the sidewalks they stroll. It's also a great justification to ignore salespeople and clerks.

What's more, some cell phones have ringtones. And when I say ringtones, I mean ridiculous self-fulfilling songs from "The Candy Shop" to "Clocks." I need to hear another one of these on the subway like I need another study by Morgan Spurlock.

Dave Chappelle Returns

2005-05-03T03:35:00.000-07:00

So Chappelle is coming back for the third season of Chappelle's Show beginning on May 31st. The last season of the show marked the spawning of the catch phrase "I'm Rick James, bitch!" which has made its way into frat-boy vernacular, bumper stickers, T-Shirts and other crap you find at Spencer's. Chappelle voiced his disdain about the whole deal at a comedy gig he worked last summer. Since then, he closed a deal with Comedy Central to return for a few more seasons at a reported bankroll of $50M. When asked how come it took so long to bring back the show he cited writer's block and having to process the pressure and anxiety of coming correct with material strong enough to one-up season two. Chappelle's comedic genius of serving up witty, outrageous and side-splitting hilarious perspectives on celebrity, racism, drugs, politics and even the Superfreak himself have established a brand product and cult following of his program. DVD sales and other merch have created a buzz for the comedy network never-before-seen since the debut of South Park. Chappelle's Show arrives just in time to counter the inevitable onslaught of summer reality programming other networks will be recycling.

Turning Thirty

2005-05-02T02:00:00.000-07:00

There's that saying from the 1960's : Don't trust anyone over 30. My friend, let's call him Chad. He's turning 30 in a few weeks. Gathering from a convo we had, he's not thrilled about it. Which led me to think about this scenario. I will hit the 3-0 next year. It doesn't mean that much to me personally, but I know where he is coming from. There's something intangibly cool about being in your twenties. You are either a college student undergrad or you are just beginning your career. Once you turn 30 years old, you have reached a turning point where you begin to consider the possibilities of starting a family or a new business. In the world of hip-hop you are now a "vet" or "old school" or slightly irrelevant to some degree. Jay-Z allegedly "retired his mic" two years ago to start working on the behind the scenes business angle and he was only 33 or 34. So my point herein is, when you turn thirty years old, does your mindset and ideals begin to evolve? I know for a fact that once a dude turns 50 he is subject to a mid-life crisis. I was eyewitness to this when I worked for a firm 7 years ago. A computer administrator shaved his head and bought an old Camaro with a rebuilt engine. He even started rocking earrings to sadly hold onto his youth. His wife considered filing for divorce if he didn't sell the Camaro. I don't know about this, it seems too real because everyday I see an old dude in town with a Porsche Boxster. I don't know about turning 30 though, I guess I'll know come next September.

Pope John Paul II R.I.P.

2005-04-03T04:30:00.000-07:00

A lot of famous people are dying this week it seems. The last thing I want is to turn the blog into a reocurring obituary. The only other event I can think of is the NCAA Final Four and it looks like NC State will take out Illinois.

Pope John Paul II, who helped bring down communism in Europe while leading the Vatican church for 26 years died last night. He was 84. The Pope redefined cool as I remember. He maintained a conservative image and stamp on the Vatican while rubbing elbows with Bono of U2. Most recently he was the audience to a collective of b-boys who prompted the Pope to throw his hands in the air like he just don't care. Musician Sinead O' Connor singlehandedly pulled the plug on her career when she destroyed a photograph of The Pope in 1990 during a musical performance on SNL. The Pope struggled with Parkinson's disease for some time and continued to Pope during the worst times of his illness. The general view of his papacy is divided of course. After all, they did design the glass-encased Popemobile in the 1980's after a failed assassination attempt.

Terry Schiavo R.I.P.

2005-04-01T15:00:00.000-08:00

Terry Schiavo

The epic controversial Schiavo case did not end yet despite Terry's passing yesterday, arguments concerning funeral decisions and arrangements for Terry Schiavo's remains still are ongoing. The right-to-life story, the biggest media spectacle since the Jack Kevorkian trial has drawn much attention in the recent weeks leading up to the decision to remove her feeding tube. Some saw it as a means to an end of her suffering. The Clint Eastwood film, Million Dollar Baby which was spoiled to the general public by the AP has shed light on the issue. The living will and testament a terminally ill person has the right to agree to is being held to scrutiny although circumstances may be different for some cases, yet the question of whether euthanasia is just or not is still puzzled over by politicians and lawmakers.

Johnnie Cochrane R.I.P.

2005-03-30T17:00:00.000-08:00

This week marks the passing of the famous attorney, Johnnie Cochrane who became well-known for his defense of O.J. Simpson in the trial of the Nineties. It was his ubiquitious coined phrase, "If the glove don't fit, you must acquit" that became the definitive soundbite in the court case charging the former NFL running back with the double homicide of his wife Nicole Brown Simpson and alleged lover Ron Goldman. Simpson's defending attorneys dubbed 'The Dream Team' also consisted of prominent high-profile lawyer, F. Lee Bailey and Marcia Clark. Judge Lance Ito presided during the nine month trial, making the case the world's most ethnically variegated media circus of the 20th Century.

Cochrane was characterized in the popular comedic NBC television sitcom, Seinfeld in a string of episodes that featured his likeness as the attorney Jackie Childs. Surprisingly, Terry Schiavo outlived Cochrane. He was 67 years old.

The News

2005-03-29T08:30:00.000-08:00

I don't watch the news on television unless it's the BBC. BBC news is on point and they don't lie. Well, one time they lied and reported that British scientists were conducting breakthrough experiments in Antarctica because it's interesting. These whitecoats were apparently following penguins around, capturing them and placing metal identification bands around their feet. The scientists then went into their sleeping quarters and waited for a long time. While they were waiting, they drew up an analysis, compared charts and predicted that a majority of the penguins would not remain together as the group they were once a part of. The day came and the scientists traveled the bleak tundra in search of the penguins. One scientist noted that some of the penguins migrated away from the area of their capture and the rest of the penguins that continued to live there had removed the metal bands from their feet. One scientist pondered if the penguins had the ability to remove the bands from their own feet. What they initially failed to realize is that the penguins had fostered the intelligence to remove the bands from each other. Consequently, the scientists and the funding for the research were removed. They returned to England and began work on a project to develop a hormone treatment for Prince Charles so that he does not appear homosexual.