putting the j in jjosh

They’re about to turn it on! Tomorrow, Sep 10th, 2am ET…prepare for black hole…

live webcast here…

wow.

UPDATE – from KT in the comments:

NY Times says “If the new collider is a car, then what physicists did today was turn on an engine, that will now sit and warm up for a couple of months before anybody drives it anywhere. The first meaningful collisions, at an energy of 5 trillion electron volts, will not happen until late fall.”

So not out of the woods yet.

For some reason lately it’s been a tough commute to and from work. For a long time I was working on a mix, so every ride would be spent listening to that mix, noting level changes, or mashup revisions, but now that’s done. I’m downloading This American Life every week, so that takes care of one day’s subway ride. But I haven’t found any music that’s exciting me (Fleet Foxes not really doing it…maybe that new Flying Lotus?), and I’m tired of reading Entertainment Weekly to make the time go by.

So I joined audible.com to get a free download of an audio book (must remember to cancel! must not get caught up in monthly payments!)…but what book should I download? What genre? How to search? Bestsellers led me nowhere. Reading about Neal Stephenson in the latest Wired made me think maybe I should try out some sci-fi…and why not go with an acknowledged master…search Isaac Asimov. I read all the Foundation books years ago and loved them. Read a bunch of the Robots book and was into those too. The first book that came up in the search was Robots of Dawn, maybe the third book in his Robots series.

In high school I had to give a book report at one point as a speech in front of the class. As usual I had waited until the last minute and had not, in fact, read a book. I picked Robots of Dawn from my dad’s bookshelf and wrote up a completely fake book report based on the cover picture and the title. I don’t remember much about giving the report…I think I can remember my English teacher asking me questions about the book afterwards, and maybe I blew it while answering. Did she know? I feel like she did.

Anyway, I’ve downloaded it and am listening to it on the commute now. The cool thing about a book on tape is that you can be "reading" while doing the dishes or making dinner or having a bath without worrying about getting the book wet. The uncool thing is that if you fall asleep while "reading" it’s tough to get to back to your "page".

This month’s banner is partly thanks to Greenpeace, who have a bunch of these giant eyeball masks lying around their office. Ostensibly so they can follow politicians around at conferences and imply that they are being watched, I think it’s also because they are giant Residents fanboys.

The other part of the thanks must go to Joe Tyler, fearless camera-man and all-around great guy. While it was my idea to put on the eye and film it, it’s was Joe’s divine inspiration to set the scene in the bathroom. Genius. It was going to be the last shot of the day, and as the day wore on, and we got more and more tired from shooting, I started thinking to myself that I would just let the whole thing go…Joe was doing us a favor, shooting at reduced rate and all…so as we got the end, I said, "O.k., just a couple of b-roll shots and we’re done," to which Joe replied "And don’t forget about that whole eyeball thing in the bathroom!"

Whatta guy.

I was on the subway, sitting down, listening to music on my headphones. I’ve got this new thing I’m doing where I wear my sunglasses on the subway, you know? I hate the feeling of them up on top of my head, and I think people who wear them like that look like idiots. I won’t hang them in the v-neck of my shirt, and I won’t wear them backwards on the back on my neck. The people who wear their sunglasses while on the subway always look kind of cool, so I decided to do it too.

It feels great, and since a portion of my commute goes topside, I feel justified. And, let’s admit it, it is a bit pretentious. But still. Who cares. This is New York.

So I’m sitting down, and across from me are a couple of kids, a girl who’s maybe 13 and a young boy of about 9 or 10. And they’re some kind of orthodox Jews, though I can’t be sure which kind. The girl’s wearing her hair up, and a black dress with some kind of white trim around it, and the boy has on a yarmulka and black slacks and a black shirt. He’s also wearing these weird small loafers, made for 10 year-old feet, and they look uncomfortable. He’s sitting on the subway, his feet dangling above the floor, and he’s got a plastic bag sitting on his lap that I assume is his lunch. Through the white plastic I can make out shapes and colors that suggest some kind of apple, a box drink, some bright rectangles, maybe candy bars.

The boy and his sister are talking to each other, but I can’t hear them because I’ve got my music going. But I watch their lips, and I’m pretty sure they aren’t speaking English. Hebrew maybe? Probably. The boy looks full of vim and life, taking the world in with big curious eyes. The girl looks tired and bored, and like she wishes she was somewhere else. Probably away from her brother. Maybe in different clothes. I’m projecting here.

more…

So rare for an animated gif to make me laugh out loud…

the first line is "So Superman went ballistic." If you see some other line, press refresh to start at the beginning.

[via fluxtumblr]

here we go, finally…there are so many photos, and it took a while to get them culled down…and then another while to get them posted…and then another while to caption them…but here they are:

From July 10th through the 20th, Maxine and I traveled down the Pacific Coast Hwy…from visiting Shelagh in Portland, Roscoe’s wedding in Florence, the OR coast, the CA Redwoods, Sonoma wine country, to Z & G in San Francisco…enjoy the pix… 

We started at Shelagh’s in Portland, having dinner out in her backyard, hanging with her chickens…when the sun sets, the chickens know it’s time for bed and the put themselves to sleep! Shelagh, her husband and new baby Marty seem pretty great…

Also her husband installed a bath outside! The fence is high enough that there’s privacy, so they can experience bathing outside…seems like it would be so sweet…

Next day we jetted down to Florence, OR where I was the best man for Roscoe’s wedding…I got to make the scene in a tux, and I think it’s the first time I’ve ever worn one…unless I wore one for prom? I hope I didn’t…

If Maxine hadn’t been there, half of us wouldn’t have been able to get our ties tied…

there are so many more photos, I swear. Click here for the rest…

Alright Monday, for starters, let’s try some of this:

Familiar to those who own 2007’s JjG mix DVD, Infinite Fire Face…to those who don’t, lemme know and I’ll get you a copy…

As S/FJ says, you can’t look at this for very long.

UPDATE – actually you can! I just spent a good chunk of time zoning out and watching these guys dance and dance and dance…there’s a car driving by in mid frame left, and I love the ducks in the background…this clip gets better and better…

Having a great time net surfing on this lazy saturday afternoon, the Case mostly vanquished, Max and I having rocked it last night with a great film (Tell No One) and restaurant week dinner (Mercer Kitchen — snooty but delicious)…two sites in particular hit me well this afternoon:

1. NYT has a great audio/visual presentation about comic books, er, "graphic novels"…even though there’s nothing too earth-shattering in what these guys are talking about, it’s still really fun to hear the voices of Seth, Chris Ware, Chester Brown, et al, talking about their craft…

2. appealing to the inner geek in me, and making a case for a new type of visual story to be told: the website is down. You might need to be at least semi-familiar with things like an apache server to find it funny, or maybe not, maybe it works no matter what…I was gonna post it directly in here, but watching it on their site is pretty fun…

Are you familiar with the case? I know some of you are. The case shows up when you’ve had too much of a good time and haven’t given your brain a chance to catch up. Maybe it’s a massive weekend, maybe too many intoxicants, maybe too much mind-blowing good times. Come Monday morning, welcome to the case. It should probably have a capital C, welcome to the Case. Usage is like a noun: "I’ve got a huge Case." "My Case was evil and unstoppable" etc.

Well let me tell you about the epic Case I’ve got going on. We got back from our mind-buggling vacation yesterday morning after taking the red-eye back from San Francisco. Today I went back to work after a biggg break. And it’s evil hot, and the subway is disgusting, and after being West Coast for so long, everyone here seems so uptight.

Plus, how’m I meant to go back to regular life (bills, work, subway fares, taxes) after seeing what I’ve seen in the past 10 days (Shelagh in Portland, Roscoe’s Wedding, bonfire on the beach, the OR Country fair, the OR coast, a flock of feeding pelicans, sea lions, seals, elk, otter, the prehistoric Fern Canyon, the OR dunes, camping in the Redwoods, the CA coast, mud baths, Sonoma wine tasting, San Francisco partying with Z&G)?

My Case is epic. Nothing seems to matter. Nothing is good. Like Versus said, there’s tunnel at the end of the light.

The only things keeping me from bashing in my own head with a hammer are two tracks I got from the trip.

The first track we heard in a store in Portland, OR…just some random clothes place playing this dope track. It’s by Lateef and The Chief; Lateef from Latryx, and The Chief from Blackalicious. The bass is so solid, and the rap is so flowy in that Bay Area style (Lyrics Born, Latyrx, Blackalicious, Gift of gab, etc.)…

Ambush – Lateef and The Chief

The other track we heard right at the end of the trip, in San Francisco. Hanging with Z&G, and G telling us about how they go to all these parties where DJ’s are giving out free promo CD’s. They got this one from a DJ named Motion Potion (turns out he’s pretty well established and revered), and it was so good I ripped it from him on the spot. No clue what the track names are, but this one mashes up a vocal by Lyrics Born over some amazing, analog-sounding synths and beat. While we were walking around with Z&G, G kept saying "everybody move, nobody get hurt", and now I know why. This track is fantastic.

Motion Potion – Track 6

If I were in a normal frame of mind, these tracks would make me dance around the room. As it is, I’m lucky to be able to nod my head to the beat. There will be a bigger post about our trip coming, right now I’m in no mood.

Case.

In the summer of 2006, before I went out to Burning Man solo, JG & JW gave me this track that they promised would blow my mind. I put it on my mp3 player and took it out to the desert, not knowing a thing about it…oh, and it came with instructions. While digging though camping gear to get ready for the OR trip, I recently came across the print-out of the instructions…they read:

Suggestions from Jon and I

1. Don’t force it

2. HOWEVER, need to have a good place to listen, solid sound system needed, high volume needed, 13 minutes of focus needed, YOU MUST GO FROM START TO FINISH and music heads a must.

3. Don’t let losers in, you must prepare for a ride and people can’t be borrowing you or the others listening.

4. It is A LOT to wrap your head around so be ready to travel

5. Thank the lord for music

6. Be someone

Now let’s face it, these are powerful instructions. I obeyed them to the letter and ended up listening to it in the middle of the desert, sunrise after the man burned, headphones pumped, watching a giant flower-crane machine on wheels drive around the desert in the early morning sun. My mind was totally blown.

And here’s you chance to share in the joy. Normally I would put it on the blog so you could play it right here, but that would sort of fly in the face of the instructions, wouldn’t it? But here’s a link to download it. Obviously, I won’t be around to make sure you follow the instructions, and maybe you’ll just download it and play it right on your PC, or in your car on the way home from work, but I’m telling you, follow those instructions and a good time will be had by all.

Instructions number 1 and number 6 are the keys here…enjoy!

Ultimate 13 Min Track from Jo(h)ns

(right-click to download, then follow instructions above)

Oh, also if anyone knows what this track is, we’d love to know!

(photo from redteam’s Flikr)

Well Maxine and I are off to OR for Roscoe’s wedding, and then spending a week driving down the coast to SF, where we hope to meet up with Zanna & Greg (still haven’t heard from them tho)…if we’re lucky, we’ll be able to camp in the Redwoods, and with a bit more luck any cam phone pix I take on the trip will make it onto the blog here…

see you on the other side…

Thanks to a suggestion found on Dan R’s movie blog, I recently caught the Herzog documentary, Wheel of Time. It was a spectacular experience, and there were many highlights and mind-boggling points contained within the film. From the known — the intricate sand manadala that is then destroyed — to the relatively unknown — giant cauldrons of tea being made to serve groups of monks — Herzog dives into the sequestered world of Tibetan Buddhism and shows it with a curiosity that is equal parts joy and wonder.

Some of my favorite parts of the film are when Herzog is interviewing the Dalai Lama…there’s a great bit where they’re cracking each other up that goes like this:

DALAI LAMA: There is the question of whether Mount Kilosh is the center of the universe. That I don’t know. (laughs) Each country believes that their country is the center of the whole universe. I think that’s very true. I think ultimately, we our own self, each individual, that is the center of the universe.

So for me, this place is the center of the universe because the concept of the whole universe comes from here (gestures towards himself). Therefore I’m the center of the universe. Similarly, in your case, you are the center of the whole universe.

HERZOG: Thank you, it makes me feel very good. I shouldn’t tell my wife.

Much of the film takes place at a large Buddhist gathering that happens every two years where the Dalai Lama initiates monks in some special ceremony that takes days to perform. Thousands and thousands of monks travel to get to this gathering, some coming from hundreds of miles away. This staggering clip gives you a sense of the devotion on display here…it is a big clip, but well worth the loading time…

Get the latest Flash Player to see this player.

This is the best doc I have seen in a long time. Highly recommended.

A man has saved a bear from drowning. Article here.

Sometimes for her job my sister has to visit farms…and sometimes they load her up with free produce….today she stopped by and dropped off a big box of zuchhini, mexican zuchhini(?!), basil and squash flowers. Squash flowers are apparently really delicate, and there’s not really any way to store them, so you don’t find them in the supermarket or in restaurants.

I found a recipe online for squash flowers stuffed with cheese and basil, then fried in a batter made with beer and flour. The squash flowers were so weird. The first thing you have to do is open them up, pull out the stamens inside, and make sure there aren’t any bugs. And there were lots of bugs, lemme tell you.

So we cleaned them, stuffed them with a mixture of cream cheese, basil, sour cream and grated gruyere. Then made the batter, dipped them in and fried them in a pan. It was a lot of work, but they tasted pretty delicious.

Then again, I kind of feel like you could take shoe leather, fill it with cream cheese and sour cream, fry it, and it would be delicious, don’t you think? On a couple of them the filling leaked out as they were frying, and those flowers had the flavor of the flower come through a little more. Pretty delicious. Maxine documented the whole delicious experience.

Afternoon Go-kart Grand Prix…Roscoe desperately tries to overtake Capo for the lead. Which he will do. And keep the lead for the rest of the day. Jerk.

The bachelor gets a free shoe-shine from DC latenite institution, Bigleg.

A random woman gives the bachelor some dancing love as the el-wire sign is hoisted and shown to the crowd. The faux zebra trim of the pimp hat is just visible below the sign’s foil backing. The bachelor’s hand appears to be moving towards the random woman’s chest, but this is actually just a smoov dance move.