pix are back?

Originally uploaded by jjgranger

if this works, then maybe I fixed the post pictures by phone, which
would be amazing…
it broke a while ago, and def contributed to the feeling of no posts
going on around here…

(the first image that shows up when you search google for "gomorrah")

Every now and then, I’ll load up the ipod with stuff i haven’t heard and go walk in the park. I don’t do it enough, and every time I actually get around to doing it, I try to remind myself that I need to do this more, beause it is amazing, and recharging, and world-re-orienting. The last time I did it, I was working on a mix my friend AD, and auditioning a bunch of Transglobal Underground tracks to see if any would be good enough. I like Transglobal Underground, but their tracks tend to be really hit or miss, so I don’t listen to them that much.

Then I hit this one and my eyes popped open. The song tells a story, so I’d definitely wait to hear it until you can pay close attention, maybe use headphones, maybe go for a walk in the park. It’s a blast…

Transglobal Underground – Drinking In Gomorrah

If you’re going to talk dead celebrities, I have to say I think I was more surprised by Heath Ledger than MJ. Even then, I don’t think I could say "moved" or "effected" by the death, but surprised, and maybe a bit bummed ‘cuz I thought he’d probably do some great stuff at some point.

A while ago, MT and I went to this place in WBurg (Brooklyn) that was funded by Heath Ledger and some of his friends. If you didn’t know, you’d never be able to tell it was a celebri-joint, it was nicely understated, the food was fantastic, and the service was warm. It was a great brunch experience. Also, they were playing 12" records that were really great. Some re-issue of a deep Jamaican dub release, and something by this band called Beirut, which sounded like old stuff, all accordian-y and the cover of the record was great. It looked like this:

Did a bit of reading about them, and discovered they’re a modern band. One of the songs was unbelievable, I’ll have to track it down. But in the meantime, I recently came across this mashup where they took the instrumental from a Beirut song (obscure, weird) and mashed it up with a vocal by Ghostface (dope, fresh). It works well…

Save Me Concubine – Ghostface vs. Beirut

[audio:ghostface_killah_beirut.mp3]

I know, 3 posts in one day might be a bit much, but these are things I’ve been wanting to post for a while and haven’t had time…

I won’t write some big thing about MJ, but it is amazing that because of the new digital world, it’s likely that he’ll always have the top-selling album of all time. Here’s a tribute…DJ this one late in the party when everyone’s on the dance floor and you’ll have a riot on your hands…

Usha Uthup – Chupke-kaun-aya

I still can’t quite wrap my mind/eyes around this, but apparently in this picture below, the seemingly bright green spiral and the seemingly light blue spiral are actually the same color. Whoa.

Check out the original post to read more about how this is possible, but be prepared to still not believe it! We can’t believe our eyes! Psychedelic to the max(ine)!!

hey, here’s some footage of an octopus squeezing through a one-inch hole…

Not our cat, but looking so similar it’s dam weird.

Ours isn’t shaved, ps.

Look how many amazing things there are in this headline, I can find at least four that just sound fantastic:

Mexico finds cocaine haul hidden in frozen sharks

This story is wild. they found over A TON of cocaine! Check it:

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s navy has seized more than a ton of cocaine stuffed inside frozen sharks, as drug gangs under military pressure go to greater lengths to conceal narcotics bound for the United States.

Armed and masked navy officers cut open more than 20 shark carcasses filled with slabs of cocaine after checking a container ship in a container port in the southern Mexico state of Yucatan, the navy and Mexican media said on Tuesday.

"We are talking about more than a ton of cocaine that was inside the ship," Navy Commander Eduardo Villa told reporters after X-ray machines and sniffer dogs helped uncover the drugs. "Those in charge of the shipment said it was a conserving agent but after checks we confirmed it was cocaine," he said.

Drug gangs are coming up with increasingly creative ways of getting drugs into the United States — in sealed beer cans, religious statues and furniture — as Mexico’s military cracks down on the cartels moving South American narcotics north.

Sealed beer cans?! Maybe there’s a way to get the stealth beer involved…

There were a bunch of interviews done with the people who film and produce all the BBC natural history stuff, and I’m going through the transcripts to find bits…lots of highlights there too, but this one stands out:

There’s another wonderful story in East Africa of a tribe of people, the Akumba, who have learned how to collaborate with a bird in order to get honey. [11:06:58:03]  Now, this is a bird that will lead them to honey.  Um, the, the people can’t smell the honey, the bird can.  But the bird cannot access the honey because it’s only this very small size.  The people can access the honey.  So the bird will sing a song and lead these people to the honey, to a, to a hive.  And then the bird waits patiently while the people get the honey out of the hive, and the people have learned that if they give the bird a little bit of honey, that the bird will do it again.  So that’s an amazing relationship between man and nature.
 

Hey, remember in the early 90’s when they switched the way they measured top 40? They introduced Soundscan, which actually measured the number of CD’s being sold. The way they used to measure top 40 was a bunk method of radio play and the number of records ordered by stores, etc. So when we felt like top 40 was being foisted on us, it actually really was!

Anyway, once Soundscan went into effect, the numbers turned on their heads, and we got a much better idea of what people were actually buying. It was at this time that country and hip-hop exploded in popularity. Because that’s what people were actually buying, and then when the rest of the country saw that stuff in top 40, they went to go get it too. Pop basically expanded (or was replaced) to include country and hip hop.

So how come there’s no American Idol for hip hop? You know there are a million young rappers and DJs out there, wouldn’t it be a monster hit? Why the focus on saccharine pop? Obviously, you’d have to make it a grittier format, lose the shiny sheen, but I think it would be huge.

This idea is so massiv that I’m pretty sure it’s already being pitched and in production somewhere. Million dollar idea.

 work is kicking my ass, but here’s a few things:

1. saw an ad for gin on my way to work this morning that said "she had never been so delighted by a cucumber"…can’t decide if I love this ad or hate it…

2. talking to my friend A on Sunday, and she drops this gem…

A: "Oh, you must meet this friend of mine, you guys are so similar I’m sure you’ll be great friends."

JJG: "That’s a tough thing to say to someone, it puts pressure on this meeting so when it does happen, there’s supposed to be something happening, and it sort of assumes that you’ll connect with people who are like you, and anyway, aren’t we all kind of unique?"

A: "That’s so funny, you know I told myself I shouldn’t even bring it up with you, because I told him the same thing, and that’s exactly what he said."

3. also, check this out…the ending is especially good…this may be my new go-to on the beach…

Among other projects, I’m currently working on some promos for BBC America’s "BBC Earth", which is basically Planet Earth and Blue Planet and other outstanding BBC natural history footage cut into a bunch of specials (airing June 21)…needless to say, the footage is absolutely mindblowing…I kept thinking I’d found a clip to post, but then no! I should post THIS clip, and then no wait! THIS clip!

Here is the clip I’m posting. It has no sound, but somehow I feel like that adds to the fantastic-ness.

Get the latest Flash Player to see this player.

The music is Mark E Smith and Mouse from Mars, von Sudenfeld. The real video for this song is pretty odd, but this one is a blast. They all look like they’re having so much fun.

This is nice. While watching, I kept forgetting exactly what I was watching, getting caught up in the action, which is a testament to its storytelling I think. I may have to make a category just for "stop motion" because it seems like there’s so much of it out there these days…

 I keep thinking about it.