putting the j in jjosh

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very rarely do I hear a mashup that’s so smooth it sounds like it was recorded that way…this is so smooooov…

Easy Heaven (Cure vs. Commodores) – Da Brat

I love that this vid plays on a youtube glitch…do not adjust your set, this is what it is supposed to look like…

I wish the song were better…"the most evident utensil/ is none other than a pencil" blech…

nice sticker graffiti

When I saw this it timed out really well ‘cuz I’m reading the 33 & 1/3 about Murmur (which is soso, maybe 3 out of 5?), but I never really knew that REM were on a major label when they started? At least, the same label as The Police, so that’s major, right? That was kind of a big surprise to me ‘cuz Murmur sounds so unlike anything in the early 80’s.

Or so I thought.

I’m ready to re-evaluate now that I’ve seen this American Bandstand featuring Radio Free Europe. The kids love it!!!! The dancing is fr3sh!!!!

So real it almost seems fake. But also so real it’s gotta be real..

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Love this. First of all, the intro is so great, sincere and patronizing at the same time…crying out to be sampled in a mix bit…something about her use of the word "specialist", she just lets it drip off her tongue…

Second, this stuff is proto-proto-punk, right? Buddy Holly’s Billy-Idol-esque sneer, the defiant stance, the rip-roaring pace of the song. The drums are just a constant drum roll throughout, and Buddy Holly is just so weird. So gangly and rubbery, the glasses, the voice. Such an amazing track.

this banner is from LA in the middle of January…dreamy…hanging with MM & MT eating sandwiches and watching the sun disappear into the Pacific…this is a good life…

also check this vid mashup from partyben…I love it when the old white guys’ music plays nice with the young black guys’ music…

fr3sh…

gorgeous + dedication + time =

At some point I got tired of trying to defend comics and prove to everyone that they are as acceptable a form of storytelling as film or literature. People’s eyes tend to glaze over and then you show them something amazing but they’re not really open to it so they don’t get it and it’s a big waste of time. Scott McCloud on the other hand never seems to get tired of it. He has a great talk on TED where he brings up how comics are going to adapt to the internet and he refs a great strip you should definitely check out:

Pup Ponders the Heat Death of the Universe

also McCloud’s talk is great, thought-provoking and exceedingly well done. If you have any interest in art, how we perceive images, or the human condition, you’ll probably find something to dig in there. It’s 17 minutes, so save it until you’ve got the time…

I know I’m supposed to be writing internet style short short fiction, or stories in the form of text messages or ichat or something, but for some reason I wrote a regular ole short story recently…no clue if it’s any good, but if you’re curious, here’s a link…maybe print it out and read on the bus to work or something…

The Rhythm of Ping Pong

Reading this refutation of an ironic assessment of Animal Collective’s new album and internet gaga stardom, and came across this great quote:

"I have this relationship with music. There is this cold and dizzy feeling that overtakes me sometimes, when a song or a passage of a song happens to gun it to my heart. And I am addicted to this feeling–I seek it out, sludging through days upon days of music, much of it very objectively "good", for those moments capable of the cold and dizzy."

I know that feeling, though I wouldn’t describe it as cold and dizzy…more like warm and mind buggled.

And for what it’s worth, I’m finding the new Animal Collective album to be pretty great, maybe over-hyped, probably stunning live, and psychedelic as all get out. Gotta listen to it more, I think there’s patterns in there I haven’t heard yet…you can feel it from the cover:

even tv in fridge

Many tvs 4 sprbwl

fun bit from "The Future is Unwritten:. Julien Temple’s solid doc on Joe Strummer…this clip is about Joe Strummer’s first band, and it’s told in a cool-looking pen and ink wash animated style…the film is def worth seeing, I came out of it wanting to know even more about Strummer…

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So they’ve developed autonomous robots to work in warehouses getting the products to be shipped out. There are so many great things about this. Below there’s a sort of corporate-style vid extolling the virtues of the system…I’ve set it to jump in 4:16 ‘cuz the beginning is boring, and there are so many great bits later on:

The fact that the robots are autonomous, so they’re making decisions as to how best work things out.

The way the guy is giving his interview with robots zipping along behind him.

They way he talks about people wanting to "work WITH" the robots, like they’re already getting personified.

The fact that it’s a great benefit that we’ve reduced the walking people had to do (finally!).

The fact that everyone goes on about the "efficiency" of the system without mentioning that people will lose their jobs to robots. It’s a blast.

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