Goldfrapp Video

I think this song, "A&E" is good, I'm not totally agog with it, but the video is very cool (if not a little bit silly).

Jack Thompson vs. Fake Samuel Jackson

First of all, what the fuck? Why dare me to debate, spend all day organizing that debate, then insult me and pull out like the Purple fucking Pie-Man coming on Strawberry Shortcake?

This is one of my favorite lines regarding circumstances surrounding a blogger operating as Samuel Jackson, posted about Jack Thompson once again blaming videogames for the NIU tragedy. Jack Thompson responded, thinking it was the REAL Samuel Jackson, and asked for a debate. Well...

Dare? Hell yeah, you dare Sam Jack and you damn well better expect a response. News Groper took him up on that shit. We spent all day emailing him, responding to his emails, working out a system to get this debate on the road. And at the last minute–I bullshit you like I’d bullshit Christ Almighty–the motherfucker bailed like Bowser at the end of level three of Super Mario.

Hilarious. Here's Sam musing on Phantom Menace:

I told Lucas I’d play Mace Windu only if I didn’t go out like no got-damn chump. And how’d I go out? Like a got-damn, scrotum-fingering chump. Even Boba Fett got a better death than I got. I fell out a motherfucking window.

It's a one-trick pony, but it's spot-on. Thinking about Samuel Jackson actually saying this tickles me to no end.

Chris Berman meltdown

Forgive me for my schadenfreude here, but this is too funny.



In case YouTube pulls it, click here. You probably should, anyhow, as the Deadspin comments, per usual, are almost as funny as the video itself.

Thanks for the fish...

Boy you guys were super supportive of the Dylan stuff. Thanks.

Maybe you can (or should) ignore this, too. :) Ladies and Gentleman: Rhymenocerous vs. Hiphopapotomus (Flight of the Conchords)

Inside joke

This is an inside joke, but the mashup is COOL. Brilliant marketing I thinks:

Sarah Silverman clips

Oh my. If I was Jewish, female and acted on every one of my misanthropic tendencies, I'd like to be just like her:



Wait until the big payoff at the end for this one. Nothing has made me laugh harder since perhaps Bert made friends with Osama Bin Laden.

"Salad"

I love this - click to see closeups:



At first I thought this was a sculpture made out of veggies and was disappointed to find out it's a digital rendering, but given that I thought it was actual veggies speaks to this artist's skills.

via boing boing

Charlie Rose treasure trove

Charlie Rose has made available his entire archive available for viewing online. If I didn't have a new job to find, I'd lose a couple of weeks to this... here's a great interview with Jack and Meg White:

Wilhelm Kempff / Moonlight Sonata

For my admittedly sophomoric ears (in terms of classical music), one of the best pianists I've heard is Wilhelm Kempff. One of my favorite piano compositions is Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 14, popularly known as the "Moonlight Sonata."

The first movement is instantly recognizable - terribly easy to "play," but only a great pianist can capture the nuances of the feeling. The second movement is the calm before the storm of the third movement. Quite pretty, though my least favorite of the three movements. The third movement is what gets it for me - it's terribly complicated and terribly technical. Yet, given this, it is utterly beautiful and drenched with passion, anger and other emotions. Only a great pianist can play this (at all), let alone play it with the emotion that's needed to take it from a display of technical brilliance to truly being art. From Wikipedia's article on the sonata:

Of the final movement, Charles Rosen has written "it is the most unbridled in its representation of emotion. Even today, two hundred years later, its ferocity is astonishing."

Wilhelm Kempff performing Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor "Quasi una fantasia", Op. 27, No. 2, first movement:



Second movement:



Third movement:

David Bowie "Ashes to Ashes" video

This is the "Ashes to Ashes" video by David Bowie. It's the coolest. From his "Scary Monsters and Super Creeps" album.



Aw hell, this is great, too.

First harvest from the garden

I harvested my first summer herbs and vegetables this evening. Using a Black Prince heirloom tomato, some freshly picked basil, some fresh mozzarella and some lovely balsamic vinegar, I composed a caprese salad (click through pictures for a larger version):


I then cooked some way-too-expensive coho salmon and made salmon with cucumber salad and a basil sauce, recipe taken from cookinglight.com


It's definitely satisfying not to have paid $3.00 for a little packet of basil. The tomato was on the smallish side, but the flavor wasn't.

"Best driver, worst person"

I saw this news story months ago and can't believe that I forgot to post it.

NEW PORT RICHEY - For about eight minutes on Tuesday, through the streets near downtown, police chased a driver who had no arms and one good leg.

He got away.

He is used to this sort of thing.

Authorities say the driver was Michael Francis Wiley, 40, who overcame three amputations, taught himself to drive with stumps and proceeded to become one of Pasco County's most accomplished traffic violators.

As far as I'm concerned, the Touyama / Wiley ticket is the best we can hope for in 2008.

Classic quote: "He is one of the best drivers I've ever seen in my life," said Lee Michie, a longtime acquaintance. "But he's the worst person I've ever met."

Photos from California trip

Here are photos taken from my recent California trip. Standing on top of Sentinel Dome in Yosemite National Park was transcendent. I didn't want to leave.

South Park meets Zen

South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have animated audio recordings of the Zen Buddhist teacher, Alan Watts.

This works. I think Watts would have enjoyed these.

(read first on Boing Boing)

Once again...

180 Trillion Leisure Hours Lost To Work In 2004

The Onion delivers.

Guitar Solo Quiz

My friend Mike Moody pointed me to this quiz this morning. Given the "Top 20" guitar solo series, I felt obligated to post it here - it's pretty easy, but still fun.

http://mentalfloss.com/quiz/quiz.php?q=68

Excellent optical illusion

http://www.patmedia.net/marklevinson/cool//cool_illusion.html

Tokyo-Chicago Time-Space Continuum Omelet

My boss and I were just discussing anarchists this morning...

David Blaine parody - too funny

Good news

Our band received a bit of good news today. Our audition for the "Taste of Chicago" 2007 was successful. We'll be playing the "Taste" stage on July 5th, 2007. That's a Thursday. I'd love to have some of you there, although distance and/or time and/or the fact it's during the middle of the week might conspire against this. Understood.

Frankly, I am surprised about this, a little nervous (millions attend the festival every year), and am, most of all, curious as to where this might lead.

I actually had quit the band last week with the understanding that if we got this gig, I would continue to practice and play for this. I was fully expecting not to get the gig. I am somewhat ashamed at my lack of faith in the band. My cynicism is still high enough to wonder whether or not Tom's contact pulled some strings for us. I shouldn't think this way and proceed with cautious optimism. That being said, it's only fair to note that how these next couple of months go will determine my future with Unconscious Pilot. I'm rarely optimistic, but the bright side could be that we hone ourselves to a finer edge, improve and we find our inspiration and energy again. I love this band when we're good, but when we're not the commute to band practice twice a week just isn't worth it anymore. Again, though, I'm cautiously optimistic and even if it turns to shite, we'll have went out with a nice, paying gig. What's the best part? All we have to do is show up with our guitars and Tom's cymbals. We don't have to haul our amps and most of the drums. Niiiice.

I'd like to thank Jim for producing, directing, etc., our excellent audition DVD. He persevered through bad weather, a broken Jeep top and unorganized band dudes. Thanks again, Jim.