encyclomedia

Artifical Intelligence introduced today by Google

2009-03-31T23:15:00.000-07:00

SKYNET EXISTS. AND ITS NAME IS CADIE

Introducing CADIE

Research group switches on world's first "artificial intelligence" tasked-array system.

For several years now a small research group has been working on some challenging problems in the areas of neural networking, natural language and autonomous problem-solving. Last fall this group achieved a significant breakthrough: a powerful new technique for solving reinforcement learning problems, resulting in the first functional global-scale neuro-evolutionary learning cluster.

Read more at: http://www.google.com/intl/en/landing/cadie/index.html

Visit CADIE's website - http://cadiesingularity.blogspot.com/

In news not related to creepy April 1st messages, I bought the following records today:

Syreeta - self titled
The Temptations - Sing Smokey
Curtis Mayfield - Back to the World
Eddie Kendricks - self titled
Jackson 5 - Diana Ross presents the Jackson 5

Day of Champions

2009-03-28T13:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was quite the memorable day. I promise there's media related content.

Started the day at PBS, doing my intern related duties. I had a guestlist spot +1 for the The Builders and the Butchers show at the Crocodile, so was prepped and ready to go for that, but had to work a shift at Piecora's first.

I hit up Piecora's, and many "firsts" occurred. Trained a new driver, had my first near-death experience, my first racist customer, and my first "bird flip" from another driver. Some dumb girl, smoking a cigarette, and on her cell phone decided to blaze through an intersection to a flurry of brake screeching, loud "OH SHIT!!"s, and a less than a foot away collision.

Then I'm delivering to a family in the most hard to find house on the planet, with all kinds of winding dirt roads and unmarked streets. The father invites me in, has me place the pizza goods on the kitchen counter, offers me a cookie. As I make my way out the door, one of his grade school aged sons starts goading me "NO SPEAK ENGLRISH! NO SPEAK ENGRISH!". I have the cookie in my mouth, and take it out and say "That's extremely rude little man", and close the door. I'm walking to my car and he's in the window now still yelling "NO SPEAK ENGRISH!". Incredible shit, incredible.

Oh and then earlier, some dude in front of me is making horrible driving decisions, so I'm in my car waving my hands in indignation and verbalizing "what the hell are you doing?". Apparently he saw this in his rearview mirror and as I pass and look at him, he's flipping the bird. It made me feel good inside that I could induce such a response, haha.

So then it's about that time to get off work; Craig is in town from Oregon, on his spring break, so we decide to go to the Butchers and Builders show, since we got 2 free spots. We get there, and of course, Belltown on a Friday night is absolute chaos. By some wonderful act of God, we find a parking space right across the street from the Crocodile. We go up to the door, and Craig forgot his wallet in his car, which is in Cap Hill. We shamefully enter the car again to go and get it, cuz the doormen will have none of that "I don't have an ID, but I'm clearly 30 years old" reasoning. So I speedily make my way back to Cap Hill, which was a horrible horrible decision; the speedily part. Cuz then I got pulled over by a cop right on Denny and Broadway, when I "ran a red light". This took another 20 mins or so, but we got off with a warning. I credit this to positive racial stereotyping; it is a sociological phenomenon that exists for us Asian Americans; us "model minorities". Bwahahhaa.

Anyhoo, we successfully grab the wallet/ID in question and make our way back to the Croc, where in an even better act of God, we get a CLOSER parking spot. Literally, right in front of the doors of the Crocodile.

So then we celebrated our victory with expensive beer in plastic cups and the wonderful "if the Decemberists had balls" sound of The Builders and the Butchers.

Good times!

what's that i hear?

2009-03-09T14:17:00.000-07:00

music? tv? tv music? music tv?

STEVIE WONDER AT THE WHITE HOUSE

2009-02-25T13:36:00.001-08:00

Normally, I'm not one to use all capitalized letters to garner attention from your eyes, but I got goosebumps when I saw this today.

Stevie Wonder is the latest recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, aka one of the most bad-ass mofos to ever to live on the planet. In honor of this achievement, he's performing at the White House tomorrow for an hour, with President Obama presenting the award to The 8th Wonder of the World after the concert.

"Over the years Wonder has delivered 32 No. 1 R&B and Pop singles, 49 Top 40 R&B and Pop singles, and garnered 25 Grammy Awards, as well as the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996. He collected an Academy Award for the 1984 hit “I Just Called to Say I Love You” from the film The Woman in Red. In 1989, he was inducted into the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame. In 1999, Wonder became the youngest honoree of the Kennedy Center Honors. He was inducted into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame in 2002, and in 2004 he won the Johnny Mercer Award in recognition of a lifetime of outstanding creative work. In 2005, the Library of Congress added Wonder’s 1976 double album “Songs in the Key of Life” to the National Recording Registry, which recognizes recordings that are “culturally, historically or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States.”"

*TANGENT*
Which also cements another reason for my love of Obama, bringing the soul into the White House. Seriously, what artists performed for Bush? Michael Buble? F*** that, I want the funk. I mean, I knew I wanted Obama to be Prez when I saw his speech back in 2004 at the DNC, but the moment I started to donate money to his campaign was when I heard "Signed Sealed Delivered" on his campaign trail. And then I gave even more money when I saw the Wonderlove perform at a campaign stop. Well okay, I'm not that shallow, but I will feign shallowness to magnify my love for Stevie.

*CONTINUED BLOG POST*

Thursday, February 26, 2009, at 8 p.m. PT/ET on PBS is when it airs, so for you Seattle-ites, tune in to KCTS9 tomorrow. I'll be camped out on my couch with my Stevie shirt, and albums in arms length distance.

"The concert takes place February 25 and will include performances by Wonder himself and Tony Bennett, Diana Krall, Martina McBride, Esperanza Spalding, Will.i.am, and the gospel duo Mary Mary, among others." - PBS News

Set your TiVos, VCRs, DVRs, eyeballs to tomorrow at 5pm.

Check out http://www.pbs.org/inperformanceatthewhitehouse/ for a promo video, and check back there later; I think they will be putting performance footage on the site after it airs.

*TANGENT*
Being an intern at KCTS9, I can get DVD copies of the show for anyone that wants it, which should be everyone...

TV Commercials and Popular Music

2009-02-18T14:51:00.000-08:00

Television commercials and catchy music have been hand in hand since TV ads made their debut in the 1940s. But since the 1980s, the use of popular music in advertisements has become an increasingly prevalent method in influencing the viewing public into buying products.

February is an especially big month in television and commercials. Three of the biggest events are on the air: the Super Bowl, the Grammy Awards, and the Academy Awards. This is when the advertisers unleash their latest ad campaigns. Take this ad from Crystal Light, which features a song by Grammy awarded artist Estelle, commissioned especially for the commercial.

Catchphrases like “money back guarantee”, “recommended by 4 out of 5 doctors”, have a new brother in “exclusive download”. Estelle’s reputation as a Grammy award winning singer is being used to sell a powdered sugar beverage. The line between art and commerce has become indistinguishable. Which begs me to ask, where do we draw the line between art and commerce?

John Lennon would no doubt be rolling in his grave if he knew his song about political and social upheaval during the 1960’s was being used to sell shoes. Especially a shoe company that has heavily contributed to the controversial use of sweatshops labor, who's workers could definitely use a revolution. Memorable music in commercials is used to empower the persuasiveness of the advertisement. A public relations firm inserts a popular song into a commercial, and the unconscious emotional feelings we have toward that song are transferred into the product they are selling. And if we watch enough times, much like Pavlov's dog, we are conditioned to believe that the emotional response we are feeling comes from the need and desire to buy that product. I’m uncomfortable with the idea that every time I hear Revolution by The Beatles, I might think about how “revolutionary” Nike’s shoes are rather than the cultural revolutions of the past.

The widely acknowledged father of public relations, Edward Bernays, nephew of Dr. Sigmund Freud, founded the practices of PR in attempt to manipulate public opinion using the subconscious. Bernays is responsible for getting bacon and eggs cemented as the “American breakfast.” He also masterminded breaking the taboo of women smokers, by hiring models to smoke in front of the cameras at a women’s rights rally. He openly used his uncle Sigmund’s psychoanalytic ideas for the benefit of commerce, arguing that the manipulation of public opinion was an essential element of democracy. So in essence, that’s the point of advertising and public relations; to use our cultural and social history to invoke an emotional response toward a commercial product, even if that product has no relevance or has not made a contribution to that part of our cultural history.

Observe a classic Pepsi commercial, and examples of their latest ad campaign:

I shamefully admit that at one point, I have sung “you’re the next generation”, rather than “Billie Jean is not my lover”; the commercial is legitimately that memorable and persuasive, with some obvious help from the King of Pop. The joy and nostalgia you feel watching the new ad campaign provokes equally positive and powerful emotional responses, all thanks to our friends at Pepsi, a soda pop company.

When it comes to using arts and culture as a means of financial gain, I feel particularly blessed to avoid this moral ambiguity at KCTS9. PBS and its affiliates do not air commercial advertisements. Instead, we feature the underwriters and funders of our programs before and after our programs; non-profit foundations, local organizations, and others, whose direct contributions to the station (including yours) allow us to give the viewing public, commercial free viewing and unfiltered content that you care about.

When you watch PBS for long periods of time, and then switch over to commercial television stations, you can feel the stark difference between PBS and the bombardment by the plethora of corporations wanting your attention, your loyalty to their brand, and your money. But when you’re a paying member of KCTS, you not only pay for the quality programming that you come to rely on day after day, but you also pay for the omission of advertising.

KCTS9: The Croc Cafe is Back

2009-02-04T11:26:00.000-08:00

Hey all, I made a blog post at KCTS about the reopening of the Crocodile Cafe. check it out, leave a comment!

http://www.kcts9.org/blog

"The Crocodile Cafe, the iconic Seattle rock venue that abruptly closed down in 2007 to a chorus of disappointed and shocked music fans and artists, is coming back."

Print Media

2009-01-12T11:10:00.000-08:00

Seattle: One newspaper town

2009-01-09T14:08:00.000-08:00

Seattle P-I put up for sale

It was announced a little after noon today, when the P-I staff was having their noon meeting. Basically from here, it means the complete end of the print edition of the P-I, and slim chance of reduced staff web only presence. KING-TV broke the story yesterday; I had a friend that was in an art gallery yesterday and saw the P-I Arts Critic proclaiming the end of her job and the oldest Seattle institution (since 1863. Chief Seattle was still alive, Lincoln hadn't been assassinated yet, the Civil War would still go on for another 2 years). I also listened to David Horsey, the P-I's editorial cartoonist talk on Weekday with Steve Scher this morning, professing fear and lack of information over the situation.

The death of old media is harsh. More analysis later; I'm still at work.

2009 has been a tumultuous year so far for Seattle.
-Death threats sent to Cap Hill gay bars
-4,500 to be layed off from Boeing
-More frequent violent crime and murder
1.Chop Suey concert shooting
2.Miles Murphy
3.Pioneer Square
-Massive flooding across the state
-Budget cuts for all kinds of government services and schools; schools are also closing

Film Addict: IMdB Top 250 films

2008-12-17T11:23:00.000-08:00

So Film Addict has a little utility that let's you see the percentage of how many films you've seen in IMdB's Top 250 films of all time (based on a 10 point scale rating from users).

I've seen 75.2% of the films on the list. I feel disgust and glory simultaneously. Disgust that I haven't seen the other 25%!
You can find out how much of a film addict you are and compare your score with mine by following this link:
http://plutor.org/filmaddict/?f=v711bztv

Brian Wilson biopic in the works

2008-11-24T22:52:00.000-08:00

A film based on the life of Brian Wilson has been optioned by The Mark Gordon Co., a production company that in the past, has produced 10,000BC, Talk to Me, The Painted Veil, and The Hoax. Not the most comforting of production resumes. For now, details are very limited; no information is available via imdb, but thanks to my access to a buddy's imdbpro account, I am able to share these details on the project:

15 Nov 2006: Optioned Property/Looking for a screenwriter.
20 May 2006: Looking for a screenwriter.
19 Nov 2007: Looking for a screenwriter.
21 May 2008: Looking for a screenwriter.

An article from Empire magazine (click here for the full article) had this to say in 2006.

Producer Mark Gordon (The Day After Tomorrow) has sealed a deal with Wilson to make the movie, which director David Leaf – who has already worked with the man himself to document making his recent Smile album – calling the shots. "I love the idea of there being a movie on my life, and I can't wait to see the script," Wilson told Variety, while revealing that he’s also allowing the filmmakers to use his back catalogue of memorable music, including God Only Knows, Good Vibrations and California Girls.

Gordon also praised the musician for his openness about the darker patches of his life. "I admire Brian for his willingness to tell his story truthfully," he told the trade magazine "It's complex and there is a lot to be learned from what he went through. It's easier to tell that story when you're in a good place and you have a happy ending. Brian has that now."

I would be unfaithful to my Beach Boys nerd-dom, if I didn't admit that I'm totally writing a screenplay for fun and to potentially send in unsolicited. Obviously, I'm absolutely psyched to see a feature film version of the the Beach Boys story. The previous two made-for-television movies (I won't even both linking to them) have left a much sought after desire to see their story told faithfully and with all the support and money that comes from a big Hollywood production.

While I revel and dream about this (yes, I dream about The Beach Boys), please enjoy these wonderful rare Beach Boys collection of songs. These songs are on constant repeat in my car.

The Beach Boys - The Pet Sounds Sessions
Pet Sounds - A Capella.zip

All the a capella tracks from The Pet Sounds Sessions, compiled into one zip file

The Pet Sounds Sessions is a 4-CD boxed set released in 1997 which compiles tracks from The Beach Boys'1966 album Pet Sounds, and its recording sessions. The album is included in its entirety in its original mono mix, as well as a stereo mix. The set also contains instrumental tracks, vocals-only tracks, alternate mixes, and edited highlights from the recording sessions for many of the album's songs, as well as several songs not included on the album.
(Available on Amazon.com)

The Beach Boys - Stack-o-Tracks (1968)
The Beach Boys - Stack-o-Tracks.rar

A very strange album, but enjoyable to have nonetheless. It features a variety of Beach Boys tracks with the vocals taken out, the intent being you the listener, singing the songs! A karaoke dream isn't it? A staple in my car during traffic-laden commutes.

Additional info via-
wikipedia
warr.org

(Available on Amazon.com)

Neil Sedaka - Calendar Girl

2008-08-21T13:00:00.001-07:00

mmm, one of the best worst videos ever. although, i wouldn't mind being the contemporary musician who covered the song and got playboy pets of the month in the music video. good ole recycled culture! if you can call it culture..

"Tintin Et Moi"

2008-08-14T22:30:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of watching an excellent documentary today on Tintin creator, Hergé, pen name for Georges Remi. Entitled "Tintin Et Moi", or Tintin and I, it highlights the potent socio-political underpinnings that gave Tintin's world such depth, and goes deep into the mind of Hergé, to reveal the personal and world events that led to the development of intrepid boy reporter Tintin, his dog Snowy (or Milou, depending on what country you're from), and the memorable cast of characters that followed.

The film itself is empowering and surprising but I was just as pleased and touched to see the quantity and variety of people that showed up. Playing at the Northwest Film Forum in Capitol Hill for a one day engagement, the age range of attendees and their knowledge of the world of Tintin was such a pleasure to eavesdrop on. 11 year old kids knowing every book and detail, elderly folks well into their 70's and 80's, smiling in wonder at how these kids, in the digital age of being inundated with images, enjoy the same magical tales they grew up with, almost a century old.

I'm still a little stunned and am processing all the information I've received on my favorite childhood comic (yeah it beats out Calvin and Hobbes). Here's some blurbs from other sources:

"TINTIN ET MOI draws on fourteen hours of interviews conducted in 1971 with Herge, who created the comic strip The Adventures of Tintin. The film examines the artist's signature graphic style, as well as the unparalleled popularity of the Tintin character and his fantastic adventures around the world." -NWFF

Incredibly in-depth FILM SYNOPSIS, from PBS P.O.V. (PBS aired "Tintin Et Moi" under their P.O.V. documentary series in 2006)

I will definitely write more soon; I'm trying to juggle the processing of the film in my mind and the incredible excitement I have for the 3D animated Steven Speilberg Tintin production coming in 2009.

Conversations @ KCTS9

2008-07-14T13:21:00.000-07:00

As a Production Intern over at KCTS, Seattle's PBS affiliate, I've been working on a new program, Conversations at KCTS9, which features half hour conversations with interesting local and national personalities. The first episode aired last Friday and episodes will continue to air, Fridays at 7:30pm on KCTS channel 9.

Upcoming guests include Pepper Schwartz, a sociology professor at the University of Washington that I had a class with at one point, and national broadcast legends Roger Mudd and Aaron Brown. and Apollo Ono!

check out a clip from the first episode with local author, Sherman Alexie.

Check out the rest of the upcoming guests and web-only videos at the Conversations website.

This program also marks the first time my name graces the credits for a show that is on the air! Whoo me! Although my head did appear in the audience shot of a "Ask the Governor" segment a while back, haah.

Fox News airs altered photos of NY Times reporters

2008-07-02T11:33:00.001-07:00

In today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer

2008-06-11T10:48:00.000-07:00

mmm, mmm, feels good inside: Bumbershoot and Capitol Hill Block Party

2008-06-03T10:32:00.000-07:00

bands i want to hug and/or watch are in bold.

THE CAPITOL HILL BLOCK PARTY SCHEDULE FOR 2008

Friday July 25

MAIN STAGE
Vampire Weekend
Les Savy Fav
Girl Talk
U.S.E
Common Market

NEUMOS
SING SING after party feat: DJs Pretty Titty and Four Color Zack
Jay Reatard
The Dodos
Thee Emergency
Past Lives
Black Eyes and Neck Ties

VERA STAGE
Say Hi
Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head
PWRFL Power
Black Elk
Talbot Tagora

KING COBRA
Lesbian
The Heavy Hearts
Pleasureboaters
Black Whale
Airborne Toxic Event
Truckasaurus
Champagne Champagne

Saturday July 26

MAIN STAGE
DeVotchKa
The Hold Steady
Chromeo
Menomena
Kimya Dawson
The Cave Singers
Kay Kay And His Weathered Underground

NEUMOS
SING SING after party feat: DJ’s Pretty Titty, Four Color Zack plus special guests.
Fleet Foxes
Throw Me The Statue
Jaguar Love
Darker My Love
The Butchers And The Builders
The Hands

VERA STAGE
Schoolyard Heroes
Akimbo
Grand Ole Party
The Physics
Man Plus
Little Party And The Bad Business

KING COBRA
Zeke
Book Of Black Earth
Feral Children
The Loved Ones
New Faces
Angelo Spencer

Buy tickets and get more info on the festival at www.thestranger.com/blockparty.

BUMBERSHOOT LINE UP SO FAR
The latest additions:

T.I. / Keyshia Cole / Adele / Minus the Bear / Battles / Aiden / Unearth / Sondre Lerche (YESS) / The Whigs / Thao with The Get Down Stay Down / Langhorne Slim & The War Eagles / These Arms Are Snakes / The Blakes / Mark Pickerel & His Praying Hands / Barcelona / Kinski / Throw Me The Statue / J-Boogie's Dubtronic Science / Tyrone Wells / Howlin Rain / Monotonix / The Shackeltons / Star Anna / West Indian Girl / Ravens & Chimes / Hadley Caliman Quintet featuring Thomas Marriott / Grynch / The Hands / Joshua Morrison / Matt Jorgensen +451 / Chester French / PWRFL Power / The Girls /

Bands on the lineup who were previously announced:

Beck / Stone Temple Pilots / The All-American Rejects / Lucinda Williams / Paramore / Neko Case /Band of Horses / The Black Keys / Ingrid Michaelson / Jakob Dylan / Del Tha Funky Homosapien / !!! / Mike Doughty / Xavier Rudd / Anti-Flag / Lee "Scratch" Perry / Saul Williams / Brother Ali / Joe Bonamassa / M. Ward / Man Man / The Walkmen / Kid Sister / Sons and Daughters / Asylum Street Spankers / Dan Deacon / Estelle / MIDIval PunditZ / Blitzen Trapper / Bedouin Soundclash / Scary Kids Scaring Kids / Tim Finn / Dale Watson / John Vanderslice / Final Fantasy / The Fall of Troy / Orgone / Forro in the Dark / Ryan Bingham & the Dead Horses / Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby / Arthur & Yu / Pacifika / Ian Moore / Darondo & Nino Moschella and many more still to be announced

Full lineup details will be announced mid-July

SIFF Opening Night

2008-05-22T10:51:00.000-07:00

Tonight's the big night. Opening day of the Seattle International Film Festival. It all goes down at the SIFF Opening Gala at McCaw Hall in Seattle Center, premiering Battle in Seattle [imdb], starring Charlize Theron, Ray Liotta, Woody Harrelson, Michelle Rodriguez, Andre 3000, and directed by Stuart Townsend.

Being an intern for publicists, I am lucky enough to experience the whole opening night experience. "The VIP Opening Night Exerience includes Opening Night Film & Gala, valet parking, a private pre-screening reception, reserved seating, access to the post-screening VIP lounge, and a gift bag."

That little synopsis of the night fails to mention the open bar and Charlize Theron appearing, giving me a wonderful opportunity to make a fool of myself, who's with me!? It should be a blast.

Go to SIFF screenings if you can; there's definitely a good number of films that I'm very psyched for. Off the top of my mind, a documentary about The Wrecking Crew [imdb, official site], the group of L.A. studio musicians that played on so many hit records (BEACH BOYS PET SOUNDS!!) from the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s, it's disgusting. Disgustingly good, if that wasn't clear. It plays tomorrow, May 23rd at the Harvard Exit and next week Monday, May 26th. Find the showtimes and buy tickets over at SIFF.net

By the way, media is a little safer...for now

2008-05-19T12:10:00.000-07:00

Last November, the FCC blazed through Seattle, among a handful other cities, to steam drive new ownership rules for media corporations. Specifically, that media conglomerates will be allowed to own tv stations and newspapers in the same market, something they were not allowed to do previously. For over thirty years, the FCC has prohibited newspaper owners from holding licenses to operate television and radio stations in the communities where their newspapers are published. This restriction is known as the cross-ownership rule. [previous post]

"[Kevin]Martin (FCC Chairman) decided on a list of six cities where the FCC would hold public forums to get feedback on scaling back these regulations; Seattle isn’t one of them.

In response, local non-profit group Reclaim the Media invited the five FCC directors to come out for an informal public hearing. Only Adelstein and Copps agreed to attend.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has announced plans to hold the final public hearing on media ownership on Friday, Nov. 9 at Seattle's Town Hall, giving the Northwest an unbelievable five business days to prepare for the hearing. The rushed hearing is part of Martin's plan to fast-track changes to the rules by mid-December. The hearing will be the only chance for Northwest residents to weigh in on proposals that would allow giant media companies to grow even more concentrated."

I jumped on the opportunity to go to the hearing and it became abundantly clear that Seattle's citizens, media makers/consumers, and legislators, hate and disdain the idea of letting ownership regulations become loose, allowing for conglomerates to singularly own and control more and more, the sources of information that we consume. Hearing people yell "Fascist!" and "Fuck you Martin!" was music to my ears. This new regulation was to coincide with the recent buyout of the Wall Street Journal by News Corporation, owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who's News Corp. also owns FOX, Myspace.com, The New York Post, and on and on.
(You can view a full list of what News Corp owns, along with the other Big 6 media conglomerates holdings, at Freepress.net, which has a convenient interactive chart.) The new loosened regulation would allow the Wall Street Journal buyout become legal.

It's important to note that FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, is a tool of the current administration, a fact that is openly known and discernible, even on the official FCC website's bio of Kevin Martin.

"Chairman Martin was nominated by President George W. Bush to a Republican seat on the Commission, and was sworn in on July 3, 2001. He was designated chairman by President Bush on March 18, 2005. Chairman Martin was re-nominated for a second term as commissioner and chairman by President George W. Bush on April 25, 2006."

That being said, the new regulation passed with a vote of 3-2, the Republican FCC commissioners holding 3 of the 5 seats. This occurred December of 2007, to the depressed sighs of many educated media consumers. You can read about Martin's defense over his decision via ABC, but it's very much like listening to any W. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice speech; full of generic open ended responses that have no bearing on reality. Afterwards, read FreePress.net's Devil in the Details, a report exposing 10 key facts that Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin is hiding from the public about his recent proposal to lift the longstanding ban on "newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership."

Luckily for us Washington-ians, we are blessed to have legislatures on both sides of the aisle, that are on the front lines of protecting media diversity. House Rep. Jay Inslee has been spear heading the reversal of the new regulations, alongside co-sponsor Rep. Dave Reichert (He'll stomp out media deregulation like he did the Green River killer! Sorry..). A similar resolution has been introduced by Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, with 17 co-sponsors including our own Sen. Maria Cantwell, as well as Democratic Presidential nominees, Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama.

Thankfully, we can all breathe a sigh of relief, because the resolution passed. "The Senate Commerce Committee unanimously approved a rare "resolution of disapproval" to invalidate the FCC's new rules, as concerns about media consolidation escalated in the wake of News Corp.'s negotiations to buy a second New York newspaper." [LA Times]

Sen. Barack Obama had some words about this victory for the public:
"Today the Senate stood up to Washington special interests by voting to reverse the FCC's disappointing media consolidation rules that I have fought against. Our nation's media market must reflect the diverse voices of our population, and it is essential that the FCC promotes the public interest and diversity in ownership."

All of this happened not because our legislators know what's best for us, but because over 250,000 letters were written by regular folks to the Senate and the FCC, demanding that this regulation be unchanged. A BIG victory for democracy, free speech, and the common folk. Very exciting stuff.

If you would like to get more acquainted with media going-ons, there are many media watchdog groups that are vigilant in trying to keep media going strong for citizens, not consumers.
Freepress.net
Mediamatters.org
Reclaimthemedia.org

VIDEO: whoa.

2008-05-16T10:52:00.000-07:00

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

Made in Buenos Aires. really intriguing and amazing stop motion wall art.
the link to their website and the original video.

reminds me of this video, Orgesticulanismus, from Mathieu Labaye's short-movie, Camera etc (Belgium, Liège)

Latest Spielberg News

2008-05-12T16:00:00.000-07:00

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull [imdb]opens next week, to what is sure to be the biggest grossing film of the year. The new poster art above, from poster art legend, Drew Struzan, adorns my wall with pride. I suggest you check out his website, in which a portfolio of his earlier work can be found. Classic poster art from Back to the Future, Blade Runner, Stars Wars series are there to gaze. He also has a collection of his movie poster art available in an awesome book that you can get pretty much anywhere, or on Amazon.com.

From early reports, it's been called the best Indy sequel. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade being my favorite film, I invite and revile the idea. On a surface level, I should automatically choose Last Crusade, regardless of having not seen the fourth film, simply on the basis of who's cast. Hands down everyone on the planet should say Sean Connery over Shia LaBeouf, that is if you have any sort of sense of culture or talent or human decency. At the same time I'm not opposed to seeing an even better film, even if it has hole-digging transforming even stevens over Bond. James Bond. After Indy 4 opens, Spielberg has a couple of productions he has in the works, all of which are extremely exciting.

His next project makes my forehead veins burst in excitement; Tintin [imdb]. The cartoon Belgium-born reporter that globe trots the world and adventures with his dog Snowy in tow, is going to be featured in three different 3D animation films, based on the original comics that Belgian artist Hergé penned and drew over the last century. According to cinema.com, "He plans a trilogy based on six of the classic books including Red Rackham's Treasure and The Blue Lotus reports French magazine Capital." I haven't seen that those stories in particular have been confirmed anywhere else, only time will tell.

Variety (full article) reported in detail last year,
"Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson are teaming to direct and produce three back-to-back features based on Georges Remi's beloved Belgian comic-strip hero Tintin for DreamWorks. [The films] will be produced in full digital 3-D using performance capture technology."

"Spielberg and Jackson have selected three stories from Remi's "The Adventures of Tintin" series, which encompassed 23 books published between 1929 and 1976. The series still attracts 2 million new fans a year."

"Jackson said WETA will stay true to Remi's original designs in bringing the cast of Tintin to life, but that the characters won't look cartoonish."

"Instead," Jackson said, "we're making them look photorealistic; the fibers of their clothing, the pores of their skin and each individual hair. They look exactly like real people — but real Herge people!"

"DreamWorks bought the film rights from Herge Studios in Brussels, Belgium. Company is led by prexy Fanny Rodwell, Remi's wife when he died in 1983."

""We want Tintin's adventures to have the reality of a live-action film, and yet Peter and I felt that shooting them in a traditional live-action format would simply not honor the distinctive look of the characters and world that Herge created," Spielberg continued."

After Tintin, Speilberg plans to immediately start on Lincoln [imdb]."Director Steven Spielberg is planning a biopic of former U.S. president Abraham Lincoln to tie in with the 200th anniversary of his birth, reports said Monday, according to AFP. The iconic director revealed he would produce the film about Lincoln’s life, expected to start shooting in 2009.

"I want to start ‘Lincoln’ in early 2009, because it’s Lincoln’s 200th anniversary," Steven Spielberg explained.

The Civil War epic will star Liam Neelson, who agreed to play the fallen president three years ago. [source eNews]

A rumored all-star cast fills Spielberg's next listed production, The Trial of the Chicago 7 [imdb], Will Smith and Kevin Spacey on top billing. Not a lot is known about it, since it's still very much in the pre-production stage, re-writes being on the top of the list of things to do. But, a synopsis is available:

"During the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, there were massive demonstrations against the Vietnam War, which was reaching its peak. When a curfew was finally instated, this led to even further protests, eventually leading to a police riot. Following this, seven of the demonstrators (Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Bobby Seale, John Froines, Tom Hayden, Lee Weiner, and David Dellinger) were tried for conspiracy. This is the story of the trial that followed."

A more serious Spielberg film that I gladly welcome. Munich and Schindler's List are definitely some of my favorite Spielberg that touch me in a significant, albeit different way than E.T. did. Although even picking my "favorite" Spielberg movies is a superfluous question, I like all Spielberg movies, a lot. Lots of exciting projects from one of the world's most prestigious and successful directors. It's going to be a good rest of the decade.

VIDEO: first 7 minutes of Speed Racer

2008-05-08T14:15:00.000-07:00

NYTimes: Writers are back but audiences for their TV shows are not

2008-05-07T13:35:00.000-07:00

An article from the New York Times about lagging ratings for post-WGA strike shows.

"During the past two weeks network television has finally returned to a relatively full complement of scripted shows, but viewers seem to be in shorter supply, even for television’s biggest hits. Shows like “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Desperate Housewives” on ABC, “C.S.I.” on CBS and “House” on Fox have come back with first-run episodes and recorded ratings among the lowest in their recent histories."

Dramas are the ones that seem to be hit the most because of season long story lines that have been broken by the months long strike.

"A major concern for television executives is that some viewers may have lost (or abandoned) the thread of continuing story lines for some dramas, especially serialized or soapy ones like “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Desperate Housewives. In addition, the strike’s length and the irregular schedule for bringing back network shows have confused viewers. “They haven’t been aware the shows are on again,” Preston Beckman, chief scheduler for Fox, said."

Comedies on the other hand have resurfaced unphased or experiencing even higher ratings.

"CBS’s lineup of Monday comedies has returned impressively, especially the network’s 9 p.m. hit, “Two and a Half Men.” NBC’s comedy “The Office” also has performed at or near its best ratings of the season. And Fox’s animated hit “Family Guy” returned on Sunday with a strong performance. The explanation for this success is simple, said David F. Poltrack, chief research officer for CBS. “Comedies don’t have continuing story lines,” he said. Viewers can always jump into a comedy without fear of being lost in a story line they may have forgotten.

you can read the rest of the article, TV Dramas Feel Brunt of Strike Fallout, on the NYTimes website.

personally, i feel as those i have been relatively unaffected by the return of TV writers, with the exception of 30 Rock which i adore and value higher with every new episode, and The Office which i watch out of hopes that it will get out of its slump of predictability and mis-steps in story and slipping jokes(ie. Michael does something crazy, everyone is dumbfounded and shocked). with the exception of those two network shows, and everything that is shown on HBO (television gold), i could care less if people stopped watching common denominator shows like Lost or House or Desperate Housewives.

speaking of HBO, David Cross and Bob Odenkirk (makers of Mr. Show, writers/actors on the short lived Ben Stiller show), have been greenlit to make a new show. i'll make a detailed post about it soon.

KCTS is what's going on

2008-05-07T10:59:00.000-07:00

I let out the biggest gasp at work just now and when people asked what was up, I just pointed to this image.

I knew I signed up for PBS for this moment. Granted, it's a national program, but I can get a DVD copy of the show after it airs ahahahaha. Part of PBS' American Masters series, this is going to be an hour long feast of Marvin-goodness. Marvin Gaye's What's Going On album is in Rolling Stone's Top 10, out of their Top 500 albums of all time. It's in my Top 10 of all time as well, and the title track is definitely my number one soul/funk song of all time. if you don't have a copy of the album, for shame. It's on TONIGHT! So you Seattle TV owners, tune into channel 9 at 9pm!!

Synopsis: A great, enduring figure of American music, Marvin Gaye combined gospel, rhythm and blues, soul and jazz to create his own intimate style -- reflecting his "path of the heart" and, essentially, giving us his autobiography in lyrics and sound. He was a glamorous, sometime flamboyant, performer, a Motown star who challenged and changed the face of popular music with records such as "What's Going On" in 1971 -- full of honesty, vulnerability and integrity. Yet, his life was tainted by the bizarre -- full of torment, constant battling of demons and, ultimately, death at the hand of his own father -- a preacher and a cross-dresser, who seemed to have "a grudge against his son" from the day he was born. The program includes extensive performance footage and insight from Mary Wilson, Smokey Robinson, Gladys Knight and Mos Def, among many others.

Air Schedule:
Wednesday, May 7, 9:00 pm on KCTS (Analog/DT)Seattle
Future Airs: 05/11/08, 3:00 am KCTS (Analog/DT)Seattle; 05/11/08, 3:00 am KYVE (Analog/DT)Yakima

check out KCTS.org for more future showings

VIDEO: Alligators - Where Does it Hide (in studio)

2008-05-06T23:27:00.001-07:00

another track off Alligator's yet-to-be-titled debut album. stay tuned for more videos and updates.

Click To Play

if you want to watch it in quicktime, which has better quality video, send your mouse this way.

Tom still Cruisin' 25 years later

2008-05-06T13:30:00.000-07:00

25 years ago, Tom Cruise appeared in his first starring role in Risky Business. To celebrate, www.tomcruise.com has been revamped, featuring a note from Tom and a montage of his films. The site in itself has a very clean layout, especially the filmography page which is very comprehensive. movie poster, production stills, trailer (in a very clean flash player thankfully). it kind of puts other studio/actor sites to shame. hopefully we'll see all studio/actor sites follow in making sleek, user friendly, content rich sites.

I know there's a lot of Cruise-haters out there, but I can say without blinking an eye that I enjoy every Tom Cruise movie (with the exception of Mission Impossible II). you know you love Cocktail too. i think jealousy stems the hatred, okay and maybe the scientology part, but i know i'm jealous of an actor who's worked with Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Michael Mann, Edward Zwick, Francis Ford Coppola, Cameron Crowe, Brian De Palma, John Woo, Stanley Kubrick, Robert Redford, Paul Thomas Anderson, Oliver Stone, Sydney Pollack; basically every significant director, and that's not including all of the amazing actors and actresses he's shared the screen with. anyhoo, the site is worth exploring.

don't hate.

Fleet Foxes - Pitchfork.tv interview @ SXSW

2008-05-06T11:23:00.000-07:00

"SXSW was pretty goddamn fun again this year, especially because it was the first time we had video cameras. On Friday, we asked Seattle-based psych-folks Fleet Foxes to hang out, so they invited us to tag along in their tour van between gigs, taco runs, bitching about cops, and hitting up local bridges to test out the acoustics."

-check out pitchfork.tv for more indie rock interviews/news/videos

new new new

2008-05-05T23:09:00.000-07:00

new layout, new name, new url.

the transformation will be complete by the end of this week. what can one expect with the completion of the new ENCYCLOMEDIA, formerly known as DAYSTHATAREOVER? well, i'm so glad you inquired.

album reviews
a good 50/50 of contemporary new releases and classic albums from the 60s and 70s.
film reviews
watch out for my SIFF special; i work with marketing and publicity and so i'll have the chance to watch many SIFF films, as well as regular films before their theatrical release. look out for an INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL review the day before it opens
a year at the oscars
in depth look at the winners/nominations/sins of omission within specific year
lists lists lists!
top ten lists for individual years, with a focus on 60's and 70's, and maybe genres.

in the mean time, here is Steven Spielberg's much famed first film from 1968, "Amblin'". it's been described by Speilberg as a "tone poem", featuring no dialogue, music playing throughout, and very very Spielberg-ian shot design and sentimental feel. embedded below, but the URL is goes here if you wanted to watch it full screen.

In Studio w/ Alligators

2008-05-04T12:55:00.000-07:00

Click To Play

quicktime version.
here's a clip of them Alligators recording "If You Want It", off their upcoming debut album. definitely my favorite local band. i'm piecing together a behind the scenes/production video of their recording sessions. those updates will be here as soon as i finish them!

if you wanna hear more, www.myspace.com/alligatorpocketbook

Kids on Bikes and others @ Healthy Times Fun Club

2008-05-04T12:50:00.000-07:00

did a DJ set this show. blogger/photographer ReverendVanessa took pics, a couple of which are below, the rest at this url.

Setlist (you can tell there's a lot of stevie love):
Stevie Wonder - Tuesday Heartbreak
Marvin Gaye - Ain't That Peculiar
Sam and Dave - Hold On I'm Coming
ELO - Showdown
Rolling Stones - Brown Sugar
Four Tops - Reach Out
Four Seasons - Working My Way Back to You
Stevie Wonder - Superwoman
Beatles - Don't Let Me Down
Al Green - Call Me
Paul Simon - Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard
Jackson 5 - I Want You Back
Zombies - Tell Her No
Beach Boys - California Girls/Let Him Run Wild
ELO - Shine a Little Love
Stevie Wonder - Summer Soft
Marvin Gaye - Heard it on the Grapevine
Sam and Dave - Soul Man
Isley Brothers - That Lady
Bob Marley - I Shot the Sheriff
Stevie Wonder - Bird of Beauty
Gladys Knight and the Pips - Midnight Train to Georgia
Beatles - My Guitar Gently Weeps
Aretha Franklin - Think
Earth Wind and Fire - Way of the World
Michael Jackson - Rock with You
Supremes - You Keep Me Hanging On
David Ruffin - Each Day is a Lifetime
Miracles - Ooh Baby Baby
Jimi Hendrix - Foxey Lady
Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell - Ain't No Mountain High Enough
Sergio Mendes - One More Lie

the aging rockstar: supernova or black dwarf?

2008-03-26T14:22:00.000-07:00

music stars of the past can always be counted upon to do reunion tours and performances at awards shows to shame or acclaim. some defy the logic of "past their prime" and continue to blow us away, holding onto the same vocal or instrumental prowess today that made us love them yesterday. others, make us wish they stayed in retirement, only giving us a glimpse of the power they held over us, and making us question whether we gave into that power without thinking it through. let's take a look at some of the hits and misses of aged stars' comeback performances.

ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA
1978

2002

the first clip is a music video from the album Discovery (or "disco, very." to some) and the second clip is from the failed Zoom tour in 2002, where sunken ticket sales made this potentially monumental tour into a never was and a could've been. luckily, they performed their set for PBS before the whole thing tanked.
a couple key points here. Jeff Lynne's vocal prowess is clearly evident, I would argue that his voice got better with age; more control, no hiding behind vocal effects, pitch perfect on every note. pretty sick. props to anyone who can sustain the same white man fro for over 30 years.
PROGNOSIS - SUPERNOVA

THE BEE GEES
1977

1993

this track from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack only reminds me that the hair loss gods were not kind to the Brothers Gibb. it's fair to say that the Gibbs' mother "started the joke" on this one, Robin taking the shortest straw in hereditary baldness, which is the saddest since he had the longest golden locks. but aside from the punishments of aging, their vocal skills have gone down the tubes. but one must concede that singing falsetto vocals is something one can't sustain over decades. you only have to look at other falsetto masters (brian wilson/beach boys, frankie valli/four seasons) to see that they never last long. the only other thing that disturbs me is the backing band, which sounds more like asian karoake than a 70's funk/disco combo. The BeeGees, even with 6 #1 hits in a row, haven't stayed alive since.
PROGNOSIS - BLACK HOLE

more to be added this weekend..

Wetlands

2008-03-04T11:39:00.000-08:00

my friend Steven has been working on a multimedia variety show called Wetlands, a very unique stage show that combines video, dancing, singing, and skits. the premiere performance was this last Friday at the Carco Theater in Renton. i helped stage manage the show, it went smoothly and was quite a hit with the audience, although i will concede that the audience was filled with longtime friends and family. it's quite a show, Steven is incredible in his vision of filmmaking and editing and effects. he produced, wrote, and directed pretty much everything. there's definitely no one else that's doing what he's doing. watch some clips at the Wetlands webpage, media section.

future performances are TBA, but will likely be in Seattle. so definitely stay tuned for that.

belated 2007 lists, and other 7's

2008-03-04T11:27:00.000-08:00

so....i haven't posted here in a while. many good excuses, many bad. we'll start with the good ones.
2 internships at the same time, one for movie marketing, one for KCTS-TV, the Seattle PBS affiliate. my weekdays have become 9am-6pm or 9am-9pm. so you can imagine i'm quite busy. bad excuses; pure laziness.

i thought i'd start my resurgence with a disregarded "draft" post, that i had yet to finish before the end of the year of 2007. so i'll just post that now here and move on.

EDITORIAL NOTE: the format of this blog in terms of content and coverage will shift slightly, maybe forever, or until i find a comfortable variety medium. that's kind of openended and vague, but i guess future posts will be the barometer. anyhoo, disregarded best of 2007 list starts now:

it's getting to that time of year again when bloggers, music writers, and nerdy music fanatics make their year end top 10 lists for the year. i was thinking it over and i really haven't tried to keep up with the contemporary indie scene to even make a top 10 list, i'm not even sure if i've listened to ten 2007 albums. plus, anyone who knows me knows that i listen to 60's and 70's music primarily, with contemporary indie being the exception to the rule. with that in mind when thinking about the top albums of year, i've decided to do a top 10 for 1967 and 1977, because the album releases those years are so much better and more influential. i'm not trying to downplay 2007 as much as i am completely praising '67 and '77.

TOP ALBUMS OF 2007
Feist - The Reminder
Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position
Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala

TOP ALBUMS OF 1967
Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced?
The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band
Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell - United
Cream -Disraeli Gears
Antonio Carlos Jobim - Wave
The Four Tops - Reach Out
The Supremes - Sing Holland-Dozier-Holland
The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground and Nico

The Beach Boys - Smile (unreleased, but should of)
Nico - Chelsea Girl
The Doors - The Doors
The Temptations - With a Lot O'Soul
The Who - The Who Sell Out
Sam and Dave - Soul Men

TOP ALBUMS OF 1977
Television - Marquee Moon
The Ramones - Rocket to Russia
The Sex Pistols - Nevermind the Bullocks - Here's the Sex Pistols
Electric Light Orchestra - Out of the Blue
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Queen - News of the World
Bob Marley and the Wailers - Exodus
Joao Gilberto - Amoroso

Wire - Pink Flag
Elvis Costello - My Aim is True
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
The Congos - Heart of the Congos
Iggy Pop - Lust for Life

CONSPIRACY THEORY ROCK!

2007-11-27T11:45:00.001-08:00

it's a Media-opoly! brought to you by TV Funhouse.

FCC Hearing on Media Ownership in Seattle TOMORROW

2007-11-08T11:10:00.000-08:00

FIRST OFF-there is a hearing tomorrow in seattle and i strongly suggest that everyone should go if you care about the quality of the media you receive and what giant corporation you're getting it from. details of the hearing are below, but plz read all of this.

Public Hearing on Media Ownership
4pm-11pm, Nov. 9 2007
Town Hall Seattle, Great Hall
1119 Eighth Avenue
-----
FCC commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps are coming to Seattle to solicit public opinionson deregulating media ownership.

The Federal Communications Commission, led by Republican chairperson Kevin Martin, is considering lifting a ban which restricts a single company from owning both the major newspaper and major broadcasting system in a single market, expanding the limit on the number of radio stations and TV stations a single company can own in a market, and raising the number of local television stations one company can own.

Martin decided on a list of six cities where the FCC would hold public forums to get feedback on scaling back these regulations; Seattle isn’t one of them.

In response, local non-profit group Reclaim the Media invited the five FCC directors to come out for an informal public hearing. Only Adelstein and Copps agreed to attend.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has announced plans to hold the final public hearing on media ownership on Friday, Nov. 9 at Seattle's Town Hall, giving the Northwest an unbelievable five business days to prepare for the hearing. The rushed hearing is part of Martin's plan to fast-track changes to the rules by mid-December. The hearing will be the only chance for Northwest residents to weigh in on proposals that would allow giant media companies to grow even more concentrated.

Public Hearing on Media Ownership
4pm-11pm, Nov. 9 2007
Town Hall Seattle, Great Hall
1119 Eighth Avenue

Media consolidation has direct effects on local programming, competition between media outlets that encourages quality coverage, and the success of minorities and women who own broadcasting companies.

Reclaim the Media co-director Karen Toering asks, “Why are they opening up new rules on media ownership and consolidation” when consolidation sets back women and minority owners?

Toering cites an October study by the national media reform group Free Press that states, “Pro-consolidation policies enacted by the FCC in the late 1990s have indirectly or directly contributed to the loss of 40 percent of the [broadcast TV] stations that were minority-owned in 1998.”

The same study says African Americans and Latinos, who make up 27 percent of the American public, own only 2 percent of all broadcast TV stations. And women, who make up 51 percent of the population, own less than 5 percent of all TV stations.

Allowing giant companies to own more media stands to benefit only a handful of corporations like Disney, Viacom, NBC/GE, News Corp., Time Warner, and Clear Channel, says Toering.

“Further consolidation or merging of these industries means fewer voices and fewer ideas.”

FOR MORE INFO:
reclaimthemedia.org (seattle based)
mediamatters.org
www.realchangenews.org/2006/2006_11_22/whoownsthemedia.html
freepress.net

sources-reclaimthemedia.org and www.realchangenews.org/2006/2006_11_22/whoownsthemedia.html
(i basically copy/pasted a bunch of stuff from these two places)

WGA strike continuesss

2007-11-06T10:07:00.001-08:00

yesterday was the first day of the Writer's Guild of America's strike against conglomerate Hollywood. The strike is against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), a trade organization that represents the interests of American film and television producers. Over 12,000 writers will be affected by the strike. The last such strike was the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike; it lasted 22 weeks, costing the American entertainment industry an estimated $500 million. I just watched a clip of Tina Fey on the picket line in front of Rockefeller Center in NYC (where 30 Rock is fictionally located), and she seemed to explain everything I wanted to write. so take it away Tina!....my love goddess *drool*

OH WHAT THE FUCK!!!!

2007-11-02T12:01:00.000-07:00

Full soundtrack listing:

"Family Theme Waltz" - Sondre Lerche
"To Be Surprised" - Sondre Lerche
"I'll Be OK" - Sondre Lerche
"Dan and Marie Picking Hum" - Sondre Lerche
"My Hands Are Shaking" - Sondre Lerche
"Dan In Real Life" - Sondre Lerche
"Hell No" - Sondre Lerche and Regina Spektor
"Family Theme" - Sondre Lerche
"Fever" - A Fine Frenzy
"Airport Taxi Reception" - Sondre Lerche and The Faces Down
"Dan and Marie Melody" - Sondre Lerche
"Human Hands" - Sondre Lerche and The Faces Down Quartet
"I'll Be OK" (Instrumental Reprise) - Sondre Lerche
"Let My Love Open The Door" - Sondre Lerche
"Dan and Marie Finale Theme" - Sondre Lerche
"Modern Nature" - Sondre Lerche and Lillian Samdal

SOOOOOO.......it's like finding out your lover of 7 years has been cheating on you, and you find out via seeing her with another dude on the cover of a tabloid while you're in the grocery store line. i feel so broken, that I, a premiere Sondre Lerche fan, was so out of the loop. i blame Steve Carrell for making a movie I dont want to see and therefore making me ignore everything about it. well...looks like i need to go buy a cd soon after this post...
EDIT: DOUBLE WTF!!!!!
and Sondre's touring tooo!!!! and he's coming to Seattle NEXT WEEK!!! AND I'M FINALLY 21 SO I CAN SEE HIM!!! AHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! and strangely enough, the venue is on the same block as my work. very niceeeee. who wants to go see Sondre?! this coming Thurs. Nov 8, 8pm $15, Nectar Lounge in Fremont.

prelude to 2007 ALBUMS of the YEAR list

2007-11-02T11:29:00.000-07:00

it's getting to that time of year again when bloggers, music writers, and nerdy music fanatics make their year end top 10 lists for the year. i was thinking it over and i really haven't tried to keep up with the contemporary indie scene to even make a top 5 list, i'm not even sure if i've listened to five 2007 albums. plus, anyone who knows me knows that i pretty much only listen to 60's and 70's music exclusively, with contemporary indie being the exception to the rule. with that in mind when thinking about the top albums of year, i've decided to do a top 10 for 1967 and 1977, because the album releases those years are so much better and more influential. i'm not trying to downplay 2007 as much as i am completely praising '67 and '77. said post will be rocking, with album cover art and youtube/mp3 links and historical commentary from yours truely. i'm gonna spend a couple more days writing all that up, but in the mean time, a topic, rather, bunch of videos i really dig, has come up in my mind. ..brought to you by viewers like you, support public broadcasting!

ROCKIN MOMENTS IN CHILDREN's TELEVISION HISTORY.

Stevie Wonder and his 1972 band Wonderlove performing the theme from Sesame Street.

and then performing Superstition with a bunch of pre-toddlers rocking the fuck out!!

Mr. Rogers knew how to be a B-Boy before any of you!!

i highly suggest watching this clip, it's Mr. Rogers going in front of a Senate Committee that wanted to take away funding for public broascasting in 1969. Mr. Rogers changes his mind in 6 minutes....

apologies, with love, from brazil

2007-10-31T15:17:00.000-07:00

i promise from here on in, to at least attempt to be a consistent updater. with that said, here's a song that i listened to about 15 times yesterday. titled "One More Lie", it's pretty much the perfectly crafted disco song. performed by notable Brazilian Sergio Mendes under his newly minted band Brazil '88, which in the 60's was Brazil '66 and Brazil '77 in the 70's, up until the release of the album Brazil '88 in 1978. the album is pretty much impossible to find or download and the only online presence of the tune i could find was one of those lame YouTube slideshows while the track is playing. be that as it may, here is that vid.

here's a blurb that the user uploaded along w/ the vid:
Before long 1977 rolled around, and without batting an eye Sergio Mendes updated the name of his act to Brasil '88. Mendes is still chasing the North American charts -- to no avail -- but at least he does not desert Brazil, splitting his time between the music of his homeland and humdrum U.S. commercial material, the latter usually coming from the pens of either Michael or John Sembello. Predictably, the Brazilian material goes over better, though not always as well as it could. Milton Nascimento's breathtakingly beautiful "Bridges" receives only a workaday reading here, and Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Waters of March" gets a remake, a bit brighter in texture than Mendes' Bell version made less than four years before, yet not substantially different enough to justify another recording. The best track is a rare instrumental for Mendes during this period, a cooking takeoff on Airto Moreira's "Misturada" in 7/8 time. The female vocalists du jour, Marietta Waters and Carol Rogers, sing in tune and seem comfortable with Mendes' American and Brazilian sides. Two familiar collaborators from the Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 days, arrangers Dick Hazard and Dave Grusin, are back to elaborate upon the competent sessionwork from the usual L.A. suspects. Although Mendes doesn't quite regain the altitude of Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 or even Sergio Mendes and the New Brasil '77, this album ranks a cut above the bulk of his output from the mid-'70s to the late '80s.

and for kicks, Sergio Mendes and Brazil '66s most famous single, Mas Que Nada.

Go Poitier! Go!

2007-08-11T13:26:00.000-07:00

I came across this clip today from the movie "To Sir, with Love" from 1967 starring Sidney Poitier. Something about the spirit of the characters faces, the dancing, and the live band makes this clip just jump out to me. The film itself is one of the first "idealistic teacher is confronted with a class of cynical teenagers" genre movies, but with 60's issues! hoho. Anyways, here's the clip which I think is way groovy. It features the group, The Mindbenders.

Citywide Wi-Fi Put to Test in Minneapolis

2007-08-09T17:22:00.001-07:00

While public safety has often been touted as a major reason for cities to build their own Wi-Fi networks, until the tragedy in Minneapolis last week, such a network had never been truly tested.

read more | digg story

PROTEST HIKED STEVIE WONDER TIX PRICES!!!

2007-08-06T14:31:00.001-07:00

stevie wonder tix became available at 10am today, sold out instantly and now is triple/quadruple price via scalpers and online resellers. FUCK THAT! To all those who bought Stevie tickets to resell at an OUTRAGEOUS price: you are an insult to honest people, honest living and all appreciators of music. Watch out -- karma sucks.check out what craiglisters are saying..http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/tix/390799349.htmlhttp://seattle.craigslist.org/see/tix/390772668.htmlits extreme bullshit. my love for Stevie is so strong that this breaks my heart hard. if anyone should see the 8th Wonder of the World, it should be MEEEE!!!!! i could own anyone in Stevie trivia/useless facts. AND i have every fucking album on vinyl so FUCK SCALPERS. FUCK!

read more | digg story

DivX Spins Off Stage6

2007-07-25T10:01:00.001-07:00

DivX announced today it would spin off Stage6, its high-quality YouTube alternative. This is bad news for video-sharing sites, showing they’re having trouble holding their weight without the subsidy of venture capital or Google-level resources. Stage6 appears to have been too much to handle for its moderately successful public company parent.

read more | digg story

Google's $4.6 billion plan for an open wireless Internet

2007-07-21T23:26:00.001-07:00

In a brilliant lobbying move, the search company promises the government loads of cash in return for a better wireless Web.

read more | digg story

WES ANDERSON's LATEST

2007-07-20T16:18:00.001-07:00

YES. the next Wes Anderson movie, The Darjeeling Limited has released it's theatrical poster. also stars Anjelica Huston, Natalie Portman, Roman Coppola. i'm definitely psyched that Jason Schwartzman is starring, his first role in an Anderson since the iconic Rushmore. screenplay was co-written by Schwartzman, Anderson, and Roman Coppola. This film is the opener at the New York Film Festival Sept. 28th of this year, and limited release the day after, Sept. 29th.

IMDb page

Bush Tries to End PBS, The House says NO!

2007-07-20T12:41:00.001-07:00

"The House on Wednesday evening overwhelmingly rejected President Bush's plan to eliminate the $420 million federal subsidy for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting."

read more | digg story

Spielberg’s ‘The Pacific’ to Film in August (sequel to Band of Brothers)

2007-07-13T14:06:00.001-07:00

Steven Spielberg’s latest project, “The Pacific” which is bound for HBO, is set to start filming in August. The new mini-series is a companion piece to “Band of Brothers”.This is awesome news. Spielberg's father, who was a WWII veteran in the Pacific campaign, joked about how his son never made a movie about his experiences in Asia, commenting on Spielberg's last WWII projects Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan. the Pacific campaign, the much bloodier campaign of the American battlegrounds, in general is not very well covered in our movies and tv, and when they are, they are represented abysmally (Nicholas Cage in Windtalkers anybody?). The only good Pacific campaign movie i've seen is Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers/Letters from Iwo Jima duo saga.Spielberg definitely defined the way movies accurately portray fighting in wars. We can only expect super gruesome and realistic battles intertwined with strong character plots.

read more from Screenhead
or here
updates on the progress of The Pacific w/ casting, location, details

if you're a hardcore Spielberg fan like me, check out "Spielberg on Spielberg", a documentary on the TCM channel. and if you don't get TCM like me, preview it via torrents:

Turner Classic Special - Spielberg on Spielberg (2007.TVRip.SoS)
runtime = 1hour 26mins
xvid.512x384.993kbps.mp3.160.vbr
filesize = 700MB
download here or here

Originally aired: 2007.07.09

"He is a director who, for more than three decades, has inspired audiences to a clearer understanding of history, challenged them to tackle questions of moral ambiguity and dilemma, left them unsure of what may come from the skies (or from the future) and even stirred in some a fear of swimming in the ocean. In SPIELBERG ON SPIELBERG, two-time Best Director Oscar winner Steven Spielberg discusses his meteoric rise to success in Hollywood, as well as the motion pictures that took him there. The special features exclusive and detailed interviews with arguably the most popular and influential director of his time and is produced by Richard Schickel, who created similar programs on Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese.

With the man himself as viewers’ personal guide, SPIELBERG ON SPIELBERG charts a path through the amazing and diverse canon that represents Spielberg’s body of work. He explains how during high school he got his start with Universal Studios – which he says felt more familiar to him than the house in which he grew up – by hiding in a bathroom while on a public tour and eventually securing a three-day pass from a film librarian. The skills he acquired on set led to Amblin’, his first college project and the film that earned him a seven-year contract with Universal. It also provided the name for his Amblin Entertainment production company.

Spielberg, who has never recorded a audio commentary track for the home video releases of any of his movies, reminisces about his earliest directorial efforts, including a segment of the movie pilot for Night Gallery, featuring the legendary Joan Crawford, who at first balked at the idea of being directed by a 22-year-old and later came to admire his talent; the television thriller Duel; and the critically acclaimed Goldie Hawn vehicle The Sugarland Express. Next he turns his attention to Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the blockbusters that made him a household name. He then evaluates what he believes were the reasons behind his first critical and box-office setback in 1941.

The bulk of SPIELBERG ON SPIELBERG features discussions about the more than 20 years of filmmaking that followed and the classics that resulted, from the action-adventure of Raiders of the Lost Ark and Jurassic Park to the touching poignancy of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial and The Color Purple to the uncompromising personal drama of Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan and Munich."

VIDEO: Michael Moore slams CNN, Wolf Blitzer on live TV

2007-07-10T17:45:00.001-07:00

Moore argued that CNN has such a lousy track record of reporting the truth about the war in Iraq and asking tough questions, that Americans should be skeptical of their reporting on health care.

read more | digg story

The Future is Here, Minority Report style

2007-07-09T11:50:00.000-07:00

the future of computing; surface computing. seeing the video just makes the imagination go wild of all the applications it can be used for. completely revolutionary. (if you can't see the embedded video, it's because you're probably viewing this post via facebook notes or rss reader, visit the actual daysthatareover blog to see all embeds (rss readers tend not to see embeds that aren't standards like YouTube, this will change soon i bet, Web2.0 is pretty sick).

MSNBC's Carlson on Obama: [H]e sounds like a pothead to me

2007-07-09T10:39:00.001-07:00

On the July 6 edition of MSNBC's Tucker, host Tucker Carlson read the following excerpt from a speech delivered by Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) in Fairfield, Iowa, on July 3: "Somehow we have lost the capacity to recognize ourselves in each other. You know, people talk a lot about the federal deficit, but one of the things I always talk about is an empathy deficit." Carlson then asked: "How high is this guy? It's like what is he -- he always talks between bong hits?" Tucker later said: "Well, he sounds like a pothead to me. I mean, look, tell me what you're for. I don't want to hear about the [']empathy['] -- what the hell is that? Do you know what I mean? If I want a therapist, I'll pay for one."

read more | digg story

Music Industry Shaking Down Coffee Shops

2007-07-09T10:02:00.001-07:00

"A restaurant owner who doesn't even offer live music was approached for payment for having the TV on while the Monday Night Football theme played. And if the owners pay up to one licensing company, all of the others start harassing them, calling four times a day, demanding payment too."

read more | digg story

Report on Internet Speeds of All 50 States

2007-07-08T12:26:00.001-07:00

Countries like Canada, Sweden, and South Korea have better, faster Internet connections. Yet, people inother countries pay the same as we do in the U.S. for their Internet connection.The United States has fallen to 16th place behind other industrialized nations in high speed Internet access.

read more | digg story

FOX News asks: Did Mr. Rogers destroy an entire generation?

2007-07-08T12:17:00.001-07:00

Cardigan sweaters and wearing sneakers apparently had quite a negative influence on a generation. Fox News hosts blame Mr. Rogers for a generation of kids who have a sense of entitlement rather than a work ethic to try hard.

This has to be one of the utmost blaspemous stories i've ever heard. Mr. Rogers was one of the purest and wonderful persons that could have ever been on television. "Rogers covered a broad range of topics over the years, and the series did not gloss over issues that other children's programming avoided. For example, the series dealt with competition, divorce, death, and war. Rogers returned to the topic of anger regularly and focused on peaceful ways of dealing with angry feelings. - Wikipedia".

The story link has the Fox News broadcast; listen to them convey their political agenda while in the process demonizing all the good that Fred Rogers did for generations.
"I got into television because I hated it so. And I thought there was some way of using this fabulous instrument to be of nurture to those who would watch and listen."-Mr. Rogers
i'm sure Mr. Rogers hated Fox News too.

read more | digg story

15 reasons why Mr. Rogers is the best neighbor
NewsHounds: We Watch FOX so you don't have to
fair.org - FOX News The Most Biased Name in News

Clock's Ticking On Net Neutrality

2007-07-03T13:07:00.001-07:00

Net neutrality is nothing new; these provisions have been in place since the Internet's inception. But if network operators, led by telephone and cable television industries, have their way, net neutrality will be a thing of the past.

read more | digg story

True or False: U.S.'s Broadband Penetration Is Lower Than Even Estonia's

2007-07-03T13:06:00.001-07:00

This describes how the United States is not the top dog when it comes to Broadband Penetration.

read more | digg story

Portland FCC Hearing Will Spotlight Low Power FM Radio

2007-07-03T13:04:00.001-07:00

At an official hearing on localism tomorrow in Portland, the Federal Communications Commission will hear public testimony on the benefits of Low Power FM (LPFM) stations. This hearing follows the introduction of the bipartisan Local Community Radio Act — legislation that could bring hundreds of new LPFM stations to urban and suburban communities.

read more | digg story

7-Eleven has been transformed into Kwik-E-Marts!!!

2007-07-02T14:08:00.001-07:00

It's all part of a campaign to hype the July 27 opening of "The Simpsons Movie"

read more | digg story

New pics from Indy IV, w/ Shia Labeouf

2007-06-29T15:51:00.000-07:00

First look of Harrison and Shia together in Indy IV (IMDb) from JustJared.buzznet.com. Details are still very slim regarding their relationship, although one could argue they look very similar making father/son more viable. "The new Indiana Jones movie is a Lucasfilm Ltd. Production, directed by Steven Spielberg and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Frank Marshall returns as producer with Kathleen Kennedy joining George Lucas as executive producer. It is planned for worldwide release on May 22, 2008." Basically Shia Labeouf is the luckiest young actor ever. Starring roles in Transformers and Indiana Jones? What a dream to be in such iconic series. Check out indianajones.com for a video of the first day of shooting.

more pics here

Factory Girl DVDRip

2007-06-29T14:50:00.000-07:00

Written by:	Aaron Richard Golub Captain Mauzner (also story) Simon Monjack (story)
Directed by:	George Hickenlooper
Release Date:	DVD: June 19, 2007 Theatrical: December 29, 2006

Plot summary: A beautiful, wealthy young party girl drops out of Radcliffe in 1965 and heads to New York to become Holly Golightly. When she meets a hungry young artist named Andy Warhol, he promises to make her the star she always wanted to be. And like a super nova she explodes on the New York scene only to find herself slowly lose grip on reality..

Trailer:

This movie seems very exciting to me at first glance; Guy Pearce as Andy Warhol, Sienna Miller as Edie Sedgwick, and the award for least serious actor playing the most serious person, Hayden Christensen as fictional rock icon Billy Quinn (ie, exact doppleganger of Bob Dylan. seriously, puberty-driven Anakin Skywalker plays the voice of folk, love, and revolution in the 60's? someone needs to fire a casting director out of principle). The critics really shit all over this movie; Metacritic gave it 45/100 based on 27 reviews. Quite unfortunate seeings how Andy Warhol, swinging London in the 60's, counterculture, audio/visual art are quite interesting topics, and it seems like this film doesn't do much but show these images with no historical context or value. Regardless, Sienna Miller is a babe, and I will watch any movie with Guy Pearce in it.

Factory.Girl.LIMITED.DVDRip.XviD-DMT

1 CD, 700 MB, dmt-factory
640×352 px, 128 kb/s MP3
Sample #1 #2 #3 #4
IMDB, HOMEPAGE, TORRENT

from Releaselog rlslog.net

Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace

2007-06-28T14:46:00.001-07:00

Well-to-do, stable American teens with "good prospects" end up on Facebook, while poor, queer, marginal and non-white teens end up on MySpace (even in the military, grunts are on MySpace and officers are on Facebook -- guess which one the military banned!)

read more | digg story

UW aids RIAA in suing students

2007-06-27T12:41:00.001-07:00

The University of Washington announced Monday a new policy about illegal music file-sharing on campus: Not only will the school not shield students from lawsuits from the recording industry, it will track them down and serve them the legal papers.

read more | digg story

Man Stroke Woman

2007-06-27T11:12:00.000-07:00

this is one of my favorite shows, a sketch comedy from BBC3 in the UK, features Amanda Abbington, Ben Crompton, Daisy Haggard, Meredith MacNeill, Nicholas Burns, and Nick Frost (of Shaun of the Dead/Hot Fuzz fame). mostly it's deadpan completely serious delivery with amazing sillyness with that signature British wit. thanks to living in 2007 w/ the internet, most of the episodes are available streamed online, which for us lucky Americans, allows us to watch this UK only program. here's episode 1.

go to their official website here for interviews, clips, etc.

ALL the rest of the episodes streamed here.

First pic of Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones!

2007-06-22T13:22:00.000-07:00

for Indy 4 that is. he looks like he's gonna fuck some people up, 64-yr old style.

From indianajones.com:
For the first time since 1989, Harrison Ford dons the familiar costume on Thursday, June 21, 2007, as the upcoming Indiana Jones adventure begins production under the direction of Steven Spielberg. The new Indiana Jones movie is set in the 1950s and stars Shia LaBeouf, Cate Blanchett, John Hurt, Ray Winstone and Jim Broadbent. The Lucasfilm Ltd. production will be released by Paramount Pictures worldwide on May 22, 2008.

Photo by Steven Spielberg.

Sicko

2007-06-15T00:57:00.000-07:00

IN THEATERS JUNE 29th

wow, so this is gonna make you cry. i had heard that Oprah was crowning this the must see movie of the year, but this time, the Queen of the Hivemind of Housewives is right. luckily, the torrent has been posted on the web and it's a great copy.

Sicko.DVDSCR.XviD-CANALSTREET

1 CD, 700 MB, canal-sicko
IMDB (7.2/10) - VIDEO SAMPLE - NFO - TORRENT

from Releaselog rlslog.net

it's already been screened at Cannes and there's already a ton of controversy in the wake of the eminent releases' wake. this movie is gonna change a lot of perceptions and attitudes, and will undoubtedly unleash a fury of tactics by the ones in power to persuade us otherwise. here's some of the battling that's already going on pre-release. it's some pretty intense LOTR-size epic battling.

excerpts from IMDB's newsfeed on Sicko:

Treasury Could Fine Rescuers Who Visited Cuba with Moore
14 June 2007 (StudioBriefing)
The Treasury Department wants to know how Michael Moore was able to travel with about a dozen 9/11 rescue workers to Cuba, where they were able to buy prescription drugs cheaply and receive free health care under the country's socialized medicine system -- all seemingly in violation of the Cuban embargo, Newsweek magazine observed on its website Wednesday. The rescuers appear in a segment of Moore's forthcoming documentary, Sicko.The magazine reported that Moore's production company credentialed the men as journalists, then flew them to Miami on a charter flight that ordinarily carries only licensed travelers. But Angel Marques, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Miami insisted that no one can board such a flight without a license from the Treasury Department. Newsweek indicated that the Treasury's investigation goes beyond Moore and encompasses the rescue workers as well, each of whom could be fined $65,000.

Michael Moore Hires Famed Lawyer Boies
12 June 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Michael Moore has hired David Boies, arguably the nation's most famous trial attorney, to represent him, following the Treasury Department's announcement that it is investigating Moore's trip to Cuba last year to determine whether it violated the U.S. trade embargo on the country. Boies gained international fame when he led the Department of Justice team in its antitrust case against Microsoft. He also represented Al Gore in his challenge of the Florida election results. In a letter to the Treasury Department Monday, Boies expressed concern that Moore had been "selected for discriminatory treatment by your office" because of the content of Moore's planned documentary on the U.S. health system, Sicko. In the documentary, Moore takes several rescue workers who responded t

Moore Writes Open Letter to U.S. Treasury
14 May 2007 (WENN)
Filmmaker Michael Moore has called on the U.S. Treasury to abandon its investigation into allegations he broke a trade embargo with Cuba by traveling to the Caribbean island with a group of September 11th rescue workers. The stunt was part of the Oscar winner's latest documentary Sicko, a critique of the health-care industry in America. He supposedly traveled with the 10 rescue workers, made ill from their efforts after the terrorist attacks on New York's World Trade Center, in a bid to seek treatment for them. Last week, Moore received a letter from The Treasury Department's Office Of Foreign Assets Control, notifying him that it was conducting a civil investigation for possible violations of the trade embargo restricting travel to Cuba. Moore has now written a letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, in which he accuses U.S. President George W. Bush's administration of investigating him for political reasons. Moore, who has posted his letter online, writes: "For five and a half years, the Bush administration has ignored and neglected the heroes of the 9/11 community. These heroic first responders have been left to fend for themselves, without coverage and without care. I understand why the Bush administration is coming after me - I have tried to help the very people they refuse to help, but until George W. Bush outlaws helping your fellow man, I have broken no laws and I have nothing to hide." And Moore believes that because he criticizes the U.S. health-care industry in Sicko, his film is a target. He adds, "I can understand why that industry's main recipient of its contributions - President Bush - would want to harass, intimidate and potentially prevent this film from having its widest possible audience." As previously reported, Moore has reportedly arranged for the film to be held in a "safe house" outside the U.S. to protect it from government interference - ahead of its planned premiere at the Cannes Film Festival next Saturday.

Seven Ages of Rock - BBC documentary series

2007-06-10T00:15:00.000-07:00

The BBC is airing seven hour long specials about the history of rock music. Each program focuses on a couple of core groups that typified or led the movements. A user on Stage6 has been gracious enough to upload the first 3 episodes; embedded video, synopsis, and original airdates on BBC2 as follows:

The Birth of Rock: May 19, 2007
The rock revolution of the 1960s seen through the life and music of Jimi Hendrix. The first doomed icon of rock, Hendrix was the synthesis of everything that had gone before him and all that was to come. The Birth Of Rock also explores the influence of rhythm & blues on a generation of British musicians such as The Rolling Stones, Cream and The Who, and how the song-writing of Bob Dylan and studio developments of The Beatles transformed the possibilities and ambitions of rock.
White Light, White Heat: May 6, 2007
The story of how artistic and conceptual expression permeated rock. From the pop-art multi-media experiments of Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground to the sinister gentility of Peter Gabriel's Genesis, White Light, White Heat traces how rock became a vehicle for artistic ideas and theatrical performance. We follow Pink Floyd from the fated art school genius of Syd Barrett through the global success of Dark Side of the Moon to the ultimate rock theatre show, The Wall. Along the way, the film explores the retro-futurism of Roxy Music and the protean world of David Bowie.
Blank Generation: June 2, 2007
A tale of two cities, London and New York and the birth of punk. Each city created a bastard child that marked the biggest and fundamental shift in popular music since Elvis walked into Sun Studios. Blank Generation unpicks the relationship between the bankrupt New York and the class and race-riven London of the mid-1970's and explores the music of The Sex Pistols, The Clash, Ramones, Television, Patti Smith, The Damned and Buzzcocks.
Never Say Die: June 9, 2007
The story of the longest surviving and certainly the loudest genre of rock, heavy metal. With no sign of disappearing, metal has been the most controversial and misunderstood of all rock genres. Emerging at the tail end of the hippy dream from the rust belt of industrial England, heavy metal would go on to secure the most loyal fan base of all. With Black Sabbath as the undisputed Godfathers, we follow their highs and lows, and, along the journey, meet Deep Purple, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Metallica.
We Are The Champions: June 16, 2007
We Are The Champions follows the development of some the biggest names in Rock, among them Queen, Bruce Springsteen, The Police and Dire Straits and shows how, through events such as Live Aid and the rise of MTV, rock achieved a global influence on culture and politics. The film concludes in the early 90s, as U2 effectively brought the era to a close by reinventing the big rock show so completely, that fifteen years later most major rock tours are still pale facsimiles.
Left Of The Dial: June 23, 2007
The rise of alternative rock in the USA. From its early underground days where bands like Black Flag drew inspiration from the DIY ethos of punk, Left Of The Dial traces the history of the network of fans, clubs and fanzines that sustained the scene and launched the careers of bands like REM, The Pixies and Hüsker Dü. The film takes a fresh look at the explosion of the Seattle scene, culminating in the success of Nirvana's 'Nevermind' and the tragic loss of Kurt Cobain, an artist whose triumph and tragedy continues to cast an inescapable shadow.
What The World Is Waiting For: June 30, 2007
The story of British indie, beginning with The Smiths, the archetypal indie group. The film follows The Stone Roses as the heirs to the indie crown, Suede's dark sexuality and the media saturation of Brit-pop's Blur v Oasis. What The World Is Waiting For explores how indie ultimately lost its once cherished intimacy and integrity in front of 250,000 fans at Oasis's Knebworth spectacle in 1996 and how, by returning to its roots in clubs and bars (and even front rooms) with bands such as Franz Ferdinand, The Libertines and The Arctic Monkeys, indie became respectable again.

-courtesy of BBC, link to official Seven Ages of Rock website

episode 4 was aired tonight, so hopefully the same Stage6 user will continue to upload the series, or it'll eventually show up on torrents, which the first three programs have. stay tuned to this post, i'll update it when the new episodes get uploaded.

Last.fm bought by CBS

2007-05-30T10:39:00.000-07:00

Last.fm has been bought by CBS for $280 million, continuing the trend of media companies diversifying their holdings via owning social networking sites, much like News Corp. purchasing Myspace.com for a cool $580 million and Google buying YouTube.com for $1.65 billion. chump change.

"Last.fm founding member Martin Stiksel said it was an "exciting opportunity". He said CBS was buying "great technology and a very vibrant, active community". "They want to move from a content company to an audience company giving the audiences control and learning from this and that's why Last.fm was their choice," he added. Stiksel said he did not think that users would feel disappointed that a mainstream media firm had bought the site. "When we said revolution we mean that - we put the users in charge. CBS gets this...They understand that consuming media is changing, the patterns are changing." "
-BBC News

i think it's a blatant lie to say that CBS won't impart some of it's vast (and i mean VAST) influence on "little 'ole music keeper-upper so your friends know what your listening to too omg!" last.fm. specifically, every advertisement, "artist in spotlight", new album promotion, undoubtedly will be CBS affiliated/owned artists.

here's a look at CBS' current holdings. courtesy of freepress.net
it becomes obvious that maybe one of the Top 5 media conglomerates continually buying more companies is probably not the best thing.

2005 revenues: $14.5 billion
CBS Corporation owns the CBS Television Network, UPN, Showtime, book publisher Simon & Schuster, 41 television stations, Infinity (now CBS) Radio, Inc., and theme parks such as Paramount’s Kings Dominion.

Networks: CBS Television Network, UPN, Showtime Networks, Inc. (SNI) owns Showtime, The Movie Channel, Flix, Showtime Too, Showtime Showcase, Showtime Extreme, Showtime Beyond, Showtime Next, Showtime Women, Showtime Familyzone, TMC XTRA, Showtime HD, The Movie Channel HD, Showtime on Demand, Sundance Channel (joint venture, SNI owns 30%), Showtime PPV, CBS Entertainment, CBS News, CBS Sports, CSTV Networks, Inc.

CBS Television Stations Group: consists of 41 stations in 27 markets, featuring affiliates of CBS, UPN, WB and a small number of independents as of the end of 2005. (A search tool for stations can be found at their corporate web site. An overview can be found here.)

Programming: The Early Show, 60 Minutes, 48 Hours, Face the Nation, CW Network (50% with Time Warner), CBS Paramount TV, Spelling Television, King World.

Subsidiary Infinity Radio, Inc. (to be re-branded CBS Radio) owns 178 radio stations as of the end of 2005. A full list is available via their corporate web site. CBS also owns the CBS Radio Network

Books:
Simon & Schuster: Atria Books, Kaplan, Pocket Books, Scribner, Simon & Schuster, The Free Press, The Touchstone, Fireside Group

Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing: Aladdin Paperbacks, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, Little Simon, Margaret K. McElderry Books, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Simon Pulse, Simon Spotlight

Other Publishing: Simon & Schuster New Media, Simon & Schuster Online, Simon & Schuster UK, Simon & Schuster Australia, MTV Books

Internet: CBS Digital Media Group, CBS.com, CBSNews.com, UPN.com, SportsLine.com, NFL.com, NCAAsports.com, PGATour.com, Sho.com, Innertube, CSTV.com

Theme parks: owns Paramount’s Carowinds, Paramount’s Great America, Paramount’s Kings Dominion, Paramount’s Kings Island, Paramount’s Canada’s Wonderland, CBS Outdoor, CBS Consumer Products, and Star Trek: The Experience (themed attraction at Las Vegas Hilton) and manages Bonfante Gardens horticultural theme park (Gilroy, CA) and CBS Television City at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino (Las Vegas, NV).

The Peacock has left the Roost!

2007-05-30T09:46:00.000-07:00

just a couple days ago, the feathers got ruffled at NBC when Kevin Reilly, president for entertainment and chief programmer for NBC called it quits. only three months ago, Mr. Reilly signed a three-year contract to remain as head of the network’s entertainment division, leaving the network in a scramble to find someone to takeover right on the heels of announcing the new fall lineups, one of the most significant and sensitive times for TV makers, setting advertising rates and lineup. To fill the void, NBC has hired young and hip dude, Ben Silverman, as co-chair of the entertainment division and television studios.

"For much of the last decade, Mr. Silverman, 36, has pushed deals that helped reshape the content of television programs. As an agent for the William Morris Agency in London, he was in the middle of transactions that brought reality shows to American networks, including “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” and “Survivor." As an independent producer, he was active in buying format rights to foreign shows and turning them into American series, with “The Office” on NBC and “Ugly Betty” on ABC. He developed reality series for network and cable channels, including “The Biggest Loser” for NBC and “Nashville Star” for the USA network."...NBC said Mr. Silverman...would share responsibility for the network’s prime-time, late-night and daytime programs, and would supervise the entertainment division’s digital programming...[and] also responsible for managing the network’s and the studio’s marketing and financial strategies.
-NY Times

basically, it's Ben Silverman's network now! he's in charge of everything!! television content, marketing, internet programming. this has the potential to be an amazing or amazingly bad situation. Silverman is responsible for us having a U.S. edition of The Office...but he's also responsible for some of the biggest television goofs of all time; game shows and reality shows...blehhhh!! we'll see what the future holds soon enough for NBC. hopefully they will continue to produce high brow humor like The Office and 30 Rock!

i'm back!

2007-04-18T10:25:00.000-07:00

so after a long awaited hiatus, i'm back blurbing about the things i'm geeking out about. lets get right to it!

big things are happening in collegiate news this week. over 30 dead at Virginia Tech from a Korean student shooter. it seems like he wasn't paid that much attention beforehand, even when showing signs of being highly mentally disturbed on several different occasions. Writing violent scripts, stalking girls, never talking. i feel as if i can identify with his situation coming from a Korean background and knowing how it feels to be marginalized in a institutionalized racist society, but it's deeply saddening that his mental condition never went diagnosed, perhaps changing his perceptions and options in life.

on a related noted, the ways in which we consume media has progressed once again. a student took a cell phone video of the VTech incident in progress, ushering in the new tide of citizen-filmed media.
it has happened in earlier occurrences like the vid of Saddam Hussein actually being hanged, but this is different in that this video can actually be shown to everyone opposed to an execution. an hour after posting the student's cell phone video onto the CNN.com website, over a million hits were recorded. we can only expect more of the same in the future of headline grabbing events.

on a lighter note, here's an amazing trailer for Barbarella, a film from 1968 starring Jane Fonda, that pretty much, is the best trailer ever.

ahahah Tom Cruise is my hero

2006-05-07T20:11:00.000-07:00

Tom Cruise recently went on BET's 106 and Park show in support of Mission Impossible III and these are the hilarious results. if you haven't already seen MI3, you really should. it's so effing awesome. all the action scenes deliever and then some. Phillip Seymour Hoffman as the bad guy is so fantastic. the flow of the movie is very get-to-the-point, and Hoffman's lines are basically all threats of how Ethan Hunt is gonna get what's coming to him. oh man go watch it please, no matter your opinions of Cruise's personal life.
yeahhh!!

just in case you missed it..

2006-05-03T01:57:00.000-07:00

i've seen this commercial a couple times already but i definitely enjoy repeat watchings especially with Jason Schwartzman in it.

next up for Wes Anderson is adapting Ronald Dahl's The Fantastic Mr. Fox. an animated comedy about "..angry farmers, tired of sharing their chickens with a sly fox, look to get rid of their opponent and his family." not much is known to public at the moment, but expect updates here from an obvious wes anderson fan.

Jason Schwartzman's next project is in his cousin Sofia Coppola directed Marie-Antoinette starring Kirsten Dunst. the trailer makes it look like Lost in Translation meets baroque Great Britain. i hate to make that overused catchphrase, especially since the movie genuinely looks pretty good. check out the trailer. or go to apple.com trailers for better quality (HD even!) or to stick in your video ipods, for those who have them bahaaha.

mayfly

2006-05-02T11:49:00.000-07:00

days lately seem to be burdened by the sound of everyone's debbie downer Wah-Wahhhh moments. like everyone ive had contact with recently even! the sound of that muted trumpet w/ plunger just permeates in my mind. but why let your mind set in the mud puddle of going over the uncontrollable, when you can watch quality motion pictures. movies that make you proud to live in the current day and know that people are still making grand creative achievements.

"junebug. don't you think that'd be the cutest little name for a baby?"
if you haven't seen junebug w/ amy adams and ben mckenzie, you really should because it's really fantastic. amy adams even got nominated for best supporting actress for it this past oscars. and she's "The Hot Girl" in the U.S. version of The Office. anddd she is beautifulllll, not only physically, but especially her heart is in this movie. and ben mckenzie plays a solid role that doesn't involve the marketing and formation of turning indie rock into mall rock. and being the bad boy from chino..hahahahahahaah. no but really, i liked him in junebug. the movie is very warm to a group of americans that have been the source of sarcasm and mockery and bitterness; and thats small town, simple America, super Christian folk. i think this movie is way charming if you are willing to be patient.

another movie i've been giving a lot of thought and mental adulation is The Talented Mr. Ripley.
the cast is one of my favorite all star lineups, plus its about psychological reading and observing, jazz, the 50s, italy, and getting away with murder. performances by all are fucking brilliant. i forgot when i rewatched it that phillip seymour hoffman was in it. i pretty much like all jude law movies and all matt damon movies. so this one couldnt go wrong. plus future wes anderson queens cate blanchett and gwyneth paltrow?! scoreeee. i really wanna see Ripley's Game, another chronicle in the adapted novels about Tom Ripley, but features John Malkovich as the older, richer, wiser Tom Ripley; i hear it's mad mad good.

more film favorites and upcoming movie news coming soon.

Napoleon Says cross a busy street corner

2006-04-20T10:56:00.000-07:00

french heros Phoenix have revamped their website as well as revealed a new track off their album, It's Never Been Like That...on myspace.

Phoenix // Rally (myspace)

once an mp3 copy can be found, it will replace this stream.

The Envy Corps(e)

2006-04-18T15:16:00.000-07:00

over at rainydawg radio, we are required to play a certain number of tracks off our top 50 records list, which of course is very smart and also allows for me to listen to more bands i usually wouldn't be drawn to in an endless sea of band names. one of the bands that has grabbed my attention for repeated plays is The Envy Corps, a group out of Des Moines, Iowa that plays what i would describe as heavily influenced by Coldplay but with a more intimate midwest American approach.

anyways, i really enjoy it, i think they're better than Coldplay. i see these songs being queued in many playlists and mixes to come. here are two tracks made available on their website from their just released debut "I Will Write You Love Letters If You Tell Me To".

The Envy Corps // Rhinemaidens (mp3)
The Envy Corps // Sylvia [The Beekeeper] (mp3)

i really dig both songs, Rhinemaidens is little more Coldplay-heavy and Sylvia is little more straight-foward indie pop, but both very enjoyable listens.

and for those that were possibly out of the loop about Ted Leo and the Pharmacists lately, on their website, they have made available live demo recordings for their new album, on which, details are limited. check them out here, they definitely fulfill any Ted Leo fans' need for that signature sound and energy.

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists // Some Beginner's Mind (mp3)
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists // Army Bound (mp3)

blatant self-advertising!

2006-04-17T22:13:00.000-07:00

recorded a new demo of a song in progress. but i'd say it's coming along even with considerable gaps.

Hahn Solo and the Wookies // Be Blatant demo01 (.mp3)

hooray!

Such fun with Sufjan!

2006-04-17T15:56:00.000-07:00

for you sufjan stevens completists, it must be a daunting task to compile every missing track from rare compliations, CDS', and extra tracks from foreign LP's. luckily, i came across this .torrent that did the work for me.

sufjan stevens // outtakes and rarities collection (torrent)
here or here (requires torrent downloading program such as Azureus or BitComet)
file includes;

All Delighted People.mp3
Borderline.mp3
Bushwick Junkie.mp3
Chicago (To String Remix By Jongalloway).mp3
Damascus.mp3
God'll Ne'er Let You Down.mp3
I Can't Even Lift My Head.mp3
Lord God Bird Story.mp3
Lord God Bird.mp3
She Is.mp3
The Avalanche.mp3
The First Full Moon.mp3
Variation on Commemorative Transfiguration and Communion at Magruder Park.mp3
What Goes On.mp3
Woman at the Well.mp3
Sufjan Stevens vs. Kanye West - Zombies Walk.mp3

these tracks definitely hold off my lust for the upcoming Illinois outtakes album, "The Avalanche", but not for very long.

First post

2006-04-17T15:03:00.000-07:00

intro paragraph (that doesn't go into much detail);
hello all, welcome to days that are over. this blog is an aggregate of my interests. so much like other music blogs, you will be able to stream/download tracks and videos that i feel are absolutely necessary to bring to your attention. you can expect updates daily or close-to-daily, news of course, can always be slow. so without further adieu; welcome, thanks for visiting, i hope you enjoy my scrapbook of the internet.

a couple tracks to wet your appetite (basically tracks that have been around longer than this blog)

phoenix // long distance call (mp3)
phoenix // long distance call remix (mp3)

first single off the new album, "It's Never Been Like That", due May 2006. as well as a remix that i happen to really really enjoy.

andddddd the second version music video of Feist's Mushaboom, which runs much like a waking dream. beautifully done, but sad at the same time, cuz i wanted to make a day-in-the-life video much like this one...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6MABNsNarI

cheers//hahnsolo