I post here somewhat infrequently, and I’d like to be better about that. So, I’ve committed myself to Project52, which takes its name from the 52 weeks of the year, and the aim of the project is to write at least one blog post every week for a year. I’ll be tagging all of my posts this year “Project52” in an effort to monitor my progress.
We’ll see how I’ve done come this time next year.
Found a new favorite website, courtesy of, of all places, Deus Ex Malcontent. It's From the Basement, a website set up to showcase live performances from artists in a studio setting. Filmed entirely in HD, sans host and audience, and lovingly produced by Nigel Godrich, the engineer & producer best known for his work with Radiohead. His credits list is impressive even beyond his work with that group, but what I’m really keen on is just how awesome everything looks & sounds in these recordings. The one that sucked me in though, is actually a recording that's not on the website, but available for purchase as part of a video album on iTunes, In Rainbows — From the Basement. Thankfully, there's a YouTube version of the video. And so, I present Radiohead's “All I Need”, From the Basement:
(269): We were playing flip cup on the nice dining room table. Losing team had to shamwow the table in between rounds
(Via TXTS FRM LST NGHT)
So there's a fun article, Best New Blogs of 2009, over at The Bygone Bureau, and one of the picks is The Awl, which is probably one of the most incisive sets of writing I’ve ever had the delight to come across. It now has a spot in my newsreader, but I want to highlight one of their movie reviews as being hilariously awesome. Full disclosure, the movie in question, The Hangover, is one I enjoyed, but I still find the review to be quite apt.
Now, even better than the review though, are the comments. Oh my lord there’s some serious gold in these comments. My favorite? this one. Seriously, “sanctimonious asshole shark cage” is the most hilariously amazing set of prose I’ve read in a long while. Enjoy.
I had a hell of a time the last few months. Amber, who was living with me, & I broke up in August. That same week, my best friend’s father died very suddenly, and because of how things worked out with my schedule, I couldn’t even take off to support him at the funeral.
And to top it off, I ceased to be an employee of Apple in September. After everything else, I was totally thrown. My initial reaction was fear. What am I going to do? After the shock passed, I sat down & started looking at things, and was overcome with relief. It was like I had been stuck, and was now literally and figuratively cut free. My only remaining fear was in regards to my healthcare, but thankfully there’s a subsidy in place for anyone who’s lost their job since September 2008 that’s helping with that.
I’ve spent the last few months taking a hard look at my expenses & figuring out how it’s all going to work, and have decided to make a go of it as a web developer. Thankfully, I’d already secured steady work from Elative Marketing, and while I’ve had to learn a great deal very quickly, I’m very keen on continuing my relationship with them.
As for my music, it’s been way too long. I’ve been practicing more lately, and I’ve really got the itch. So if anybody needs a bassist, say the word!
So my buddy Brian posted this tidbit, Funniest thing I've seen today., and pointed out this new Twitter user: @newlywedsontjob. Seriously, go check it out & start with the oldest tweet; this is an epic prank.
(Via Off The Grid : Fred)
I'm sure you've all noticed the new look. What do you think? I figured it was time for a change, and Khoi Vinh's Basic Maths theme seemed pretty spiffy. If anyone sees anything broken, or you just wanna say how sweet it is, comment below!
So I came across this article a short time ago, and found it to be evidence of something I've felt to be true for some time now: that only the labels and the "big business" model of distributing music lose when music is free. Times Online, the online arm of The Times of London, has the full story, but here's some highlights:
This is the graph the record industry doesn’t want you to see.
It shows the fate of the three main pillars of music industry revenue — recorded music, live music, and PRS revenues (royalties collected on behalf of artists when their music is played in public) over the last 5 years.
[…]
The most immediate revelation, of course, is that at some point next year revenues from gigs payable to artists will for the first time overtake revenues accrued by labels from sales of recorded music.
Huge stuff, and I'm willing to bet that the same holds true (albeit in larger numbers) for American artists. There's some great graphs that clearly demonstrate the trend included with the article, go check it!
(via Times Labs Blog)
