Normally, I don't do "Jingle Bells". Or "Silver Bells". Or any other kind of bells, really.
If you know me, though, you know I enjoy me some Robert Earl Keen. So if I must be bombarded by the usual Christmas music fare in malls and elevators and on 75% of the radio waves, I can compensate by occasionally hitting up REK's "Merry Christmas From the Family". Probably his #2 live favorite (behind "The Road Goes On Forever", no doubt), he'll only play it when the calendar calls for it. It's maintained its popularity for every bit of 15 years since it was released on Gringo Honeymoon in '94. Maybe one day you'll hear it back-to-back with Sinatra crooning about a White Christmas or something or other.
You probably haven't noticed, something happened on Tuesday that made about 10% of my blog useless.
OK, so it already was useless...but now it's even MORE useless.
When I first started JoshCasts back last January, I expressed skepticism that imeem -- the vehicle that allowed me to embed music into my blog to grace your eardrums -- stayed within the legal boundaries by allowing free music anytime on demand. It took a bit, but it finally happened. According to this WIRED article, imeem just couldn't pay the licensing bills.
So I'm feverishly working to salvage what JoshCasts I can, seeking alternative sources from which to embed the music I so dearly love. We'll see.
ADDENDUM: Wow, that was relatively painless. Proud to report after less than 20 minutes of pointing, clicking, copying, and pasting, all but 2 of the tracks I've posted are back online. Cheers.
I’ve always had a little thing for jazz, ever since a co-worker at my internship who was the bassist for a jazz quintet spun a CD or two for me in his office on Friday afternoons. He even played with trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis once (brother of some guy named Wynton). And reading Billy Crystal’s 700 Sundays recently -- wherein he talks of his experiences at age 5 in a ballroom/jazz club his dad managed in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where jazz giants "Miles, Monk, Dizzy and Coltrane" and the like played with regularity -- only re-awakened my interest in what is still the only purely American form of music.
Dave Brubeck, a jazz legend himself that revolutionized the genre with unique time signatures like 5/4 and 9/8 (you no doubt have heard "Take Five" in your local Starbucks), turned 89 today.
Now I don't pretend to be capable of understanding all of his contributions, as I am only a casual jazz fan, but I do know that his then-controversial but now-legendary album Time Out regularly finds its way into my playlist. I must be doing right be listening to him, because in the words of President Obama: “You can’t understand America without understanding jazz, and you can’t understand jazz without understanding Dave Brubeck.”
Astoundingly chill “Kathy's Waltz”, from Time Out:
(Preface: I am still not on Twitter. Fight the power!)
It’s interesting how changing times, habits, and -- in this case -- technology force new wrinkles into the legal and cultural fabric of our society. Obviously, Twitter and Facebook have had enormous impacts on our way of life, but those impacts reach far beyond self-expression (or narcissism?), social interaction, and entertainment.
During the Iranian presidential election this past June, who would’ve guessed that much of the outcry from citizens of Iran would come from social networking sites? The Iranian government attempted to block access to Facebook to its citizens, about a third of which had internet access, but to no avail. Iranian Twitterers tweeted their protest of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election in droves, circumventing the country’s edict to ban demonstrations and journalists. The U.S. State Department even asked Twitter to postpone scheduled maintenance of the site so that the dissent would not be quelled.
Twitter to the rescue, as a vehicle of freedom of speech to the oppressed? Who’da thunk it?
But, for every rose, a thorn. Or many thorns. Social networking, you could argue, has its abusers. You can look at the countless Tweeters' tweets and ask, “Who gives a damn?”
But it goes beyond mild irritation. Example: then-Milwaukee Bucks forward Charlie Villanueva was busted last season for Twittering during halftime of a game against the Celtics, and was told to cease and desist. (By the way, they won in a sizable upset...so maybe the strategy works.) This sparked some debate amongst the athletic world, but I think the reaction has largely been on the side of banning Twitter/Facebook use during games.
And then -- at the risk of baring my political alignment -- former GOP VP candidate Sarah Palin had a handful of questionable posts on her Facebook page, the most prominent being her declaration that the Democratic health reform bills would institute “death panel[s]”.
Even if it is utterly false, she can at least say that, right? I mean, everyone has the right to free speech, and false facts and strong opinions don't have a limit in a social environment like Facebook. Everyone has that crazy friend with an opinion or two that likes hearing his/her own voice, and uses "facts" to bolster their position. (By the way, I readily admit as a blogger that I enjoy hearing/typing my own words. I’m probably the only one, but...) Even if I do disagree with some of the assertions made on Facebook, I'm glad those people can express them freely.
But, in contrast, you clearly can’t just do the same in journalism, lest you find yourself in a courtroom real quick-like. So where do you draw the line? What can you say, and when/where can you say it?
This is what the legal system has to decide, I suppose. Last month, Courtney Love was sued for libel by a fashion designer whom she (allegedly) falsely accused via Twitter had a “history of dealing cocaine.”
The first of many, no doubt; the courtroom has a lot to figure out. But before they do, the Next Big Thing will probably already be emerging. Thus, the cycle continues.
I do know that after such serious discussion, it’s always nice to let Mr. Tonight Show lighten the mood by poking a little fun at Twitter’s expense...
Yep. It's true. And I don't mean that in the good-natured, facetious way those Microsoft Windows 7 ads are using.
I've thought for a few years now that by the next generation, the way in which computers are used will be vastly different. During the last decade, the need for mobile computing has steadily skyrocketed. Not only has it been necessitated by the ever-increasing speed and demands of the business world; it's also become trendy to take your MacBook into a local coffee shop.
And when you're doing stuff on your computer -- business or pleasure -- you need access to whatever it is you're doing. Could be a project for work, a personal budget, or whatever. Not to mention keeping your entire iTunes library on hand to keep you sane while you work on said project.
Inevitably, you'll end up splitting this work (and pleasure) on multiple computers, creating the need to share files across your computers. While flash drives and home networking and such are, for now, making this easier, it's only a stopgap measure: eventually it'd be really nice if you could easily get to your stuff whenever you wanted to from anywhere, right?
Some applications already work this way. Online banking, for instance. And as time passes, more of the information you care about will be out there floating around on the internet, not on your hard drives. Thus, you'll only need your computers to gain access to the internet, which can store all of your data and information, as well as the tools necessary to interact with that data and information. We'll end up with "terminal machines" that are available pretty much anywhere for use by anybody. A side effect will be that the need for large amounts of local storage (i.e., your hard drive) will be significantly reduced or even eliminated.
In college, every student typically has an account provided by the institution that serves some of this function. Imagine if this concept was extended to the general public. That's where I think we're headed.
Now then, back to that outrageous claim in my blog title. Google seems to have embraced the idea that the internet will soon be all you really need to function, so they've created an operating system that supports this philosophy: Google Chrome OS, a Linux-based, open-source OS in which everything runs exclusively inside Google's web browser (which, by the way, is really fast and awesome, and is currently available for download if you're a Windows user).
I think I'll let the guys at Google explain it:
Slated for availability in late 2010, Chrome OS will run on netbooks whose hardware is specifically designed to support it. (One feature: smaller and flash memory-based hard drive. Most data will be stored on the internet, remember.) This WIRED article has a few more details.
If this idea does in fact catch on, I think it'll be pretty gradual. First you'll see people just doing basic tasks like checking e-mail, blogging, etc, on these web-based machines. But before you know it, you'll be using it for everything, including resource-intensive applications.
Only time will tell just how wrong I am.
P.S. I currently have 8 Google Wave invitations. If you want one, e-mail me.
Another one of those hidden gems from the samplers I get with every issue of Paste Magazine. Led by Davy Knowles (who at age 23 is younger than me, making me feel old and unaccomplished...but I guess I still got some time to change that), Back Door Slam is makin' a little noise in the blues-rock genre these days. Have a listen to "Come Home", and maybe you'll see why it turned my head:
(JOSHCAST UNAVAILABLE due to imeem's going under. Check back later.)
Alls I know is that the first 10 seconds make me really want a bass guitar.
Gotta shout out to my brother and his firm's architectural GENIUS.
For the last 17 years, Canstruction has been a gem among gems when it comes to charity projects. Their website describes what the Canstruction project is all about:
"A foundation of the Society for Design Administration (SDA), Canstruction® is a Trademarked design/build competition currently held in cities throughout North America and Australia, and cities from around the world will soon be participating. Teams of architects, engineers, and students mentored by these professionals compete to design and build giant structures made entirely from full cans of food. It takes 8-12 weeks and thousands of cans of food to create a structure."
Teams can use cans of food and a limited number of other items (of which adhesives are decidedly NOT one) to create these structures. And it not only looks cool: every last can goes to a food charity. A lot cooler than just bringing non-perishable foods in a brown paper bag...that's all I'm capable of doing.
This month, the World Financial Center Winter Garden in lower Manhattan, just like every year, is hosting the Canstruction exhibit in New York City. Every year since my brother moved to New York, his firm (Platt Byard Dovell White Architects) has been crowned for its creativity, after pulling all-nighters to piece the work together can by can. This year was no exception, with a trio of 'shrooms straight out of Super Mario 64 taking the blue ribbon for "Best Structural Ingenuity":
We’re exactly 10.976% into the 2009-2010 NBA regular season, and I’m celebrating by making some predictions which, appropriately, each have about a 10.976% chance of coming to fruition.
Which is slightly higher than Sarah Palin’s approval rating. Boom!
1. Celts, Suns Rule the NBA...For Now.
Let’s review where we’re at, shall we?
The Boston Celtics and the Phoenix Suns stand atop the Eastern and Western Conference, respectively, with 8 wins and only 1 loss (as of 11:00pm today...Phoenix and LA are playing as I type). The New Jersey Nets (0-8) are the Least in the East, and Minnesota and Memphis have pretty much picked up where they left off last year at the bottom of the West, each mustering only 1 win in 9 games.
My boy Stevie Nash is benefiting from a return to the uptempo, Greatest-Show-On-Hardwood style now that the Shaqtus is out of town, dishing out more dimes than a cheap Shreveport casino. (One of the best headlines I’ve ever seen on The Onion, from back in 2008: “Steve Nash Sarcastically Asks Shaq to Slow Down”.) Chris Paul is mad at his 3-6 Hornets, and he’s taking it out on the 3-point stripe, making nearly two-thirds of his three point attempts, and Kevin Martin is second in the league in scoring (30.6 ppg!) for the forgotten Sacramento Kings (who are a surprising 4-4, by the way).
And the biggest surprise in my opinion: LeBron James is nowhere to be found in the top 5 of any major statistical category (points, rebounds, assists, steals). BUT his Cavs are 6-3.
Now that you’re all caught up, how about some of those aforementioned bold predictions...
2. LeBron James will not be a New York Knick next year.
If you have watched even three minutes of ESPN in the last six months, you have heard about the free agent class of 2010, when so many big names will be available for signage. Naturally, the richest markets would get the best shot at the best prospects, so it only makes sense that the biggest name in the game would land in the biggest market in professional sports, right?
It makes sense in lots of ways. But do you really think he can win in Madison Square Garden? The Knicks are so far away from being good, it just can’t be that appealing to LBJ. At least not as appealing as some of the other choices out there, including just staying put in Cleveland.
Marc Stein wrote on this topic last weekend, and suggested that landing in Miami with Dwyane Wade could happen. But of course, the name that caught my attention was, you guessed it, my Dallas Mavericks. Stein makes a compelling case: Dirk Nowitzki is probably the best big man LeBron could be paired up with, he’s good friends with J-Kidd, Dallas is at least moderately glamorous and would welcome him in a fraction of a second, and Erick Dampier’s contract would be palatable to the Cavs’ payroll. Plus, he has lots of love for the Cowboys, allegedly even more so than he does for his Yankees.
3. Jason Kidd will climb a few more rungs on the statistical ladder before season’s end.
It’s well-established that Kidd is one of the greatest point guards to ever play the game of basketball. Aside from that elusive NBA championship, he’s as accomplished as you can be.
Before season’s end, barring injury, he’s likely to pass Scottie Pippen and Mo Cheeks on the all-time steals list (he already passed Clyde Drexler a few games ago), probably ending up in the neighborhood of 2,350 steals at number 4. (By the way, did you know that Hakeem Olajuwon, A CENTER, is eighth on that list, way ahead of names like Allen Iverson and Isiah Thomas?) He’s also only 66 assists from passing Mark Jackson (10,334 assists) for second on the all-time assists list.
He’s a good one. And those lobs to Shawn Marion and Erick Dampier are looking better each game.
4. John Stockton stole from the rich and gave to the, well, rich.
All this talk about career statistics and all-time lists reminds me...
A few weeks after Johnny was elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame this summer (overshadowed by Michael Jordan’s enormous ego), I’m reminded again just how great he was. The stats prove it: he’s at the top of the all-time list for assists and steals. Way at the top.
Check it: 3,265 steals vs. His Airness at number 2, with 2,514 (that’s almost 30% better). 15,806 assists vs. the aforementioned Mark Jackson, who had 10,334, a whopping 53% better.
Pretty amazing stuff. Not like today...damn kids with their single-digit assist games and their long shorts and their loud music...
5. Andre Iguodala is channeling his inner Julius Erving.
Appropriate, since he’s a Philly kid himself.
6. The Oklahoma City Thunder Will Make The Playoffs.
There’s bold prediction number two.
I have no real evidence for this. But they’re right on the lip of the cup in the West, and I like Kevin Durant, because he’s really skinny, and so am I.
But who knows, maybe they catch lightning in a bottle, like Golden State did in 2006-2007? It’s not all THAT far-fetched. They could finish ahead of Houston, Utah, and New Orleans if everything falls right. If even two of those teams don’t make it to the playoffs, OKC could squeeze in there.
7. The Dallas Mavericks Are Frustratingly Inconsistent.
The potential is SO there. They’ve got a killer line-up in Dirk, Shawn Marion, Josh Howard, Jason Terry, and Jason Kidd. Erick Dampier is playing his best basketball. Dirk is playing at a similar level to his MVP year (Did you see him score 29 points IN ONE QUARTER last week?). Terry is passing and defending better than he ever has in a Mavs uniform. And I love the under-the-radar additions of Kris Humphries and Dallas native Quinton Ross.
Then there’s the bad: they’ve gotten off to sluggish starts offensively in almost every game, and they’re forced to make late comebacks just to get a chance to win. Shawn Marion can’t buy a lay-up (and he’s still got that ugly, ugly shooting style). Drew Gooden looks lost and jacks up a 17-foot leaner every time he touches the ball. (I’d rather have Marcin Gortat right about now...).
But they’re atop the Southwest Division at 5-3 (for now). They’re responsible for the Lakers’ only loss, which they did at Staples Center, in Jack Nicholson’s face. There’s a lot to like, if they’d just get out of their own way. Kind of like the Cowboys.
It comes down to one thing: if you’re really a contender, you’ve got swagger. And the Dallas Mavericks don’t have swagger. They haven’t earned the right.
Thank you, Non Sequitur, for consistently being the best comic in newspapers today. (Although Pearls Before Swine has its moments and is a close second...)
So is 15 JoshCasts enough to release a CD? First million, here I come. And that's just with Volume 1...
I heard a snippet of "A Perfect Day to Chase Tornados", by Jim White, on NPR, and was sufficiently intrigued to hit up iTunes and hear all 6+ minutes of it. It's one of the more mysterious songs I've heard in my day, both the lyrics and the texture of the music, and I can't seem to stop listening to it.
Plus, one day before I die, I really do want to chase me some twisters.
It's kinda funny what random things make you realize that the times, they are a-changin'.
Today's the 40th anniversary of "Sesame Street", and this CNN article can't help but notice how the show and its characters have evolved:
"Cookie Monster used to become so overwhelmed by his desire for cookies that he'd start seeing cookies that weren't actually there. ... Today, Cookie Monster's diet is much more balanced, as he has adopted the philosophy that cookies are a 'sometimes food'. Cookie coincidentally changed his tune in 2006 amidst reports that childhood obesity had reached epidemic proportions."
I suppose it's all well and good that Cookie Monster and Co. try to set good examples, but the cynic in me can't help but wonder why it takes TV characters to instill "good habits" into that all-too-impressionable under-age-5 demographic. Is it worth sacrificing the essence of the character? He's the COOKIE MONSTER!
Post-rant fact: Did you know that the Cookie Monster made his debut in 1967 -- pre-Sesame Street -- on an IBM training video titled Cookie Monster vs. Coffee Break Machine?
I’ve decided to break my nearly three-week silence. Aren’t you happy? Well, at least act like it...
As you may have surmised from previous posts (see Pegs and Holes and Pascal’s Triangle), I’ve got a thing for the mathematical sciences, and for letting my brain wander. And oh yeah, I’m one of those computer science majors, with a dash of linguist and philosopher thrown into the mix, too. An odd combination, to be sure, but this only means I’m fun to have beers with.
I got to thinking (that's trouble) about how one concept is applicable to all of these realms. Let's go one at a time:
Mathematics
Even if you haven’t studied it ad nauseum like I was forced to in college, you’re probably familiar with something called the inverse property, or an inverse function. You would agree that 5 + 1 = 6, and 6 – 1 = 5. It’s a simple example: adding a number is the opposite, or inverse, of subtracting it. One step further, if you take a number, do something to it (like add one), then do the opposite to it with the same value (like subtract one), you end up with what you started with.
This idea can be generalized to all sorts of stuff. Muliplication/division, square/square root, any combination of these, yada yada yada. It’s actually a pretty powerful concept once you start studying it closely, but this idea can be applied outside of the mathematical realm.
Linguistics
Suppose you’re translating a phrase from one language to another. For instance, how do you say “I am tired of reading this crap” in Italian? Assuming Google Translate is correct (I’ll get back to this later, by the way), that’s “sono stanco di leggere queste stronzate.”
Language translation ideally should satisfy the inverse property. If I translate the above Italian phrase back into English using the “inverse operation” (Sorry, I’m getting all math-y on you again.), then I should get my original phrase back. But this is not necessarily the case: languages are not as clear cut as logic and math. As any high school foreign language teacher would tell you, there’s more than one way to translate phrases into English, and vice-versa.
Software
But what if you do attempt to treat the translation of languages as an “inversable” operation? TranslationParty.com is a nice little web application that attempts to do just this. Using Google Translate to do the gruntwork, it will translate any phrase you wish into Japanese, and then back to English. Trouble is, you’ll likely end up with something different from what you started with. So for grins, it’ll translate it again into Japanese and back into English, and will keep doing this until it gets two of the same English phrases back-to-back and, as the website calls it, reaches equilibrium.
Example: shoving “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” into the translation machine will move back and forth through the language barrier until it reaches this equilibrium, eventually ending up with the English phrase, “The lazy dog jumps to a simple brown fox.” Totally butchered. (For the record, in Japanese, that’s "シンプルな茶色のキツネに怠惰な犬にジャンプします。").
(This write-up on TechCrunch.com has a slightly more hilarious example, but I just couldn’t bring myself to add a Star Wars reference to this article. I’m thinking it’s nerdy enough as it is.)
There's a disconnect here. The laws of logic (and software) don't mesh with the laws of language. If they did, these translations would be seamless and unambiguous. But there's an interpretive side that logic just can't grasp.
One of my recent favorites, from Howl, by Black Rebel Motorocycle Club:
Howl, by the way, was a pleasant surprise for me. I had bought Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's previous album, Take Them On, On Your Own, which was nice and edgy. You know, the stuff you'd expect from a bunch of rebellious guys in a motorcycle club who wear black. Howl goes in a different direction. I was at first disappointed, but upon later review and hearing them incorporate heavy doses of folk and gospel influences, I came to appreciate the diversion.
"Weight of the World", "Fault Line", and "Shuffle Your Feet" are the standouts to me. By the way, The Daily Vault has a great review of this album.
Every morning, while I eat my bowl of Wheaties, I watch "Mike and Mike in the Morning" on ESPN2 (simulcast on ESPN Radio). Normally, I've only been awake for about 30 minutes (75 if you count snooze time), so I'm pretty much staring blankly at the TV as they interview some relevant sports figure or talk about Mike Golic's weight. But on the occasion, I'll wake myself out of my early-morning stupor and actually pay close attention. Anytime Bill Walton appears, I'm sure to open my ears, because his controlled ramblings are simply priceless to listen to.
John Wooden, the greatest basketball coach ever (most would say), turned 99 today. Who better to converse with on the life and personality of Wooden than the legendary Bill Walton, who played for him at UCLA in the early 70's? (Entire interview available here -- at least for now.)
Walton had nothing but the highest praise for the man. One thing he said in particular really struck a chord with me: "He never spoke about basketball; he always talked about life."
To him, teaching basketball took a back seat to teaching about life, but as it turns out, when you learn about life, you're learning about basketball. It seems like this was Wooden's approach. You certainly can't argue with 10 national championships in 12 years, and it seems like his teachings could be applied long after his players cut down the nets.
Some nuggets of wisdom he has imparted:
"Be quick, but don't hurry."
"It's the things you learn after you know it all that count."
"Happiness begins when selfishness ends."
"Be at your best when your best is needed."
And Walton points out, it's so easy to say these things. But consider them for longer than five seconds, and actually think about how to put them into practice, especially when you're at life's extremes (the highest highs, or the lowest lows). It ain't easy. But it's worth it.
I am too young to appreciate what you've done, Mr. Wooden. But I'll do my best to learn someday. Happy 99, sir.
Austin City Limits music festival is one of "those" experiences. Not sure how else to describe it. Right at the end of summer each year, probably 200,000 strong invade Zilker Park for three days, deep in the heart of the Live Music Capital of the World, to bathe in a 150-decibel ocean of rock, reggae, alternative, hip-hop, and blues.
This year was different: (1) we also had Irish drinking music -- thank you, Flogging Molly -- and (2) all us music enthusiasts were bathing in mud, too.
Let me set the scene for you: I make the trek from Dallas to Austin late Friday morning, with visions of Eddie Vedder, Jack White, Dave Matthews, and Dave King on my mind (full line-up here). I park my car and begin what seems like a 39-mile journey on foot to the park, and am greeted with this pristine picture:
Mmmmm, just look at that blue sky. And that green grass! Don't you just want to roll around shamelessly in that beautiful Bermuda? In prior years, a lack of adequate ground cover combined with bone dry weather caused the crowds to kick up tons of dust that would get EVERYWHERE, with the most unpleasant side effect being dusty, gray snot. No more this year, after the city of Austin spent $2.5 million and multiple months renovating Zilker Park by laying down grass and a better irrigation system. Money well spent, I'd say.
Until it rained on Saturday, that is. And then the skies opened up:
And I don't mean a passing shower. I mean a downpour. I mean a monsoon. You know when Forrest Gump is talking about Vietnam ("Lil' bitty stingin rain ... big ol' FAT rain ... rain blowin' sideways ...")? I mean that kind of rain. I think 3-5 inches of rain fell over the course of about as many hours. Which is OK on its own, but you combine that with the huge throngs of people in attendance? Well, this is what the scene looked like on Sunday:
How about a close-up?
And it smelled about as good as it looked, too. It took about four times longer to walk anywhere than it normally would, just to avoid slipping, falling, and eating that soupy, delicious mud. I tell you, we all complained at least once about how much it sucked. (I think our exact words were, "Man, this sucks!") But the whole time, in the back of my mind, I couldn't help but think that after a day or two passed, I'd look back on what an awesome experience it was.
I'm glad I went. And I'm glad it rained 5 inches. And I'm glad I had to slog through one and a half inches of mud everywhere I went. To cap it all off, Eddie Vedder (lead singer for the headliner Pearl Jam), after finishing off "Corduroy", proclaimed to the crowd, "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm personally not leaving until I'm covered in dirt."
Whenever I watch a Dallas Cowboys game on Sunday, and I find them needing a big play to reverse their fortunes, I'll do what most fans do: make an outlandish prediction for the next play and try to will it to happen metaphysically. Just two Sundays ago, as Eli Manning marched his New York Giants down the field in what eventually was the game-winning drive, I yelled at the TV, "Interception, Terence Newman!" or "Sack, DeMarcus Ware!". At this I fail, without fail: it has never ever EVER worked.
Maybe I need to take lessons from Mike Blowers.
Last Sunday afternoon, on a pre-game show, the Seattle Mariners color commentator laid out a painstakingly detailed account of what would happen that afternoon against the Toronto Blue Jays. In a manner reminiscent of Carnac the Magnificent or those precogs in Minority Report, Blowers made the following prediction:
(1) Mariners rookie Matt Tuiasosopo would... (2) hit his first big-league home run... (3) in his second at bat... (4) into left-center field.... (5) into the second deck... (6) on a fastball... (7) with a 3-1 count...
When I moved into my current apartment, the previous tenant apparently had a subscription to Paste Magazine, which specializes in indie music (among many other things). On three occasions, I was lucky enough to open my mailbox and find a free issue of Paste peering back at me, even if the intended destination was the coffee table of some guy named Chris Long.
Once they stopped magically appearing, though, I got my own subscription (Only $15 for 11 issues). The best part is that each issue comes with a free CD, containing about 20 songs each. So, each month, I copied them into my iTunes library, and sometimes those tracks would fall through the cracks. That's not a bad thing, though, because when you randomly find it again 8 months later, you've got something new. Like finding a $10 bill in your coat pocket.
Such was the case tonight, when I found "So Many Nights" by a group called The Cat Empire. Kinda upbeat, poppy, and oddly appealing, with a little 80s keyboard and some trumpet forcing its way in from time to time as well:
(JOSHCAST UNAVAILABLE due to imeem's going under. Check back later.)
P.S. Paste has been one of the few indie music magazines to survive the recession, as subscribers were forced to tighten their finances. Numerous other magazines haven't been so lucky. I'm grateful, of course, for its survival, made possible by its avid readership, who contributed over a quarter of a million dollars in donations as part of the "Save Paste" campaign. If you're looking for something to skim at your local coffeehouse, might I recommend Paste.
I don’t know about you, but I am stunned that, as of yesterday, it’s already been six years since the Man in Black left this planet. From “A Boy Named Sue” to “Hurt”, his vivid storytelling and songwriting talents were as impressive as his inimitable bass-baritone voice. As a buddy of mine once quoted, “If God had a voice, it would sound like Johnny Cash.”
One thing’s for sure: when I teach my kids about musicians I appreciated in my youth (assuming they’ll listen), Johnny Cash will be one of the first names I bring up.
It's 10:47pm, and I'm still working at the office. You know when you drive down the highway, and you pass a 14-story office building, and you see maybe 8 lights turned on through the windows in the entire building? Well, tonight, one of those white, fluorescent lights is burning straight from my office.
But, not all is bad, because I've got one of my very favorite albums to keep my company: Live at Radio City, by Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds. Amid Dave's signature wailing and Tim's intricate scraping of the guitar strings, I'm working on what's essentially an immunology/oncology white paper for a state-sponsored funding application. (Putting what I learned as a computer science major to good use. Ha. Long story.)
So if you ever get caught working at 10:47pm -- which we all do from time to time don't we? -- let "Crush" get you through at least 8 of those lonely minutes:
Normally, I'm not much of a novelty-T-shirt-wearer. Too many fellow UTD students wore them, and I didn't want to be part of the crowd, I guess. I did have a pretty good one that my brother gave me years ago, with a chuck wagon just below the phrase "You Have Died of Dysentery". (Homage to "The Oregon Trail", or the only video game ever installed in my hometown's middle schools' computer labs.) I went to visit one of my professors' office hours while wearing the shirt one night, and he obviously didn't catch the joke, uttering in his British accent, "My God, that shirt is awful! Why would you wear that?" Even after explanation, he was still a mite shocked.
But anyway, I do like to peruse those novelty T-shirt websites on the occasion. Rather than spending $25 to buy them, I figure I'd just post some of them on my stupid blog. Behold, selections and excerpts from Zazzle.com.
If you know me, you know I have a crazily inquisitive mind. If I have a question, it matters not what I’m doing. I have to find the answer.
So as a result, my brain is filled beyond capacity with totally useless information. Which is good because I can impress people in bars, but I end up completely forgetting important information like, say, my birthday. One of my problems, however, is that I don’t usually verify my answer and take it at face value. Not a good idea, as I pointed out in an earlier blog.
As a result, I kinda have a tendency to mislead people sometimes about random facts. It’s all unintentional (unlike, for instance, Fox News), but it’s still wrong. So, in order to distance myself from misinformants who adamantly proclaim falsities, such as those that insist President Obama’s health plan is hell-bent on killing your grandparents (different topic that I won’t dignify with a blog entry, and Jon Stewart does a bang-up job anyway), I thought I’d clear the air on some of the "facts" you might’ve heard me say to you so matter-of-factly in the past.
Debunked: Tom Petty Sued RHCP
"Mary Jane’s Last Dance" is maybe Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ most widely known work. And did you ever notice how similar it is to the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ most recent best-selling single, "Dani California"? In particular, its opening phrase sounds just like the theme that drives the Tom Petty classic. In fact, you may have heard me mention that Petty filed a copyright lawsuit against RHCP, and they're still battling out in court.
Totally false. In a 2006 Rolling Stone interview, Petty was asked about it, to which he responded: "I seriously doubt that there is any negative intent there. And a lot of rock & roll songs sound alike. Ask Chuck Berry. The Strokes took 'American Girl', and I saw an interview with them where they actually admitted it. That made me laugh out loud. I was like, 'OK, good for you.' It doesn’t bother me."
Cool. I’m glad I’m wrong...makes me like Mr. Petty a lot more, for his laid-back-ness.
Debunked: The Toilet Bowl / Hemisphere Postulate
This didn’t just fool me, it fooled all the geniuses on the staff of The Simpsons, who based an entire episode on this theory. Because of a little physics principle called the Coriolis Effect, I had heard that when toilets flush (or showers drain, or whatever), the water will always always ALWAYS swirl in a counterclockwise motion as it goes down the drain in the Northern Hemisphere, and it would swirl in a clockwise motion in the Southern Hemisphere. I thought this was because of the rotation of the Earth: the same reason that hurricanes spin counter-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.
Of course, I believed all of this without having been to South America or Australia or whatever. Plus, what if you had a drain that sat right on the equator? Would the water just fall straight through the drain?
In fact, the Coriolis effect’s influence over a circling drain is miniscule if any, since a the drain is only several inches wide (at most) and lasts for only a few seconds. The Earth's rotation just doesn't affect such an insignificant event. Source: http://www.snopes.com/science/coriolis.asp
Debunked: The Unproud Origin of the Word "Golf"
Etymology (how words came to be) has always deeply interested me, ever since my four years of high school Latin, so I never pass up an opportunity to learn where a word came from.
I heard from someone long ago that the word "golf" was actually an acronym for "Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden". It made sense: golf has been around for centuries, and it certainly predated women’s rights. And guys stereotypically hit the golf course to escape their female counterparts, right?
Incorrect. It’s unknown exactly where the word came from, but it is surely known that it’s not an acronym. Precursors to the word may include the German word "kolbe", the Dutch word "kolven", or simply the Scottish word "golf". In any case, I was wrong again. Source: http://www.scottishgolfhistory.net/golf_word.htm
Well, there you have it. Just because it sounds good doesn’t mean it’s true. I guess the moral of the story is to just not listen to me.
Ever since a buddy of mine introduced me to them back in 10th grade and I bought their then-newest album, No. 4, I've had an on-again-off-again affinity for the Stone Temple Pilots. I loved that album when I first bought it and played it so regularly that, for me, it forever became a symbol of that time. Any time I hear "Glide", I'm vividly reminded of driving down McCann St at 1am on Saturday nights after closing up shop at Tony Roma's as a busboy. Yeah, I reeked of BBQ sauce and smoke, but me and my '89 Jeep Comanche were happy as long as STP was playing. (And the windows were rolled down.)
Anyway, it was their straight-up hard rock that won me over (see "Plush" and "Wicked Garden"), but I was also intrigued by their slower-paced ballads (see "Creep" and "Atlanta"). Singer Scott Weiland wails sorrowfully in one of STP's more obscure ballads, "Hello It's Late" from Shangri-La Dee Da:
It’s August 6. Sixty-four years ago today, the U.S. dropped the first of the only two nuclear weapons in the history of Earthly warfare. About 140,000 people in Hiroshima died by the end of 1945; some of them instantaneously, and some of them from radiation sickness, trauma, and burns. It’s hard to argue that the notion of such destruction is unspeakably horrific.
But was it the right thing to do?
First of all, let me make loud and clear that I can’t POSSIBLY fairly evaluate this question, since I wasn’t born until almost 40 years after the fact. I know nothing about what a World War feels like. But, I do find it interesting to think about and to hear others’ opinions on the subject.
Let’s start off with some facts. On July 26, 1945, Harry Truman (US President), Winston Churchill (UK Prime Minister), and Chiang Kai-shek (China President) issued the Potsdam Declaration, stating that either Japan surrenders immediately or face “prompt and utter destruction.” Eleven days later, the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Three days after that, a second bomb was detonated over Nagasaki. Six days after that, Japan surrendered.
Probably the most frequent pro-bomb argument is that it actually saved lives. Either we continue to fight a stubborn Japanese empire that would’ve resulted in hundreds of thousands or millions of Japanese and American casualties as the war dragged on, or we end the war quickly. The atomic bomb demonstrated the power of the U.S. arsenal, and brought the war to a decidedly swift conclusion.
Then there are those that say destroying two cities and killing a huge number of civilians is barbaric, unnecessary, and wrong, no matter what. Some go so far as to characterize the tactic as a war crime.
Interestingly, this issue came up on The Daily Show a few months ago when torture and waterboarding was on everyone’s mind. During a spirited (and very interesting) argument with Cliff May, the President of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Jon Stewart said straight up that President Truman committed a crime of war (starting at about the 5:40 mark):
I did find Stewart’s suggestion interesting: why didn’t the U.S. just drop a bomb 15 miles offshore, thereby demonstrating the military might of the U.S. and the futility of Japanese resistance without killing a single civilian?
But a counter-argument: there's no guarantee that even that would've ended the war. Additionally, one comment on a blog I read said, “Doesn’t it follow from the logic of his argument that Nagasaki was permissible, since the Japanese hadn’t surrendered after Hiroshima? It’s a bit counter-intuitive that Hiroshima would be wrong, but Nagasaki not wrong.” Difficult to argue with that.
The debate continues. But there is one thing we can all agree on: two nuclear weapons have been detonated in an act of war. In these unsure times, let’s hope and pray and do whatever it takes so that number stays exactly where it is. I wasn’t alive during most of the Cold War, either, and can’t possibly comprehend the tension that was around in those days. I kinda like not knowing what that feels like.
So it’s August. Kids are headed back to school in two or three weeks. The high in Dallas today is 101. And we’re right smack in the middle of the dog days of baseball season.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t dislike baseball. Sometimes I genuinely enjoy it. But it just doesn't quite compare to the one sport I so love, at least until the postseason starts in October. Plus, you just know that the Rangers are teasing us this year: they’re good enough to be relevant, but will probably end up in second in the AL West behind Anaheim, and either the Red Sox or Yankees will grab the AL Wild Card, just like always.
Maybe since I predicted this will happen, it won’t. I’m sure hoping to cheer the Rangers in the postseason, I’m just setting my expectations low.
Plus, Big Papi getting busted for ‘roids really pissed me off.
...But I digress.
The point is, we’re about 2 months out from the Lakers’ championship (Boo.), and are still almost 3 months until game 1 of the regular season. But that doesn’t mean a lot hasn’t been going on. My observations on the Mavs’ offseason, in convenient enumerated format!
1. DallasBasketball.com is my new favorite basketball-gossip-related website.
I used to be continuously frustrated during the offseason by the dearth of Mav-related info. The best I got was a one- or two-paragraph write-up once per week from the Dallas Morning News that quickly and superficially summarized the week’s events in the Mavs’ front office. But thanks to David Lord and Mike Fisher, two very well-informed insiders who contribute to DallasBasketball.com, I can get my daily fix on trade speculation, etc. (Ramon Sessions is the latest name to be tossed out there.) And it's not completely baseless speculation; there’s some very sensible logic behind it. I’d rather let these guys, who are FAR smarter than me, figure out the intricacies of the salary cap.
I was there to see it, DB.com picked out Shawn Marion days before the trade went down. (More on that later.) I’m addicted. And grateful. They're why I'm inspired to write this long-winded blog entry, in fact. So blame them for your ongoing suffering.
2. The Mavericks absolutely, positively, undoubtedly HAD to re-sign Jason Kidd.
I’ll be the first to admit that I hated the Jason Kidd for half-the-Mavs-roster-including-our-only-answer-for-Tony-Parker-a.k.a.-Devin-Harris trade back in March of ’08. And I still think Dallas gave up too much. But the Kidd has won me over.
Yeah, he’s 36. Yeah, he’s a little slower and can’t quite fill up the bucket like he used to. But he’s INCREDIBLY savvy on offense AND defense, and always seems to hit those timely 3’s. (He actually led Dallas last year in 3-pt percentage at 40.6%.) If Dirk is the V8 engine that makes the Mavs go, Kidd is the oil that keeps the whole thing from grinding to a screeching halt. (And that’s as deep as my automotive metaphors will go.)
Seriously, what would the Mavs have done had they let Kidd walk to New York? They might’ve pursued Andre Miller, who’s also getting up there in age and doesn’t compare with Kidd. Maybe let Jason Terry and J.J. Barea split time at the starting point.
The Dallas Mavericks ARE NOT a playoff team without him. They ARE a playoff team with him. That’s all you need to know.
3. The Mavs did right in taking the red pill.
So now we stay in Wonderland, and we see how far down the rabbit hole goes.
Dallas’s trade to acquire “The Matrix” (i.e., Shawn Marion) was a very smart basketball move. Here’s why.
The Mavs get a premiere defender who is versatile enough to chase Kobe, Amare, Dwyane, and ‘Melo who can lead the team in rebounding (which means more running fast breaks with the Kidd), hit the occasional 3, and catch some of those alley-oops from Kidd on the fast break. AND they got him at a reasonable price: After getting paid $17 mil a year last year, he’ll earn less than half that during his new contract -- about $7.7 mil per year. (Thank you again, DB.com.)
The only caveat is that we’re going to have to learn to live with that AWFUL-looking release.
4. There are still PLENTY of Dirk lovers and haters out there.
There are two sides to the Dirk debate. First of all, he’s been one of the most consistently productive players in the league this decade. So much so that he makes a very convincing case to earn a spot on the All-Decade Team for the 2000s. This article does just that, and in fact, his formula concludes that he has indeed been the MOST productive player since 2000. More than Tim Duncan. More than Kobe Bryant. More than Kevin Garnett. Just look at this list.
Then there’s the other side, that says he disappears in the postseason, and that he’s among the most overrated players in the league. (Um, did you SEE last year’s Denver series? 30+ ppg doesn’t do it for you?) Yeah, he had his chances in the Finals. And yeah, he’s had an off year or two mixed in there. But, like all the greats, his production is significantly elevated during the postseason.
One thing I do know is, since we’re even HAVING this debate, he’s gotta be pretty daggum special. We’re all Nowitznesses to a hall-of-famer who, I believe, will still win his championship ring.
I just hope he’s wearing a Mavericks uniform when he does.
5. YouTube and my DVR have helped me get through this period of basketball fasting.
It helps to be able to see Josh Howard’s three-quarter-court shot against Phoenix last April whenever I want. In High Def, no less. But just as great is the ability to reminisce about their 2003 run:
Ah, those days of Nash, Van Exel, and RAEF LAFRENTZ make me teary-eyed. Thank God for YouTube.
6. The best new expression of the summer: “Getting kicked in the Gortats”.
Again, thanks to DB.com. Earlier this summer, Dallas committed $38 million to backup-center phenom Marcin Gortat from the Orlando Magic, who was a restricted free agent, meaning once the offer was made, the Magic had seven days to match the offer and keep him. While Dallas’s money was tied up on the Gortat offer they let undersized, energy PF Brandon Bass (a hoss) go to, you guessed it, Orlando. Only days later, Orlando pulled the tablecloth out from under Mark Cuban and, surprising everyone, matched the Gortat offer, thus keeping him AND Bass.
And that’s how the Mavs got kicked in the Gortats. Which I will now proceed to use in everyday vernacular (...thus leaving my partners in conversation thoroughly confused.) The silver lining: maybe Gortat isn’t all that great, and the Mavs avoided getting their money all tied up for years and years, like the Shawn Bradley and Erick Dampier situations. Time will tell.
But, in the meantime, Dallas ATTEMPTED to shore up the center position by adding big-man whacko Drew Gooden who, despite being semi-productive, has bounced around to seven teams in eight years. They also added 3-point marksman/knucklehead Tim Thomas. To do: re-sign either energy 7-footer Ryan Hollins or potential Brandon Bass replacement and headband extraordinaire James Singleton.
No doubt the Mavs have beefed up their roster a little, but will it be enough...?
7. Holy crap, you’re still reading this? Well, since you made it this far...
Talk about long-winded. I’ll spare you further analysis and just say: Dallas will not win the Western Conference championship this year. But it won’t be a disappointment, either. I predict 56 wins, the second seed in the playoffs (behind only LA), and a loss to LA in an epic 7 game series in the Western Conference Finals. But 2010 will be a different, much more successful story. Start planning that parade route.
I saw her appearance on the first week of Conan's Tonight Show. And ever since then, she's been steadily climbing on my (and others') list of new awesome indie musicians. She recently made the cover of Paste Magazine. I find myself cycling through her playlist on MySpace at work almost on a daily basis, hypnotized by her Patsy Cline-like voice. Her name is Neko Case, whose vocals you may recognize from indie group The New Pornographers. Also, she recently appeared on NPR's Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me.
I just now started hunting around for some of her work with The New Pornographers, and found "Jackie, Dressed in Cobras":
Normally, I don't do "Jingle Bells". Or "Silver Bells". Or any other kind of bells, really.
