Barbotian Ocean 2.0

I’m so glad someone besides me has time to do...

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 18:24:00 -0400

I’m so glad someone besides me has time to do “hobbies” like this. Well done little piece of Americana. You can thank Jeremy KIndall for this; h eevidently has more free time on his hands to cruise YouTube for DLR-related clips. You could call it something of an obsession on his part.

David Lee Roth on American Idol!? (via larrydavideo)

Separated at birth. Say no more.

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:19:02 -0400

Separated at birth. Say no more.

I just finished reading Bill McKibben’s entertaining and...

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 15:50:00 -0400

I just finished reading Bill McKibben’s entertaining and insightful “Wandering Home,” where he chronicles his walk from Mt. Abe in Vermont across the Champlain Valley to his cabin in the Adirondacks. So I was pleasantly surprised to hear that he’s the guy behind 350.org, which is trying to incite a global movement to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide to 350 parts per million. We’re currently at about 385, a number which, if not reduced, “will cause huge and irreversible damage to the earth,” according to 350.org’s reckoning.

I love this animation; it wordlessly conveys the sequence of global warming and 350’s mission to reduce it, eliminating the language barrier to grasping the concept in the process. Nicely done.

350.org: Because the world needs to know (via 350org)

I’m no doubt late to the party on this one …...

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:37:28 -0400

I’m no doubt late to the party on this one … LittleBoots already listed this as an influence, so clearly the cool kids are already all over it.

But there’s no getting around the joy of watching an actual robot do The Robot. Pure bliss. And one thing I have over the cool kids - I was actually ALIVE and conscious in 1978.

Dee D. Jackson - Automatic Lover (1978 Original Video) (via bchfj)

I’m sorry to report that Boy George has been denied a...

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:25:48 -0400

I’m sorry to report that Boy George has been denied a visa, thus curtailing his efforts to tour the US this summer. Poor George!

Here’s the official press release:

“At the moment, Boy George cannot come to the United States of America because he has been refused permission to enter by the USA Administration. This is not in respect of anything he has done in the past but because he is facing a trial in November in London for something that happened in April last year.”

I like that “this is not in respect of anything he has done in the past …” Apparently, April last year is not “in the past” in the UK.

His crime? According to Wikipedia, it was merely the following: “On 30 April 2007, Boy George was arrested for allegedly assaulting and falsely imprisoning a Norwegian man in his home in East London.”

Oh, THAT’s all? And for that they deny him a visa?

Oh man, nerd synth porn haters beware … big-time...

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 21:20:00 -0400

Oh man, nerd synth porn haters beware … big-time compilation of photos of the synths that made the eighties, for me, so … memorable. Pictured here is the Jupiter 8 that the keys player in my first high school band used in our stunningly life-like renditions of “Jump!” and “Baba O’Reilly.” Sick, innit?

But then I came across “Vintage Synth Explorer” and just about lost it. That’s some serious flashback to freaked-out trips to Chuck Levin’s back in ‘82, drooling over all the weird crap I could never hope to afford (at least, while I still had some hope of using to score some points with chicks). And this stuff is seriously weird - the EMS AKS was the first analog I ever had the joy of exploring (made some really crackpot whale-sounds “songs” in an electronic music class in college, and that was the end of it). It was put to best use on Dr. Who, I believe. Oh, and probably a dozen Orb and Aphex Twin records since …

Steve Fossen proving that men can make lingerie sexy, too

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 20:54:08 -0400

Steve Fossen proving that men can make lingerie sexy, too

I like Heart as much as the next guy (as long as the next guy...

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 20:53:16 -0400

I like Heart as much as the next guy (as long as the next guy really only likes “Barracuda,” “Crazy On You,” and “Magic Man”). But I was listening to a station out of Plattsburg, New York tonight, my last in the Green Mountains before the long journey back south to DC, and was fondly reminded of the many hours I spent before the walnut woodgrain hi-fi at my parents’ old beach place in Rehoboth, 100 KHI gluing the really good stuff directly onto my pre-adolescent neurons with Testor-like tenacity.

Gerry Rafferty, Journey, Foreigner, and even Cliff Richards’ one attempt at rock, “Devil Woman,” were par for the course then as now. But when “Magic Man” came on tonight (the DJ was working a theme, I suppose), I was gripped by the need to see the rock in action - and, courtesy of YouTube, I was not disappointed. If not floored by Roger and Howard’s dueling guitar solos, Ann’s soaring (dig the shriek at 4:17!) if occasionally problematic (7:51, and she checks herself because she knew she sucked) vocals, or Mike DeRosier’s de rigueur drum solo (on a four-piece-plus-timpani kit, no less) and his clever replacement of the infamously putrid “wee-oo-wee-oo-oo-we-oo-we-oo” synth part at 4:29 with a semi-spastic drum roll, then you will most certainly throw yourself prostrate before the flaming rock-encrusted altar of Steve Fossen’s man-boob enhancement corset (see detail, above).

That is rock and roll, friends.

Heart - Magic Man (via aginggaijin)

Mmkay. I like yoga. And I like golf. But somehow what this dude...

Wed, 28 May 2008 16:22:00 -0400

Mmkay. I like yoga. And I like golf. But somehow what this dude is doing to his golf club is totally unsavory.

This passes for entertainment in my house. Nick Wiggles his...

Tue, 27 May 2008 08:15:14 -0400

This passes for entertainment in my house.

Nick Wiggles his Nose (via YouTube)

Citizens united for higher gas prices: junkies who hate their heroin

Tue, 20 May 2008 19:43:16 -0400

Citizens united for higher gas prices: junkies who hate their heroin

Tweaking my tumblog to make twitter work … Please work …

Tue, 20 May 2008 15:14:36 -0400

Tweaking my tumblog to make twitter work … Please work …

Now, I hate John Mayer in principal, but I have to give credit...

Thu, 08 May 2008 16:11:00 -0400

Now, I hate John Mayer in principal, but I have to give credit where it’s due: he’s got a sense of humor about himself (see his piece on Chappelle’s Show for proof). I think paying someone else to take drugs for you is pure genius. Guy’s a real innovator.

Makin’ Music with John Mayer

OOOOH! New Futureheads coming out May 26 (at least in the UK)....

Sat, 03 May 2008 13:11:02 -0400

OOOOH! New Futureheads coming out May 26 (at least in the UK). Sounds, um not dissimilar from old Futureheads, but ya know, that works for me just fine.

The Futureheads - The Beginning Of The Twist (via YouTube)

Bleib Nümberwang! Why? No idea. Fake German makes me...

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 22:19:39 -0400

Bleib Nümberwang!

Why? No idea. Fake German makes me laugh.

That Mitchell and Webb Look - Nümberwang (via )

Most days, I’m thankful I don’t live in New York....

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 12:34:55 -0400

Most days, I’m thankful I don’t live in New York. The noise, the pace, the pollution, the crowds (though those of you have been to my office neighborhood lately would wonder, “and the difference between that and CoHeights is … what?”) all conspire to deliver me a migraine laced with a panic attack.

But some days, I see blogs like Lunch Studio and just get righteously jealous … and hungry for the Big Apple. Now I love Sticky Fingers as much as the next guy (Next Guy, you do like Sticky Fingers, don’t you? Those Cowvin Cakes are righteous), but sometimes, I’d give my left arm for some buttery, fatty, animal-product-riffic baked goods in the ‘hood. Man, that’s a nice looking cupcake.

Yesterday I jumped at the chance to break up my lunch doldrums with a trip to Potbelly Sandwich Works. Potbelly, people. Is that we have to settle for? DC’s got lots of restaurateurs, and as many chefs as K-Street expense accounts. Can somebody please hook us with some of that up the hill? We’re here, we got money, and we’re hungry …

Caramel mocha cupcake (via Front Studio - via Kottke)

This is a gift for my friend Mark Eberman, who not only is...

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 18:36:00 -0400

This is a gift for my friend Mark Eberman, who not only is studying classical guitar, but ~~stupidly~~ wisely agreed to come work at Threespot this morning.

I don’t think this is an original St Sanders, who was banned from YouTube for spurious copyright infringement claims back in February, but it is pretty well done. Bravissimo, maestro DeLucia! And thanks, Erin, for the find …

Paco De Lucia Shreds (via YouTube)

A birthday gift from a fan … I was so much older then,...

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 09:57:06 -0400

A birthday gift from a fan … I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now …

Thanks, Fourth-Grade Security Risk!

via hiveba.fatcow.com

"A fortieth birthday is the official commencement of middle age, even though most Americans..."

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 08:10:00 -0400

“A fortieth birthday is the official commencement of middle age, even though most Americans don’t make it all the way to 80.”

- I imagine this is somehow intended to be encouraging? But really, how much credence can I put in an article that suggests that I should, as a way to celebrate, “Expose the wizard” (number 6)?

Anyway. Happy Birthday to me. Forty years ago this morning the world was blessed with my presence. But please, at least in my name, don’t expose the wizard.

How to Celebrate a Fortieth Birthday - wikiHow

All the cool kids listen to remixes, so why shouldn’t...

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:24:00 -0400

All the cool kids listen to remixes, so why shouldn’t you?

Admittedly, Amplive’s remixes of Radiohead’s (brilliant, ok, I admit it … but you don’t have to twist my arm. That’s not a reluctant compliment, that’s an “I wait years to like a record as much as I like this one”) In Rainbows have been out and freely available for ages (since December, at least), but I’ve always been one to give something a good several months in the iPod before passing judgment.

My usual remix turnoffs apply to the collection at large - stuttered vocals, use of samples that undermines original melodies, “rapping” - but this track, his version of (what in my opinion is kind of one of the original’s weaker tracks) “15 Step,” employs an alternate vocal melody (in fact, an alternate vocal approach, courtesy of Bay Area soulster Coldany Holiday, who is new to me), while lifting the changes and certain rhythmic elements that bring the original to mind in non-obvious, intriguing, and dare I say it, entertaining ways.

Old dog, new trick, at least every once in a while.

Oh, and did I mention that they are all free?

via Amplive