Ghostly bear

From Grizzly Bear's recent performance at the Pabst Theater...I like the haunted look of this one...


(thx, jen!)

Vertical balconies

A while back, this picture by Tim Walker surfaced. Now, this picture by Phillipe Ramette has popped up. Who copied who (I prefer the Ramette)?

Family jewel

Phish Halloween Festival

Phish has announced a three-day festival that will fall on Halloween this year, and already the speculation has begun as to what "musical costume" they will don as a cover set. My money is on Dylan and the Band's Basement Tapes. But what I really want to see--and always have--is for Phish to cover Oasis' (What's the Story) Morning Glory?. There's something about the intense, linear guitar solos on that album that would just rip during a Phish show (especially this version of Phish that is steering away from the more exploratory jams). Plus, Page would just kill "Don't Look Back in Anger."

Kindle and unitasking

Tom Weber, on how using a Kindle makes him less distracted, thus enabling "unitasking":

That’s why the Kindle experience stands in such great contrast. When my Kindle arrived from Amazon earlier this year, it felt at first like a severely crippled computer. After all, it has a display screen, a keyboard—even a wireless connection and a web browser of sorts. But every time I tried to indulge my digital-media-trained attention span, pausing in the middle of a book or article to check baseball scores or skim a few blogs, the experience was too cumbersome to enjoy.

Over a few weeks, I rediscovered my ability to simply read the book or article I had punched up in the first place. (Just like—gasp!—old-fashioned printed matter.) It’s particularly enjoyable when reading a newspaper or magazine—enough so that I’ve been routinely purchasing some of these publications when I could have grabbed my laptop and read them for free on the web. In effect, I’m paying for the lack of distraction.

I question whether this phenomenon is the result of simply being enthralled with a new device. Seems that Kindles, iPhones, and Blackberrys all make us fixate upon them as sources of information and entertainment when they are brand new. But, as we possess them longer, and new apps and features become available, I feel that we integrate them seemlessly into our daily lives and unconciously utilize the multi-tasking features that are too tempting to resist.

Camerons in the outfield

"The Hangover"

Like modern horror and slasher films, comedies just keep pushing the envelope in terms of what ridiculous ways they can come up with to make you laugh. It had been a while since I saw a comdey in the theaters, and although I was pretty entertained by The Hangover, I felt like I had seen the film before. Todd Phillips always comes up with creative storylines, but it seems his genre is coming to an end. In any case, it's one of those movies where the funniest moments will settle in with extra viewings, but not sure if that will happen anytime soon.

STS9 - "Peaceblaster: The New Orleans Make it Right Remixes"

Information gives me a rush, it's like drugs. Very true in today's world, with everything right at our fingertips at all times. I wonder if that were taken away, would we "come down," so to speak? Regardless of real-life information scenarios, I think this line--from the Flying Skulls remix of STS9's "Hidden Hand, Hidden Fist"--represents this massive remix effort well. It's the 17th track out of 30--nearly two and a half hours of music--and is one of six tripped-out versions of this original Peaceblaster mind-ripper.

In other words, there's a lot of music here, and the constant flow of synths and beats and sampled vocals give the album more of a "data" feel than music feel. I don't foresee any possible way someone could sit down and listen to this from start to finish without becoming overwhelmed and losing their mind. Like the information that is constantly bombarding us in life, there needs to be distractions to move this music from our central line of thought to the periphery. Only there can it be handled, and act in a way that suddenly grabs our attention when we hear something we like. I've been using Peaceblaster: New Orleans as a workout disc, and the aforementioned "Hidden Hand, Hidden Fist" remix, along with Telepath's remix of "Peaceblaster '68" are two that I've pinpointed as awesome in this swath of funk, hip/hop, and techno.

Make no mistake, that doesn't mean the other 28 tracks are not worthy of attention; I've caught on to plenty of bits and pieces of good stuff that I'm looking forward to finding again. But there's just too much to digest at one time. So take your time with it and let yourself absorb the information at a normal, life-like pace.

Transhumanism criteria

Kyle Munkittrick's criteria for transhumanism:

2. Our social understanding of aging loses the "virtue of necessity" aspect and society begins to treat aging as a disease. Concepts like "aging well" and "golden years" would be as counter-intuitive as describing someone with cancer or MS as "diseasing well." I have no idea what the consequences would be socially, but you can bet things like "mid-life crises" and "adult learning" would take on entirely new meanings or become meaningless. When we have a generation of people expected to live to 150, that'll be a good sign this is on the way to happening.

As a freelance writer, I've always worked under the notion that without deadlines, nothing would be accomplished. I wonder if this sort of mentality would begin to seep into daily life if average life spans pushed 150 years? How would this effect productivity and the urgency of human thought and emotion?

Multi-tasking

(via k-money)

Bucks draft picks

Brandon Jennings seems to be a head case with little proven talent, but I'm hoping that Jodie Meeks will develop into one of those second-round gems (much like Luc Richard Mbah a Moute was last year). He reminds me of Rajon Rondo--also from Kentucky--but with scoring ability.

Flaming Lips album cover?

The rumored cover art for Embryonic...

"The Road"

I found this book in the laundry room of my apartment, ironically, a couple of days after seeing the trailer in a preview. Had I not seen that preview, I probably would not have snatched it up, because come on, "The Road" sounds pretty dull. Not that I'm one to judge a book by its title or cover, but if you're going to steal things from the laundry room, it better be worthwhile.

Turns out, "The Road" (it was sitting in dry-caked detergent and won the fucking Pulizter) is one of the better books I have ever read. Cormac McCarthy's writing is as simple as it is powerful, and this bleak, dark tale tugs at all sorts of strings long after you're finished reading it. It contains one of the most terrifying scenes ever put down into words (you'll never enter a dark basement the same way again), and at the same time conveys the constant tenderness of a father and son struggling on together in search of something that they don't know they're looking for. This book will probably have to go back down to the laundry room for the next lucky person to find.

Hippie dryer

Looks to be an effective means...

peaceblaster.com

peaceblaster.com has been up and running since May of 2007, but unfortunately I'm just stumbling upon it now. There's all sorts of good stuff here, such as links to music, environmental issues, and topics on democracy. It's heady, thoughtful, and run by STS9, who are much, much more than just musicians.

And speaking of music, I just purchased "Peaceblaster: The New Orleans Make It Right Remixes," and have been rocking it for two days straight. 100% of the proceeds go towards building houses in New Orleans.

"Beyond Here Lies Nothing"

Nash Edgerton's disturbing video for Bob Dylan's "Beyond Here Lies Nothing."

Phish - Alpine Valley (6/20-21/09)

The two-night stand at Alpine Valley was a tale of two shows. The first night suffered from what most post-first-hiatus shows have failed to achieve: the cornerstone jam. And on a night that featured "Runaway Jim," "Stash," and "Ghost" (can you imagine that trio circa '97-'98?), that trend unfortunately continued. There's still something missing from these once epic exploratory rockers, something that sets them apart from the rest of the set, rather than just a song name to get excited about. What was built around these songs was great--I got to see my first "Lizards" (and a fine one it was) and "Waves" has always been a darkhorse favorite--but the missing intensity of "Stash" and the veiled mystique of "Ghost" (I prefer to keep it veiled, secretive, and dark) wasn't there. And that's what elevates a Phish show to a Phish show.

Strangely, we didn't really get that on Sunday night either, and yet it was probably one of the better Phish shows I've seen. "Divided Sky" was perfectly executed just as the sun was going down, "Alvenu Malkanu" blew everyone away in a surprise-homecoming type of way, and "Piper" started to scratch the surface of what I hope will be further experimentation and progress in this new era of Phish. The show just buzzed nicely along with me from start to finish. It sure didn't stretch limits, but in the end I think that was what did it for me.

Eye in the sky

"To protect and empower"...

Phish - Deer Creek (6/19/09)

The confluence of oppressive heat and vicious lightning and rain storms was, for most fans, the story of this show. Yeah, "Fluffhead" was extremely tight, and "Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan" is growing on me by leaps and bounds. But this show was about Mother Nature, and what I will remember most will be the hour we spent sitting in our car in the parking lot after the amphitheater was evacuated at set-break. During that hour, the lot transformed into some kind of dark and wet refugee camp. Hundreds of people were wandering through whipping winds and branching cracks of heat lightning and seeking shelter in their cars. Others were just meandering around and shouting as if they had simply lost their minds in the deluge. It was all very entertaining, if not surreal.

Even after we were allowed back into the venue for the second set, the pouring rain began again. It was as if the storm had tricked us into thinking that coming back would be dry and safe. Almost as a secondary display, the show seemed to slide in around these (super)natural events, and Phish did their best to cater to the atmosphere ("A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing; "Drowned"; "2001"). It was the first time I had seen Phish in 5 years, and I was having difficulty separating the two forces at work; the storm just demanded that attention. In fact, I've already begun to hear rumors that this storm topped the '97 Raleigh spectacle. I suppose being part of that type of Phish history is enough to make this show memorable regardless of what was played on stage.

My friend has a tomato

Free, organic tomatoes at Alpine Valley...

Phish - 6/21/09 (Alpine Valley)

Set I: Brother, Wolfman’s Brother, Funky Bitch, The Divided Sky, Joy, Back On The Train, Taste, Poor Heart, The Horse, Silent in the Morning, The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday, Avenu Malkanu, The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday, Time Turns Elastic

Set II: Crosseyed and Painless, Down With Disease, Bug, Piper, Wading In The Velvet Sea, Boogie On Reggae Woman, Slave to the Traffic Light

Encore: Grind, Frankenstein

Tree

A lone tree at Deer Creek, just steps away from lot madness...

Phish - 6/20/09 (Alpine Valley)

Set I: Punch You in the Eye, Runaway Jim, Stash, Ya Mar, Bathtub Gin, Kill Devil Falls, Train Song, Farmhouse, Sparkle, Run Like an Antelope

Set II: Waves, Sample in a Jar, Maze, Makisupa Policeman, Ghost, Lizards, You Enjoy Myself, NICU, Prince Caspian, Waste, Fire

Encore: Character Zero

Phish - 6/19/09 (Deer Creek)

Set I: Backwards Down the Number Line, AC/DC Bag, Limb by Limb, Moma Dance, Water in the Sky, Split Open and Melt, Lawn Boy, The Wedge, Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan, The Connection, Ocelot, Fluffhead

Set: II: A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing, Drowned, Twist, Let Me Lie, Tweezer, 2001,Suzy Greenburg, Possum

Encore: Sleeping Monkey, Tweezer Reprise

Phish - 6/18/09 (Burgettstown)

Set I: Golgi Apparatus, Chalkdust Torture, Bouncing Around the Room, Wolfman's Brother, Divided Sky, Heavy Things, Walk Away, Wilson, Tube, Alaska, David Bowie

Set II: Down With Disease, Free, Guyute, Piper, When the Circus Comes to Town, Harry Hood, Squirming Coil, You Enjoy Myself

Encore: Grind, Hello My Baby, Hold Your Head Up, Bike, Hold Your Head Up, Loving Cup

Phish tour

I'm on it, and will be returning with memories, photos, and possibly welts (hail is predicted in Indiana Friday night).

Shirky on Iran

From a recent interview with Clay Shirky:

I'm always a little reticent to draw lessons from things still unfolding, but it seems pretty clear that...this is it. The big one. This is the first revolution that has been catapulted onto a global stage and transformed by social media. I've been thinking a lot about the Chicago demonstrations of 1968 where they chanted "the whole world is watching." Really, that wasn't true then. But this time it's true ... and people throughout the world are not only listening but responding. They're engaging with individual participants, they're passing on their messages to their friends, and they're even providing detailed instructions to enable web proxies allowing Internet access that the authorities can't immediately censor. That kind of participation is really extraordinary.

I commented a little while back on networks like Twitter potentially diluting the genuine support for major, international events. Whether that is true or not, social media is enhancing the magnitude of these events. Regardless of your position or interest, you are becoming involved in the events if you are involved with the networks.

Musiconspiracy - "Do I The In?"

I initially dismissed Do I The In? as your typical, run-of-the-mill free jazz effort, one that really didn't try to stretch any sort of boundaries that hadn't been stretched before. I felt like I had heard this already; perhaps a slightly different formulation, but in the end, it was something familiar. There were scattered drums, ascending and descending bass, and points where everything seemed to drop out into a scattered noise of minimal silence. Yes, this was a free jazz album, only not the kind that explores your head in that feel-good, unique way.

Then, out of the blue and on the third or fourth listen, the trumpet grabbed me. An electric, quarter tone trumpet. It somehow managed to stay hidden during my first few listens, but now it was here, effervescent and pervasive like a trilling bird that's trapped in a glass room. To avoid mediocrity--and thus, to gain a spot in my rotation--free jazz needs a signature. Frank Hautzinger's trumpet is that signature on Do I The In?, and it plays the shifts from rhythmic to arrhythmic with an unsuspecting finesse. That said, this is a free jazz album, so for the rest, your guess is as good as mine (which is why I love free jazz).

Phish - 6/16/09 (Fox Theater)

Set I: Kill Devil Falls, Ocelot, Brian & Robert, Sample in a Jar, Rift, Ya Mar, Reba, Train Song, Horn, Possum, Slave to the Traffic Light

Set II: Halley’s Comet, Runaway Jim, Frankie Says, Time Turns Elastic, Sleep, Mike’s Song, I Am Hydrogen, Weekapaug Groove, Boogie On Reggae Woman, Character Zero

Emcore: Star Spangled Banner, McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters, While My Guitar Gently Weeps

"The Terror"

In addition to being a pretty entertaining story about a monstrous polar bear and a beautiful Eskimo girl with no tongue, The Terror gave some fascinating insight into the improbability and danger of arctic sailing expeditions in the mid-1800s. Given how "small" the world is today, it's amazing that there once were areas of the globe which had never been touched, much less mapped out. Simmons' detailed description of the ships, sailing methods, and means of survival make it that much more implausible.

Neon Twitter pics

If you use Twitter, you've probably noticed that many users have recently decided to tint their Twitter pictures neon green to show support to Iranians during their fradulent national election. I suppose it's a nice show of support, but I wonder if Twitter is simply enabling that support, and thereby detracting from the true significance behind it? I find it hard to believe that people in the States would be sporting green ribbons or painting their faces green in support of Iranians if Twitter didn't exist. That's the fine line that technology is drawing between genuine support and simple accessibility. Or, in other words, who is truly supporting and who is simply following the trends?

"Summertime Clothes"

This video looks like it cost about $25 to make, and yet the color schemes and movements Animal Collective use enrich the visual quality so much that you don't really notice.

Sleep?

The past two nights I haven't felt like I have slept. Technically, I've been sleeping, because I've been remembering these strange dreams, and have felt decently refreshed in the morning. But glazed over it all is this sense of being awake all night and seeing every hour pass by on my digital clock. Hopefully this will not be a regular thing, as it is taking away the nothingness of sleep and making 6-7 hours of lying in a bed literally 6-7 hours of lying in a bed.

The Beatles: Rockband

I'm sure this opening sequence will be better than the game itself:

Phish - 6/14/09 (Bonnaroo)

Set I: AC/DC Bag, NICU, Gotta Jibboo, Punch You In the Eye, Sparkle, Bathtub Gin, Character Zero, Tweezer, The Horse, Silent in the Morning, Run Like an Antelope, Mustang Sally*, Bobby Jean*, Glory Days* (*w/Bruce Springsteen)

Set II: Rock and Roll, Manchester Jam, Light, 46 Days, Limb by Limb, Farmhouse, Backwards Down the Number Line, Prince Caspian, First Tube

Encore: Suzy Greenburg, Tweezer Reprise

"Remix"

If you're interested in a heady combination of law, intellectual property-talk, and media culture, Lawrence Lessig's Remix is for you. Here, Lessig offers a logical, well-planned attack on the current copyright system that is "corrupting a whole generation of our kids" and subsequently labeling them as criminals (finally, a lawyer who doesn't think 12-year old girls should be sued for downloading Justin Timberlake in p2p networks). There's all sorts of ideas about new, hybrid economies that embrace both sharing and monetary gain, as well as sensible recommendations for regulating "use" instead of "copy." But what is most relevant about Remix, at least to me, is how it acknowledges a simple truth about the digital age:

Every generation has had the experience of an older generation insisting that the new is degraded, that only the old is great. Didn't that experience teach us something? As Ithiel de Sola Pool said almost two decades ago, "Each generation see as its culture those values and practices with which it grew up. Its hallowed traditions are those learned in childhood." Of course the new is inferior to the past. How else could it progress?

Simply put, this is the way media and culture function now, and there's no going back. We have to figure out a different way to deal with it.

iPod Touch

I recently upgraded my vintage, black-and-white 20 GB iPod to an iPod Touch, and many people have asked me why I didn't just get the iPhone itself. For one, I prefer the Blackberry as a phone; the interface may not be as aesthetically pleasing or maneuverable as the iPhone, but the keypad--in my opinion--is superior in terms of texting and typing emails. Function trumps style.

And second, I prefer to keep music and photos separate from phone communication. As much as I like consolidating my tech gadgets, I don't need phone calls when I'm working out or falling asleep with my headphones on (I'm sure the iPhone has an option to turn off calls during music, but that's beside the point). Plus, if the iPhone is lost, you lose everything. An iPod Touch/Blackberry combination, on the other hand, gives you a dynamic, interchangeable set of technologies.

Red Lobster prank

You can find the context behind this clip here. (via ectomo)

Fluid Sculpture

I want to know 1) how long the unraveled tubing is and 2) why they are not pumping in multiple colors for maximum trippiness? (via hope/glory)

Phish - 6/10/09 (Knoxville)

Set I: Runaway Jim, Punch You in the Eye, Ocelot, Foam, Train Song, Undermind, Mike’s Song, Hydrogen, Weekapaug Groove, The Squirming Coil, Character Zero

Set II: Back On The Train, Waves, A Song I Heard The Ocean Sing, David Bowie, Army Of One, Reba, Hello My Baby, Julius, Cavern, Harry Hood

Encore: Frankenstein

"Web 2.0"

To the utter disgust of linguists everywhere, The Global Language Monitor announced "Web 2.0" as the one millionth English word this morning at 5:22 a.m.

Godin on Sasquatch dancer

Even Seth Godin is offering some insight on the Sasquatch Music Festival dancer and the ensuing tribe formation:

Initiators are rare indeed, but it's scary to be the leader. Guy #3 is rare too, but it's a lot less scary and just as important. Guy #49 is irrelevant. No bravery points for being part of the mob. We need more guy #3s.

Phish - 6/9/09 (Asheville)

Set I: Kill Devil Falls, The Moma Dance, Sample In A Jar, Stash, Dog Faced Boy, Gumbo, Tube, Lengthwise, The Divided Sky, When The Cactus Is In Bloom, Bold As Love

Set II: Backwards Down the Number Line, Ghost, Fast Enough For You, Halley’s Comet, Maze, Alaska, Theme From The Bottom, Golgi Apparatus, Possum

Encore: Loving Cup

Grizzly Bear - Pabst Theater (6/8/09)

I'd like to offer some insightful thoughts on the music I heard at the Grizzly Bear concert last night, but all I keep thinking of is the Fuck Yeah Fan (a fan who shouted "fuck yeah!" during a lull in the "He Hit Me (It Felt Like a Kiss)" encore). Normally, this sort of drunken--but I'll admit, humorous--banter just goes in one ear and out the other while my brain is registering other important notes and moments, but for some reason this kid's George Costanza moment is all I remember. So the only remaining question is: why?

Grizzly Bear is certainly a well-structured act; they know their instruments like fine surgical tools, and take a no-stone-left-unturned approach to their song craft. But there is something about Grizzly Bear live that just doesn't translate well from instrument to ear. To me, there is a jaded edge to their live sound. Not jaded in the negative sense--for these songs are for sure pleasantly harmonized and performed--but jaded in the sense of a departure from the rich, lush layers that their albums are comprised of. When I listen to Yellow House on my stereo, I get that feeling of creaky wooden floors and whispering harmonies. That album blows my mind by being quietly powerful (and Veckatimest slowly crawls along those lines as well), but live and on stage, I don't get that feeling of visceral introspection.

"Outside and Inside"

String Cheese Incident rehearsing for their upcoming reunion show at Rothbury...couldn't they have found a bigger room?

Gordon "rips" Radiohead

Much has been made about Sonic Youth bassist Kim Gordon "ripping" Radiohead in a recent Guardian interview:

"[Radiohead] did a marketing ploy by themselves and then got someone else to put it out. It seemed really community-oriented, but it wasn't catered towards their musician brothers and sisters, who don't sell as many records as them. It makes everyone else look bad for not offering their music for whatever. It was a good marketing ploy and I wish I'd thought of it!"

Interestingly, for the sake of controversial press, it seems, most critiques of the interview chose to leave that last sentence out when copying and pasting the quote. When you leave it in, it makes Gordon's remark a little less stinging, and more of an open-ended inquiry into how this style of distribution and marketing could be catered towards Radiohead's "brothers and sisters." I wish she would have gone more into that, because I'm trying to figure out exactly what she meant. What does Radiohead owe other bands? If anything, we needed a band like Radiohead to break the ice on these new means of distribution so that other bands could feel more comfortable experimenting with them. The fact that they are more popular is irrelevant. In any case, Sonic Youth themselves have quite a bit of sway, so what are they waiting for?

Caution?

Hmmmmmmmm.....(via clusterflock)

The Camden "Tweezer"

The "Tweezer" from 6/7/09 is probably the first live Phish song since 2000 that will wear an "extended, repeated listens" tag for me. It's like a relic imprint; it shadows so well what once was, yet still gives away a feeling of newness and struggle that this comeback tour has featured. The jam itself is one of simple escalation, but the way that Trey grabs that circular groove--and remembers it over and over--out of the air was vintage, if not signature. Gordon's bass is laid thickly under the entire thing without so much as a pause (and in my opinion, he is now the member of Phish to focus on). All the bits and pieces are there in this latest appliance monster, but they're just shaded over a bit by the years. But that's alright, because this tour will be all about reaching these steady moments, and not the epic highs of yesterday.

Mikel Cee Karlsson

Mikel Cee Karlsson is directing the video for Fever Ray's third single, "Triangle Walks" (out July 20 with several remixes included). Should be a fairly abnormal video, given his previous work, which features slow-motion bar patrons and Kramer's "Pigman."

Brave new post office

In the post office this morning, there was a lady ahead of me using the self-service shipping station. She had this look of wonder in her eyes as she typed in the destination zip code and paid the shipping using her credit card. After she completed her transaction, she turned to me and remarked "what a brave new world this is." With the generation gap in mind, I did everything I could to refrain from laughing.

Phish - 6/7/09 (Camden)

Set I: Chalk Dust Torture, Fee, Wolfman’s Brother, Guyute, My Sweet One, 46 Days, The Lizards, The Wedge, Strange Design, Tube, First Tube

Set II: Sand, Suzy Greenberg, Limb By Limb, The Horse, Silent in the Morning, Sugar Shack, Character Zero, Tweezer

Encore: Joy, Bouncing Around the Room, Run Like An Antelope, Tweezer Reprise

Phish - 6/6/09 (Great Woods)

Set I: Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan, Nothing, Back on the Train, Golgi Apparatus, Sparkle, Gotta Jiboo, Lawn Boy, Let Me Lie, Makasupa Policeman, Prince Caspian

Set II: Seven Below, Fluffhead, Scent of a Mule, Heavy Things, Harry Hood, Possum, Bug

Encore: Contact, Julius

Beer name persuasion

I find it interesting that most people drink beer for the label name, and not the taste of the beer. I'm not really complaining about this; people can drink whatever they want for whatever reason they want. I just find it intriguing how name and label persuade consumption. For example, do you really think New Glarus Spotted Cow would be anywhere near as popular if it were called New Glarus Wheat? Absolutely not! People would argue that the sweet and smooth balance of the beer puts it ahead of the other thousands of wheat beers out there, but in reality, they think it's more trendy to order "Spotted Cow" (Hey, we're in Wisconsin!) rather than boring Leinies Wheat.

I noticed a similar trend at Redroom last night. As many know, New Belgium Brewery is now distributing in Wisconsin, and their flagship beer--Fat Tire Ale--is selling like hotcakes. There's really nothing special about it, but because it's called Fat Tire and has a cute little bicycle on the label, people feel obligated to try it and like it. In fact, Redroom was advertising the beer as coming from Fat Tire Brewery! I asked the bartender what kind of New Belgium beers they were carrying, and he had no idea what I was talking about. Case in point.

In the end, this is all about marketing, and for part of the beer drinking population that's just fine and dandy. Make it cute and trendy, and they'll drink it. But I will not drink the Spotted Cow or Fat Tire Kool-Aid. I will enjoy my beers for their hops, smoothness, and other delicious qualities.

Phish - 6/5/09 (Jones Beach)

Set I: Wilson, Buried Alive, Kill Devil Falls, AC/DC Bag, I Didn’t Know, My Friend My Friend, Ya Mar, Theme From The Bottom, Boogie On Reggae Woman, Split Open and Melt

Set II: Down With Disease, Twist, Piper, Backwards Down the Number Line, Free, Twenty Years Later, 2001, Slave To The Traffic Light

Encore: A Day in the Life

Cheese lusting

Lately, String Cheese Incident has been playing on my iPod, particularly on runs. There's probably no music greater suited for lakefronts and wooded trails. There's something about that organic mix of rock, bluegrass, and everything else that motivates and keeps the legs moving while outdoors (but not on a treadmill, interestingly).

Workout value aside, I'm excited to see what comes of their first post-breakup show this summer at the Rothbury festival. More shows? New album? I certainly hope so, because I'm starting to miss having that band around. Maybe it's a "jam" lusting that's been re-awakened now that Phish has hit the road again, or maybe I was just due for a String Cheese craving. In either case, they've worked their way back into my listening channels and I can't seem to get them out. I'm not complaining about that; I just hope there's more on the horizon to sustain it.

"Symphonies"

This is as equally bizzare as it is creative as it is catchy...

Phish - 6/4/09 (Jones Beach)

Set I: Grind, The Divided Sky, Ocelot, The Squirming Coil, Punch You in the Eye, Dirt, NICU, Ghost, Run Like An Antelope

Set II: Water In The Sky, Birds Of A Feather, Drowned, Meatstick, Time Turns Elastic, Waste, You Enjoy Myself

Encore: Rock and Roll

Clouds breaking

Photo from my brother's recent "storm chase" across the Midwest:

Teaching writing

Nice article by Louis Menand in The New Yorker today about the value of writing classes:

All scenes of instruction contain the potential for transference, and the workshop format seems almost deliberately designed for it. Writing instructors have techniques for stimulating production, exercises for developing an awareness of how literature works, formulas encapsulating their particular notions of craft. But the path of transmission cannot be smooth.

He's poking at pseudotransactionality--the detrimental effect of students producing work based solely on teachers expectations, rather than for useful, practical purposes. This idea may be a little more applicable to professional, rather than the creative writing that Menand talks about here, but I still think the same principles apply: you don't teach someone how to write. You teach them to listen to others, to immerse themselves in context, and to draw from experience. These things may not always be found directly in the classroom, yet they are at the heart of the teaching/learning experience. The "writing" part then takes care of itself.

"We are Electric"

I don't particularly like this song, but when someone dons a lampshade and makes a fool of themselves...

"Star Trek"

There was much hype about the lens flares, so I was going into Star Trek having no choice but to notice and focus on them throughout the movie. I'm not sure what I was expecting in terms of effect (some of the stills I saw seemed to show this piercing, blinding light). Turns out, the flares were very subtle, and blended in well with the other stunning visuals (i.e., the Romulan ship, the Vulcan destruction sequence, and the closing credits). They simply added a futuristic "vintage" touch to the film, a unique twist to a creative take on the classic. A Trekkie I am not, but still an excellent and entertaining film for anyone interested in visual eye candy.

David Byrne's office

David Byrne's office is more museum than workspace. I feel like I could spend days there browsing through the art, photos, and trinkets that he's collected over the years. Highlights from these videos--narrated by Byrne's ever-interesting prose--include a picture of an astronaut who took the Talking Heads' music into space with him, a guitar pedal-runner rug of sorts, and a remembrance of carrying around a suitcase full of bongs.

North Korea Twitter

Posing as a celebrity on Twitter is one thing; it's stupid and uninteresting (as if the real celebrities have anything interesting to say as it is). But what about mimicking one of the most authoritarian and secretive nations on earth, as this person has?:

In a twitter conversation with Forbes, the author of the KCNA twitter feed admitted that he or she was a writer and Web master for the German-language parody site Stupidedia, based in Austria. "KCNA has unintentionally funny articles, and I thought it would be funny if an antiquated regime like North Korea had a Twitter account," wrote the faux-Communist, who didn't respond to requests for his or her name. The fake KCNA account, which has gained more than 1,000 followers, was set up using the Twitterfeed RSS service to automatically syndicate every newsflash from the real DPRK news agency.

Needless to say, North Korea is very nonplussed. Given China's recent spat with Twitter on the eve of the Tiananmen Square anniversary, I'm wondering how communist nations are going to deal with an exponentially expanding information age? How will they limit technology (that gives it's users virtually unlimited communicative powers) without falling behind economically in a world that is weaving itself tighter and tighter together? Could information technology kill Communism?

Phish - 6/2/09 (Jones Beach)

Set I: Runaway Jim, Foam, Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan, Timber Ho!, Cities, Driver, Reba, Farmhouse, Possum, If I Could

Set II: Mike’s Song, Simple, Wolfman’s Brother, Weekapaug Groove, When the Circus Comes to Town, Kill Devil Falls, Harry Hood, Loving Cup

Encore: Suzy Greenberg

China bans Twitter

Twitter was abolished in China today, right on the eve of the Tiananmen Square massacre. I'm most interested in the potential "temporary" status of this ban. A permanent ban would, of course, be the most logical and strategic option for a communist country that is attempting to control information and communication. But, a temporary ban solely enforced on the anniversary of one of the most controversial events in Chinese history is, to me, a far more significant act of cultural suppression. If Twitter service indeed resumes after the anniversary, China's government is effectively--and blatantly--punching a digital hole in their country's history.

Think of the millions of Tweets that took place during Obama's election night. There were millions of tiny messages sent and received that night expressing hope, joy, and optimism for our country's future. Those messages are permanent, digital history, a proud, self-created account of our experiences. The Tiananmen Square massacre is certainly a different type of remembrance, both morally and historically, but the chance to partake in that event is equally important for the Chinese people. That right to discuss and memorialize has been taken away, and if it's given back after the fact, the slap in the face is that much harder.

Phish at Fenway

From the phishfromtheroad photostream:

Phish - 5/31/09 (Fenway Park)

Set I: Star Spangled Banner, Sample in a Jar, Moma Dance, Chalk Dust Torture, Ocelot, Stash, Bouncing Around the Room, Poor Heart, Limb by Limb, Wading in the Velvet Sea, Down with Disease, Destiny Unbound, Character Zero

Set II: Tweezer, Light, Bathtub Gin, David Bowie, Time Turns Elastic, Free, The Ballad of Curtis Loew, You Enjoy Myself

Encore: Cavern, Good Times Bad Times, Tweezer Reprise

"My Bloody Valentine"

Once you get past the absurdity of sitting in your living room by yourself wearing 3D glasses, you realize that you're having quite an interesting movie-watching experience (as the Blockbuster clerk said, "it's pretty cool"). The characters and scenery all take on these green and red hues that really add a supernatural effect. And how can you go wrong with flying pick axes in 3D?