There's a pretty important legal case starting on Monday in San Francisco. Patrick Byrne, the CEO of Overstock.com, has filed a RICO Act lawsuit against some of the big names on Wall St. and he claims to have evidence that will be irrefutable in a court of law. It will be very interesting to see what happens in this case, and you can get a brief idea of what it's about in the following videos. Basically he's accusing Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch of racketeering! I love that word.
EDIT: I just read that the trial has been moved to March 5, 2012. I hate waiting.
This is old but I'd never actually gotten around to watching the raw footage of George Bush being informed about the attacks on 9/11. I don't really have an opinion on the footage, just thought it would be interesting to see how the President reacted. I kinda feel bad for the kids.
These silly Australians can't spell, but this tune is pretty good. Warning: the video content might be not be your cup of tea. Or coffee. Probably not yerba mate either. Definitely not coffee.
This is a mashup by Ben Double M that I came across randomly. It's not new and I'm not normally into mashups or Timberlake for that matter, but this one is pretty good.
In the wake of the startling revelation that the US Federal Reserve actually handed out more than $7.7 TRILLION dollars in the 2008 bailouts, more than 10 times the previously disclosed $700 billion, Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich blasted the decision and is calling for monetary reform. What's even more startling is that this was reported by the same news source in 2008, and it was never followed up in the mainstream media. This is flat out criminal. As largely politically and economically apathetic Canadians we often think we are immune to problems in the American banking industry. I hate to say it but I think 2012 is going to be a very, very long year, and a very rude awakening for a lot of people.
Forty eight years after their famous battle in the 1963 Grey Cup, these two veterans were having none of the pleasantries that the audience hoped for. You can read the story here, and the full unedited clip can be seen here.
This is a short film about this year's Tomorrowland Festival from Belgium. I'm not sure what's up with the weird fantasy stuff in the last two minutes, but everything else looks absolutely ridiculous. Props to Brad T. Racer for the heads up.
This is professional crazy man Jeb Corliss making an absolutely ridiculous jump in a wing suit. The song is "Sail" by AWOLNATION, which has been in a few different videos as of late. As always I recommend watching in HD.
A very decent BBC documentary looking at the rapid technological advancement and societal implications surrounding the increasingly ubiquitous world of artificial intelligence. Presented by the equally ubiquitous Michio Kaku.
This is a film from 1995 by Brian Springer that shows us lots of behind the scenes footage of big media and political figures. It's a little slow moving but there's some great stuff in it.
From a protestor attending a speech in New Hampshire.
Mr. President:
Over 4000 peaceful protesters
have been arrested.
While banksters continue
to destroy the economy with impunity.
You must stop the assault
on our 1st amendment rights.
Your silence sends a message
that police brutality is acceptable.
Banks got bailed out.
We got sold out.
Ok, last post for today. I couldn't decide between two tracks which to post, so be sure to take a look at "Innervision" too. They're both produced by the amazing Floating Points. Definitely check out his stuff as well.
Here's another for guitar nerds. Mr. Gomm is from England, and he likes to makes his guitar do things that most guitar players I know of don't even think about.
...and now off to Sweden we go, where we find Little Dragon, who I didn't know about until just recently. Some very cool experimental stuff going on here.
Now for something really angry. This is Death Grips from Sacramento. Kinda reminds me of Odd Future, but definitely different. Another group I'm not too sure about, but I'm definitely curious. There's a crazy interview with them here.
Now for something a little angrier. This is DELS from England, a real up-and-comer who has been signed by one of Ninja Tune's labels. Not sure what I feel about him yet, but he's different and he's got my attention.
Here's another good folk band out of Calgary, not even sure if they're still together. Their stuff is a little hard to find, but well worth the effort.
The important message here? There isn't a problem with young people, there isn't a problem with old people. There's a problem, period, and something needs to change.
This group is from Minnesota. They're a little awkward, but they have an accordion and that makes them pretty cool. One question though, what's with buddy's bright pink hat?
There's so much to post today, I don't know where to begin... meh, we'll start with this. Here's Ron Paul, after being once again intentionally shafted by CBS at their recent debate, scolding a rather pushy reporter.
This is worth watching. Yes, there are some dubious individuals in it. I'm not a fan of Steven Greer, Nassim Haramein, or Clifford Stone, and David Icke has said some pretty bizarre stuff in the past, but their contributions are minimal. Keep an open mind, and watch the whole movie before passing judgement. Some of it will seem strange but the overall message is credible in my opinion.
NOTE: I've edited this post as the original link was taken down.
Björk is back with her latest video. It's pretty wacky, as you can imagine, and I'm not entirely sure what I think of it yet, but it's worth a look-see and a listen for curiosity's sake if nothing else.
The next step in Photoshop evolution. This isn't perfect yet, but it's pretty amazing. The lines between what is real and what isn't are very, very blurry now.
...and my final offering of the day is Gary Numan's post-apocalyptic robot serenade from his 1979 album "The Pleasure Principle". You may recognize the opening theme that was later sampled by Basement Jaxx in their huge hit "Where's Your Head At?". Creds to Chef BP for posting this recently.
A while back I posted a link about Alvin Wong, the happiest man in America, well here's Mary Claire Orenic, supposedly the happiest woman. She looks a little robotic to me, and sounds like they crammed some nonsense statistics in there, but I guess to each their own. Personally I'd rather hang with Alvin.
For guitar aficionados - the amazing Alex Hutchings and his protege Jess Lewis are here doing a nice little jam, it's just a shame we can't see more! Check out the rest of their stuff, they're both unbelievable players.
Here's Garrett McNamara in Portugal surfing what is claimed to be the largest wave ever successfully negotiated - about 90 feet in height. Whether it is or it isn't, it's still a ridiculous feat.
Well this might not be for everyone, but for those who like Ricky Gervais and his uniquely awkward, cringe-worthy style, this is worth a few laughs. This is from the new series "Life's Too Short". Liam Neeson doing comedy - brilliant.
Here's some pretty amazing sights of what I assume are starling birds flying en masse. There's a few more on the interweb like this but this one is new and nice and short.
Whoa. I've never heard of these guys from Germany before, but this was super cool minimalism. Apparently they're really something live too. Definitely one to check out in the future.
Ever seen pictures of the Moai from Easter Island and thought "wow those things are huge"? Me too, but who would have guessed they would be THIS huge? Here's a crazy picture of a fully excavated one. Unbelievable.
For Middle Earth fans - Peter Jackson has posted four video blogs of the ongoing production for The Hobbit, which is due in theaters next December. Well, part one anyway, since it's been split into two movies. This is particularly exciting for me as that was probably my favourite J.R.R. Tolkien book and I loved the Lord of the Rings movies. Let's just hope the world doesn't end before it comes out.
Looks like Mr. Jackson has gotten a bit slack on his yogurt diet...
This is a short 23 minute documentary about the annual gathering of Insane Clown Posse fans, i.e. the Juggalos. It's... um... interesting? Warning: extreme profanity and insanity contained inside.
This is hilarious. The footage is taken from the 1978 movie "Buffalo Rider". I haven't seen it yet, but I can only assume that it is a masterpiece of American film. There are four episodes of Guy On A Buffalo, this is the first.
Here's an interesting debate on whether science is compatible with religion by two of the preeminent orators in their respective fields, John Haught and Jerry Coyne.
"On October 12, 2011 Theologian John Haught publicly debated prominent evolutionary scientist and atheist Jerry Coyne at the University of Kentucky. Although both agreed to a videotaping of the event, Haught later prohibited it's release because he felt he had been treated unfairly. Coyne released blog posts addressing the matter as an offense to free speech. Reviewing their new status in the blogosphere, Haught and his associates at the University of Kentucky have decided to release the video."
I'm back! Mooooahahahahaha! What's a couple months between blogs? Anyway things have been busy and I really wanted to focus on getting some tunes done, but now the blog will return, and it will be crazier than ever. I've decided to expand my posting repertoire and add all the nutty videos I usually reserve for Facebook or Twitter posts, as well as any cool images I come accross. There will be a bit of revision to the page over the next few days, but for now, here's a couple of original tracks that are fully complete, pending two more sound checks on big systems.
The first track is called "Brittle", and it's one that actually started in May of 2009. This was originally a remix offshoot of it, but eventually it became the central track and more than two years and 115 edits later, I've had enough and I'm calling it done. It has a bit of a middle eastern feel to it which you'll hear in the percussion and sitar, and it will be the title track off an upcoming 3-track EP that I should have finished some time this month. You can't download it yet, but here's a full-length preview.
This second track is called "Palindrone". It started in August of 2009 and it is a conceptual re-interpretation of the main theme of Radiohead's "Everything In Its Right Place", but no samples were taken from that track. The name is a result of it's palindromic construction and it's somewhat droning nature. Any similarities to Sarah Palin are purely coincidental and unintentional, though she does tend to drone on... and on... and on... Anyway this won't ever be on an official release so it's a free download for friends and followers. Have at 'er.
I'm still alive! Just taking an extended hiatus! I've moved, and now have an in-house studio that I'm sequestering myself in for the next 3 weeks... so stay tuned, because when I return I'll have all kinds of crazy new original tunes for ya. I'll try to fit in some blog posts in the meantime, but they'll be sporadic at best. In the meantime I'll try and keep some Twitter updates rolling... but don't lose faith, September 1st brings new beats! This one goes out to Big Trev.
