I figure given my current employment I at least owe the concept of research something. If you have a blog and 10 minutes click the sticker below to fill out the MIT survey. Bigger sample means better results, Knowledge In General thanks you.
Three AM Lawn Party
The U.S. Government + graphic design + drugs
Is it just me, or does the U.S. DEA have the cheeziest site you’ve ever seen? Whoever thought that using a Shiny Three-Dee font for their logo was a good idea should be sent back to 1996 and have their copy of Photoshop 4 taken away.
At least sites like Erowid (representing a diametrically opposed viewpoint) are so inconsistent and oldschool that they develop a kind of telnet chic, cute and approachable as well as being appropriate given the collectively organized and grassroots nature of the content presented.
Really, The War On Drugs, you’re embarrassing yourself.
Better films involving ukuleles.
It may seem like I have a one-track mind here, but Psychedelic Play-Along Ukulele Films About Coney Island and Mermaids are very, very cool.
Also, while we’re at it, Jake Shimabukuro(link goes to another Midnight Ukulele Disco video) does insane things with only four strings and two octaves. He’s huge in Japan.
(thanks, Big T.)
Because I like it when people find me in Google
Noticing that I’ve been getting significant traffic from individuals seeking information concerning my new instrument, I’d like to share some of the good offerings I’ve come across on my journey towards Hawaiian enlightenment (and not just ironically adorable engrish sites). If you’re not interested in the ukulele just skip the rest.
Continue reading “Because I like it when people find me in Google”
hits in the sunshine
Engrish: 99$ Electric Scooter
not the suburbs
The Mountain Goats – Why aren’t you listening yet?
I recently had my mind blown when learning that The Mountain Goats would be performing in Montreal (on the very day I learned it in fact). I then saw the most amazing show of my life. An artist deeply in love with every single chord and word emmanating from his mind. Songs about people you’d never want to meet or be, people you already love.
There’s a kind of stigma that exists around man+guitar acts, I guess it’s a combination of all the cheezy folk stuff out of the sixties and the mildly-retarded emo stuff that hit MTV recently. It’s like you have to be pretentious to think that you don’t need backup or something, maybe there’s some of that here, but there’s also a crushing humility. When he thanks the crowd, he means it, when he tells a story, it’s for the story’s sake, not his own.
Some great stuff is available on their mp3 page (I especially recommend Jam Eater Blues and Going to Bridlington). They are all very lo-fi, audio cassette has a flavor.
Further, they have the good sense to make recordings of their live performances sharable, and thus available at Archive.org. The Village Tavern recording is particularly good and fun, and could easily be said to include “the hits” (it’s available free and in all kinds of formats at that link, banter included).
life is too short to let it go to waste like this,
but i never tasted jam before that tastes like this.
and life is too short to refrain from eating jam out of the jar.
-The Mountain Goats, Jam Eater Blues
because I am a whore for the kittens
Kittenwar presents you with two kitten photos and asks which is cuter. BoingBoing likened it to a HotOrNot(note: I am NOT) for cats. It is addictive, stupid and everything the internet was ever meant to be.
[edit]
Mira points out the losingest kittens section of the site, which I originally failed to notice.
