Category: Culture

Last.fm

Conference Call by Conference Call
[audio:http://www.joefonda.digitalspace.net/sounds/confcall_final.mp3]

So it seems that there are still people out there who do not know about Last.fm.

More than ten million times a day, Last.fm users “scrobble” their tracks to our servers, helping to collectively build the world’s largest social music platform.

Last.fm taps the wisdom of the crowds, leveraging each user’s musical profile to make personalised recommendations, connect users who share similar tastes, provide custom radio streams, and much more.

You can see my user page at last.fm/user/somjuan. If you’re interested by this service, sign up, and add me as a friend. I’m always interested in seeing what other people are listening to.
And if you’ve already signed up for Last.fm and haven’t yet added me as a friend, this is your time to do so.

Crank

Mental Health by Quiet Riot

For those of you not familliar with this movie, take a gander at the trailer. The premise of this movie is that the main character, Chev Chelios, has been poisoned and needs to keep his adrenaline up to live. Since he only has an hour or so to live, he seeks revenge on the man who poisoned him, and everyone associated with him. And the rest of the movie follows him through this.

This movie kicks incredible amounts of ass, and manages to be funny at the same time. Although its been rated relatively low by most critics, I would strongly recommend this movie to anyone who wants to be entertained for 87 minutes.

The movie not only uses some cool camera angles to great effect, but they used images from Google Maps for some of their scene transitions. When we would move from one part of the city to another, the camera zooms out to display an aerial view of the city, and we move to the next scene’s location.

After seeing it, I’m still not sure if I enjoyed it more than Snakes on a Plane. I think that Snakes on a Plane, in a theater full of enthusiastic fans, would be better than Crank. But on its own, Crank is a better movie. One of the best new movies out this year (not that it had very good competition so far).
See it if you can.

Spiralfrog

The site is spiralfrog.com, and it has a new concept of legal music distribution. The premise is, that they will offer users free downloads (secured my DRM, of course), and their service is supported completely by ads. You can play your music on one PC and two mobile devices. If you do not log in to their service once every month(to see the ads, etc), your music will cease to play. Universal Music Group (a massive record label) has already agreed to sign on, and Spiralfrog is in talks with the other major labels.

This BoingBoing post contains a lot of links to various sites around the internet who are reporting on this. Xeni at BoingBoing, along with almost everyone else contributing their opinion are skeptical at best of a service which I feel has so much potential.

This will cost no money to the end user, and the artist and record company are still compensated. If the company can prove to be profitable, this benefits everyone. In fact, the only real support I’ve seen of this service comes from the comments on digg. Now, I’m no fan of DRM, but my opposition of DRM only extends to things I have paid for. This service is free, I really can’t complain.

Most of the news articles on this topic are coming from the wrong direction as well. While they don’t exactly take sides, they keep comparing it to iTunes, which is blatantly incorrect. iTunes offers a completely different service than Spiralfrog intends to. In fact, all they really have in common is their product. What this should be compared to is Napster and Yahoo!’s music services, which allow unlimited downloads (again, protected by DRM), but for a fee. If this service should succeed, it could completely kill the already crippled music subscription services.

Why this is a step forward: Spiralfrog has discovered a way to provide a service that previously cost $10/month, for absolutely free. It also has the potential to decrease piracy, which gives the RIAA a little less to complain about (don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll find something).

And your song for this fine post? Taught to be Proud by Tea Leaf Green. This version is from a live show hosted here.
[audio:http://cryptical.nugs.net/tlg/060407/tlg060407ii_12_Taught_To_Be_Proud.mp3?nid=null]

Commercial Break

I just bought GTA: Liberty City Stories for PS2, which I have yet to start playing, but I have screwed around with it on the PSP, and its everything thats good about GTA:3 and more.
EDIT: I’ve now played a couple missions, and its awesome. Buy it.

I also placed an order for that Don Hertzfeldt DVD I posted about yesterday. I think I’ve seen most of the shorts which are on the DVD, but I haven’t seen all of them. And above all, what I’ve seen has been amazing. They make it a pretty good deal too. $24 preorder price, minus $4 w/coupon code, plus free mystery gift, plus a year of rolling stone magazine. Sweet.

Also, I hate allergies. And Summer. But more about that later.

Phish

This is mostly just a couple links I don’t want to lose.

http://www.cosa.com/esther/index.html
http://www.mockingbirdfoundation.org/setlists/1994.html#07-08-94

If you’re a phan, you may understand each of those. If not, I don’t really care.

iTSM

Format:

Title
Artist
Album
Starting At
Ending At
—————
Ride
The Vines
Winning Days
0:21.8
0:27.2
—————
Turd On The Run
The Rolling Stones
Exile On Main Street
2:26.1
2:30.7
—————
Madonna Speech
Reservoir Dogs
Reservoir Dogs
0:05.2
0:10.5
—————
Philosophy Of Time Travel (Album Version)
Michael Andrews
Donnie Darko Original Score
0:59.1
1:04.0
—————
Another Brick In The Wall Pt.2
Pink Floyd
The Wall
1:23.3
1:27.5
—————
White Summer – Black Mountain Side
Led Zeppelin
Coda
6:54.1
6:57.4
—————
The Pan Piper
Miles Davis
Sketches Of Spain
3:36.4
3:39.3
—————
Mi Tierra
Gloria estefan
Mi Tierra
0:04.4
0:06.7
—————
Everybody Knows That You’re Insane
Queens of The Stone Age
Lullabies to Paralyze
1:30.6
1:34.1
—————
Do You Feel Like We Do
Peter Frampton
Frampton Comes Alive!
4:46.3
4:49.4
—————
Lonesome Fiddle
Mountain Heart
Force of Nature
0:28.0
0:30.8
—————
Esther
Phish
Junta
8:59.1
9:03.7
—————
Dob-o-tronic
Mad Professor
Dubtronic
1:43.4
1:46.8
—————
Pleasant Dr. Robert
ccc
Revolved
0:17.6
0:23.5
—————
Rising

3:21.9
3:24.8
—————
Baker’s Dozen
Galactic
Late for the Future
2:40.7
2:45.4
—————
Dragostea Din Tei
O-Zone

1:38.2
1:40.5
—————
Whistler’s Delight (Full Version)
DJ Riko

3:49.2
3:53.6
—————
Gumboots
Paul Simon
Graceland
0:43.6
0:46.3
—————
Hit That
The Offspring
Splinter
0:59.0
1:04.4
—————
The Saga Of Pepote Rouge
Band, The
Islands (Remaster)
0:52.7
0:56.5
—————
Ven A La Fiesta
Sandra
Caribe 2003
3:01.2
3:05.9
—————
Still Day Beneath the Sun
Opeth
Blackwater Park [Bonus Tracks] Disc 2
0:49.6
0:54.6
—————
Grammys 2001 mix
Moby and Blue Man Group

0:04.4
0:08.8
—————
Kids With Guns
Gorillaz
Demon Days
1:00.1
1:04.1
—————
dip it low vs relaxed spacious
team9
team9 vs christina milan vs a parker
1:35.3
1:41.0
—————
Rock Me
Pills

1:13.3
1:15.7
—————
Coma Tizer
microphone FLy
ACIDplanet.com
0:18.7
0:21.4
—————
mushu creole blues
Billy Cobham
The Traveler
4:48.5
4:53.3
—————
Ek Pyar Ka Nagma Hai
Lata & Mukesh

2:55.4
3:00.4
—————
It’s the End of the World as We Know It
R.E.M.

1:52.4
1:57.3
—————
One Perfect Sunrise
Orbital
Blue Album
7:14.3
7:16.5
—————
Six People Isn’t Convincing
Mitch Hedberg
Strategic Grill Locations
1:01.5
1:06.7
—————
Turkish Tafee
Jerry Douglas
Restless on the Farm
0:34.3
0:38.5
—————
As Long As I Can See the Light
Slipstream
Waterbound
2:24.8
2:30.4
—————
El movimiento del amor
Gusanito
Caribe Mix 2002
2:12.3
2:17.4
—————
Steppin’ Out
Cream
Bbc Sessions
1:41.2
1:45.2
—————
Day tripper
The Beatles
The Beatles 1
0:07.6
0:11.4
—————
Gramma
Natalie MacMaster
In My Hands
0:00.0
0:05.8
—————
Dough Bro
Umphrey’s Mcgee
Local Band Does Ok
0:02.5
0:05.0
—————
Across 110th Street
Bobby Womack
Jackie Brown
1:38.0
1:43.8
—————
Turn The Beat Around
Vicki Sue Robinson

3:18.3
3:21.9
—————
Jam
Los Lonely Boys

7:27.8
7:33.8
—————
The Kiss (Aura Resurrects Flash)
Queen
Flash Gordon
1:10.1
1:12.2
—————
Cabron
The Red Hot Chili Peppers
By the Way
0:06.2
0:09.3
—————
Oye Como Va
Carlos Santana
12 Grandes Exitos en Version Original
3:07.5
3:12.2
—————
Beauty
James Iha feat. Nina Gordon
Compilations, Unreleased, and
1:53.0
1:58.6
—————
Tearjerker
Red Hot Chili Peppers
One Hot Minute
1:10.1
1:14.3
—————
Great White Buffalo
Ted Nugent
Out Of Control
5:35.5
5:40.9
—————
Schadenfreude
Avenue Q
Avenue Q
0:00.0
0:03.9
—————
Darling Corey
Crooked Still
Hop High
3:28.3
3:32.8
—————
American Baby (Intro)
Dave Matthews Band
Stand Up
0:18.5
0:21.6
—————
2:10 Train
Chesapeake
Rising Tide
2:06.6
2:11.0
—————
Side Of The Road
Beck
Sea Change
0:58.3
1:01.9
—————
Beyond Beautiful
Aerosmith
Just Push Play
4:35.7
4:38.9
—————
Manic Monday
Bangles
Greatest Hits
1:03.0
1:07.8
—————
Broken Bricks
White Stripes, The
White Stripes, The
1:37.4
1:40.6
—————
Horn Intro
Modest Mouse
Good News For People Who Love Bad News
0:00.0
0:05.8
—————
The Treason of Isengard
Howard Shore
Fellowship of the Ring
0:32.3
0:34.7
—————
T.N.T.
AC/DC
T.N.T.
1:14.6
1:19.9
—————
Funkytown
Lipps, Inc

0:13.6
0:17.0
—————
Don’t Give Up
Basement Jaxx
Remedy
5:00.4
5:05.1
—————
Baaje Re Muralia
Bhimsen Joshi & Lata Mangeshkar
Bhajans
4:03.0
4:08.2
—————
Beeah
Medeski, Martin and Wood
It’s a Jungle In Here
0:00.0
0:03.5
—————
Good To Me
The White Stripes
Elephant
1:00.4
1:05.9
—————
Urami Bushi
Meiko Kaji
Kill Bill Volume 2
5:17.8
5:20.4
—————
My Sharona
The Knack

0:39.8
0:45.5
—————
Masters of War
Tim O’Brien
Red on Blonde
0:39.9
0:43.2
—————
Mental Floss
Keller Williams
Dance
3:24.4
3:27.4
—————
Club To Death
Rob D
The Matrix Soundtrack
0:59.1
1:01.4
—————
Always Something to Remind Me
Naked Eyes

2:16.0
2:19.9
—————
Taylor
Jack Johnson

0:00.0
0:04.3
—————
Low Rider
War

0:04.0
0:06.1
—————
Sober
Muse
Showbiz
0:03.2
0:06.5
—————
Brief Interlude
movado242

0:53.8
0:58.3
—————
Back to Life
Soul II Soul

2:14.6
2:18.4
—————
He Used To Cut The Grass
Frank Zappa
Joe’s Garage, Acts I, II and III
0:19.8
0:23.8
—————
Girl’s Eyes
Who, The
Who Sell Out, The
3:26.3
3:28.9
—————
Bound And Determined
Marshall Tucker Band, The
Searchin’ For a Rainbow
4:13.4
4:17.5
—————
Facing East
Thievery Corporation
Richest Man In Babylon, The
1:42.6
1:45.1
—————
Dust Bowl Children
Peter Rowan
Dust Bowl Children
0:53.8
0:57.0
—————
Cold Hard Bitch
Jet
Get Born
1:37.7
1:41.9
—————
Climb To Safety
Widespread Panic
Live In the Classic City
0:19.3
0:22.1
—————
06. Devolved – Blanked

0:00.0
0:02.9
—————
Don’t Want You No More – Allman Brothers
Allman Brothers Band, The
Dreams
1:43.8
1:46.7
—————
tonight-horsesinthecity

0:52.5
0:57.7
—————
Real Gone Crazy Dub
King Tubby
Dub Gone Crazy
2:00.3
2:06.0
—————
somebody told me (team9 remix)
the killers

1:41.0
1:46.0
—————
Mountain Girl
String Cheese Incident
Untying the Not
0:02.4
0:04.8
—————
Anamorphic Cycle
woobiee
Anamorphic Cycle
78:59.4
79:05.3
—————
Dubbing With The Super Ape
Lee “Scratch” Perry
Experryments At the Grass Roots of Dub
0:43.7
0:45.8
—————
Searchin’
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd
3:30.1
3:33.8
—————
Bombs Over Bagdad
Outkast

4:50.3
4:54.5
—————
No Worries
Two Bit Brass Band
Demo CD
1:16.7
1:19.0
—————
I’m Blue
Eiffel 65

0:26.0
0:31.2
—————
Land of the Free
Sonata Arctica
Songs of Silence
0:03.5
0:07.1
—————
Life is a Highway
Tom Petty

2:57.0
3:02.5
—————
Lost In A Crowd
Rusted Root

1:56.9
1:59.0
—————
Battle Without Honor or Humanity
Tomoyasu Hotei
Kill Bill
1:54.2
2:00.2

Movies ‘06

I got bored tonight, and took a look at the Apple Trailers page. Here are some of the movies that jumped out at me…

Thank You For Smoking
This looks like it will be a genuinely funny movie, something that has been lacking in recent movies. I will be seeing this, whenever it comes out.

V for Vendetta
With much of the crew from The Matrix onboard (Wachowski Bros writing and producing, Joel Silver producing, James McTeigue directing (was First Assistant Director for The Matrix) and starring Hugo Weaving) this movie could be extremely good. One thing that worries me is I have heard that this movie is extremely anti Bush administration. I’m not a big fan of movies making or trying to make specific political statements when that isn’t the sole goal of the film. I’ll end up seeing this as well, March 17th.

The Da Vinci Code
Tom Hanks looks better than I thought he would in this role. I had to see it to convince me. I just hope people will resist the urge to constantly compare it to the book. I’ll see it, but I’m skeptical. May 19th.

The Pink Panther
I don’t know what happened to Steve Martin (cheaper by the dozen 2? c’mon!), but this movie seems like it could be a comeback for him. The trailer looks good. Really good. Also, if you have never seen the original, see it before this one. Just because its amazing. I’ll be seeing this as well. In fact, assume I’ll be seeing just about every movie I link to on here unless I say otherwise.

Inside Man
This looks great. I have a thing for heist movies, and I think this will suit me just fine. Great actors in it, and Spike Lee directing. I really don’t see how this one can go wrong.

X3
Do I really need to say anything? If you’ve seen the first two, you know the deal. If you haven’t, you’re missing out. May 26th.

Mission Impossible III
I don’t want to see this movie. I really don’t want to see it. The first was ok. The second was god awful. I know I’ll end up seeing this movie. Somebody stop me. May 5th.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s chest
First one was great, I think this one will be as well. Although, watching the trailer, this one gives me the feeling that it is going to be all or nothing. Hit or miss. July 7th.

Apocalypto
I have zero intention of seeing this movie, don’t worry. But I did want to point out one cool little thing about the trailer. Mel Gibson snuck one frame of himself posing next to the dudes covered in white dust into the trailer. You can see it by pausing at the right second (or advancing frame by frame). At the quick montage torwards the end of the trailer, right before you see the people covered in white dust. Props.

Superman Returns
I dunno…I’ve never liked the transition of Superman from comic to live action. It just never works. Maybe this will be different, maybe it won’t. There is a good chance I will never actually see this movie.

So, what do you think? What would you like to see as a SJ Screening?

The Aristocrats

Alright, I saw the aristocrats tonight. The entire movie is about one joke. The joke is fairly simple:

Guy goes into a talent agency to pitch his act.
“What do you do?” asks the agent.
“We come out and crap on the stage.”
“What do you call yourselves?”
“The Aristocrats.”

However, the joke is how each comic tells the “We come out and crap on the stage.” line.
It gets rather ridiculous, but its a very funny movie as long as you aren’t easily offended. Also, it has the best closing credits of any movie I’ve seen this year.

Now, at the end of the credits, it lets you know that you can make your own Aristocrats joke, and send it into them, and if you win, you get $1000 and your version of the joke will be on the DVD. Pretty spiffy.

I’d highly encourage you guys to go wild on this one, since I know you can. Its too late for me to post some examples from the movie, but perhaps someone else can, or maybe I’ll do it in the morning.

Watch the trailer, and you’ll get the idea.

Or just go see the movie, its totally worth it…but probably not with the family…

Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Just got back, and I’d like to say I really enjoyed this movie. I knew I would.

Its that kind of movie. Not amazing, not something I’d want to see more than once, but its entertaining, and definately worth seeing. Especially if you don’t have to pay for it.

I’ll write more in the morning. Probably.

Nah, thats a lie. I’ll wake up in the morning and forget I even wrote this. Better wrap it up now.

Uh,

Its good.