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Those famous last words

What will you say with your last breath? I certainly hope that mine will be poetic but I doubt I will achieve something as elegant as Samuel Beckett’s father’s last words:

According to [Samuel] Beckett, his father got up one morning, put on his dressing gown, then collapsed to the ground with a massive stroke, and died. His final words were "What a morning".

[Source, SongMeanings.com, David Bowie – Law (Earthlings on Fire) Lyrics
Read more at http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858500338/#HDZoceljvoROQUEm.99
]

See also.

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Everybody stop! Hey, what’s that sound?

I’ve spent 40 years thinking I was hard of hearing or just dim witted because I could never fully make out the lyrics in many songs particularly of the rock, punk, or heavy metal genres. No one told me my headphones just sucked. I finally splurged and bought myself some Skullcandy Full Metal Jacket (FMJs) earbuds for the iPhone and am hearing sounds in my music I never knew were there before! (I’m also going to quit complaining to my children that they listen to their music too loudly…even if they do.)

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Free Album from Nine Inch Nails

Several artists, including Coldplay (download leftrightleftrightleft here), have figured out that giving music away is a good thing for them and their fans. NIN released its 2008 album The Slip under a Creative Commons license (see FAQ for more info) and made it freely downloadable (here) in several formats including MP3, M4a, and several "better than CD quality" formats. For anything other than MP3 you will need to use a BitTorrent client such as the original client or many people’s favorite, uTorrent, or choose from this list comparing clients.

See also: This looks like a well thought out abstract by Michael Pfahl on Giving Music Away to Make Money. I have only skimmed it so I’m not entirely sure what points are made.

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Lovin’ the black censor bar!

When I posted I’m moving to France! I saw today’s post in the comments. Btw, if you haven’t watched I’m moving to France!, go do it now and for added fun start both videos at the same time!

Today’s video reminds me of college for some reason. These people are so happy! I bet there’d be no terrorism if more people played with the black censor bar. The guy in the cowboy hat at the end of the video is my new hero!

(I replaced this fuzzy Youtube video with the much clearer DailyMotion video that appears to actually be placed by The BPA)

This is the "Toe Jam" video by Fatboy Slim featuring David Byrne and Dizzee Rascal. I find it altogether too amusing. When I first discovered this one there were just over 6000 views. It’ll be interesting to see how fast those numbers grow.

Update: Some information about this hit video from the Fall of 2008. The Toe Jam song was released July 15, 2008 by The BPA (Brighton Port Authority an alias for musician Norman Cook who is better known as Fatboy Slim. I am becoming a Fatboy Slim fanboy as I was in awe of his Weapons of Choice video featuring Christoper Walken. Toe Jam is a collaboration with David Byrne and Dizzee Rascal. The video is directed by Keith Schofield (Keith Haverbrooks, Eric Schoman and Jeff Mayfield). The Toe Jam song lives on the I Think We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat album released January 6, 2009. There is a video that is much crisper but it bleeps the dirty word. So, who’s got the raw footage and outtakes?

The BPA also ran a contest which ended March 1, 2009 allowing people to download the Toe Jam song and make their own videos as a promotion for their album release. Although the contest has ended, Toe Jam is still available for download.

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After the Dogwood Parade There Was Music

We watched Sarah march in Knoxville’s Dogwood Parade last night. Afterwards we watched Brenden James Wright and The Wrongs (MySpace) play on Market Square.

I was introduced to The Wrongs when my brother-in-law turned Cathy onto Luther Wright and The Wrongs’ (MySpace) Rebuild the Wall, a bluegrass cover of Pink Floyd’s The Wall. It’s excellent!

A little sidenote to the architects of Market Square: As much as I miss the old pavalion, the new stage is very nice; however, your permanent poles with the stage lighting block the view of the stage from most seating unless you are positioned directly in the middle of the audience. Couldn’t they have been swung more to the side?

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Nothing to see here – go outside

Watch this video and then you’ll have no reason to look at anything else on the Internet for at least 24 hours. So yYou are free to go outside and enjoy this beautiful Earth Day! I’m going to get back to work.

Update: That video quit being amusing the second the person was revealed as a registered sex offender.

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My wife has left me for Steve Jobs

At least today she’s Gone Gone Gone. See, while the US military and universities struggle to invent the invisibility cloak (getting closer), Steve Jobs and AT&T achieved invisibility years ago. Pay close attention the next time you are in public. Our social rules keep us from even making eye contact with a person on the phone. We don’t want to breach their privacy so we turn off our ears and physically turn away from them. Trying to recall the details of a person talking on the phone in public is more difficult than recalling the details of a person not speaking on the phone. I have no scientific study to back up that statement. It is just my own assertion but try it. Take a friend to the mall. Make mental notes about various people then stop and ask your friend to describe them 45 seconds later. The people talking on their phones are invisible! Even Girl Scouts selling cookies choose to skip their sales pitch to people speaking on the phone.

Now, setting is important. The person discussing private business dealings at the topic of their lungs in a quiet restaurant draws attention to themselves and is far from invisible. The loud talking, me, me, me, attention gather is trying to draw eyes to themselves and is the opposite of invisible.

iPods, MP3 players of all types, and anything that requires we plug wires into our ears also make us invisible. Our body language says, "Don’t talk to me!" Speaking to a person with earphone plugged into their ears might be a waste of time. They may not hear you and the frustration of raising your voice, getting their attention, and repeating yourself multiple times just isn’t worth it. To simply avoid talking to them is less physically exerting and less stressful. So we avoid interrupting people listening to their music or podcasts and they too become invisible. Today my wife joins the invisible people as she listens to loud music and gets things done around the house.

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RIAA take that! Artist pays listeners to download the album!

The band Officer Roseland has decided to pay its fans to download their newest album, Stimulus Package. By going to http://www.mystimuluspackage.org/stimulus/ and clicking GIVE Officer Roseland will give $1 to the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation then present a download link, or clicking TAKE Officer Roseland will put $1 into a valid PayPal account then present a download link.

Founded in 1996, The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation donates new and refurbished musical instruments to underserved schools, community music programs and individual students nationwide, in an effort to give youngsters the many benefits of music education, help them to be better students and inspire creativity and expression through playing music. [Source, The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation website]

Thanks goes to Ray Camdem for blogging about Officer Roseland.