The cosmic life of a beat-maker.
I love Ronald Jenkees.
I'm not sure if he's a YouTube phenom, and if he is, more power to him, if he isn't, he will be soon.
"Before you ask, I'm a perfectly normal and healthy guy, just a little geeky and different - but that's a good thing, not a bad thing. My hope is that you are entertained and at the same time, inspired to make music. Anyone can have fun with music."
This guy is a huge talent, and since I've crossed his page I've managed to watch close to all of his 68 or so videos, each with a new and creative beat. As far as my understanding goes, he plays by ear, and shows almost no signs of any formal training. I think that this is what I love most about YouTube - the ability for someone to show their talent off to anyone anywhere, without any real cost involved. I've managed to stumble upon a few great acts in my last few years of Tube-ing, but this certainly takes the cake. I don't have much more to say, so here's a few more videos that I really enjoy.
vvv Cosmic beats.
vvv For all you "Canon in D" lovers out there.
Check out Youtube(dot)com/RonaldJenkees for more, it's so worth it.
What is it about France?
Everything French has some sort of coolness to it.
Maybe it's classically cool, like Parisian museums. Maybe it's functionally cool, like hip cell phones or high fashion. Maybe it's just cool all around, like M83's new album. Whatever it is, I'll tell you one thing: I've got the French Fever.
My lovely college forces me to become cultural by taking a few classes on a language of my choice. For most of high school, I spent time in and out of Spanish classes, conjugating here, past tensing there, but none of it really filling my imagination. This was an obvious choice, as all of my Mother's family speaks Spanish. I found that the culture was cool and all, but I never found it interesting enough to keep my attention. So in turning my back to my family (in a way), I decided to give French a try. In order to make this decision, I've been reading everything under the sun about French lifestyles, French Culture, and how practical the language would be in a global setting. Most international organizations speak English, but French isn't far behind. Anyways, this isn't about my educational decisions, it's about the French and everything cool that they do.
I also wanted to talk about the new M83 album in this post. Saturdays = Youth is Anthony Gonzalez's latest effort. The 26 year old French Native created this album because of his memories as a teenager. The teenage years - according to Gonzalez through his website - were when he "discovered music and started to take drugs and make parties with [his] friends. I really started to discover new things. Nowadays I would like to be a teenager again."
The album's motif reminds me of the 80s Brat Pack, and it's super obvious when you compare the Graveyard Girl video to the trailer for Sixteen Candles.
Sixteen Candles:
Graveyard Girl:
Anyways, the album is an excellent story - the tracks flow into each other very well and give you an 80s pop/new age feel. My favorite track so far would have to be #5 - Couleurs, that has an eerie start which then moves into this Mitsubishi Commercial-esque feel. It's perfect when you're driving at night.
Out of a 10 scale, I'd give it a 7 or 8, it's certainly worth purchasing, but I'd recommend a different M83 album for the first time listener.
Au revoir!
Wallets are a wonderful thing.
(SO I didn't die, I promise, I still write here, and will continue to do so for some time)
So I bought a new wallet. Not just any wallet, not something that I can go pick up tomorrow because I had it shipped to me. No - this will take an additional 43 days before I even see it. It's because I ordered a wallet from VajaCases.com.
This site creates custom leather goods for all of your high-end electronic devices (also laptop bags and wallets). Need an iPod case with purple leather and matching Swarovski crystals? Look no further. Complete with flash navigation and to-the-minute previews of the changes you make, I've found this website to be one of my hidden passions. This site boasts the ability to have one-thousand possible combinations for most of the products they make, allowing you (the user) to have a truly unique product each and every time.
Once you order it, you'll be told about the custom handcrafting process that your product and why the large amount you just paid won't give you anything for another 3-5 weeks.
Personally, I love it. It's a high quality product, and the only reason that I don't have the first wallet is because it's from an old girlfriend, and I don't really want to have that on me.
And that is all for my advertising blog... :)
So I had the most wonderful idea the other day.
RECIPEDIA
But it's already been done! I know I could do it so much better too! I was driving the other day and came about this idea trying to figure out what some (insert an unnecessary French (freedom) word here) was, and rushed straight home. To my dismay, Recipedia exists.
This did make me think though, I'm looking at a site that does a totally awful job at being the definitive food resource - it has 'pedia' in the name so it's one of the elites, and it only features 10-24 types of food per letter, putting the grand total at around 500 different dishes. Now, I'm not a food expert, but I would like to say that I've probably had more than 500 types of food in my life. The sheer varieties of oatmeal and cookies in my life would exceed 150 alone. And don't get me started on Sandwiches!
Anyways, this just got me to thinking. I'm trying to figure out what kind of second-wave idea has set the bar for a recognized standard. You know, like how we always remember the second guy that invented the telephone, or who won the silver in the 2000 100m dash? Maybe Cunningham's RECIPEDIA will take the cake (literally, like all 100 different types of cake) in 2008.
Seacrest out.
Life and loss.
Well, I'm not dying. Although from my recent post count, most might think that I've fallen off the face of the planet. These last few weeks have been a complicated sort for me. I've finished up another quarter, I'm in the middle of changing jobs, and I'm losing my best friend, Morgan, to California. The first two take up a lot of my time, but the last one takes up a lot of my thoughts.
It's tough to lose someone. I mean, I know he'll be back in a few months to visit, but it's nuts to return home and know someone isn't there. I've been best buddies with this guy since third grade, and because of that, I'm finding like a piece of myself is gone. There was this one time, in a desperate attempt to emulate all of those folks on the cool TV shows. We were throwing back shots...of Kool-aid (we were like 11 at the time, which made our childish minds assume that the effects of the 1 cup of sugar were identical to alcohol). Also, don't get me started on all of the sweet card games we played growing up, namely Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering. In fact, I just played a game of Magic the other night with him. I was able to conquer his arsenal of monsters with a Gigadrowse and a fist-full of Mana.
The reason I'm writing about this isn't because all of you know Morgan, but I'm most of you will do what I'm about to do: Make a sweet Mix-Tape. So here's my My-Best-Friend-Has-Left-For-Good tape, enjoy.
Track 1: Some by Sea = A Night without a Cineplex
This is a local outfit to my area, but the cello always calms my mood-whatever it is. Significant because I've spent a lot of time watching these guys play, you know, before the dude became a ROCKSTAR and broke the band up. I also caught a concert with my good buddy Morgan. I always get nostalgic when I hear anything local, so I think this is a good way to start.
Track 2:Cartel = The Minstrel's Prayer
Welp. I really like Cartel. I don't own much of their music, but I wouldn't mind getting my hands on more. I like this song because to me it speaks of moving on, but as a group, not just solo. I've got a load of buddies who I can share memories with, so it's just a little motivation.
Track 3: Ben Folds = Still Fighting It.
First, it's one of my favorite musicians ever. Secondly, this song is probably the total embodiment of what's going on right now. I'm at that really awkward transition where I'm upon my last year of college, and I've got to decide where I want to go for Grad School - if I want to go, you know? I might just hightail it over to Washington DC and get involved with a campaign, which sounds like a lot more fun to me.
Track 4: The Polyphonic Spree = Light and Day
And this is what I would call the transition point of the cd, as I don't like to make an all downhill mix. I like this song, I think I found it watching Eternal Sunshine, but either way, it's a good one. It's always been amusing that there's like 30 members to this band, so I always wondered how this excursion was even profitable, but whatever.
Track 5:Green Day = Poprocks and Coke
Haha, well, I'm not a big fan for Green Day, but they have an uncanny ability to write very literal lyrics. So this fits, really well.
Track 6: Saves the Day = This is not an Exit
Another one of the favorite bands. I feel like this song can speak a lot about my current situation. It also makes me feel really really good to hear it, which never hurts you know?
Track 7: Oasis = (Untitled)
It's just good segue music, sorry.
Track 8: The Rocket Summer = So, in this Hour...
In eight minutes, this song progresses to one of the most energetic things I've heard in this new era of popular rock music. I heard this guy at Warped Tour last year, and it hooked me. I went out and bought the new CD as soon as I could find it, and it's one of my most played albums.
Cheers, good buddy.
:)bk 2 chng prfles btw. KTHXBI.
So I've got a friend who loves to text all day, except they must have mastered the text message in 2000 when you were billed by the character. (Anyone remember that?)
Anyways, I always associate that with new internet news. I don't know why, but it brings more joy to my life when reading about profile color updates and song changes.
THIS is why I like Facebook. No songs, no bulletins, less garbage. They posted a blog about new updates to the profile system, and it definitely has some likable changes. In the vein of Apple, Facebook has always taken a minimalist approach, and will continue to push that with this version. Anyways, less blabbing, and more pictures:
(All pictures are property of Facebook and can be found here.)
First of all, we notice that the profile is beginning to look more simple, as the user content - or REAL meat and potatoes as far as I'm concerned - is the first thing you see. The user contact information is below the picture, which makes looking up a phone number or address super simple. I've never been a huge fan of applications, and taking away all the poking, rating, profile matching. slapping, stripping, and other potentially NSFW adjectives linked below the user picture definitely tickles my fancy.
OH iPhone, how you change the world even though most won't ever buy you. I'm an iPod Touch user, so I have the pleasure of having the touch-screen without the monthly contract. My favorite part of the Touch is the web browser. I've been browsing the web on phones and portable devices since the advent of the Candybar Nokia text browsers, and this is the best, most true to computer browsing experience I've had. The iPhone Facebook site is nothing short of amazing, either. The best thing is that the iPhone site is easy, REALLY easy. There's only three links in a profile, About Me, Wall, and Photos. The newest main Facebook is going to adopt the same feature:
Another photo of bar and the users' wall:
And the wall sees a new update as well. It's a hybrid between the current wall and the news feed. The best part is that wall-to-wall conversations will be completely displayed on one user's profile - providing you're friends with both conversation participants. I've had too many nights of jumping back and forth, or having to click on other pages to track down whole conversations. Also, any replies to mood updates and the like will be on the wall, giving a complete Facebook personality.
Lastly, look at the bottom left of the above image. I notice two things: first, this person has TOOOOO MANY applications. Secondly, it no longer matters. I don't have to scroll down through six pages of hot-or-not quizzes and Johnny Depp trivia to see the users' basics. The icons for all the apps are organized in a clickable menu. Facebook hasn't noted whether they will expand or become one of those fancy in-window-pop-ups, but either way I'm glad.
Anyways, I'll probably spend just as much time on Facebook as I already do.
Later.
PRO TIP: Candles do not provide warmth.
Yes, I am a poor college student. Apparently this is seen when, instead of turning on my (non-existent) heater, I choose to light 10-20 tealights and stick them next to each other. BAD FREAKING IDEA. I come back from my kitchen after making a cup of hot Oregon Chai to see a 6 inch flame coming from said tealights.
What happened is that they were close enough to ignite the wood paneling on my desk on fire, and were only fueling the flame. I went to blow it out, because I have lungs like Zeppelins, and find that nothing is happening. Alright, next step. I have water, and it's not grease (HAHAHA JUST KIDDING CHRIS), so I pour the water on only to watch it shoot everywhere like fireworks. And by everywhere, I mean all over the place. It's on my laptop (Keyboard and SCREEN) speakers, alarm clock, desk, wall, everything. Eventually, I've had enough and held a towel on the flame until it went away.
I spent the last hour scraping cold wax off my laptop monitor, and then another 15-20 cleaning the screen. Every time I hit the keys, each one has it's own distinct wax pattern. It's kinda like braille, except I'm not blind, and this isn't remotely helpful.
Anyways, maybe someone will find joy in this:
Myspace worth 10$ BILLION. Friendster owners spinning in grave.
Well there you have it.
The era of social networking isn't showing any ceasing of the 'boom' effect. Almost three years ago, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. purchased Myspace from Tom (Anderson and co.) for around 580$ Million. A new announcement from Yahoo is a RUMORED offer to trade a stake in the social networking king's site with almost 20% of it's company's value, or about 10$ Billion. Most of this comes from an earlier announcement by Microsoft about it's desire to acquire Yahoo for around 45$ Billion.
With all of these large numbers floating around, it's interesting to see how much the REAL world actually values these companies. Sure, according to Alexa we're seeing that Yahoo! is the number one visited site on the planet (Google has been beaten down to a #4 rating by both Youtube and Windows Live as well), but in all honesty, I'm doubting that the worlds need for Yahoo! hovers in the tens of billions of dollars.
Keep in mind, I'm not an economics expert, and yes search engines are wonderful, helpful items that the web wouldn't work without. What is it about Yahoo that makes it any different than Google? For the longest time, Yahoo used the same technology, and I'm assuming they still use a variation of Google's famous algorithm model. To me, I doubt individuals are as passionate about the brand image of internet companies as they are about real life companies. Let's say I take away your Pepsi-Cola, or your Starbucks Coffee, or (heaven-forbid) your Burger King (GET ME A WHOPPER!) the world would freak. If I got rid of Yahoo? Oh, ok, well there's others I suppose, and weeks later, life would go on.
Actually, I'm probably blowing it out of proportion, I'm sure there would be many concerned 'customers' that would miss Yahoo. I would be upset if I was without Google, I swore by AskJeeves.com for the longest time (I'm not proud of that by any stretch of the imagination). I just don't think I'd miss it as much as Bangladesh, or the other 100 countries with economies smaller than this one company.
Anyways, back to MySpace. The fact that within the last three years this company has seen a 2000% increase in estimated value is just phenomenal. Yes, I check MySpace a few times a day, but I didn't know there was that much growth. Since graduating high school, I've added about 30 friends, lost a few in the mix, which means I've netted just a little over 20 or so. Where are all of these new users coming from? My guess is that the expansion of younger ages and the increase in advertising and music traffic (amongst other things) has taken MySpace from an online activity to a central hub of one's life - and this isn't any new idea.
I just hope that in the future these companies are going to return the sorts of results that investors are expecting. In my opinion, MySpace, Facebook, and Friendster are first generation social-networking. Over the next few years, we'll be seeing a transformation of sites that attract a more-focused, more passionate group of users. One's MySpace will only be a small, general idea of your e-personality, providing links as to what you're really interested in.
Too bad I'm not a software engineer, I'll just have to hope I can beta-test the next round.
Starbucks to give free Wi-Fi out. Welcome to the 21st century.
Finally, the 'ideal' coffee shop will provide free Wi-Fi. It's about time. For the last few years, I've had to take my laptop all the way down to Tully's to get any sort of work done, and it's frustrating because I really, really don't like Tully's. I'm not out here to say that Starbucks is the best thing known to man, because that's another one for another day.
Maybe my thick-black frames are in a twist, but it's seeming like Starbucks, AT&T and Apple are quickly defining what it is to be a young(at-heart) adult in this day and age. First, we see that Apple and AT&T brings out the ROKR, aimed at bringing music and cellular together. Its failure didn't stop Apple, which - after a few more trips to the drawing board - released the incredibly successful iPhone. On another front, Apple and Starbucks begin releasing iTunes only albums that offer videos and interviews in addition to the music. This, combined with the addition of a free Wi-Fi iTunes store in all Wi-Fi enabled Starbucks create a permanent partnership between the two companies. It's always difficult (and rarely successful) to tell a business to stop charging for the only service they provide, and instead of doing so, Starbucks drops T-Mobile for their next best choice: the well-established and Apple-backed AT&T. I'm not about to put on my tin-foil hat and shout about conspiracy theories, but we could be seeing the start of an entity larger than News Corp.
But for all those interested, here's how the news says it will work:
You have a Starbucks Card, like the ones your parents and people-who-don't-know-what-to-get-you give for Christmas and other holidays (Maybe this is just a Seattle thing?) and you register it online. Once registered, this account is entitled to two free hours of Wi-Fi per day. I'm assuming this counts for all locations accessed on that day.
Once your two hours runs out, you're able to purchase another two hour block for 3.99$. Like I said, I don't like paying for Wi-Fi, but to be honest, four bucks for two hours is millions of times better than six dollars for one hour. There's also a one month plan available, which should be nice as well.
Ultimately, I have two major feelings. First, I'm excited. I like being at Starbucks, and I did use the T-Mobile Hotspot for the better part of 4 months (it was built into my phone so I wasn't 'paying' for it :) ) Secondly, I'm a little sad that it took this long. Sure, the business of making money is what all businesses are working for, but there are certain things that our generation is starting to take for granted - for good measure of course -and access to information is quickly becoming one of those things. Maybe it's watching videos of cute cats doing even cuter things, or the latest trailers off of the Apple site, or reading up on some random Wikipedia article...but when I sit down for a cup of coffee, I feel like a sponge for new information. I'm in an Israeli Studies course right now and if it weren't for a comfy chair and a hot cup of Oregon Chai, I wouldn't be able to do much more than point it out on a map.
Arrested Development Movie?
I just stumbled upon this sweet little morsel from Yahoo TV:
"Exclusive! Jason Bateman Confirms Arrested Development Movie Talks
This just might be the best news we Arrested fans have heard in a very long time.
Jason Bateman has just confirmed to me that the creative minds behind Arrested Development (Mitch Hurwitz and Ron Howard) have put the wheels in motion toward a major motion picture of the Fox TV comedy so many of us adore. I'm told by insiders that Jason and other Bluth family members have received calls from producers (Hurwitz and Howard) asking if they would be willing to shoot a movie."
Be sure to read the rest of the article here.
