Canada's Bill C32 (the latest attempt at copyright reform) is like a colossal fuck up of a bait and switch exercise where the switch has obfuscated the bait with two devastating words: digital locks.
Since I was a kid, I always thought timelapse and stop motion videos were cool. I'll never forget, a bit older, seeing "The Grid" section of the film Koyaanisqatsi for the first time and being blown away by a 24 hour cycle in 10 minutes with the magical repetition of Philip Glass behind it.
Vimeo has an entire section of these types of videos and I encourage you to check some of them out. Here are a few of my favourites upon a very short scan of a scant few of over 500 pages in this category alone:
from wikipedia... Gregg Michael Gillis (born October 26, 1981 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), better known by his stage name Girl Talk, is an American musician specializing in mashups and digital sampling. Gillis has released four LPs on the record label Illegal Art and EPs on 333 and 12 Apostles.
I know I came late to the party with Girl Talk, but here's a shout to all of you who've never heard of this master of the mashup.
I'm really not into DJs or DJ culture, but when I heard Feed The Animals by Girl Talk, I was won over. This was the first time I ever "got it" with regards to DJ skills. While I never claimed that DJs lacked talent, for years I was left without a clear sensibility about artistic nature of the performance. I often thought, "well that's pretty cool, but doesn't do much for me."
In listening to Girl Talk's release, which I purchased through his website, I found that recognition of the artistic in the choices of samples, and more importantly, the amazing juxtaposition of genre, rhythm and tone. In the first track alone, he successfully mashes up the following:
"Play Your Part (Pt. 1)" - 4:45
0:00 - 0:41 Roy Orbison - "Oh, Pretty Woman"
0:01 - 0:41 UGK featuring OutKast - "International Player's Anthem"
0:01 - 2:11 The Spencer Davis Group - "Gimme Some Lovin'"
0:03 - 0:39 TTC - "J'ai Pas Sommeil"
0:42 - 1:07 DJ Funk - "Pump That Shit Up"
0:55 - 1:20 Cupid - "Cupid Shuffle"
1:08 - 1:56 Pete Townshend - "Let My Love Open the Door"
1:18 - 2:10 Unk - "Walk It Out"
1:59 - 2:37 Twisted Sister - "We're Not Gonna Take It"
2:04 - 2:10 Huey Lewis and the News - "The Heart of Rock & Roll"
2:13 - 2:37 Lil Mama - "G-Slide (Tour Bus)"
2:29 - 3:01 Ludacris featuring Shawnna - "What's Your Fantasy"
2:36 - 3:01 Temple of the Dog - "Hunger Strike"
2:48 - 3:01 Birdman featuring Lil Wayne - "Pop Bottles"
3:01 - 3:15 Rage Against the Machine - "Freedom"
3:02 - 4:05 Aaliyah featuring Timbaland - "We Need a Resolution"
3:02 - 4:06 Birdman and Lil Wayne - "Stuntin' Like My Daddy"
3:05 - 4:25 T.I. - "What You Know"
3:17 - 3:38 Edwin Starr - "War"
3:41 - 4:31 Sinéad O'Connor - "Nothing Compares 2 U"
4:13 - 4:43 Shawnna - "Gettin' Some"
4:32 - 4:45 Jay-Z featuring UGK - "Big Pimpin'"
4:33 - 4:41 Kelis featuring Too $hort - "Bossy"
4:34 - 4:44 Young Jeezy featuring Bone Crusher - "Take It to the Floor"
4:37 - 4:45 Rare Earth - "I Just Want to Celebrate"
And while I have also not been a traditional fan of contemporary rap (and am still not) the mashup combinations won me over.
What can I say? Girl Talk and I listen.
What do you get when Hip-Hop doesn't sound like what it's supposed to sound like: The Hip-Hop Hijack Podcast.
WARNING: There are some seriously fucked up misogynist lyrics here. There are also rhymes about drug use, violence, etc.. If you are easily offended, skip this. While I don't subscribe to the themes presented herein, I do like the juxtapositions involved. It's amazing how Gangsta Rap can sound when accompanied by piano or acoustic guitar.
While almost everything else on lovehatethings is Creative Commons, this is not, and if the RIAA or any of the artists ask me to take this down, I'll gladly comply. But until then, if you dig it, maybe you'll go and buy it, which will make everyone happy in the end.
Alright, so it apparently doesn't take much to get me going on a podcast. I read about the Japanese government planning on spending over $2 billion on sending robots to the moon to build a base for... wait for it... OTHER ROBOTS!
Agree? Disagree? Let me know below.
Stephen Harper: We are NOT amused!
EDIT: I realized I was so pissed off that I dropped Hockley Valley as the G8 site when it's actually Deerhurst... big diff.
A broken letter to Mark Zuckerberg:
Maestro Marky Zee,
You've been getting a lot of flack recently from tech pundits about the liberties that Facebook has taken with regards to user privacy. And you've responded without apology, but with indications of placating the mouthpieces.
Good for you, but if you ask me, I'd say don't apologize whatsoever.
In fact, if I were you, I'd completely rape any and all personal user privacy on the Facebook site and serve it up for all to see. Out of the 400 million users you have now, only a couple of million would even notice or give shit. What do you care?
People have a choice: use Facebook or don't.
There's a very clear way to simplify the privacy process instead of asking users to micromanage each subset of their information - eliminate the choice. Like any website, if it's on the FB, anyone can see it, you can hold it, advertisers can scrape it and your users will go their merry way, playing Farmville or starting up slacktivist groups that people can join to assuage their social guilt.
You're offering a free service. While the moral pundit minority may express their outrage, you should choose to ignore them.
I publish several podcasts and blogs which include social networking content, and as much as I don't like the fact you've been arbitrarily switching privacy settings, I don't blame you for it. Hell, you can make a boatload of money by serving up all this data to advertisers, so why wouldn't you?
I honestly believe that by forcing all the tech pundits to run from the site, you won't have to worry about them anymore. Most people are stuck using FB because their neo-Luddite family members have finally crawled up out of the Web 1.0 ooze to sign up and become their "friends". Those in the know can't afford to ditch FB now because Uncle Mort and Aunt Gertrude will feel slighted and not come over for holiday dinner next year.
Just lay it all out on the initial sign up page. Be blunt. Something like:
If you click YES, realize that EVERYTHING you share, even the crap you think might be private, is going to be stored on a hard drive somewhere and advertisers will use the information to try and sell you shit.
Do you accept?
YES or NO
You'll still get 95% of anyone who hits this point, because people love to share pictures of themselves in Las Vegas, or spend hours tilling virtual cabbage, or ROTFL while sharing clips of Glee with each other. When the pundits abandon you for some other service, you will be able to reap in the rewards of the people who either don't know or don't care, and either generates the same amount of data for the advertisers.
Whichever way you choose to go, good luck. I hope you gain respectability with your upcoming starring role in Zombieland 2: Harvard Headshots.
Sincerely,
Anthony Marco
As I moved from a prog rock guy throughout the 80s, and looked for some other type music to get into in the 90s, I found grunge. Maybe not the most diverse choice of bands, but, quite simply, music that had passion, force, and kicked ass.
With summer on its way, I thought, if nothing else, some of these podcasts will form my driving music with the windows down as I'm speeding along the backroads of Ontario. If there's a summer mix driving podcast you'd like to hear, let me know.
While almost everything else on lovehatethings is Creative Commons, this is not, and if the RIAA or any of the artists order me to take this down, I'll gladly comply. But until then, if you dig it, maybe you'll go and buy it, which will make everyone happy in the end.