Wednesday, April 30, 2008

the one reason i would have gone to coachella

Aphex Twin - apparently he gave a pretty intense history lesson of dance music before he aurally beat people down and ripped their faces off:

Here is his intro...who else would end a beautiful ambient intro with flavor flav samples!



full on rave



this is a nice 7 minute montage where he progressed into drum and bass...towards the end it becomes pure madness

AND THE ENDING: FULL ON MADNESS....richard james rules

sceam bloody water


think geek is selling these led lights that light up your water to let you know if the water is hot or cold. it doesn't change the color of the water just illuminates it. i imagine letting your girlfriend discover the "bloody water" in the middle of the night for the first time would be good times!

Monday, April 28, 2008

get out and play.......does stop motion ever get old?



Nokia has put together an awesome site to promote a new video game feature NGage via a website called get out and play. While the site loads you play an analog looking version of the classic game breakout or arkanoid.
It then leads to an amazing stop motion video that pays homage to the classic nokia game snake and features a cardboard robot villain as well as a really awesome couple of frames dedicated to people running into a wall.

The most innovative part of the site is the interactive video game which is basically a modern version of breakout or arkanoid but instead of dots, lines and a ball you get to control a "human bar" and knock a human into a wall of humans via stop motion animation. It's not the most high tech game ever by any means but it's a cool concept. NOTE... the game happens halfway through the entire video where 1,000 people make the worlds longest snake using stop motion. Pretty awesome.


CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT GET OUT AND PLAY

the verve ...whatever

so i scanned youtube for footage of the verve's triumphant return to america. granted it must have been nice for them to be so well received after years of playing small clubs etc... but they took one of the biggest nose dives of any band in history... looks like they are no better than when they left... compare this weekends performance of bitter sweet symphony (this is me rolling my eyes) to Verve in their prime at the metro in chicago in 1993.

OLD VERVE
The Sun, The Sea...Live at Metro, Chicago 1993
NOTE: classic richard ashcroft moment at about the 4:26 marker


OLD VERVE WAS TOO GOOD NOT TO POST ANOTHER ONE
Gravity Grave...Live at Metro, Chicago 1993


FINE.. HAVE IT YOUR WAY.... ONE MORE
Blue...Live at Metro, Chicago 1993


THE NEW VERVE.... UGGGHGHGHGHGH
it really is a bittersweet symphony


looking at those people get so excited for one of the worst songs of their career, is... well... it is what it is!

Sunday, April 27, 2008

upright citizens brigade... in bed...the proof is in the cookie

with amy poehler finally in a big screen movie, i figure it a perfect time to pay tribute to this wonderful gal. this sketch is a personal favorite of mine from the days of the upright citizens brigade tv show. the actual sketch actually starts at about 40 seconds into it and actually is a shining moment for ian roberts. enjoy !


i love how this has 30K hits, yet jerks like this get 20MILLION hits... wtf

fav quote 1 "that doesn't even make sense, someone new"

the future you've been waiting for that you still can't live in.

with main stream auto design being as stale as it is, it's about time these objects finally come to life. most of us grew up being clobbered over the head with images of what the future will look like. thanks to places like MIT and people like renowned architect Frank O. Gehry, car's like this are being designed.
i was led to this car while browsing the smart cities site where they have posted the bit car. this is stackable electric car which will be placed near train and bus stops and places of high pedestrian traffic and you rent the car like a luggage cart at the airport. The best part is that the car re-charges once it is returned to a station. take that zip car
this led me to looking at other concept cars etc... with so much media attention to going green, it's nice to see design and earth preservation merging into interesting new products. now if they would only make and mass produce these things already...
here is a link to a cool pdf presentation of some of the concept cars and some running prototypes.
here are some more pics of other amazing cars. more details can be see at the ARCHiNODE STUDIO

Friday, April 25, 2008

blogger play


a cool new toy offered up by google via their blogger site. it's called blogger play and it pulls images from blogger sites (like this one) and lets you view some random images. what's cool though is that you can click on any image and it takes you to the blog the image is from. who know's what you will find.

the idea of image driven curiosity is pretty awesome.

a similar idea is done on a really amazing website called we feel fine where they explore human emotions in six movements: madness, murmurs, montage, mobs, metrics and mounds. The site pulls sample sentences from various blogs all over the world. And also allows you get to the blog the quote originated from. Not to mention the interface is really awesome as well. Check it.




Thursday, April 24, 2008

windlowlicker : best intro ever

NO this video is not new.
only aphex twin could pull off a 3:50 intro like this. (WARNING: if you are at work there is lot's of cursing in this intro... so start at 3.50 and watch the video)
this video get weirder with each passing second. if you've already seen it, you already know. if you haven't... then it's your turn!


AHHHH, they just don't make them like they used to... well they do sometimes.... it's not as weird but it's still brillz. My guy bob showed me this video that ISIS recently did which rocks. it's nothing like the aphex twin video but check it.

i approve this ad: ideath


apparently Australian kids love their ipod's so much that they are running into moving cars. with this becoming a much more common event the Australian police are putting their foot down and demanding some attention be brought to the matter.


insert tasteless joke here:
Q. what were these kid's listening to on their ipods?
A. Death Metal

if aphex twin made tame advertising

it might something like these creepy little bastards.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Dear APPLE, take THAT...Sincerely, Dell

Dell is about to launch an "eco-friendly" computer... you have a plant a tree in your living room and they send a tech-guy out to gut the planted tree and install a screen, a motherboard and some usb slots.... ok I kid, but this is kinda cool. I snagged the pictures off earth2tech



Dell claims the computer is 81 % smaller than a standard desktop, uses 70 percent less power and is filled with recycled materials like old bottles, milk jugs and detergent cases. (and you thought all that crap would only make shitty hard tissue and those nice little sleeves that coffee shops give you so as to not burn your hand)

The computer is supposed to drop later this year and run between $500 and $700.

MY SUGGESTION... add a projector that allows the image to shine on the wall or a monitor sized screen and eliminate the monitor altogether.

Dell Earth

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

My Blood Valentine to play in New York ! ! ! All Tomorrow's Parties

WELCOME BACK




So My Bloody Valentine has been a mystery for god knows how long now, they were set to play Coachella this year but since Coachella sucks (granted they do have Aphex Twin as a last minute add on) I bought tickets to see them in June in London. Now news rolls out (Thanks to Karl Meier) that All Tomorrow's Parties will take place in New York in September with none other than My Bloody Valentine headlining.

There is other awesome stuff so far like Tortoise performing millions now living will never die and Built to Spill playing Perfect From Now On, but what is even cooler is that you have to stay on site for the 3 days.

It's going to be one hell of a party, I think that much can be counted on.
In case you missed the other link... here is the OFFICAL NEW YORK ALL TOMORROW'S PARTY LINK.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

homes of the future

Living Homes is a company doing some pretty amazing stuff in the world of architecture and home building. They have a team of innovative architects who design your home. It is build and shipped to you. Check it!



And finally, I found this prototype doing a google image search. Not sure if this is actually from the same company but regardless, it's pretty George Jettson.

Did Obama give Hillary the Finger?

Found this clip on funny or die
seems as though he did.

i approve these ads



Pretty awesome ads for knives and a toaster. This was done by Shackleton, Madrid, Spain.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

The Subway Vigilante...circa 1984




MEET BERNHARD GOETZ
YEAR: 1984


While recently reading The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell I learned the story of Bernhard Goetz aka The Subway Vigilante. I'm surprised I haven't heard this one before but it's none the less conversation worthy.

Long story short, on a crowded New York subway train...
4 black teens harass a nerdy white man on a train...they don't attack but they threaten and place their hands in a gesture that would lead one to believe they had guns and/or weapons. Bernhard Goetz shoots all four of them and takes off into the night only to turn himself days later. He was embraced by the public and basically let go with no hassle by the courts as a hero who did what everyone wishes they had the balls to do.

What is fascinating is that this was in the midst of the New York crime wave of the 80's and subway travel was not safe...period, end of story. This really could have been the single thing that ended the New York crime wave which lead to a cleaner and safer New York all together.

Another fascinating quote was when he turned himself in the papers ran a photo oh Bernhard in cuffs and one of his "assailants" being set free. There was some witty headline which I don't recall verbatim but it was something to the effect of "Hero locked up, criminal set free"

Bernhard Goetz remains a free to this day...I wonder what would happen if this scenario repeated itself in Modern day.

Some links to the story:

Story

Wikipedia

Mr. Rogers takes on Nixon and the Senate

An instructor at the Miami Ad School recently played this clip for our class and it blew me away.
Watch Mr. Rogers win over the cynical U.S. Senate and take on the man.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Bill Viola @ MULTIPLEX, Museum of Modern Art, NY




I found an interesting Art Exhibit in NY that I will be checking out next week. I was browsing the Bill Viola site and stumbled across MULTIPLEX

Granted I'm excited to see the Bill Viola work, but there seems to be plenty of other interesting things to see.

In summary the exhibit intends to show the advance in possibility in artistic mediums since the 1970's.

If you are un-aware of Bill Viola check out his site... he currently has exhibits all over the world and his work really needs to be seen in person to be appreciated. His site has an excellent section called SFMOMA which archives some of his work. Check it !

this is not art, this is fucking wrong



If you are unaware of what's going on with so called artist Guillermo Vargas Habacuc then I'll sum it up. He tied up a puppy and starved him until the dog died as a live performance art piece entitled eres lo que lees. It's highly documented and this guy should be stopped. Read and act if you feel inspired...which you should... because someone wants to commission him to do this bullshit again.

link to info 1

more info

sign the petition

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Lollapalooza, Pitchfork line up's announced



So the line up's are up. Decide for yourself...

lollapalooza


pitchfork

I think it's interesting that lollapalooza have very recent headliners on the bill again...
see Wilco, Kanye West etc...
Granted these are major forces in music today but it says a lot to me about the state of the music industry when they have to have repeat appearances so recently. When lollapalooza was actually innovative and had no problem assembling interesting line ups, Perry Farrell wasn't wearing depends yet so I attribute some of this to that... I'll be there either way drinking shitty beer and sweating three days in a row.

JUST AN IDEA.... but how bout a little hometown love for RISE AGAINST at lollapalooza. A kick ass band that keeps getting better and better who do good and positive things! They should be headlining the fucking thing...

RISE AGAINST
Here is the unedited version of Ready to Fall which really should be the only version of the video.





lastly... I'm looking forward to Wicker Park Fest this year as last years was the sleeper victory for me. Russian Circles and High on Fire ripped.

RUSSIAN CIRCLES






HIGH ON FIRE


Friday, April 11, 2008

the best advertising agency in the world

if you don't watch the professor brothers on superdelux now is a good time to start.

if you're in advertising you'll appreciate this, if you're not in advertising you'll appreciate this.



watch the full episode with some un-edited keifer when the timer counts down to 1:38 here...

Political Undies

i'm not sure if this is advertising, propaganda, art direction ego gone mad or pure genius but Mccann Erickson in Bombay India does Hanes ads like this...




Thursday, April 10, 2008

MMA is the rage..."The Chode" tells you like it is... welcome to "The Chokeslam"



Ladies and Gentleman...meet "The Chode"

Welcome to the first ever edition of the soon to be famous MMA Column, "The Chokeslam" written by a die hard MMA fan, yours truly " THE CHODE".
The next big MMA event is UFC 83 with the main event being Serra v.s. St-Pierre which I don't think will live up to the hype... So let's talk under-card fights! First let me state my frustration with UFC taking our hard earned money and not airing 4 or 5 under-card fights which usually turn out to be the best fights of the evening.

An interesting fight between "TUF" alumni - Rich Clementi fighting Sam Stout. Rich to me looking like a dud on the show, but since getting a contract and having some fights, he has looked tough in the Octagon. Sam Stout is an experienced veteran and should pose a good test for Rich. I think this could be a good stand up war and one worth watching. Stout in my opinion should win a decision, but a knockout could come from either side. Look to maybe catch this one depending on it's excitement level at the opening of the show or as a last fight if the event goes by quick with fast knockouts and submissions.
Chode's Pick to Whip: Sam Stout - Decision

Next up is a fighter that I can not stand and wish I could get in there with myself, Ed " Short Fuse" Herman. Though a obviously talented fighter, there is something about this guy I think everyone who looks at him and hears him speak wants to Punch his teeth out. That being said, he's taking on an undefeated fighter and a unknown on Demian Maia. 7-0 in his career, this will for sure be a test for him. I see Herman only winning by a lame decision or Submission. But if Maia has anything in him and can back up that undefeated record, I think he can win here. Either this guy is being thrown to the wolves or he is the real deal and Dana White is using him to get Herman out of the UFC.
Chode's Pick to Whip: Demian Maia - Hopefully a Knockout..

Should be one of the best fights of the night. Hopefully they show it. Joe is very experienced and MacDonald aside from the Whoopin he took from Rich Franklin has shown to be tough as nails. This one should make for a good mix of stand up and ground fighting. Neither being that good at BJJ I think this will go to a knockout.
Chode's Pick to Whip: Jason Macdonals- Knockout

Real quick, Mac Danzig v.s. Mark Bocek. Danzig being the latest "TUF" winner, should put on a clinic here and win this one quickly. I don't care what Bocek brings to the table, Danzig has not shown one flaw in his game yet, except for perhaps a lack in pure knockout power. But his BJJ skills are awesome. If I had to pick on for sure bet of the night, this is it.
Chode's Pick to Whip: Mac Danzig - Submission.

Charles McCarthy v.s Micheal Bisping
I can't stand Bisping since he got "beaten" by Matt Hamill in England and got boo'd by his own countryman after "winning" a highly contested split decision and stood in the ring saying he thought he won the fight. He should have said I got beaten and took it like a man. Funny thing however, he has since dropped out of the light heavyweight division and into middleweight. Strange, Matt Hamill doesn't fight at that weight. I guess we can all wait for a rematch but on to his current challenge. McCarthy is a good "B" level fighter, with Bisping dropping weight and being much bigger, I feel this one is out of reach for him.
Hate to say it but...
Chode's Pick to Whip: Micheal Bisping - Knockout.

To former "TUF" contestants, both impressive but both never seem to really break to the upper tear of MMA fights, losing when they should win. This should be a good fight, lots of stand up, could be the fight of the night, but Quarry is too big and strong for Kalib, and the kicks and punches will add up. If Kalib does not get knocked out standing, he should get ground and pounded. But should be a good one.
Chode's Pick to whip: Nate " ROCK" Quarry -Knockout

With Franklin trying to get back on track after 2 huge and easy losses to current middleweight champ Anderson Silva, Franklin has a easy opponent in Lutter. With in my opinion the type of stand-up game that is made to get a fight to the ground, Lutter poses no knockout threat. But that being said, Lutter is great on the ground and should he get Franklin there, watch out. But I think Franklin's strength and take down defense is good enough that this will either be a knockout for him or a boring decision victory.
Chode's Pick to Whip: Rich " Ace " Franklin - decision

Ahh the main event. Well I am one who does appreciate Matt Serra for his long career, personality and all that, but I do think he got lucky. This could be a good fight if Serra chooses to stand up with St. Pierre again, which I think he will have to do since St. Pierre has never lost a second fight to a guy he lost to first. Just ask "The Most Dominate" welterweight Champ of all time Matt Hughes. St.Pierre made him look like a rookie in both return bouts and I think the same will happen here. Look for St. Pierre to keep distance, using lots of leg kicks and jabs, and his take-down defense which is top-notch and should keep Serra's only real weapon, BJJ, at bay. I don't see a knockout coming, but rather a dominating performance from St. Pierre that is eye-catching. Don't look for St. Pierre to try lots of submission since that is Serra's game. Barring a lucky chin shot like last time, look for St. Pierre to dominate from the stand-up and either get a knockout or win a majority decision.
Chode's Pick to Whip: George " Rush" St. Pierre.

Now go bet those fights to and don't come cryin to me if you lose, It's just my opinion!
THE CHODE

get SHIFD'd ...as long as your not a verizon kinda guy


tired of losing all your little "notes to self"? my guy mark put me up on the new rage.

SHIFD is here to wipe yer smelly hanes for you... apparently the verzion for verizon customers is not launched yet so i was denied the new rage... however they did offer comfort.

NOTE: my guy marks has an iphone... so he gets to use the entire service


Muxtape




my guy karl meier put me up on the new rage: Muxtape

go ahead and make you some mix TAPE? of your own guy

here is my current muxing

the fizz

One of three videos made at miami ad school with three talented guys named Taran and Patrick and Tarak.

This was an ad campaign to increase soda sales.

If you are thinking about telling me how this is like the Beastie Boys video for Sabotage please DO save your breath ...it was intentional.





See the other videos at Enlist the Fizz

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

i approve this ad




my guy fabian sent me this ad while i was at the miami ad school.
in case you're blind as a bat the copy reads "A little gay is OK"

Listen to Bill_V 1.0

My guy is deceased but he still owns. This is from the hey day of Judas Priest and Ozzy being sued for subliminal messages in their music and New Kids on the Block were all the rage...Coincidentally NKTOB are re-uniting to give Hannah Montana a run for struggling parents money.

NOTE: When Bill has the microphone jammed in his mouth, this is "sucking satans cock"... you know...in case you were wondering!



THE FIGHT GAME: Nefarious Nick Fremont sounds off on Hopkins vs. Calzaghe

The fights not till April 19th but this is some classic Bernard prior to their bout being scheduled. Notice the bizarre footage of Michael Buffer backstage on the scooter with sunglasses on??? WTF!



THE FIGHT GAME: HOPKINS-CALZAGHE

By Nefarious Nick Fremont

The road to acceptance in the fight game today typically requires a foreign fighter to travel to these shores and prove himself under the glare and scrutiny of the Las Vegas lights. To do otherwise would be to risk toiling in obscurity for an entire career (Dariusz Michalczewski, anyone?).

In recent memory, the most relevant example of this rite of passage has been Mancunian Ricky Hatton, whose reputation previous to coming to America had been entirely built upon fighting in England. Since coming over, we've seen that Hatton is nowhere near as good as he was supposed to be after he dethroned the undisputed 140 lb. king, Kostya Tszyu, in an ugly affair in Manchester in 2005. This past December, Hatton was completely outclassed by Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a mega-fight in the desert, and I don't believe we will be hearing about Ricky fighting again in the US for quite a while. His next fight is – you guessed it – back in Manchester.

CALZAGHE
And now we have Welshman Joe Calzaghe. He's never fought in the US before. He's never fought at 175 lbs. before. He's going up against the cagiest veteran in boxing today, and no doubt one of the wiliest fighters in the history of the sport. It would be easy to say he's out of his class and will be dominated by Bernard Hopkins. But things are rarely so cut-and-dried in the fight game. Calzaghe is a completely different kettle-of-fish as compared to Hatton. And the betting public clearly understands this, having installed Calzaghe as an almost 2-to-1 favorite to win his first fight in America.

His position as favorite despite having never fought outside Europe and never as a light heavyweight is based on two eye-catching wins, when he systematically dismantled and destroyed highly-touted American Jeff Lacy and then outboxed and outfoxed Dane Mikkel Kessler last fall in a super middleweight unification. He is also seven years younger than Hopkins, and there is a general feeling that he has more left in the tank.

Calzaghe's style is also a strange one for Americans to grasp. Our perception of fighters from Great Britain is that they are just that: fighters and not boxers (see Clinton Woods). Our perception of fighters from the rest of Europe is that they are robotic in style, technically sound but athletically uninspired (see Arthur Abraham). Calzaghe is neither of these. The Welsh southpaw is a maestro, an artist in the ring, and absolutely no hyperbole is intended by that statement. He's no Ray Leonard or Roy Jones, but there's more paintings hanging in the Met than just ones by Picasso and Van Gogh. Calzaghe's fight against Kessler was a brilliant world class display. It was unique and it was artistic and, for many Americans, it served as first glimpse of the stylistic and athletic qualities that have made Calzaghe a legend in Europe.

HOPKINS
Hopkins, on the other hand, has never had that virtuoso quality about him that has characterized other fighters of his time (Jones, Whitaker and more recently, Mayweather). What he is is a guy who knows everything there is to know about the fight game, both in and out of the ring. His intelligence and savvy are unparalleled by any contemporary fighter. Since moving to light heavyweight, Hopkins has embarrassed Antonio Tarver over twelve dominant rounds and then frustrated Winky Wright in one of the most unaesthetic pugilistic affairs on record. The fact that Hopkins was able to completely take Wright -- a wily vet himself with a wealth of ring experience -- out of his game through grappling and fouling and head-butting speaks volumes about Hopkins' ability to control bouts and impose his own style and pace on fights.

The Executioner is the king of winning ugly. He hasn't been hurt in over a decade. He dominates fights that he is expected to lose (versus Trinidad and Tarver). He's always a good bet because you know you will get value for your money.


THE BOTTOM LINE
This is a pick'em fight. Hopkins has the edge in ring intelligence and fight psychology. Calzaghe has the edge in physical ability and also has relative youth on his side.

I expect Calzaghe to try and throw a lot. I expect Hopkins to try and counter in return. I expect a lot of holding and roughhouse tactics. I see another ugly fight going the full twelve in the manner of Hopkins' last fight against Winky.

Really, it's 50/50 who wins and you can get 2-to-1 on Hopkins right now. I expect the line will close as we approach fight night April 19th.

converge, the red chord, baroness, ghengis tron, stabbed by words @ reggies



i finally got to check out my guy robbie's new joint reggies. www.reggieslive.com thanks to a spare ticket from my guy mike.

reggies is the new incarnation of "record breakers" which is the best record store i've ever been to. the suburban police banned robbie from having shows in his store because kids were drinking in the parking lots. they figured having something for the kids to do was too much of a problem for them so rob set his sights for the city (chicago) and opened reggies live. It's one part bar (with 4 kazillion tv screeens and live music) one part music venue and one part record store (record breakers lives folks).

i've hung out at reggies numerous times but this was my first concert. let me say, the venue rules, the drinks were great... and free (thanks scott and mike), and the sound was perfect.

And now for the show....

i missed stabbed by words which features members of unbroken, the suicide file, the hope conspiracy, sweet cobra and a kazillion other hardcore bands.

i did get there in time for ghengis tron... great name, great lights, lame band. the whole mellow, electronic part then the abrupt grind core part slams in "out of nowhere" thing over and over again just doesn't do it for me.

baroness was next and they rocked. metal with a southern flair. i used to be a hater on these guys but my guy brian got me on their new record "red album" and it kicks ass, as do they live.

the red chord was next so we headed to the other bar. another band with a screaming mad singer who laughs and smiles every time he stops singing. there really is nothing worse than insincere tech metal wanna be hardcore.

converge was great and played a wide selection of new and classic stuff. the show ended with jake bannon bleeding at the end of "jane doe" which they rarely play. check the video.

go reggies!

welcome to my blog - meet rick jeffers

hello fine people of earth. welcome to my blog.

now go watch this short film that my friends brian and kristen have done together.

brian has more shorts in the works and on the way that are sure to make brown marks in your hanes.