Archive for the 'World' Category

Repetitive loops are the new breakdowns

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I’ve been reading a couple articles how young people are communicating less and less in real life and more on the computer. Since everyone is spending more time alone, they’re also hurting the music scene in a way. If you don’t hang out with your friends, you can’t be in a band.

However, there sure are allot of techno computer dance one man bands popping up on myspace. I think this kind of music is going to be the next big thing. Grunge, Punk, Pop, Pop Punk, Hardcore, and now Repetitive loops.

You know who had repetitive loops first? Nintendo.

I’m not sure what kind of program this people are using to make these songs, but I’ve been working on one. I call it “No Dankin’s Required”. Let me know what you think

Bleep
Bleep Bleep Bloop Bleep
bleeeeeeep
Bleep
Bleep Bleep Bloop Bleep
boom bleep boom boom bleep boom bleep boom boom bleep boom bleep boom boom bleep boom bleep boom boom bleep
Bleep Bleep Bleep Bloop Bloop Bleep
BLEEEEEEEEP

Yea. That shit’s copywrited too so don’t even think about it.

Make money online with Police and foreign funds

There is an email floating around Pennsylvania warning everybody that police officers are trying to raise nine million dollars in speeding tiggets by the end of the month, so be on the lookout. They’ll be crackin’ down, and HARD.

In other news… The other day I was mentioning working for people overseas and how to get / convert foreign currency. I actually found out the EASIEST WAY possible. Paypal.

It turns out that paypal converts the money for you! How easy is that? Bada bing bada boom. They send me pounds, and it converts them to fancy America businessman dollars. Fat paychecks from across the sea always spend better because they have the sweet stink of culture all over em’.

Here’s a taste of some international work I did. I know it’s in a foreign language (Irish), but all the imagery is still there :). It’s a giant full color poster that will be crawling all over Ireland and other countries with the tour dates.

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I got my flesh huntin’ license, so raise your gut rifles

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I love new inventions. I’m pretty sure my first erection was gotten the first time I played the N64. Since then, I’ve had a few crushes on Ipods, Halo3, the virtual boy… and today I seen my next love interest.

According to CNN.com, by this time next year, you will be able to purchase a flat panel, high definition television without cords. The first of these models will be on display at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas starting this upcoming monday. Imagine having a flat panel TV on your wall, with no cords. Amazing. Sexy.

Read the article here

New Albums of 08′

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There are alot of new albums coming out next year, but only one you’ll need to care about. The band Doughnuts in November will be releasing their MUCH anticipated record here on American soil early next year. Up to this point, all their releases have only been available in their native land of Mexico. That all changed last month, when a merger between two of the biggest record companies in the business took place, allowing music from other countries into ours.

These actions did not come without sacrifices. Already losing two band members in the past, (Freddy Loser in a vicious knife fight outside a local club, and Dead End to malaria) Doughnuts in November had to be literally sneaked out of the country due to a public outcry of traitorism when they found out they were coming to America to record. The day before their 4 week burro ride across the border, the lead singer of DIN, Doug Dickens, almost was fatally wounded when an unknown assailant rigged his burrito with explosives. Fortunately, Doug was to busy pleasuring one of their numerous groupies and had skipped on lunch. The burrito detonated in his refridgerator and no one was injured. Another account saw their drummer, Astella Dios, with a three day hospital stay due to an attack from a moltov cocktail, which was dropped from a bridge while he was passing underneath in his camaro. The attacker was caught two days later by fellow band mates Finish Line and Maximum Buick, and was severly beaten. Courts ruled in DIN’s favor, and Finish and Maximum were let two with a paltry fine of 40 pesos and three hours of community service. The last, and most outrageous feat to stop the band was to their sole roadie, El Roadie Diablo Negro, from foreign dignitaries. While America and Mexico were discussing the merger, Europe, whom also wanted rights to DIN, invited El Roadie to an “all inclusive” vacation celebrating their success. However, upon arriving to Europe, El Roadie was quickly siezed and his four groupies (which is the standard number which accompany any member of DIN at all times) were shot on sight. Taken to a remote location, El Roadie was tortured within a mere fraction of his life for nearly four weeks for any information that would result in the inner colapse of the band. Standing fast, El Roadie endured hours of beatings, water torture, and starvation daily but never broke. He finally escaped after a clumsy guard forgot to re-tie one of his hands. El Roadie managed to untie himself and escape, but not before taking the lives of no less than 14 European guards, 3 horses, and 18 children.

Through much struggle comes much benifit however, as predictions claim that their album will be no doubt, the smash success of 2008 and possibly the first quarter of 2009. With a very grueling tour lined up of “at least 7 shows” next year, the album is expected to make the band 10’s of dollars. Stay tuned for further updates on the release of the album.

Doughnuts and Art 2.0

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The time has come. The Event of the Summer Season is fast approaching. Every day, it edges closer and closer, until finally engulfing every inch of your being. Drowning you in pure joy.

 Of course I’m talking about Doughnuts and Art 2.0

MORE Artists, MORE Bands, MORE Dancing, MORE doughnuts than the original. All cram-packed into one monumental event with the low low price of $2. Where will you be Saturday night? One of the lucky ones? Or, will you be one of the countless faces awash with sorrow and grief, knowing that the one oppurtunity in your entire existance to feel what we call “love” has passed you by? A mere shell of your former self, forever searching for that feeling but knowing inside that you’ll never find it.

Musical performances by local hero Adam Rauf, the Legendary Pittsburgh dance machine PFunkt, the mexican sensation now ready to take over the United States “Doughnuts in November”, and the arena rocking, you probably heard them in the movie theatre or on Serious Satellite Radio, Ape Fight!

After you eyes and ears have overloaded on sensual ecstacy from the art and music performances, shake off those delectable doughnut calories at the end-cap of the evening. The mother lovin’ dance party hosted by Adammm vs. Sasquatch.

 All this and so much more this Saturday night at the Creative Treehouse located conviently in Bellevue Pennsylvania. Doors at 6PM. $2 Admittance fee. 18+, BYOB (21+ to drink), lets all get drunk and have a good time.

www.doughnutsandart.com    for more information.

Creative Treehouse
517 Lincoln Ave. 2nd Floor
Bellevue, PA 15202

The Washington D.C. Air and Space Museum

Although not an “art” museum, it’s still interesting to go and see these giant rockets, shuttles, and planes that people created to send people up into the air.

All those stories about how brave the astronauts were all true. As you stand in from of these giant monstrosities, you begin to notice how shoddy and poorly put together they look. They’re not smooth and round like TV suggests. They are all blocky, with pieces sticking out, and uneven surfaces that look poorly weilded together. I’d be crying if I had to go into outer space in one of these dang contraptions.

Still, it’s fun to check out this stuff, along with all the airplanes and helicopters they have. The museum has a large collection of space suits they used throughout the years, which is fun to check out too. Not to mention, the gift shop has space ice cream 8-)

I took pictures of the pretty looking ones. You can eye them up below.

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Can Bill Gates Save the World with “Creative Capitalism?”

An article in the June 18, 2007 issue of TIME entitled, “Bill Gates Goes Back to School” by Lev Grossman, highlights Bill Gates’ commencement address to recent Harvard graduates and his acceptance of an honorary degree to the school he dropped out of to eventually co-found Microsoft.  The speech notes his plans t0 leave Microsoft in 2008 and become a full-time philanthropist, directing his efforts to improve global education and global health through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Follow the first link to the TIME article and the second to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation website for a transcript of his commencement speech - both worth a read.

Gates’ explains during the speech his one big regret about leaving Harvard: “I left Harvard with no real awareness of the awful inequities in the world—the appalling disparities of health, and wealth, and opportunity that condemn millions of people to lives of despair.”  He cites the millions of young people lacking educational opportunities in America, and the millions living in “unspeakable poverty and disease” around the world.  It took him decades to understand the complexity of injustice around the globe, he comments.

At Harvard, Gates took great interest in new discoveries concerning economics, politics, and advances in the sciences.  However, as he realizes now, humanity’s greatest achievements emerge as a result of our ability to apply new discoveries to reduce inequality, such as on issues of democracy, quality health care, and broad economic opportunity.

As a promoter of capitalism, an economic system contributing to his wealth and success at Microsoft, Gates acknowledges the limitations on the system to help the greater good.  During his commencement speech, Gates introduces an idea he calls “creative capitalism.”  Creative capitalism means finding ways to use the market forces to create profit, or at least a living, for more people to serve those suffering from the worst inequalities.   He explains, “If we can find approaches that meet the needs of the poor in ways that generate profits for business and votes for politicians, we will have found a sustainable way to reduce inequity in the world.”

Much like Al Gore as I noted in “Let’s Get Political,” Gates points to the accelerating technologies and information available to today’s college graduates.  Now more than ever we can come to recognize, understand, confront, and solve the problems of disparity at home and abroad.  Gates notes, “You graduates are coming of age in an amazing time. As you leave Harvard, you have technology that members of my class never had. You have awareness of global inequity, which we did not have. And with that awareness, you likely also have an informed conscience that will torment you if you abandon these people whose lives you could change with very little effort…For a few hours every week, you can use the growing power of the Internet to get informed, find others with the same interests, see the barriers, and find ways to cut through them.”

Bill Gates, cited as the wealthiest human being on the planet for over a decade by Forbes magazine, could easily ignore the great inequalities of the world and swim in his billions of dollars.  But Gates has a conscience.  The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has an endowment of more than $33 billion, making it by far the largest charitable foundation in the world, and last year close friend Warren Buffet committed to eventually adding an additional $30 billion (Grossman).  The magnitude of wealth he has acquired and full-time efforts he will dedicate to closing the gap between the rich and the poor in the United States and between first and third world countries provides a model for the youth of the world to follow.  Gates began as an entrepreneur, worked to become wildly successful both in advancing the field of technology and growing a colossal fortune, and now finds his greatest regret in failing to recognize how to use his knowledge, access, and privilege to reduce inequality. 

His speech serves as a reminder to consider the global market and community, in which we all now participate, when designing your career path.  Through technology we all have the ability and opportunity to affect positive change on a global level.

Race, Gender, and the 2008 Presidential Election

“It’s time for us to show the world that we are not a country that ships prisoners in the dead of the night to be tortured in far-off countries, that runs prisons that lock people away without ever telling them why they are there or what they are charged with.  We are not a country that preaches compassion to others while we allow bodies to float down the streets of a major American city.”

“We are America.  We are the nation that liberated a continent from a madman, that lifted ourselves from the depths of Depression, that won civil rights, and women’s rights, and voting rights for all people.  We are the beacon that has led generations of weary travelers to find opportunity, and liberty, and hope on our doorstep.  That’s who we are.”

-Senator Barack Obama, presidential campaign letter

Is the United States ready for a black president?  Or, to be more accurate, multiracial president?  How many U.S. citizens know or care to know Barack Obama’s actual ethnicity?  Does race factor into Obama’s ability to lead our country?  How about a female president? And a ”First Man”/former President at her side?  Why or why not?  The fact that a black or female president is a real possibility in 2008, and oftentimes a difficult subject to talk about in casual company, seems to be a source of tension as the election approaches.  Is it wrong to think that our society, for the most part, has transcended hatred based solely on race or gender?  I imagine most of us know the tension persists - at home, in our neighborhoods, across state lines, and certainly on a global level.

The debate about race and gender politics stemming from the campaigns for the upcoming election encourages citizens to expand their ways of thinking, question what it means to be “American,” and to accept the potential for change.  I receive e-mails and letters from the Barack Obama campaign and enclosed in the last letter was a copy of an article from The New York Times by Thomas L. Friedman (author of The World is Flat) entitled “Obama Could Repair U.S. Image.”  Friedman, a current leading expert on foreign affairs and author of several influential books and articles on the subject, argues that Obama shows the most potential to mend the “broken relationship” between the United States and the rest of the world.

Upon returning from a trip to Africa, Friedman entered the U.S. at the height of the Don Imus controversy (a show on which he had been a guest).  The ordeal, he writes, “underscored how much work we have to do in learning how to listen, talk and yes, joke with one another across racial, gender and religious lines.”  Certainly, the Don Imus controversy highlighted the debate over acceptable speech concerning race and gender not only on morning radio, but in hip-hop music, over the Internet, and throughout all the various media outlets.

Friedman promotes communication on contentious issues, such as the Don Imus case, and argues that Obama (as President) would provide the best moderator for a wide discussion.  He explains, “I believe that what has propelled his candidacy up to now is that many Americans have projected onto him their hunger for community, their hunger for a president with the voice, instincts and moral authority to make it so much harder for foreigners to be anti-American or for Americans to be anti-one another.”  Only an informed leader - someone with experience in civil rights cases and on issues concerning diversity - can communicate effectively with foreign leaders to put the U.S. back in good standing around the world.

Black, white, female, male – connotatively, do these words elicit a more powerful response than they should?

The respect attributed to Barack Obama so far in his campaign gives our society a design of acceptance that can be received with overdue optimism.  Throughout history ordinary men (and I use that term loosely as I feel the term currently reflects mankind and not gender) have transcended to extraordinary status by presenting these models for us to follow.  Right now Obama stands as an ordinary man with extraordinary potential.  However, the contention exists in the fact that if he were to be elected President, the situation’s primary aspect of distinction would be his skin color and the fact that no President before him had dark skin.  He would be the first black President.

This post started out with a seemingly simple question.  However, the question first identifies the individual by color and then by presidential candidate.  Is that the way voters see the upcoming election?   In retrospect, that question may serve as the answer as to whether or not we as a society are ready.

-Thank you to the contributions by Brian Vesci

The Best Umbrella Ever

A bunch of students in Japan have found a way to make walking in the rain fun. They invented an internet umbrella.

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The umbrella, called Pileus, projects a screen onto the underside of the umbrella. The features the umbrella has are a built in camera (connected to Flickr, a photo uploading website), motion sensor, 3D GPS, and a digital compass.

 Not only is this amazing enough, but with the built in camera option, you can actually scroll through all the different photos you’ve taken by simply snapping your wrist.

This is all well and good, but my friend brought up a good point when I showed him this link today. “What? An internet umbrella, and STILL no internet pants?”
 


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