February 7, 2010 by alienintheheights
At Issue...
It’s been a bloody thirty years’ war between The Beatles and Emperor Steve Jobs, and over something as simple as an apple.
The saga started in 1978 when the Beatles’ holding company, Apple Corps, got wind of the fledging Californians. The Brits sued for trademark infringement. After a protracted court battle, Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.) agreed to pay $80,000 in exchange for its identity. The two companies further agreed to forever stay off each other’s turf — the record label would not peddle computers, and the computer outfit pledged the same about the music business. But in 1978 such demarcation seemed absolutely reasonable. Music and computers? Surely the two would never cross paths.
Apple Corps (remember, that’s the Beatles) flared up again in the mid-80’s when the company from Cupertino began selling MIDI drivers and sound cards. More lawsuits. And again in the early 90’s when they added chime sounds to their Macintosh computers. Jobs, et al, paid handsomely for the infraction — around $27 million. I’m sure you can see where this is headed. You have an iPod, right? Continue Reading »
Posted in digital, music, nerd-o-matic | Tagged Apple Corps, Beatles on iTunes, EMI | 1 Comment »
February 6, 2010 by alienintheheights
It’s an orangey sky
Always it’s some other guy
It’s just a broken lullaby
Bye bye love
Substitution mass confusion
Clouds inside my head
Were fogging all my energies
Until you visited
Eyes of porcelain and blue
Could shock me into sense
You think you’re so illustrious
You call yourself intense
Ric Ocasek, brilliant poet or just a man possessed with a loquacious love of gibberish? Considering that I’ve never been able to shake loose these lyrics, I’m going to go with (a), final answer.
Natalya Medvedeva
The Cars 1978 eponymous debut remains one of my early favorites. I still have the original LP. There, on the cover, is that grinning girl, happy to meet her end in an impending collision. You see the driver’s face illuminated by the headlights of an oncoming vehicle. I doubt that 50’s-era hot rod had airbags either. So yes, Bye Bye Love.
That’s my dark interpretation, at least.
So who is this woman, the cheerful model with the iconic smile? Did she go on to enjoy a glorious career using this cover as her calling card? Or did she vanish into obscurity? Continue Reading »
Posted in glitz, music, words | Tagged Bye Bye Love, Natalya Medvedeva, Ric Ocasek, The Cars | Leave a Comment »
February 5, 2010 by alienintheheights
Manfred Mann
Anyone cognizant during the 1970’s surely remembers the perplexing hit “Blinded by the Light”. It was an infectious little ditty that lodged itself in your brain like a hungry parasite. Indeed by the Spring of 1977 every kid with a radio was running around singing “wrapped up like a douche!”, usually incessantly, especially during long car rides to Disney World or while rollerskating backwards.
Now as you probably suspected, those aren’t the actual lyrics. Correct answer: “revved up a like a deuce” (we have mumbly singer Chris Thompson to thank for this misperception). Here’s the real stinger though. Continue Reading »
Posted in music | Tagged Blinded By The Light, Bruce Springsteen, Manfred Mann | Leave a Comment »
February 3, 2010 by alienintheheights
Subduction
The North American plate drifts 3″ westward each year. That’s over 10 feet in my lifetime. I feel so unobservant. How could I have not noticed? One day it’ll slam into another continent. And Baja will move up to Alaska. Oh the fun those observing on a slower time scale must be having. We’re a regular Lava Lamp down here.
The History Channel is running a program that explains plate tectonics and the so-called Ring of Fire. Highly recommended. It’ll teach you this cool word subduction. Ocean floors have never seemed so interesting.
Posted in nerd-o-matic | Tagged continental drift, subduction | Leave a Comment »
February 2, 2010 by alienintheheights
Mr. Potato Head
TEN films up for Best Picture. Ten! The news straight from the mouth of Anne Hathaway, this year’s host for the 5:30am Oscar nominations junket. I wonder though, did she just start ad-libbing during the ceremony, naming every movie she saw last year instead of sticking to the teleprompter? Shut up, Anne! Stay on Message, Anne! A backstage panic ensues. They adapt. And then there were Ten.
Just a theory. Continue Reading »
Posted in glitz, nerd-o-matic | Tagged anne hathaway, best best boy, Bigelow, oscar nominations, oscars 2010 | 1 Comment »
February 2, 2010 by alienintheheights
Feel Good Party 2010
The Hollywood machine, ever concerned about global issues and looking pretty while solving them, has turned its spare time to the Haiti crisis. I doubt half these folks could locate Haiti on a map, but what the heck! Their efforts will raise awareness and money and ultimately help a lot of people in need. I like that. But the spectacle of their efforts never ceases to make me chuckle — chuckle, not up-chuck. We’re talking laughter not vomit, okay? Continue Reading »
Posted in glitz, music | Tagged Haiti, We are the World 2010, where's paula | Leave a Comment »
February 1, 2010 by alienintheheights
Happy Mr. Bb
I like Bb. It’s a pretty note.
I was reading about Perfect Pitch this afternoon. Found a good study out of UC San Francisco cram-packed with all the expected conclusions — that it’s genetic, clusters in families, and usually emerges by age seven if you have musical training. They also discuss ongoing work to locate the gene sequence responsible. Wouldn’t it be nifty if it could be fabricated? Continue Reading »
Posted in music | Tagged Bb, chris bakos, last.fm, perfect pitch, sarcasm | Leave a Comment »
February 1, 2010 by alienintheheights
Hung Over
Proof that all you need to succeed in life is a white leisure suit and a fan-kicking backup dancer. Continue Reading »
Posted in music, nerd-o-matic | Tagged cal, fan kick, moment of zen, william hung | 2 Comments »
January 30, 2010 by alienintheheights
Peter Bernstein "Monk"
Guitarist Peter Bernstein’s new trio CD “Monk” on the Xanadu label is a collection of twelve Thelonious Monk compositions with Bill Stewart (d) and Doug Weiss (b); one of these, “Reflections” is a duet Bernstein recorded with himself.
It seems that dry is the new wet. Jazz recordings, once bathed in gooey reverb, are trending toward the austere. Production values ebb and flow like any other fashion, of course, but this new/old sound has a solid basis in common sense. Continue Reading »
Posted in jazz, reviews | Tagged dry recording, Monk, Peter Bernstein, review | Leave a Comment »
January 29, 2010 by alienintheheights
Bill and Melinda Gates
“Bill and Melinda Gates announced plans Friday to invest $10 billion in the fight against a number of illnesses including AIDS and said the record donation could save nearly nine million lives… The $10 billion commitment is the largest pledge ever made by a charitable foundation to a single cause…”
Well done. True altruists in Club Billionaire. I wish Steve Jobs would reciprocate and nix that obnoxious “I’m a Mac. I’m a PC.” commercial. That’s probably hoping for too much though.
By the way, John Hodgman, the actor playing the PC on that commercial, is actually a brilliant satirist. Check out his writings and podcasts online.
PC-2, Mac-0. And I’m a Mac user.
Posted in glitz, nerd-o-matic | Tagged Bill and Melinda Gates, Gates Foundation, John Hodgman | Leave a Comment »
January 26, 2010 by alienintheheights
Ding dong. My neighbor Jennifer is standing outside the door holding something disgusting. “Look what the contractor found in the walls upstairs!”
Mummified Grossness
And so begins the guessing game.
Continue Reading »
Posted in world | Tagged mummified, opossum, skeleton | 2 Comments »
January 25, 2010 by alienintheheights
Smalls
Violinist Mitch Borden, the visionary creator of Smalls Jazz Club, can be found each night standing outside the venue’s stairwell entrance sawing away in a style orthogonal to the jazz downstairs. The role of musical doorman has been his station since the club first opened in 1993. That, and providing an essential room for up-and-coming jazz musicians to grow. Soon after opening, Smalls emerged as home to the most important jam sessions in the city, which ran until dawn every night. He would even let worn-out players crash on his couch. Burrowed under 7th Avenue in that sleepless district known as the West Village, it’s certainly not the only jazz club in the area — The Blue Note and The Village Vanguard are mere blocks in perpendicular directions — but definitely the most independent. Continue Reading »
Posted in digital, jazz, music, reviews | Tagged "sacha perry", jazz, nyc, Smalls Jazz Club | Leave a Comment »
January 25, 2010 by alienintheheights
I track, I track, I track.
the real .fm
The .fm suffix belongs to the The Federated States of Micronesia, an archipelago north of New Guinea. With a combined population of roughly 100,000, there’s probably not a huge demand for domain registration out there. Yet .fm has become the new trend in music sites, most of whom do not have offices in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
These businesses can thank dot.fm, a domain registration service that allows non-Micronesians to buy .fm domains at a slightly inflated rate. Radio Stations naturally snagged these quickly. On their heels came the music social sites, blip.fm and my favorite, last.fm.
Continue Reading »
Posted in digital, music | Tagged domains, last.fm | 1 Comment »
January 12, 2010 by alienintheheights
Back in the late 90’s, the golden age of dotcom madness, Scott Swanson and I were co-workers in the emerging web department at Children’s Television Workshop (CTW). His desk, directly across from my cube, was a paper-shrewn disaster zone which suited its grumpy owner just fine. He was the Unix admin after all. But he was a good friend too. In tribute to Scott’s memory, I found a couple photos from back then which I scanned today.
The first is of our Celebrity Sightings White Board. Lincoln Center was crawling with mid-level stars. We kept a tally of it all. Scott was “Swansong” (I’m “Greenhaze”). These were IM handles or Unix login names, or something. Click to view it full size.
The SesameStreet.com Celebrity Watch Board
And here’s the web team, circa 1999. I took the picture so I’m not in it. Scott is the guy seated on the left.
SesameStreet.com Developers 1999
RIP friend.
Posted in tribute | Tagged imsa, scott swanson, sesame street | Leave a Comment »
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