best coast

all of those muzak blogs have put in their favorite bands of '09
so heres mine:
best coast, hailing from LA, is one of my favs.
they're shoe-gazey lo-fi pop, ultra reverb, and have candy-coated/heart-felt lyrics that are insanely catchy.
its the kind of music you want to listen to when you are either at the beach on a warm summer day, or sitting in your room at night listening to the birds outside your window.
they put one heck of show too.
and as if that isnt enough to make you want to buy all their records and mark your calender every night in anticipation of their next show, their lead singer Bethany Cosentino's hazy 60's inspired pop vocal delivery is endearing and beautiful.



they dont come east much (in fact, their two cmj shows in october were their first east coast ventures according to Cosentino at her Monster Island show)
enjoy the fuzzy cali lo-fi/pop:

"something in the way"


"the sun was high(so was i)"


"make you mine"


"in my room"(pseudo beach boys cover)


check em out here:
myspace
their blog

Stan Van = Sore Loser

So no surprise here but, after the embarassment that was christmas day, who can blame him. What a dork

"I actually feel sorry for people who have nothing to do on Christmas Day other than watch an NBA game," the Orlando Magic coach said.

All I can say is Celtics! Celtics! Celtics!

pushing the envelope

Avalanche

This skiers helmet-cam video is pretty amazing, especially if you've ever imagined what it would be like to be caught and buried in an avalanche. You might want to fast forward through some of the 4+ minutes that the guy is buried but it is pretty interesting to listen to his breathing and whimpering noises.

Avalanche Skier POV Helmet Cam Burial & Rescue in Haines, Alaska from Chappy on Vimeo.

Fortunately for the dude he was with people trained in avalanche rescue or else he would have been toast.

stream of consciousness

How old is mel gibson? 53
How old is Clint Eastwood? 79
How old is Jennifer Lopez 40
Been awhile?
Oh yeah check this out

Ice T "My girl's got girls titties so fine, fellas don't call em a good pair, they call em fine quadruples!"

merry shitty-hip-hop-mas.

yikes. i've been leaving jerky comments on their youtube page for the last 10 minutes. bad new hampshire hip hop. thank me later.

merry xmas

'Ground Hero' pt. II

so a little while back I talked about this thing ostensibly called 'Ground Hero'.
looks like its actually happening,
cause yesterday, after lots of delays, it was hoisted up:



the Subway was placed on top of a crane and will rise along with the Freedom Tower construction. the idea is to make the workers more efficient so they dont have to go all the way down the towers to get lunch, instead they can eat crap $5 foot-longs every day, for as long as it takes them to build it.

now excepting applications

blue christmas

this is for all the braddahs
while i rot away in pitts(shits/clits/schlitz)burgh this christmas

the saddest story of hip hop.

fuck tupac and biggie, charizma was the first ill emcee to be shot before his time...



how is it that 50 cent gets shot in the face and lives but big L and charizma get shot and die. perhaps this mythical, bearded, control freak god i've heard so much about isn't real after all....

cheer up you're not dead yet.

two best tracks from the totally epic album "uncle tony's coloring book" by blockhead.

best known for his production for emcee aesop rock, all of his solo albums are dope. this one perhaps the dope"est".

sole - cheap entertainment.

i won't stand by every sole recording but this track is a big, fat middle finger.

with a lack of terrorism there's a lack of this type of hip hop. I'll admit, i love a mindless chromeo dance tracks as much as i love a "lack of terrorism" but it's not always the reality.

keeep it real suckaas!

radio-perfection!

mr. lif and edan "rapperfection" vs. radiohead "national anthem"

You make the call!

Tommy Heinsohn?



Or Johnny Most?



You make the call!

snowball fight!

this video encapsulates two of my favorite things: throwing projectiles at hummers and people calling cops "pigs".

you make the call pt. 39.6!

bork the muppet chef?



or conservative blowhard, former u.s. ambassador to the u.n, john bolton?



you make the call!!

bolton recently wrote a ridiculous article naming cheney the "conservative of the year."

some even speculate cheney to be the frontrunner for the 2012 republican nomination.

i speculate cheney to be the frontrunner for the frightening, weekend at bernies, newborn-blood drinking, asshole nomination.

"go fuck yourself mr. cheney..."

solstice.

"Celebrants engage in druidic rituals outside the Stone Circle at Stonehenge, southern England as Druids and revelers celebrate the Winter Solstice, Tuesday Dec. 22, 2009."

oh, are you the new butler

This has never really made sense, but I guess it doesn't have to. Apparently Crosby didn't even know who Bowie was, but wanted a young star on his show, and Bowie was enough of a Bing fan to take up the offer. Bowie showed up at the set, and refused to sing Little Drummer Boy, because he hated the song. The producers threw together an original for Bowie to sing along with, "peace on earth," in about an hour. They filmed it, Bowie hopped back on tour, and Bing died of a heart attack a month later, before the special even ran. Five years later it was released as a single, and for whatever reason became huge.

okay one more...

the moving sidewalks-99th floor


blue magoos-gotta get away


the electric prunes-get me to the world on time


wish i lived then
get high and make great music
and wear killer gear

how bout some more 60's rock?

the seeds-can't seem to make you mine


here's one for all you NE/Boston residents (or just boston sports fans)

van morrison killing it old style

best band



amazing live video
(young van being amazing)

Best Soap Opera Ever

illegal to be gay in uganda

there is a bill before the ugandan government that proposes to make homosexuality illegal. anyone who is caught or said to participate in homosexual activities would face life imprisonment and/or execution. but alleged homosexuals won't be the only targets. family members/friends/community members who fail to report homosexual activity would face several years in jail. even landlords could be imprisoned for renting to homosexuals. as if thats not enough, part of the bill decrees that all people diagnosed with AIDS/HIV+ would be put to death. all signs point to the bill being passed.
who's to blame for this disgusting and out-rightly prejudice law? obviously the bias, homophobic, people in the government (spefically david bahati--ugandan politician/the guy responsible for the law) . but there's another group of hate-mongers hiding behind the wings of this whole thing:
american-evangelical-christians. pastor rick (dick) warren (that jerk who spoke at obama's inauguration) says he has no connection to the bill, but he wont go so far as to condemn the legislation.
anti-homosexuality is a problem that exists all over africa (see: the 'corrective' raping of lesbians in south africa; sexual preference surveys in kenya, where homosexuality in illegal). but that doesn't excuse them from letting some hate-filled, small-minded american christians from influencing their laws. the government denies heavy christian influence by saying it is the expression of the people's disgust and hatred of these 'repugnant practices'.
it is unbelievable that in the 21st century archaic laws such as this are even thought of, considered, and let alone expected to pass. luckily the world's gay rights activists, gay rights groups, and human rights watch groups have put a real squeeze on the government of uganda, though it doesn't seem like its going to do much.

read all about it here:
the week
bbc
human rights watch

Rolling Stones - Play with Fire

As of lately I have been listening to this song repeatedly in the cassette deck of the Rev4 as it sears towards 221,000 miles
This is one of those songs that just spagetts you with an amazing hook

i f-ing knew it (climate-gate)

this is kind of an old story, but a good one.
everyone knows climate change seems a little to scary to be true, or at least as terrible as people like al gore say.
a few weeks ago a hacker broke into the computers at the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Group and released hundreds of personal e-mails between scientists as well as documents that suggested things like:
climate change isn't as dramatic as politicians say; scientists are harassed into making data seem worse than it actually is; scientists suppress data that would counter scary climate change propaganda.
people are calling it 'climate-gate' and everyone is wondering what the real data says and why this group of scientists weren't/aren't upfront about their data.

so whats up with climate change then?
are we all gonna drown in 10 years or not?
are all scientists just political pawns?
should i or should i not buy a blow-up pool for my rooftop in the expectation that next december will feel like august?
are all those cutesy polar bears really dying?
is it acceptable to suppress/alter climate change data, if in the end that suppression/alteration ultimately leads people to live a more 'carbon-free' lifestyle, and in turn prevents any further 'climate change'(whatever that means)?

still though, people who denying climate change even existing at all are kinda coo-coo. this isnt the issue, its how much change is actually occurring.

read here

the top 100 pieces of shit on the floor of a disney land theme park.

pitchfork released their top 100 singles of 2009. although i have many a disagreement, this was my numero uno:



although the band's name, japandroids, sounds shitty, this song is not shitty. in fact tis' far from said adjective.

japanther and the japandroids may be forced into a duel to determine who should rightfully hold band root "japan" but at least their band name doesn't begin with "wolf". (that was so 2008)

but i do like wolf parade...

yesssssssss

Drinking cups of tea and coffee 'can prevent diabetes'

"Tea and coffee drinkers have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, a large body of evidence shows.

And the protection may not be down to caffeine since decaf coffee has the greatest effect, say researchers in Archives of Internal Medicine.

They looked at 18 separate studies involving nearly 500,000 people.

This analysis revealed that people who drink three or four cups of coffee or tea a day cut their risk by a fifth or more, say researchers.

The same amount of decaffeinated coffee had an even bigger effect, lowering risk by a third.

Type 2 diabetes usually starts after the age of 40 and develops when the body can still make some insulin, but not enough, or when the insulin that is produced does not work properly. Type 2 diabetes is treated with a healthy diet and increased physical activity. In addition to this, medication and/or insulin is often required..."

this hit the interwebs hard like a week ago but...

i'm sick of explaining to friends without them seeing it. so here ya go. the funniest craigslist post ever.

chris rock is amazing

best song from the best movie



funniest

Hammering nails

mascots suck.

Man who plays Pats mascot arrested in prostitution sting

"A man who plays New England's professional football mascot has been arrested for soliciting someone to pat his patriot.

The Rhode Island State Police announced a slew of recent arrests for prostitution-related crimes. The list includes 47-year-old Robert Sormanti, who is one of the several people who don the outfit of the Patriots mascot.

"The Pat Patriot mascot costume is worn by multiple people, each of whom are held responsible and accountable for their actions. The individual in question has been suspended," the team said in a statement Friday night. "The mascot responsibilities will continue to be fulfilled by others."

The arrest of Sormanti and 13 others are the first since Rhode Island's governor closed a loophole that made "indoor prostitution" legal.

The real victims here are the other unlucky guys and gals who dress as Pat Patriot. Sormanti just guaranteed them Sundays filled with sarcastic, heckling jokes.

So maybe things won't be that different."

times new viking

spiraling blue light in norway...aliens, russians, or something weirder?

last night for several minutes, this strange spiraling light was seen over the Norwegian town of Skjervoy. no one knows what it is, and thousands of people saw it, recordered it, and some promptly 'youtubed' it. here's some video's:

(ignore the lame-ass music in this one)






(and here's a news story about it)



one problem:
no one knows what the hell it is.
some people thinks it was aliens (obviously), some say it was the 'northern lights' (because this town is so close to the arctic circle), and some say it was a russian missile test gone awry. claiming a missile self-destructed and the spiral was the result of this(the russians deny this point).
side note:
i have a friend who baby-sits for daniel pinchbeck (ufo theorists/hallucinogenic drug advocate/author of books on 2012) and he claims that this event corresponds with the hopi indian prophecy of a blue star or blue kachina (read here) accourding to the prophecy a blue star (potentially like this one) will signify the start a "cleansing war."
is this it?
pinchbeck (very off the record--and very second hand--thinks it is possible).
anyway, at least we can all agree it is freaking weird/cool to look at.
am it right?

read about the 'spiral' here:
christian science monitor
daily mail (uk)
discover mag (bad astronomy blog)

epic onion.

R.I.P Jonh Lennon

its a sad day. the greatest ever shot dead 29 years ago today.

gggGreat tunes... sorry if you heard these before..it's christmas time and i wanna give...so fukk offff

new bomb turks - jukeboxx lean:



the bouncing souls - these are the quotes from out 80's movies!!!!!!



kool and the gang - ladies night

a.k.a. the greatest cocaine sniffin' song ever?



bright eyes - a Scale, a Mirror, And Those Indifferent Clocks (yupp, that's how god damnnn drunk i am)



architecture in helsinki - like it or not

FRANKKKK ZZZZAPPPAAAA

young frank:



zappa is a monkey! (monkeeeeeee)



contrary to popular belief, the monkees do indeed have some
decent traxxxxx

old frank:



although there is not much to that last clip, the way it looks is quite creepy.. the end of zappa. fuk his freeloading sons...

shitfaced in reno!!

instead of crystal meth i just snort some craig finnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

dunno what that video is...

mountain goats:



and for fuckkk sake how great is john darnielle?

"aAAAnd the aperature, yawning and blinking..."

never realized he contributed to aesop's fables...

darnielle on the characters in his songs:
"I have loads of affection for them all, for sure," he said. "But my relationship to most of them is the relationship you have with a close friend who you know is also a chronic liar."

the last elvis concert...

elvis died shortly after presumably from his love for deep fried, peanut butter-banana sandwiches and every downer available in the 1970s.

still interesting...

the douchiest douchebags to ever be called douches.

thank you to the kings of the douches.

"a date which will live in infamy"

guess this is an appropriate video for today

who's your daddy?

its a classic trying to find your long lost dad story, with an interesting twist...the guys dad is charles manson. 41 year-old LA DJ Mathew Roberts discovered this week that his long gone pops is the crazy, swastika laden, Helter-Skelter head Manson.
Roberts' mother claims Manson raped her in 1967 after she joined his cult. Apparently the two talk and exchange letters (Manson always signs with a swastika)and Roberts says Manson is a nice guy. One thing, he's afraid he's inheretid parts of his father....
like father like son?
hopefully not.

read here

childrens television used to be infintely more cool

This is Korean pop

This song is huge. I don't think I can recall a song in America that reached a level of popularity like what this seems to hold in Korea right now. And yet I don't get the impression that this song is anything special within Korean culture. I guess since music industry is smaller and perhaps less diverse than in the states, when a pop song blows up here you hear it every 15 minutes, whether you're in a restaurant, bar, grocery store, or walking down the street. I feel like when I'm out there is a pretty consistent set of 5 or 6 Korean pop songs in the background. I'm sure it will be another set of song in three or six months. It's also pretty interesting merging; the biggest pop song in the country is also essentially a four minute advertisement for the Chocolate phone, from LG, one of the biggest companies in Korea. At times I think that Korea embodies a more rabid and aggressive form of capitalism than the states, but thats another, more drunken blog post in a few months.

Department of Eagles-No One Does it Like You

Wonder Girls

South Korean pop. The music starts around :22.

This one's for Eric.

Plaxico Burress

I know this video is insanely old, but I hadn't seen it until some Good ol boy in mississippi showed it to me on his iphone. We later discusses his belief that the nation is becoming socialist, and I discussed how religious fundamentalist has destroyed the republican party. Anyway, nothing like videos mocking people for doing dumb shit, even if they are a year old.