Umbrella Tree
i had the pleasure of seeing Umbrella Tree last night at their cd release party at Mercy Lounge. The live show was incredibly impressive. The music is quirky and fun, dark and brilliant, disturbing and tongue in cheek. They had roomfulls of energy, bouncing and singing and playing their hearts out. The cd is great. i've listened to it through a few times now. Check them out if you get a chance.
we finally have the songs
i've posted all 3 songs from the new lowercase collective ep on our myspace page. our friend, Rob Burrell, did an amazing job mixing and producing these. i hope you enjoy them. we'll be selling them on iTunes soon (hopefully). tell your friends.
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
This is an eye-opening documentary about the debacle of the great financial juggernaut, Enron. To see the pride, lies, and deceit flow from the people who were running this company makes me doubt, even more than i already did, the trustworthiness of large corporations. This movie is a must see.
Amazing Artist
This guy makes unbelievable art. He has a blend of video game influenced art, along with other pop culture references, including disney and some other things. Some of the stuff is reminicent of Tim Burton's stuff. He even does grafitti. Purchase prints. Support the arts.
Scary Brother Trucker
Sunday night, around 9:30pm, my wife and i were driving home from seeing my mom in Murfreesboro. We were on a section of the interstate where there were 4 lanes going each way, and we were cruising at 70mph in the lane next to the slow lane. As in, there were 2 lanes to the left of us, in case someone wanted to pass us. We were passing people who were in the slow lane, so we felt justified to be driving in this lane (or at least Leslie did, considering she was driving). A semi truck drives up behind us, and starts flashing its lights. It gets closer, and flashes its lights again. At the time, we’re approaching some cars in the right lane, so it would be silly to get over, considering the guy has 2 lanes to the left that he can use to pass us.
Leslie speeds up, and the truck driver speeds up as well. At this point he’s around 5 feet behind us, flashing his lights again. Leslie finally pulls over to the left lane, and i pull out my phone. i look back at the driver, and he’s got his dome light on and is yelling and screaming and pointing to the “slow” lane, which i’m assuming he wanted us to use. At this point, i’m mad, Leslie’s upset, and i’m telling her to slow down so we can see if he has a number on the back of his truck for us to call. But the driver sees that i have the phone in my hand (mainly because i’m looking at him, pointing at my phone, completely enraged), and he decides now that he’s going to slow down, knowing we intend on calling the number on the back of his truck.
We reduce our speed to 60mph or so, trying to let him pass us, but he keeps slowing down as well. We realize that he’s not going to allow us to get behind him, so Leslie, feeling very inspired at this moment, decides to get off at an exit, and get on behind him. We zoom up the off ramp with a red light in front of us. Leslie turns right, avoiding the light, and does a Uturn across several lanes (there was no traffic, being 9:30 on a Sunday evening), and hits the on ramp, using full advantage of her little V6.
The semi is now in the far left lane of the interstate (which, for some reason, he couldn’t use before), and Leslie is quickly approaching. He is splitting at all the same places we split, so we are able to catch him. The number is large and bold on the back of the trailer, along with the driver’s trailer’s number. 10122. I call the number, and talk to a woman who may well be 100 years old, and i tell her of the madman who was trying to give Leslie’s car a TruckEnima. She tells me that she’ll report it to the safety division.
By this time, we’re approaching the exit for our home. Leslie has passed the truck, in hopes of getting away from him, but just as we pass him, he speeds up again, and gets right behind us. Leslie zips over to the far right lane, and the truck follows us. We exit, and he stays right behind us. Leslie takes a sharp turn rather quickly, while the truck slows down to a stop. We make a left turn onto a street, and we don’t see him again.
Now, our fear is that he could have written down our plate and maybe knows a guy that can get our information, or something like that. We’re a little spooked. We get home, looking out the windows, you know, basic paranoia.
Around 10:30pm, i get a call from PRIVATE. That’s what comes up on my caller ID. i’ve received calls like this before, i guess from people who have their numbers blocked. Not a big deal. Except that i just called a company to tell them that one of their employees was driving like a maniac, and i used my cell phone, and now my cell phone is ringing with PRIVATE on the display. i answer, and there is heavy breathing. Not like pervert/sexy breathing, but like scary, i want to kill you breathing.
i wish i could say that we captured the guy, tied him up, and delivered him to the police, but no such luck. He’s still out there. And, of course, it could have been anyone who called my cell phone. I hope it wasn’t him.
Ninja Wizards.
i found this long ago, but it's one of my favorites. it's a Lord of the Rings…er…something. Ninja Wizards. sound is not required.
Exit Music: Songs With Radio Heads
I've heard some bad reviews, but, as a radiohead fan that also likes funk, i have to say that this album makes me happy. i would have included it on the latest mix, but i just bought it today, after the mix was made. oh yeah…get the mix.
Favorite tracks are: Just, Everything in it's right place, and airbag. i need a few more listens to see if something else really grabs me, but after 3 or 4 listens, these are the three that do my soul well. if you are a radiohead fan, i personally think this is worth owning.
sh4wn mixtape april 2006
hopefully this will be the first of several mixes i put together. below is the track listing, and you can download the zip file here. let me know if you grab it, and what you think. the zip file is fairly large. (thanks to those of you who introduced me to some of these bands/songs).
a. The Electric Soft Parade – A Beating Heart
b. AutoVaughn – Stay Another Night
c. Luke Temple – Someone, Somewhere
d. Taxi (Angela)
e. The Olivia Tremor Control – Hide Away (World Trade Remix)
f. Fiona Apple – Sleep 2 Dream
g. Apes & Androids – Endless Dream
h. XTC – Making Plans for Nigel
i. The Physics of Meaning – Down at Columbia and Cameron
j. Radiohead – Talk Show Host
k. De Novo Dahl – Ryan Patrick Huseman Darrow
l. Lume – Head Full of Empty
m. Get Him Eat Him – Exposure
n. Midlake – Mornings Will Be Kind
o. Nickel Creek – Somebody More Like You
p. Crystal Skulls – Hussy
q. Count Bass D – Jussa Playa
r. Idiot Pilot – Losing Color
s. The Autumns – Hush, Plain Girls
t. Sunny Day Real Estate – J'Nuh
why firefox is the browser you should use
apparently, and i won't bore you (or me) with the full details, someone sued Microsoft, and won, as it seems, so Microsoft had to remove they way their browser (Internet Explorer) handles flash. so, if you use IE, you'll have to click on a flash movie to make it work, or at least be interactive. that is, unless the owner of the site puts some fix on it. OR, you could use firefox.
that's what i'll do, thanks.
