Fink‘s Pretty Little Thing is this week’s free download at iTunes, and I have to say I like it. Pretty Little Thing is not usually what I would listen to but i found the song to be new and interesting, very “fresh”! Fink‘s Pretty Little Thing gets a 7.5 on pies listening pleasure scale.
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The music has been on random for weeks now, but 33.3‘s “Joanne Will,” from Plays Music played this afternoon as soundtrack to the summer rains. Brent Sirota may struggle to tell us how bad it is (while also giving it a 4.5 rating), but this “easier to listen to jazzy than to listen to jazz” […] » about 200 words
They Might Be Giants, playing at Mohegan Sun, drew roars of approval from the crowd when John Flansburgh went off-lyric sheet during The Sun (which they amusingly described as part of their Venue Songs series): …The heat and light of the sun are caused by nuclear reactions between a failed foreign policy, a failed domestic […] » about 200 words
I don’t know why it is that I love bad knockoffs of cheap pop, but I do. That’s why, when I heard a folksy rendition of Oops! I Did It Again playing between segments on some NPR program a while ago, I had to go looking for it.
As it turns out, it was Richard Thompson, whose strange sense of humor apparently pops up in his music regularly. You can find his version indexed in Last.fm, but you can’t play it there, and despite the suggestion here, it’s not available as an MP3 download from his site. To hear it, you’ll have to stream it from NPR, or go buying.
Extra: I heard the Richard Thompson cover back in May, but I only remembered it now because KCRWmusic named Toxic, as covered by The Chapin Sisters, their Top Tune recently. Can’t get enough Britney Spears covers? Check out episode 175 of Coverville.
Extra extra: I can’t decide if the best header image for this story would be Britney in wax at Madame Tussaud’s, pretending to do hard math, or just some fan with a Brit photo on his refrigerator in Michigan. Good stuff all.
In the two years Joe spent researching and writing Two Ton: One Night, One Fight — Tony Galento v. Joe Louis I’ve heard a lot about this guy. Tony Galento was a most improbable opponent for Louis, who by then had regained the world heavyweight title from Max Schmeling, but Joe’s description tells it best: […] » about 400 words
Thanks to an aside in a sad/angering story at Copyfight, I’m now up on Bloomsday. Here it is, as explained by Wikipedia: Bloomsday is observed annually on June 16 to celebrate the life of Irish writer James Joyce and commemorate the events in his novel Ulysses, all of which took place on the same day […] » about 300 words
I was especially young and impressionable when I discovered Don Norman‘s The Design of Everyday Things, but I still claim it’s required reading for anybody who’s read more than one post here at MaisonBisson. That’s self selection at work, but let me put it this way: unless you’re the only consumer of the things you create, then you need to read this. Now.
I feel foolish to have only recently discovered Norman’s website and essays. It’s there that I found he’s giving the commencement address today at Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering Professional Masters Programs. He summarizes his prepared statement thusly:
If you work very hard, perhaps you too can get a silly hat like this (wearing my silly racoon-tail hat from the University of Padua). What is the moral? Take your work seriously, so someone might award you the hat (and the honorary degree that goes with it). But, as the hat illustrates, never take yourself seriously: strive to do things that matter, that make a difference, but have fun while doing so.
It’s cutesie, but I kinda like the message, and not just because today is also my birthday and I’m especially susceptible to schmaltz. Eh…
It seems common among contemporary artists that a web search might turn up a few pictures of their works, but not much about them or their works. In this case it’s Nina Katchadourian and the work I’m interested in is her Sorted Books Project. A video interview from the University of Colorado and ResearchChannel.org does […] » about 200 words
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonbisson/153439791/" title="Photo Sharing">El Chapultepec</a> is a little jazz club on <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=1962+Market+St,+Denver,+CO&om=1&ll=39.753228,-104.993334&spn=0.018245,0.058494" title="1962 Market St, Denver, CO - Google Maps">Market St</a> in LoDo, and one of a number of finds in Denver. » about 100 words
I just bought Whiskey Blanket‘s It’s Warmer Down Here (2004) on the basis of a few tracks they offered on MySpace. It’s hip hop, socially critical hip hop (crit hop?), set atop a well constructed downtempo trip hop music bed (yeah, I’ll cut it with the hops already). It immediately brought to mind MC 900 […] » about 200 words
It’s hard to know how Fuzzyfruit found the WPopac catalog page for A Baby Sister for Frances (though it is ranked fifth in a Google search for the title), but what matters is that she did find it, and she was able to link to it by simply copying the URL from her browser’s location bar.
The link appears among her comments in the discussion about her post on an early letter she’d written to her mom. Fuzzyfruit’s comment spawned more comments about the book from Sarahq and Coffeechica.
We talk here and there about how “libraries build community,” but how does that work in the online world? How do our systems support or inhibit community discussions online?
My buddy Cliff emailed me excited about the following quote he found on the Yahoo Finance message boards: Sun vs Dell All you need to know about Dell & Sun was predicted 8 months ago by some blogger in his parent’s basement. The draft ads are cool: http://spiralbound.net/2005/09/15/sun-talks-some-smack/ How come the big brokerage house analysts […] » about 100 words
This isn’t as funny as it used to be. Every time I read about or hear of somebody talking about autism, I recognize some many of the behaviors as my own. First it was this rather amusing comparison between “eccentric” and autistic behaviors, then it was an interview on Fresh Air, and just this weekend […] » about 300 words
Joe forwarded me a link to Kobb Labs the other day, and I’ve got to admit that the guy has a much better introduction than anything I could have written for my site: Despite what you may have been told, I am not a mad scientist. (No, no, no, that’s all slander and lies from […] » about 300 words
Other than the notion that I heard it on a KCRW music show, I couldn’t put my finger on the tune weaving through my head. So I listened, and listened carefully, waiting to hear it again. Eventually I learned the earworm was Gnarls Barkley‘s Crazy (thanks to Molly for the mp3 download link). The group, […] » about 200 words
[The pictures tell this story, click through to see.] How's a guy supposed to feel when his manager gives him a copy of David Allen's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142000280/ref=maisonbisson-20/104-1865310-3771904" title="Amazon.com: Getting Things Done : The Art of Stress-Free Productivity: Books: David Allen">Getting Things Done</a>? » about 100 words
<a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=1280+Peachtree+St+NE,+Atlanta,+GA&ll=33.78967,-84.384742&spn=0.019759,0.053773">Atlanta</a> was a bit of a lark. I hadn't seen my friends for a while, and they were telling me that <a href="http://maisonbisson.com/blog/post/11242/">the weather was beautiful</a>. So why not go? Once there we did a marathon tour of museums and galleries, scoping out works by <a href="http://www.high.org/experience/chuckclose/close_home1.aspx" title="High : Experience - Exhibitions">Chuck Close</a>, <a href="http://www.rogerballen.com/" title="Roger Ballen Photographer">Roger Ballen</a>, and <a href="http://www.saltworksgallery.com/exhib/current.html" title="Saltworks">Iona Rozeal Brown</a>. » about 300 words
Thanks again to a good tip from Ryan, I’ve get something new to laugh at: The Aural Times.
| <a href="http://web.media.mit.edu/~wex/">Alan Wexelblat</a> in <a href="http://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2006/03/15/what_right_in_digital_actors.php">Copyfight poses a question</a> from a reader about the future of entertainment: <blockquote>what rights do you purchase/license/contract for in creating such a reproduction of a real person? Rights to the “likeness?” Performance rights? Do either of these cover things the actor never physically did or said? Is there an exclusivity clause? There are clearly some issues around the ownership of a character, if that character has appeared before (e.g. Connery's Bond) but usually the character rights reside with the studio. But if you want the Connery Bond instead of a generic James Bond you also have to incude Connery in the deal, as well as whatever studio or estate has the Bond character rights.</blockquote> » about 300 words
| <a href="http://blog.ryaneby.com/">Ryan</a> sent along a link to <a href="http://www.conchords.co.nz/">Flight of the Concords</a>' <a href="http://homepage.mac.com/misterbisson/Dumbkins/conchords-businesstime.mp3">Business Time</a> last week and I'm still laughing over it. With some exploring at a fansite, <a href="http://www.whatthefolk.net/" title="What the Folk!">What the Folk!</a>, I dug up a trove of other amusements, including <a href="http://homepage.mac.com/misterbisson/Dumbkins/conchords-shessohotboom.mp3">She's So Hot Boom</a>. For more info, I turned (as usual) to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_of_the_Conchords" title="Flight of the Conchords - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia">Wikipedia article</a>. And if I had HBO, I could have caught a repeat of them on <a href="http://www.hbo.com/onenightstand/interviews/flight_conchords.html">One Night Stand</a> this past Wednesday. But alas, no. » about 100 words
<a href="http://sxsw.com/">SXSW</a> passes have apparently been sold out for weeks now. So what's <a href="http://robertgarlitz.com/">Bob Garlitz</a>, the MaisonBisson <a href="http://maisonbisson.com/blog/post/11002/">cultural affairs reporter</a>, to do? Hunt for celebrities around <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=austin+texas&ll=30.272114,-97.738152&spn=0.164265,0.431557">Austin</a>, of course. Here's how <a href="http://bglgy.blogspot.com/2006_03_15_bglgy_archive.html#114247430794156798">he describes his first hit</a>: <blockquote>...I decide hell, yes, it is Owen and give a tiny decisive blink. He blinks back in acknowledgment. I give him a little punch on his shoulder and say Hey, how're you doing? I'm doing real good, he says slowly...</blockquote> » about 300 words
The Willie Mae Rock Camp For Girls: just another example of why New York is cooler than New Hampshire. Photo by Rocco Kasby, performance by the Pink Slips. Yet again, a tip of the hat to Ryan Eby for the pointer. Willie Mae Rock Camp For Girls , Rock Camp, Rock Camp For Girls, Willie […] » about 100 words
God bless William Faulkner for pointing it out:
My own experience has been that the tools I need for my trade are paper, tobacco, food, and a little whisky.
Scott Smith’s Imperfect Ten too slow for you? Take a look at Nash Edgerton‘s Lucky over at Blue Tongue Films. What would you do in 4 minutes 25 seconds? How would you escape? body in trunk, car chase, escape, film, lucky, nash edgerton, short film, trap, trapped, twist » about 100 words
The nice folks at Coudal Partners are hosting Scott Smith’s Imperfect Ten, “wherein one man breaks all ten commandments before breakfast.” It’s Friday (March 10th, even), go watch. 10, adultery, cheat, coudal, covet, film, honor, idolatry, imperfect ten, lie, murder, sabbath, scott smith, sex, short film, steal, ten commandments, video, worship » about 100 words