keubs

Humble Tumbl

2012-01-10T12:30:00.002-07:00

I'm tumbling now. Come read about my feelings at keubs.tumblr.com

Summer 2011 Mix

2011-06-16T19:56:00.000-06:00

It puts the lotion on the skin or it gets the hose again

2011-06-14T00:09:00.000-06:00

http://www.regretsy.com/2011/06/02/chick-magnet/

Breaking Anthony Weiner is actually SNL comedian

2011-06-10T14:53:00.003-06:00

This station is non-operational

2011-06-09T00:04:00.000-06:00

One Wish lyrics

At The Drive In - One Armed Scissor - Live - Conan Video - One Wish Music Videos

2011-03-05T12:26:00.001-07:00

Conan O'Brien Kinetic Typography from Jacob Gilbreath on Vimeo.

A more awesome, yet dumber version of me probably tried this

2011-03-03T16:18:00.000-07:00

and got seriously injured. Doesn't mean I don't want to try it though...

VCA 2010 RACE RUN from changoman on Vimeo.

Billy Dee Williams - Colt 45

2011-02-11T10:49:00.001-07:00

The pinnacle of advertising

Small Black - Photojournalist

2011-02-04T17:02:00.000-07:00

This song makes me all tingly

Small Black - "Photojournalist" (Stereogum Premiere) from stereogum on Vimeo.

Tim and Eric - The Innernette

2011-02-04T11:20:00.001-07:00

I've been looking for this clip for far too long

The name of the video is quite enough.

2011-01-27T18:55:00.001-07:00

You Should be Angry Today

2011-01-27T12:28:00.002-07:00

If you're not angry today, then maybe you're missing out on something. Like a brain.

1. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1350721/Girl-9-father-shot-dead-anti-immigrant-vigilantes-begged-life.html

These "vigilantes" must have received legal advice from my neighbor...

2. http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/sign/kiss_your_organics_goodbye/

Monsanto is probably one of the worst companies running, er, I mean, persuading our government. We don't know what the long-term effects are of GMO's, we know that a lot of other countries don't want to be bullied into having them imported, and we know a lot of other countries flat out ban them. Not only are Monsanto and their GMO's completely monopolizing US (and soon, global) agriculture, they're working to control the types of food we are able to access, patenting natural seed and a slew of other stupid/horrible shit...

Again. Me Angry.

2011-01-22T10:36:00.001-07:00

If you haven't seen it, it's worth watching the whole thing

2011-01-21T14:22:00.000-07:00

Two, 2010 favorites

2011-01-21T12:00:00.002-07:00

Deerhunter's Halcyon Digest was the best.

I also liked Grass Widow.

Tegan and Sara - Alligator Take Away Show

2011-01-19T16:38:00.001-07:00

Viva La Blogotheque!

Tegan & Sara - Alligator - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

2011-01-11T15:18:00.001-07:00

Jealous Much?

2011-01-09T15:24:00.001-07:00

This is why doing your job with other things on your mind is a dangerous thing.

2011-01-06T10:25:00.000-07:00

Pogo - Joburg Jam

2011-01-04T08:24:00.001-07:00

link win

2011-01-03T14:11:00.001-07:00

Was reading an article about graphing pitchfork's 2010 reviews, and the subsequent responses to Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, randomly found my tweet in there.

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/2010/11/kanye_pitchfork_twitter.php

Hunting Deer in the Cone Zone

2010-12-24T11:13:00.000-07:00

(POSSIBLE) Spoiler Alert

2010-12-21T13:52:00.001-07:00

Allow me to polarize this blog some more...

2010-12-16T11:54:00.003-07:00

Significant Wikileak Stories

Why the American mainstream should care about Wikileaks

Holy spirit

2010-12-16T09:29:00.001-07:00

Flying Lotus - BBC Session

2010-12-08T14:08:00.001-07:00

Just got into this guy, really complex stuff
Flying Lotus BBC Radio 1 Maida Vale Session by Some Kind of Awesome

Get drunk off pancakes, y'all

2010-12-02T10:05:00.001-07:00

El Guincho - Bombay (NSFWOFSTYM)

2010-11-29T21:24:00.002-07:00

Sorry to break up the party, but this el guincho video is awesome, despite its pervy tendencies.

EL GUINCHO | Bombay from MGdM | Marc Gómez del Moral on Vimeo.

for more, check out GVB's top 10 of the year here.

(or for showing to your mother, btw)

Late to the Sufjan party

2010-11-24T18:23:00.001-07:00

but it's still raging

For Laura, and Everyone Else Too: Netflix This Movie

2010-11-11T14:24:00.001-07:00

Roger that.

2010-11-08T16:40:00.000-07:00

Amendment 62

2010-11-02T08:44:00.000-06:00

I know that this is too little too late, but I just had to say something about Amendment 62. I have never been so shocked that something like this can really happen in our country. This amendment defines personhood as when the sperm reaches the egg. This would outlaw all abortion as well as all emergency contraceptives. This means that women must carry to term a fetus even in the event that she will lose her life. If a woman has cancer and happens to get pregnant, she cannot receive any treatment that may harm the baby. This amendment also means that all rape and incest victims will be forced to carry the seed of their rapist to term. How is this ok? How is this right? First rape and incest victims will be marginalized, abused, hurt, violated and punished by a criminal, but then by our society. Can you imagine if this happened to you? To your mother, sister, daughter, wife, girlfriend, friend? Imagine walking around 9 months pregnant, everyone asking about the baby. Then you have to respond, well his dad is in jail because he brutally raped me. I’m so excited to give birth to his baby!

I know I’m being vulgar, but that will be the reality for every woman, and yes, every 11 year old girl, who is assaulted and happens to become pregnant. I believe every woman should have a choice. Even in cases of accidental pregnancies between consenting partners, I believe a woman should have a choice to have a child or not. I understand how some people might disagree with that. I understand how some could think it is irresponsible to have unprotected sex, or sex with a faulty condom or any other way someone might become unintentionally pregnant. I personally, think safe, medical, abortion should always be legal for any woman in the first trimester. How could it be irresponsible to be a victim of rape or incest? It is always the woman’s fault, right? How could someone argue that a woman has to be denied treatment, and could even die, because she accidentally got pregnant?

Let’s say this amendment does pass. What will proponents of Amendment 62 do for us then? When women are assaulted and become pregnant against their will, and then forced to have the baby, will proponents of 62 pay higher taxes or vote for governmental agencies to help these women? Will there be free mental health counseling? Will there be free pre- and post-natal health care for these women and their children? If a woman is struggling financially, will proponents of 62 help them survive with a baby? Will they pay to feed and clothe these women and their babies? Will they provide shelter? Will there be free birth control and sex education to help prevent pregnancy? I think if the government is going to tell women what to do with her body, they should also help her take care of “their” decision. I know that adoption could be an option for a woman who can’t afford her child or was impregnated by force. However who will take care of her during pregnancy and after? Probably not the proponents of 62.

I am not even going to get to the entire abortion debate. That is too long. I really just can’t imagine living in a state that forces women to have baby at all costs to her life.

Rumors...

2010-10-28T19:51:00.001-06:00

... of the death of this blog are greatly exaggerated.

Girls to the Front

2010-10-28T11:35:00.004-06:00

My first introduction to riot grrrl was around 2000, a few years after the revolution had seemingly died out. My family had just moved from Montana to the suburbs of Denver. My new school was indimidating in both size and the dichotomy of students. Where I grew up, you were either a jock or you weren't. Here at the new school, you could identify with a number of differnt cliques (or none at all).

While I spent the first half of the school year searcing for a new identity, or rather, maybe finding myself (maybe?), I was openly welcomed into a group of girls who had shocking strong identities and looked like extras from the Tank Girl movie.

I thought they were the fucking coolest people ever. They listened to this music that was fast and grating, jarring, even. They didn't a shit about behaving like proper ladies. They spit, smoked, made crude jokes... but they cared about women's rights, the treatment of animals and politics. DIY style, baby.

I was introduced to Fugazi, the Dead Kennedys, Bratmobile, Bikini Kill. I was introduced to zines. I was introduced to feminism. And while the girls and I eventually grew apart (the majority of them ended up attending the school's night program which my parents flat out refused to consider), I felt aliented and left on my own.

It took me a couple of years and a horrible, suffocating relationship that stifled out much of my personality (I don't know or understand why I allowed it to happen), the roots had been laying dormant were starting to grow again. Once I finally came to terms with the fact that yes, this isn't for me, I felt my mind wander back into itself and I reexamined what really did make me happy.

It took a couple of years, I'll admit. I became more edcuated in politics and feminist theory, though I never had any formal education in the latter. I went vegetarian. I came to realize that I thought the religion I had grown up with made absolutely no fucking sense in a modern world, let alone coincide with my own ideas and values.

I graduated from college and got one of those cushy office jobs. One with a bit of downtime and an internet connection. I stumbled onto Jezebel.com and became obsessed with their coverage. It was like reconnecting with old friends. Here were women (and men) with similar ideas about society and culture, reporting on how fucked up this world can be (or how hilarious), while still maintaining senses of humor and self, and presenting beautifuly crafted articles and blurbs. Yes! Back among my own! Jezebel led me to a number of other communities, including feministing.com.

More recently, the site had pointed me in the direction of a new book, "Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution" by Sara Marcus which finally came out a few weeks ago. I'm in the process of reading the book. I stayed up to some ungodly hour last night reading the book. Seems like female adolescence hasn't changed much in the past couple of decades. I immediately identified with the stories of the women in the book, and now I can't quit thinking about it.

I'm going to recommend this book to everyone, women and men alike, because the revolution isn't dead. It's just evolved into a new, no-wave feminism where everyone is validated and recognized as equals.

I'm going to recommend this book to you.

(Sorry for any blatant typos -- I'm too tired from staying up reading to fix them.)

Bye Bye Birdie

2010-10-05T09:58:00.001-06:00

Haven't you heard?

2010-09-13T11:19:00.001-06:00

Being a dickhead is cool.

I recognize the irony here.

Kanye West - Monster

2010-09-08T09:24:00.004-06:00

This track is hotness, just make sure you stick around for Nicki Minaj's verse.

backin' up

2010-09-03T09:10:00.000-06:00

2010-09-02T22:59:00.001-06:00

Troll 2 - Popcorn

2010-08-30T13:18:00.001-06:00

I saw Troll 2 this weekend, regarded as "the best worst film of all time", and this was my favorite scene. So ridiculous.

Righteous!

2010-08-28T09:42:00.000-06:00

Watch Out for my body rolls

2010-08-23T21:02:00.003-06:00

I saw this video on Picture Is Unrelated some weeks ago, and for some reason I remembered it today and can't get the image (and tune) out of my mind. I wish the same misery to all of you :)

cheers.

Wild Nothing - Only in Dreams

2010-08-18T09:51:00.003-06:00

Tired of them yet? Me neither.

Delorean - Big Dipper

2010-08-11T09:12:00.001-06:00

Love this song. Someone make them come to Denver plz

Summer Camp - Round the Moon

2010-08-11T08:47:00.001-06:00

So delightfully tragic, just like I remember the 80's

SUMMER CAMP - Round the Moon from Paddy Power on Vimeo.

Art Imitating Life, or Life Imitating Art? Dawn of a new Era

2010-07-30T16:41:00.001-06:00

2010-07-23T10:56:00.001-06:00

Gauntlet Hair - Our Scenery

2010-07-19T13:10:00.001-06:00

Jamz from local bandz

BABY JESSICA X OUR SCENERY from PAT VAMOS on Vimeo.

Hot days need cool tunes

2010-07-19T01:24:00.001-06:00

2010-07-19T01:13:00.001-06:00

2010-07-19T01:07:00.000-06:00

Big Boi + The Roots on Fallon

2010-07-13T10:58:00.001-06:00

Entire Empire Strikes Back as told via animated gif

2010-07-12T16:17:00.002-06:00

Fucking epic

New logo

2010-07-11T21:48:00.000-06:00

made it myself. what do you think?

This one's for you Lindsey

2010-07-06T11:30:00.001-06:00

Bro rape

2010-07-05T22:23:00.000-06:00

college students: educate yourselves

City destroyed :(

2010-07-02T17:48:00.003-06:00

For those of you who haven't visited Mexico (which is most of you if not all) there was once a beautiful city called Monterrey. I beg you to look for Hurricane Alex. This literally destroyed my home city yesterday. Not Katrina-style, but you get the idea. It's so bad, it makes Google Maps to be outdated. 2 highways that were parallel to the river are completely missing, obviously entire neighborhoods too. All bridges are closed, there is no water. That bad.

this one's the entrance to where i live

2010-07-01T10:39:00.000-06:00

The Morning Benders - Excuses

2010-06-30T09:36:00.001-06:00

I have a soft spot for waltzes

Yours Truly Presents: The Morning Benders "Excuses" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

Big Boi - Shutterbugg

2010-06-29T14:59:00.002-06:00

Boy Stop!

OMG

2010-06-28T17:23:00.001-06:00

Video Games | | Gamecrazy training video

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Wild Nothing - Summer Holiday

2010-06-27T20:16:00.001-06:00

I dig these guys

Toro Y Moi - Low Shoulder

2010-06-26T11:50:00.002-06:00

All the cool kids are doing it.

Toro y Moi "Low Shoulder" at the Echo in LA from Jon Casey on Vimeo.

BSC Superfan

2010-06-25T14:29:00.004-06:00

I'm super excited that everyone is getting all nostalgic over the Baby-Sitters Club books (or BSC if you're in the know). Well, at least everyone on the ladyblogs I frequent. I just get excited because I was fucking addicted to those books. It was worse than my current addition to diet coke. Seriously. I grew up with those characters as my role models. I would much rather read a book than hang out with some snot-nosed kid my age (and this is why I have such wonderful sub-par social skills). For the novice, the Baby-Sitters Club consisted of a group of middle school girls (and two 6th graders and one boy) who started a small business where they pimp themselves out as baby sitters to the town's idiotic parents. The story was formulaic -- one main plot and one-to-two sub-plots (something that had to do with life outside of the club -- typical coming of age stuff, and then something that had to do with the kids they watch). Lots of descriptions with an overuse of hyphens which has permanently marked my own writing style... ugh. Sorry.

The second or third chapter of the book was always the same, not matter what book you were reading. You had to read it to get the juicy description of what Claudia, the club's designated artsy fasionista was wearing. This usually consisted of leggings and an over-sized t-shirt and a million accessories. There was Kristy, the bossy, business-minded tomboy who started the club. Mary Anne, Kristy's "mousy" and shy best friend. Dawn, Mary Anne's easy, breezy "California casual" step sister (WTF is California casual?), Stacy, the boy-crazy, sophisticated bitch with a wild side (best friends with the aforementioned Claudia). There were the 6th grade girls, Jessi and Mallory (who I think Ann M. Martin really fucking hated) who awkwardly rocked red hair, glasses and freckles and 7 brothers and sisters. And absolutely no balls unless it was to whine about something. Logan was Mary Anne's boyfriend from Kentucky and was always described to have a cute southern drawl (though, I really hate that accent and assume someone is really slow if I do hear it). Later in the series (because I read from book 1 to book 108 -- the majority ghostwritten -- not to mention the Super Special series and the Mysteries) there was Shannon, Kristy's frienemy and then Abby and occasionally Anna. Almost more characters than fucking Lost. (Maybe the BSC was my introduction to managing multiple main characters?)

Anyhow, I don't get what the appeal was. I don't think I related to any of the girls, but every other weekend, I would buy the new title with my allowance and devour it by the end of the day. And yes, I did watch the movie. In the theater. Twice. At least. The only explanation I have for my obsession was that I loved the notion of authoritative power bestowed to children to lord over other children. Lord of the Flies.

Loofa Loofa

2010-06-23T00:06:00.000-06:00

Method: Shiny Suds from Kreatif360 on Vimeo.

Wild Nothing - Bored Games

2010-06-22T15:34:00.004-06:00

Wild Nothing - "Board Games" from Ian Perlman on Vimeo.

Janelle Monae - Metropolis

2010-06-20T13:06:00.003-06:00

About once a year, there are one of those concerts that I miss, knowing good and well that I'm going to go on to regret it for some time afterwards. Last Wednesday, that exact thing happened. Janelle Monae opened for Erykah Badu at the Ogden, and I'm sure I missed quite the show. Now I've blogged about her before and she's been a live act I've been wanting to see for quite some time now. If this letterman performance was any indication of what I missed, then god dammit.

The music video for this song is brilliant as well

OMFG

2010-06-17T12:52:00.001-06:00

Caulder's Revolvers - Affirmations

2010-06-17T12:25:00.002-06:00

My friends have some skillzz

3 words

2010-06-01T14:12:00.003-06:00

too. fucking. adorable.

Space shuttle time lapse video

2010-05-26T09:42:00.001-06:00

Finally a shuttle launch for the internet age.

8tracks.com

2010-05-23T22:59:00.003-06:00

This is a great website for sharing music. You make mixes and people listen to them. Highly recommended. This is my chillwave mix. I'm hoping I can get some other people to sign up and post their mixes here.

Exorbitant Privilege

2010-05-18T14:36:00.002-06:00

Former French President Charles De Gaulle used to comment that the U.S. has an "exorbitant privelege" in the international economy because the U.S. dollar is the chosen reserve currency across the world. I would like to explain this because it is very important to understanding current events.

First, the basics. The value of a currency is determined by the supply and demand for that currency. If you want to do business in the U.S., but your business is in Australia, you must sell aussie dollars for U.S. dollars. This increases the supply of aussie dollars available, and increases the demand for U.S. dollars.

The interesting part is that almost every transaction of world currency has dollars on the other side of it. Suppose you were from Japan and you wanted to do business in Australia. You would sell Japanese Yen for U.S. dollars, then sell those U.S. dollars for aussie dollars. The U.S. dollar is on one side of more than 90% of currency transactions across the world, in the $1 trillion + daily currency transaction market. This is more for logistical reasons than anything else. Supposing n currency's in the world, the matrix of foreign exchange prices would be n x n, updated constantly. It is easier to have an n x 1 matrix to keep track of. Originally, when all currencies were backed in one way or another by gold, this n x 1 matrix referred to gold. Since WWII (or Bretton Woods more precisely) however, everything is tracked in relation to the dollar.

The privilege comes from the fact that in a financial crisis like we have today, it is safer to keep your dollars in the less risky reserve currency, which is the dollar. As more people perceive this and buy dollars, the value increases. During flights to safety, anything not a reserve currency will usually decrease. We are lucky in that sense. We do not have to worry about a currency crisis.

Put Them Gold Bugs To Sleep

2010-05-18T13:58:00.003-06:00

I'm sick and tired of hearing from the gold-bugs. People who think the U.S. should go back to the gold standard because... something something... easy money from the fed... something something... is the cause of all the world's problems.

First of all, the U.S. was on the "gold standard" prior to the great depression, and was responsible for the huge monetary contraction that caused a huge amount of bank failures all across the country. The Fed kept the rate of exchange (dollars per ounce of gold) constant which resulted in a monetary contraction. This is not news to economists, and I bet even a physician like Dr. Ron Paul understands this (maybe).

More importantly, I wanna talk about the value of gold. Gold bugs talk about gold as if it has intrinsic objective value. As if it would be worth something even if human's didn't have any use for it and it just sat in the ground unmined. This, my friends, is bullshit. It has value because we use it for things. It's what we call "use value".

They refer to fiat money (paper money) as if has no value because it is made by the government. This is also bullshit. Once the law says that people must accept paper currency in transactions, they magically now have use value. Just as gold also has use value. By the way, you can donate to Ron Paul's campaign in dollars, though I wouldn't advise it. And the fed is pretty good at making monetary policy.

My point in this rant is to hopefully show that Ron Paul is an economically illiterate demagogue. The other day Ron Paul came out and said the fed's loose monetary policy is responsible for the Euro's plunge, which is exactly wrong. At the recent Conservative PAC convention, Ron Paul won the straw poll for presidential candidate in 2012. Sarah Palin "wrote" a "book" that sold over 2 million copies (though I believe most were sold to people featured on peopleofwalmart.com). Barack Obama see's no problem with having your grandchildren pay for your and your grandparents doctors visits. These are the three front runners for president in 2012. There's gotta be someone better.

Ando bien Pedo - I'm so wasted

2010-05-15T14:12:00.003-06:00

Popular song right now. After the bars when you're THAT wasted, it almost an anthem.

The video made me laugh, though.

Jimi Hendrix - Like a Rolling Stone

2010-05-14T13:44:00.001-06:00

Pretty fucking epic.

The Black Keys - Tighten Up

2010-05-13T15:43:00.003-06:00

Midas touch.

Kele - Tenderoni

2010-05-05T13:41:00.002-06:00

well, you can definitely tell where the dance-y-ness comes from in bloc party.

Best Coast - When I'm With You

2010-05-01T15:21:00.000-06:00

Black et White

2010-05-01T14:44:00.003-06:00

I came up with this design after viewing two t-shirts that I thought were too ingenious.

They are found in these links:

http://www.neatorama.com/2006/04/10/love-and-hate-shirt/

http://www.moillusions.com/2009/06/cleverest-stupid-girl-arround.html

And I wondered if I could figure other pair of words that matched the technique. Well I couldn't, because instead of mirroring the design, this you have to rotate it 180º, but still i liked the result.

First thing was doodling in paint:

And then I opened Adobe Illustrator for a better looking touch:

cheers.

Delorean - Grow

2010-04-30T09:28:00.005-06:00

These guys put on a fantastic live show. More great summer-y music.

Yourstru.ly Presents: Delorean "Grow" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

Rory Them Finest — Summer Society Mix

2010-04-29T15:53:00.004-06:00

Hello All, This is the Rory Them Finest — Summer Society Mix. It's really funky and I like it. It was made by Rory Them Finest, so tell them thanks or something.

TRACKLISTING

New Edition - Once In a Lifetime Groove

The Embassy - It Pays to Belong

Korrallreven - The Truest Faith

Toro Y Moi - Imprint After

PM Dawn - Sometimes I Miss You So Much

Kay Stand - Fire

Small Black - Despicable Dogs (Washed Out Remix)

Radio Dept - Heaven's On Fire

Best Coast - When I'm With You

Bibio - All The Flowers

Pure Ecstasy - Easy

Albert Hammond - It Never Rains in Southern California

jj - And Now

OOFT - This Sound

Super Value - Special Edit 8

Robyn - Dancing On My Own

Flight Facilities Feat. Giselle - Crave You (c90s Remix)

Christina Milian Feat. The Dream - Welcome To Vegas

Music Go Music - Light of Love

Jamaica! - I Think I Like U 2

The Pastels - Comin' Through

Best Coast - Something In The Way

Lone - Endlessly

Michel Legrand - Song For a Summer Day

Drake Feat. The Dream - Shut It Down

Is copyright outdated?

2010-04-29T12:15:00.003-06:00

The question came up recently when my band had to decide if we want to copyright our music (for our soon-to-be-released 7" EP). We were forced to figure out how to protect our music before we could even get the record pressing company to even make a plate for us. Anyhow, we realized that not everyone has a record player or appreciates the warm dynamics of analog (aside from the "inconvenience") so we're making the songs available for download on iTunes and emusic and the like.

Which brings me to what the music industry calls a devastating problem: sharing. Frankly, I have no issue with sharing music. I think it's awesome that mix tape blogs exist. I think it's awesome that radio stations stream music and I think it's awesome to e-mail songs I like to friends. Moreover, I can really appreciate the remix culture, bands who make their own music videos and have them available for free and commercial free on various platforms.

So, we decided to go with a Creative Commons license which allows us to allow others to share our music, so long as they aren't profiting, using it for commercial purposes and attributing us. That's not asking too much, right? We felt it's more updated, and fits into the context of an ever increasingly global and digital world.

In short, we crafted a message to include in our liner notes regarding the issue:

This recording is for sale as a vinyl EP and as a digital download. Money made from the sale of this recording will be used to recoup some of our costs and to make other recordings. We respect the fact that sharing is how most people discover new music and encourage it. We have chosen not to copyright any of our songs due to the restrictive and antiquated nature of copyright law, as well as the high cost of registering. Instead, we've licensed our music under Creative Commons. This license prohibits these songs from being used without attribution or for commercial purposes. For more information check out http://creativecommons.org.

You can find more information at:
http://www.archive.org/details/WhoOwnsCulture
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/20/opnion/20kulash.html
http://www.lessig.org
http://www.free-culture.cc/about/

I'm debating writing a post about how we've gone about making our own record, but I don't know if anyone is even interested in that. Eh?

Want your mind blown?

2010-04-27T16:49:00.001-06:00

then watch this.

Can't wait to see these guys at Larimer Lounge

2010-04-23T12:09:00.003-06:00

Local Natives (featuring Daniel Plainview) - Wide Eyes

The XX - Islands

2010-04-21T14:13:00.005-06:00

This video is a great exercise in subtlety. Watch until the end to get the full effect.

i can't tell which one is the parody

2010-04-18T17:56:00.002-06:00

This is our decision: To live fast and die young

2010-04-16T21:40:00.002-06:00

It’s ridiculous how bad I treat my body. I tend to eat whatever I want. No kid eats that many sweets. I had no breakfast today and then ate Chicharrón Tacos for meal. Look it up. It’s fat over fat. Delicious fat over fat. I can still taste it. I know, disgusting.

I eat twinkies and sandwiches and then pudding and then chocolate. I’ve changed from somewhat thin to fat in a heartbeat. I think there’s something to it that I’ve been working at OXXO for the last year. For those of you who don’t know OXXO it’s the largest retail store chain (think corner store) in Latin America. There are more than 7.5 thousand OXXOs in Mexico (in context, there are more OXXOs in Mexico than Starbucks in the US. There’s only around a thousand 7-11’s in Mexico).

Part of the benefits of working there is that you have an OXXO store just in front of the office. You get to work, and stop at OXXO. Mid day – who wants something from OXXO? Going to a meeting at the next building? What do you know? There’s an OXXO right THERE! It’s so much fun working there but seriously, it’s become bad for my health. Still love it.

One of the fastest growing brands in the store is the coffee (Andatti) and it’s free inside the office for all employees and suppliers visiting. I drink so much coffee now I can’t sleep. I get there in the morning and I drink a huge flask of coffee. It’s around 5 o’clock in the afternoon and I’m still drinking coffee. It’s sick.

I can’t sleep well. Or I tend to stay up at night. I get out with my friends and drink. I drink way too much. I never count the beers I drink, but once a friend of mine did it just to prove a point to me. I drank 40 beers that week alone. By the way, OXXO is part of FEMSA which also owns the largest brewery in Monterrey (discounts baby).

I get awful hangovers. Some of them in weekdays and I end up sobering up (or throwing up) at work. Again, disgusting, I know. So now I’ve been taking Excedrin every time I’m hung-over. They work like magic and if you haven’t done so, try them. So now I’ve also been exceeding on excedrins. They contain caffeine, aspirin, and acetaminophen. Liver failure here I go.

So much caffeine, that I’ve started to initiate myself in the world of the sleeping pills. They also work like magic. One of those and you’ll be out for the night. - Babies don’t sleep this well -

I wonder what the future will hold for us in terms of drugs and meds. For one, I’m only waiting to be 50 to start taking Viagra. I’m kidding of course… but really it’s an honest bet that it’ll happen sometime.

I let you with this song I like, and I bet you do too.

I’m off to the bars.

Cheers.

Music Industry by the numbers

2010-04-15T18:02:00.002-06:00

How Denver Was Remade

2010-04-13T21:16:00.002-06:00

I was inspired during a conversation with my roomate to do a project to tell people about how the City of Denver, particularly the downtown area, has been transformed over the past 25 years.

People from Denver know that the downtown area was not always so nice, and it wasn't a nice place to be, or live. The story I want to tell is of how Denver was changed, from the plans and actions of many public and private individuals with a common goal. Denver was not reborn; it was remade. It was sculpted from principles of new-urbanism, writers such as Jane Jacobs, and the recognition that Denver could not sustain outward growth indefinitely. It had to grow from within.

I want to tell the story of the people who forged a new city, and dramatically improved the lives of it's inhabitants. People like former Mayor Pena, John Hickenlooper, Dana Crawford, among others. The story centers around a document called the "Denver Downtown Area Plan of 1986". This plan describes many events happening today including: the Central Platte Valley Development, a transit system that makes Union station the hub, making LoDo a nice place to live and play, redeveloping the golden triangle, bringing a baseball team to lodo, and moving McNichols arena close to LoDo, among many other things.

The hero's of my story will be the people who were able to pragmatically turn theory into reality. They are men and women of action.

aww

2010-04-13T17:41:00.004-06:00

If you're gonna do some exercise today

2010-04-13T09:16:00.002-06:00

Start with this song.

P.S. I still have a crush on Elizabeth Shue.

This is what being a parent is all about

2010-04-12T15:54:00.002-06:00

imposing your beliefs upon your offspring.

cutest video ever, btw

Two iPad Apps That I Will Never Make

2010-04-10T19:46:00.003-06:00

...but somebody should.

We've all heard about how the iPad enhances the distinction between consuming and producing media, and specializes on "consuming". However, the user interface needs to also be made useful for some aspects of producing.

For journalists:

An "Interview" app. This will use the speaker function to record, and transcribe the interview. Transcribing will be the difficult part, but the Google app already has speech to text capability and finding this code shouldn't be too difficult. You should also be able to retroactively mark an important quote or previous passage that is important. The speech translator should also be able to tell when a different person speaks so that the transcription is a neat and tidy text file ready to be emailed to you for your PC.

For research:

A "Web Research" app that will in effect be beefed up web browser. It will enhance the web browser by letting you create projects off to the side. When you come up on a quote or webpage that you feel is important, you highlight and "Copy To: (project)". You will have various subfolders for the project. When copied, the a link as an approximate cite will be copied to your project research document. This should be able to read PDF's too and will work much the same way.

Never Have I Ever...

2010-04-07T15:24:00.002-06:00

1) ... seen the Sound of Music.

2) ... eaten a muscle or oyster.

3) ... had sex in a car

4) ... peed in my bed (past the age of diaper wearing anyway)

5) ... been to Africa

6) ... watched the View

7) ... owned clear plastic high heels

8) ... not laughed at the sight of a mullet

9) ... been a waitress

10) ... worn pajamas in public

Remember when the office was really really funny? Le sigh...

2010-04-07T11:37:00.000-06:00

This made me feel kinda tingly...I need a vacation

2010-04-06T14:14:00.004-06:00

Books (and blogs) Which Have Influenced Me Most

2010-04-03T11:15:00.003-06:00

This was started by Tyler Cowen here. I will also go "from the gut", and in chronological order.

1) Several John Grisham books: "The Client", "Runaway Jury", "Pelican Brief", "Rainmaker", "The Firm"...

I read these in 5th or 6th grade. I doubt I'd take them time to read them now, but afterwards I wasn't intimidated by any books.

2) "The Hobbit" and "Lord of the Rings"

If you are and were a bit of a nerd as a kid, you read these books. Again, I don't think I'd take them time to read them now, but at the time they were great. My first introduction to true literature I would say with good vs. evil, protagonists, antagonists, hero's quest, etc...

3) "Les Miserables" by Victor Hugo

Read while I was a junior in high school, this is the first book that was formative for me in any political sense. Set during the reign of Bonaparte in France, it touches on issues of morality, the state, God, war, tragedy, and more. The section on the Battle of Waterloo is one of my favorite passages that I've read.

4) "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand

Of course. Have re-read this one on three separate occasions.

5) A few by John Stossel

Though they were quick reads, they helped me get my head out of my ass.

6) "The Autobiography of Malcom X"

Fascinating, and kindled my love of the biographical genre.

7) "Crime and Punishment" by Dostoevsky

I'm not sure what it is about the Russians, but they are able to construct some of the best plots and stories you will ever find. Nevertheless, I was never able to finish any Tolstoy or Nabakov, so Dostoevsky remains my favorite.

8) "Fooled by Randomness" and "The Black Swan" by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

If you engage his ideas, you will forever be changed. There are epistemic and practical implications if you understand statistics as Taleb does.

9) www.marginalrevolution.com

This blog was created about 7 years ago by two economics professors. Very consistently interesting, and really you can't really count yourself a modern intellectual if you are not following this blog and others like it.

10) www.overcomingbias.com

This blog is run by physicist/economist Robin Hanson. Attempts to learn from research in many fields about the natural shortcomings/biases of our minds. He's not always good at communicating what he is thinking, but I think in this case it is more a signal of devastating intelligence (so much so that it is hard for him to imagine what others are thinking) than anything else.

Lamebook is only getting better

2010-03-30T14:53:00.003-06:00

heee

2010-03-27T03:22:00.003-06:00