Noise Throng Double-Feature?

I spent the entirety of President's Day (yesterday) updating long-time (entering tenth year) pet-project Noise Throng. That's not really the point of this post, but there are new archival recordings available there for interested parties.

Today two DVDs, both ordered while psyching myself up for said updates, arrived. I just realized that they essentially define the envelop of the Noise Throng catalog - from sampling/unapologetic copyright infringement to sheer, psychedelic, endurance-test noise. I also realized they'd make a terrific double-feature: People Who Do Noise followed by Copyright Criminals. Here are their respective trailers.

People Who Do Noise


Copyright Criminals


Enjoy.

Palin Fans Are Clueless

I'm not making this up, just going by their vague, uninformed responses to softball questions asked outside a Palin book-signing event last weekend.

Hilarious, until you realize that these people are basing their votes on hollow buzzwords, not common sense or fundamental familiarity with the issues* comprising Palin's platform. It's embarrassing that so many of them can't finish a sentence. It's even more embarrassing that America's unhealthy fascination with celebrity obscures the view of common sense (this is an issue of epidemic proportions that we can't address in just one post).

* To be perfectly fair, much of the so-called "Obama Nation" is the same way. You can tell they are second-guessing themselves now that he hasn't proven to be the messiah in the first 25% of his first term.

Source: Dangerous Minds, via BoingBoing.

Saturday Morning Serials - 4th of July Edition

This third edition of Saturday Morning Serials is for you, America. Watch all five selections in this YouTube playlist.

Saturday Morning Serials (Rehash)

Picking up where I barely started last November, here's a (possible) revival of Saturday Morning Serials: an assortment of the videos I tend to watch on Saturday mornings. Sipping coffee, downloading music, and catching up on links... nothing in any apparent order.


Han Solo, P.I.

The genius of Han Solo, P.I. is revealed when you watch the side-by-side comparison to the Magnum, P.I. opening titles. Brilliant. Makes me wonder what such a show would have been like to watch... perhaps a pilot episode title like "Stabbing at Leia's Party"?


Post-It Stop Motion

Office-supply art like this isn't a exactly a new idea, but you don't often see someone take it this far. Watch "Deadline".


Guy Starts Dance Party

All of the videos in this post have been circulating for a while, but none has appeared on the news like this one (though with a different soundtrack when seen on WGN). It's best with the original audio, if not for the giggles of the crowd then for the "unstoppable" nature of this clip.


30 Rock = The Muppet Show

This video clip isn't directly related to this guy's theory that 30 Rock is a rip-off of The Muppet Show, but it may be entertaining on a different level after you've read through said post. It's not a bad theory, really. Though one could argue that there are many other show-within-or-around-a-show shows out there to have influenced 30 Rock.

Snatch Wars

It's been a busy time for me lately: never-ending home improvements/repairs, unresolved medical issues, a dying home computer, and the final arrangements for our wedding. It's meant I haven't had much time for PYLB, but it doesn't mean I haven't found things I want to share. Here's one, for example, that adds dialogue from Snatch to scenes from the original Star Wars trilogy with entertaining results. Enjoy.

The Farewell Instigator EP

Finally. My farewell release as Instigator: Reduced Materials.

This EP is FREE. (Heh,"reduced", get it?) Please make a donation to show your support. Or not. Hear more layers with repeated listening. Or not. Here's the official blurb, from the official page:

Instigator - Reduced Materials EP
2008, PYLBUG / Noise Throng [Chicago, IL]

Selections from Instigator's 2002 debut, Used Materials, are revisited on the fifth anniversary of the album's digital release in 2003. Careful reductions in program length unearth and enhance the song structures, and a strategic price reduction (it's FREE) make Reduced Materials the perfect companion to Used Materials, as well as a fitting farewell to the Instigator moniker. Tracklist:

01 Reforestation (Berry Jungle)
02 Recognition (Depress And Enter)
03 Requisition (High-Style Takeover)
04 Reevaluation (Hydrocodonarcotica)
05 Reinfestation (Miracle Earworm)
06 Recollection (Okanna Borra)
07 Resignation (Panhandler)
08 Reiteration (Poh Sukumer Vidro)
09 Remodellacion (Puerto Reconditioned)

Download Full EP [.zip]
Only available online: Reduced Materials EP (High-Quality 320 kbps MP3s plus album art in a .zip archive).

Make A Donation
This EP is free, and donation is recommended as the best way to show your support. If you like it, pay a little something for it; 100% of your support goes directly to the artist. It doesn't get much easier than this convenient PayPal button:

Saturday Morning Serials

Welcome to the first installment of Saturday Morning Serials: the irregular and unrelated links I save up during the week to inspect and digest over Saturday morning coffee. A fist-full of quick hits. Or maybe just a pair for now:

Defensor Mundi


AKA Robert Burdon's Voltron. The choice of music could have gone in an entirely different direction, but I like how serene this is. Makes me imagine the feel of an exotic Voltron rug under my feet. In my living room. Watching cartoons.


Third Generation Elliott


Daughter of Chris Elliott / grand-daughter of Bob Elliott, Abbey Elliott is one of two new SNL cast members. Which makes me think... with all the 1990's pop-cultural "redux" on television, this could be the perfect time for a Get A Life redux. (Not You've Reached The Elliotts) Here's a sample of the show (which was sampled by Handsome Boy Modeling School) for the unfamiliar among you.

Hip-hop is dead. So is god.

We have these seniors to blame for it:


[Thanks (I think) to Ken Schafer for the link.]

The Only Shocker We'll Get From Dubya:

Talk about senioritis. Dubya, classy world leader that he's always been, raises the shocker in a photo taking during his White House welcome to 2008's NCAA champs.

Find Some Time

This Last month's posts were almost entirely about music. Time to switch it up a bit, and what better way to do that than with a few of my favorite sites for daily "finds". Today we'll cover four sites, each focused on a different realm of "found" content. You'll want to have a few minutes to get the full effect of each.

Sorry I Missed Your Party
This blog trolls Flickr for photos tagged "party" and posts some of the more provocative ones. Occasionally there's video, but it's usually a Flickr photo - which often links to an entire set of party photos that probably shouldn't have been made public. I recommend checking this site daily, as it never disappoints.

Photoshop Disasters
There are a few sites like this out there, but this one posts the most frequently and, usually, has just the right balance of snarky and savvy. If this site proves anything, it's that having a copy of PhotoShop does not make you an art director, or even teach you anything about composition. You'll learn to spot the marks of an amateur yourself after just a few pages of this site.

The Fail Blog
Evidence of failure is what this blog is all about. The nature of the "fail" varies, and sometimes it's a little hit or miss. But, in the same spirit of Photoshop Disasters and Sorry I Missed Your Party, this blog rarely fails to entertain with frequent updates that help you laugh at others' misfortune (usually the result of their own ineptitude).

FFFFOUND!
Considerably less hilarity than the previous links, but more about inspiring graphic design and photography which the sites' contributors find around the Internet (a lot from the Behance network, as it turns out). It's a bit like a visual tappas menu, with a slew of new tastes for your eyes to sample each day. Maybe that was a bad analogy, but take a gander anyway.

Of course, these and many others are always here for your perusal. Just check the link roll to the right for new additions each time you visit.

GUNS!

This past weekend, thousands of Chicagoans brought guns to church.

6,705 guns, to be exact, as part of the city's gun buy-back program. ("Buy-back?" Doesn't this imply that the city sold the guns to them in the first place?) Everyone turning in a gun got a $100 pre-paid MasterCard, while supplies lasted. Some folks think that's not going to make a long-term difference, since no actual gun-wielding idiots were taken off the streets. Speaking of idiots, the NRA is suing the city and two suburbs to make room for more guns on the streets.

As if on cue amidst all this gun-crazy gun-loving comes a rarity from seminal copyright infringers Negativland: the New American Radio version of "Guns!". It's not the same version that appeared on the SST Records original 1991 release, which was Negativland's attempt to earn the label some revenue after the big U2 lawsuit. Download the MP3 at Kill Ugly Radio. Burn it and the U2 tracks to CD so you're prepared for any Copyright Infringement Buy Back programs that might turn up.

See also:
Negativland: U2
Negativland: Guns!
Negativland: Fair Use - The Letter U and The Numeral 2

Venture Brothers Season Three is On

Yes. This is the clip reel shown recently at some Comic-Con or another, with scenes from the first three episodes. Last night was the premiere of episode one, Shadowman 9: In The Cradle of Destiny, which examines the origins of The Monarch and Dr. Girlfriend (Maria and I call dibs on these characters for Halloween costumes, if she can get her voice low enough). Watch the full episode here.



This season, each episode has its own T-shirt, thanks to the Amazing Shirt Of The Week Club. I've already ordered my Guild Of Calamitous Intent shirt, but am not about to subscribe for a dozen $22 T-shirts. I'll just check back every week for the good ones.

Go Team Venture.

Steve Brule RULEZ, Part Two

The video area on AdultSwim.com is working better now. And they've added my favorite Steve Brule clips from Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job! -- the ones I previously linked to, which were later removed from YouTube -- Dr. Steve Brule, For Your Wine and That's It For Dr. Steve.

"For your health."

Lucky Enough

My grandfather, perpetually representing the Irish side of the family, used to tell us:

"If you're lucky enough to be Irish,
you're lucky enough."

That's the approach I've always taken toward St. Patrick's Day. I'm dealing with Irish blood running through my veins every day of my life - I don't feel the need to make an obscene novelty of my heritage for one day every year.

[I don't run around with the Polish flag tied to my back like a superhero's cape on Pulaski Day, either. Nor do I do anything particularly German during Oktoberfest.]

A lot of St. Patty's Day tradition is distorted anyway. Did you know that blue was the color originally associated with St. Patrick? Only through the phrase "wearing of the green" did the common practice of wearing green (instead of a Shamrock) become the tradition.

Color is not the only bastardization of tradition on St. Patrick's Day. A properly poured Guinness, not cheap beer dyed green, is the appropriate drink. Or a good Irish whiskey. Think about that before you help support the "drunk Irish" stereotype this evening.

If you're lucky enough to be Irish at all.

Steve Brule RULEZ

It appears that BoingBoing's Xeni Jardin is as enamoured with John C. Reilley's Steve Brule character as I am. Rather than duplicate her efforts, I'll just point you to her post. And give you a taste of the Brule clip we quote all the time around our house, above. Oh, and the sequel to it, here. Cheers, and enjoy.

UNFORTUNATE UPDATE:
Cartoon Network removed the video clips from YouTube. There are some clips online at Adult Swim's page for Tim And Eric's Awesome Show, Great Job!, but you've got to click around a while to get to anything -- and you'll be waiting for a lot of clunky pages to load. Waiting and waiting and waiting. This should be the link to video clips, but I can't tell because it's taken ten minutes to load and there's still nothing but navigation showing. So sad, Cartoon Network. Break a simple user experience and replace it with a pathetic one.

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE:
Adult Swim's video page finally loaded, after seventeen painful minutes on a T3 connection. Stupendous. Here's what's worth waiting for, I guess:

Boredom is a provocation.

I think I've been bored my whole life. I used to complain about being bored to my mom. Chronically, hopelessly bored. All the time. She would reply with a simple correction: "No, you're boring."

Around the same time I left home for good, I started experimenting more regularly in the recording arts. It was, in the beginning, something I did to alleviate the boredom. Coincidentally or not, it was around then I started becoming a fan of The Boredoms. [Have you heard them lately? They're playing in-the-round at Congress Theater in a few weeks. You should try to go.] They're not boring. They're not the main reason for this post, either.

Boredom is. In fact, I'm wondering if boredom isn't actually one of my more productive states. If necessity is the mother of invention, as they have always said. Anyway...

Today, I caught up with some bookmarks I've been meaning to read into further. One was about a term that caught my eye about a month ago - Strategic Boredom. You should watch this video about it. It's not boring. At least for most of you regular commenters, it won't be boring. But it is a bit nerdy. And you're gonna need about twenty-eight minutes to get through it. Enjoy... unless you've got something better to do.

The Vinyl Frontier

Via BoingBoing, via Laughing Squid, comes news of this:

The Vinyl Frontier, A Documentary Exploring the World of Vinyl Toys

I'm kind of interested in seeing this. If you've ever been to my office, you've seen my collection of Qee Eggs and other assorted goodies picked from the shelves of Kid Robot and Rotofugi. (Qees attracted me early in my [adult] vinyl fascination because of their "blanks" -- non-decorated figures for which you can download templates and embellish with your own design.) For me, designer vinyl represents two important ideas:

1. You're never too old to collect "action figures", and...
   
2. Vinyl figures are a low price-of-entry to the world of collecting "art"; a way for people of all budgets to get in on the action.

What's also fascinating to me is the bigger notion of "nobrow"; what's left between the somewhat-outdated concepts of "highbrow" and "lowbrow" art, which is driven by curated consumption and strategic marketing. That's how we get a category in which skateboard graphic artists and fine artists meet on a relatively level playing field: the canvas of a vinyl figurine, a limited edition T-shirt, or even a post-card sized print (a big money-maker for contemporary galleries which, like small vinyl figures, are easier to produce and stock in large quantities). Almost everything is a limited edition, which makes for volumes of stuff that seems worth collecting. Or creating yourself. You don't even need to be a professional artist to design your own vinyl figures, with all the DIY versions available.

What I still wonder is, where will all this vinyl go when it's no longer in style or in galleries? As far as I know, none of it is biodegradable. If we don't learn to recycle them, we could be looking at some designer landfills in the not-so-distant future. A little disturbing, and easy to ignore when you're bent on collecting toys as an adult, but that could be the real vinyl frontier we're working toward. Unless we find a way to bury our non-degradable trash on the moon. Then that would be the vinyl frontier.