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Courtesy of J (and maybe iTunes helped a little)

20 Years Ago...

"20 years ago today - Sept 22nd 1990 - Nirvana played their biggest gig to date when they appeared at the Motor Sports International Garage in Seattle. Drummer Dave Grohl who would audition for the band in a few days time was in the audience of 15,000 people."

- whoever is running Nirvana's facebook page (of all places)

Cell Phone Pics

I rarely bust out ze old cell phone and start snapping away, but you know, here and there I snap 'round town. Just got a new phone, these are pics from my last two. PS - If you have Verizon, don't bother with the LG EnV Touch, it's a piece - lasted less than a year.

This deli-front sign was pointed out to me by J. The irony is that The Best Sandwich in Town looks like shit. Who asks for asparagus on a sub? That's fucking gross.

I know this is hard to see, but it's a picture from a flight home from Nevis a couple years ago. This woman is using her baby as a food tray, eating a chicken platter off her baby back.

Dirty Pop

Stand Clear of the Closing Doors, Please

the Dakota

Face on Fire

Ryan Williams look-a-like

Not only are you making the garbage man's day by leaving your toilet on the sidewalk, but then you have to go and fill it full of nastiness. It's a double negative sight to see.

Been Caught Stealing

This is a picture I took a few months ago at a grocery store on the Upper East Side. I enjoy the store's idea of swift justice - posting photos of thieves in plain site for all to gawk. Click photo to enlarge.

Gangsta Graphs

Why is Vincent Gallo in that video? More (much more) Gangsta Graphs here...

Green Space is a Vulnerable Thing

After visiting my friends in The Very Big City, I learned they knew little of the biggest natural appetite Down South has to offer. When she's done here, I'm sure she'll wander . . .

From Blue Ridge Outdoors, a regional rag:

Need another reason to hate kudzu, the green leafy vine that is pervasive throughout the South? How about this: a recent study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that kudzu is a contributor to surface ozone pollution. The invasive plant, which was introduced in the U.S. in the late 1800s for erosion control, emits high levels of isoprene and nitric oxide which combine with the nitrogen in the air to form ozone. The study, which was conducted by researchers at the University of Virginia, showed the presence of kudzu can double the level of nitrogen oxide emissions from soil. Rampant expansion of kudzu could even increase the number of high ozone alert days in a given year.

Kudzu now occupies more than 7.4 million acres in the U.S., expanding at 120,000 acres annually. Kudzu vines have been known to grow up to a foot a day.

But don’t think kudzu is all bad. Some Southern families have used kudzu as a food source for decades, cooking up fried kudzu leaves, kudzu quiche, steamed kudzu…And some entrepreneurs have been trying to turn kudzu into a biofuel cash crop as well. A study published two years ago in the journal Biomass and Bioenergy claimed an acre of kudzu could yield about 270 gallons of ethanol, comparable to the 210 to 320 gallons per acre that corn yields.

While using kudzu as a biofuel is promising because it requires no water or fertilization, harvesting the weed for fuel has proved difficult and costly, as the roots sometimes grow six feet deep beneath steep slopes. But getting rid of kudzu has always been a challenge. The U.S. Forest Service has researched kudzu management and removal for decades. So far, the best form of kudzu eradication that researchers have uncovered, is goats.

Numbers:

2,500 — The number of years kudzu has been used in traditional Chinese medicine, primarily as a treatment for hangovers

60 — Length in feet that a single kudzu vine can grow in one warm season, roughly one foot per day

400 — Weight in pounds of a kudzu root

30 — Number of vines that can grow from a single root

In other Southern news:

This hometown hero also sports quite the appetite, though hardly the tact to stomach it.

Where Were You When the Iraq War Started?

From Wikipedia:

Shock and awe, technically known as rapid dominance, is a military doctrine based on the use of overwhelming power, dominant battlefield awareness, dominant maneuvers, and spectacular displays of force to paralyze an adversary's perception of the battlefield and destroy its will to fight.

Can you believe the Iraq War began combat in March 2003? Doesn't that seem like forever ago? I remember watching CNN from Tokyo, Japan when "Shock and Awe" was in shocking display. I was on spring break of my junior year of college, shocked myself that we were actually bombing Baghdad.

Tonight President Obama declared the combat missions in Iraq over - without really declaring victory or "mission accomplished."

The Treehouse

I helped produce this short comedy skit with some hilarious pals of mine, Paul and Lucia. One day they're going to be big stars!

Shit, I tried to embed the video, but it's too wide... Here's the linkage...

Blogvestments: Long Live Preppies

Domestic Manufacturing and sexy ads. Appears American Apparel missed one too many Investment club meetings.

Read about it here.

"Hipsters are from a certain time period. The stereotype of a hipster is not something people aspire to anymore. Do you want to be a hipster? Nobody wants to be a hipster," says CEO Dov Charney to the Village Voice.

Blognology: the Interwebs Competition

There's an interesting concept in the world of Internet usage called "net neutrality," which basically means no restrictions be placed on the ability for one to be able to access and use the Internet (by an Internet Provider). This may change with two giant companies plotting to dictate your ability to access the internet. Ironically, this stems from (1) an inability for someone to govern this freedom and (2) advertising models.

Some NYT articles about it:

2010/08/05/
2010/08/10/
2010/08/12/
2010/08/14/

A joint blog post about it:

JointPolicyProposalforanOpenInternet

The Armpit Collection XXXIV: Black, Saint, Sinner

Charles Mingus is relentless in what he does. His music contains a ferocity and intensity that is unmatched. Nowhere have I been more attracted to stoking chaos in the midst of intellectual forms. The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is his most accomplished work. And you can also enjoy him here.

1. Track A - Solo Dancer (6:20)
Stop! Look! And Listen, Sinner Jim Whitney!

2. Track B - Duet Solo Dancers (6:25)
Hearts' Beat and Shades in Physical Embraces

3. Track C - Group Dancers (7:00)
(Soul Fusion) Freewoman and Oh, This Freedom's Slave Cries

4. Mode D - Trio and Group Dancers (17:52)
Stop! Look! And Sing Songs of Revolutions!

Mode E - Single Solos and Group Dance
Saint and Sinner Join in Merriment on Battle Front

Mode F - Group and Solo Dance
Of Love, Pain, and Passioned Revolt, then Farewell, My Beloved, 'til It's Freedom Day

Taken from the extensive liner notes:

"Last and least is me. Mingus. I wrote the music for dancing and listening." - Charles Mingus

"To me this particular composition contains Mr. Mingus' personal and also a social message. He feels intensively. He tries to tell people he is in great pain and anguish because he loves. He cannot accept that he is alone, all by himself; he wants to love and be loved. His music is a call for acceptance, respect, love, understanding, fellowship, freedom - a plea to change the evil in man and to end hatred. The titles of this composition suggest the plight of the black man and a plea to the white man to be aware. " - Doctor Pollock (his psychologist)

Two Albums Bought Yesterday

Arcade Fire "The Suburbs"

The Black Crowes "Croweology"

Ryan Xilliams

"...a continuing series of unflattering photographs of myself."

My good friend and yours, Ryan Williams, takes us through his weird, wondrous, and wild (not to mention highly amusing) online observations in his blog, Ryan Xilliams. A decent part of his full-time job is trolling around the 'net in search of bizarreness, so it only makes sense for him to have an electronic dumping ground to share his found treasure. Enjoy!

On a side note, Ryan's improv comedy team, DREAMBOAT!, recently went toe to toe and defeated 23 other teams in the 2010 Del Close Marathon Indie Team Cagematch Tournament! Ayyy-Ohhh!

Bootleg Series Vol. IX

I almost forgot. After watching Paul McCartney's performance last night on PBS, a performance in conjunction with receiving the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, I was trying to find out who else had received the award (which was disappointing). And by the way, according to a certain black man, Paul McCartney is the most successful songwriter of all-time. I was impressed with that, though there was an obvious period of co-authorship. This begs the question, who is the most successful solo songwriter of all time... which brings me to...

So I went to Dylan's wiki to see what awards he'd won (a Pulitzer special citation) and it just so happens that a new Bootleg Series was announced, just yesterday. (Scarily buried in my subconscious, no?)

Here's the story.

Track listing looks pretty awesome. I'm assuming these are alternate takes or demos.

When will we get a Bootleg Series version of BOTT? 'Til then, I'll settle for NAC001.

Inception

Since I was rather "blah" on the movie, I'll comment on the music. Kinda funny that Maria Cottilliardwhatever was in the movie and they used an Edith Piaf song as part of the plot.

GWAR - I Am Not A Fucking Amateur

"I've been in Texas for a while now, and WHERE IS ALL THE CRYSTAL METH?" Pretty funny seeing GWAR at a Mexican restaurant...

I Have Dreams Like This

Here in Asheville . . .

. . . it's July — and every July we host a three day arts and music festival occupying downtown. It's called Bele Chere and people hate it. Businesses close while the rest of Western North Carolina vomits on their door step. The crowd is loud, smelly, and slimy — boobs (of both breeds) are everywhere. Tax payers foot the bill for "kick-ass" southern rock bands, some are even "country fried." But the worst part? The Dialogue. Year in, year out, its the same milky display of sideshow rage. It steals revenue. Damns gays. Distracts police. I hate fat people. The yuppies go to West Asheville (for the first time) and every restaurant dumbs down their food (but marks it up). Yet amidst all the goof and glory, the fine folks at Mountain Xpress insist on embracing it — and do, in flying — sometimes existential — colors. My (other) buddy Jaye reports.

Double Rainbow!

Top Quotes From My Bachelor Party in the Bahamas

1. Dude, did you take my shorts?
   

2. Can I borrow a pair of underwear?
   

3. Sir, you've had your fun now get off the speaker before you hurt yourself.
   

4. Four fingers of whiskey, please.
   

5. Long hair don' care!
   

6. Gimme them nipples!
   

7. Where's Beecher?
   

8. I've never kissed a white boy before
   

9. I'm 17
   

10. Get Sexy like a Pepsi
    

11. The Big Bamboo is long and hard
    

12. Gaycation!
    

13. The nipple buffet is now open.