Life is beautiful

I find that very beautiful, but enough about fruits and vegetables. I think human life is very beautiful as well. The mind, the body, and the soul are a fascinating and enlightening thing to me. I also think that abortion should not only be legal, but encouraged. I think that if the resources of our minds allowed us to harness science to such a degree (to safely and efficiently terminate pregnancy) then we should not overlook it as a practical solution to the "big problem". Our world is not in a good place and it is not getting any better. Overpopulation leads to hunger which leads to violence which leads to war. Reckless recreation makes no sense. I don't understand how one can hold life sacred, yet bring more children into the quickly disintegrating world (that they will inherit). You will cause them pain by ensuring that they live in an overpopulated, corrupt, dirty world and that's no way to treat something sacred! I think people who want children (I do) should have one child, and if they only get one, to not try any more. We can reset the world for a future generation. We could give them what we don't have so they can thrive! That requires sacrifice, but that's how beautiful I think life is.

Does anyone remember Pure Moods?

This is kind of interesting:

Top Selling Artists

I had no idea that Enya has sold 26 million records. Same as Jay-Z!

I am blogging with my iPod

I have seen the top of the mountain and it is good. I am not good with money. Recently, a fairly large chunk of it came into my possession and it is decreasing already at a very healthy rate... or unhealthy I suppose. My biggest vice seems to be concert tickets and I seem to just be giving them away. I don't worry though because I believe that giving strengthens my karma. Keep your dogma out of my face or my karma will run over it. On the topic of concert tickets, I am very excited to see Chromeo next weekend. I also got tickets to their afterparty in Brooklyn. It will be a night full of love making and love breaking and the following night DJ Shadow will mend my broken love with Bay Area nuttiness in tune and on time.

Perfect Foods, Inc.

This place is great. Deep in the onion fields of Pine Island, New York there lies an ordinary barn. Only this is no ordinary barn! It contains the following:

Trays of plant matter resembling photovoltaic arrays:



Crazy hanging shit:



Grass that is fresher:



Hard workers and curious spectators:



This is worker No. 44. He works hard and has met his harvest quota for this week, which means he will not be killed:



By this:



Whole civilizations of miniature posthuman beings live in sprout forests such as this one:



The geometric patters exhibited here line up to several constellations, including Ursa Minor and Coma Berenices:



The plant matter is kept at a strict 27° F until the hatcheningification. Bovine surrogate is injected 7 days into the incubation period, and again at 14 days. While the plants are waiting, they are kept in bunkers like this:



There are plenty of fans to maintain proper circulation!



Employee No. 20 working the late shift. She has been rewarded for her fruitful harvest with a G-Unit chain:



If you have a chance, visit this barn in Pine Island, New York. Only they probably won't let you. Think they're fucking around? Look at that pendant!

Project Runway Canada is like, totally better than Project Runway

I don't know about you, but it takes great internal strength to not scream out every time Heidi Klum squeaks "Hi!!!" like a shrill fucking Heidi the Aryan Goddess. I try to care about the contestants, but I feel strange watching a person appear extremely quirky and bizarre, only to find out that a horrible brain damaging car accident was involved. One contestant has mentioned that he is not gay so many times, he obviously must be gay. Another one is a 40 something ex-biker chick named Sweet P that reverts into this weird, wide eyed, scared thing. Tim Gunn is soooo obviously acting. I mean, he comes over to a contestant, strikes a pose (see how I'm holding my glasses? I invented that shit!), and says his various catch phrases. "Make it work" "Make it work" "Make it work" "Carry On." In every season (except maybe the first one) no contestant ever seems to listen to his advice (which is usually good) and pursues their fucking "artistic vision" and ends up getting kicked off! I am all for artistic vision, but he knows and he is trying to help you! Many of these designers are so stubborn. "My way, or no way" I felt so bad for poor Ricky when Victoria got in his face. Then an HIV positive contestant gets an infection and leaves! Jesus! What is this? The Real World? Anyway, do you see what I am saying?

Project Runway Canada, on the other hand, hosted by supermodel Iman in this inaugural season, is another story. Well, it's not that different, but bear with me and perhaps I can explain why it is more enjoyable. Iman does not chirp "Hi!!!" like her American counterpart. Iman says: "'Allo deezigners..." all chill n shit. Iman's Somali accent is much more pleasant than Heidi's German. Also, Iman's last name is Abdulmajid, which I like much better than Klum. The contestants consistently come up with better designs than the Americans. A gown a contestant created sold for $10,000 at auction. That's Canadian dollars, but that's nothing to laugh at anymore! The contestants are all more excited to be there, because this is the first time around for the Canadians. One episode saw them drawing inspiration from a performance by Measha Brueggergosman, who is a Canadian opera star. Even the bitching (of course, it's there) is better. On a balcony, when a 23 year old "punk" (think last year's winner, Jeffrey Sibilia) says something nasty to another contestant, he looks at him and says in his Transylvanian accent (no shit!):

"You are so full of anger."

and walks away. So, basically, Project Runway Canada is much better than the U.S. Project Runway 4.

The Mix of Today has been playing while I discussed Project Runway. It's funky as hell, trust me. It's recorded by two people I have never heard of: The Breakbeat Junkie & Plugg. It's called Break the Funk IV, and it can be downloaded here:

http://themixingbowl.org/topics.php?action=viewtopic&topicid=58967&page=1#505045

It's fresh, full of samples, grooves. It's like fuzzed out hip hop, with scratching, funky little edits. Then it's stretched and stretched, until by minute 55 it's some crazy space groove and you forget about hip hop for a little while, till Afrika Bambaataa is all up in your face telling you about funk. Breaking and entering is what this mix is all about. The words "hip hop" are sampled effectively, you learn about dance, and even the Beastie Boys come up for air for a second or two. It will probably rock a party efficiently.

Two step.

Daft Punk

So, we all went gaga for "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger"... in 2001. I thought it was innovative as hell. I bought the Intastella 5555 DVD. I thought Daft Punk were mad robot geniuses. Then this past year saw an incredible surge in popularity for Daft Punk and "H.B.F.S." in particular. It showed up in every other DJ mix I listened to. Kanye West used it in a hit song. DJ after DJ mixed Kanye's track with Daft Punk everywhere I went. Few seem to be aware that the original tune is called "Cola Bottle Baby" by Edwin Birdsong and is more than 20 years old. But I digress.

After hearing this song everywhere this past year, I started becoming bitter. Everyone was hailing Daft Punk as the second coming of Christ. I kept thinking "Sure, they are great, but you are 7 years late!" I even saw them in Brooklyn over the summer, and sure enough, the show was rapturous, but I was still saying Daft Punk were overrated.

Then I listened to their memento from this past tour, Alive 2007, and I think I understand something I didn't before. Daft Punk created a spectacle, in the vein of a Broadway show. They themselves said "The music is the same, the show is the same, but every performance is different." They used their tour to bring their old songs to life, to showcase new tunes, and to create a complete sensory escape from reality. The ecstatic roar of the crowd in the recording is very good at conveying the atmosphere that Daft Punk were going for. It is the sound of thousands of beaming smiles. I find that if I stop looking for constant innovation in Daft Punk and really appreciate what they are doing (as opposed to what they are not) I enjoy their music more. Also, I think their surging popularity in 2007 speaks about the strength and longevity of their songs. "Around the World" was a hit in 1997, and here we are 10 years later with a whole field bouncing in ecstasy. To top it off, it feels relevant. Not a nostalgia act in any sense. So I am quite convinced that I bore witness to one of the greatest shows ever. But I still don't want to hear "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" in a club... for now.

Oh, and finally, at the show, they played "One More Time" one more time at the end!

Jitters

I have been drinking coffee all day and have not eaten a thing. I feel a state of hypersensitivity approaching. Everything around me will slow down and I will be able to see each individual flutter of a fly's wings. I will be able to hear the breathing of my neighbors. I will be able to outrun that cheetah from down the street.

The Boys Noize remix of Feist's "My Moon, My Man" is pretty brilliant. After hearing it, my roommate was impressed and suggested that I listen to the original. The following day, before I had a chance to listen to it, she told me: "I don't even like the original anymore."

My Mix of Today is the Streetlife DJ's Essential Mix, which was broadcast on December 15th, 2007. While Pete Tong claims it is hard to categorize, it can safely be said that this is a house mix. However, it is fresh. It has mash up elements, like edits and samples out of nowhere. It is high energy, but not Hi-NRG. It is fun, not too hard, but not minimal either. Shit like a remix of Jacko's "Wanna Be Starting Something" into a remix of Daft Punk's "Aerodynamic" is bananas. B. A. N. A. N. A. S. Also, there are breaks and an Eric B. & Rakim remix thrown in.

If you would like to hear this mix, point your web browsers and Bit Torrent clients here:

http://www.themixingbowl.org/topics.php?action=viewtopic&topicid=61883

I wonder if snowflakes believe their own hype about being unique.

I am down with

I am down with Mr. Scruff. Mr. Scruff in a DJ from Manchester, UK. Drum n bass infused with weird loopy jazz? Sure, I've heard of that. Rock elements? Sure, I remember Andy C mixes with guitars or their digital counterparts. And what about other styles of electronic music? Well, duh, they all live in the same house. What I heard in Radio 1's December 1st, 2007 Essential Mix was drum n bass infused with, fast, furious, jazz riffing. Horns and piano. You completely forget that you are listening to drum n bass. And then the beat beefs up and you got rollicking, good timey hip hop. All that melodic spittin' - like Jurassic 5 style. And it all works brilliantly. And on top of that is MC Dynamite (although on the second half which is mixed by another not as pleasing (but still dood DJ) It is with these words that I introduce my first ever Mix of Today. In what I will now do whenever I feel like it, I will post one of those. (The second half of the mix is by another DJ and that is not what I reference above. But Dynamite MC is on it and it's good.)

I assume if you are interested in hearing the above then you know how to use Bit Torrent.

Here is the torrent at themixingbowl.org

If someone reads that, wants to listen to what I am talking about, and does not know how to use Bit Torrent, you can ask me. It's worth your time to learn.

Reading Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. I am only 3 chapters in. "Scary" describes it well. In one scene, babies are being conditioned to hate flowers and books by shock therapy. No shit.



Seeing Daft Punk last August. This was an accident. It was supposed to be a photo.

Hello, I'm brining sexy back

-OK, do you have a receipt?
>No, I do not.
-Sorry, we don't accept used sexy without a receipt.
>You motherfuckers don't know how to act.

Sweet sweet coffee is pouring into my belly. It tastes like amaretto clouds. They are gathering over the northern tip of my county ready to unleash a torrent of caffeine.

I really like subway musicians, but not the "official" ones. There is a spot in the Time Square station where any musician who happens to be there has an official looking banner announcing who they are. I like the undocumented musicians on the trains themselves. The other week I got treated to not one, but two mariachi performances on the same ride. First was a duo with great, full sound. Then came a trio in matching Mexican shirts with a stand up bass. That was impressive, but their accordion / guitar / bass sound actually sounded more hollow than the previous bass-less band. One time, in the Times Square station I saw a man with an electric violin. The violin looked like H.R. Giger designed it; with flashing lights, black extensions, and an overall twisted shape. The man looked like he belonged in Dream Theater. Tight leather pants, boots, some rock T-shirt, and long, ratty hair reminiscent of Ronnie James Dio. He had a drum loop going and was shredding his violin, all while headbanging and contorting himself with reckless (albeit staged) abandon. He was interesting, but cheesy as fuck.

However, my favorite subway musician (and I doubt he would even call himself that) is a shriveled, blind, old man who gently sings sweet songs about hardship and young love. The R train turns into the Mississippi Delta for just a few minutes and I am in heaven. I always give him money.

The other week I saw Jackie "The Jokeman" Martling of onetime Howard Stern fame looking sloppy, old, and cheap. Then later on (not the same day) I saw Hugh Grant dreamily walking down the street. He looked stoned and not as good as he does in dem moving pictures. Turns out he was coming back from an auction where he unloaded a painting for many millions of dollars. I'd be looking stoned too.

I am listening to Peaches' The Teaches of Peaches. It's so sleazy I feel that I am covered with slime. Groovy.

dubstep

I am listening to dubstep music and it is brining me great pleasure. The rumble of the bass in the belly of the beast and the sky high atmospherics make it incredibly engaging music. It sways, it jumps, it skips, and it rolls.

everything must go

I started a blog. Look at that. I don't know anything about blogging actually. Blogging bypassed me. I guess I was too busy doing something else. So just bear that in mind.

Supamon pissed all over the floor so I took away his computing rights.

I am going to shit my pants in ecstasy at the end of the month when I see Chromeo and DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist in the same weekend. The former will be a rapturous dance party from 1987, but filtered through 2112. The latter will be a journey into trippy, hippy, hoppy, Bay Area psychedelia. Needles to say, I am more excited than a raccoon that found out all the worlds' broomsticks broke. I say this because it is common knowledge that raccoons are chased off porches with brooms worldwide.