infuse your online videos with ad content

interesting piece on cnet today about a new company that puts google-style targeted ads into your on- (and off) line videos, allowing you to track and collect payment no matter how the videos are played through embedded tags. could become scary huge, opening the doors for the copyright-holding associations to free up a flood of online video content.

Big Box Boom & Bust

The Spam Museum, renovated K-Mart, Austin, Minn.

Do you ever think about what happens to the space that is left behind when Wal-Mart, K-Mart, or Target skip town? Well you may be interested to know that early this afternoon I was delighted to find in my inbox an invitation to attend a discussion about Big Box retailing with artist Julia Christenson and policy analyst Amnol Chaddha. To my dismay I will most likely miss the discussion because of prior committments. However, I must suggest that you check out the website created by Julia and if you are in NYC on November 1, 2005 check out the discussion.

mommy's little cutie-pie rapper!

familyeducation.com explains how to make an eminem costume for your kid. oh yeah, happy halloween.

nyt walks its readers through setting up their own podcast studio

"that's a wrap!" - another slammin' podcast up and running.

from $10 to $30,000, you can have your own podcast studio, as detailed in the nyt's business section today. all that money spent does no good if your content is crummy, so make sure to save some energy aside for your killer ideas. (reg. req'd)

[via lifehacker]

pete yellin

mainstream records put out countless great records in the early 70s. lots of funky and just plain good jazz and soul music. one example is pete yellin doing a really nice version of "you are the sunshine of my life". from it's the right thing. 1973. mainstream records.

totally still got it

fresh from his smash success in the movie domino (he played himself).

brian austin green co-stars as chris, in the new sitcom freddie.
(thanks, sizod.)

sushi making robots

robots and sushi - a heavenly combination. this company makes all sorts of sushi robots, from simple little hat boxes that squirt out slices of rice ready for toppings and eating, to industrially huge machines that make the full shebang for selling in japanese fast food sushi joints. if they could make it smile and say hello they'd be bigger than google.





[via]

the boondocks comes to tv

there's a swell article in today's ny times about aaron mcgruder bringing the boondocks to adult swim. some nuggets: 1) regina king took over as the voice of both riley and huey after alicia keys dropped out. 2) it's the most expensive show ever produced by the cartoon network. 3) jayson blair was the first person to put the boondocks in print, back when he was the editor of the campus paper where he and mcgruder went to college.

Years later, Mr. Blair … would be lampooned in the strip he help[ed] put on the map. "You can actually look at Jayson Blair and say, 'Wow, you set black people back,' " Mr. McGruder said, shaking his head. "A lot of people are accused of that, but he actually did it."

bubblegum artist

check out artist jason kronenwald's bubblegum art pieces - he does portraits of famous blonds made out of chewing gum. and they're good!

Each Gum Blonde is 100% chewed bubblegum on a plywood backing. No paint or dye is used. The colour is inherent to the gum - the mixing of colour takes place inside the mouth during chewing using an endless variety of flavours made by an endless variety of companies.

he's got paris, britney, avril, pam anderson and a lot more.

goblin cock - rock video

the mix: slowly steamrolling, heavy rock (with melodic undertones). ghoulish guys in haunting robes. softball playing macho girls. and if you wait long enough, maybe even a robot cameo. what is it? goblin cock's rock and roll video. two other things you might want to know: these guys opened for the wrens at cmj in nyc this past september (with jypu), and the singer also sings for pinback.
[via antville]

yoda dances like a big dumb girl!

if only this were an official "deleted scene" from star wars, then i could really rip into george lucas about losing his marbles. it's not, but it will still make you shake your head. maybe i'm just oversensitive, but it actually gave me the shivers. watch yoda get loose.
(thanks to glenn, i think.)

stream some spoon

free streams of 'that's the way we get by' and other great spoon tunes on the merge record sites. also, mess with the drop down menu to great songs by quarby favorites american music club, polvo and more.

goths vs b-boys: breakdance showdown

it might sound like the lamest concept imaginable, but it wasn't too lame for skinny puppy: watch the video for their song "pro-test." the gist: some street dancin' b-boy style dudes are happened upon by a serious group of hardcore goths. what happens? they breakdance, of course. make sure to watch the very last part as the song wraps up, for a good chuckle.
musically, it's good in a way that reminds me of being 16 again. the moves are actually pretty impressive too.

[via antville]

iconography

variety is counting down their top 100 iconic film moments, film music and awards fashion, for you divas and divos.

(thanks, banner ad.)

halloween pumpkin stencil radness update

you might remember the post about the buffy halloween pumpkin stencils. well check this out -- official dark lord of the office nerds.

bruce ditmas

way, way out there in the jazz spectrum is the yellow lp by bruce ditmas. it's experimental jazz with ditmas on arp, moog, and drums. there's also trumpet and a little bit of vocals. it's spacey and intense at the same time. really original stuff. ditmas has played with paul bley and jaco pastorius and is known primarily as a drummer. check out "l'unita". 1977. wizard records.

shredder guitar king michael angelo releases new album

yeah, that's a real guitar. the hair, not so sure.

holding steady to his roots, superfast guitarist michael angelo batio has a new album and song sample available on his website, angelo.com. you might know him as the guy who did the guitar work on the hilariously bad 80's slasher b-movie shock 'em dead. what you might not know is he and his former band nitro appeared in the hulk hogan movie suburban commandos. among his other accolades:

Guitar One Magazine voted Michael the no. 1 Shredder of ALL TIME in their April 2003 issue. Other notable guitarists that made the top 10 were John Petrucci, Paul Gilbert, Buckethead, (the late, great) Shawn Lane and Yngwie Malmsteen.

and make sure to listen to his christmas song renditions while on his site. also, a clip from his instructional video that will definitely blow your eardrums and your eyeballs and maybe even your nuts if you watch up to the 2 minute point.

henry rollins and the ifc bring you: rollins ringtones

if you've got a phone that lets you do fancy-style, full-audio ringtones, but you don't want to be like everyone else in the office with "lose yourself" playing whenever you get a call, check out these great options.

"Hey, this is Henry Rollins. Answer your fucking phone."

someone needs to make an iYad

iBelieve is a kitschy-cool cross-shaped lanyard for your iPod shuffle. it's just $13 and lets you rep christ while you rock jars of clay! sweet.
(thanks, li'l c.)

how to make your own robot car

if you want to emulate the darpa challenge but don't have the multi-million dollar budget, here are some steps to show you how to make your own self driving rc car robot. the video link is broken but you can watch it by clicking here.

dude races his lamborghini against a flying jet

watch some rich clown test his luck against a flying jet plane. and his mom calls him on the phone during the whole thing.

ny times profile: japanese sneaker style

it's hard to say who's emulating whom anymore, with our fascination at oversea sneaker cultures that tend to focus on the outrageous nike and new balance styles found there. the new york times posted an article from its travel section a couple weeks ago about the hip harajuku sneaker scene.

The most expensive shoes were a vintage pair of Nike's Supreme Dunk, a low-rise basketball shoe, in white with accents of beige leather striated in black: 58,590 yen including tax for a limited edition from several years back.

not a very long article (too short, in fact), and registration is required.

indie film soundtrack by dntel

got a note alerting me that the soundtrack to broken machine films' new indie release (this is) the dream of evan and chan is provided by none other than plug research artists dntel. check out the vidclip on their site, it plays like a music video.
(thanks, joshua.)

how to set up your own silkscreen shop

a set of pretty clear instructions with photos on how to make your own silkscreens. described to be a setup for mass production of your designs, for retail or other purposes. their "on a budget" equiptment list won't set you back too far either.

does boards of canada have a david koresh fascination?

this guy thinks so - check out all the information he's compiled to prove his point. you know how those scots love american cult leaders.

he's also got some other awesome b.o.c. info posted:

Dandelion: That's Leslie Nielsen speaking. He did voice-overs for the National Film Board of Canada's nature films in the late '70s.

we will become silhouettes

treat yourself to the splendid "we will become silhouettes" video and the the two best songs of 2003 on the postal service's myspace page.

play a game with yourself, im this page to ANYONE and see if they don't like the songs.

frank lowe

i really like the strange off-kilter melody that frank lowe's got going on "chu's blues". it's "free jazz" like most of the stuff on arista/freedom, but a little more straightforward. from fresh. 1975. arista/freedom.

dancin' hilarity for a rainy day

save this video for the next time you're feeling down. there's no way you can avoid smiling when you see the dance magic (with a hip-hop hindi twist!) from these fellas. the secret with these google videos is sizing the browser window way smaller so it streams smoother.

at the least, it's good for halloween

gorilla mask offers a descriptionless video called "rubber johnny" that starts off quite confusingly, and then turns to a music segment that isn't too far off from those aphex twin videos. made me laugh out loud a few times.

big joe

say a prayer for cam'ron, y'all. he was shot this weekend, but he and his car that costs more than your house are safe according to his representation.

The artist, who was recovering at Howard University Hospital, had stopped at a traffic light shortly after midnight when a man attempted to steal his Lamborghini, said his manager, Big Joe.

why does every detail in this story seem like it was cut from the shooting script of cb4? except his sweater, which is very mid-way point in rocky 4ish.

get the wheel, let's go for a ride

according to the lore, greg dulli, alt legend of the afghan whigs and the twilight singers, was almost finished with his album “amber headlights” when his dear friend ted demme, the director, passed away. he shelved the album and evolved some of the songs into tracks on the album “blackberry belle.” now dulli has finally released the album to assuage his fanatics. the surprise of it all is that the song ‘cigarettes’ is the rock song of the decade and could become dulli’s first hit in years (or ever?). click here to check it out on the twilight singer’s myspace page. click add to include it on your pretty, little profile.

also, check out the lyrics to st. gregory. is that dulli's dad saying hello to his boy in heaven?

celebrities don’t wear condoms

from the “why the internet is so good/bad” file: boy from scrubs spotted with shiska from the oc, both looking marginally sexually satisfied. a bitter blogger responds:

The only person who reads this site sent me in a story about Zach Braff and Summer from the O.C. fucking.

And then the blogedero behind drunken stepfather launches into a rant about how the good-looking nerd on the oc, handsome guy, could never really get summer. in the post, he also delivers the most quotable line of the year and and a blessed fact: celebrities don't wear condoms.

bu seriously, branf tags summer? not quite post-sinatra mia farrow, but he has to be our new hero. gentlejews, this is our generation’s woody allen.

[via defamer]

now they're doing a "space elevator" competition

nasa has taken a lesson from darpa and the x-prize foundation. this weekend they're sponsoring the space elevator competition, offering $50,000 to the group who's robot climbs a 50 meter tether fastest. there's a second competition for the group that can come up with the strongest tether, with a goal of increasing its strength by 50% in each year's contest. say hello to the freaky future.
[via cnet]

list of everyone's salaries

just in case you were having a good day, read this list of what everyone in america earns and then go worry about your credit card debt. i'll be drunk at the bar all weekend, in case the frustration gets too unbearable for you too.

elliott smith b-sides and demos for downloading

22 elliott smith tracks that you maybe never heard before. mp3 format.

While many of these songs were most likely recorded before the "Basement" era, the leak includes a variety of unreleased songs
(& one live song "Another Standard Folk Song").

[via non è niente]

video of the week

deceptacon by le tigre

a lo-res version of a video to a song that i like a lot, and since they close their shows with it, i guess others do too. it looks like it was made by fans but someone on the antville page said they think its adam horowitz, could be cuz he dates one of the le tigre gals. either way i'll memorize these moves and dance like this for hours straight later tonight at delirium. mark my words.
[via antville vids]

get your search on

bomarr put us on to singingfish, a pretty great audio and video search engine. i found loads of cool mp3s and video clips. try it out for yourself!

the simpsons arrive to arab television

interesting piece for simpsons fans in the independent.co.uk about how the simpsons had to be altered to fit onto arab tv. quite a few changes in fact, from their names (homer is now omar) to their diets (soft drinks instead of duff) to their vocations (moe no longer owns a bar). one viewer isn't so happy, a professor at cal state stanislaus who runs the website angryarab.blogspot.com... personally, i'll pay $20 for a subtitled copy to the first person that can get me one.
[via slashdot]

bacharach speaks

classic composer burt bacharach is back with a new album including the first lyrics he's ever written. the album features vocals by elvis costello, rufus wainwright and some loops by dr. dre.

"It's very streety, as streety as I can make it," Bacharach said about the hip-hop influence.

village voice writer recounts acting in gondry's new white stripes video

tom breihan, who writes the status ain't hood column in the v.v. (and stands 6'11") writes about the shoot he did for michel gondry's upcoming white stripes video. described as an overstylized "day in the life" that rotates around a 2003 w.s. conan appearance, where everything is either freakishly over- or undersized. its gondry, so yeah it will be awesome.

my bloody valentine - only shallow video

saw a video i hadn't seen before over at pleaj's house last night - only shallow by my bloody valentine. one of their best songs; the video is different than how i used to visualize it.

in case you too have been "singing" the mumbled lyrics with made up sounds, here's the lyrics. go ahead and learn how to play it on guitar while you're at it.

waste two minutes looking at this fun illusion

one of those "my eyes are playing tricks on me" pages. surprising results. and its not one of those lame ones where the screen flashes and screams at you. check it out.

jon lucien

jon lucien's records from the 70s are great. he's a soul singer for sure, but there is a caribbean tone to some of his stuff too. "ghetto song" has nice, familiar drum break intro and strong vocals. from mind's eye. 1974. rca records.

geekiest boardgame ever

i still harbor nerd resentment, from since a java programming class i took. the t.a. had weird pepperoni-smelling b.o., and i swear i caught him mocking me from behind. the casual conversations were unbearable, like the time one guy told his nerd-circle that he went to a metallica concert the night before and then went into detail about what a "mosh pit" is, as if he were an early exploring returning with stories of exotic natives from overseas. it was terrible!

my advice: don't let this happen to your children. teach them programming from an early age using cjump, the computer programming boardgame. by applying the basics of c++ and java to the "cool" world of skateboarding and snowboarding, you'll quickly transform your stylish little baby into a salami-armpitted, anti-social, computer programming grouch.
(thanks, sizod.)

ashton kutcher: still a stupid fuck-ass

ashton kutcher is developing a new sitcom about "a young club owner whose marriage to a fortysomething businesswoman makes him stepfather to kids who are almost as old as he is." it's called 30 year old grandpa. crap, derivative premise and crap, derivative title. am i wrong?

In the show both the new bride and her 22-year-old daughter both become pregnant at the same time. We can only hope that life does not imitate this "art."

nice writing, boston herald! very clever, indeed.

malted malk

matador's download page has a wacky new video by stephen malkmus, starring this lady:

mine's "midnight fantasy"

hey, all you scarred princes of darkness -- head over to necrotic obsession and get your internet goth name.
(thanks, li'l c.)

coming in 2007 - transformers live action film

still very little announced regarding the upcoming live-action (siiiiiiick) film featuring the timeless tale of the autobots vs. the deceptacons. imdb has brief page with a messageboard full of info. egotastic also has a link to some brand new information.

sf'ers: no more gang of four show - be careful going home tonight

tonight's gang of four show at the warfield has been cancelled, so please keep your eyes open for angry aging punkers as you head down market street.

side by side pics of the new and old ipod

i've been waiting a week now for some comparison photos of the new and old ipod. mr. diclerico just received his and posted a batch of photos for us to see the difference. gotta say, that new one looks real nice - i assumed they increased the width of it but its still the same. looking forward to more user reviews of the sound and video quality.
[via gizmodo]

halloween pumpkin stencil radness

i'm surprised i never heard of this before. stencils to get professional carved pumpkin results. to be ordered today: spike from buffy the vampire slayer. this will sit right on my desk at work where i will be coronated "geek king."

update: check out my very own rendition of this awesome stencil. worked great!

(thanks, steve.)

amazing star wars wikipedia page of the day

looking to get caught up in all the obscure points of the star wars universe? well look no further than wikipedia. its possible to spend and entire sunday reading through link after link, and still be only a novice in the vast amount of over-the-top star wars information. believe me, i've done it a few times.

today's example: the detailed descriptions given to all of the "clone commanders" - the stormtrooper squad leaders that appeared in revenge of the sith.

for secondary reading, check out the various diseases present in the star wars galaxy.

Poltur Virus: This virus was first contracted by the Wookiees of the Myyydril tribe, after they began living in the caverns beneath the Mysess Glade to avoid persecution.

could this be the best diy usb project ever?

it is definitely the most vulgar. bust out your soldering iron and that fake poop you've been saving for a slow day at the office and put together your very own usb turd.
(thanks, sizod.)

free shows in nyc

catch jeff tweedy, cat power, aimee mann and more

classic nintendo medly performed accapella

nerd alert: accepella choir group does its rendition of classic nintendo theme songs. combined with their onstage reinactments, we've got a 3.0 on the geek scale.

wmv embedded on the bigboys.com webpage.

wmv file alone for mac people who can't see those shitty embedded wmv files--even better if you have that flip4mac program so you can skip windows media player altogether.

the ventures

remember that one song that was played incessantly on truck commercials a couple years ago? well, that song sampled the ventures. the original song is called "wild child" and it's good. the lp is wild things. 1966. dolton records.

build your own boba fett

a halloween link for most of us, an anytime link for the diehard star wars conventioneers: make your own boba fett outfit. lots of fantastic diagrams and a nice gallery of various people's completed costumes.

whats up with you weird rod stewart fans?

???

can someone please explain how rod stewart has four of the top 100 amazon.com sales? his great american songbook releases (part iv in the annual series' release date: tomorrow) are placed 2, 47, 66 and 78. that's a lot of rod, guys.

also a mystery: every other album on their list.

myspace: home of the micro-phenomenon

myspace is the home of over 30,000,000 little phenoms. every profile gives you more character development than you can expect from an episode of the gilmore girls.

basically the magic is this: give hot people the ability to do the stuff that nerds always have been able to do on the web: post pictures, exchange useless LOLs, create comments, which basically utilize the technology of a 1994 guestbook, and make them as easy to figure out as nick and jessica’s marriage being a sham.

the formula of hot, real girl plus internet has created the newest internet sensation. it’s almost like millions of attractive people realized that the net can be used for more than gay porn and driving directions at one time. do all those fake chat hos in the yahoo! chatrooms really have legs and digital cameras? well, think about it: there was a ho at your school. now they can hook up with a band that played at the whiskey last june instead of you.

amazing shit is going on every second on myspace. i’m not talking my chemical romance or the over nine billion cleavage shots.

3 fascinating myspace only happenings:

1. less friends is the new lots of friends. rivers cuomo’s real life fixation with myspace let’s you know what kind ofcelebrity, asian-o-phile you might meet by lurking around someone’s blog late at night.
2. your band is awesome. she’ll review every band on myspace if she doesn’t get fired from her desk job first.
3. myspace drawing project. my pal jeff has been in touch with 500 people who want their drawing done in exchange for revealing the patterns in their most intimate relations. this meta-narrative project is a light-hearted mix between silence of the lambs, pump up the volume and that caricaturist who tortured the kids with big noses at bar mitzvahs and six flags everywhere.

feist - mushaboom video

this goes out as a three-month anniversary treat to two very beautiful people. watch the mushaboom video
(instructions: click the link--you'll get an error message. then select the url in the browser and hit enter. or, just copy the location and paste it in manually--it will work either way).
[via antville videos]

shapeshifters' circuit city video: still amazing

the shapeshifters released this phenomenal video back in january, and as you probably remember, it's catchy, hilarious, and full of overboard vignettes. i couldn't find it online anymore so i put up a lo-res version in case you'd like to watch it one more time. i'll leave this for a few days.

give this man his own nightly show

keith olberman reports the virtual fact that bush administration crises, like a high ranking official perhaps being indicted for outing our own secret operatives for slight political gain, are almost always followed up by terror "threats." david cross has been talking about this for years.

many are fans of mr. show's absurdist sketechery, but david cross' astute commentary on this country's current political shitscape make him one of the best and most important stand-ups ever.

run for your smurfing lives!

The Belgian arm of UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, is launching a controversial new commerical in which the Smurf Village is attacked by warplanes.

The short film pulls no punches. It opens with the Smurfs dancing, hand-in-hand, around a campfire and singing the Smurf song. Bluebirds flutter past and rabbits gambol around their familiar village of mushroom- shaped houses until, without warning, bombs begin to rain from the sky.

Click here for a story or here for a video that appears to be some kind of commerical or news story about the commerical. (It's not in English.)

(thanks, will.)

comic genius

the always-great av club interviews chris elliott. imo, get a life is one of the funniest tv shows of all time.

Maybe there's something in a guy that's never grown up, and he's living in a Leave It To Beaver sort of world, but he's an adult. What's funny is that what I pitched to Fox was essentially that. At the time, that movie Big was out. I sort of said it was like Big: a guy with a kid's heart, a kid's mind. What they really got was a retarded adult, who, you know, lives with his retarded parents.

redefining "indie"

indie game designers starting to make their mark with "casual" games

[via slashdot]

make friends with snakes on a plane!

become snakes on a plane's myspace pal.

About Snakes on a Plane
who let all these mothafuckin' snakes on a god-damn plane? speak up, mothafucka!

a free future?

super-music-video blog site clip tip is going to continue the battle for free music videos now that apple is planning them to sell them. check out the link and download their videos while you can.

that new ipod: secret stereo recording capabilities

reports are surfacing that one of the features of the new video-enabled ipod is a stereo voice recording mode, at a very respectable 44.1khz. coupled with a decent mic and preamp (sure to be released shortly by 3rd party vendors), you've got yourself a nice pocket-sized field recording system. you guys who love live wilco bootlegs will have a lot more to listen to soon.

in the comments section of the above link, some readers comment that by installing linux on older ipods, you can record at 96khz in stereo, line level. responded to with some criticisms of that recording setup, recommending other players that have built in mics, etc. one of those pages that is full of interesting info.
[via gizmodo]

more snakes on a plane radness!

"step aside, ma'am -- snake police. and there are snakes on this plane."

holy shit, there's an entire livejournal devoted to snakes on a plane (previously discussed here).

as if that wasn't wonderful enough, someone's designed a heavenly snakes on a plane t-shirt.

also see some amazing snakes on a plane fan art. and don't forget this snakes on a plane comic.

battling internet addiction in china

bbc reports on the epidemic of internet addiction among young men in china. poor fellas--they just can't get enough. judging from the photo, i think i'll stay clear of their rehab centers.

jim yoshii pile up 2005 tour, part 2 - starts fri 10/14

tour dates here for the second national tour of this year for our faves jypu. they're going all the way again, and coming all the way back, so if you missed out in august, this is your lucky chance. listen to four songs and then memorize their lyrics so you can stand right up front, sing