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Robots Playing Music

By: Kendall | in: General, Music, Technology | 12 Comments



I was digging around recently after seeing a little blurb about robots playing music on a news channel. Little did I know there is more out there than I suspected. Check this stuff out!

Guitar Bot - EmergencyBOT TV Theme

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOkywQj5hNk



Unamed Robot - Dust in the Wind

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlRi77pBYNI



Duet of Drums and Guitar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7l0qIO7y6Cc



Fast Blue Air - Number 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cIuuplWRIQ



Absolute Machine - Absolute Quartet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e9AJVtuCKc



The Trons

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2JChnwv2Ws


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Posted on July 2, 2008

Some of My Favorite Contemporary Comedians

By: Lee H | in: Music | 2 Comments



I started writing this post on June 22nd. I had no idea that 30 miles away from where I was typing that one of the greatest comedians alive was leaving us. In trying to highlight some of my favorite contemporary comedy albums I realized what a huge impact George Carlin had on the art from.

As a child my father always chastised me for listening to music like N. W. A. and Too Short stating that there was too much cursing. I guess he never realized that my first contact with those words was from his record collection that consisted of Richard Pryor, Redd Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Cheech & Chong and of course George Carlin.

These tracks aren’t meant to be the be all end all of contemporary comedy albums. I just wanted to post some of my favorite bits. There are plenty of other comedians I love that aren’t included but for fear that the list would not stop. Comedians like David Cross, Daniel Tosh, Zach Galifianakis, Doug Benson, Brian Posehn, Dave Attell, Hard N Phirm, Mitch Hedberg (R.I.P.), Lewis Black, Norm MacDonald, Flight Of The Conchords etc.

Who we do have is:

Maria Bamford

Maria Bamford
You might recognize her for the Comedians of Comedy tour with Patton Oswalt, Zach Galifianakis and Brian Posehn. I’m impressed by her ability to channel her neurosis into something that’s actually funny while most people go the easy route and just have nervous breakdowns.

I heart My Country

Michael

We have Michael Showalter tactfully kicking an audience member and a cat out of his show.

Cats

Patton

There’s Patton Oswalt doing his Robert Evens bit which is one of my favorites. FYI: Patton Oswalt doesn’t run his own MySpace page. Don’t ask me how I know.

Robert Evens

Tompkins

There’s Paul F. Tompkins who you may recognize from “Mr. Show with Bob & David.” What’s great about Paul F. Tompkins is that his comedy is 90% delivery. It hardly even matters what he’s saying.

I’m So Rich

Nick

Nick Thune’s first joke on this one kills me every time.

Comedy Death Ray

Mindy

And finally we have Mindy Kaling who plays the woman I would like to marry but you might be more familiar with her as Kelly Kapoor from The Office.

Comedy Death Ray

Thank you Mr. Carlin, you will be missed.

So, who are some of your favorite comedians?


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Posted on June 27, 2008

Snoop’s Got His Medicine

By: Kendall | in: Music | 4 Comments



Snoop Dogg has lasted a long time and still remained a star. Willie Nelson has been around WAY longer. The two team up a bit for Snoop’s new single called “My Medicine”, singing about a remedy they both enjoy. It also features Whitey Ford on the guitar. Not sure how this melded together so well, but it’s a doozey.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSanPoWqyno


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Posted on June 25, 2008

Amit Erez: Postcard Video

By: Charbarred | in: Music | 4 Comments



I love videos that tell a story. More often than not you won’t find any connection between the actual song and how it’s portrayed visually. With the combination of beautiful imagery and kick ass songwriting, Amit Erez’s new video is a winner in my book. Check it out:

Amit Erez - Postcard

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TMGp_SWySQ

[Amit Erez on MySpace]


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Posted on June 24, 2008

Film Review: The Fall

By: DThompson | in: Movies | 3 Comments



The Fall

At first I thought I didn’t like The Fall very much. The trailer had led me to expect a real visual freak out, but on the surface The Fall seemed a fairly pedestrian effort. Though director Tarsem brought visual flash to certain sequences overall the movie was best described as “low key”. Yet, there’s more to this film than meets the eye or a casual viewing will reveal. The Fall is a movie of some depth, of multiple layers of symbolism that rewards further thought. On further consideration, I like The Fall very much indeed.

The film begins with a series of oblique, apparently disconnected, black and white images that at first make no sense. There is no sound further adding to the confusion. A man swimming, another man shouting, a prosthetic leg floating, a steam train. It slowly becomes clear that there’s been some sort of accident, but what? And, why black and white? And, why no sound?

With no explanation other than what you’ve managed to figure out for yourself The Fall  jumps to the faded color scheme of a hospital in the 1910’s or 20’s. Alexandria, a little girl in the hospital with a broken arm from a fall picking oranges, throws a note to a passing nurse promising “This time it’s in English.” But the note is caught by the wind and blows into the open window of another hospital room.

In this room, now trying to decipher the note is Ray, a silent film stuntman who, jilted by his girlfriend and laid up by an accident, contemplates suicide. He begins to tell the initially stand-offish Alexandria “an epic tale” of six bandits and their fight against Governor Odious. Here is where the cinematography burns with lush color and the film becomes highly stylized as we move in a psychedelic blur into Alexandria’s inner view of his story.

The Fall

Young children have a frustratingly oblique way of discussing things and describing events. The Fall captures this perfectly, completely unafraid to have what is essentially the main character be completely unintelligible from time to time. This is one of most accurate depictions of childhood speech ever committed to celluloid. The visuals compliment her speech; the film is essentially immersing you in a child’s viewpoint.

The title itself seems to have multiple meanings. Is it a reference to Ray’s fall on the movie set or Alexandria’s fall from the orange tree? More deeply, is it a reference to Ray’s moral failing as he uses his story to trick  Alexandria into stealing morphine to kill himself, or a reference to man’s fall from grace? Could it simply be talking about the season? No doubt the title refers to more than one, if not all of these things.

On the surface the viewer is presented with a story within a story about six bandits who have been treated poorly by Governor Odious.  In the first layer of symbolism the actors playing the bandits are also playing people involved with the film Ray was working on when he was injured. As well, the actor playing Governor Odious is revealed to be the venal producer of the film. So it’s possible to see the story Ray spins as a comment on the movie industry. Tarsem, however, is not content with such a simple allegory and the allusions don’t stop there.

The Fall

The Fall, though it concerns itself with motion pictures, is actually more about the power of stories to enchant and inspire. It’s about how stories engender love between the teller and the audience and how tales illuminate our own lives and sometimes save us. The line between the reality of Ray’s unhappiness and the world of the hospital versus the phantasmagoric tale of good versus evil becomes increasingly blurred. Alexandria’s anger at Ray’s girlfriend merges directly with the story into which she has inserted herself. Both adult and child confuse themselves and their real feelings with those of the characters’ in the story. It becomes clear a happy ending in real life hinges directly on a happy ending to the tale.

This movie is in love with stories, as Alexandria is in love with Ray because of the narrative he spins. After they leave the hospital she never sees him again except in the movies. The heightened sense of reality she brought to the story as a child is replaced by the heightened reality of film. For Alexandria, Ray will always be the bandit doing impossible deeds in a surreal wonderland. So it is that stories make wonder-eyed children of us all.

VERDICT: View life through a child’s eyes.


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Posted on June 22, 2008
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