MUSIC ON MY MIND 6

THROWBACK

FRESH

IN BETWEEN

A MOMENT OF LAUGHTER - BOOM DIZZLE

All of you who follow the NBA know that Barron Davis is a card carrying member of the OG club. This video is simply further proof of the man's awesomeness, and makes him one of the greatest facial-hair-enthusiasts of all time (a league stocked with so many stars). Ironically enough I did a little searching after watching this awesome spoof and discovered that the United States is actually the current world champion when it comes to facial hair and beardy-ness, there is even an entire website devoted to it if you are so inclined to dig a little deeper yourself. . .http://www.worldbeardchampionships.com/.

EYES WIDE OPEN 3 AND 4

Today I have two videos to share with you. . .

The first is a Animated reflection on love and the Preguntas Hermosas (beautiful questions) that are left in the Love's wake. The narrator's Spanish accent has a magical quality that is highlighted by the fanciful animations, and together, the raspiness of the narrators voice along with the animations and the expressive nature of the monologue are entrancing and do well to mimic the magical realism of so many Latin American writers, cinematographers, and story tellers. Overall the short animation represents a journey of much larger proportions, the journey from love to loss and then to acceptance. The piece's lyricism and expression is overflowing, to the point that you just want it to keep going, hopefully one day the film makers will choose to add on to it, but for now we are left with lines like this. . . "Love, with little hands, comes and touches you with a thousand memories". If you like awesome 3D animation, magical realism, Pablo Neruda, Carl Sandburg, love, loss, or anything else mentioned in this synopsis I suggest you take a few moments to watch this video.

"Preguntas Hermosas" is a story about a time that was shared between two people, told through a combination of "Poema X" by Pablo Neruda and "Under the Harvest Moon" by Carl Sandburg. It unfolds in three parts; a fond remembrance, loss, and then finally acceptance.

The Second video stands in utter and stark contrast from the first. I don't really know how I managed to stumble upon these in succession, but it really struck me. First of all I will make the caveat that this video does use a considerable amount of explicit language, so if you are adamantly opposed to the frequent use of the F-word and are not willing to sit through a few minutes of it I suggest you don't watch this video. With that said the grittiness of the footage and the heavy doses of irony are what really made this appealing to me. The video follows a group of skateboarders who get their kicks from skating around in abandoned pools. The visual appeal of the piece is very high, the camera angles and focus are spot on and make a lot out of a little. But what makes the piece even more interesting is the commentary going on in the background. As the film goes on the skateboarders talk about the fact that the pools they are using are actually a result of the economic crisis, that when people built their homes in California back in the 70's and 80's they thought their backyard pools would be an eternal oasis of relaxation but that now the pools represent a much harsher reality. The skaters claim to be making the most of other peoples' misfortunes, and do so without remorse, when they talk about the fact that they are essentially recycling someone else's dream and way of life they simply shrug their shoulders and say they don't really care, that they know what it feels like to be poor, and that they are just chasing their passion. Its a definite departure from Neruda, but admirable none the less.

Some of them are full of black water. Others have become graveyards for old lawn furniture and rodent carcasses. They are shaped like jelly beans and manufactured by companies named Sunny Side and Champagne. Once upon a time, Fresno was the California Dream. Own a car. Own a house. Own a pool. Everyone wanted it and the wonderful world of credit made it all possible. But now, with the foreclosure monster running wild, the dream is dry. Thousands of pools are festering in the hot Central Valley sun. For most people this is tragic. But for some, it’s an opportunity.

MUSIC ON MY MIND 5

THROWBACK
(This is possibly the greatest music video of all time)



FRESH



IN BETWEEN

EYE CANDY

These are some of the best images I found this week on my favorite photo blog The Big Picture, all the photos and descriptions are from that site, if you enjoy them I really encourage you to check it out there are a lot of amazing photos there.

A farmer works in a field southwest of WaKeeney, Kansas with ominous clouds looming overhead on Sunday, June 20, 2010. Severe weather battered parts of northwest Kansas with heavy rain, wind, hail and isolated tornadoes. (AP Photo/The Hays Daily News, Steven Hausler)

Lightning strikes the top of a building in Foshan in south China's Guangdong province on Monday, June 21, 2010. (AP Photo)

Spanish matador Oliva Soto stares at a bull during a bullfight during the San Fermin festival at Pamplona's bullring in northern Spain on July 9, 2010. (RAFA RIVAS/AFP/Getty Images)

Participants in the San Fermin festival crowd together in a square during the "Chupinazo", the official opening of the 2010 San Fermin fiestas on Tuesday, July 6, 2010 in Pamplona, Spain. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

Brtitain's Mark Cavendish (center) sprints to the finish line, winning the fifth stage of the 2010 Tour de France ahead of Norway's Edvald Boasson Hagen (right) in Montargis, France on July 8, 2010. (LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP/Getty Images)

Storm clouds clear over Cook Inlet about 27 miles southeast of Anchorage, Alaska on Monday, July 5, 2010. The photo was taken around 9:48 pm Alaska Daylight Savings Time with the sun still high on the horizon. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Seven-time winner of the Tour de France, Lance Armstrong, is splashed with water by a fan as he rides in the 8th stage of the 2010 Tour de France between Les Rousses and Morzine Avoriaz ski resort on July 11, 2010. (JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images)

EYES WIDE OPEN 2

This is a genius animation that breezes through the evolution of human civilization through the perspective of a lone animated character's mind. The video follows the thoughts of a character pondering human civilization, where it came from, and what it has become. At first the video is slow and ordered, the connections between ideas and events seem simple enough for the character, but as the video moves on ideas come faster and are harder to connect and ultimately spin out of control. Its extremely short, but I think the video does a good job at playing with and exploring the idea of human "progress".

"La Marche"

Written by Simon Rouby & Séverine Lathuillière

Directed by Simon Rouby

Animation: Christophe Pinto, Simon Rouby, SPÉ

Ferrofluids: TEURK

Music by Pablo Pico

3D Modeling, Animation, Render: Thierry Marchand

Live Shots: Thomas Hardouin

Storyboard done with SPÉ.

(see the original drawing there: http://www.simonrouby.com/La_MarcheSTB.jpg)

Produced by www.naia.pro

www.simonrouby.com

THE BEST KEPT SECRET

The Pacific Northwest is easily one of the most beautiful places in the United States, and it's natural diversity and splendor create a unique aura that can only be felt here. I can't explain it all in words, and even pictures fail to relate the power of this place, but it's what I've got so it's what I will share with you.

These are the pictures I have taken over the course of these last few weeks while enjoying my summer vacation. A lot of the photos are black and white or sepia, the reasons for that are twofold; first of all I am colorblind, it's tough for me to feel the same connection to color that other people might feel, and my colorblindness makes it difficult for me to get color right in my photos; the second reason is that I see photography as a way of preserving the emotional underpinnings of a moment and presenting them in a unique way that lets the viewer connect to those emotions without having to actually be at the location, sometimes color is integral to the translation of a moment but often times moments are best captured in simplicity and where the lighting and environment and faces can speak for themselves. Anyway, thats my rant about why I take so many colorless photos, the images are my attempt to share a little bit of the magic of this region, and I hope to keep posting them throughout the rest of the summer.

MUSIC ON MY MIND 4

THROWBACK

FRESH

IN BETWEEN

EYES WIDE OPEN 1

Film and cinematography have always filled me with a sense of wonder. It amazes me how cinematographers can transform everyday situations into works of art. I hope that one day I can learn how to capture a little of that magic myself, but until then I am completely content with drooling over the creations of others. Every few days I hope to post a video or two, they are each special in their own way and and present different environments, techniques, and emotions. Enjoy.

Palolem India from Phoric on Vimeo.

Shots from Palolem, Goa, southern India.

Dedicated to all of the beautiful and hospitable people I met in and around this former Portuguese colony.

Music is a Peace Incantation by the great Ravi Shankar.

MUSIC ON MY MIND 3

THROWBACK

FRESH

IN BETWEEN

THE END OF SUMMER 2010 AS WE KNOW IT

It wasn't pretty, it wasn't riveting, it wasn't perfect, but it was victory at last for a country that has had to wait far too long to get their hands on the World Cup Trophy. Andres Iniesta scored the most important goal in Spanish footballing history with 4 minutes left in the second overtime period, crushing the hopes of Dutch fans and essentially putting an end to a game that seemed to defy the rich footballing histories being represented.

The Dutch national team was the team that brought the concept of 'total football' to the world, a style of play premised on the idea of free-flowing attack and creativity. For whatever reason though, this particular Dutch team seemed to shed some of its fabled style for a gritty determination that often was anything but pretty. This transformation was clear in today's game, nearly every single Dutch player who stepped onto the field walked off with a yellow card, one should have ejected in the first half for a challenge on Xabi Alonso, and another was sent off in overtime after receiving his second yellow.

Spain has also forged a uniquely cerebral and attacking footballing system, Spanish players are known for their technical brilliance and ability to dominate games through possession. Like the Dutch though, the Spanish seemed to be somewhat out of character, few scoring opportunities were created and the passing, the undeniable staple of Spanish soccer, was not at its best.

Despite their shortcomings and the choppiness of the game, Spain looked to be the better team from the first whistle (although Holland created some of the most dangerous opportunities), and finally after 116 minutes of play the ball finally found its way into the back of the Dutch net, the shooter was none other than the harrowed Andres Iniesta; the player who started the attack with his backheel at midfield finished it with a superb strike into the left corner of the goal. The rest of the game was just a formality, that strike sealed the end of Spain's world cup under-achievements, and lifted Spanish soccer to a level that only seven other countries have ever achieved; and perhaps as an added bonus for its long wait Spain also became the first European country to win a world cup outside of the European continent, and the first country to win a world cup after losing its first game.

At any rate, the world cup is over, it was insane, it was historic, and it ate up my life for weeks. I have absolutely no clue what I am going to do with the rest of my summer. . . I suppose I will just have to devote the rest of the summer to reliving the glory with the help of my Nintendo Wii.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from The Guardian's coverage of the world cup along with the game winning goal, and the official world cup song so you can all sit and tear up to the bittersweet end of the greatest sporting event on the planet.

MIXIN UP THE SUMMER

PHOTO BY ERIC THAYER

Summer is more than officially here. The Pacific Northwest has been magically transformed from a gray abyss of gloom and rain into a mosquito infested dry sauna in the span of a week or two, and as far as I can tell from the news (and by news I mean the daily show) many of you are dealing with the heat as well. Not that there is any logical connection or reason to do this, but I have decided to honor these temperatures with a new section of this blog devoted to mixes, mashups and covers. Again, no logical connection, I've just been collecting some material and it's time to break it to my billions of faithful followers world wide (I know the little follower panel on the right hasn't quite reached into the double digits, but thats just because a lot of my followers, in fact milllions, of my followers are VIP status and have to remain hidden to protect their identities, but rest assured I have received many emails from these pop icons saying my "ish is fo real brah" and that more people should become followers so we can party it up, which means if you haven't clicked the button on the sidebar reading "FOLLOW", and if you enjoy the content on this blog, please take 10 seconds and join my wolf pack!!!!).


MIXES, REMIXES, COVRS
Tracks:
1. I Am Not A Robot (Clocks Opera Remix) - Marina and the Diamonds
2. No One's Gonna Love You (Band of Horses Cover) - Cee-Lo
3. Something Good Can Work - Two Door Cinema Club (Ted and Francis Mix)
4. Hello Brooklyn - Jay Z vs. Marvin Gaye
5. Help I'm Alive (Immuzikation Mix) - Metric

Music On My Mind 2

THROWBACK

Donny Hathaway cover of John Lennon - Jealous Guy

FRESH

Song from new Big Boi album Sir Lucious Left Foot - Follow Us

IN BETWEEN

The Shout Out Loud's - Time Left For Love

THE GIFT OF THE MASKS

A month and a half have passed since I returned from my semester in Senegal, and in all honesty it has been somewhat of an awkward readjustment to the united states. At times the process has felt like has felt more like awakening from an extravagant dreamscape that a transition between two factual periods of time. The places and faces that became such an undeniable part of my existence were jerked out of my life the moment I boarded the plane for the United States, and maybe its in part due to that violent detachment that makes it feel as though everything I experienced was just the figment of a beautifully prolonged dream. Every day I wake up a little bit further away from the throng and calamity of Dakar, every day a little further from the heat and rhythms and smiles that characterized my time there. Yet as my mind drifts slowly away from that time of my life, it hasn't quite caught up to the me that once was. My time abroad taught me so many lessons, it broadened my understanding of friendship and family, it expanded my notion of home, it shattered my preconceived notions of cultural and religious tolerance, it humbled me to my core, and in the end it bound me forever to people and places I never thought possible. Not all the changes I underwent have become integral parts of my being, and no, I am not a completely different person than I was, but these changes and the sudden disconnect from Senegal have left me in a bit of a weird place.

I have tried to be kind to my friends over the last month and a half by putting all my memories and stories into nice little catchphrases, and have done my best to bottle up my incessant urge to talk them to death. Fortunately for them, I have largely succeeded in this endeavor and have forked up only the most crowd friendly tid-bits of my journey. But there is so much more to say, and I am afraid that if I don't share it somewhere then my time spent traveling will truly be little more than a dream whose effects ease away as supposed reality sets in.

One of my favorite quotes about memories comes from Edward De Bono, a 20th century Maltese writer. Bono said that "a memory is what is left when something happens and does not completely unhappen". My goal in writing this section of my blog is to provide an earnest account of those moments from my trip that haven't completely unhappened. Where I run out of words I will leave some of the pictures I took, when those aren't sufficient I will use other resources, and where I run out of both I guess I will just stop blabbing on. I hope there is something in my experiences that speak to you, if not you can just continue listening to the music and looking at the pictures on this site, but if you do find something worth discussing please leave your thoughts. Also, I'd really like to feature stories from other peoples' travels, so if you have something you'd like to share with people on this blog I encourage you to write it up and send it my way.

For this particular post I have left a few of my favorite pictures from the trip, an extremely short video, and a poem from the first president of Senegal, Leopold Senghor. Again, I hope you enjoy and thank you for taking the time to read this.

THE PRAYER TO THE MASKS (translated from French) - LEOPOLD SENGHOR

Masks! Oh Masks!

Black mask, red mask, you black and white masks,

Rectangular masks through whom the spirit breathes,

I greet you in silence!

And you too, my panterheaded ancestor.

You guard this place, that is closed to any feminine laughter, to any mortal smile.

You purify the air of eternity, here where I breathe the air of my fathers.

Masks of maskless faces, free from dimples and wrinkles.

You have composed this image, this my face that bends

over the altar of white paper.

In the name of your image, listen to me!

Now while the Africa of despotism is dying – it is the agony of a pitiable princess,

Just like Europe to whom she is connected through the

naval.

Now turn your immobile eyes towards your children who

have been called

And who sacrifice their lives like the poor man his last garment

So that hereafter we may cry ‘here’ at the rebirth of the world being the leaven that the white flour needs.

For who else would teach rhythm to the world that has

died of machines and cannons?

For who else should ejaculate the cry of joy, that arouses the dead and the wise in a new dawn?

Say, who else could return the memory of life to men with a torn hope?

They call us cotton heads, and coffee men, and oily men.

They call us men of death.

But we are the men of the dance whose feet only gain

power when they beat the hard soil.

WORLD CUP PHOTOS

Brazilian Defender "Tackling" Holland's Arjen Robben

The soccer gods have never lacked a sense of humor and since its conception the World Cup has been a stage for some of the most heartbreaking, triumphant, and unexpected moments in international sports. For whatever reason, this world cup has been an especially tumultuous one. Italy and France, the two former world cup finalists were both knocked out of the first round in a humiliating fashion; New Zealand secured its first ever world cup win and tied the former world champions, managing to go home without losing a single game; England crumbled and failed to put on a single impressive performance despite its stars; North Korea stepped out of the shadow of Kim Jong Il and managed to shock the whole world by losing only 2-1 to Brazil and then buckled to concede 7 goals the next game; essentially every player featured in the Adidas and Nike ads failed to perform, with the exception of David Villa; only one African team made it out of the first round of the competition, including, for the first time in the history of the world cup, the host nation. Those events represent only a portion of the drama that have taken place in this world cup, and not mentioned in that list are many of the incredible results and performances that there have been along the way. Players such as David Villa, Diego Forlan, Kevin Prince Boateng, Mesut Ozil, and Wesley Sneijder have put on a show for the world, and sides like Uruguay, Holland, and Germany have accomplished far more than even their most loyal fans could have demanded at the start of the tournament. So much could be said about every game and every disallowed goal, and the silence of photography captures the events so much better than anything I could say. Here are a few photos from The Guardian's coverage of the tournament, there are plenty more out there so please post links to your favorite photo sites, and if you have any words to describe the utter insanity that has consumed this world cup feel free to write away.

Giovanni Van Bronckhorst celebrates after scoring one of the goal's of the tournament against Uruguay in the semi-finals.

German fans celebrating inf front of a giant screen as Germany puts its 4th goal past Argentina.

Dani Alves after loss against Holland.

Gyan's missed penalty kick against Uruguay in the last seconds of double overtime.

Lionel Messi taking on a Mexican Defender

THE UNFORTUNATE SONG OF THE DAY

I can understand Brazil getting knocked out of the world cup. In fact, it's only fair, they will host the next world cup and will have an incredible chance to claim revenge and reclaim their samba style. But to knock the Black Stars out of the world cup like that. . . really? They could have just lost and everyone would have been sad and it would have been the end of the story, but instead they had to earn themselves a goal with absolutely no time left on the clock, watch a Uruguayan player throw it off the line, then miss the penalty kick, then miss a pk in the shootout, then find redemption with a miss by the Uruguayans, and then miss the very next shot. It's almost like the soccer gods watched one too many disney movies as little infant deities and vowed to one day squash the hopes and dreams of an entire continent within the span of 15 minutes.

Anyway, the point is that today's incidents prove unequivocally that life sucks a lot at times. Sometimes when you come to that realization, and are honest with yourself about how depressing the rest of your life is probably going to be, listening to really happy music just isn't appealing. You want a chance to wallow in your gloom and hear something that will help you mourn. Today's Song of the Day is a song just for that purpose, it is Brad Mehldau's take on the Sound of Music's "Favorite Things". The arrangement is a piano solo and opens with an incredible falling base line that keeps dipping lower and lower and lower while Mehldau's right hand dances loosely on some higher notes. The chords in the song are thick and create a deep and genuine feel to the song; a feel that is further developed by the tense communication between Meldhau's his hands, his left maintaining a constant dark pulse and his right moving slightly more actively in the higher registers. It's genius, it's moving, and it's a perfect listen if you are sitting in your house mourning the exit of your favorite national soccer team.

Brad Mehldau, for those of you who don't know is a young and accomplished jazz pianist with an uncanny ability to transform songs outside the jazz idiom into entirely new and unique jazz creations. I have posted some links to more of his songs below the video in case you would like to hear more, his covers include everything from Nick Drake to Paul Simon to Radiohead.

OTHER GREAT COVERS BY BRAD MEHLDAU:
Things Behind the Sun - Nick Drake Cover
Paranoid Android - Radiohead Cover
Exit Music - Radiohead Cover
50 Ways to Leave Your Lover - Paul Simon Cover
Wonderwall - Oasis Cover

MUSIC ON MY MIND

THROWBACK

FRESH



IN BETWEEN

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT - The Tallest Man On Earth

I spent my last semester of college in a study abroad program in Senegal. I lived on a busy street corner in Dakar with a large Senegalese family. The family owned a large house that felt almost like an apartment complex. The house had become an important source of income for the family, they were able to rent out a number of rooms to students, tourists, and anyone else who needed a place to stay. About a month into my stay in Senegal an American Journalist named Drew moved into one of the rooftop rooms. By the end of my trip Drew was one of my closest friends in Senegal, and some of my favorite memories of Senegal are the times Drew and I would sit out on the roof listening to music and talking about our favorite musicians. Drew had spent some time in the music industry, he had originally studied music production at college and as a journalist he wrote articles and did interviews for a number of music magazines. I learned a lot listening to him talk about music, but I remember one time specifically when we were talking about musicians and he said that it always impressed him when a musicians work can completely transcend a specific time period.

The comment itself wasn't meant to be anything profound, it was just a passing comment, but for some reason it stuck with me. The artist I am talking about today is an artist who completely embodies that concept. His name is Kristian Mattsson but his stage name is The Tallest Man on Earth. Not so surprisingly Mattsson is not anywhere near the tallest man on earth, but where his physical stature may betray his name, the grandeur of his music is more than impressive, and the depth of sound and rich texture that characterize his work are created by nothing more than the confluence of his hypnotic finger-picking and his raspy bellowing voice. Mattsson's lyrics are both haunting and inspiring, the emotions that the music inspires rest on a foundation of lyrical phrases whose value rest in their collective emotional resonance. The words don't seem to move towards any one destination, they aren't some sort of logical progression, instead they are a flood of emotion and introspection, a flood ushered in by Mattsson's thorny voice. I have read many comparisons between him and Dylan, one writer claimed that Mattsson was emulating and interpreting Dylan the same way Dylan emulated and interpreted Guthrie. Whether or not these comparisons are fair or accurate, you can be the judge. The Tallest Man on Earth's music is simple, its him and a guitar, and maybe its that simplicity that frees it from the bonds of the 21st century, or maybe its the ways his words and guitar flow together from some deeply emotional source, seemingly detached from the specificity of modern day events and experiences. Either way it doesn't matter, Mattsson's music is a timeless gift that should be experienced by everyone.

DISCOGRAPHY:

- The Tallest Man on Earth (EP) 2006
- Shallow Grave (2008)
- The Wild Hunt (2010)

SONGS TO LISTEN TO . . .

Love is All

This Wind

The Wild Hunt

The Gardener (A Take Away Show for La Blogotheque)