Hangout Review

The Hangout was pretty solid, but I just don't think I'm cut out for festivals anymore.

I want to get all the negatives out of the way and then talk about the positive aspects of the fest.

1. It was hot.

2. There were almost 3 times as many people at this years festival as there was last year and they didn't expand the area enough.

3. The beach is too narrow to have a headliner play and for people to actually be able to move about. Instead of going out around when you had to go to the bathroom, you had to barrel straight back and try to get back to your spot afterwards. It was a constant battle of "lets try to get closer...okay looks like this is as close as we are gonna get, now lets guard our turf.

4. The were not enough cellphone towers to handle that amount of people, which made it really hard to meet up with people.

5. They didn't have enough headliner matchups to spread people out. At a good festival you are just going to have to miss some bands, but when it came to the later shows, there were never any solid matchups to spread the crowd out.

Positives.

1. The bus system. They had charter buses running at all times and it was only $20 to ride all weekend. We only road the buses twice, because we had rides, but I never had to drive to the festival and it was nice to not have to worry about driving.

2. The fact that you were on the beach really was awesome. Every single band I saw commented during their set on how awesome it was to play at the beach. The later shows with the cool breeze coming off the water was pretty solid.

3. The music was pretty solid. My favorites were
My Morning Jacket - Definitely want to see them again, but they are coming the same day Ben Folds is going to be in town and I already have Ben Folds Tix.

Flaming Lips - Brought their A game, like they always do.

Foo Fighters - Rocked everyones faces

Black Keys - they did their thing and it was pretty sweet but I was busy guarding my territory and I didn't know too many of their songs.

Unfortunately Paul Simon really took a digger at this festival. Not only did he fail to play "Graceland" in its entirety, but he also forgot backup singers. Simon was set up to play a finesse/singer songwriter show, but we needed him to crank it up to eleven and bring the wind pipes. Simon is old, and so is his voice. Once he was on stage he realized that he was going to have to sing louder, and he definitely cracked a good bit. On top of that he only played one song I knew in the first 7 songs and I my ride wanted to leave so I really couldn't talk him into staying longer.

I really wanted to see Pretty Lights and Girl Talk but I missed both shows because they played "The Boom Boom Room" which was basically a tent with the sides closed in so it gave you the club atmosphere once you were in there, but it did not have AC like the club does. This 100 yrd by 50 yrd tent was overflowing with smelly hippies and I just couldn't bring myself to trying to get in there.

Other positives where that I never had to wait too long on a beer.

THE MEGADROP - 130 ft straight up and then 0-65-0 in 5 seconds and it was only $5

The cops really didn't mess with too many people until the last night that I saw.

It was overall a really cool experience and it was great to see so many of my friends that I don't get to see on a usual basis.

The Cam Newton Rookie Card

Does anyone else find it hilariously ironic that he appears to be ascending  to the clouds, as if he were God's starting QB?

Helicopter Dick!

Samberg and Timberlake strike gold again with their newest music video on SNL.



And let the record show that I have been doing the Helicopter Dick since I was 6.

Free Friday.........Riddles?

ATTENTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hopefully I got you to look here first instead of at the recent comments, where answers are already showing up. So beware of spoilers. You have been warned.


Since so much music has already been shared this week, and I'm lacking on something wonderful to share at the time I thought I would go a different route, mainly influenced by the book I am reading, The Waste Lands. This is the third entry in the Dark Tower series by Stephen King, which is easily one of the best Sci-Fi/Fantasy series in the last 30 years.

But not to be distracted. In The Waste Lands the plot is heavily riddled with, well, riddles. In the world where Roland, the main character, comes from riddles are very serious business. There are riddle competitions were it was not unheard of to kill a man for cheating. Being good at riddles was very prestigious. In our world, riddles are the oldest game known to man still played to this day. I found myself very much entertained by trying to solve these riddles as they were told throughout the book, so I thought I would share the love.

In the book, Roland and his ka-tet sit around a camp fire, and Jake, a boy from NYC circa 1980 has book of riddles and begins to share them with the group. Eddie, a heroin addict from Brooklyn circa 1970 starts off with a joke:

Why did the dead baby cross the road?

Because it was stapled to the chicken!

Roland did NOT find this funny and told Eddie to shove it.

Here are some of the riddles that were shared around the camp fire. I will post the answers next week, but feel free to answer in the comments. Just know that there may be spoilers there if others get them right.
EDIT: And consequently, the guesses/answers may show up on the side w/ the recent comments.

What runs, but never walks
Has a mouth, but never talks
Has a head, but doesn't think
Has a bed, but never sleeps?

What is dressed at nightfall, and undressed at day break?
(I really didn't like this one, but just wondering if anyone could figure it out)

What lies in a bed, stands in a bed, first is white, then is red, the plumper it gets, better the old women like it?
(No its not a penis, Eddie guessed this and pissed the gunslinger off even further, so be mindful.)

A thing that is nothing, but has a name. It's sometimes tall, sometimes short, joins our talk and joins our sport, and plays at every game.

What is greater than God, More evil than the devil, The poor have it,
The rich don't need it, And if you eat it, you'll die?

These are not from the book, just thrown in for good measure.

A blue house is made of blue bricks. A yellow house is made of yellow bricks. A red house is made of red bricks. An orange house is made of orange bricks. What would a green house be made of?

I start with the letter "e" and end with the letter "e" and I usually contain 1 letter, but I am not the letter "e"!

Enjoy, good luck, and Godspeed. Just don't go crazy over them, AND DON"T USE THE INTERWEBZ! I have found that if you think about them just enough at first and can't find the answer, your brain will keep trying to solve them on its own. Out of the blue the other day, one the answers just came to me when I wasn't even thinking of it, and with it came a great sense of joy and accomplishment.

more music for your ear hole

New beastie boys album is molten lava. Stream for free cha: soundcloud.com/beastieboys right heyuh.

 Latest tracks by Beastie Boys

slap ya mamma good music

The Brothers of Chico Dusty (Big Boi vs. The Black Keys) by Wick-it the Instigator

Endeavor Launch From a Mother@#$%in' Plane!

A New Jersey woman captured these images while flying from New York to Florida. Here is the article.

NBC's Awake

Just saw a trailer for a new show airing on NBC as part of a new mid-season line up. It looks really cool, though some critics are saying it might be too dark for the NBC viewing audience. Take a look:



The only problem is I have no idea when "mid-season" is, nor does anyone else it seems. Perhaps "they" know. So check your local listings if you are interested. Judging from the trailer, I hope it works out.

Who you gonna call, ese?

There is a Mexican 1st year PhD student in the office across the hall from mine and this is the background on his computer.



He is teaching a class this summer and I am begging him to act as stereotypical as possible for the first 10 minutes or so on his first day.

Some Really Cool Communist Architecture I Lifted from Another Blog

Here is a link to some really amazing architecture from the former Yugoslavia. The structures are monuments honoring Yugoslavia's involvement in WWII. All of the monuments are in the process of decaying. I guess this is because Yugoslavia is no longer around and the countries that have come up in its place don't care to honor the old country's history. The structures were commissioned by Josip Broz Tito, the former dictator of Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia was a made up by many different ethnic groups and cultures, so the momuments don't honor one specific person or group. This is why many of them are difficult to interpret. My two favorites are 1 and 18. Honorable mention goes 11. It is one of the few that have a clear meaning to me (fists rising up). Check them out. Here is even more info and history on them. Hat Tip: Tyler Cowen.

What Gives I Tell Ya, What Gives?

Seth MacFarlane lent his voice talent to Crank Yankers, way back in the 1940s.



And here, you can hear the birth of Peter Griffin.

Phantogram

Phantogram is described as an "electronic rock duo" but that really isn't fair. The electronic element is certainly prevalent in their music but they make excellent use of all types of instruments. Keyboardist Sarah Barthel and guitarist Josh Carter, both of Sarasota Springs, New York make beats and split vocal duties equally and the result is a very unique sound. It is hard to describe what they sound like but for some reason I am reminded of TV on the Radio and Postal Service.

Actually, the comparison to Postal Service might be lazy since it is mainly based on both groups being an electronic duo. But I think Phantogram has better musicality and the vocals definitely aren't as whiny.

Here is their only album, Eyelid Movies, on Groove Shark, and here is a live performance of their song "You Are The Ocean." Start this one at the 0:45 mark.

Lastly, here is what is probably their most popular song right now, "Mouthful of Diamonds."

By the way, I first heard of them by watching this live performance of Cosmic Love by Florence + the Machine and Mouthful of Diamonds was on the right margin.

Enjoy.

UPDATE: Embedding now available thanks to Mr. Orange.

Obama Pushes for Playoff System

In Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign he jokingly said on multiple occasions he would 'throw my weight around a little bit' to push for a playoff system in NCAA football. Now he is living up to his word.

Yesterday the Department of Justice antitrust chief Christine Varney wrote a letter to NCAA president Mark Emmert asking why a playoff system isn’t used in football, unlike in other sports; what steps the NCAA has taken to create one; and whether Emmert thinks there are aspects of the BCS system that don’t serve the interest of fans, schools and players.

“Your views would be relevant in helping us to determine the best course of action with regard to the BCS,” she wrote.

This leads us to believe that some sort of action is going to be taken against the BCS.

“Serious questions continue to arise suggesting the current Bowl Championship Series system may not be conducted consistent with the competition principles expressed in the federal antitrust laws,” Varney said.

The DoJ believe that allowing only 6 conferences automatic births into the BCS system (and allotting them more money)  is a bit unfair, and keeping the smaller schools who lack the funds to become a powerhouse football program from ever becoming one.

What's wrong with that the BCS says?

Bill Hancock, the BCS executive director, was confident the current system complies with the law.

“Goodness gracious, with all that’s going on in the world right now and with national and state budgets being what they are, it seems like a waste of taxpayers’ money to have the government looking into how college football games are played,” he said.

Not how they are played Mr. Hancock, rather, how they are paid. And another thing, there are always going to be more pressing issues in the world than college football, but when September rolls around, that's exactly what Americans cares about, football, so let's take a look at it.

The NCAA said Wednesday it would respond to the government’s questions when it receives the letter.

Spokesman Bob Williams said Emmert consistently has said the NCAA is willing to move to a playoff format if schools with the nation’s major football programs want to go that route.

That's all great and peachy, but why on earth would the nation's major football programs want to change from a system that shoves money in their g-strings at the end of every year to one that would challenge their teams fairly AND possibly give more money to smaller schools who never got the chance to drink from the crystal cup in the past? Why, that just seems too....fair.

I have always believed that I would see a playoff system in college football during my lifetime and that it would be during the better half of my life (that's the younger half). With so many people so heavily against the BCS, including the major sports network that airs the bowl games every season 

(*cough*ESPN*cough* hypocrites*cough*) the BCS is standing on its last leg. And who better to "Finish Him!" than the president himself.

Kill the biggest terrorist in the world...check. Move NCAA football to a playoff system...check. Re-elected for president...you better believe it.

April 2011 Tornado Damage Imagery

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently conducted flyovers of the Tuscaloosa-Birmingham tornado track and the Cordova tornado track. They have made high resolution pictures available on this site. These pictures really show the magnitude of the devastation. The Tuscaloosa-Birmingham tornado stayed on the ground for approximately 80 miles and the maximum width of damage was approximately 1.5 miles wide in some places. The Cordova tornado was on the ground for approximately 40 miles. Another interesting aspect of these pictures is that you get to see the damage to unpopulated areas. There's no telling how many trees these things destroyed.

You navigate this site by checking the boxes that say "processed tiles" and "Google Satellite." Then, click on a red box and select the high resolution picture.