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.