Academik

Placebo is one of those bands whose tracks i stumble upon from time to time and think to myself, really? placebo did this? cool.
Brian Molko’s vocals (try saying that three times fast) are some of the most easily recognizable across the entire rock/electro genre, the blending of instruments, effects, and synthesizers forms a melodic and macabre mix that many other groups have not mastered nearly as well. While their androgenous/glam image has not scored well with many American fans, their last tour in the UK sold out in one weekend, and David Bowie asked them to play his birthday party. That’s success in my book.

This week I stumbled across a mashup of Placebo’s cover of Kate Bush’s “Running Up the Hill” with New Order’s “Love Comes Quickly” along with a few snippets of the original Kate Bush song. This song has been on repeat for days now in ye olde iPod and was the inspiration for this week’s podcast.

Check it out here : http://mog.com/Mike_the_Knife/blog_post/88650

A colleague mentioned relationships in the US are different than in France. Apart from the myriad of obvious reasons this is true I asked him to explain. “Americans marry their best friends. Europeans marry their lovers.” I’ve been thinking about this for a while now and I don’t know if I have an answer, but I’ve definitely got some ideas…

In America I was brought up to believe that men and women are essentially equal. Sure there are the general observations about women being more emotional than men, men being physically stronger than women, women having longer endurance than men, and perhaps even being able to take more pain than men (not taking into account Jack Bauer). But all of this is generally irrelevant because we don’t interact with general ideas of each other – we interact with people who come in all shapes, sizes, mentalities, abilities.

What equality really means is that every man and woman has the same possibility to become something. CEO, homemaker, entrepreneur, athlete, accountant, musician, artist. Whether they attain these positions or not is up to them. There are too many physiological differences between us to really be considered the same -I mean seriously, women have the ability to create life inside of them, birth them (squeezing a watermelon out of a hole the size of a lemon), and feed them using milk their bodies make! I have a penis. End of story.

But this idea of equality has changed our vision of gender roles and relationships… Simply by having the option to become anything we became something else. We have, in some ways, convinced ourselves that we are alike, regardless of our physical differences and our instincts. This re-interpreted vision of ourselves has had a direct impact on the way we view relationships.

The reason I bring this up is that I spoke with a woman who said she married her best friend (seemingly ideal) and eventually just got bored and they divorced after 8 years. This is something I’ve heard several times, but never really explored until now. I wonder if the ebb and flow within a natural relationship is necessary to retain interest? Perhaps somehow by marrying someone that you are so close to, sharing everything with – you actaully take away some mystery in the relationship and thus some of the interest and attraction as the years pass.

I say there are three things that must be present for a good relationship: physical attraction, mental attraction, and chemistry. People throw around that last one a lot, but I think it boils down to sexual tension and the way in which we parlay our physical attractions to each other. There should be a good amount of all three in a healthy relationship. By placing an extremely high priority on mental attraction (or how well we connect) and downplaying the physical / sexual side of the relationship, perhaps we upset the delicate balance of the relationship… I just don’t know.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about this because my mind is certainly not made up.

If you have the chance to go see this performance of Arthur Miller’s most famous work, do it.¬† While tickets are a bit pricey at $30/piece, the acting of Keith Phillips as Willie Loman is reason enough to revisit this classic play.¬† At no point during the entire performance do you doubt Keith’s authenticity as the quintessential Willie Loman, a man blinded by superficial desires and the American dream.

The supporting cast of the Loman family (Biff, Happy, and Linda) does a good job of providing the framework for Willie’s downfall and failing mental state although I noticed a few hiccups by Linda.¬† If you’re open to the story it will make you re-think your life and what you’re really striving for.¬† If not, you’re in for some great acting and an evening’s worth of entertainment.¬† Either way – try and see it.

More information here

As usual Mezzanine hosts some of the best music in SF… Wednesday night was no different. Justice and MSTRKRFT put on an amazing show. Two highlights of the night

1 – Everyone getting up on stage during the Justice set (middle picture above). I can’t tell you how many people put their arms around me and started singing, “We ARE, YOUR FRIENDS, YOU’ll NEVER BE ALONE AGAIN!”

2 – Russell Simmons on X. Okay, it wasn’t russell simmons, but close enough. There was a guy rolling his ass off dancing the entire night. When the house DJs were playing he got up on the main stage and nearly sent the turntables crashing into the ground. His dancing was more crashing into people than anything else. In the bathroom he stopped peeing, turned to me, and asked who I was here to see… what was my favorite song? Is it We Are your friends, you’ll never be alone agaain!! or No Excuse? This is the EXCUSE THAT WE”RE MAKING”… he proceeded to sing all of these songs to me, while I was at the urinal, and while his dick was hanging out of his trousers. Eyes forward, don’t look, if you make eye contact you’ll only encourage him – my thoughts.

Check out this crazy ish!

It’s like diving…in the sky

Add to My Profile | More Videos

Friday night was a big night.

1 Long Island Iced Tea + 1 Jack on the Rox + 1 Red Bull + 1 Ticket to 2 Many DJs/Soulwax + 2 friends + 1 random guy + 1 club manager’s sister + 2 Many DJs = magnificence

Friday night I was out at Cellar in SF for a friend’s good bye party. Cellar rocks because their happy hour includes $1-$2 Coronas depending on what time you get there. Then it was off to Mezzanine for Soulwax + 2 Many Djs with a French guy I met named Solon at Cellar and my friend Paul and his date. We arrive at Mezzanine for the first time and the place is really well laid out – big enough to accomodate a roomful of screaming fans and still have room in the back to dance in the fashion and style that I’m accustomed -at least 5 ft diameter in space. There’s also an upstairs that has a decent view of the stage from everywhere upstairs.

As the night progresses people move from the lounges upstairs down to the dance floor… Soulwax comes out in all white – a drummer, a guitarist, and 2 keyboard/synth guys proceed to rock me until I’m not sure where I am or if I have taken any illegal drugs – surely it must be illegal to feel this good. 45 minutes or so passes and I wander upstairs to watch the crowd and generally catch my breath.

I’m bookended by a tall brunette and a cute blond. Brunette looks way too high maintenance. I should also mention that I’m wearing white pants, and my yellow Hose down, G’s up shirt. The blond, Jodie, and I start talking. She asks if I’ve been here before and what I think of the club… I’m honest and say it’s cool, but I’m not overly excited about it. Her sister helps run the club. shit. lol. She’s really cool and I find out that it’s her birthday, but that she’s being a loner and hanging out here so that she can watch the group/crowd – VIP faces the crowd, but there’s only a small bit of railing where you can see the band.

Anyone who can appreciate this type of music is good by me. We go to the VIP to meet her friends and fam and grab a drink. I grab a quick glass of red bull because I know that my energy will be soon crashing, and somehow manage to get in on a Champagne toast to the birthday girl (thanks Jill!). We talk for a little bit more and then 2 Many DJs come on. I try to get Jodie to come down to dance with me – but she’s not having any of it, strange for a birthday girl not to want to dance, content to watch from above – I make my way back down to the dance floor and begin the immense set by 2 Many DJs that hits on many of my favorite songs of the moment. Although one gripe – they played the original track by Digitalism, Zdarlight, instead of the Axwell remix – big disappointment. I want my Bucky Done Gun!

I dance my tookesh off with all the other people in the front of the club. It’s great when you know the songs that are coming because you get even more excited about the build-ups and breakdowns. I remember standing just in front of the stage yelling come on! and moving my hands front to back like I was a bull-dozer throwing the contents of my basket over the top of my head – Come on! Come ON! GIVE IT TO ME! YEEEEEAAAAHHHH! Highlights included Popper by Christopher Just, Walking Away (Tocadisco Remix) by The Egg, We are your friends (Justice Remix) and the aforementioned Zdarlight by Digitalism. And I’ve got to hand it to 2 Many Djs – there was never a moment where they weren’t doing something – playing with the sound, mixing, sampling, getting psyched. It was awesome. I went home thoroughly enthused and looking forward to the next event at Mezzanine – which I’m now a big fan of.

It always helps to know people : ) Now that the place has a face to it, I’m much more likely to go back.

Universal has signed a deal with Spiralfrog to offer free music downloads to anyone in the US and Canada. The service will launch in December and will be ad-supported. They aim to offer a simple, easy-to-use, free alternative to iTunes. – Finally the music machines are getting the point – they’ve been doing this on radio for years it’s about time they got with the program on the web.

read more | digg story

Product Description
Maison ‚Äì House ‚Äì is a nice concept. It‚Äôs an influential musical genre. House is a thing with walls ‚Äì or just earplugs. Because it‚Äôs home-made. Kitsun?©‚Äôs house, they say. House of Kitsun?©. Kitsun?© house. A series of tracks which don‚Äôt play games. Which you can listen to quietly, while reading Francine Prose‚Äôs latest book. Or loud enough to tear your t*ts off during a party full of sex-starved girls or because you don‚Äôt want to hear these kids in the train. Or in a smoky disco, in a four-star tropical camp-site, in the car Grandma gave you or in a full-fledged limo worth the price of four original prints by Cecil Beaton. Because it‚Äôs the new kids who are building this new house ‚Äì a soon-to-be palace which is still a hut. This house has been filled with familiar faces since Summer 2001. Friends, suppliers. Families, musicians. And a few fictitious faces, because we don‚Äôt have that many friends and suppliers, you know. Faces get old, they grow beards, they make kids, but they are never erased. So, for Kitsun?© Maison, 461 friends, suppliers, musicians and family members are featured on the credits. This compilation is pure genius. Brand new, unreleased and full of new names… people with class and talent.

The best CD description I’ve read in a long time… soon to be purchased and enjoyed over and over and over…

So for my job I have to look over a lot of websites and new computer products… These are some of the best.

Hullo – Hullo lets you make phone calls over the internet. Woohoo! Big deal you say. It is a big deal. With hullo you put in all your phone numbers and it will find you when you get an incoming call. Not cool enough? When you call someone, Hullo will call your mobile/home/office phone – when you pick up it will dial the other person – no goofy computer headsets. Still not convinced? You can put as many people on the line as you want by dragging and dropping their names onto the conversation – I had 4 people on the line last night and the quality was fantastic. Check it out!

Farecast – buying airline tickets is a pain in the butt. And if you think that sites like travelocity and expedia are working on your behalf then you’re kidding yourself – it’s all about that paper! But farecast is definitely on your side – you can get ticket information from major airlines for a specific flight and it will tell you the average price of the ticket over time – when it will be lower and when it will be higher. You can think of buying a plane ticket like playing the stock market – farecast gives you a view of a ticket’s performance and when it thinks the best time to buy is. Check it out!

Netvibes – Netvibes is a French company that wants to be your new workspace. If you read blogs/news and listen to podcasts this site is wicked. Basically you have a home page with whatever you want on it – weather, news, email, podcasts, blogs, photos, shopping, notes, everything – think of it like your personal gmail or yahoo page on crack. It’s totally Ajacked so the interface is really easy to use and instantaneous. You’ll have to check it out to see what I’m talking about. I use this to listen to podcasts at work – I can listen to them through my browser (stream them) without having to download.

HousingMaps – This site is a mashup between Craigslist and Google Maps. You get all the craigslist listings on the right and a map with all of them on the right. Totally great if you are looking for a new place in a certain area or want to know how much things in a certain area are going for. Works for buying and renting apartments/houses/duplexes/condos.

That’s all for now, hope you enjoy and feel free to share the cool sites that you use on a regular basis.
I’m listening to the latest podcast – get it here!

This is my new blog / podcast / contact center. Hope you enjoy the site and I look forward to sharing with you!

Click on the links above to get started and check back for new updates. I’ll be continually updating the words and photos section as well as posting my blogs here (you’ll still get them on MySpace as well).