Say Cheese
A couple of weeks ago I picked up a new web cam. I use Skype all the time and I wanted get people at work using this technology. We just opened our LA office and it would be nice for people to know the face of the person they are working with.
I purchased a Logitech Quickcam for Notebooks Pro because it was small and had the same specifications as Logitech's full sized web cams.
Setting up the camera was as simple as you could make it. Plug in the camera, cancel out when Windows XP asks for a driver. Run the install program and reboot. The camera worked!
This camera will go all the way up to a 4 megapixel still picture and video works up to 640 x 480.
May favorite feature is "face tracking", which keeps your face centered and in focus when you move around.
What do drugs really do?
The medication that I take usually causes sleeplessness, nausea or weight gain. I've always wanted meds that would have positive side effects.
Well now they've made a movie about it.
Special (rx) Specioprin Hydrochloride. See the trailer
Synopsis from their website:
LES FRANKEN (Michael Rapaport) leads a painfully unremarkable life as a metermaid until he enrolls in a drug study for an experimental anti-depressant. An unexpected side effect of the drug convinces Les he is developing special powers and must quit his job to answer his new calling in life... Superhero.
A very select group of people in life are truly gifted. Special is a movie about everyone else.
Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?
There have been an awful lot of editorials coming out this week about Dubai Ports World getting the OK on purchasing six ports here in the USofA. Frankly most of what's been written comes across as pure racism towards Arabs in particular.
If a country is to be blamed simply because a terrorist was born there then we better start begging for forgiveness. Last time I checked Tim McVey was born right here in the land of the free.
My problem is with the Whitehouse giving their stamp of approval to a company that has so many connections to their administration. So far there are two officials connected to this company. I'm betting there will be more.
the Jack Tracker
Are you having a hard time tracking Jack Bauer around L.A.? Well you'll never have this problem again.
Riot Comics
Joe Sacco and Art Spiegelman spoke to The Nation about the comics published recently in European newspapers and magazines.
Vladmaster
Viewmaster as an artform! Vladimir brings her performance piece to the Walker Art Center. The audience looks through the viewmaster at custom made 3D photos. Usually there is live music or possibly narration.
Here is an interview with Vladimir. Scroll down to the Vladmaster section.
Vladmaster
March 3, 2006
9pm - 11pm
Walker Art Center
Part of "Women With Vision 2006"
Viewmaster will be provided
New Flaming Lips
I heard an advance of the new Flaming Lips LP "At War With The Mystics".
If you thought the Flaming Lips were a band from outerspace, then with this release you should be thinking about deep space. Beyond the black hole.
Space terms might have been the trend 10 years ago, but the Lips are the worst offenders. Of course they would never apologize for this, it is their nature.
This time "the hardest working band" has space jams, guitar hooks, fusion orchestras, Funk riffs, and synth noodling galore.
Their last few records have been melancholic as the band tried to discover who they were after abandoning the typical rock band approach of recording albums and touring, touring and more touring.
This journey started with the parking lot experiments, boom box orchestras, Zaireeka, Soft Bulletin, Yoshimi and lands us in a unique world they live in all by themselves.
I can tell right away that I love this album, but it will have to be in heavy rotation to get use to it. It is just that different.
At War With The Mystics comes out April 4th in the USA.
The final confirmed tracklist for 'At War With The Mystics' :
1. The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song...(With All Your Power)
2. Free Radicals (A Hallucination Of The Christmas Skeleton Pleading With A Suicide Bomber)
3. The Sound Of Failure / It's Dark...Is It Always This Dark??
4. My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion (The Inner Life As Blazing Shield Of Defiance And Optimism As Celestial Spear Of Action)
5. Vein Of Stars
6. The Wizard Turns On...The Giant Silver Flashlight And Puts On His Werewolf Moccasins
7. It Overtakes Me / The Stars Are So Big...I Am So Small...Do I Stand A Chance?
8. Mr. Ambulance Driver
9. Haven't Got A Clue
10. The W.A.N.D. (The Will Always Negates Defeat)
11. Pompeii am Götterdämmerung
12. Goin' On
Spark Festival
The Spark Festival of Electronic Music and Art is this week at the Uof M Minneapolis.
I missed last year's Spark Festival, and I have no idea who any of the people participating in this year's, but I will make every attempt to check this out.
Minimum Security
This is the home of the hilarious and cynical Minimum Security Cartoon Strip. The strip is the work of Stephanie McMillan. Her work always comes with a political slant and is very current.
The Funny Pages
Comics are good for you. Try to get 3 - 6 courses of comic books each week. You will feel the benefits after about 3 - 5 weeks.
Testament - Mix the events of Sodom and Gomorrah with a near future where everyone is implanted with RFID chips and where a corrupt Dick Cheney style government wants full control of everyone and everything.This is an extremely well timed story with all the shadiness in the current US government and the fear of RFID technology and what it will mean to privacy.
The Keep - Hitler's troops are heading east and they storm into Romania. They want to set up a concentration camp on their way to conquer a much need oil field. The only thing is that something is murdering their men.A well fortified keep has an ancient tenant who is awaken and wants his revenge on the people who have disturbed his rest.
Very cool graphics and a great story.
Shadowplay - This a split monthly featuring two of the hottest illustrators in the business. The first half is written by Amber Benson and artwork by Ben Templesmith. The second half is written by Christina Z and the artwork is done by Ashley Wood.Templesmith's vampire world is a return to his "30 Days of Night" with gruesome carnage that turns a ring of child vampires into a nightmare.
Ashley Wood's half is pure sex. It is seedy and taboo. The story brings forth the world of vampires running an underground world of human sex trafficking. This a tale of torture and sordidness.
DMZ - A future earth where the US is divided in a civil war in a red vs blue scenario. NY city is made into a DMZ where anything goes.The story follows Matty a young intern reporter who gets his big break when his team is all killed upon arriving to the DMZ. Matty picks up the story and lives life on the extreme fringe.
What’s Spinning
There is a lot of new music releases this month. Here are a few I've been enjoying and what time of day I'm tuning in.
Cat Power : The Greatest - this is my mid-afternoon listen of the week. Goes good with biscuits and Schweppes Ginger Ale.
Bell and Sebastian : The Life Pursuit - This is a mid-morning cd. Excellent with a cup of coffee mixed with cream and some dark chocolate. Fav song: White Collar Boy. Glam beat galore.
His Name is Alive : Detrola - listen at night or very early in the morning. You shouldn't have any food in your stomach at the time because bouncing could be a problem. Favorite song: "Get Your Curse".
Read the Tate
This is a nice free online read. The Tate Museum of London has a new magazine, TATEect.
Happy LUV Day!!
I've been enjoying the art of the photo lately. Here are a couple of my current Favorites:
Tatsumi Orimoto - He has a series called "Mama". It is based around his mother who has been suffering from Alzheimer's.
Robert Polidori - He is the staff photographer for the New Yorker. A friend of mine just bought one of his photos and it is absolutely stunning.
Keys to Hicktown
Mr. Bigtime, Dick Cheney was today given the key to the city of Coon Rapids, MN. Coon Rapids, known as the "America's Hicktown", was quick to embrace the Vice President for his heroic defense of our Nation's hunting grounds.
Mr. Cheney was accused of shooting fellow hunter Harry Whittington while quail hunting. Inside sources have revealed tonight that Mr. Cheney was doing undercover work trying to prevent the avian flu virus from entering this country.
