Please pay special attention to the SHREDDING that occurs around 1:18. This video is what introduced me to this artist. Like, three weeks ago.
Can’t believe I never posted this video by @kakiking trying out the @moogmusicinc guitar
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Author Archives: mpomy
Jeff Somers’ post-apocolyptic thriller ‘The Electric Church’ delivers
Definitely hot stuff! All the ingredients are here and handled brilliantly. Avery is an extremely sympathetic anti-hero; a killer with a code. Somers does an outstanding job of giving us A LOT of targets in this veritable shoot-em-up, targets that can be terminated with extreme prejudice without the reader feeling too much sympathy for the departed. But, even among the bloodshed and the body count, there is still some measure of humanity, despite the savagery of Somers’ post-unification (read: post-apocalyptic) planet earth.
The finale takes our hero to a place of maddening isolation as he attempts to bring down one more score, one job that will seal his fate if he survives. Without giving too much away, Somers comes up with a vivid plot device that brings the reader right inside the madness that drives the story. It is a terrifically uncomfortable passage that I actually had to set down for a moment before continuing. If nothing else, the author’s ability to evoke such a strong emotional response in the midst of a somewhat formulaic pulp thriller is praise-worthy.
Somers characters and storytelling were good enough to get the book optioned, and I’m interested to see which actors will be selected for which roles. It’s also good enough for me to be excited about the next two Avery Cates books, both of which have now been added to my wish list
Facebook and the battle over “choice and informed consent”
Danah Boyd boiled over today and, fortunately, a keyboard was nearby. The Facebook revolution is upon us and the shit they are trying to pull is downright sneaky. I know it’s a long post, but it’s important. Here’s a choice tidbit:
The battle that is underway is not a battle over the future of privacy and publicity. It’s a battle over choice and informed consent. It’s unfolding because people are being duped, tricked, coerced, and confused into doing things where they don’t understand the consequences. Facebook keeps saying that it gives users choices, but that is completely unfair. It gives users the illusion of choice and hides the details away from them “for their own good.”
You want to know why it’s bad – THAT’s why it’s bad. And scary. When Facebook throws its 400 million users around, it moves with potentially unstoppable momentum. I had a young lawyer tell me that, for him, Facebook was like the telephone. He and his friends don’t think about what’s going on behind the curtain, they just accept Facebook as a necessary cummunication apparatus.
Ask yourself these questions: could you give it up right now? Are there people that are important to you with whom you only communicate via Facebook? Would you still communicate with those folks if you had no Facebook? Does Facebook have you by the short ones?
Read Boyd’s blog posts and stay informed. Facebook has become extraordinarily powerful and remains unregulated and unchallenged. With the recent ‘open graph’ gambit Facebook is showing that it does not even pretend to adhere to Google’s ‘Don’t be evil’ mantra. We are, just in the past few weeks hearing a tiny uptick in dissent, but with the number of users absolutely committed to the platform, Facebook is well positioned to do a great deal of harm.
For god’s sake – what is WRONG with Arizona?
First it becomes the state with the most backwards and xenophobic immigration policy in the Union, and now the schools will not be permitted to teach ethnic studies because it promotes an atmosphere of resentment and increases the possibility of a violent takeover – I know, WTF indeed.
The 2011 Major League Baseball All-Star Game is scheduled to be held in Arizona and, given the high percentage of Latin and Hispanic players that play professional baseball, it seems like there may be a problem. A number of players have thrown their support behind MoveTheGame.org, which is an offshoot of MoveOn. Commissioner Selig has said that he doesn’t expect the game to be moved, but he’s just biding his time while waiting to see which way the winds of public opinion blow. The man is a coward.
Elon James does an excellent (and humorous) job of helping us put some of Arizona’s policies in perspective. The thing is, I’ve been to Arizona. It seems like a nice place. Can anyone tell me how it got so fucked up?
JazzFest (which ended ten days ago) chewed me up and spit me out. I’m still recovering.
Anyway, here are the pictures. I’m going to continue trying to get my life together after that onslaught of music, partying, chow, music, fun, music and more music and MORE MUSIC!!
Seven hours later and I’m bailing out for a break.
Em and I are sitting in the bus, waiting to head down Canal to the CBD, where we are staying. Em prefers to call it the BFD, not for ‘business and financial district’ but more out of deference to Joe Biden.
Now we take a quick rest before boarding the ferry to gig with Hirsh on the West Bank.
It was an amazing day with monstrous performances. And the rain held off. More reports will be coming shortly.
Music! Music! Music!
Transatlantic on Saturday night was amazing. The crappy cameraphone pictures are posted in my previous entry. Now Em has returned from Moab and we’re heading down to JazzFest. The music is everywhere. Even now, I’m tying up some loose ends so I can be out of the office for three days while I listen to the new Grateful Dead release of J.F.K. Stadium 7/7/89, a show I attended. It sounds almost as good as it did on that beautiful Summer day 21 years ago.
And then there are these two songs I have obsessing over. For no reason in particular.
Rollings Stones – Under My Thumb from the Expanded ‘Get Yer Ya-Yas Out’ [audio:http://mpomy.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/2-03-Under-My-Thumb.mp3|titles=2-03 Under My Thumb]
Jerry Garcia – Gommorah from a solo acoustic bootleg [audio:http://mpomy.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/04-Gommorah.mp3|titles=04 Gommorah]
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BIG TIME prog at TLA with Transatlantic – brilliant show
Time for me to rethink my relationship with Facebook. Again.
We’re all connected to the internet, but more of us are connected to Facebook than any other THING out there. 400 million people are ‘on Facebook. Compare to Twitter’s 100 million. The question is whether there is a way to access all of those users outside the walled garden that IS Facebook. It seems that we have an answer, or at least a proposed answer –
Make the rest of the web look like Facebook.
You are going to see that “f” EVRYWHERE, sans serif! Countless third-parties are going to jump at the opportunity to get plugged into your Facebook status, and friends, and photos, and the other companies you become a ‘fan’ of on Facebook. The goal of this initiative is nothing less than an attempt to take over the World Wide Web.
Think of the web as limitless connections between different users. What ff Facebook owned the the strands that make up the web?
HACKED!!
Last night, it seems an old gmail account of mine “blogerantz[at]gmail[dot]com” got hacked and sent viagra ads to everyone in my contacts and a few others besides. I have changed the email password, so I am hoping that will be the end of it. If you are seeing this message before you click on any strange looking links, please don’t click on those links. I didn’t send them to you.
And for those of you with whom I am connecting for the first time in a while, Hello! Sorry to be getting in touch under such stupid circumstances.