Hot Chip gets amazingly weird with I Feel Better

I wrote the draft to this post using OmmWriter. If you have a Mac I highly recommend this free application. It’s great to just quiet everything down and type your thoughts out in a nice peaceful environment with all your distractions removed.

I know it’s been too long, sorry. I’ve been busy trying to make things happen, as well as simply pay the bills. There’s some great stuff that I’m really looking forward to release in 2010. On the industrial front I’ve been working on a new platform bed, a couch set, and a wall clock. Also, my new portfolio is getting really close to being done. I’m excited to be able to share it with you all soon.

On the personal side of things, I have a new obsession that scares the shit out of me but I’m in love with it. I may or may not give more details in the future. Sorry to be such a tease.

Enough about me, here are some treats for you to enjoy.

Hot Chip released their new album One Life Stand last month and I’ve really been enjoying it thus far. Their latest single I Feel Better has one of the best videos I’ve seen in a long time. It’s totally ridiculous and will leaving you pondering “what… the… fuck… just… happened?” And that’s what makes it so great! Props to Peter Serafinowicz for directing such a rad video.

The next band, Bear in Heaven, received the “Best New Music” award from Pitchfork Media for their album Beast Rest Forth Mouth.

Hot Chip – We Have Love

Bear in Heaven – Ultimate Satisfaction

Bear in Heaven – You Do You

Hot Chip – I Feel Better

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Post tags: Bear in Heaven, Hot Chip, I Feel Better, OmmWriter, Peter Serafinowicz

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I just came across a great clip from the late, great Bill Hicks, and had to post about it so others wouldn’t miss it. You may consider me posting this as “biting the hand that feeds.” But, for me it’s a good clip to keep the people(including myself) involved in advertising/marketing in check with their sense of morality. Sorry William, I’ve got bills to pay, hopefully someday I won’t have that as an excuse.

Bill Hicks – Marketing & Advertising

If that clip was your first experience of Bill Hicks, then you might be a little put-off by him. Below is a clip that’s a bit more inspirational. It’s Bill Hicks words from his “It’s Just a Ride” segment with a simple underlying track by the Kleptones.

Bill Hicks – Last Words (A Tribute)

“… I had a vision of a way we could have no enemies ever again, if you’re interested in this. Anybody interested in hearing this? It’s kind of an interesting theory, and all we have to do is make one decisive act and we can rid the world of all our enemies at once. Here’s what we do. You know all that money we spend on nuclear weapons and defense every year? Trillions of dollars. Instead, if we spent that money feeding and clothing the poor of the world, which it would pay for many times over, not one human being excluded… not one… we could as one race explore outer space together in peace, forever.”

It’s been said (since 2008) that a film about Hicks’ life and career is in the pre-production stage with Russell Crowe possibly playing the main role of Hicks, and is rumored that Ron Howard may be directing it. Hopefully the movie will come together at some point in the near future. There’s also an animated feature documentary coming out about Hicks, American: The Bill Hicks Story, that has been receiving praise. It’s has a UK release dated the 31st of March, 2010. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find a release date for here in the States.

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Post tags: Advertising, American: The Bill Hicks Story, Bill Hicks, Marketing, Ride, Ron Howard, Russell Crowe

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Not only is this my second post of the day, this one again has Karin Dreijer Andersson, of Fever Ray and The Knife, at the center of the topic. If you don’t know about Fever Ray or The Knife then I feel bad for you because you have been missing out on the amazing art they create. If you do know about them, then you probably know all about the Darwin Electro-Opera that Karin and brother Olof Dreijer have been working on. Tomorrow, in a Year premiered September 2nd at Hotel Pro Forma to great reviews and is currently on tour throughout Europe. Unfortunately, I can’t find any rumors or plans for the show to come to the States. I guess we’ll have to settle for the studio recording, set to be released early 2010, and hopefully a DVD (fingers-crossed). Other Musical collaborators include Mt. Sims and Planningtorock. Judging by the videos Hotel Pro Forma has posted, I think it would be absolutely spectacular to have the privilege of witnessing this performance live, and even more so in an elevated state (if you know what I’m saying).

Here is the description from Hotel Pro Forma’s website:

The world seen through the eyes of Charles Darwin forms the basis for the performance Tomorrow, in a Year. Theatre production company Hotel Pro Forma’s striking visuals blend with pop-duo The Knife’s ground-breaking music to create a new species of electro-opera.

An opera singer, a pop singer and an actor perform The Knife’s music and represent Darwin, time and nature on stage. Six dancers form the raw material of life. Together with the newest technology in light and sound, our image of the world as a place of incredible variation, similarity and unity is re-discovered.

Tomorrow, in a Year – A Darwin Electro-Opera

Colouring of Pigeons, from Tomorrow, in a Year

Tomorrow, in a Year is a performance that, with its exquisite scenic narrative technique and boldly exploratory music, shifts the positions of operatic art in a single leap… The Knife do not stick to the forms they have already mastered and their own internationally recognised sound. In Tomorrow, in a Year they actually play Darwin himself, bringing into play the entire tradition of electronic music.
- Dagens Nyheter (SE)

With mezzo-soprano Kristina Wahlin in blinding red, standing upright with a staff in her hand as though she were guarding something holy, with a voice that reaches the heavens. It’s beautiful! Strøbech wanders, like the romanticist and scientist that he is, convincingly in Darwin’s footsteps and respectively in his shadow… The collaboration with The Knife is pure genius.
- Politiken (DK)

Certain frequences in the performance make the chairs at the Royal Theatre vibrate… Darwin’s world is brought to life in front of our eyes.
- Helsingborg Dagblad (SE)

I am so jealous that I will likely never have the chance to experience this performance!

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Post tags: Darwin Electro-Opera, fever ray, Hotel Pro Forma, the knife, Tomorrow in a Year

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Karin Dreijer Andersson of Fever Ray

Last night I was listening to the new Resident Advisor podcast put together by Karin Dreijer Andersson of Fever Ray and The Knife. She is by far one of the best artist for a Halloween themed mix. The mix is great, especially for background listening while working, but I wasn’t really going to write a post about it. That is until I got to the 52 minute mark and Entombed’s cover of Night of the Vampire came on. I haven’t really listened to metal for quite awhile, but when this blasted in, it broke me out of my work trance and got me head-banging. After the little jam session I knew I had to share this for others to enjoy.

Karin Dreijer Andersson – Halloween Mix

Tracklisting

1. Neil Young – Guitar Solo 1
2. Yo La Tengo – Everyday
3. Journey To Ixtlan – Corpse On The Mesa
4. Jad & David Fair – Nosferatu
5. Zola Jesus – Devil Take You
6. Bruce Haack – Mean Old Devil
7. Krause – Duo Canopolis
8. Burial Hex – Will To Chapel
9. Suicide – Ghost Rider
10. Amadou & Miriam – Ja Pense À Toi
11. Shackleton – Death Is Not Final
12. Entombed – Night of the Vampire
13. Maddalena Fagandini – Interval Signals
14. Burundi: Musiques Traditionnelles – Chant Avec Cithare

For those of you that don’t have any patience, here is the single of Night of the Vampire as covered by Entombed. The original song was written and performed by the criminally insane, but brilliant, Roky Erickson.

Entombed – Night of the Vampire

Roky Erickson – Night of the Vampire (acoustic)

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Post tags: Entombed, fever ray, Halloween, Karin Andersson, Roky Erickson, Vampire

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The first time I saw the commercial I was amazed and wanting to listen to every Jay-Z song in my library. The commercial definitely succeeded in hyping his new album, however, now that I’ve had the chance to watch the commercial a few times it’s not perfect and it left me wishing for something more. Firstly, I wish the covers were represented in chronological order. Two, it’s as if they got lazy with planning out the ending, they just fade to the cover of The Blueprint 3? What is that?! Why couldn’t they finish it in the same “on set” style as the rest of the piece? It probably wouldn’t have been too hard either, considering the cover for the new album isn’t CG (see video below). Trés, they use some pretty mediocre screen wipes in post to link the scenes together. I think with a bit more time and planning this could have been accomplished in a single take and that would have made the commercial AMAZING!

Heir to the Throne Reasonable Doubt (1996)

Photograph by Jonathan Mannion

In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 (1997)

Photograph by Jonathan Mannion

Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life (1998)

Photograph by Jonathan Mannion

Vol. 3… Life and Times of S. Carter (1999)

Photograph by Jonathan Mannion

The Dynasty: Roc La Familia (2000)

Photograph by Jonathan Mannion

The Blueprint (2001)

Photograph by Jonathan Mannion

The Blueprint ²: The Gift & the Curse (2002)

Photograph by Jonathan Mannion

The Black Album (2003)

Photograph by Jonathan Mannion

Kingdom Come (2006)

Photograph by Jonathan Mannion

American Gangster (2007)

Photograph by Arthur Elgort

The Blueprint 3 (2009)

Photograph by Dan Tobin Smith

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Post tags: Chronology, Cover Art, Jay-Z, Rhapsody

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The short answer is simply because I haven’t had the time. I’m totally swamped in freelance work right now, which financially is a great thing! Although it has some down sides (primarily with my social life), the benefits far out weigh them. Perhaps some of my contributing authors will step it up and help out in my absence over the next few weeks.

The long answer… Well… It’s too long for me to spend the time typing out right now.

Watch for some new great things to be released over the next couple months! Here are some hints:

• Sticky Animal Love
• Softness On Your Skin
• Something Fitted
• Take Some Weight Off
• No Longer Bare

If you’re really that bored (**cough* Brian Hale *cough**), then go join Digg, they have tons of great content that’s updated all the time. Or if you’re needing new music, I highly suggestion listening to the CocoRosie or Crystal Castles stations over on Pandora.

I’ll be nice and not leave you completely empty handed. Here is some of the music that has been getting me through.

J. Howells Werthman – Biking Home on the Tail End of Something Good

Jenny Wilson – Would I Play With My Band?

CocoRosie – Noah’s Ark

Kasabian – Where Did All the Love Go?

Jenny Wilson – Let My Shoes Lead Me Forever (Joachime Remix)

Jay-Z – Young Forever (featuring Mr. Hudson)

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Post tags: brandon russell, Diafero

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With two award winning titles, Flavor Country and Time Well Wasted, already under their belts, Sandbox Films has nothing to prove. But that doesn’t stop them from continuing to prove their one of the best in the game every season. Say what you will about Canadians, but Whistler is by far one of the best snow towns I have ever been to and I’m pretty jealous that it’s Sandbox’s daily backyard playground. Unfortunately this last season many ski areas suffered poor snow conditions, and Whistler wasn’t an exception. Sandbox also had to deal with quite a few injuries to their riders.

Andrew took a bad slam at a park session with Snowboarder Mag. They built a massive jump with a sketchy inrun. Andrew got tossed off the take off and came down hard on his side. His femur bone shot up and shattered his pelvis and his arm broke really bad.

Sounds like they had an unluckily season. Judging by the trailer though, it appears that Sandbox has still been able to make the best of it and put together a quality film.

Bonus Material! 30 Seconds in a Heli

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Post tags: 09/10, Sandbox Films, Shine On, Snowboard, Teaser, Trailer

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After seeing this video last week of Iced-T destroying his his Mac Book Pro because the screen quite working, I thought I would give everyone some options to actually do something useful with their old or slightly broken computer equipment by donating it to help others.

If you have a computer that is less then five years old, chances are that it can be put to good use by someone else. Rather than donate equipment directly to a charity or school, however, it is usually best for all involved if you can send it to a refurbisher, especially if you need to wipe your hard drive or are uncertain about the computer’s condition. Refurbishers will ensure that equipment they send to nonprofits and schools works well and runs legal copies of software, and that any e-waste is disposed of properly. The best service I have found for donating your computer gear is TechSoup Stock. TechSoup Stock is an online product donation service that connects nonprofits with technology product donations from more than twenty-five leading corporate and nonprofit technology partners. TechSoup Stock is a nonprofit serving nonprofits. Their low fees have saved over 50,000 nonprofits approximately $400 million, a savings they can redirect into their programs. According to the EPA’s Plug in to eCycling program, only 15-20% of retired personal computers, TVs, cell phones and other electronic devices are being recycled in the United States. Every computer dumped into a landfill represents a missed opportunity to provide Information-Age tools to individuals and organizations in need of helping to bridge the digital gap. So before you go off and try to act like a bad ass because you can break a laptop with a hammer, I’d urge you to do some good, not just for the environment, but also for others in need.

In order to make computer donation and refurbishing less of a burden than gift for the non-profits, here are ten tips for donating your computer hardware:

• Determine if your old computer can actually be reused.
• Recycle hardware that is too old and/or broken.
• Contact the refurbisher or recycler before donating.
• Remember the accessories.
• If possible, keep the operating system intact.
• Provide the original software media and documentation if available.
• Use secure disk-cleaning software to clear your computer of personal information.
  • Windows Free-Ware Disk Cleaners
  • Active @ Kill Disk
  • Darik’s Boot and Nuke
  • Macintosh Disk Cleaners
  • Disk Utility (built-in in Mac OS X, Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility)
  • WipeDrive for Mac
• Make sure and follow computer donation center’s delivery instructions.
• Keep a list of what you donated for your records.
• Plan for future donations.

Find a Donation Center for your Personal Home Computer

Find More Information on Corporate Donation

Computer Not Worth Donating? Please Recycle It!

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Post tags: Donate Computers, E-Waste, Ice T, Movement, Non-Profit, Recycle Computers

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Over the past couple years I’ve been seeing more and more projected videos on buildings. Created by Urban Screen, this one is by far the best I have seen. The way the architecture of the building is incorporated with the 3D animations makes the building come alive.

The art direction was done by Daniel Rossa out of Germany. He’s got a nice collection of work in his portfolio that includes some great looking posters as well as other wall projections.

Manifest 01 by Daniel Rossa

Manifest 02 by Daniel Rossa

Manifest 03 by Daniel Rossa

Manifest by Daniel Rossa

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Post tags: 555 Kubik, Building Video Projection, Galerie der Gegenwart, UrbanScreen

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Think Thank usually comes with some great music too. The song used in the trailer is an older song called My Coco by Stellastarr*. Here’s a song a bit more up to date from their recently released album Civilized.

Stellastarr* – Freak Out

Bonus Material! Who doesn’t like wreck sections?!

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Post tags: 09/10, Cool Story, Snowboard, Stellastarr*, Teaser, Think Thank, Trailer

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I rather enjoyed the song featured in Isenseven’s Let’s Go Get Lost trailer. So naturally I looked into the artist a bit more was very pleased. Not only does Kyle Andrews have one of the most sweetical looking boombox audio players on his site, but the music coming out of the speakers is also Real Blasty and a good listen.

With Thrice being plagued by a leaked album months before the release date, they went ahead and decided to release a digital version early with the hard copy to be released on September 15th that will include extra material. I think this is possible one of their best albums to date. It’s definitely their most mature sounding. Here’s what they had to say about the leak:

“Obviously, we’re incredibly disappointed with what happened. We understand that records leak constantly and that it’s almost entirely unavoidable nowadays, but we never thought we’d have to deal with a record leaking three months before it’s release date, and certainly never thought we’d have to deal with a leak before anyone in the band had even gotten a master reference of the record, or before the artwork for the booklet had even been completed. We’re also disappointed that you’re hearing the record for the first time, watermarked, with a Vagrant Records voiceover over every song. And we’re disappointed that the leak has thrown a massive and immovable wrench into the efforts that many people have made to prepare for the three months leading up to release. That said, what’s done is done, and we’re moving forward.” You can read the rest of Thrice’s statement here.

Interpol lead singer Paul Banks has released his first solo album Julian Plenti… Is Skyscraper. I’ve always loved his voice and I’m really enjoying the album so far. He also has some weird ass videos on the Julian Plenti Vimeo page, but I love them!

Kyle Andrews – I wanted to Paint a Rainbow

Thrice – Beggars

Julian Plenti – Only if You Run

Julian Plenti – Games For Days

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Post tags: Beggars, Interpol, Is Skyscraper, Julian Plenti, Kyle Andrews, Real Blasty, Thrice

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Post tags: 09/10, Alterna Films, Elektro, Snowboard, Teaser, Trailer

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I’m not exactly sure what it is about these Deer heads by Jennifer Khoshbin, but I absolutely love them. I will definitely be purchasing one of them but I’m not sure which one yet, I have it narrowed down to two. And I probably wouldn’t tell you which one anyway because I wouldn’t want it to sell out before I got a hold of it.

Jennifer’s book manipulations and illustrations are also spectacular. The cut out circle concept is great and her word selection is so fitting for each piece. Jen is currently on exhibition with the Jen11 Show, which features the work of 11 artists named Jennifer. The exhibit will be displayed at Composition through September. I will be making my way down to see the peices and I suggest you do the same.

“My work expresses the idea of the story, fable, or tale, attempting to sort out the past and create new beginnings. How these stories have affected me and my culture are represented through a combination of book and animal sculptures, drawings and writings. I am artificially reimagining things in a handmade wilderness.”

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Post tags: Deer Head, Jen11, Jennifer Khoshbin, Wilderness

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The Insight Dopamine (I & II) campaign is stunning. What’s even more amazing is these pictures aren’t photoshopped. The underwater scenes are very intriguing alone, and then you add a surfer completely barreled and you have some of the most extraordinary surf photos ever. I absolutely love this campaign and can’t imagine the type of coordinating it must have taken to capture some of these scenes.

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Post tags: Ad Campaign, Dopamine, Insight, Surfing

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An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity. – Martin Luther King Jr.

TOMS Shoes

I thought that I’d start out this first week with something easy for everyone. TOMS Shoes was founded on a simple premise: With every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. It doesn’t get much easier than purchasing something for yourself in order to give to someone else. I went with the Burlap Woven TOMS. Some of my other favorite designs that I’d recommend (for men) are the Rope Sole TOMS, Vegan Stitchout TOMS, and the Gabe Lacktman TOMS. Go find a pair of TOMS shoes that fit your style and help give to those in need!

Here the story of TOMS movement: In 2006 an American traveler, Blake Mycoskie, befriended children in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet. Wanting to help, he created TOMS Shoes, a company that would match every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need. One for One. Blake returned to Argentina with a group of family, friends and staff later that year with 10,000 pairs of shoes made possible by caring TOMS customers.

Since our beginning, TOMS has given over 140,000* pairs of shoes to children in need through the One for One model. Because of your support, TOMS plans to give over 300,000 pairs of shoes to children in need around the world in 2009.

Our ongoing community events and Shoe Drop Tours allow TOMS supporters and enthusiasts to be part of our One for One movement. Join us.

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Post tags: Change, Movement, Non-Profit, TOMS Shoes

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Let’s Go Get Lost will be Isenseven’s 8th consecutive movie, presenting you fun and creative snowboarding, sophisticated filmmaking plus tons of bonus footage. It features the riding of your well-known Isenseven friends Erik Botner, Ludwig Lejkner, Fredrik Evensen, André Kuhlmann, Christophe Schmidt, Philipp Strauss, Torgeir Berre, Michi Zirngibl, Tobi Strauss as well as the recent team-additions Marc Swoboda, Alex Tank, Tom Klocker and Anton Gunnarson.

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It’s easy to see the influence of Russian poster design in many of today’s design, it’s also easy to see why. There are so many great pieces of inspiration to be found and one of the best resources for them online is A Soviet Poster A Day. Although the site hasn’t been updated with any new posts since December 2007, there is a great archive of posters with wonderful descriptions and “historical reference essential for understanding the layers of meaning” each poster carries through time. I grabbed 10 of my favorites to present here, but make sure and go look through the archives for yourself.

Nowhere but in Mosselprom

To Defend USSR

Glory to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War! Glory to the Stalin’s falcons!

Moscow is the capital of the USSR

Let Pluralism Live Long!

(...)
Read the rest of Power to the Posters of the CCCP (43 words)

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Post tags: CCCP, Design Inspiration, Propaganda Posters, Soviet Posters, USSR

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Back in June I posted Ken Block’s newest Gymkhana video. To date, the video has received over 5 million views, something that the producers over at Top Gear could not ignore. With Ken Block’s driving skills, the production quality of Top Gear, and a cameo by Ricky Carmichael, this is one of the most epic rally car television segments I’ve ever seen.

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Post tags: Gymkhana, Ken Block, Rally Car Racing, Ricky Carmichael, Top Gear

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If you follow me on Twitter then you have probably read some of my twats recently about the @Flashbulb Fires. My friend Pat McGuire is the lead vocalist and pianist for Flashbulb Fires and I’ve enjoyed watching his, I say “his” because oddly enough I’ve never really met the rest of the band, progression as an artist. He/They really have grown leaps and bounds. My recent twating about Flashbulb Fires has been in regards to two things:

First, they have been recording and producing their new album Glory, on track to be released later this Fall, and as a gift to their fans they have made two of the songs off the new album available for FREE! Since downloading the songs I have been quite addicted, listening to them double digit times per day. So I’ll say it again, go download the two new Flashbulb Fires’ songs, what do you have to lose? It’s free.

Second, I am very excited to let everyone know that I’m going to be involved in the artwork for their new album. The only way I happily take on pro-bono work is if I’m extremely excited about the project and if I see potential in the outcome. And obviously I’m excited for this opportunity and see a lot of potential in the Flashbulb Fires and their new album. It’s going to be big and I know they are going to kill it, I feel fortunate they’re allowing me to be a part of it and wish them the best of luck. Stayed tuned for more as we get further into the artwork.

I don’t know if Pat remembers this story, but when Pat was a freshman in High School I was his room leader on a youth trip to San Francisco. I wasn’t the most responsible kid back then and one morning we all slept in, missing the departure of the rest of the group. My dad lives in the Bay Area so I felt comfortable leading my roomies to Pier 39, trying to catch up with the rest of the group. But really, I didn’t have much of an idea if we were even going in the right direction. During our hour(s) long trip there was plenty of complaining, sore feet, tired pouting, and “scary” situations. In the end we eventually met up with the group, but I’m pretty sure the guys hated me for awhile. Haha.

Beyond their main pop singles that I recognize and many songs that I didn’t realize was them, I’ve never really dove into the music of the Talking Heads. I find this fact very odd since many, many of the bands I enjoy were heavily influenced by them. For example, Radiohead got their name from the Talking Heads song Radio Head. I recently got the Talking Heads discography and have found many gems beyond all their radio popular songs.

If you’re a fan of Pinback, you’ll be a fan of Years Around the Sun. They released a remix EP over the weekend and it sounds great. All 4 songs, remixed by Ginormous and The Protist, will fit perfectly into your late night electro playlist.

Flashbulb Fires – Revenge

Talking Heads – Road to Nowhere

Years Around the Sun – In the Lights (Ginormous Remix)

Years Around the Sun – Failing at Art

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Post tags: Fiance, Flashbulb Fires, Talking Heads, YATS, Years Around the Sun

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So I know I can be a bit behind on things, and this is a perfect example. I don’t know how it has taken me so long to come across this wonderful site, and if it wasn’t for Ben I still wouldn’t know about it. Daytrotter gives “you exclusive, re-worked, alternate versions of old songs and unreleased tracks by some of your favorite bands and by a lot of your next favorite bands.” As of today, they have served up 649 sessions, all available to download for free. How good is that?! Daytrotter’s list of artists is so impressive that I became a kid in a candy shop. I was only planning on posting 2-3 songs, but the list grew to 6 and if I hadn’t forced myself to stop looking then I’m sure it would have easily grown bigger.

Tricky – Dear God,

Spoon – Peace Like a River

Annuals – Ida, My

Cold War Kids – Hospital Beds

Fleet Foxes – White Winter Hymnal

Bon Iver – Lump Sum

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Post tags: Annuals, bon iver, Cold War Kids, Daytrotter, Fleet Foxes, Spoon, Tricky

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To kick things off is Neverland by Absinthe Films. The title graphics look nice and although the editing is better than most, I’d still say it’s only so-so. But with a rider list that includes Travis Rice, Nicolas Müller, Romain deMarchi, DCP, Eero Ettala, Gigi Rüf and many others, Neverland is sure to be one of the years best films.

As a little bonus, an upcoming German production company asked us to post their trailer. Although the riding isn’t on par with Neverland, for obvious reasons, it’s still a fun little flick to check out. And besides, I always like supporting people that are trying to make their dreams happen, so here is the trailer for S-Cut Productions film In Between.

P.S. I hope everyone decides to use Vimeo as their video sharing site this year. It’s just such a nice compression and video player.

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Post tags: Absinthe Films, In Between, Neverland, S-Cut Productions, Snowboarding

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Nico Stai is an independent artist coming out of Los Angeles. In fact he’s so independent that it’s been hard to find much info about him, but what I can tell you is that it doesn’t take a “Bio” to get hooked on his music. I could care less about finding anything else out about him, as long as I find out whenever he drops new music. Released in November ‘08, his most recent album was The Victory of Miss Friday How to Bury Your Heart and the Five Songs You Died For. He has 3 albums available on itunes, I recommend purchasing them all. Nico will be sure to go down with the likes of Bob Dylan, Greg Dulli, and Jeff Buckley. For more information on Nico you can find him on Facebook or MySpace.

What happens when “two of the alt-rock era’s greatest frontmen” come together? You get some of the greatest albums released in the 2000’s, and that’s exactly what we’ve got from the collaborations between Greg Dulli And Mark Lanegan. The first of their projects was The Twilight Singers. They have released 4 albums, the last of which came out in 2006. Dulli has begun work on a new album slated to be released in 2010. After The Twilight Singers, came The Gutter Twins. This is the most recent work between the two artists and has been received with amazing amounts of praise. The two are currently on tour as the Gutter Twins, but unfortunately for us there are no U.S. tour dates remaining.

Another wonderful project that Mark Lanegan has contributed is Soulsavers. Starting with the album It’ Not How Far You Fall, It’s the Way You Land, Lanegan has been a lead vocalist and contributing songwriter. Soulsavers have a new album, Broken, set to be released on August 17, 2009. You can hear two singles off Broken on the Soulsavers’ MySpace page. The video for Revival is a must see (below).

Nico Stai – Dead Pony

The Twilight Singers – Please Stay (Once You Go Away)

The Gutter Twins – God’s Children

Soulsavers – Ask the Dust

Soulsavers – Revival

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There has obviously been a lot of Twitter hype over the past 6 months, so I finally caved in. It’s been pretty fun and I’ve enjoyed learning about new people (or at least who they perceive themselves to be). I’ve got the Diafero site integrated in with Twitter, from both ends. Any new posts from the Diafero blog will be linked directly to the Diafero Twitter Feed (via Post to Twitter). As well, the Diafero blog is now showing my five last Twitter updates in the sidebar (via Twitter for WordPress).

Twitter will be a nice viaduct to everything Diafero. So come join up and follow Diafero!

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Riley Breckenridge of Thrice

Obama Selects Phelps as V.P.

You Are Now One Of Us

Best Snowboard Websites of ‘08

Mikey LeBlanc – Workin’ Hard

Further Seems Forever Interview

Deliver Me

Brandon Rike of Dead Poetic

Emery – Words With Josh

Bradley Hathaway is a Manly Man

Mike Basich – Keepin’ It Fresh

I Wasn’t Catholic

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Thanks to following Todd Richards on twitter, I got Sunset Rubdown’s recently released album Dragonslayer. It has been a joy to listen to. Also thanks to Todd and his opinion that although he really likes Sunset Rubdown, the side project isn’t as good as the original. That obviously triggered me to find out who the original is. I’m not quite sure why it took me so long to come across Wolf Parade, but it did. I’ve heard, and liked, many of their songs for a long time, but never investigated who this great band was. I’m just happy to have finally added them to my library.

Another artist recently added to my library is Bonobo. I heard one of his songs on Rescue Me and it instantly got added to my Current Listens playlist.

Wolf Parade – Dear Sons And Daughters Of Hungry Ghosts

Sunset Rubdown – Idiot Heart

Bonobo – If You Stayed Over (featuring Fink)

Wolf Parade – No One Sleeps When I’m Awake

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If you’re not watching this show, you should be. The Cleaner, on A&E Tuesdays at 10/9c, is a new show based on the redemption story of Warren Boyd. Two episodes into it’s sophomore season, The Cleaner seems to be picking up some steam and getting quite a bit of good press. “Starring Benjamin Bratt as William Banks, a recovering addict who must balance his unwavering dedication to helping others get clean with an increasingly rocky personal life and the ghosts of his addictions. Banks and his teammates employ an unconventional – and often by any means necessary – approach to getting addicts and those who surround them to realize they’ve reached rock-bottom and help them begin the process of recovery. With every success and failure, William wrestles with his commitment to his work and his love for his wife Melissa and their children through an unusual relationship with God.”

Basically, in my own words, the show is a refreshingly emotional and powerful offering in a sea of increasingly dull, dry, and ridiculous television. Both the first two episodes of the new season have had me choked up by the end. With a new season comes a new budget, and they are using their new budget wisely. You can see the cinematic difference in quality between seasons 1 & 2, as well as the licensing of some wonderful closing songs. The promos are making great use of Hallelujah (performed by Ari Hest), episode one ended with 9 Crimes by Damien Rice, and episode two with When the Night Comes by Dan Auerbach.

For those looking to simply be entertained, you may want to watch something else. But if you want to feel and be inspired this is a must see. You can watch full episodes of The Cleaner on AETV.com or catch them on OnDemand.

Damien Rice – 9 Crimes

Dan Auerbach – When the Night Comes

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One of my favorite bands, The Sounds, have recently released their new album and I’m totally loving it. Not just because I’m attracted to Maja and her hot voice, but because it’s still the same amazing style of music they’re known for along with progression and adventure into new sounds. Their new album, Crossing the Rubicon, puts me into a good mood every time I listen to it, which has been a lot lately. I know The Sounds are one band that I’ll be extremely upset with myself if I don’t see them live before it’s too late. I’m pretty booked out for the next 2 months so I’m thinking I’ll deserve a little vacation come August, The Sounds in Sweden anyone?

I don’t know much about CocoRosie yet, other than what I’ve read on Wikipedia. But what I do know is they sound different than most the stuff I listen too, and I totally like it. So I thought I’d share them with you.

Sierra, the younger sister of CocoRosie, has also started another band with friend Matteah Baim called Metallic Falcons. Their album, Desert Doughnuts, was released by older sister’s label, Voodoo Eros Records. Again, different but definitely starting to grow on me.

The Sounds – My Lover

CocoRosie – Werewolf

Metallic Falcons – Airships

The Sounds – No One Sleeps When I’m Awake

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Yesterday my friend Tyler Romes tweeted about the song Oh My God by Ida Maria. I gave the song a listen and instantly had to get her recently released (in the U.S.) album Fortress ‘Round My Heart. It’s all I listened to yesterday so I thought I’d go ahead and pass it along to all of you.

Another band that’s been taking up most of my listening time is Ghostland Observatory. They basically kept me sane during my 5 hour flight to and from Baltimore last week. Honestly, there are quite a few song of theirs that just don’t do it for me. But there are also many, many that really do. Hailing out of Austin, TX, the duo has had some great hits off of each of their three releases.

Ida Maria – Oh My God

Ida Maria – I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked

Ghostland Observatory – Best Won’t Do

Ghostland Observatory – The Band Marches On

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If you’ve never seen the first video of Ken Block’s Gymkhana Practice it’s definitely worth a watch. And now this new video takes it to a whole other level! The skill behind his driving is mind blowing and the cinematography is gorgeous! The infomercial was produced specifically to market Block’s first-ever Rally TeamWorks Collection. For more info on all this here are some links:

Ken Block Racing
DC Shoes – Auto
DC Shoes – Gymkhana Project

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Moon by Duncan Jones starring Sam Rockwell

“It is the near future. Astronaut Sam Bell is living on the far side of the moon, completing a three-year contract with Lunar Industries to mine Earth’s primary source of energy, Helium-3. It is a lonely job, made harder by a broken satellite that allows no live communications home. Taped messages are all Sam can send and receive. Thankfully, his time on the moon is nearly over, and Sam will be reunited with his wife, Tess, and their three-year-old daughter, Eve, in only a few short weeks. Finally, he will leave the isolation of “Sarang,” the moon base that has been his home for so long, and he will finally have someone to talk to beyond “Gerty,” the base’s well-intentioned, but rather uncomplicated computer.”

Tetro by Francis Ford Coppola

“Tetro is Francis Ford Coppola’s first original screenplay since The Conversation. It is his most personal film yet, arising from memories and emotions from his early life, though totally fictional. It is the bittersweet story of two brothers, of family lost and found and the conflicts and secrets within a highly creative Argentine-Italian family.”

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Ventury Paris recently released their limited edition Divine lounge chair. Ventury is looking at furniture design through eyes inspired by fashion, creating what they are tagging as couture furniture. I really like the mix clean, elegant, modern lines with a touch of old world and traditional details. I also like their approach to doing limited color ways in the realm of furniture.

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Dear Sasha Vujabic, either quit crying and stay on your damn feet or please do the honorable thing and remove yourself from the NBA.

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The other thing that I love about this video is the song selection. The song is The Funeral by Band of Horses. For some reason they’re not the first band that comes to my mind when creating a playlist, but then I hear them in a video like this and it reminds me what I’m missing when I don’t have them in my playlist.

Band of Horses – Ode to LRC

Band of Horses – Island on the Coast

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Post tags: Band of Horses, cease to begin, Danny MacAskill

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After three years sans recording, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ new album, It’s Blitz!, will undoubtedly go down as one of the years greatest releases. With remixes already out by Animal Collective and N.A.S.A. it’s proving to live up to the hype. This album is quite the glorious offering.

Ben was recently telling me about Angus & Julia Stone, so I decided to look into them and was extremely pleased. I’ll let Ben tell us more about them, but I thought I’d mention them in this post so you can now go and look into them yourselves. So good. Thank you Ben!

Over the past couple years I’ve been a huge fan of The Knife. Unfortunately they haven’t had a new release since Silent Shout came out in 2006 (they’re now actually working on a darwin opera due to premiere in September 2009). Swooping in to fill the void, with a self-titled album, is Fever Ray. Fever Ray is is the project of Karin Dreijer Andersson, one-half of The Knife. This debut album is exactly what I’ve been craving lately.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Runaway

Angus & Julia Stone – A Book Like This

Fever Ray – Now’s the Only Time I Know

Fever Ray – When I Grow Up (Lissvik Remix)

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Post tags: angus and julia stone, fever ray, it's blitz, the knife, yeah yeah yeahs

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I’ve been searching the internets to try and find some history on them and get an official year, but I haven’t found anything useful. If you have any info, let us know in the comments.

(...)
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Post tags: 80's, Bolle, brandon russell, rec specs, sunglasses, vintage

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Diafero is basically all the things I loved about Idiom with none of the extra weight and a little extra help from some guest contributors. Now without all the bells and whistles, that was IdiomLife.com, I have more time to work on the things I truly love.

So here’s to new begins and what will hopefully be a great new project that I can share with you all. Thank you for the continued support.

♥

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When Chris agreed to join the Diafero Collective blog he only request one thing, the addition of the “Things I Hate” category. I love him for that, because now I have the opportunity to call out all the little babies in the league that are ruining the sport.

First up is Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets. He had me infuriated last night after many horrible flops were rewarded with free throws, somehow the refs are still giving CP3 calls. The Nuggets won the game 101-88, but it would have been an even bigger lead if it weren’t for the horrible refereeing.

(...)
Read the rest of Mastering the Flop: CP3(60) (0 words)

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I know this doesn’t quite fit in with most of the posts we make on here, but man is it great.

Scott Hastings on Jay Cutler

Deion Sanders on Jay Cutler

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Over the past few years my friends and I have had the tremendous opportunity of being able to travel to many countries around the world. Meet many people from many cultures. And be blessed by the relationships developed with these people. This is a video honoring the people that have welcomed us with open arms and open hearts. A lot of times it’s easy for me to forget what I’ve experienced during my travels. This video still gives me goose-bumps and makes me say, “Wow, I experienced that?”

The pictures in the video were primarily photographed by Myself, Ryan Welborn along with contributions from Craig & Cassie Nason and Sara Houy. And feature the people of Uganda, Africa; Lima, Peru; Iquitos, Peru; and Puerto Escondido, Mexico. Set to the music of David Crowder Band’s – Deliver Me (Antidromic Mix).<

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Post tags: Africa, brandon russell, Deliver me, idiom life, Mexico, Peru, Photo Montage, Uganda

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MIKE SIMMON: How’s the tour going?
RILEY BRECKENRIDGE: It’s been really good. It’s crazy there are only eight shows left and it doesn’t really seem like that. It’s kind of flown by, which is an indication of how well it’s been going. It’s been really fun. The bands are cool. The guys are fun to hang out with. The shows have been going well and it’s just been a lot of fun.

M: Are you guys on a tour bus?…
R: Yeah.

M: Just Thrice in the tour bus?…
R: Yeah.

M: So, who uhh… Is there a spooner in the group?
R: Uhh… (everyone chuckles) No, not on this tour. We did have a tour once where we had a merch guy that had night terrors. So we’d all be sleeping while driving along and then in the middle of the night you’d just hear, “Hey. Heeeey. Heeeeeeeeeey.” Just screaming, like he was getting tortured. So we’d open up his bunk and say, “Dude, are you alright? You ok?” and he’d have no idea that it was going on. He’d be dreaming that some demon was ripping his heart out or something. But it was only when he drank, so if he went out with his friends after the show and came back saying “Hey guys I’m gonna go to bed (in Riley’s best drunken slur)” then we’d know everybody should wear earplugs tonight, or put your ear-buds in on your iPod and get ready for some midnight screams… But yeah, no spooners. Everybody here is pretty tame.

M: That’s good. No one gets lonely?
R: No. Well… I can’t speak for everybody, but I’m sure if they do get lonely they take care of business… Wherever they might do that. (chuckles).

M: Are you guys playing a lot of the new stuff during this tour?
R: Yeah a pretty decent amount. I think about two to three songs from each of the EP’s. On this tour it’s different from most for us. Usually we’ll build a set list during rehearsals before the tour and stick with that set list for the whole tour. At times that kind of gets boring just cause you get on autopilot knowing what songs come next. It has it’s positives cause the set flows better and everybody knows what’s coming. But to keep things fresh on this tour we have a pool of 34 songs and we’ll play about 20 of them a night, so every night there’s different songs in there.

M: How are the crowds responding to the new stuff? Has it been a positive response?
R: Yeah it’s been good. It’s been hard for us, back in the day everything we were playing was hard, fast, and loud, the kids would mosh, and maybe that’s a good indication of whether they were into it or not. So if you saw people running around in circles and beating each other up, you were like, “Alright. They’re getting it.” But now we have songs that are really mellow and it’s not an aggression thing, it’s more of an atmospheric thing. It’s taken us awhile to realize that people can stand, watch, and sing along and that’s okay. People don’t have to go crazy all the time to show that they appreciate what you’re doing. We’ve been talking to people after the shows and they’ve been saying that they really like the new stuff a lot, live and on record, so it’s been pretty good.

M: Was it the entire band’s decision to carry into this new direction?
R: I wouldn’t even call it a decision, cause it wasn’t like we sat down and said “We’re going to be different now.” Over the years the scope of bands that we listen to, and are influenced by, has grown so much. Back in the old days it was a lot of punk rock, a lot of hardcore, a lot of metal. Obviously if that’s what you listen to a lot then that’s what’s going to influence you the most. Over the past four or five years we’ve started listening to so many different types of music and learning to appreciate more than just punk, hardcore, and metal. We’re influenced by these different styles, so when we sit down to write, sometimes stuff like that comes out. When we go to make a record we use all the parts that everybody has compiled and written on their own, to try and make songs out of it. If there’s some piano based stuff, or electronic stuff, or acoustic stuff, we feel like nothing is off limits or that anything is too “un-thrice” to put into a song. There shouldn’t be any rules, it’s music. There shouldn’t be any rules that you should have to follow, so that’s how we approach it and that’s how we’ve got to where we are right now.

M: You can definitely tell that it’s been an organic change so to speak, just because it feels honest.
R: That’s a good thing.

(...)
Read the rest of Riley Breckenridge of Thrice (2,755 words)

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First of all, I was just introduced to a band called Dead Poetic. I put them in the CD player and was blown away! Brandon’s intense lyrics coupled with his amazing voice prove to be the perfect match on their second release, New Medicines. They are much more versatile on this second album proving that they can go from hardcore on songs like Taste the Red Hands and Hostages, to getting deeper and showcasing Brandon’s voice on songs like Glass in the Trees. The only thing better than their CD was their live show. Dead Poetic is definitely not one of these bands who are over-produced and when you get to the show, sound nothing like they do on their album. They bring the intensity like few other bands do and when Brandon gets emotional singing Glass in the Trees you understand that they feel their music.

DAN ENGLISH: So Brandon, you guys just came off a tour with Papa Roach, how was that? Do you like to tour outside the “Christian” circuit?
BRANDON RIKE: We tour with a lot of non-Christian bands, the way I’ve always looked at it is like, the dudes from Papa Roach are way cooler than most Christian bands to be completely honest, you know what I mean? I think a lot of times people hide behind the title of “Christian band” and it kind of allows them to be jerks or whatever. Papa Roach, man, those are the coolest guys I’ve ever met. They’re just the most loving people I’ve ever met. More than anything, they’re an inspiration really. They were just great dudes. We also toured with the band Instruction that was on the tour. Instruction are really anti-God. But what was cool about the tour was I got along with those guys really well. We had spiritual discussions, we disagreed, but we saw from each others point of view.

(Background noise)

B: Aw man, this guy’s kicking us out. I hate when they do that. Let’s just stay here.

(...)
Read the rest of Brandon Rike of Dead Poetic (2,253 words)

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AARON ROBERTSON: Alright so first off, I know the tour is just a few shows deep, how would you say it’s going so far?
JOSH HEAD: I think it’s been going good. It’s been a lot of fun, all the bands on the tour are really good. We got all the bands we wanted to be on the tour. The crowds have been good, the kids have been awesome, really into the shows. Like, it’s pretty rare that kids stay all the way through a show. Some of them filter out on different tours for different bands but it seems like all the kids are cool and stay for all the bands. So that’s rad.

A: With this being your first headlining tour, are you a little more nervous?
J: Yeah definitely. Especially starting out cause we just didn’t know what was going to happen… Like, if people were even going to show up or whatever. So we’ll see how it goes, we haven’t done well in the Midwest on previous tours and stuff like that. We’ve been on like four or five cross country tours now so we’re sure hoping that all that helps out with all that stuff… But we’ll see what it’s really like. Definitely stressful, it’s just like making sure all the bands show up and you have to worry about set times so you don’t play at midnight and people aren’t tired. So it’s a lot more stressful and stuff but it’s cool.

A: You kind of answered this question, but, how do you feel the fan response has been?
J: Yeah, it’s been really good. Definitely.

A: Now Seth has chosen to leave the band, I’ve heard that you have taken over on drums. What’s the whole situation with that?
J: Yeah. Well he got married about two months ago and decided he just didn’t want to tour anymore, like he wanted to be with his wife, go back to school, grad school, and stuff like that. So we support him in that, I thought that was cool, that’s what he wants to do. I played drums four or five years ago in different bands. I haven’t played since then. So they were like… Well… So I just kinda took that over.

A: Do you like the drums more than the keyboard?
J: I’m a better drummer than I am a keyboard player. So…

A: Really?! I’d have to say that you were the craziest keyboardists that I have ever seen in my life!
J: I’ve grown to play a lot. I’m very limited in my knowledge of playing.

A: Do you miss not being in the front?
J: A little bit yeah… Yeah a little… But it’s fun to be able to just freak out on the drums.

A: Cause you were always the one getting the hand clap, and just going crazy out there…
J: Yeah it was fun, really fun…

(...)
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AARON ROBERTSON: Have you guys had your first big fight yet?
JON BUNCH: No… Not really. I mean, I’m still very new with the guys and getting to know them every day still so. It’s like, imagine having seven brothers in a band, you’re going to argue over stupid stuff you know. We try to keep it down to a minimum, but you bicker over things that don’t matter and let some steam off or whatever but it’s been going really well, considering the fact that I’m brand new to the family… The Further Family… They’re not as crazy as everyone says they are.

A: Is that true?
STEVE KLEISATH: Eh… For the most part. Every once in awhile we’ll get crazy.
J: Yeah. We actually have more fun than I thought too. The after parties have been really fun and we’ve had some good times together so far.
S: It’s been good camaraderie.
J: Yeah. It definitely outweighs the pettiness.
S: I would say this lineup definitely has been the most fun, on a daily basis, in my experience since the origins of the group. You know, just hanging out, no drama, there hasn’t really been a lot of drama or just crap tension or anything.

A: That kind of leads to my first real question… How do you feel the tour has gone so far? This being the first headlining tour with the new lineup, the new lead singer?
J: From my experience I feel like it’s definitely a situation where the band is starting over in a lot of ways. One of my fears was that we would lose all the old Further fans because I joined or whatever, but it hasn’t been the case at all. All the Further fans have rallied to the cause and they’re supporting the new album and they’ve received it really well. This tour has been really great. Every night’s been worth coming out and playing and I’m pleasantly surprised with how well it’s gone. They said the other times, when Jason toured, there was a lot more static and was more difficult to make the transition. I think the smartest thing we did was to make a new album right away and so that period in between records went by fast so. They (the listeners) have a new record to listen to and decide whether or not they want to continue with the band.

A: As far as live performances go, where do you feel you guys are at right now, just starting out the tour? I know you guys have done a few shows and Cornerstone Festival up till now, but where do you guys feel you’re at now?
S: I think we’re light years from the first Cornerstone Festival, haha. I mean it’s sort of hard when Jon’s coming in on his first show and we’re playing in front of ten thousand people. We’re at the point now where we’re half way through tour and it’s a well oiled machine at this point and we’re definitely getting in a zone and definitely enjoying where we’re at in our set now.
J: It becomes second nature at this point. There’s all these things you want to try and improve upon in your own mind and you think of how you can do something better. But everyday is different because it depends on how you’re feeling on that day, you might not be the healthiest on one certain day and so you’re just trying to, like, improve and at the same time one day you’re feeling really good and you’re not able to pull it together. It’s just really weird, touring is a definite challenge.

(...)
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AARON ROBERTSON: So, this is your first interview. How does it feel?
BRADLEY HATHAWAY: Feels weird.

A: Yeah? Does it feel cool?
B: Yeah. What’s that movie?… Notting Hill? When he kept going to all those different… he kept pretending to be the horse people or whatever. It feels like that.

A: Nervous?
B: I’m not nervous, but it’s just that it’s going to get written down. It’s kind of different. But Blindside’s bread is making it ok… Hahaha…

A: So, first off… er, second off I guess, is this the first time that you’ve done your act in front of a church, to a bunch of young kids?
B: Actually the first time I ever did poetry was in front of a hundred and eighty or two hundred junior high kids, but they were from the ghetto, so they kind of thought I was trying to be Eminem. So they didn’t really get it… I forgot about that until just now actually. So it was a different vibe, cause they were like ‘thugged out’ kids. I didn’t have The Boobie Poem then so I wasn’t worried about anything. This is the first time I’ve done The Boobie Poem in front of… well this other one was a Christian concert, but it was on a college campus, so I wasn’t as weirded out about it. This was the first time in front of a full on church show. I was a little uncomfortable. I felt a little weird.

A: Can you explain what The Boobie Poem is all about?……

A: So just to let the readers know, we took a break cause Bradley just got tasered by a police officer for the fun of it. Tell me how the experience of being tasered went.
B: Dude, it was pretty cool. No, it wasn’t… to me the tongue thing felt worse, but that was still shocking, cause it was a taser gun.

A: The tongue thing?
B: Like when you stick a battery on your tongue. That feels worse, but um, that was just really funny.

A: That was a good time, I mean, how many times has someone done that after a show?
B: I wish somebody would have taken it up the rear.

A: I wish someone would have taken it for like twenty seconds.
B: No, it was tough. It was cool. I felt tough.

(...)
Read the rest of Bradley Hathaway is a Manly Man (1,367 words)

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So I’ve spent the past week going over every link in the Idiom Life link directory to try and find the Top 5 Websites of the Snowboard Industry. This proved to be quite troublesome. I was actually really surprised to find such a lack of good, clean, useable and valid web design within the industry. There are so many good designers and artists involved in our sport that I figured we’d have a lot more good web design. It’s not to say that there aren’t good sites out there, but they seem to be few and far between. And what’s even more startling to me, a fellow designer, is that I could only find one site that had more than a couple pages with coding that validated to web standards. For all you developers out there, use this link and get valid! Anyway… I know this is suppose to be an uplifting article about the BEST sites, so I’ll get back on track now.

For this Top 5 list, instead of just trying to choose the five best overall sites I’ve decided to feature the very best site in five different categories; Best Usability, Best Flash Design, Best Community, Best Retail (store), and Best Design. Lets dig in.

(...)
Read the rest of Best Snowboard Websites of ‘08 (1,557 words)

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Post tags: Alycium, Oakley, Snowboard Mag, Snowboard Websites, Union Bindings, Whiskey Militia

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Idiom Life started out as a local snowboard video production company. Back in the day it was actually called Idiom Pictures. Those were the days! Just out of high school. No job that required too many hours of my time. No “global warming”. Just the mountains. The snow. My board. And my camera. My old friend and I would log 90+ days of riding at resorts alone. And another good amount of days logged in the backcountry. We kept this pace for a good couple of seasons as we met and rode with a lot of great riders. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. He became a cop (what?!). I became poor. And that was that.

However, on the brightside, my becoming poor pushed me to develop my skills and evolve into a better editor and designer of all things. And luckily enough I still have a solid 50 hours of footage to show the world. Now the footage is a bit dated but, in my opinion, most of the riding still meets or exceeds the level of today’s riders. Consider this the first teaser video of many to come. The song is Miseria Cantare by AFI, one of my all-time favorite bands.

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BRANDON RUSSELL: So you’re quite a veteran to snowboarding… you’ve been riding since… ‘86?
MIKE BASICH: Yeah… ‘85-’86ish. Next year will be my twentieth year.

B: How do you think you’ve lasted so long with out completely killing yourself?
M: Riding the soft stuff, haha. I quit riding the hard pack quite a while ago. I kinda started off with the world cup halfpipe, that’s what started my career, the competition thing. And it turned into big air after that. My body started feeling it, my back, my posture’s horrible. Five years ago… or, four years ago I stopped competing and started photography and wanted to do something that set my own schedule, so now I ride and chase the snow around in my van, wherever it’s soft. I rode Northstar yesterday and I am aching today, from one day of riding, cause I don’t ride resorts that often anymore.

B: Now you mentioned photography… is that what you love to do now? Your Point of Views and Self Portraits are amazing.
M: Being in the sport for twenty years I gotta keep things interesting for me. Going from competition, to starting my own business, to running the business and negotiating contracts, going to filming, and stuff like that is to always bring something new in that I haven’t done yet. Photography is something that I got interested in after shooting with so many photographers and wanting to shoot what I see, so I’d tell a photographer to go over here and over there and they don’t like that too often so I had an interest to try and capture what I had in my mind and it turned into what I see as a rider, so it turned into Point of View stuff. I got a couple remotes so I can shoot myself from the ground. That’s been interesting, my new little spark to keep things interesting for me…

B: Like your now infamous 120-foot acid drop out of the helicopter, how’d you come up with that crazy idea?
M: That happened two years ago and it was about a three year project that I wanted to do, it was on the back burner for awhile until I told my girlfriend at the time about it, I’d just started getting more into photography that year. I wanted to shoot a photo like that but run it without the heli, so you see this guy falling out of the sky and there’s no cliff or anything next to him from where he took off. That was the original vision that I wanted to try to capture but it turned out that no one ran it that way. That’s kinda how that thing started.

(...)
Read the rest of Mike Basich – Keepin’ It Fresh (2,138 words)

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BRANDON RUSSELL: Mikey, thanks for taking time off of your busy schedule, touring for loveHate. How is the tour going?
MIKEY LeBLANC: A party, a plane, an hour and another party.

B: Are kids getting as stoked as you hoped they would?
M: I think so, the tricks are unquestionable, the video and the music grows on you like fine wine… I’m really at the point where I edited it with Shelby, and have seen it so much. And I still really love the video so… at this point, selfishly, I don’t care… because I love it.

B: Tell us a little about Kidsknow and the loveHATE video.
M: Kidsknow is my production company, I did the vid In association with Burning Bridges. That is Shelby’s company. loveHATE is a lot of my friends and me making what we do during the winter visible to kids.

B: Who is touring with you for the loveHATE and Positron tour?
M: Mostly Justin Hebbel, Darrel Mathesen and Jon Kooley for loveHATE, and Devun, Dufficy, and Dionne for the Positron video. It’s a nightmare, or, a dream come true. Six a.m. flights, one hour in the hotel room, straight to the premiere, straight to the bar after. Drink all night, and then get a cab to the next flight. It’s rock star shit.

B: Who are you most stoked to be touring with? Who in this video do we most need to be watching?
M: I like everyone. For loveHATE; Hebbel is insane. So tech. It takes a lot of watching to tell what he’s doing. And Darrel is also ridiculous.

B: What is your vision for Kidsknow?
M: Make snow videos that are non-scripted, and in the middle, have some social commentary fun. Possibly say something without beating you over the head with it.

B: Switching gears to some other projects of yours, How is Holden going?
M: Amazing and crazy. The gear is making me happy and I pretty much know the whole business now. From start to finish.

(...)
Read the rest of Mikey LeBlanc – Workin’ Hard (908 words)

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It’s the announcement the whole world has been waiting to hear: The most important news ever… EVER. Soon to be President Barack Obama’s choice for Vice President. Preliminary rumors suggested the announcement might come as early as Wednesday morning. But, this very evening, Obama has named his running mate, and he shared the news exclusively with IdiomLife.com. Suck on that New York Times.

Public opinion polls revealed a tight race between Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Joe Biden, Sen. Evan Bayh, and underdog favorite Gov. Tim Kaine as possible running mates. Yet tonight, despite the pundits’ predictions, Obama has thrown a trademark curveball to the entire political arena. His Vice President will be… Michael Phelps!

Now, I can already hear the complaints. “Phelps isn’t a politician.” Good. “He lacks experience.” Hardly. “He’s not even old enough to run.” Not interested. We here at Idiomlife don’t think Obama could have made a better move, and here’s why.

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Read the rest of Obama Selects Phelps as V.P. (953 words)

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Post tags: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, idiom life, John McCain, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Michael Phelps, Vice President, Vladimir Putin

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I was seventeen years old attending a private Catholic school. I wasn’t Catholic.

“It is true that a mirror has the quality of enabling a person to see his image in it, but to do this he must stand still.”
- Soren Kierkegaard

I was confronted with myself. I was divided, and yet it was not the division that frightened me. The thing I feared most was that I didn’t care. I was completely apathetic, indifferent, and uninterested. I thought. I thought myself indifferent until my self-conceit stood exposed concerning the hardness of my heart and for a brief moment I had recognized my true condition.

(...)
Read the rest of I Wasn’t Catholic (1,444 words)

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Post tags: Cassie Bernall, Catholic, Columbine Shooting, idiom life

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Prestige Imports, in Miami, spent about 2 weeks laying down the ink on this Lamborghini Gallardo and then had it clear coated to keep it nice and pretty.

(...)
Read the rest of Sharpie’d Out Lamborghini (30 words)

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This 1965 news report in Toronto talks about the new fad coming from California, it’s called sidewalk surfing. In the clip CBC’s Lloyd Robertson interviews an 18-year-old activist who rolls onto the screen in a dress and bouffant hairdo, if I had a time machine I would probably go back and marry her. The anchors compare ’skurfing’ to hoola-hooping as well as make a projection that the fad is already dying out… Oh little did they know!

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It’s been a while but we’re back with some moving pictures for you again. This time literally. We put together an exclusive selection of moments from our past trips into a little story, read like a book, just without any climax. You can enjoy a journey to Norway, Austria, New York, Washington, Idaho, Vermont and Quebec cut down to just one night and one day. This new teaser for “Teenage Love Graffiti” (DVD release fall 08) is availbale for download in HD or iPod format at www.isenseven.de as always.

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A Russian man got a nasty surprise when he returned home after a drunken night out – his wife found a knife in his back. A friend of Yuri Laylin had thrust the blade into the 53-year-old after playing a variation of Russian roulette. The game involved the players drinking vodka and dancing round a blindfolded man carrying a knife.

Mr Laylin said he did not feel any pain until he went home. He said: “We had a few vodkas and I remember playing some silly games and someone had a large knife. I came home, went to sleep as usual and woke up when my wife started screaming. Only then did I realise what had happened.”

Doctors said the knife went four inches into his back but missed his vital organs. “The alcohol he drank must have acted as an anaesthetic, otherwise he would have been in great pain,” one of the doctors said.

His alleged attacker reported the crime to the police himself.

As Reported On News.Sky.com

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To kick things off, I just wouldn’t feel right featuring any trailer but Travis Rice’s “That’s It, That’s All”. I’ve been anticipating this release ever since seeing “The Community Project”. Sit back and enjoy.