I’m in Chuck movie heaven!

Choke, one of the ten greatest works of American fiction, is well worth a read. I believe the movie comes out this July, but I could be wrong. I saw a lot of prank or dream teasers for other movies, but I don’t think any others besides Choke and (maybe) Lullaby are on way.

Postcards from the Future is a documentary of a book tour where Chuck speaks about literature, his writings and modern culture. His back story is an incredible one, I’ll scan and upload the story I pulled out of a Rolling Stone magazine tomorrow when the baby isn’t sleeping. I believe he’s wiser for it all.

I’m not sure, I’ve heard rumors Lullaby will also be made into a movie. Who knows?

A long overdue music post

Here is a compilation of tunes I’ve been enjoying as of late. Some are new, some are classics reinvented by current events. I’ll make every effort to get every link perfect and keep all songs free, but some may be too good to avoid leaving you to buy or listen online. There’s no general theme for this one, just a list of music to expand your mental.

Download | Burn | Enjoy

1. SumKid – Puddn’head : This is one of my favorite new emcees. He’s got a flow that makes you nod your head and a vocabulary that doesn’t make educated folk cringe. The song title drew me in, the beat hooked me and the flow slowly tied me to my chair.
2. Glenn Case – I am the President of the Sony Entertainment Corp. Ltd. : This song is infectious and poppy in the perfect way, anti-pop. Glenn is somewhat of a legend on the 61, but a truly great musician and an awesome person in general. This is definitely one of my favorites on the whole site.
3. The Gin Riots – El Torro : This song reminds me of high school and the first day I heard Ted Leo & the Pharmacists at once. It’s upbeat yet raw and gritty, it even gets borderline pretty at times. This song is well worth the spot on a mixtape.
4. Lightwires – Can We Go Back : This song grows on me more with each listen. The layers of sound give this song a simple feel without being at all boring. Sometimes it’s the space between sounds we remember most.
5. Stab the Matador – Doctor : Stab the Matador reminds me of Paramedic, the band Zach Clancy played drums with in LA. Indie-prog rock in the vain of No Knife and the Mars Volta. The change here is a clear and simple voice that doesn’t take away from the music like Cedric from the Mars Volta. It may not be for everyone, but give it a listen, it may be for you.
6. Kina Grannis – I Know Who Took the Milk and Cookies : An old-timey sounding folk sound with a Christmas bend, and a beautiful sound for those moments that don’t need a thumping core. Her voice is also pretty amazing. She sounds closer to the listener, not like many female vocalists these days. She even reminds me of a young Joni Mitchell at times.
7. sweetie – Building : A building indie rock song for any fan of Snow Patrol, but don’t let that steer you away. This song actually has substance, unlike some songs with sparsely scattered lyrics and a building sound. I don’t know much of sweetie, but I’d like to hear more.
8. Joe Cang – Blackbird (originally by the Beatles) : Few covers really catch me and keep me, and even fewer Beatles covers make the cut. Having said that, this jazzy version of Blackbird is a great song and actually yields a cover worth listening to, over and over.
9. Philadelphia Slick – Culture Industry : Philadelphia Slick is a lyrical emcee in the vain of Talib Kweli and Mos Def. I’m surprised he hasn’t blown up to some extent, there’s everything to love about his beats and flow. Unless you truly just loathe the genre, this is a great song for a broad swath of people.
10. Zuba – Money : Zuba is quickly becoming my favorite reggae band, although I am hearing they have broken up. They remind me of Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band in many ways. If they could get the kind of backing Buffett has, I have no doubt they could put on just as exciting a show for young and old. They have a great library of songs to check out.
11. Ve – I’ve got a Song : This sounds like the soundtrack to the part of a movie where a good person does a bad thing, or a bad person does a good thing. Either way this song is soft and catchy. It does have some Enya qualities I’m not entirely comfortable with, but for this compilation, I’ve got this Song.
12. Delightful Young Man – I’m Happy With What You Are : This is just a soft, almost sway-inducing song with a solid guitar line and an oddball array of female and male vocals. The final product is a great change-up from the over produced crap coming out these days.
13. Dust & Blood – Cops Kiss & Drool : I almost held this song out, not because it’s not as good, but because it’s a genre I don’t always like. It’s worth it, good song in that hard rock vain. Don’t worry, it’s not Nickelback.
14. birdlips – magicfish : Infectious is the word I would use to describe this gem. I really like it, can’t stop listening. It always puts me in a good mood, unless I’m in a Glassjaw mood.
15. YACHT – So Post All ‘Em : An instrumental track by one of my favorite electronic artists. He’s from Portland, Oregon and has collaborated with the Blow, another personal favorite. Check her out as well if you haven’t already.
16. WALE – W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E. : This guy reminds me of one of my old students in his vocal patterns. Great flow and some interesting beats (and fun samples). This is one of the more popular songs in the history of theSixtyOne.
17. McClain – Central Park : A slow folky song with a Joshua Radin meets Iron & Wine feel. Soothing as far as songs go, and a good one for the ladies.
18. BEARBOT – Quality Style (Remix) : What might as well be an instrumental track is good for backgrounds and an energetic break in your day. Most of my playlists are played while I’m trying to get other things done, and this song is a good motivator.
19. Dan the Automator – Relaxation Spa Treatment : An instrumental from my hero of beats, Dan the Automator. The guy who brought me such gems as Deltron 3030, Gorillaz and Handsome Boy Modeling School. This track holds it’s own water, but needs a vocalist to tear it apart. I recommend Mf Doom!
20. L.JULIUS – Yesterday : This is almost an Usher-esque song, but I like the feel and it’s calm nature. Everything sounds pretty crisp and the lyrics aren’t terrible. Not everyone will like this, but it’s a good slow jam in my opinion.

That’s all I’ve got. I’ll try to keep more up to date with music as a topic on here. I may also try to evolve and organize the site better. We’ll see…

It’s funny how Hillary Clinton brings up the job application analogy

Senator Clinton is the guest of Keith Olbermann on Countdown tonight. She continues to make the race more divisive than she needs to, however this interview (obviously, given the show) didn’t spend time focusing on Barack Obama as unelectable. She did connect Senator McCain to our new 100 Year War and this tanking economy. He’s not going to be worse than George Bush, but he’ll be taking over when the country is already down and could deliver the knockout blow to the average American family.

Sen. Clinton pointed out a matter of her resume, saying consider this in her job application. If she’s ever lived in the real world, when you lie and inflate your resume, you lose the job. The media shattered her bold-faced lie about Bosnia with a 2-minute video clip, where Chelsea stands by her side as an 8-year-old reads her a poem. I don’t care about jokes of sniper fire, it was a lie, and the fact that you want to consider this a job application means you did something that would disqualify anyone else from any job.

Still with Stupid? Why we need a smart President by Meghan Daum

With political discourse reduced to screaming contests and actual news eclipsed by exclusive and shocking footage of celebrities without makeup, we’ve become not only impatient with but downright opposed to the kinds of ideas that can’t be reduced to a line on a screen crawl or a two-sentence blog entry. Have you fallen into this trap?

I like this line of thought, and agree Barack Obama is most likely to know the price of a can of tuna. He and Michelle are actually most likely of all the candidates and spouses. Senator McCain and Senator Clinton are the kettle and pot calling a spoon black, in this case. The LA Times has been increasingly interesting and off the beaten (to death) path of most mainstream media. This column is well worth the read.

Yes, Obama’s richer than most ordinary people, but in that pantheon, he’s the guy most likely to know how much a can of tuna costs. As for his branding as an elite or an intellectual, why the jeers? Shouldn’t they all fit that bill? “The Daily Show’s” Jon Stewart summed it up best: “Not only do I want an elite president,” he said this week, “I want someone who is embarrassingly superior to me.”

read more | digg story

Newsweek: Adios, Sound Bites & Fat Cats – Obama is Changing Politics

The ecosystem of political media has changed, with sound bites losing their authority. Consumers of news are less easily manipulated by the 24/7 barrage of bites and images (Hillary Clinton doing whisky shots, Obama bowling), which are dissected endlessly on cable. Voters search for their own context.

read more | digg story

This week, Newsweek political columnist Jonathan Alter says nothing people on Digg and other social news communities, as well as many passive users of YouTube didn’t know for a long time. It’s just really nice to see it from Newsweek, something read by many outside of these communities. The volume of Senator Barack Obama‘s online contributions is staggering ($40m in March), and at a low average donation (around $100).

The column discusses how Obama and company intentionally rid his speech on race in Philadelphia, known as ‘A More Perfect Union‘ on YouTube, of sound bytes and short snippets of specific response. Obama planned to paint a bigger picture, about how this country must look beyond petty attacks and sharp wit toward others. Alter noticed that the place where people can get this information, since it is impossible to find on cable news, is the internet. Instead of speaking to the media, Obama spoke directly to the people.

Alter ends with a rather pessimistic view of just how he views the ability of Washington to actually change and serve the people, rather than special interests. Some political action groups and special interest groups have produced positive results in the past, but the nature of modern technology has quickly made the collection in such a manner effective or necessary for the people. The internet allows people to endorse a candidate. I always thought a candidate should issue a campaign fundraiser where they ask anyone and everyone, everywhere to send one dollar and nothing more. Just one dollar to the campaign. Not so much to fund it directly, but to show just how many people will also take some time out of their day to show support this November. One dollar : one vote.

The important fact isn’t that my idea hasn’t been used, it is that things like this can actually happen today. The modern teenager has communicated with people in more countries than their parents. Over 1.3 million individuals have donated to the Obama campaign. We can’t allow that to be the only change that occurs, more voices must be heard in the White House. Every voice must be weighed when important decisions are being made. Everyone won’t get their way, but no one will be ignored.

McCain: Cutting taxes more important than balanced budget

Republican John McCain said Sunday that cutting taxes and stimulating the economy are more important than balancing the budget, and accused both Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama of supporting tax hikes that would worsen the impact of a recession.

read more | digg story

Senator McCain thinks he’s going to reverse our $3 trillion deficit by cutting wasteful spending. That’s great, Mr. McCain, but after that $18 billion, what then? We’re 0.6% better-off. The “wasteful spending” he should target is the $500 billion/year war festering a cauldron of anti-American sentiment and making orphans out of Iraqi children. We can’t afford McBush, John McCain is a far better human being and more worthy than Bush to lead the free world, but that was in 2000.

Today he is too out of touch to be effective, associates far too often with Bush administration cronies and knows absolutely nothing about the biggest issue this election cycle: the economy. Sure, he can get advisers who understand the economy, but without some independent understanding he won’t even know who to pick as advisers. That’s a dangerous situation given what has happened to this country as a result of the neo-conservative hijacking of the Republican Party in the last 7 years.

I also noticed on CNN and MSNBC today he’s reportedly aiming for energy independence within 5 years. This is an admirable goal. I just keep thinking “who’s the one spouting empty rhetoric again?” It seems to me that because Senator McCain has been in Washington for a quarter century, he gets a free pass. Anything he proposes is assume to be a good enough idea and above careful scrutiny. A major goal for energy independence should be in 5 years, but to say a candidate can eliminate reliance on foreign oil in that short time almost reeks of corporate greed over the last 8 years.

If this is/were possible, we basically fought a war on a lie, helped our enemy gain footing in a new part of the world. Our true enemy had never been allowed or accepted within Iraq (and isn’t in Iran, for that matter). We’ve stayed 5 years, as long as McCain thinks it would take to gain energy independence. Over that time, only oil companies and corporate executives have benefited from any Bush administration policy.

As this administration destroyed the economy, it sends us $600 checks to make us feel like we’re not being ignored and our rights trampled. As this administration has needlessly put our servicemen in harm’s way, we’ve only heard fear mongering from the White House and most of the news media. As schools have become re-segregated, this administration has standardized tests, so that those with the fewest opportunities and resources are graded on the same scale as those in $100 million high schools.

This article also brings up William Ayers, 1960s-era (as in, when Obama was under age 10) radical who admitted to setting bombs. They were the most extreme part of the anti-war movement, and truly detracted from many of the ideas they tried to uphold. The interesting thing about this, however, is that this man is an English professor. He’s not in jail. I know some Americans read this and think, well WHY NOT? That is a perfectly natural reaction, but the simple fact is that he has not been convicted of a crime in a court of law. Why should Obama be guilty by association? He points out, when asked about Ayers, that he was 8 years old at the time. I believe he was living in Indonesia or Hawaii, far away from Ayers and the Weather Underground.

I’m no TV Guide, but any show with Sean Hannity will discuss this for the next 6 months. I’m also no psychic, but he’ll probably never mention McCain’s wife stealing drugs from her non-profit organizations, his absolute ignorance of economic issues and his utter confusion concerning our enemy. He thinks the way to fix our tax code is to build another, optional system and have it run alongside the current system. That will sure save money for our economy, bloat the government and tax code even more. Vote for a better economy and a safer America, pass on John McCain.