Tech Trek 2.0.9

The last library exercise involves YouTube and podcasts. For those of you who remember, I wrote about this podcast I subscribe to a while back. Also, when I was in my last year at WSBF the computer engineer set up podcasts for every show. That was a great way for SWP to have archives of our work as well as make our "Best of Sunday School" freestyle compilation CD. I've always had the ability to create podcasts with my Mac and recording equipment, but I've never tried. The Odeo Studio page has a great tutorial as well as some basic lo-fi recording software anyone can use.

One of my favorite things to search for on YouTube are what I call superfan video compilations. Those are highlight videos for single athletes. I'm usually pretty critical of these videos because they are either made with horrible music or edited poorly. Today I searched through some Dwyane Wade mixes and found one with a song I like but subpar editing as well as lo quality footage. Check it:

Overall, I think podcasts are a more useful tool for the library overall because they work like RSS feeds and automatically update. It would be relatively easy for the media services department to record one of us listing the new materials of the month and have it automatically distribute to people who subscribe (but it would be even easier to just type this list out and start a mailing list). I'm not sure how useful YouTube is for other departments, but it is fantastic for media services because we can post videos of bands playing at our Blues Bash and Local Blend concert series, but we could also place video clips of upcoming Metropolitan Opera Simulcasts (more to come on that soon) as well as the films that we show in our Independent Lens series.

Into the Wild

Last Night, I went to see Into the Wild at the Terrace with Ben and Emily. It was a really great film. Sean Penn wrote the screenplay (which he adapted from Jon Krakauer's book by the same name) as well as directed. Emile Hirsch starred as Alexander Supertramp, and he should definetely be up for award consideration. Great performance. I don't want to ruin the film for anyone, so I won't go into any detail; but it's an inspiring story about a young man who decides to make his own way in the world all by himself. If you want to check it out (which I would recomend), it's playing at the Terrace Theater every day at 2, 5, and 7:45.

Tech Trek 2.0.8

The latest Tech Trek exercise is about web-based applications,specifically word processing. I used Zoho's writer application to create a document about a movie I was last night, but it would not allow me to publish the document I created to my blog. I kept receiving messages that the program was "unable to connect your blog. User name or password may be incorrect." I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong here. I added my blog URL, and I am typing the only user name and password I've used for every exercise. I find it easier to use blogger to post, so I won't use Zoho for that purpose any more.

The only real use I have for the writing application is to transfer word documents to my Mac. I've never been able to access emails containing word attachments on my home computer, but if I open the attatchment with the reader app I can save it there and read it at home. This should help me keep up with changes to the desk schedule at the library while at home, so I guess that is good.

I'll get that post about the movie up as soon as I can rewrite it in blogger.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Poodles

Found this picture on the Turntable Lab blog. This should prolly be Keiko's Halloween costume?

Tech Trek 2.0.7

Before this exercise, I was not very familiar with Wikis (other than wikipedia, and I know better than to believe everything I read there). I explored around this site and was blown away at how many uses there are for wiki technology in the library. I think it would be cool to have a wiki site for media services to post our collection and allow users to make reviews, comments, and maybe even a synopsis of materials (especially DVD's) in order to help those patrons who make their reserves on the web. Here at the main library branch, I notice that we have quite a few patrons who simply make reserves online and come to pick them up. These patrons very rarely browse the physical collection, so I think creating a space for them to find out more about the materials they are requesting could be very informative. It would also allow our more active and interested patrons to share their knowledge of what they have already checked out with those patrons who have yet to consume a piece of our media collection.

I also really liked this site because it helps patrons find what they are interested in without requiring them to know title or author. This could be very useful in media services because we frequently get patrons who are looking for "a video or DVD on World War I" or "a DVD biography on an African-American leader".

This may be the most useful tool for our department introduced by the Tech Trek exercise yet

People I Steez With (Part 4)

This is Panda (Amanda). Today is her birfday. Don't let her unassuming visage (yeah I said it) fool you, she's scrappy. She isn't around enough... something about having a job and living in MtP, which I don't understand becuase me and Diddy both got those problems and you know how we do. Basically... get on that, Amanda.

American Gangster Update

In case you hadn't heard yet, the newest single from Jay-Z's American Gangster album/unofficial soundtrack is called "Roc Boys". You can peep it on the latest edition of the Rub's online radio show mixed by DJ Ayers (tracklist here). You can also peep it here if you don't want to appreciate good DJing and would rather stare at a static picture on youtube while listening. Unfortunately, Great Hova has been removing all the links to sites like Zshare that let you download the jam, but you can always pull little stream rip tricks if you know how (and get down with piracy.... yarrrrrgh). Check the lyrics to Roc Boys here and a little back story on S Dot and Diddy working together here. Want to check the video for Blue Magic (first single from the album)? Well you're in luck, pimp:


Also, here is a great remix by DJ Green Lantern of Jay's vocals from Allure (off The Black Album) over the beat to Kanye's Flashlight (off Graduation). I thought the Allure remix on Dangermouse's Grey Album was the best ever, but this kills it.

I Like More Obscure Music

Ever heard of the Budos Band? Well here's your chance. They're on Daptone Records, which is an awsome independent label based out of New York. Want to know what they sound like? Here's your chance:

Like that? Here's a story from MTV that explains why I'm so opin over Amy Winehouse:

In all honesty, hearing Sharon Jones sing for the first time was one of the most stunning musical moments of my life. It ranks up there with listening to Otis Redding sing Try a Little Tenderness when the organ hits at the end. Don't believe me? Check this out:

I Like Obscure Music

Once upon a time, I stumbled upon this record while record shopping online. I was really impressed (so much so I bought the record and worked it into a mix the day I got it). I lost the record while SWP was playing a show in Greenville, but it killed every crowd I played it for. Truly a great band and a great record. An absolute killer. Check out this video of the A side cut "War":

And check out these live video captures:


Mos Def saw them playing on the street in NYC and made them a part of his live act:

Get that cowebell, Mos:

Check out their cover of Johnny Pate's "Shaft in Aftrica" (sampled by Just Blaze for Hov's "Show Me What You Got") here. You can also check out Bulljun's remix of Brass in Africa here. To find out more about Hypnotic Brass, check out their MySpace page or their blog

Some More Samurai Champloo Steez

Here's a few more Samurai Champloo AMV's...

Thanks to Rebecca for this one:

And this one:

If you liked the song at the end of that, check this out:

Speaking of nice songs, Champloo has one of the best opening credit songs ever:

But here's the best opening credits (this is the new Season 2 version):

Once Again, A Great Weekend (that overlapped into the week)

To start, I'm listening to this band right now (believe it or not, available at the library... once I'm done with it).

Had to let the craziness of this past weekend sink in before I could write about it... Friday, we played Edward Fortyhands (which basically turned into me and Mel drinking and talking about music) and then Mel and I walked down to Juanita Greenberg's before I went to sleep and he wen't to Wasabi to meet up with some friends.

I had to work early on Saturday here, but since my car was blocked in at Duncan, I walked it out. When I got off work, I went to Duncan to pick up Erin's car (she was on her way to Clemson with most of the crew by this time, so she generously let me peep her steez while mine was stuck at the front of the driveway). Peeped some Halo 3 steez and watched football all afternoon with Trey, Bronwyn, Mel, and Alex at Bogard. We went out to AC's for drinks... and things got hazy. The beer of the month is this, but they're charging $2.25 for it. There was a random super jacked and tan dude there who bought us HUGE shots that we didn't need... this was the beginning of the end. We all went back to Bogard to ride out the night (Bronwyn, who isn't drinking because of her steez gave me a ride back), and Craig came over with Jaime (a new addition to the steez).

Sunday, I went to brunch at AC's with Alex and Bronwyn while Trey did his own thing and Mel went to see his parents out in Summerville. Alex got the best thing: a peanut butter and jelly sanwich made with cinamon raisin toast... fried like french toast. Then me and Alex went on a Sunday drive out to John's island in Erin's convertible (which I was still driving until about 5 on Sunday). After that, I went home and got some dinner, then met Mel at the !!! concert in Mt. P. That was a ton of fun... we walked out sweaty and wet from the singer throwing water on us while we were dancing with some girls.

Monday was Craig's last night in town before moving back to Ohio. We went to O'Malleys and watched the craziest night of sports I've seen in a while. Yankees almost came back and Dallas pulled out an insane win. I made a killer purchase from Tin Tin (who usually hangs out on Bogard and tries to hit me up for cigarettes or money to get a beer) in front of the bar from some items he found in a pile of garbage on the street. For $2 I got a disc of The Simpsons Season 8 DVD (available at the library), a red stapler, and the best part of the transaction: like 15 pocket-sized spiral notepads. I gave one to Craig, and he got a pen from the bar. We insisted that he take notes on the rest of the night so he would remember everything about his last night in Charleston. We hung out on the smoking porch at O'Malleys while Craig did his best Hunter S. Thompson/Jack Kerouac impression, and I got crazy excited when this played:

After that, we cooled out at Duncan until Laura went to sleep, and now I'm at work on Tuesday paying for it... totally worth it. We'll miss you, Craig (no homo).

Samurai Champloo Steez

When I was living with Areou back in Central, we used to always record this show. We loved the music (done mostly by Fat John the Ample Soul Physician), the fight scenes, but mostly Mugen. Mugen is the dude in red who fights mostly with his feet. He's the most steezin samurai around.
Peep:

Thanks to Rebecca for putting me on to this one:



Be sure to check out the return of The Boondocks tonight at 11:30 on Adult Swim

There's a reason it's called the Golden Era

For those of you who didn't watch Yo! MTV Raps back when we were young, here's a few joints to remember and cause you to lament over what's coming out now

From the final episode of the best show ever on MTV:

when I said I'm number 1, I lied. I'm number 1,2,3,4, and 5:

The all-time kings of the native tounges movement:

I have always loved the nursery rhyme raps of Das EFX:

Can't stop the prophet:

And Alex, you should check out this to hear some real DJing from way back... here's a video you'll dig:

Sure Shots from the Lab

Came in to work this morning and went through my usual routine. Checked my email, peeped the latest on The Superficial, and perused Turntable Lab's Daily Arrivals. I found this 7" and immediately, I was opin. Check out Dunham Records on MySpace and peep the steez (especially "The World"). This is my true steez... funked out horns, scratchy guitars, hard synchopated drum beats, latin percussion, and bass lines that walk it out like Unk.

New Mixtape Alert:
Bird Flu - What I Put On When I'm Banging Your Mom
Lots of slow funky jams, jazzy hip-hop, some jazz, basically music you'd want to here when you're doing what you do in the bedroom with that someone special (or someone you met that night... I won't judge)

"Don't front, you know I got you opin" -Buckshot

I Don't Like It Unless It's

Brand New... or at least looks like it is. I went by the shoe store to pick up my paycheck this afternoon. I was wearing my all-black Adidas shelltoes. I call them my "kiwis" because the New Zealand Rugby team is called the All Blacks (because they wear all black uniforms). I used a combination of leather and suede cleaner (with the plastic cap/brush), water and stain repellant, and Ugg brand sheepskin conditioner. I also threw on a pair of extra fat black laces to keep it steezy. Now a pair of shoes that's over 3 years old looks brand new. That's the best part about working in a shoe store: free cleaning supplies to keep your sneakers fresh. It's even better than 40 percent off.

I'm thinking about starting a shoeshine business where I clean, deodorize, and detail sneakers and shoes for a small fee. Let me know if you'd be down. Basically, I'm talking to you, Mel.

It's The Rub, Pimpin

I woke up this morning and opened iTunes while I cleaned up a little bit. Immediately, I noticed that I had a pending download and began to get excited knowing that it was the next installment in The Rub podcast. If you don't remember, I referenced The Rub in this post. The Rub is a DJ crew consisting of DJ Ayers, DJ Eleven, and Cosmo Baker. You can peep their weekly radio show on the Broooklyn Radio website, but I'm officially calling out all Mac owners and iTunes users to sign up for their podcast. This week's episode is the best yet: DJ Eleven presents Soul volume 2. It really made my morning.

Get On It.

I Make Claims I'll Never Fulfill

While we were at brunch this weekend, International Players Anthem by UGK ft. Outkast came on. I made the claim that I could write an essay on the song, but instead I'll write a blog.

First off, here is the video:

Nice isn't it? Notice the cameos from Big Gipp and Khujo from Goodie Mob? Also, you can see former Mob member Cee-Lo (also of solo and Gnarls Barkley fame) singing at the wedding reception. At the ceremony, Farnsworth Bentley is sitting on the groom's side; and you can see Three Six (who produced the track) in the groom's dressing room. My vote for funniest part of the video is when DJ Paul asks why Andre is "dressed like Roddy Piper".

For more on the song, check out this explanation of the sample and beat. You can check out the lyrics here. In another soulsides blog post, Andre's opening verse gets a vote for best "single hip hop experience of 2007 so far".

Other than that, come check out The Mack at the library on DVD. I'm looking into getting the soundtrack into the collection, but no guarantees.

"Better choose the right one or pick-pick the kiddies up"

AARP

That's right... As Always, Representing Purple. Here's some steez to check out:

And here's the back:

In case you don't have a Mac (with the spiffy HD screen) and can't see the full steez... that's some gangster smurfs pullin some dirty deeds. On the back is a Loc'ed out Gargamel sneaking up on their tracks.

You can go here to check out where I shop for most of my steez online (when I'm not saving up for records or equipment.)

And also, check out this to see the most rediculous hoodie I've ever seen in my life.

People I Steez With (part 3)

This is Leah. She lives with LP and Panda. She's in Pharmacy school here. She really likes this show and turned me on to it last night. She likes to party if not more, than at least as much as these people (you know what I'm sayin... we likes to party, we like, we likes to party). She's either lots of fun to be around or she's sleeping... those are the only two states of Leah... full on steez or unconcious. She also tends to disappear with Ben whenever we go downtown. I wonder what that's about.



On an unrellated note... just saw the blog steez got 200 hits. Nice to see

Tech Trek 2.0.6

The latest Tech Trek exercise involves Social Networking sites. I've been on Facebook for about 3 years now (in fact, I'm friends with a few people from the library... here's one of their blogs), but I've never created a MySpace account because I'm afraid of viruses (or is is virusi or viri?) and security. Since Sugar Water Purple created a MySpace page 2 years ago, our account has been hacked 3 times, and that really turned me off to MySpace... but we need the exposure so I put up with the security risk. In fact, I'm so warry of MySpace that I never even use my first name, only my DJ alias on our page. I like Facebook because you have to be a member to see any information, and I've set my privacy settings to where you have to be my friend to see my page.

Another reason I am so against MySpace is described here: I really dislike how long it takes to load a page with music and customized backgrounds, layouts, fonts, cursors and other extraneous garbage. I like that every Facebook page is no frills... just a way to keep in touch with old friends and get to know new ones.

I've considered the possibilities of using social networking sites to help people reference and reserve materials at the library, and I think it could work out. Personally, I keep a notebook in my back pocket with things my friends request from the library; and I place holds and renew materials for them. If you're reading this and don't work at the library... you can always get at me to see if we have what you're looking for and I'll help you get it. So send me a facebook message or call my cell phone.

Some More Steez from Hova

Here is a link to a story that gives a little insight into the upcoming American Gangster movie and album. You can also check out this page to cheap cheese.

Just to keep you opin, here's Hov at his finest:

Another Great Weekend

The steez was poppin off as soon as I got off work on Friday. Went to dinner here. We checked out the new Moe's Downtown. $2 Harp is always a good thing. We watched this happen. Ben was rediculous, but he was allowed to be after taking his first big test at MUSC. Will was in town, which stepped the party steez way up. Sad news from Bronwyn, but we tried are hardest to no let it get us or her down. Lots of people came and went (Panda, Blythe, Leah, Jess) and Ben and I caught a cab home to his spot. The steez was not over tho... I walked over to Duncan after Ben passed out and had a serious Guitar Hero sesh with Leah. Talkin bout full rock out performances and whatnot. Ended up falling asleep on a futon at Alex's at like 5.

Woke up on Saturday at like 11 and had to go sell some shoes while everyone else went to the beach. When I got off work I met up with all dems at Ben's and walked to Beer Works. For once there was no cover, so Mel made it (first time I've spent all three days of the weekend with Mel... he was an all-star). TJ was in rare form, and we were all seriously opin after we saw this happen. Got down on sumdis and sumdat. When we play bar games, the loser has to buy shots for everyone else who played. Let's just say I didn't buy any shots (because I was always second-to-last). Bronwyn was out again along with her friend (Audra) and her mom. We did our best to keep her spirits up by jamming out on the rediculous tip to this song. Walked back to Duncan after last call and marinated with Mel on the back porch. Can't say enough about that kid. No homo, but that's my man right there. Got to sleep at about 6, but had to sleep in a chair cause all other spots were steezed out.

Woke up on Sunday at 11 and made it down to AC's for brunch at noon with Mel and Ben. Alex and Diddy (with Bronwyn and Audra) made it down about 30 minutes later. There were Chicken and Waffles, some Greek chicken omlettes, a white trash omlette and some other stuff. All were perfectly steezed and completely appropriate (as always). Of course, International Players' Anthem came on and we were wildin. We hung out for a minute to get over the Itis and then went to play some futbol. It started out as me, Ben, Mel, Alex, and TJ. Will and Charlie met up, and we had a little 3 on 3. Went to see this movie and then got some Chinese food with Ben. All in all, an action-packed steezed out weekend. Would have been nice if LP, Emily, and Erin hadn't gone to Octoberfest in Charlotte so they could have cheese cheaped (Will came up with many new synonyms for "peep steez" such as cheap cheese and some others I can't remember... I'll post them if I do.)

Oh yeah... Alex was crazy excited (in true Alex form) over The Lebrons commericals on YouTube. Here's a taste: