Speaker lights

There's been a lot of people thinking about this concept for a while but now they're a reality thanks to the fine people at Klipsh. The system seems pretty cool except that it's only 2 speakers, for now, and they're very expensive at $599. Of course it's worth it if they sound as good or better than other home speakers.

Birds play guitar better than most people

For an upcoming show at the Barbican Art Gallery, French artist Céleste Boursier-Mougenot has set up an environment for finches to be musicians. By setting up electric guitars to be the only perches for the birds to stand and play on, they are left with little choice but to make music. What's astonishing is that the little birds seem to enjoy it and try to enhance the sound more by using sticks. This is a fascinating exploration into the relationship of music to all living things in the world. I would love to see this but unfortunately I don't think I will be in London anytime in the near future.

When The World Is Running Down

I'm not the biggest Police or Sting connoisseur but of all of their songs that I do know & love this is by far my favorite. Second place goes to "Voices Inside My Head" (although I prefer the deeper dub disco version by Common Sense). Anyway, this song really speaks loud as much now as it did 30 years ago. Excellent song writting, arrangement and production. If I knew how to make music I'd attempt to cover this, and probably fail! hahaha...seriously though, there's certain songs that always sound better by the original artist. Maybe that's why you haven't heard a successful cover of this? I think The Roots could pull it off in a way that makes sense. Perhaps U2 and possibly even Prince & NPG but it would be really tough to top the Police.

I am SO anxious for this

If there's one thing that REALLY annoys me it's wires! Yeah, it seems silly since we think that we need them. In my mind, even as a kid, I thought there must be a way to transmit electricity with out wires or at least figure out a better way to power our appliances and gadgets. Well, as luck/fate would have it, Marin Soljacic at MIT has finally got the technology at a point where it will be widely available in the next few years!! I first heard about this a couple years ago on MIT's Technology Review website (it's one of my favorite sites! yeah, so what I'm a nerd.) but at the time it was big and impractical. In addition to just making sense and being more convenient, this could have major impact from an environmental perspective. Of course, companies will not stop putting wires on products anytime soon but in the future we will hopefully see a dramatic decrease in the use of PVC & copper for wires. Wires actually account for a major percentage of PVC consumption. There's also the environmental perspective of just how an area looks. whether in your house or on the street, wires are an unsightly eyesore. Think about how much better Tokyo will look without the wires everywhere!

I could go on and on about this but read about it more on his company's website- WiTricity

A Love Letter For You

I haven't been out to West Philly in a while to see all of these but I got to check a couple over the summer. This is a great project by Steve "ESPO" Powers. It's amazing to see him getting paid to do this since he used to do things like this back in the day anyway...along with bombing the subway tunnels and walls throughout the city. He's a pretty intense and was/is a really cool dude...I met him a couple times and he even drew some things in a sketch book for me and gave me some old rare can of green (that I still have). I doubt he remembers that. Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing these in person once the weather gets a little warmer and I can go for a bike ride out there. Some of them are best seen from the "el" though since they're meant to add some color to the dull brown view of the roofs.

If you're not in able to see them, definitely check out the website-> A Love Letter For You

The RZA conquers all

Over the years The RZA has always impressed me. I may not always like his music but can't deny how prolific he's been and how he's been able to transcend beyond hip-hop. I'll never forget meeting him like 11 years ago. I've met a lot of people in the music world, specifically the hip-hop world, and he really stood out. He talked to everybody he could, was friendly, warm and lacked any ego that you would expect. (at the time Wu-Tang was on top of the world) He just really seems connected to people and is very open-minded, positive and empathetic to the world but at the same time has been very business savvy. Now, what seems to be no surprise, he's gotten into 19th century style painting. It seems kind of humorous at first but then when you realize that he's reinterpreting classic paintings with white guys and placing himself and other Wu-Tang members in the pieces, the message becomes more profound. This project is a joint venture with W.A.I.L. I'd definitely buy one of these if I had the loot.

Oh, and The RZA is getting into making movies now too!

You can register to purchase one of the prints at When Art Imitates Life

Weird video of the week

Yeah, I know Jay-Z is a very unlikely candidate for this but just watch. I've seen it like 5 times in a row and can't make any sense of it...totally weird and seems to have nothing to do with the song. C'mon, Cirque du Soliel dancers, crazy white dudes, paint, bullets, human teeth, animal skulls, etc... I'm feeling it though and really dig some of the simple effects. Plus, it's a good club track that I'd definitely play at.

Sound of Light

I wish the rhythm could be more controlled but still a great concept and executed well.

Vegetable Orchestra

This is crazy! It reminds me of something Matthew Herbert would do.

record keeps spinning....again.