connecting*the*dots

UPDATE: Okay, I’m getting a ton of search hits looking for the lyrics to this… song? So here it is. Don’t say I don’t love you:

Allo
Hello
Allo
You people all have hands
They are all normal hands
Five fingers
Und some hair
But mine are very bare
Do you know why?
Do you know why?
I’ll tell you why
I’ll tell you why

My hands are bananas
Your hands are bananas
My hands are bananas
Your hands are bananas

(Girls)
Frau Spots
Un Frau Stripes
Frau Spots
Un Frau Stripes
Frau Spots
Un Frau Stripes
Frau Spots
Un Frau Stripes and also Frau Spots

Ooooohhh
Ooooohhh
Ooooohhh

John has never had chili
No, no, never had chili
John has never had chili
Ever in his life

He doesn’t like chili

Doppelgänger
Doppelgänger
Doppel, doppel, doppelgänger

Keep the monkeys away from my hands
Keep the monkeys away from my hands
Keep the monkeys away from my hands
Keep the monkeys away from my hands
Keep the monkeys away from my hands
Keep the monkeys away from my hands

We are ze monkeys
We are ze monkeys
We are ze monkeys
We are ze monkeys

Eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf, sechs, sieben, acht

Now clap like this!
(clapping)
No, clap like this!
(clapping)

Beware ze Milky Pirate
Beware ze Milky Pirate
Beware ze Milky Pirate
Beware ze Milky Pirate
Beware ze Milky Pirate (buffalo)
Beware ze Milky Pirate (buffalo)

Circley square
Squarely circle
Circley square
Squarely circle

Do you want the banana?
(Girl) Uh-huh
Do you want the banana?
(Girl) Uh-huh

Okay

Artist: Clement D. Mallory (Greensboro out of Brooklyn)

Song: 10 Million Dollars

==========

1 million, 2 million, 3 million…
1 million, 2 million, 3 million 4 million, 5 million…
1 million, 2 million, 3 million 4 million, 5 million, 6 million, 7 million…
1 million, 2 million, 3 million 4 million, 5 million, 6 million, 7 million, 8 million, 9 million…
1 million, 2 million, 3 million 4 million, 5 million, 6 million, 7 million, 8 million, 9 million, 10 million dollars!
What will I do with 10 million dollars?!
With my first million, like Oprah, I’d have a show
And you know that Russel Simmons he would be on that Def Poetry, yo
With my second million, I would give it away like Bill Cosby
My charity would be me and my family
So I would know exactly where my money is going
Right back to my black community
With my third million I would build a school with free food
Just like George “The Iceman” Gervin
But it would be the Clement D. Mallory Foundation, in parenthesis (School of Poetry)
I would take my fourth million and invest it in my own damn stock
Like my clothing, my books and my CD’s would be all be making that Dow Jones money
Like non-stop
Them I’ma bank my whole fifth million
So all I’m doing is just chillin’ — livin’ off my interest
With my sixth million, like Jay-Z, Nelly and Puffy I would own a basketball team
But of course you know it would be a youth league
Cause in reality, in would cost me much more than a million to even be a part-owner of a NBA basketball team
3/4 of my seventh million would go into real estate
250 of that would be for land that I would smack
Right in-between all the Malcolm X’s and Martin Luther King Jr. streets
Cause they gain so much more than money
700 thousand of my eighth million
I would use to do what Mrs. Antella did, which is financing a magazine
But every one of my articles would strictly be on graffiti
That leftover 300 thousand would be doled for miscellaneous things
Like, maybe I might buy some jewelry
With my ninth million, my advertising power would go straight into commercials
It would be me and Spike Lee teaming up with Hype Williams to produce some of the hottest ever made videos
And with my tenth and final million, I think with half of that I would purchase a couple of laundromats
Cause quarters make dollars
With the other half, I would put on some Jerry Lewis type Walk-a-thon
And where ever I’d go, I’d have 500 thousand dollars for 500 thousand homeless people that ask for a dollar
Yeah that’s what I’d do with 10 million dollars
With 10 million dollars, I’d be the black Bill Gates
Stay up counting my money
Like 1 million, 2 million, 3 million 4 million, 5 million, 6 million, 7 million, 8 million, 9 million, 10 million, 10 million dollars!

Artist: The Coup
Song: Heven Tonite

==========

[Chorus]
Preacher man wanna save my soul
Don’t nobody wanna save my life
People we done lost control
Let’s make heaven tonite
Preacher man wanna save my soul
Don’t nobody wanna save my life
People we done lost control
Let’s make heaven tonite

Now as I sleep may the oxygen inflate my lungs
May my arteries and heart oscillate as one
If police come may I awake escape and run
In the morning may I have the sake to scrape the funds
And if I take the plunge
May it be said that I wasn’t afraid to shake my tongue
Show the state was scum
Makin’ sure that the callin’ bell of fate was rung
Cuz if they could the would
And probly tried to
Rape the sun
Someone said that this is just my body
Wait for the Afterpary
Where ain’t no shut-off note
And every wallet there is knotty
Feet are on the asphalt
Dick in the dirt
This system take vickin’ to work
Listen alert
Check out the introvert
In the corner with the rip in her skirt
Stomach pains so she grippin’ her shirt
Ain’t never had dinner
So she know she ain’t gettin’ dessert
Don’t try to tell me it’s her mission to hurt
I got faith in the people and they power to fight
We gon make the struggle blossom
Like a flower to light
I know that we could take power tonight
Make ‘em cower from might
And get emergency clearance from the tower for flight
I ain’t sittin in your pews less you helpin’ me resist and refuse
Show me a list of your views
If you really love me
Help me tear this muthafucka up
Consider this my tithe for the offer cup

[Chorus]

I used to think about infinity
And how my memory is finna be
Invisibly slim in that vicinity
And though the stars are magnificent
Whisky and the midnight sky can make you feel insignificant
The revolution in this tune and verse
Is a bid for my love to touch the universe
Strugglin’ over wages and funds
Let the movement get contagious and run
Through the end when it’s gauges and guns
And if we win in the ages to come
We’ll have a chapter where the history pages are from
They won’t never know our name or face
But feel our soul in free food they taste
Feel our passion when they heat they house
When they got power on the streets
And the police don’t beat ‘em about
Let’s make health care centers on every block
Let’s give everybody homes and a garden plot
Let’s give all the schools books
Ten kids a class
And give ‘em truth for their pencils and pads
Retail clerk - "love ballads" where you place this song
Let’s make heaven right here
Just in case they wrong

[Chorus]

Artist: Momus
Song: The Age Of Information

==========

This is a public service announcement

Ladies and gentlemen, we are now entering
The age of information
It’s perfectly safe
If we all take a few basic precautions
May I make some observations?

Axiom 1 for the world we’ve begun:

Your reputation used to depend on
What you concealed
Now it depends on what you reveal

The age of secretive mandarins who creep on heels of tact is dead:
We are all players now in the great game of fact instead
So since you can’t keep your cards to your chest
I’d suggest you think a few moves ahead
As one does when playing a game of chess

Axiom 2 to make the world new:

Paranoia’s simply a word for seeing things as they are
Act as you wish to be seen to act
Or leave for some other star

Somebody is prying through your files, probably
Somebody’s hand is in your tin of Netscape magic cookies
But relax: if you’re an interesting person
Morally good in your acts
You have nothing to fear from facts

Axiom 3 for transparency:

In the age of information the only way to hide facts
Is with interpretations, there is no way to stop the free exchange
Of idle speculations

In the days before communication privacy meant staying at home
Sitting in the dark with the curtains shut unsure whether to answer the phone
But these are different times, now the bottom line
Is that everyone should prepare to be known
Most of your friends will still like you fine

X said to Y what A said to B
B wrote an E-mail and sent it to me
I showed C and C wrote to A:
Flaming world war three

Cut, paste, forward, copy
CC, go with the flow
Our ambition should be to love what we finally know
Or, if it proves unloveable, simply to go

Axiom 4 for this world I adore:

Our loyalties should shift in view
According to what we know
And who we are speaking to

Once I was loyal to you, and prepared to be against information
Now I am loyal to information, maybe I’m disloyal to you
My loyalty becomes more complex and cubist with every new fact I learn
It depends who I’m speaking to
And who they speak to in turn

Axiom 5 for information workers who wish to stay alive:

Supply, never withhold, the information requested
With total disregard for interests
Personal and vested

Chinese whispers was an analogue game
Where the signal degraded between brain and brain
Digital whispers is the same in reverse
The word we spread gets better, not worse
Better, not worse

X said to Y what A said to B
B wrote an E-mail and sent it to me
I showed C and C wrote to A:
Flaming world war three

Cut, paste, forward, copy
CC, go with the flow
Our ambition should be to love what we finally know
Or, if it proves unloveable, simply to go

(from courtney)

Molly McGinn has a wonderful story of song and struggle that ties closely to this interesting quilt.

If you happen to be someone who thinks all this 2.0 hub-bub about social tagging and meta-data is confusing, I’ve found the perfect domain for us to reverse engineer together.

In order to get us on the same page, why don’t you first hop on over to Musicovery — an online radio site with an extremely interesting interface — and play around for a bit (be sure to explore all of the feature found on the controller).

Just don’t forget to come back! I promise that we’ll have some fun and you might even learn some geeky information architecture stuff.

Welcome back.

Okay, so how brilliant was that experience?

I don’t know about you, but discovering music based on my current mood fills a huge void in how I currently listen to music. Before discovering Musicovery, the closest I could come to replicating such a dynamic experience in iTunes was by creating a playlist for a specific genre and shuffling the playback.

And that just doesn’t do it for me. (more on the genesis of genres later)

Essentially, everything that Musicovery is doing is made possible by leveraging the relationships between meta-data applied to discrete information objects. So, are you up for digging further into the underpinnings of this puppy to figure out how it works and possibly come up with a few meta-data driven enhancements to the current user experience?

I’ll take your silence as a yes. Alright, let’s get to it then.

Old School, Structured Meta-Data

Deconstructing music (as an information object) is pretty straight-forward, as each song comes with standardized attributes that neatly fit into industry-wide delivery and marketing mechanisms (which were established well prior to the explosion of the dynamic nature of the web).

Okay, first, let’s list the most commonly exposed and explicit attributes of a song. My top six would be:

• Artist name
• Song Name
• Album name
• Release Date
• Track Length
• Genre

Now, while the first five attributes are all explicitly defined — the artist’s name is the artist’s name, etc. — the sixth attribute (genre) is only explicit when viewed through the lens of the music industry’s nomenclature levers (a song that I consider to be hip-hop, someone else might call rap, while the music industry itself might label it as pop).

By managing the evolution and edification of genre nomenclature, the music industry uses these silos to market acts with a much greater degree of certainty in matching the expectations of the customer because the music industry is creating those very expectations themselves through this process.

Deep, huh?

So back to deconstruction; let’s see how Musicovery is leveraging these primary attributes (if at all):

• Each song displays the artists name
• Album name isn’t exposed
• The controller interface allows the user to narrow results by decade or specific year based on the release date
• Track length isn’t exposed
• Genre is displayed prominently in the controller as the primary filter of returned songs

Two of the six most prominent song attributes aren’t being used, yet there’s a preponderance of controller functionality left to discuss.

Something else is going on.

Meta-Data In The Digital World

The aforementioned attributes of the song object have been around forever; they are the core identifiers for a song and always will be. As I mentioned before, the music industry has become extremely efficient in managing the relationships between these attributes across an expanding universe of songs — it’s their lifeblood. This particular set of meta-data fit the strategy of the analog age of information — where meta-data was constrained to the physical dimensions of the record’s liner notes or the pages of an industry magazine.

Now, in the Information Age, there are truly no limits to the amount or types of meta-data that can be generated; the only limitation — from a practical, business perspective — would be in how these new attributes fit into the domain’s value equation.

So, because the folks behind Musicovery have focused on creating a radio application that exposes music in particular ways (other than shuffled programming or human dj’ing), it’s a solid bet that they’ve expanded upon their meta-data set.

The Nitty-Gritty Attribute Model

In order to return a song by clicking on a specific spot in the mood or dance interfaces, the quadrants need to be explicitly defined to hook up with corresponding attributes applied to songs in the Musicovery universe. So what type of attributes would we need to add to each song? Here’s one approach:

Mood Interface

• Dark to Positive attribute scale (-5,-4,-3,-2,-1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
• Calm to Energetic attribute scale (-5,-4,-3,-2,-1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

Dance Interface

• Dance (-) to Dance (+) attribute scale (-5,-4,-3,-2,-1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
• Tempo (-) to Tempo (+) attribute scale (-5-,4,-3,-2,-1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

The range could be much more refined than 11 data points — theoretically, it could be as refined as equating to the number of pixels that reside in the actual interface — but due to the current size of the song universe (it seems limited, as I get repeat results somewhat often) and the already subjective nature of assigning such attributes to songs, this degree of differentiation would probably suffice.

Now, let’s take the mood interface and chop it up along these lines to visualize how each song could be found in this manner:

That’s pretty much it.

So while there are numerous choices one could make in the presentation (depending on the size of the song universe, the visualization would span out to neighboring squares to present a full return, etc.), in order for a song to be accessible by any aspect of the Musicovery interface, each song object would simply need to have the following structured data applied to it:

• Artist name
• Song Name
• Release Date
• Genre
• Dark to Positive attribute scale (-5,-4,-3,-2,-1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
• Calm to Energetic attribute scale (-5,-4,-3,-2,-1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
• Dance (-) to Dance (+) attribute scale (-5,-4,-3,-2,-1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
• Tempo (-) to Tempo (+) attribute scale (-5-,4,-3,-2,-1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
• A Billboard ranking (0,1) in order to display whether the song was a hit or not

Most of these data points could be data entry for a trained monkey, but the scaled meta-data is such a subjective determination that the resulting experience will vary from person to person.

Aside from scouring for top, authoritative talent like Kennedy (eh, for early 90’s music) and pay her thousands upon thousands of dollars to “moodize” and “dancize” each song and then splash her grill on the interface to pimp the brand, what else could we do to improve the resulting experience?

If you know me at all, you know where I’m going with this.

Why have only one person or team from one domain attributing mood or dance settings to all music, when the openness of the web has already proven models for empowering each user with the ability to add their own meta-data to the mix if they should chose to do so?

Open Up The Gates

Way back in the day, Launch.com (now Yahoo! Music) was the king of the internet radio scene. And while I dug being able to subscribe to other user’s services through their social network, my favorite feature, by far, was the ability to rate my music on a 0 (never play again) to 100 scale, in increments of 1.

Sure, maybe 101 levels was over the top, but future playback of my favorite music was amazingly accurate. Now, what if Musicovery allowed this same type of two-way interaction?

Here’s an example scenario:

I just clicked on the mood interface between the energetic and dark nomenclature. The first song that returned was Joe Cocker, With A Little Help From My Friends.

Really? Dark and energetic? I don’t think so. But as it is, I can’t affect the centralized intelligence of Musicovery. I just have to take their recommendations at face value.

Now, what if we were to add user input into the song interface?

Once we added our perspective on mood, the system could return the results to the information object and use the input in two ways.

• The meta-data could be lumped into all user feedback to present a more representative mood interface — the wisdom of the crowd if you will
• It could also be used to present personal mood results, from a toggle setting in the interface

If the song universe was large enough, we could add a similar rating control that Launch employed, so not only would our mood expectations be met, we’d hear our favorite songs more often as well.

Fun stuff.

From an email sent to me by a friend:

As an active duty Marine I can not really voice my opinions about some of the events of the world. As you know we recently lost our 3000th service member and a song popped in my head. “Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums” by A Perfect Circle.

If you post anything all I ask is that you not mention my name.

You got it, man.

Related posts:

• The Most Elegant, Rhetorical, Wartime Question… Ever
• 50,000 Dead Iraqi Citizens: Define “Victoryâ€? For Me
• I’ll Take King George, Center Square
• Lego My Country

Johnny Marr & David Cross covering Ethan Chandler’s Bank of America “One” cover.

In more corporate stupidity news, Universal Music Publishing Group has issued a cease and desist letter to a blog showing the original BofA “One” video.

Be sure to download your copy of the video before YouTube kills caves to another lawyer.

(via Twang Nation)

That huge AOL logo behind Lou is killing me.

Artist: Bob Dylan
Song: The Times They Are A-Changin’

==========

Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon
For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who
That it’s namin’.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin’.

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside
And it is ragin’.
It’ll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin’.
Please get out of the new one
If you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin’.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin’.

John Smith and I met last Friday afternoon, as I worked out of The Press (Wine Cafe) across the street from my home/office. We rapped about driving in NYC, women, music… dude was just real and at times, a riot.

I think I caught him in the above photo thinking about whether or not he could retain his manhood while drinking beer from a frosty glass. That entire conversation killed me, because as he vociferously defended the mechanics of the bottle and the presentation of “guy” it projected, he had a slice of lime swirling around in his beer bottle.

Heh.

Meeting cool locals like John isn’t the only new thing happening across the street. The spot has quickly become both my office of choice for calls & non-design intensive work (the WiFi connection is really strong) and my default lunch spot (Turkey Panini, chips and a coke, gracias). And while I wasn’t quite digging the music much before, the vibe has begun to shift a bit.

First of all, the live shows — what I’ve caught at least — have been damn good.

They had a solo, acoustic act a few weeks ago; the guy moved smoothly from Stevie Wonder to Mark Cohn to Neil Young and sounded amazing. Last week, I stumbled in on the Thursday night show and people were cuttin’ up the rug by the sofas. And this past Thursday, I swear the senior member of the jazz quartet couldn’t have been any older than 24… and their improv was as sick as their flow was tight.

Greensboro talent representing.

My only real complaint of the day to day experience — the CD rotation — has changed a bit as well. I just don’t know if Mike and Aaron know about it.

I’ve been slipping the staff mixed CD’s with jazz, hip-hop and electronica, shifting the vibe a bit from the afternoon elevator jazz we’ve had to endure this past month. The vibe is definitely still jazzy, but there’s now some freshness to the mix. I’m hoping that down the road, the guys invest in some form of a jukebox solution, something that customers can influence at no cost.

Until then, it’s all good.

Noam Chomsky once explained the driving force behind the war machine as one that won’t begin to slow down until corporate America realizes that the majority of its customers are against a particular conflict. For when advertisers adjust to the collective vibe of the people (in order to sell product), the message is brought home to politicians in ways they must take seriously in a state-capitalism system.

I can’t remember where I read that — probably in Understanding Power — but it reminded me of his synopsis of the Vietnam Syndrome:

[…]

The bewildered herd never gets properly tamed, so this is a constant battle. In the 1930s they arose again and were put down. In the 1960s there was another wave of dissidence. There was a name for that. It was called by the specialized class “the crisis of democracy.” Democracy was regarded as entering into a crisis in the 1960s. The crisis was that large segments of the population were becoming organized and active and trying to participate in the political arena.

Here we come back to these two conceptions of democracy. By the dictionary definition, that’s an advance in democracy. By the prevailing conception that’s a problem, a crisis that has to be overcome. The population has to be driven back to the apathy, obedience and passivity that is their proper state. We therefore have to do something to overcome the crisis. Efforts were made to achieve that. It hasn’t worked. The crisis of democracy is still alive and well, fortunately, but not very effective in changing policy. But it is effective in changing opinion, contrary to what a lot of people believe.

Great efforts were made after the 1960s to try to reverse and overcome this malady. It was called the “Vietnam Syndrome.” The Vietnam Syndrome, a term that began to come up around 1970, has actually been defined on occasion. The Reaganite intellectual Norman Podhoretz defined it as “the sickly inhibitions against the use of military force.” There were these sickly inhibitions against violence on the part of a large part of the public. People just didn’t understand why we should go around torturing people and killing people and carpet bombing them. It’s very dangerous for a population to be overcome by these sickly inhibitions, as Goebbels understood, because then there’s a limit on foreign adventures.

It’s necessary, as the Washington Post put it the other day, rather proudly, to “instill in people respect for the martial virtues.” That’s important. If you want to have a violent society that uses force around the world to achieve the ends of its own domestic elite, it’s necessary to have a proper appreciation of the martial virtues and none of these sickly inhibitions about using violence. So that’s the Vietnam Syndrome. It’s necessary to overcome that one.

[…]

Enter into the conversation: The Dixie Chicks.

These three woman made plain what they felt was true in the run up to war in Iraq and now — three and a half years into this unjust war — their message is shared by a majority of Americans (65% want out of Iraq and more than 60% disapprove President Bush’s job).

So if you buy into the analysis that it’s necessary for a state-capitalism system to overcome such “sickly inhibitions about using violence” in order to flex all foreign policy options, then the actions of one of the last defenses in the current corporate line — the über-conglomerate NBC Universal — shouldn’t surprise you.

Even though CBS moved forward with an ad buy, NBC has steeled up and decided to not run ads for the Dixie Chicks documentary entitled, Shut Up and Sing. Here’s part of their rationale (with my emphasis):

[…]

While the Weinstein Co. had shown NBC its ads, it had not inquired about buying commercial time, he said. Generally, when an ad is rejected, prospective advertisers return and work with the network on ways to make it acceptable — as was done with the Michael Moore film “Fahrenheit 9/11,� he said.

But NBC heard nothing more from makers of “Shut Up & Sing� until portions of what NBC executives thought were confidential business correspondence showed up in a news release, he said.

“There was no attempt to come back and have a conversation,� Wurtzel said. “There are times when some advertisers get more publicity for having their ad rejected.�

[…]

NBC’s positioning for making the trailer more acceptable is akin to the central theme of a documentary called Shut Up & Sing. Are they really surprised that they walked away and went to the press?

10 years ago, such a tactical play by NBC could’ve crippled an independent film’s message due to lack of exposure, but not now, not in the information age. NBC can stick to their “standards” and play all the games they want, because as Chomsky so eloquently analyzed, the people are on it.

Decide for yourself if the trailer is unacceptable.

UPDATE: Lawrence Lessig talks about a previous media denial encounter with NBC that fell into the same “not very flattering to the president� category.

(via Baron over at TwangNation)

Artist: Lou Reed
Song: I’ll Be Your Mirror

==========

I’ll be your mirror,
Reflect what you are
In case you don’t know.
I’ll be the wind,
The rain and the sunset,
The light on your door
To show that you’re home.

When you think the night has seen your mind,
That inside you’re twisted and unkind,
Let me stand to show that you are blind.
Please put down your hands ’cause I see you.

I find it hard
To believe you don’t know
The beauty you are,
But if you don’t
Let me be your eyes,
The hand to your darkness
So you won’t be afraid.

When you think the night has seen your mind,
That inside you’re twisted and unkind,
Let me stand to show that you are blind.
Please put down your hands ’cause I see you.

I’ll be your mirror
Reflect what you are
I’ll be your mirror
Reflect what you are
I’ll be your mirror
Reflect what you are
I’ll be your mirror
Reflect what you are
I’ll be your mirror
Reflect what you are

Artist: De La Soul
Song: Ego Trippin’ (Part Two)

==========

DOVE:
I’m buggin’

POS:
E-ghostbusters

DOVE:
Mercy, mercy, (ego trip, ego trip)
Mercy! (ego trip, ego trip), Mercy!!!

MASE:
Aaah!!! Aaah!!! Aaah!!! Aaah!!!
Aaah!!! Aaah!!! Aaah!!! Aaah!!!
Aaah!!! Aaah!!! Aaah!!! Aaah!!!
Aaah!!! Aaah!!! Aaah!!! Aaah!!!

DOVE:
Yep, yep big trucker man’s rollin’ in town
How ya do, how ya do
I got the joints to make ya…(JUMP!)
Because I’m headin’ eastbound
Tired of the merry go round and around
And everybody’s talkin’ bout you’re so funny
But they still tellin’ lies to me
I got the trees in my backyard
And it’s hard for them to tell a lie to me
And who’s the foot, I’m the foot but who’s steppin’
(Ain’t no half steppin’)
You know where I’m steppin’
Skirts play wit it cause I’m slick like that
I’m the greatest MC in the world!!
You gots to gimme gimme mine cause I’m heavy when I weigh it
Watch the way I say it (ego trip)
Change my pitch up, smack my bitch up
I never did it
The flavor’s bein’ butt but brothers ain’t gettin’ it
Get it; or else you’re a goner
When I rolls over ya gonna have to wanna lamp
Cause it’s the chattanooga champ
Takin’ a train…Takin’ a train…Takin’ a train…Takin’ a train…

POS:
Now I’m somethin’ like a phenomenon
I’m somethin’ like a phenomenon
Well I’m the hourglass cat
Drug it out of jack

DOVE:
For jill

POS:
Cause I spilled the phenomenon
Pack the holes in my lawn
The girls in my saun[a]
Word is born I’m a livin’ phenomenon
Well I’m a better brand cause I’m a superman
I run the block with my circle cause I’m nubian
I got the platinum rust, so don’t even fuss
Cause DJ Paul, he’s down wit us
Now people stop takin’ my stylin’ for a joke
I don’t sassafrass I put the foot up the ass
Sometimes I’m fast, blow off like a seal

SHORTIE NO MAS:
When they reminisce over you

POS:
For real
Mase chopped the record down to the bone
And now Renee King is on my telephone
But I got the Ring Ring Ha Ha Hey Hey

SHORTIE NO MAS:
Cause this type of shit it happens everyday

POS:
I got to make me a connection so my imports stuff
(WORD!) Wo, word ‘em up
Cause I’m so fly…

DOVE:
Yes on and on
I’m ins like (?) go buy my yacht
I got Gills like Johnny
Sail at 7 elf (well good for ya)
Bigger than bigs, dig it (I dug it)
Ways that amazes popes
I am the is equals is cause it’s caught up
When the tides taught me the ropes
No weights for the baits (man I’ll give you four)
For a verb unheard of (man gimme one more)
Alright you got it if you’re special
With a dapper toe tapper when a lot’s goin’ on
(And ain’t a damn thing happenin’)
The answer to the riddle is me and here’s the question
Who can be (fresh)
Who can be (dope)
Who can be (nice)
Who can be (beautiful)
Who can be (word)
Who can be….

POS:
Me be the Jericho turnpike bandit
Yes competition try to troupe my way
I sing the song you never heard before
I feed the famine in your mind
So mind ya manners baby
I run a line on ya
Lay ya on the springs then sway ya
All this and a condom cause I be a taxpayer
Promotin’ of a moccasin I skin like Danny Boone
When I swallow hear the (gulp)
So give me room just give me room back the hell up

SHORTY NO MAS:
Back the hell up
Know what I’m sayin’

POS:
Or when I run the mic there won’t be no delayin’
Pressure 40 does it like a Easy Bake oven

DOVE:
Blues got the muffin

SHORTY NO MAS:
Eat it

DOVE:
Blues got the muffin

SHORTY NO MAS:
Eat it!!

POS:
Intoxicate many wit my talk without intoxicatin’ myself low
So I gots to walk slow but…..

DOVE:
Don’t you get too hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh
(Ego trip, Ego trip, Ego trip, Ego trip,
Ego trip, Ego trip, Ego trip, Ego trip,
Ego trip, Ego trip, Ego trip, Ego trip,
Ego trip, Ego trip, Ego trip, Ego trip,
Ego trip, Ego trip, Ego trip, Ego trip,
Ego trip, Ego trip, Ego trip, Ego trip,)

(Aaah!! Aaah!! Aahh!! Aahh!! Aahh!!
Aaah!! Aaah!! Aahh!! Aahh!! Aahh!!
Aaah!! Aaah!! Aahh!! Aahh!! Aahh!!
Aaah!! Aaah!! Aahh!! Aahh!! Aahh!!
Aaah!! Aaah!! Aahh!! Aahh!! Aahh!!)

PRINCE PAUL:
Somebody’s cryin’?
I know somebody’s cryin’.
Who’s cryin’?
Yo, somebody’s cryin’ here.

(Trippin’ down the fuckin stairs)
(YEEAAAHHH!)

My good friend David Bartel of DeepSoundChannel is performing this Saturday, October 14th at 11pm at Goodbye Blue Monday in Brooklyn, NY.

David’s an incredibly talented composer and musician; if you’re free Saturday night and dig futuristic, ambient, electronica, be sure to check him out.

Artist: The Disposable Heroes of HipHoprisy
Song: Television, the Drug Of A Nation

==========

One Nation under God has turned into
One Nation under the influence of one drug

Television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation
On television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation

T.V., I.T. satellite links our United States of unconciousness
Apathetic, therapeutic and extremely addictive,
the methadone metronome pumping out 150 channels
24 hours a day
You can flip through all of them
And still there’s nothing worth watching

T.V. is the reason why less than ten percent of our Nation reads books daily
why most people think Central America means Kansas
Socialism means unAmerican
and Apartheid is a new headache remedy

Absorbed in its world it’s so hard to find us
It shapes our minds the most
Maybe the mother of our Nation should remind us
that we’re sitting to close to. . .

Television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation
On television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation

T.V. is the stomping ground for political candidates
Where bears in the woods are chased by Grecian Formula’d bald eagles

T.V. is mechanized politic’s remote control over the masses
co-sponsered by environmentally safe gases
watch for the PBS special

It’s the perpetuation of the two party system
where image takes precedence over wisdom
Where sound bite politics are served to the fastfood culture

Where straight teeth in your mouth
are more important than the words that come out of it
Race baiting is the way to get selected
Willie Horton or Will he not get elected on . . .

Television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation
On television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation

T.V. is it the reflector or the director?
Does it imitate us or do we imitate it?
Because a child watches 1500 murders before he’s twelve years old
and we wonder how we’ve created a Jason generation
that learns to laugh rather than abhor the horror

T.V. is the place where armchair generals and quarterbacks
can experience first hand the excitement of video warfare
as the theme song is sung in the background

Sugar sweet sitcoms that leave us with a bad actor taste
while pop stars metamorphosize into soda pop stars
You saw the video
You heard the soundtrack
Well now go buy the soft drink
Well, the only cola that I support
would be a union C.O.L.A. (Cost of Living Allowance)

On television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation
On television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation

Back again, “New and Improved”,
we return to our irregularly programmed schedule
hidden cleverly between heavy breasted beer and car commericals

CNN, ESPN, ABC, TNT… but mostly B.S.
Where oxymoronic language like “virtually spotless”
“fresh frozen” “light yet filling” and “military intelligence”
have become standard

T.V. is the place where phrases are redefined
like “recession” to “necessary downturn”
“crude oil” on a beach to “mousse”
“Civilian death” to “collateral damages”
and being killed by your own Army is now called “friendly fire”

T.V. is the place where the pursuit of happiness has become the pursuit of trivia
Where toothpaste and cars have become sex objects
Where imagination is sucked out of children by a cathode ray nipple
T.V. is the only wet nurse that would create a cripple

Television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation
On television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation
On television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation
On television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation

(originally uploaded by Bog_King)

ZDNet.uk
Chuck D lays down the law on DRM
by David Meyer

Digital rights management (DRM) has its benefits, but should not overly restrict users, according to musician and mobile entrepreneur Chuck D.

The rapper, who was a founding member of hip hop group Public Enemy and now runs a content service, told delegates at the Mobile Content World conference in London that he had always looked at technology as “something you can apply to a better world if you stay on top of it and don’t let it stay on top of you”.

“[Napster founder] Shawn Fanning revolutionised the way we get music — he doesn’t get the respect he deserves even today,” said Chuck D on Tuesday.

He said he does “believe in some sort of DRM” but pointed out that MP3 was the most popular compression format because it does not limit how the customer can use the file once bought.

“You’ve got artists who are just starting out who are understanding that DRM is a way of life,” Chuck D said, adding that musicians “understand it doesn’t have to be the Pirates of Penzance as it was”, a reference to the free-for-all early days of Napster and similar P2P engines.

The issue of DRM has become increasingly contentious with the growth of new media distribution services. Some see it as a way to protect the intellectual property of content creators, while others see it as unnecessary infringement by distributors on the rights of the consumer.

Speaking to ZDNet UK after his presentation, Chuck D described the current situation with DRM as “just a lot of fucked-up shit“.

[…]

Until the bottom-feeding leetches of the RIAA are kicked out of the music industry, artists and consumers are going to be screwed by DRM.

(via Pete)

With ConvergeSouth coming around the bend (next Friday and Saturday, registration is still free and open), I had a few questions about the second annual festival / conference / unconference popping around in my noggin’.

Enter Ben Hwang, technology and community advocate extraordinaire. Ben is the co-founder of ConvergeSouth, the lead for Media|ConvergeSouth and the idea guy behind Firelace LLC and numerous other non-profit projects. (Disclosure: Ben is also on the Board of Directors of my non-profit: The People, Yes)

In-between work and blogging, we both somehow found the time to connect over IM. The following is our conversation:

spcoon 1:57
So, Ben, what gave you the idea for ConvergeSouth?

ben (phxnetwrxlab) 2:00
SXSW.

Ever since I began tracking BoingBoing and the rest of the Internet, I’ve paid more attention to it. When I saw what that conference did for the city of Austin, I thought: why couldn’t we do a similar type of event with a spin? I did some searches and there were only NXNW and NXNE but no SXSE.

spcoon 2:01
So, why didn’t you call it SXSE?

ben (phxnetwrxlab) 2:04
When I brought the idea to Sue, SXSE was a choice, but Sue and Ed brainstormed a whole bunch of names and came up with ConvergeSouth. It gave us the ability to key in the Gate City as part of the theme — at least from my perspective.

spcoon 2:07
Good choice ;-)

Okay, call me a transplant Yankee, but I don’t get the Gate City reference. I’m guessing that refers to Greensboro?

ben (phxnetwrxlab) 2:09
Yeah, Gate City is another name for Greensboro. It’s the name that was used back when all the railroad tracks all ended up here. It’s still the Gate City due to many of the shipping lines still using Greensboro as a center point (I believe).

spcoon 2:10
Nice… ConvergeSouth is definitely strong enough to carry over that subtlety.

Ok, speaking of SXSW, Austin had a few things going for it before the launch of the event 15 years ago; a college town, thriving music scene, strong software development community, independent filmmakers, progressive politics (to name a few).

What similarities do you see with Greensboro and how does Greensboro differentiate itself — good, bad or indifferent?

ben (phxnetwrxlab) 2:14
#1: Greensboro is a lot smaller. In the past five years, the live music/bar/clubbing scene has gone from practically non-existent, to an outrageously fun place for young adults. It’s not a NYC or Austin by any means, but our population is also a wee bit less than those types of cities.

#2: Independent filmmaking. We’ve had Greensboro’s Child made here, participated in The 48 Hour Film Project and three (if I counted correctly since I’m not in that line of work) other movies filmed here in the last year. Maybe it was more, I don’t remember offhand.

I think on a scale, Austin is larger and more diverse, but Greensboro is like a teenager eager to leave the nest and go play in the bigger world of things. All we’re doing is giving it a few nudges here and there to guide it into the footsteps of those larger and more influential and in general more “fun” cities.

It’s going a good direction from my POV. There’s a lot of character in this city. A lot more than when I first moved here, which was about when all of the action started to seed from what I’m told.

spcoon 2:22
Sucking up to the interviewer by mentioning his brother’s film… nice.

ben (phxnetwrxlab) 2:23
Dang straight.

spcoon 2:24
You mention character… you know, I think you hit upon something there. Friends of mine back in Jersey ask me why I love it so much down here, and I always point to the character of the town — how there’s always an interesting conversation happening between the black and white of an issue, the left and right of a position… is that what you mean by character as well?

ben (phxnetwrxlab) 2:32
I’d have to say the economic growth and capitalizing on small businesses in the downtown area has been a major part of the character I’m speaking of. The left/right and black/white conversations definitely bring out a lot of good in people, but also vice-versa, be it here or anywhere else. I think that this city is a lot more progressive than some feel about it. Speaking from a transplant perspective of course.

So that is character as well, but I’m not speaking to that end of it. Most of what I’m involved in is with the former (economic growth, technology, downtown, etc).

spcoon 2:35
Yeah, I feel you on that end as well. I guess what’s really interesting for me is sensing a tangible intersection between all of these economic developments, conversations, events, etc. — like a crazy looking Venn diagram — as I go about my personal/business life here in town.

ben (phxnetwrxlab) 2:36
Venn diagram. Scary. I haven’t heard that term in… gosh, years.

spcoon 2:36
Heh… So do you think that the blogging community in this area has helped shape this meshed, overlap of community that we find here?

ben (phxnetwrxlab) 2:44
Definitely. The blogging community here is probably what defines a lot of Greensboro’s character actually, now that I think about it. It’s almost like we’re the Brady Bunch. Every so often Peter and Bobby would get in a tiff, but when it came to protecting your own — Greg would come out swinging (or something like that.)

We definitely caught onto the blogging breeze when it blew through here -– a lot more than anywhere else I’d imagine. People might snicker, but there’s got to be something behind the LA Times dubbing us as “Blogsboro” (even though I despise that name. lol)

spcoon 2:47
So with ~250,000 residents, Ben, how can a vocal blogosphere of 50 to 100 people help shape community?

ben (phxnetwrxlab) 2:48
Those 50-100 people are the ones that are willing to speak out in the name of the community. It’s like letters to the editor, except you get to present your voice to the whole world to take notice.

Hopefully more people would be willing to speak out later on, but someone needs to break the ice.

spcoon 2:50
How can blogging help enable different communities moving forward? Or are you going to tell me to wait for Elizabeth Edwards to lead her discussion at ConvergeSouth?

ben (phxnetwrxlab) 3:02
Blogging is a conversation between author and commenter — well, assuming the blogger writes back within the comments. How can it help different communities to move forward? Well, it’s more like water cooler talk really. Talking doesn’t make anything happen, except perhaps gives you more ideas. You have to take those ideas and act on them.

Just because I say “Bob was at Jim’s house this last weekend for a game of bridge.” doesn’t mean it happened; It’s just talk. But talk is the first step to getting something going, or at least enlightening yourself to other perspectives. More options usually mean more solutions to problems. And that’s always a good thing.

spcoon 3:47
So what should I expect to experience on October 13th & 14th?

ben (phxnetwrxlab) 3:53
The ability to explore different mediums to amplify your voice… or to simply listen to those who are doing so.

We (Media|ConvergeSouth) ask that artists contribute, because their talent is in the driver’s seat (we have contributors from as far as the UK).

The main event (ConvergeSouth) surrounds technology and the people that use them to build social circles. Hopefully those circles intersect some like your Venn diagrams and create and benefit the larger community.

But more than anything, we simply want people to have a good time, because as part of the all-volunteer staff, we’d like to see that our time was well spent in helping the community (both online and off) by creating this annual event.

spcoon 3:55
Thanks, Ben!

/end interview

Ever feel like you’re simply a target of corporate consumerism? One battery of millions powering accelerated growth? A soul without a say? Disconnected from other people?

Watch this and smile.

(via Dave)

Mike and Aaron opened up a few weeks back, after months of building and prepping the corner of MLK and Gorrel. I’ve wanted to write about them since, as their general manager, Stephanie, fed Lucy treats each day as we passed on our walk, but I’ve been way too busy.

Yep, blogger bought off by dot biscuits.

But with free WiFi, comfy couches, good and decent-priced food, a relaxed atmosphere and local artwork adorning the walls, you really can’t go wrong spending time over there. I’m not a wine fan, but from what Angela tells me, they have a choice selection. And oh yeah, the Ganache Chocolate Cake is ridiculous.

My only criticism so far (they got rid of the canned fresh fruit) is the background music rotation; it leans too much in the Kenny G direction for my tastes (I’m much more of a Mingus, Miles, Thelonious kinda guy). Thursday night is live Jazz night, so we’ll see where this evolves…

Check ‘em out and wish them well, as they’re Southside’s first foray into the restaurant / bar / nightclub world.

Where the magic happens

Aaron on opening day

My third office (counting The Green Bean)

Artist: Ben Folds Five
Song: Regrets

==========

I thought about sitting on the floor in second grade
I couldn’t keep the pace
I thought I was the only one moving in slow motion
While the other kids knew something I did not
But if I acted like a clown
I thought it would get me through, it did
But that don’t work no more
You’re not a kid no more
I thought I’d do some traveling
Never did

Regrets, regrets

I thought about the hours wasted
Watching TV, drinking beer
I thought about the things I thought about
Until immobilized with fear
And all the great ideas I had
And how we just made fun
Of those who had the guts to try and fail
And then I ended up in jail

Regrets, regrets
Regrets, regrets

… but just for a day
Seems the police had made a computer mistake
Said there must be thousands like me with the
Same name
Anyway, I thought about the things I settled for
Or never tried
I never visited my grandma even once
When she was sick before she died
So I don’t blame you if you never come to see me
Here again

Regrets, regrets
Regrets, regrets

Artist: De La Soul
Song: Stakes Is High

==========

(sounds of a craps game…)

Stakes is high, you know them stakes is high, when you talkin’ about…
Stakes is high, you know them stakes is high, we be talkin’ about…
Stakes is high, you know them stakes is high…

[POS]
The instamatic focal point bringing damage to your borough
Be some brothers from the east with some beats that be thorough
Got the solar gravitation so I’m bound to pull it
I gets down like brothers are found ducking from bullets
Gun control means using both hands in my land
Where it’s all about the cautious livin’
Migrating to a higher form of consequence
Compliments
Of strugglin’ that shouldn’t be notable,
Man every word I say should be a hip hop quotable.

[DOVE]
I’m sick of bitches shakin’ asses
I’m sick of talkin’ about blunts,
Sick of Versace glasses,
Sick of slang,
Sick of half-ass awards shows,
Sick of name brand clothes (word)
Sick of R&B bitches over bullshit tracks,
Cocaine and crack
Which brings sickness to blacks,
Si