Wii Video Feature. Gameworld Network.

OK, if you're not excited about the Nintendo Wii, you need to get excited.If you don't know what I'm talking about, you should probably head over to Nintendo.com and do some research. You can also click on the link below to see a lot of video filmed at E3 that show both the games and how the controller works. Check out Metroid, Tennis and Mario, and don't forget to check out the music demos. The orchestra and drumming games don't look like a lot of fun over the long term, but they do demonstrate the sensitivity of the controller system.

Enjoy the videos and then get in line behind me for your very own Wii.

Wii Video Feature. Gameworld Network.

Net Neutrality

If you've seen those misleading commercials with the roadsigns on television, and you don't know why they are misleading, watch this ad. It's not as slick or dramatic, and the voice over isn't as frightening, but it does at least explain why "net neutrality" is important.

Extroverted like me. By Seth Stevenson

Slate.com has an interesting article on shyness/social anxiety and Paxil.

Extroverted like me. By Seth Stevenson

Bonnaroo (and Elvis Costello)

The Bonnaroo Music Festival is right next door in Tennessee, and here I sit in Arkansas. The good news is that you can see a lot of it online at bonnaroo.com. The quality of the stream is really quite good. I saw Ben Folds and Oysterhead (with Stewart Copeland) yesterday and I just finished watching Elvis Costello with Allen Toussaint. It was incredible. I really liked their version of "That's How You Got Killed Last Time".

There's still time to get in on the action. Go to the website and follow the links to the live broadcasts. Sadly, the performances by Radiohead and Sonic Youth will not be online. After it's over they will also have an archive of some of the performances.

By the way, mp3.com is currrently streaming the new Costello/Toussaint album. It's worth the time to check it out. If you miss the streams, just go pick it up.

Sorry to hear about your blindness

A drug company has the ability to keep people from going blind very inexpensively. To them, that's a problem.

Not my usual type of post, but it's good to be reminded that this sort of thing goes on all the time. That's the problem.


Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Drugs firm blocks cheap blindness cure:

"Prof Rosenfeld said the real issue was drug company profits. 'This truly is a wonder drug,' he said. 'This shows both how good they [the drug companies] are and on the flip side, how greedy they are.' He would like to see governments fund clinical trials of drugs such as Avastin in the public interest."



Drug companies. They say they are a business and they have to make a profit. Agreed. But, they are a different kind of business than most.

For example...

Let's change one letter and talk about a drum company.

When you buy a drumset, the difference between a mid-priced set and a high-end set can be thousands of dollars. It doesn't cost that much more to make the high priced set, and many of the parts are the same. Depending on the player, the lower priced set might even sound better. It is about "price point" and creating an image for the product. In the end, you are probably paying too much for that high-end set. That's fine if you want to do that. But, the drum company doesn't stop you from buying the cheap set, and if you can't afford the expensive set...you won't go blind!

Unethical conduct can't be excused because of a "need" for more profit.

Another record crash

A somewhat depressing piece of news. Thanks to more affordable recording equipment and software, as well as the internet, recording industry support isn't as necessary as it once was. Still, a little respect would be nice.
Another record crash

Gyorgy Ligeti, Central-European Composer of Bleakness and Humor, Dies at 83 - New York Times

Gyorgy Ligeti, Central-European Composer of Bleakness and Humor, Dies at 83 - New York Times: "Gyorgy Ligeti, the Central European composer whose music was among the most innovative of the last half of the 20th century — sometimes eerie, sometimes humorous usually fantastical and always polished — died yesterday in Vienna. He was 83.


His family confirmed his death but declined to divulge the cause, saying only that he had been ill for several years.

Mr. Ligeti produced much of his pioneering music against the backdrop of a Europe in turmoil. Born into a Hungarian-Jewish family, he survived the Holocaust but lost his father and brother in it. With the war's end he felt Soviet repression and fled when liberal revolution was smashed. "

Happy Birthday Shelly

Today is Shelly Manne's birthday. The link below takes you to DrummerWorld.com. Lots of pics. Scroll to the bottom and go to page 2 for a bio.

Drummerworld: Shelly Manne

Sting and his lute

I can't say I'm not worried about this, but it just might work. It seems that Sting has decided to release an album of songs by the English lutenist/composer John Dowland. I'm a big Sting fan, and while I'm not expecting any historically acccurate performance practice, it will certainly be worth a listen. We'll know for sure when it's released in October. Now all we need is Paul O'Dette Plays The Police.

Guardian Unlimited Arts | Arts news | Gift of a lute makes Sting party like it's 1599

Mozart mp3s at theguardian.co.uk

Back up for air again. Still trying to buy a house, but the office is almost back up and running with a new paint job, furniture, and audio visual equipment.

Check out the link below. The Guardian is offering (probably for a limitied time) free downloads of some of Mozart's most popular works. Get them while you can.


Guardian Unlimited Arts | | Arts commercial mostly mozart barbican