Blue Scholars Take The Light Rail

"In celebration of Seattle's new 14-mile light rail system, which 92,000 passengers tried out for fun on its inaugural weekend (July 18th), Sabzi of Blue Scholars, rode the environmentally friendly means of transportation to announce the recent deal in which Duck Down Records signs to Blue Scholars to market their upcoming "OOF! EP" available at all digital retail outlets on August 25th. Fans can enjoy a sample of the instrumental named "Postal" playing in the background, which will be available as part of the 5 song/5 instrumental "OOF! EP" project." - via [ the 9 elements ]

The Prime Ordeal Soup

video: primordial dance by karl sims
music: underwater outerspace by labguest

Escaping Seattle's Heatwave

i read somewhere that only 13% of seattle has air conditioning. sure seems like it - i'm writing this from the downtown seattle public library, as reviews of it on yelp.com illustrate, it is regarded by some as beautiful and others as an eyesore. to say the least, it's an interesting building and it's very pleasant once you get used to the bizarre layout.

yes, there are a fair number of homeless people but personally i think it gives the space more character and feels like a real public space. it's not the most quiet library in the world (although it's got plenty of cute old lady vigilantes that shuuusshhh at talkers). but everybody's pretty happy to be here. especially today, like i am, most of the people here are trying to get out of the heat. i think the library is a great space, unique, interesting, definitely not boring, but still well divided and extremely practical. and the air conditioning is superb.

Searching For Miles Fisher

this dude is amazing, i want to hate him out of pure jealousy - but he's too good at what he does. this song and music video are brilliant - and his impression of tom cruise for the superhero movie (although i'm sure that movie is not brilliant) in the commercial is so spot on at points that it's creepy. this guy really is a multitalented artist, and his album is available for free at www.milesfisher.com

Weather Report - Birdland (Live Jaco Music Video)

Update: I remixed this song, focusing on sampling the intro synths - my favorite part of the song. Turned it into a nice, chill hip hop beat.

Hip Hop Beats On HobNox

David Byrne & Gift Of Gab Collab. / Animation

N.A.S.A.

"The People Tree" (Featuring David Byrne, Chali 2na, Gift Of Gab & Z-Trip)

Art by Marcel Dzama

Directed and Animated: Syd Garon and Johannes Gamble

Producer: Susan Applegate

Production Company: Squeak E. Clean

Transfer House : New Hat

Film: Lance Accord

Telecine Artist and Blood Donor: Adolfo Martinelli

Photoshop: Jeremy Kaller and Jennifer Fujikawa

N.A.S.A.'s debut album "The Spirit of Apollo" hit the shelves 2/17/09 on Anti-/Spectrophonic Sounds.

© 2009 Spectrophonic Sound under license to Anti- Records

found via {junkratgirl}

Miles Davis Plays Michael Jackson's "Human Nature"

this is my michael jackson tribute, an amazing rendition of "human nature" performed live by jazz great, and another one of my all-time favorite artists, miles davis.

Saxamaphone - A Smooth Jazzy Hip Hop Chill Out Beat

Whitechapel - Teitur

delightfully catchy pop song i found on hobnox, give it a listen you won't regret it, the lyrics are wonderful and the melody is nice and cheerful

U.S. Energy Source InfoGraphic

Oakland Dispensary Tax Update: Landslide Victory

Medical marijuana tax wins landslide vote in Oakland, the Associated Press reports:

"OAKLAND, Calif. — Oakland residents overwhelmingly voted Tuesday to approve a first-of-its kind tax on medical marijuana sold at the city's four cannabis dispensaries.
Preliminary election results showed the measure passing with 80 percent of the vote, according to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters.

The dispensary tax was one of four measures in a vote-by-mail special election aimed at raising money for the cash-strapped city. All four measures won, but Measure F had the highest level of support.

Scheduled to take effect on New Year's Day, the measure created a special business tax rate for the pot clubs, which now pay the same $1.20 for every $1,000 in gross sales applied to all retail businesses. The new rate will be $18.

Oakland's auditor estimates that based on annual sales of $17.5 million for the four clubs, it will generate an estimated $294,000 for city coffers in its first year.
Pot club owners, who openly sell pot over the counter under the 1996 state ballot measure that legalized medical marijuana use in California, proposed Measure F as a way to further legitimize their establishments.

"It's good business and good for the community," said Richard Lee, who owns the Coffee Shop SR-71 dispensary and Oaksterdam University, a trade school for budding dispensary workers.
The measure had no formal opposition; in November 2004, a ballot initiative that required Oakland police to make arresting adults using marijuana for personal use their lowest priority passed with 63 percent of the vote."

Young Duece

i usually don't post other hip hop tracks, but these guys sent me a message on youtube and i checked them out. once i realized that duece is not mispelled its just not the same as deuce and heard the synths come in on this track, i became a fan. one of the dudes in the video reminds me of kid cudi, the whole vibe kind of does, but they're 18 from cincinatti and definitely bringing something unique to it. ive got to say i'm a fan.

Planning Stages

Planning Stages

Last Day Dream

Last Day Dream [HD] from Chris Milk on Vimeo.

via [ J U N K R A T G I R L ]

Who wants higher taxes? Oakland dispensaries are down.

Oakland medical marijuana dispensaries are agreeing to submit to higher taxes in order to build a better relationship with the city. Hopefully people will start to see that maybe there is a correlation between california's pot consumption / dispensary situation and their budget crisis. all of the money that goes into these dealing operations, from growth to sale, to much of the paraphernalia its smoked with is like a bottomless pit. the money ends up in the hands of drug cartels that use it to buy weapons instead of taxed and given back to the consumer with the taxed amount going to things like paving roads etc. Anyway, here Salwa Ibrahim speaks with YouthRadio about Oakland dispensaries' new plans to pay higher taxes and generate more state revenue, she makes some excellent points and she's also unbelievably cute:

UPDATE: Measure passes in landslide victory, read about it here.

New Brunswick, NJ Seeks Solar Power

ironically as soon as i move to the west coast to pursue sustainable architecture jobs and studies, new jersey, my home state, has finally started looking towards renewable energy sources seriously. i'm also happy to hear that these are urban locations and they get a lot more exposure. (not sun exposure but publicity exposure, ha.) getting it in the public's view is important though. Here's a clip from the article, Four New Brunswick agencies look to solar power their buildings via myCentralJersey.com

"The City Council, Board of Education, New Brunswick Parking Authority and New Brunswick Housing Authority have reached a shared-services agreement to jointly explore the feasibility of placing solar energy panels on some or all of the nearly three dozen buildings operated by the four entities.

The City Council formally approved the agreement Wednesday while the parking authority approved the measure Thursday. The housing authority board and the school board are expected to vote on the measure soon.

"New Brunswick is demonstrating again that the public is best served through innovative partnerships,'' Mayor Jim Cahill said in a news release. "This agreement will enable the city to take the broadest possible approach to the implementation of clean, renewable energy in New Brunswick.''

The four parties have hired Cranford-based Birdsall Engineering to study which schools, parking garages, open land, or other buildings would be suitable for solar panels installations, said Mitch Karon, executive director of the New Brunswick Parking Authority.
...
Karon said another advantage is that the deal would involve a long-term contract, perhaps as long as 15 years, which would stipulate electricity rates for each year of the deal. That price stability will make it easier for the four entities to budget, Karon said.
...
Karon said the parking authority would like to put solar panels on its parking garages. Doing so would provide 100 percent of each garage's electricity." - Jared Kaltwasser

HobNox Fiddling

Wake Up In The Future - Ray Kurzweil sample beat

More Love - Victor Wooten Remix Beat w/Gram

Handmade Pocket Synth by Livin' Peace Productions

Atari Punk Console
$15


There's nothing quite as soothing as the pulse-width-modulated square waves emanating from an APC. As soon as you hear one you'll realize why "Atari" is in the name: it's super blippy. It has two controls on it: pitch and pulse width. Don't worry about what pulse width means, it just changes the sound in a certain way. Pitch is controlled by a knob while the pulse width is controlled by a light sensor that reacts to different levels of brightness. The APC features a built in speaker (or a 1/4" jack by special request) and runs on a 9V battery which is not included (come on, they're expensive!).

The APC also features a stashable LED (inside the case) for use in dark situations.
via LiVin'Peace Productions

guitar stutter beat (hip hop/electronica)

man walking past a giant cat

Moving

a moving song for moving day - got hooked on this song from the sopranos, the show and this song are both far too good for words

"the voice of my grandfather said to me, the air is precious it shares its spirit with all the life it supports. the wind that gave me my first breath also received my last sigh. you must keep the land & air apart and sacred." - chief seattle

Modern Moorish Style Open Air Apt.

Maya Lin's Wave Field & Deja Vous

by coincidence i saw two maya lin exhibits in one week this summer. one at the cooper hewitt design museum's exhibit, Design For A Living World and the other at Storm King Mountain Sculpture Garden. i remember being blown away by her vietnam memorial as a young kid, and it took me a little while to make the connection at the design exhibit. i really couldn't believe it when i found her sculptures at storm king in their indoor gallery by coincidence a few days later, as well as her massive outdoor project. this glass sculpture was indoors and is a good idea of what she is doing, but imagine those waves as mounds of dirt 20 feet high, and covered in grass, resembling rolling waves in a landscape. it's incredible and surreal, check it out, there's no way my explanation nor a cellphone picture of her glass model does it any justice whatsoever:

Tevin Campbell's "Can We Talk" Remix

when i'm home in jersey, i spend much of my time driving around and listening to my radio station: 98.7 KISS FM - i'm a huge fan of the michael baisden show, esp. george willborn. but last night i was listening to brian mcknight's show on a late night drive when this jam came on and i needless to say, was still singing the chorus when i woke up this morning. actually i was humming it because it took me until an hour ago to remember the lyrics, google them, and find this video. enjoy. UPDATE: unfortunately, WMG (Warner Music Group aka White Men Group) took down the original video but in i found this hip hop remix w/a ridiculous phone convo intro:

Chipmunk Art & Cuteness

Originally uploaded by powerpig

Chairlifted: Bruises Extended Remix

Socialized Energy