It has happened to all of us. You want to go out for drinks but you and your friends can't decided where to go. You want to go get food but can't decided if you're craving Chipotle or Sushi. Well, a computer geek has come up with a way to help you make the decision. The wheel of food. Enter your Zip code and enter the activity i.e. bars, food, lunch and spin. Then go where the wheels says. Sometimes the wheel will tell you to "Skip Lunch", I say just spin again.
[via Lifehacker]
While watching Grey's yesterday, I was surprised by how little music the was in the episode. However, as always, Damien Rice made the cut. At this point I believe he has a contract signed with them. He most likely has the most appearances by any artist on the show so far. But of course I'm making up that stat. I digress. Although I appreciate Damien Rice as much as the next fan, the song that caught my attention last night was The Lake by Aqualung a.k.a Matt Hales. I went on the a search this morning but could not find the song through legal means. I soon discovered that the reason I couldn't find it was because the album, titled Memory Man, with that song is yet to be released. Apparently it's not coming out till March 13. I decided to listen to some his stuff that was already out and legally available. I was pleasantly surprised by his latest full album titled Strange & Beautiful. I think most people have heard the first track on the album but the rest is also pretty solid. My favorite tack on the album was Track #4, titled Better than Sunshine. Rhapsody lists Aqualung under Brit Rock although I believe he should be listed on under singer/songwriter. Coldplay is listed as one his contemporaries so you know it's has to be good. Check it out and let me know you what you think.
The judge had another good review of some stuff he has been listening to but I wanted to share this song. It was my athem while driving through California this summer. I'm not a big fan of anything Garden State but I would buy the soundtrack just to listen to this track over and over and over again. For the longest time, I only knew this song as track #7 on the garden state soundtrack and track #3 on the Califiornia CD #4. The song is actually titled Fair and it's by Remy Zero. Accrding to their website the band has been put to rest though. (click here if you don't see the embeded video)
Apparently comedian Al Franken decided to run for the U.S. senate for the state of Minnesota(MN). I don't know much about him nor where he stands on the issues, nor will I care until I think he is a real contender. Then again MN did elect Jesse Ventura as their Governor. But the real question that I have about Al Franken running is "Why isn't Jon Stewart doing the same?" The guy is probably as well known as any of the presidential candidates in '08. And with the race as wide open as many say it is, why not? A lot of people get our age get their "political news" from his "Daily Show" . I believe he would actually get the 18 - 25 years olds to go to the polls. So I say Jon Stewart for president in '08. However he should wait to enter the race till after everyone experiences Obama fatigue.
Does this remind anyone else of the movie Man of the year?
The Judge says:
I've known about Bloc Party for a little while now, you've probably heard their song "This Modern Love" off their second EP Silent Alarm. Their new album, A Weekend in the City, came out this week. Rhapsody sent me an alert and since I have their earlier album, I was interested to hear the new one. For the uninitiated, Bloc Party plays upbeat, alternative rock that borders on a punk sound. The punk part might just be because they have British accents and that sounds punk to me. Maybe it's just Brit Rock? Put it this way, it's meant to be played loud.
ANYWAY, the new album is actually quite good with one problem: Rhapsody won't let me listen to all of the songs. "The Prayer" is climbing the charts, according to their website, (which probably means it's climbing the charts in England). It could be a good song but I would have no idea since Rhapsody refuses to play it for me. Otherwise, my favorite song is "I Still Remember". If you're not going to be in a hyper-major city in the US or Europe (no visit to DC planned) you're going to have to wait to see them live; their tour schedule is mostly European stops. I'd buy this cd, especially so I could hear the whole thing. Stupid Rhapsody.
If you want something mellow for Valentine's Day, check out The Weepies "Say I Am You". It sounds like a cross between Simon and Garfunkel and Joni Mitchell. It's a quiet, mellow cd that sounds a little depressing but actually has some hopeful, romantic songs on it. It's one of my favorite cds, I don't care if that makes me a wuss.
I say:
I listened to the tracks available on Rhapsody and it's definitely worth listening to. To me some of tracks sounded more like house music played over punk with a bit a Keane thrown in. But like the judge said maybe all Brits just sound alike when they sing. The sounds reminded my of postal service more than anything else. I do agree that the tracks are definitely meant to be played loudly. With bloc party, I faced the same issue that I faced with Postal service; That is I don't really know where on play list they would go if I was to listen to them on the regular. They kinda get lost between the depressing/mellow stuff and the hot party bangers beats as my friend JK would put it. I would not buy the entire CD but a few tracks off of Rhapsody or Itunes wouldn't be a bad deal. And if you're looking for something for Valentines day, I say go with the Barbershop Quartet. Classy and Cheesy all in one.
As a programmer and someone to likes to keep up with the hottest and new things on the web. I have been inundated with the number of web 2.0 apps that have been springing up over the last few years. Yet when I asked my other geek friends what exactly is web 2.0; None of them were really able to explain to me in concrete terms. And What makes and app 2.0 instead of 1.0 or 1.5 for that matter? (There isn't a web 1.5 just in case you were wondering). Using Ajax, User generated content? tagging? using OpenID? Organizing an insane about of data to look pretty or ugly? Allowing object to be embedded? Loading faster? simpler UI? The weird names? Making the Web 2.0 directory? The label "Web 2.0" seemed to be arbitrary to me and I did not readily accept as some of my other geek friends did. This morning, when I walked to my desk and began to read my rss feeds using google reader, I found a blog entry by Scott Hanselman I figured I should share.
Who types that fast? Although, It did not answer all my questions and I'm still rather skeptic of the label "Web 2.0", the video did a good job explaining some of the concept behind the label "Web 2.0".
Last week's big musical excitement for fans of the indie/OC/Scrubs/Grey's scene was the release of the new Shins album, "Wincing the Night Away". Unfortunately, I've seen quite a few glowing reviews of it. This reviews combined with the general catchiness of the first single, Phantom Limb, lead me to believe that you will not be able to avoid this song for approximately the next two months. Thankfully, I tend to stay out of the Gap and don't listen to the radio (I don't have a car). For longtime Shins fans, back to "Oh, Inverted World" and "Chutes Too Narrow", this cd completes their gradual transition to a more mainstream sound. Honestly, their first LP sounded a lot like it was recorded in someone's basement. Their newest offering still provides clever lyrics and quality songs but has superior sound quality. If you aren't familiar with a lot of their music, I would recommend sampling the entire cd, via Rhapsody or some other music player, before buying the entire album. I would purchase
Rocco Deluca (UK) has been in the national spotlight lately, going on tour with Mat Kearney ("Nothing Left to Lose") as part of the VH1 "You Oughta Know" tour. In my opinion, you ought to know that the album is a mixed bag, with VH1-type romantic songs mixed in with more standard blues-rock fare. Either on their own are good but present such a striking contrast with one another that the overall cd suffers. I would not purchase this cd.
Lastly, I've recently become a big fan of Ray LaMontagne's album "Till the Sun Turns Black
[ Props. to the Judge]
