Geekspertise

Beastie Boys' Adam Horovitz Discusses Adam Yauch's Passing

Thu, 24 May 2012 12:09:07 -0400

Adam Horovitz of The Beastie Boys was recently interviewed regarding the passing of bandmate Adam Yauch. You can read the full interview here or a snippet of it below by clicking “Read More.”

Read More

My heart goes out to Adam Horovitz, and it was great that he was so honest and unrestrained in this interview. For me this was the best part:

How did you and Mike write with Yauch? Who did what?
When the shit hit the fan, after Licensed to Ill, we started having arguments: “I wrote 37 percent of this song.” “These 16 lines are mine.” We decided none of that mattered. From that day on, everything was split three ways. Whatever it was, whoever did what, we all got the credit. Except we had veto power. If you really hated something, you could be, “That can’t happen.”

I’ve spent too much time around musicians and bands lately (you don’t have to be a musician to be in a band, just trust me), and fortunately 95% of the bands I’ve observed run like this. Everything is split evenly, and no one is counting bars or notes for compensation. I even know of a couple of bands who threw out members who were NOT contributing creatively.

And then there are the other bands where ownership is not shared. Call a spade a spade. It’s not a band. It’s a brand (one or two people) surrounded by window dressing (backup musicians).

You want to know why The Beastie Boys and some other bands survived with their original lineup in tact for decades, while other bands can’t make it 5 years without a 75% turnover in members? The answer is ownership.

His mate was seriously injured after she was hit by a car as...

Thu, 24 May 2012 12:08:14 -0400

His mate was seriously injured after she was hit by a car as she swooped low across the road. He brought her food and tended to her with love and compassion.
He brought her food again but was shocked to find her dead. He then tried to move her….a rarely-seen effort for swallows. Aware that his mate is dead, he cries with adoring love. He stood beside her body with sadness and sorrow.
People cried after seeing these pictures when they were published in the leading newspaper in France. All copies of the paper were sold out on the day the pictures were released.

And many people think animals don’t have emotions.

mewithoutYou Discuss Secularism In New Album

Thu, 24 May 2012 12:04:58 -0400

propertyofzack:

mewithoutYou were recently interviewed about their new album and discussed how the material in it seems more secular than the band’s last few releases. You can read the full interview here or a snippet below by clicking “Read More.”

Read More

I like that this band is deviating from themes of “faith” on their next record. There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to make music (or create anything) for yourself, and not for some higher cause. And yes, it does seem hypocritical to sing about humility and renouncing material things on a big stage with lights on you while you’re making money to sing the song.

This is 100% me.

Thu, 24 May 2012 11:56:02 -0400

This is 100% me.

RIAA Claims LimeWire Owes $72 Trillion

Wed, 23 May 2012 19:08:07 -0400

propertyofzack:

The RIAA claims that file-sharing program LimeWire owes the association $72 trillion. Check out a full article here and a snippet of it below by clicking “Read More.”

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Every time I read about the RIAA, that angry vein stands up in my forehead. Really? $72 TRILLION?

Yes to everything here. That is all.

Wed, 23 May 2012 19:01:20 -0400

Yes to everything here.

That is all.

Over-sharing, Facebook, and my e-Life

Wed, 23 May 2012 17:02:21 -0400

For the first time ever, I actually blocked someone that I considered a friend (at one point) on Facebook. He shared information from conversations (that did not occur on Facebook) both on Facebook and with his coworkers, and he shared a bunch of private conversations that he had (with date stamps and names) from an altercation with other people several months ago as part of a Facebook note.

The information he discussed with his coworkers bothered me, because he was talking about a friend of mine (specifically about her looks) that he has had absolutely no direct contact with on or offline, and the way he described his dialog with the coworkers was just damned creepy. Shortly after that happened, he decided to share a bit of information about my career plans on Facebook in a completely unrelated thread. Talking about my friend with strangers made me uncomfortable, but sharing details that could impact my career, my future employability, and my status at my current job is uncalled for.

I was dealing with his proclivity to over-share by distancing myself from him online, unsubscribing from his updates, and putting him in the Restricted list on Facebook. Today I decided to check on him, and I saw this long, elaborate Note he posted about that altercation he had several months ago before I met him. There were names and date stamps as well as actual dialog from Facebook chats, emails, and text messages. That’s just taking things too far.

What I read was way beyond just putting people on blast. It was vile.

Everyone shares a detail or two about their relationships with people outside of those relationships. Sometimes you need to vent, or you need to ask for advice, and you can’t always do that in hypotheticals. Sharing entire private conversations verbatim in a public forum on the web is an egregious breach of confidence. This is what convinced me to end my personal relationship with this person permanently, because anything that I say could later become available for public consumption. I can’t be friends with someone that I can’t trust.

I share a lot online, and sometimes I think I share too much. There are certain things that I will not share publicly (without permission), including text messages and chat dialogue. If you enter a one-on-one chat with someone or send them a text, it is inherently implied that the conversation is just between you and that other person. I shouldn’t feel compelled to start every conversation I have with someone by saying, “this is just between you and me.” This former friend is not a journalist. I should not have to indicate whether or not I am speaking off the record.

At any rate, I don’t think this incident warrants me tightening up on what I share with people on or offline. It does, however, compel me to keep a closer eye on the webscapades of people that I share personal information with, so that I can nip this kind of thing in the bud like I did today.

Getting Better and Getting Worse

Wed, 23 May 2012 12:03:08 -0400

So for the first time since I got the flu back in April I’m breathing normally, and I’m only coughing sporadically. I’m really excited, because I can spend more time outdoors (when the pollen count isn’t out of control), and do more physical things without getting winded. I’ve gained about 5lbs just from being so sedentary from my breathing problems, and it’s a minor setback, but easily remedied.

While being able to breathe is wonderful, I managed to hurt my back, and I don’t know how I did it. It’s not a sharp pain, and it’s not in a very specific location. It’s just spread out over the middle of my lower back. It feels like a muscle strain, which is a lot better than the alternatives. Sitting and laying down are equally uncomfortable, so my sleep is suffering a bit, but I’m still getting plenty of rest. The good thing is that I can still go out and shoot shows and things as long as I don’t do too much squatting.

I’ve traded an inhaler for a capsaicin patch.

Straight Male Friends: I Am Not Your Territory to Claim

Tue, 22 May 2012 12:06:00 -0400

Dear Straight Male Friends and Acquaintances,

This has been bothering me for a while, and I haven’t figured out a way to say this elegantly, so I’m just going to say it:

I am not your territory to claim.

Almost six months ago I started going out to bars, clubs, and music venues regularly again. The last time I went out regularly, I lived in Pennsylvania (State College, Pennsyltucky), and it was a college town just like where I live now. I’m a lot older and the culture is a lot different here. Guys are more forward up North (both a blessing and a curse). Here in North Carolina, people are much more aware of the territory boundaries in social settings. I’ve yet to see guys challenge each other over women in any gathering here in NC. So if I’m out with a straight male friend, it makes it more difficult to strike up conversations with other men.

As my straight male friend or acquaintance, don’t fucking do things that give others the impression that we are together. When you have a few drinks and you get chummy and put your arm around me, or if you play cute and try to get me to dance, or if you hug me from behind when I’m watching the band play or waiting at the bar for my drink, you’re claiming me. You’re putting out a signal to every other guy in the place that had any inclination to talk to me that I am territory that you have claimed. Furthermore, because American culture is fucked up, you can claim me, and then go chat up a bunch of other girls in the joint and no one would have an issue with it. If I do the same thing after you’ve claimed me, guys will not want to talk to me, or they will assume that I’m loose, because I’m up in more than one guy’s business.

I have very little personal space, and I’m a hugger. It is not in my nature to push people away, but I am going to start putting up physical boundaries specifically for my straight male friends and acquaintances, because you’re holding me back and preventing me from meeting new people.

Let me illustrate how you fucking kill my game:

Straight male friend and I are watching some live music and having drinks at a bar. I see a guy that I find interesting, so I make eye contact, and we exchange smiles and nods. Maybe 30 minutes later, interesting guy comes closer (less than 3’ from me) and we exchange greetings, more smiles, and an appreciative nod to the band. Straight male friend sits down on the other side of me, and puts his arm around me, and gives me the stupid flirty smile. For the rest of the night, interesting guy will not get within 10’ of me, will not make eye contact, and finally disappears into the crowd.

This actually happened, and I haven’t been to a bar or club with this friend since. I don’t have plans to either, because he is arrogant, is very cognizant of his man-prettiness, and gives off a territorial vibe. It’s guys like him that always have that awesome female friend that is perpetually single, and can’t figure out why said friend is single.

Just take a minute and think about what you’re about to do before you do it. If you’re out with your single lady friend, don’t drape yourself over her if you’re not interested in her! It’s just that simple. She’s not your possession, so don’t treat her like one.

Thanks,

-Your friendly neighborhood biracial chick with a righteous afro

R.I.P. Robin Gibb. I hope you get just enough heaven.

Sun, 20 May 2012 19:44:00 -0400

R.I.P. Robin Gibb. I hope you get just enough heaven.

I write my grocery lists on myself. World’s largest sticky...

Sat, 19 May 2012 23:59:37 -0400

I write my grocery lists on myself. World’s largest sticky note. (Taken with instagram)

feurety replied to your post: How Do I Hide the Stupid From My Facebook Feed? I wish there was a...

Sat, 19 May 2012 18:37:01 -0400

feurety replied to your post: How Do I Hide the Stupid From My Facebook Feed?

I wish there was a way to filter certain posts and not just hide everything on facebook.

And if you start hiding too many things, you run the risk of missing something important. Despite the fact that I’ve hidden several pages that people are sharing information from, there’s no way for me to filter out their shares as well without essentially muting them. Meh.

How Do I Hide the Stupid From My Facebook Feed?

Sat, 19 May 2012 18:07:00 -0400

Facebook raises my blood pressure. I friended the vast majority of the people on there for a reason. Most of them are real meatspace friends from various points in my life. Some are cyberspace friends who I thought were worth my time. I don’t want to un-friend more people than I do on a regular basis, but unless I learn to hide the stupid from my feed, that may be my only option.

There are a few things that are pissing me off to no end, and I suppose you could lump it all together and call it a lack of netiquette.

Don’t raise your caps at me, because I don’t like getting yelled at.
Stop posting the same thing every day. I am not going to sign your petition, vote for your favorite band, or donate to your cause of choice if it’s all up in my eyeballs thrice a day.

If I called you up and screamed at you for no good reason, you’d be pissed. Why is it OK for you to assault me with your drivel? If I called you at the same time everyday and asked you to do something as a favor to me even after you’ve done it (in some cases several times), you’d be pissed. Why is it OK for you to bludgeon me with the same message over and over again?

I guess if I could filter the stupid from Facebook, I could find a way to filter it from life too, and make a mountain of money with that bit of genius.

lafemmedanslafrisbeedelamort replied to your photo: I can’t believe I’m drinking PBR. This is for...

Sat, 19 May 2012 17:46:50 -0400

lafemmedanslafrisbeedelamort replied to your photo: I can’t believe I’m drinking PBR. This is for my…

PBR will always remind me of college and Seattle. Lol

Every sip was like hot buttered hell, but I paid for it, so I finished it. :)

I kept it real, chica!

Gen-Y Fail: No Sense - Common or Otherwise

Sat, 19 May 2012 17:14:00 -0400

So you’re unemployed (or soon to be unemployed) with no job prospects, and you drop several hundred dollars on gadgetry and toys to make yourself feel better.

Why I Don't Grok Gen-Y

Sat, 19 May 2012 17:03:54 -0400

So I saw Dan “Soupy” Campbell from The Wonder Years drop this bit of wisdom on Twitter, and I had to share it an expand on it from my POV. Before I start, I just wanted to say that while I enjoyed both Wonder Years albums (“Upsides” was better in my opinion), I don’t consider myself a “fan,” but I think he occasionally drops knowledge worth thinking about, and this is a good bit.

At any rate, I see what Soupy’s talking about here all the time with the Gen-Y kids I’ve spent time with. Something goes wrong, and despite the fact that kiddo could do some research and fix it, they just shut down and get mad. They don’t want to problem solve. They don’t want to do the leg work. They don’t want to research anything. They don’t want to think for themselves. They just seek the path of least resistance, which in this case was acting like an infant, and whining for sympathy.

Life is a series of challenges and obstacles for people to surmount. If you don’t even want to TRY, guess what, you fail at life. This is why all of the pissing and moaning I hear from the Y-ers makes my blood boil. For every one of them that are out there giving a good hustle, and trying to make a decent living (I know a handful), there are hundreds of them sitting around wearing their sense of entitlement like a warm blanket.

Guess what, your mere existence doesn’t entitle you to anything. Shut up, get off your ass, and go out and hustle like the rest of us. No one wants to hear how sad you are, because you can’t find your perfect job, or work in the field you got your degree in. No one wants to hear how angry you are, because things didn’t go your way and your plans didn’t pan out. Maybe if you spent less time bitching about how things didn’t go your way, and spent more time problem solving to MAKE things go your way, you you could help make the world a better place. For now, I agree with Soupy. You are a BIG part of the problem.

Test

Sat, 19 May 2012 16:31:01 -0400

themerchdude:

Here is a test to know if you have Bad taste in music. Go turn on the radio & if you find good music there you have bad taste in music.

Amen.

All of the Update

Sat, 19 May 2012 16:30:04 -0400

So I’m slowly catching up with all things domestic. I also managed to sell both the Canon 7D and BlackBerry 9800 I posted about here. That money will put a significant dent in what I owe on the 5D Mark III and the other gear I bought.

My next big move is to clean and rearrange the furniture, and make a REALLY serious attempt to sell my comic book collection this time. I love my comics, but I’m cool with graphic novels, and I’d like to reclaim the rest of my bedroom.

I have a ton of pics from three shows to go through, and I’m trying to decide whether or not to haul butt to Charlotte to see Carson and The Seasonal Affair next Friday. We shall see.

Chris Chappell AcousticChampions Billiards & Darts -...

Fri, 18 May 2012 22:28:00 -0400

Chris Chappell Acoustic
Champions Billiards & Darts - Raleigh, NC
5/17/2012

I can’t believe I’m drinking PBR. This is for my...

Thu, 17 May 2012 21:59:45 -0400

I can’t believe I’m drinking PBR. This is for my HOMIEZ! (Taken with instagram)