Today I have a music video, and a very good one too. It's the video for Oren Lavie's "Her Morning Elegance." It's all done in stop-motion photography, and it's really amazing. I couldn't find too much information on who made it or how it was done, but I think it speaks for itself:
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Youtube Wednesday - 11/11/09
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Tuesday Tunes - 11/10/09
Tunes to be thankful for:
It's November and this month is about giving thanks, tell us a few of the musical things that you are thankful for, be it albums, shows you've seen, electronics you've bought etc. Whatever has made your musical life better in the last year.
I'd like to thank the following . . .
Pandora and Grooveshark for giving me hours of great tunes to enjoy.
BeauSoleil for releasing two new albums this year, one with a live DVD, and playing another show here last month.
Billy Corgan for making his next album/project totally free (now get to releasing the songs, Bill!)
My iPod for lasting nearly two and a half years and allowing me to never, ever be bored no matter where I am.
Record stores everywhere for giving old folks like me a place to engage in our favorite ritual.
Anyone who has sold a used CD that I've purchased this year.
Last, but never least, each and every one of my favorite bands and musicians for doing what they do and making me happy.
Five Years Of Firefox
The Firefox web browser is five years old now! I've been using it for most of those five years. I love it because it's so customizable and because using it makes me feel part of a larger community. Firefox is the first browser to be seen as 'cool' and 'in.' I'm still using it, and I'll keep using it as long as it still works for me.
In honor of Firefox's fifth birthday, here are my Top Five Firefox Add-Ons:
1. Session Manager
This is a life saver. If you need to restart your computer, or if it crashes, or if your browser crashes - you're covered.
2. Toolbar Buttons
Keyboard shortcuts are great, but they don't cover everything. I like the ability to add buttons for functions and extensions that I can place wherever in the browser I wish them to be.
3. Quickdrag
This makes opening links and searching so much faster! Just highlight or click and drag. Very, very useful.
4. Stumbleupon
You need never be bored again with Stumbleupon. I've found many great sites with this tool.
5. NoScript
It makes browsing much safer, yet it's easy to use. Just keep in mind that it's not a replacement for your brain.
Ya gotta have themes too, and my favorite (in fact, the only one I really use) is Whitehart
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Tahina Ready For Travel
Frank Taylor, webmaster of Google Earth Blog, and his wife are about to begin an incredible adventure. They're going to spend the next five years sailing around the world in their boat the Tahina. That's not all -- they're going to share their adventures with the world through their website The Tahina Expedition. If everything goes right, they will be sharing GPS tracks, photos, videos and more. Of course, there will be a regular blog as well. They have some cool toys to play with including a kite for aerial photography and an underwater video camera.
They hope to leave as soon as possible once the weather in the Atlantic clears up for their initial passage to Bermuda. They had a lot to do to prepare, and now their trip is about to begin. Follow their journey on the Tahina Expedition website..
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Firefox slow? Try this
Today I'm browsing around in the Firefox Add-Ons, and I found a little gem that seems like it's going to help me a lot:
Places Cleaner
In the past month or two, I've noticed Firefox's performance slipping. The program tends to freeze up a lot, especially when I'm typing in a URL or looking through my bookmarks in the organizer. I figured it was just Windows being Windows or Firefox being Firefox.
Then, I found Places Cleaner and it seems like all will be right with the world once again.
What does it do? It takes the database of your bookmarks and history and defragments it. This should lead to a speedier performance and fewer lockups. I've only used it for ten minutes and I already notice a huge difference. The organizer launches incredibly quickly now, and searching from the address bar doesn't slow things down. Of course, I'll realize I'm wrong the first time I do have problems again, but right now it seems like this add-on really works!
I also added Tab Mix Plus last night. Why didn't I do that sooner? It's an awesome extension, almost too powerful in some ways.
Yes, I'm geeking out. Deal with it.
Youtube Wednesday - 11/4/09
Today's clip is about funny cats. The sounds coming out of this kitty are just insane. I don't think the video needed subtitles to be funny, though:
Links, Links, Links - 11/4/09
I've seen a lot of great things lately, and I thought I'd share them with you:
- Grooveshark is a music-streaming site that's free and super-easy to use. Just search for a song, artist or album, click on it if you find it, and play it. You can also create playlists if you sign up. It may not have everything, but it has a lot. It seems to have things even Myspace doesn't have.
- QTTabBar is an enhancement for Windows Explorer. It adds tab functionality, toolbar buttons, file previews and a tree view for individual folders. Basically, it makes Windows Explorer a lot easier to use. It's a small file, and after you install it you should know that you have to enable the features by right-clicking in the Explorer window. There are more options than you can shake a stick at, too.
- MyPicsMap is a nifty online map/Flickr mashup. It's not that revolutionary, but it is a different way of viewing photos if you don't like the regular Flickr map.
- Syncback is one of my new favorite programs. It's a program that helps you back up your data to other drives. Backups need to be easy and fast in order for people to actually do them, and Syncback makes things really easy and fast. The hardest part is setting up a profile for each device you want to back up to. Think about what you want to accomplish, and choose the options that will make that possible. You can exclude files and folders from the backup if you wish. After that, all you need to do is run the profile with your chosen drive connected to your computer. Syncback will tell you what it's going to do with the files, and shows you how the changed files compare. It only works on the files that differ between the drives, so backups happen very quickly. I'm very happy with this program and highly recommend it. By the way, I'm using the freeware version of the program.
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Tuesday Tunes - 11/3/09
Tunes:
What is the oldest album in your collection? (oldest as in you've had it longer than the others)
Technically, I've had He's The DJ, I'm The Rapper by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince the longest. I originally had it on cassette. The CD I've owned the longest? I'm too embarrassed to say.
What albums have you bought recently?
Make The Veiller by BeauSoleil. Before that, Sgt. Pepper by The Beatles.
Where do you buy the most downloads?
I don't.
If you were to get a gift card from one music store, which one would it be and why?
Probably CD World. They have the best selection in town. If there's a store with a bigger selection, it would be them.
What do you have more of; physical albums for downloads?
I don't really download, so I have more albums.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Flickr Fun Saturday - 10/31/09
Friday, October 30, 2009
Friday Five - 10/30/09
Time for Friday Five:
1. What’s your favorite sports movie?
Slap Shot. Old time hockey!
2. What’s your favorite romantic comedy film?
Does Wedding Crashers count? That would probably be my favorite.
3. What’s your favorite animated Disney movie?
I've always enjoyed the Little Mermaid.
4. What’s your favorite non-Disney movie musical?
Both the Blues Brothers and Across The Universe are great.
5. What’s your favorite stranger-in-a-strange-land / fish-out-of-water movie?
The Lord of the Rings movies. That's what most of the story is about.
Uh, no
This is the trailer for upcoming John Lennon biopic Nowhere Boy:
John looks nothing like John (except for a few brief moments). Paul looks nothing at all like Paul.
Couldn't they have done better casting? Maybe no one in the world looks like either Lennon or McCartney.
Top Five On Friday - 10/30/09
Pre-Halloween Top Five:
Top 5 artists or bands that you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley
1) Billy Idol
2) John Lennon and Ringo Starr
3) Chrissie Hynde
4) DMX
5) Pretty much any hard metal band like Slipknot or GWAR
Explaining number 2: I'm currently reading the Beatles Anthology, and found out the Ringo was once in a gang, man! And we all know John Lennon's checkered history.
As for number 3: Sorry, Chrissie, but you look like one tough chick!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Youtube Wednesday - 10/28/09
Today's video comes from Nike. It's their basketball commercial from (I'm guessing) 2000 or 2001. It features pro basketball players doing all kinds of cool moves with a Stomp-inspired percussive theme. It's just the coolest thing ever:
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Tuesday Tunes - 10/27/09
Tuesday Tunes:
What is the creepiest music video you've ever watched?
Aside from the Spice Girls? Probably the video for "Come To Daddy" by Aphex Twin:
How creepy.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Random Ten - 10/26/09
Random Ten:
10 songs that sum up your weekend...or were on your weekend playlist...and one picture that relates back. (oh, and if you feel like it, tell us why you picked the songs you did)
1) The Chieftains - Txalaparta
2) The Chieftains - Maneo
3) Joe Jackson - The Uptown Train
4) Joe Jackson - King Pleasure Time
5) Jimi Hendrix - Star-Spangled Banner
6) Led Zeppelin - Bring It On Home
7) INXS - Beautiful Girl
8) Cream - Spoonful
9) The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Still Raining, Still Dreaming
SONG OF THE WEEK: "Dear Someone" by Gillian Welch
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