Saturday, March 28, 2009

nom nom electronica

Nothing much new this week.
Insert generic complaints about school, overall tiredness, strange weather etc. Every day brings a new excuse to skip classes, go to bed (or similar iterations: skip classes, catch up on work and skip classes, play outside) Something about Spring semester in general just pisses me off for no good reason. Probably the cumulative lack of sleep and proximity to summer.

But anyway, KNOW WHAT MAKES EVERYTHING ALL BETTER?
NEW MUSIC!
(and NEW MUSIC VIDEOS!)

Slagsmålsklubben
Cute swedish electro-pop group. Their sound is definitely reminiscent of old-school video/computer game music, and listening to it almost makes you feel 8-bit. Almost. Fun fact: Slagsmålsklubben means "fight club" in Swedish. Here's a cute techie interpretation of "Little Red Riding Hood" using their song "Sponsored by Destiny":

Slagsmålsklubben - Sponsored by destiny from Tomas Nilsson on Vimeo.

Röyksopp
Not a exactly a new band, but a new album! Hooray!
Junior was released online March 23, and Senior (a "more mature and introspective album") will be coming out some time later 2009. So be on the look-out! Till then, we can just replay the video for "Happy Up Here" over and over because Space Invaders rock.

Happy Up Here from Röyksopp on Vimeo.

Lemon Jelly
Sounds delicious, yea? WELL IT IS. And it's also super chill "trip-hop." Songs @ seeqpod. But since EVERYOTHERBAND I posted got a vimeo embed, I figure it's only fair to include one here: okay, so you know how people with too much time and Christmas spirit wire up their house's lights to flicker synchronized to the tune of a Trans Siberian Orchestra song? Well someone chose to use Lemon Jelly's "Space Walk" instead! Whatta trendsetter.

HD Version - Space Walk - Christmas Display from Richard Holdman on Vimeo.

N.A.S.A.
I hadn't heard of this group till they came out with a video for the song "Gifted" (which features Kanye West, Santogold, and Lykke Li). But a little last.fm background check proves them to be as fucking awesome as the vid implies. Basically, N.A.S.A. is the musical production two DJ's and their "international collective of musicians." Which translates to 'catchy melodies that transcend genre'. Nice.

N.A.S.A. - "Gifted" video from Anti Records on Vimeo.

MOAR @ myspace.

And a little musical sidenote from the ole' orifice:
If you're into the whole female-vocalist-acoustic-guitar thing, check out Jasmine Commerce. She's a coworker's friend from college, which is pretty cute and worth a mention. In other news, my boss's high school friends also started a band, and they're more my style. You might have heard of them....

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Oh Rice Baseball, how I missed you.

Rice vs. University of Texas
Some thoughts:
  • First off, WE WON. Ha. Suck it, Longhorns.
  • But winning isn't everything- I'd like to congratulate us on a surprisingly underwhelming number of errors. Huzzah.
  • Hey, remember the idea that "OUR ENERGY WILL PREVAIL"? Yup, definitely still there. Something about being there in Reckling with a crowd full of screaming fans inspires inextinguishable confidence in all things right and good. Namely, Rice.
  • Rick Hague's home run scored him four ass-slaps (count it!) Keep up the good work boys and remember, the more inappropriate the physical contact the better it is for crowd team spirit!
  • So many new players! This is the first game I was able to schedule my disgusting amounts of homework around, so I want to issue an informal welcome out to Steven Sultzbaugh, Jeremy Rathjen, Brock Holt and all the other dudes I have yet to stalk on the Athletics website. (though Brock Holt gets an extra special welcome for picking the "Requiem for a Dream" theme song as his intro.)
  • Notable fan ritual: While obviously, nothing will ever top the Beanie-Owl-voodoo I witnessed at Regionals, a lady in the front row held up a Go, Diego, Go doll that blew bubbles every time Diego went up to bat. Why hadn't I THOUGHT OF THAT?! Well, actually, even though me and Seastrunk are basicallybestfriends (read, he was in my O-week group) , it's probably best I keep my Diego obsession's separate. One is for baseball. The other is for sheets.
real sports news @
game tracker @

Note: So maybe a good chunk of this was really just self-promotional links back to my previous baseball posts, but I promise as the season continues I'll be able to generate more creative thoughts. That and I'm in the middle of writing 3 midterm essays due Thursday. That's where I'll be spilling all my brain juices for now, thank you very much.

'New Dora' is sexy...and legal!

SCANDAL! A new Dora figure was released recently and apparently, the public isn't very happy with it. She's too sexy to be a good role model for teens, they say. Growing up isn't natural, they say. Well, at least her head is smaller, allright? And honestly, she still perfectly conforms to the wholesome and innocent expectations of soccer moms with the flowery dress, ballet flats, and leggings (the latter of course, is a challenge rule 34 enforcers across the internet have already begun tackling in MS paint).

Anyhow, the real issue is that Dora was released alone. Where is my post-pubescent Diego?! I've been patient, Mattel...

Story @
Press release @

Let them eat crack.

This week's edition of Mild Obsessions is brought to you by British badass BANKSY:
a somewhat anonymous Graffiti artist from Bristol who specializes in satirical street art and drawing rats. Visit his site for more sTuFf: outdoor stencils, indoor installations, a video, a "gift shop" of downloadable images. Saweeeet.

"Pissing Guard"

"Artiste"

"Media" (My favorite)
"Let them eat crack."
You shouldn't mess with graffiti writers...

And just so it's out there: Houston has a pretty kickass street-art scene as well.
CHECK IT @ Marco From Houston's Flickr

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Sup Dawg

One of the more strange symptoms of identity crises in college is the splintering of blogs. Or maybe that's just me. It seems whenever I stop writing for an extended period of time, I grow less and less attached to whatever style/subjects I used to write about. So of course, I have this incredible urge to open a new account, disconnect completely from my past posting and create a new identity for myself on the internet. (oh you know, back in high school I was all like philosophical and political but now I'm more like into internet jokes and music and shit, you know? like totally) Right now I'm in the mood to just type out all inane details in my life that for whatever reason feel relevant enough to document. Anyways, long story short, I'm continuing with this poor old thing. But I don't have a choice- I honestly feel incomplete without a functioning blog. So, till punctuated equilibrium of identity evolution strikes again, I'm baaaaaaaaack!

Do you love that picture/failed meme of Nic Cage, or what? Too bad I'm pretty sure it's photoshopped. The shadows are all wrong.