Imagine a silent space, devoid of all noise. There you sit with your eyes closed. Breathing. Quiet. Now imagine a giant drum one thousand feet away. Boom. Boom. Boom. The gusts of energy rushing like a tsunami toward your ears almost blowing you backwards by sheer act of will. Again, boom boom boom and the eruption of a voice so angelic, so open and lovely that you can’t help, but be mesmerized. Where does it come from, you ask? It beams from one hundred feet away up towards the stars and as large as the sun. This is your soundstage. This is The Dude, and he does abide.

Ok, hand squeezed pixie dust aside; I have now heard the Dude on three systems. Two of them sporting Dale Pitcher’s Intuitive Design Summits, and the third being my system. This tells me the Dude can sing no matter where his rug is placed.

The Dude has a very open, large-scale presentation. It is by far the most real representation of music I have heard on my system. Time, Tune, and Tone are represented accurately and provide a listening experience that is both immersive and enveloping, casting a shadow of music throughout the room, which dives beyond wall boundaries. It’s quite nice.

The Dude obviously isn’t a golfer. Its score is large and the volume knob proves it. With every click of the wheel the soundstage expands, growing in ebb and flow, and scale. It’s not a yappy dog or your lady friend that just get’s louder when you crank the volume, it gets bigger, badder, and grows a big bushy manly beard. And more importantly, it only takes 200-400 hours to become housebroken: shaving and tube rolling optional.

I have had some pretty nice gear travel through my system. They were shiny, but couldn’t quite hold their own.  Levinson 380S, ARC Ref 3, Ayre K5xeMP, and a few others from the likes of Bryston and Classe for example. Let me be frank, they’re no Dude. In light of concision, I will refrain from detailed comparisons, but feel free to email me for them.

I’ve obviously had that audiophile hankering for something new, something bold. I believe that I have now arrived at a destination that I will not be leaving any time soon. Wherever the deficiencies in my system, they are not from this preamplifier.

Like Paul, I have done a fair amount of recording and mixing both for film and two-channel audio. There is nothing that compares to the original master recording in the studio. This preamplifier is bringing me as close to that as I have ever heard in my system, but in a more enjoyable, less edgy, way

Paul and Brian Weitzel of Tube Research Labs have created a $3800 winner. It’s extremely musical, but relaxed and easeful. It casts a huge soundstage that is detailed and devoid of noise. It rocks and it rolls and is neutral among the best of them and at stolen rug prices!

ASIDE: What the heck does neutral mean anyways? Every person hears sounds differently. Every manufacturer has his or her own ideal for what musical reproduction should sound like. How can that possibly be neutral? For me, neutrality is the ability of a component to completely disappear, to become invisible to the music and the system. The Dude is truly neutral. You can tell when the Dude invades a system, because it’s a transformative experience. You cannot hear it once it’s there, but you know it’s there doing its job, bringing you in, tying the room together.

1. Sugababes

Ok so technically there still is a girlband going by the title of Sugababes. But the best incarnation of the  Sugababes,(Heidi, Keisha and Mutya) that gave the world pop gems like Freak Like Me, Stronger, Round Round, Hole In The Head, Push The Button and Too Lost In You, are no more. Sonically no girlband before or after have been able to touch them and if there was any justice in the world they would have sold more albums than Destiny’s Child.

2. J.Lo aka Jennifer ‘Don’t Call Me JLo’ Lopez.

At the start of this decade, J.Lo was the golden girl. She had number one movies and number one albums, fragrances and clothing lines everywhere and she was dating people who looks like human beings. Fast forward 9 years and I honestly can’t tell you the name of the latest single or her most recent film. And she’s married to a corpse. Jennifer Lopez has become so blase, so totally boring that it’s hard to fathom why we bothered in the first place. Except for ‘Play‘. That was a hot song!

3. Gay Television

In the early 2000’s we had Queer As Folk, The L-Word, Will And Grace, and Queer Eye for The Straight Guy. I can’t think of one comedy or drama on TV right now that is mainly gay orientated. Even the amount of gay characters in TV shows seem to be at a low point. We need a good gay show again people. And I’m not talking about The Style Network or Glam Guru dammit!!!

4. Cool music chart shows.

America had TRL on MTV. We had The Fanta World Chart Show on 5fm. Yes these chart shows kept the intrepid pop watcher like myself informed of what was hot and who ruled the charts. But with the popularity of the internet exploding this decade, these sources of information seemed to shrink in popularity and are no more. Which is sad because Saturdays mornings don’t feel the same without Brown Sugar’s voice lighting up the airwaves from 10:00 to 14:00. RIP World Chart Show!

5. Boybands

Yes at the start of the millennium boybands were still very much the craze. Backstreet Boys and N’Sync were still at the height of their powers and selling millions of albums. But at the end of this decade the conventional boyband formula seems all but dead, with no more N’Sync and Backstreet Boys sans a member and not really relevant in the pop stratosphere. Yes we have the Jonas Brothers, but without crazy choreography and immense key-changes for the last chorus of their songs, can we really call them a proper boyband..?? Do they have anything in their discography that can match the sheer pop-mastery (and cheesiness) of ‘I Want It That Way’…? I don’t think so.

the Next MTV song.

mark my words.

Al Trl di una televisione musicale i Finley oggi pomeriggio, venticinque novembre, dopo le tre.

21.11.09 I Finley ad Hitlist Italia, la classifica di una televisione musicale, stamattina sabato ventuno novembre, a mezzogiorno, ed in replica domani, domenica ventidue alle sette di sera. La vostra opinione sul loro Band at work? Davvero una Banda al lavoro?

E «Ma il cielo è sempre più blu» secondo Rino Gaetano e secondo Giusy Ferreri? Quest’ultima sarà ospite del Trl di Roma insieme ad un cantante che mi è completamente sconosciuto, Enrico Bicchi. Magari è molto bravo e lo potremo scoprire soltanto dopo le tre del pomeriggio.

17.11.09 Forse voi lo conoscete, ma io non ne ho mai sentito parlare. Di chi sto parlando? Di Barry Manilow, di cui Valerio Scanu ha interpretato «Could it be magic». Quale delle due versioni vi è piaciuta di più? Qualsiasi commento su Manilow o su Scanu? E su Alan Sorrenti…

05.11.09 Ebbene sì, ho ritardato un po’, ma eccovi il particolare… Valerio Scanu a The Cube di Radio cuore anche oggi, giovedì cinque novembre, dalle quattro e mezza. A chi ha visto W l’Italia della radiovisione di Rtl, chiederei, invece, come è andata a Lucio Dalla, ospite di quel programma stamattina dalle undici (l’audio)…

Siete in attesa del nuovo album del bolognese, Angolo di cielo (o qualcosa del genere)? In uscita domani… Sappiate anche che potete votare sia Scanu sia Dalla, ma solamente per questo blog (vedere sotto).

01.11.09 Un giudizio sulla presenza di Valerio Scanu ad Hitlist Italia di una televisione nazionale domenica uno novembre?

31.10.09 Siete stati all’incontro con Valerio Scanu sabato trentuno ottobre in un centro commerciale di Sassari? Cosa ve n’è parso? Delusi? Contenti? E che giudizio date all’album omonimo ed alle canzoni «Per te» e «Non dirmi no»? Quale fra queste canzoni vi piace di più – «Ricordati di noi», «Lontano», «Domani», «Sentimento», «Can’t Stop», «Dopo di me» ed «All That You Know»? Vi aggiungo anche che non so se Valerio Scanu sarà in Sicilia a dicembre. Comunque… se volete, votate più sotto.

31.08.09 In tv lunedì trentuno agosto Il commissario Montalbano (Raiuno, 21.20) ed il Circo Massimo Show da Budapest, Ungheria (Raitre, 21.10), ma anche Lost (Raidue, 21.05) ed il film di Steno La poliziotta con Mariangela Melato e Renato Pozzetto. Ci sono anche i documentari su una televisione nazionale alle 17.10 di lunedì, ma anche martedì (sulla città perduta di Afrodisia).

Alle 10.40 ed alle 13.45 di martedì uno settembre e mercoledì due Sì, viaggiare su Raidue. Sullo stesso canale alle 21.05 L’ispettore Coliandro; su Raiuno il film Bad Company alle 21.20; su Raitre il film Il pranzo della domenica alle 21.10; su una tv nazionale The District (telefilm?). Martedì anche un documentario sulle riserve marine di Trinidad e Tobago su Sat2000 alle 12.05 ed alle 20 oppure le farfalle.

Per la musica da ricordare soprattutto AllMusic e, su un’altra tv musicale, Brand:New (dalle 00.30 all’1.30), i video per tutta la notte, poi Wake Up (sette-nove), i Summer Hits (9-11 e 16.30-18), Trl da Roma con i Finley e Pixie Lott (11.30-12.30), Love Test (15-16), musica dal vivo con Giusy Ferreri ed i Gemelli DiVersi da Napoli (18-19), Trl da Roma con Dolcenera ed i Broken Heart College (fino alle 20) e poi… la solita notte intorno alla mezzanotte. Quindi,  il Trl da Roma con i Club Dogo (mercoledì dalle 11.30 alle 12.30),

Ci sono anche Rtl, Rai4, Rai Storia, Rai Gulp (un canale Rai del digitale terrestre oltre a Rai News 24 e RaiSport più), Radio Fantastica, Radio cuore, Radio Italia, Radio Margherita, Radiouno, Radiodue e Radiotre ed Rds…

- – -

Che noia gli Slipknot. Perché travestirsi così come fanno…

31.08.09 Cosa vedrete in tv fino all’ultimo di agosto o anche al primo settembre? Non dimenticate, in primo luogo, All Music… L’altra tv musicale dell’analogico offre il Trl da Pescara con Valerio Scanu (venerdì 28 dalle 19.03 alle 20); poi un Flash di notizie per circa cinque minuti (intorno alle otto ed alle undici di sera); Hitlist Italia (dalle 21 alle 23); il World Stage con gli Slipknot – chi sono? – dalle undici di sera alla mezzanotte; Brand:New dalle 00.30 all’1.30 di notte e poi video fino alle 5.40, prima delle News – le notizie – fino alle sette. Vi piacciono, peraltro, i video di Qoob e la radiovisione di Rtl?

Raiuno offre la partita Barcellona-Shakthar Donetsk della coppa Uefa di calcio (venerdì 28 alle 20.45); uno speciale sul Meeting di Rimini di Cl (Comunione e liberazione; venerdì alle 23.10); Overland alle 4.15 di sabato 29; Lineablu (sabato 29 alle 14); Easydriver e Lineaverde (9.25, dieci e 12.20 di domenica 30); una messa dalla Chiesa matrice di Militello, in provincia di Catania (10.55 di domenica); il Gran premio del Belgio di Formula 1 da Spa (domenica dalle 13.10) e Sister Act con Whoopi Goldberg suora (domenica dalle 21.30). Su Raidue le qualifiche di Formula 1 e Sereno variabile (sabato, 14 e 17).

Ci sono anche Sat2000, Rai4, Rai Storia, Rai Gulp (un canale Rai del digitale terrestre oltre a Rai News 24 e RaiSport più), Radio Fantastica, Radio cuore, Radio Italia, Radio Margherita, Radiouno, Radiodue e Radiotre ed Rds.

- Crema al cacao con nocciole ed anacardi, cioccolato fondente con nocciole o gianduia con nocciole intere oppure al latte con nocciole e nocciole intere

Spreadthesign, dizionario e linguaggio dei segni. Commissione europea – Istruzione e formazione

- Località turistiche straniere (Vota)

- Quale di questi monumenti italiani vi piace di più? (Vota)

- La musica. Quale il vostro brano preferito? (Vota)

Un browser europeo – Opera – e Mozilla o i sistemi operativi di Linux ed Apple. Neomedia.it

28 agosto 2009 - aggiornato 25 novembre ‘09

calogeromira.wordpress.com – e-mail

Risparmio energetico (forse)?

Cari milanesi, mi rivolgo soprattutto a voi che abitate in zona, in centro città. La toscana Jessica Brando in una libreria  di di via Torino, a Milano, sabato ventuno novembre dopo le cinque del pomeriggio. Pubblico anche un video della giovanissima cantante?

20.11.09 Jessica Brando venerdì venti novembre al Trl di Roma insieme a Tommaso Piotta (io l’ho visto a Porto Empedocle, in provincia di Agrigento ed è stato stupendo e rilassante). Ma non si finisce qui perché ci dovrebbe essere anche il rap di tali Enmicasa (un po’ lugubretti forse…). Dopo le tre del pomeriggio su una tv nazionale.

Antonacci. Prima, da mezzogiorno, uno speciale su Biagio Antonacci e chissà se faranno parlare Simone Cristicchi. Mezz’ora dopo, inoltre, uno speciale su Tiziano Ferro e Alla mia età. Caro signor Ferro, quella sponsorizzazione di una società elettrica è stata sbagliatissima. Ma lasciamo stare questo argomento e vi ricordo che potete  “divertirvi” con una votazione musicale più sotto, aggiungendo magari i vostri artisti preferiti.

15.11.09 – Allevi ed Hli. C’è Giovanni Allevi ad Hitlist Italia intorno alle sei del pomeriggio su una televisione musicale. Sulla stessa la Euro Top 20 fino all’una e mezza (sempre di oggi, domenica quindici novembre), il Trl da Roma con i Lost ed un certo Tony dalle tre e gli speciali Britney Off the Record e Vaults sulla Spears dopo le nove di sera.

Su un’altra rete musicale c’è il 50 Songs Best of anche con il video di un certo Jason De Rulo, «Watcha Say», dopo le tre del pomeriggio. Segue il rock dalle sei della sera. Se volete, potete anche votare la vostra canzone preferita più sotto.

13.11.09 - Allevi e Verona. Giovanni Allevi (vedere sotto) ad Invito personale stasera, venerdì tredici novembre. Parlerà del suo album dal vivo e del concerto veronese. Maggiori particolari – non su stasera – più giù. E c’è anche un “voto” che si può modificare aggiungendo nomi di cantanti…

06.11.09 – Avion Travel. Gli Avion Travel ad Invito personale di Radio1 Rai (Radio1 musica) venerdì sei novembre dopo le nove di sera. Devo confessarvi che non mi piacciono molto, ma magari a voi… Buon ascolto e ricordatevi di votare (vedere sotto ed ancora più sotto).

Vi chiederei anche se avete sentito parlare dei jazzisti Eugenio Colombo e Luigi Bozzolan, graditi ospiti della Stanza della musica di Radio3 Suite dopo le dieci e mezza. Magari sono molto bravi…

I Boys. Ci saranno i Backstreet Boys o vi piace qualche altra canzone di qualche altro gruppo? Comincio direttamente con i 100 Greatest Songs of the 90’s - per i non-anglofili le 100 più grandi canzoni dei Novanta – in onda su Mtv dalle dieci di sera. Un’ora prima ci sono, invece, i 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs così come un’ora dopo il World Stage con Wyclef Jean e Best of the Mamas dal vivo. Vi ricordo, peraltro, che potete votare per il mio blog – vedere sotto – sia i vostri cantanti e musicisti preferiti (aggiungendo magari titoli) sia…

Irene Grandi. La cantante fiorentina ad I migliori anni su Raiuno oggi, venerdì sei novembre, intorno alle nove e un quarto. Non dico pronti con il telecomando perché è il primo canale, ma almeno pronti davanti allo schermo?

Giovanni Allevi. Che ne pensate del cd e dvd Allevi & All Stars Orchestra? Vi piace il nuovo album di Giovanni Allevi dall’Arena di Verona? Ed andrete, venerdì sera, cinque novembre, dopo le sei e mezza in una libreria di Roma? Via Appia Nuova al civico 427… E domani… Spero di dirvelo proprio sabato, ma soltanto dopo avervi chiesto se qualche giorno fa avete sentito il notissimo musicista marchigiano su Radio1 Rai.

Niccolò Fabi. È uscito il documentario Live in Sudan di Niccolò Fabi? Sarebbe stato realizzato in collaborazione con un certo Andrea Cocchi e vi chiederei se siete mai stati nella città di Khartoum ed al centro salesiano di El Obeid.  E conoscete un certo padre Vincenzo Donati?

Il concerto avrebbe avuto luogo nell’anfiteatro della scuola internazionale di Khartoum il quattro giugno di due anni fa. Ne approfitto, inoltre, per chiedervi se siete stati il nove dicembre di alcuni anni fa al teatro  Filarmonico di Verona. Si trattava – sappiatelo – di un concerto di Natale con lo stesso Fabi per la «Fondazione Don Bosco nel mondo». Oppure – anche questa volta esagero con le domande – alla «Casa delle letterature» di Roma per la manifestazione «Riscrivendo SUDan».

- Località turistiche straniere (Vota)

- Quale di questi monumenti italiani vi piace di più? (Vota)

- La musica. Quale il vostro brano preferito? (Vota)

Un browser europeo – Opera – e Mozilla o i sistemi operativi di Linux ed Apple. Neomedia.it

- Crema al cacao con nocciole ed anacardi, cioccolato fondente con nocciole o gianduia con nocciole intere oppure al latte con nocciole e nocciole intere

Spreadthesign, dizionario e linguaggio dei segni. Commissione europea – Istruzione e formazione

6 novembre ‘09 – aggiornato 21 novembre ‘09

calogeromira.wordpress.com – e-mail

Risparmio energetico (forse)?

Lo spot di TRL nell’era di Pastore e della canalis mi ricorda un video che ho già visto.

MTV's Show Logo

Flipping through the channels today made me realize that there are no longer any good music shows left on television.  I’m talking about the ones that focused exclusively on music, especially hip hop.  Take it back to the 90’s and you have YO! MTV Raps which to me is a great show.  Ed Lover and Dr. Dre served as great host and daily appearances by artists made it one of my staple shows everyday after-school.   Sadly enough this was replaced by “Total Request Live,” which to me is garbage. But I can’t be mad at MTV, times have changed, and they are a business when it comes down to it.

BET's Show Logo

On the other side you have BET’s Rap City, which was a more updated version of YO! MTV Raps.  This show did a good job of bringing the current hip hop.  Yet sadly enough, this show didn’t last either.  Tigga made a pretty decent host.  The show also succumbed to the times and was replaced by “106 & Park,” which to me is just another copy cat of MTV’s “TRL.” However I’ll take 106 & Park over TRL any day!

You’ve seen him on MTV’s The Real World. You’ve watched him on The Ruins. Chet Cannon is known for his exquisite style, his friendship with housemate Ryan, and his individualistic personality. Seriously, I’ve never met anyone like him before in my life. I was curious in getting to know Chet a little bit better just to see if he was anything like he was on show. In fact, he’s better!

Q: Alright Chet, tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from, what do you do, what’s your sign? Etc

Chet: Well, first off, Chet is my nickname.  Chester is my real name…also the name of my Grandfather I might add.  Sadly, Chester rhymes with molester…the kids at school had a field day with that.  I’m still heartbroken. Right now, I am en route to LA.  Well, actually, I’m headed to Boston tomorrow for a week, then back to SLC for Thanksgiving, then Louisiana, then NYC, then PA, then Baltimore all before December 6th….I guess you could say travel a fair amount. I have lots on my plate right now.  I’ve been approached with ideas about new TV shows hosting gigs which influenced my trek from NYC to LA.  Personal endeavors would include YouTube (which I hope to more consistent with), writing a children’s book, inventing a bowless bow tie, chewable water.  In all seriousness, The Real World, for me, was like a small scale lottery….A lottery that can open many doors.  Now, what you do when the doors are opened is entirely up to you.  Mainly I’m just trying to hustle and stay focused.  There is a lot of easy money with hosting parties and what have you, but I am more than happy to forgo a few of those in my pursuit for elevated status in the television industry.  The end game for me is hosting a successful news show.

Q: Which do you prefer, being interviewed or doing the interviewing?

C: I’m impartial, to be honest.  I guess it depends on the people I’m interviewing, you know?  Sometimes you’ll get out there and throw the mic in someone’s face and instead of being unique, you receive some regurgitated, colorless rant.  I enjoy spontaneity…people who can shoot the proverbial shit.  When I happen upon those types, I enjoy conducting the interview.

Q: Chet, you happen to be one of my favorite Real Worlders ever. Just so you know, I don’t give out that title too often.  You made a brief appearance on The Ruins, would you ever do it again? What was that experience like for you?

C: Well, thank you, my lady!  You’re a peach.  Yes…brevity would be an accurate description of my time on The Ruins.  I loved it.  The format, in terms of filming is a bit more enjoyable than Real World.  There are so many people, so you can avoid the cameras if you feel the need.  Never say never.  I may do one again…depends on the location.  Phuket….obviously I wasn’t going to turn that down.  The Challenges aren’t a focus of mine at the moment, I will put it that way.

Q: Your friendship w/ Ryan and the song you guys made up in one of the early episodes. Inspiring. Are you guys still pretty close? How is he doing?

C: Ryan is doing very well.  He called me just days ago from Iraq.  Ryan and I have some projects in the works right now, which hopefully, will put both of us back on the tube…together.

Q: Your fashion sense is exquisite. Where do you prefer to shop and would you say you have more of a hipster or metro style?

C: Hipster or Metro….couldn’t tell you.  My friends from back home laugh at the way I dress.  They are the furthest thing from hipsters or metro.  I will leave that up to you guys to decide.  I really enjoy Ben Sherman and whenever I get a chance to visit SLC, I hit up the thrift stores.  SLC has great, cheap thrift stores.  You go to the thrift shop in NYC and the prices are comparable to those at Saks and Barneys…no joke.

Q: So are you still in Utah or have you relocated?

C: I stayed in NYC and only recently moved away, so I could pick up my car and make the trek to LA.  I hope to get back to NYC soon.

Q: What’s a typical day for Chet Cannon?

C: That’s a tough one.  They are so different.  Yesterday, I filmed some video for my YouTube channel, worked out, edited video, worked on a children’s book I’m writing, and then went to a party downtown for the Nitro Circus movie…dancing the night away.  It was brilliant.  After that, some mates and I went hot tubbing and I arrived home at 3 AM, where I then edited video again until 4 AM.  Tomorrow I hop on a flight to Boston.  I enjoy the inconsistency.

Q: If you could interview anyone, who would it be?

C: Dead or alive?  Let’s go with alive….hmm….maybe Pete Doherty.  He is my favorite rocker/fashion icon.

Q: My favorite episode was when you had the chance to meet and interview one of my friend’s bands while on the show, Danger Radio. Had you been listening to them prior to the show as well? And also, what kind of music are you listening to these days that you think my readers should be listening to?

C: Cool guys.  Love them.  The Danger Radio interview was offered to me and at that point I began listening to them (in preparation)….grew to enjoy it….and then we had the interview.  It was one of my favorites.  I just made this really awesome “love songs” mix.  I wish I could post a link to it.  My favorite band is The Sounds.  Easily.  At the moment, I’m stoked on Fun and Foxy Shazam (Check them out).  Amazing stage presence.

Q: There’s always talk that MTV’s editing portrays characters in a certain way for their audience to see them as. Do you feel as if you were portrayed correctly or incorrectly? Is Real World REALLY real?

C: You can’t deny anything that makes the air.  I believe they will heighten aspects of your personality, but each person has a lot more depth.  I’m not super bummed over my portrayal, but there are plenty of things I would have displaced with other moments from the 4 months in Brooklyn….had I been given the creative control.

Q: When I was younger, I used to want to be an MTV VJ, but first! I wanted to do Real World (like yourself) in hopes that it would lead me to becoming a VJ. This was before I knew TRL was going  to be canceled. Do you think MTV has contributed in helping you get to where you are today or did Chet Cannon conquer the world all on his own?

C: VJ’s don’t exist anymore…haha.  My stint on MTV has DEFINITELY given me more opportunities than I would have otherwise received.  Is it possible to make it without a reality show….ABSOLUTELY.  Reality TV can be scary.  You have to be very calculated about your decisions….which is very difficult considering the frequency with which you are filmed.

Q: I’ve seen some of your YouTube videos on your blog featuring your covers, is there a singing career in the works? Maybe you and Ryan can get together and start something!

C: Singing is just for fun…I’m not opposed to playing with Ryan when he returns.  I think we could form a pretty kick A duet.

Q: Jesse McCartney Pee Pee Hands story. Is it true?

C: Yes.  It is true.  Scott Herman and I walked into the bathroom and Jesse was on the phone, while peeing and didn’t wash his hands.  IT was disheartening.

Q: What are you up to and where can we see you next Chet?

C: You will see me again soon.  I hate to be the guy who says “it’s confidential,” but that’s how most of this stuff works.  Mums the word.

Estoy trajinando con la base de datos de unos de nuestros clientes (y no hablo de un cliente mindundi) y me he encontrado esto en la tabla de “Tarifas“

Tipo de tarifa: Amiguete.

Y no, no es coña.

Dispongo de un iPod Nano, ya sabéis, un cacharrito de esos para escuchar música tan chulos diseñados por Satan.

Pues bien, tengo activada opción de que me salte una canción aleatoria si lo agito, es bastante cómodo si la canción que está sonando no me gusta y no me apetece sacar el cacharro del bolsillo: tan sólo debo agitar un poco mi pantalón y salta una canción al azar (por desgracia parece que me esté meneando el pene, pero bueno, no todo podía ser perfecto).

Ayer, mientras salía de la oficina con el iPod enchufado, me crucé con el dueño de la empresa y su mujer. Justo al bajar el último escalón, el pequeño salto que di para bajar dicho escalón hizo que saltara la canción “She’s like heroine“, de System of a Down.

Pues bien, fue escuchar la primera estrofa e imaginarme al dueño de mi empresa y a su mujer poniendo el culo para conseguir un par de gramos, ahí lo dejo caer.

Un saludo.

Vanessa Minnillo

Well, well, well — anyone who knows me also knows that this was just a matter of time. There are many “firsts” in life. You get your first car, you have you first kiss, the first time you throw up due to alcohol consumption — y’know, those first times, that come to define a lot of your experiences. Here we have Vanessa Minnillo, my undeniable first celebrity crush, and woman I honestly fell in love with, albeit through the TV screen.

You know how you’re like, seriously determined about some celebrities? “I’m gonna marry her, I know it … if I work hard enough … that’s my future wife, dawg, that’s my future wife” But you’re, like, extra serious, though. Well yeah, Vanessa Minnillo was mine.

Ms. Minnillo was born nearly 30 years ago in the Phillipines, and has probably been a beautiful person ever since. She’s most famous for her Ms. Teen USA crown, iconically hosting MTV’s TRL for about 4 years, and then a position on Entertainment Tonight as a New York correspondent. I remember back when I was fervently watching MTV, and Vanessa Minnillo was hosting the flagship TRL. At first, she was so fine that I had to watch the show everyday. Then, as time went on and my admiration of her grew, she was so fine that I couldn’t watch the show on any day. She was too beautiful to watch and have no way of getting near.

Let’s say you had a kid in a candy store, except there’s only 1 piece of candy in the entire store, and it’s on, like, a 17 foot shelf, with no ladder in sight. You might as well just leave the store, instead of torturing yourself. I literally stopped watching TRL when I was 16, for that very reason.

Anyway, sob (and, maybe slightly weird) story aside, the point is that Vanessa Minnillo is FINE. She’s still on my ‘maybe one day’ list, but has been moved down to #2, in lieu of the silky Keri Hilson securing the #1 spot — see: currently the top ranker.

(And yes, I did not include even a bare mention on Nick Lachey, on purpose)

And, now …

Amazing.

——-

Nara Shikamaru

This dude is raw. My great appreciation of Naruto as a series is probably now glaringly obvious. I have 3 favorite characters that rank equally: Jiraiya, Hatake Kakashi, and Nara Shikamaru. I’ve covered one (Jiraiya), and here’s number 2.

Shikamaru is a vitally interesting character because of how he defeats his opponents. He seems lazy and unenthusiastic on the surface, but under this he possesses a fearsome level of intellect that he regularly uses to form seamless and impressive strategies. In the series, he is recognized as “beyond genius” with an IQ over 200, and is known as the smartest ninja in Konoha. In fact, his (now deceased) sensei, Sarutobi Asuma, remarked that Shikamaru has the ability to become Hokage, were he not so lazy and disliking of lots of responsibility.

Even though he finds most things “troublesome”, Shikamaru is also a dedicated and great leader, who has the respect of those who follow him, and will lay his life down on the line in an instant for his teammates. In this, he fits my favorite type of superhero — the undeniably intelligent leader. Batman, Iron Man, Captain America, Magneto, etc. are all my favorite characters for that reason. Shikamaru is easily up there.

He also finds women to be largely a bother, which I find funny (see: true), too. Don’t get caught in his shadow!

Somebody’s about to get done up.

_Reverend Zombie 12.52

Humanzee … is that you?

OK, I’m gonna give Alexa Chung the benefit of the doubt on this one. The first season of her MTV talk show “It’s on with Alexa Chung” was fun, funky and sometimes just plain weird, but we loved every kooky second of it. Seriously, I loved Miss Chung so much that I actually named my new cell phone after her. Yep, I name my cell phones…

So, you can imagine how excited Greta and I were to see the promos for the new and supposedly-improved “It’s on with Alexa Chung” that began airing a few weeks back. Like Miss Chung herself, the commercials were cool and super hip and promised to bring us: “More celebs. More music. Less BS.” with season two. Wow, a new and improved Alexa Chung? Sounds awesome, right? Wrong!

After watching the show — which began airing in its new 3:30PM time slot last Monday — for a whole week now, all I can say is…WTF MTV? Every single thing that was cool or unique about the show is gone, seemingly forever. No more cool comedians stopping by to dish about pop culture, no more funky-fresh loft-like set, goofy guest intros and strange game play…shit, they even dumped the twitter and facebook pics from fans that used to bookend the commercial breaks. Lame!

I’m not kidding, amigos…it’s like MTV sucked everything that was fun and original out of the show and replaced it with a crazy-fake “live TV show” vibe. The groovy credits from the first season disappeared a while ago, but now the show starts with Alexa being “counted in” by her producers backstage before walking out onto the bland-ass set to greet her audience. If that’s supposed to be edgy, the honchos at MTV have apparently never watched “The View”.

I mean, come on, even the most sheltered tween out there has seen live TV before, so, it is not exciting or even remotely cool to see someone walk past a bunch of grips and shit backstage to make her entrance. It’s just lame…and, considering how great the show used to be, kinda sad.

And not only is the new format completely ridiculous — Alexa and her guests remain mic-ed when they cut to commercial so we can hear them chatting…ooo, edgy! — but Chung seems to hate it as much as we do. Seriously, there were times last week when even she looked totally bored.

I just don’t get it. MTV might think they’re fixing a broken show with this incredibly wrong-headed reboot, but what they’re really doing is trying to turn Alexa Chung into Carson Daly, and that is just plain stupid. “TRL” had an awesome run but it got old and it’s dead for a reason…let Alexa Chung do her thing or cancel her show and start over with someone else. It’s that simple.

That said, I’m giving Miss Chung and her producers one more week to turn this shit around…after that, I guess Greta and I will have to start watching something truly groundbreaking like the “The Bonnie Hunt Show” or something…

Book Fair

The book fair ran all this week (except Tuesday) and there was a 15% increase from last year. What was the best-selling book? You probably already know, but for those who don’t…

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days sold about 80 copies.

1987 and the tax burden on the PAYE worker was massive. The tax rates for PAYE workers were 40% and 65%.
Even after the tax marches of the 70s and 80s there was still a major issue in that sectors of society such as the self-emplyed/farmers and the super rich were able to avoid paying tax. In hindsight, we also know now of the non resident accounts, Ansbacher and so on.
As far as I’m aware, The Tax Reform League only fielded candidates in one general election and may not have been registered as a party at the time.
Their call to arms failed to excite the electorate with none of their candidates being elected. Mairead Duchon polled 1,253 votes.
From the records I have a second TRL candidate, Padraig O’Neill, may have stood in the constituency also, without much success either.

In 1997, God sent three prized cherubs down to earth. These long golden haired boys had the voices of Angels. To many, they would be remembered only for MmmBop;as nothing more than a band with a one hit wonder. But, to a few hundred thousand fans everywhere they would be worshiped forever. I am talking about Hanson of course.  

When I first saw Hanson on MTV way back in the 3^rd grade I assumed, as did many, that they were female, but TRL quickly influenced me to believe otherwise. Carson Daily assured me that the boys’ long locks were not like the coiled hair of a girl or even the greasy mane of a grunge boy, but rather the symbol of a pre-teen sex god.  Isaac, Taylor, and, my personal favorite, Zac had overcome their humble Tulsa upbringing and instantly become icons.

It seemed that after the first Hanson brother album Middle of Nowhere, they vanished from the airwaves. But any dedicated Hanson fan will tell you this is not true. Hanson currently is independently touring and producing their own music and, to the thrill of at least three girls, they are producing many many children.  Just yesterday my friend received Hanson’s autograph when the boys were on the American University Campus.  Their newest album will be released in May of 2010.

Isaac, Taylor, Zac, when you are old and losing your hair, I can tell you that I will still care. I miss your synchronized jams, your long blonde and slightly messy hair, and your pop love songs.

Hanson, I miss your face- Shassie

Book Reports

The book reports are due on the 29th. That’s not too far off from now. Most people will do their visual aid on the computer.

El Gñé sigue ganando adeptos: Gracias Valkrieg

TRL Bash

The TRL Bash is today! Click on the 2-Year Bash section to attend!

The Birth of MJ’s Bad Jacket-Engineered by Remy-Part 1 of 2

It was the night before Remy was set to headline for a Sunday night fashion event. While he was out sourcing materials he received a call from stylist Joe Exclusive and his assistant Jamarcus. They needed a custom jacket commissioned for stylist Jason Griffin and his client, music artist Lil’ Mama.

They had an MTV event just around the corner and a vision of a jacket they desperately needed but COULD NOT find. Remy had an event to take care of too, tomorrow night’s fashion show! He still needed to finish his sewing and prepare for the show but the thought of designing this custom jacket was burning in the back of his mind. With an 11:00 pm wrap up Sunday night, he made a call, got the details and had taken on creating a Michael Jackson inspired look straight off MJ’s “Bad” album cover.

On the cusp of finishing one project, Remy was on the verge of beginning a new one. No rest for the driven. Embarking on an intense four day process to have the “Bad” Jacket designed, finished and shipped to New York City for Lil’ Mama’s 21st birthday and taping he had to get down to business.

Day one and two was all about study, research and gathering materials. “To me the jacket should be bold and a statement for fashion forward tastes,” said Remy. “The statement I wanted to make with this design is it can work with anything and not necessarily have to be with a biker look. You can dress it up and still adhere to the doctrine of elites or dress it down and be admired for a rebellious state of mind.” Keeping the entire design black and silver, his fabrics of choice were black leather and polka dot suede. “When your ‘Bad’ black isn’t just your color but your persona,” said Remy. With zippers wrapped around the jacket, along the arms and hand sewn silver buckles that pop as the accents, the form fitting jacket captures that persona to a tee.

Day three: construction time. It’s 7 hours into the process and the jacket is 85% done. With Griffin already in New York he’s pressed to center all of Lil’ Mama’s looks around this jacket. The sound of anxiety riddles his voice since he hasn’t even seen the final look and of course it’s not even finished. There’s only two days left till the fitting, one day left to make shipment cutoff and plenty of sewing and designing that still need to be finished! Cutting their conversation short Remy had to get back to work.

“I’m racing against the clock. I was sewing and the thread breaks! The leather was fighting me like a mad cow gone wild,” Remy said. But among the mess, the re-cuts and re-designs it was finally finished Wednesday night. Day four was last inspection and finishing touches. “It’s hard to tell from the photos because this jacket is all black but in person its one amazing looking jacket. Now I only wish I could make a men’s version and I will,” said Remy.

Finally, the product was shipped and scheduled to arrive on time for Friday’s fitting. This jacket was to be the main attraction. The show featuring the “Bad” Jacket was set to air on the MTV Network for the next three years. Lil’ Mama, the MTV Crew and Griffin were all anticipating the arrival of this look. After all Remy was the LA designer commissioned to give them EXACTLY what they needed. Will Griffin like it? Will it fit Lil’ Mama and the entire look of her wardrobe? Did he succeed? We have yet to see.

WWW.ENGINEEREDBYREMY.COM
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/ENGINEEREDBYREMY
WWW.TWITTER.COM/REMTEK
WWW.MYSPACE.COM/REMTEK
WWW.MODELMAYHEM.COM/EGR
WWW.REMTEK.WORDPRESS.COM
WWW.ENGINEEREDBYREMY.BLOGSPOT.COM

TfL issued a summary report on its reserch on the effect of the reduction of the ‘black-out’ period (the period when the green-man went out  and before the red-man come in – this period give pedestrian who started to cross when the green-man disappear time to clear the crossing).

source:The effect of re-timed invitation to cross periods on road user behaviour at signalised junctions in London’

The report also look at the possiblilty to implement the count-down system in London.  This measure is expected to help clarify the uncertainty that pedestrian face when the ‘black-out’ period appear .

• Significant findings of the study included:
  • Overall, around half of all pedestrians cross against the red man signal
  • 60 per cent of pedestrians did not correctly understand the purpose of the blackout period
  • 67 per cent of impaired pedestrians interviewed did not understand the blackout period
  • 90 per cent of conflicts at crossings – pedestrian or vehicle braking or changing direction, or physical contact (of which there were zero during the study) – involved a pedestrian crossing during the red man
• re-timing of the green man invitation to cross period resulted in an increase in vehicle throughput through the junctions of 6.5 per cent.

source: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/media/newscentre/13254.aspx

Ever wondered why RSS Feeds look funky in Google Chrome? Drag this link to your bookmarks bar and watch the video to see what happens next. Also, click the HD button to watch it in HD!

Views: 12,419,728                                            Rating: Ratings disabled

Streaming is provided by YouTube, a division of Google. Video made and produced by Zach Vega on October 2, 2009.

Entra nel vivo a Torino “Trl on Tour” in occasione dello switch on sul digitale terrestre del Piemonte. Lo show condotto da Elisabetta Canalis e Carlo Pastore in piazza Carlo Alberto a Torino ha visto martedì come protagonisti la star di “Amici” Valerio Scanu e il saltatore in lungo Andrew Howe. Il giovane cantante sardo, in particolare, ha entusiasmato l’esercito dei suoi giovani fan cantando i suoi pezzi forti. Mercoledì il pubblico potrà ascoltare la band di Aosta “dAri” (ma la speranza è di avere Shakira), mentre per giovedì 1° ottobre è prevista l’esibizione di Eva Riccobono e Matteo Ceccarini .

Scanu canta sul palco “Dopo di me“..

Fonte:LE