Yes, I'm a Calicoan!

No travel is complete sans new music. To me, at least. So, in true fashion, I have been surrounded by new sounds lately. Coldplay's new album was a welcome addition to my playlist for roadtripping purposes. Rilo Kiley and She Wants Revenge have been used much as well. However, recently I had been needing a kind of music that would allow me to adequately fill my creative time and space. I have been needing a kind of music that speaks to people who have a tendency to wake up most mornings enveloped by a mixture of recent losses and current gains. Try explaining this to a record store owner in Minneapolis when searching for new beats, but I digress.
Anyway.
I need a special kind of music to write to. It needs to be mellow yet daring, soulful yet sharp, well-paced yet moderate. In short, it needs to be a kind that begs for attention. Calico's new album Blackpyramid does exactly that.
I took a break from the family visit and travel today to write a little bit. I did so to Blackpyramid. I created a whole new page. To Blackpyramid. And that's how a new album passes my test: if it fuels my own creativity, it passes with flying colors.
Well, that, plus it fuels my own sense of pride in a job well done. My friend's. Liam B. Hesselbein is a member of Calico and that's reason enough for me to check anything out that he's helped create. Liam gets indie. And he gets 'cool.' Hence, whatever he makes I am inclined to enjoy. De gustibus non discutandum est. Period.
Now, how can I describe Blackpyramid?
Well, I'll try to use the same words I had circulating in my head when I first heard their tracks "Diamond" and "Hands are Sand." It's the kind of music that involves the senses in an unapologetic way. This is not the kind of music to listen to when attempting to fill the external noise in a cafe in a foreign land or when drowning the unbearable silence in familiar territories. No, this is a sound that begs for one's full attention. It's a sound that transports. It successfully seals one in a well-isolated space wherein introspection can be performed peacefully and no one will access your realm without permission.
Then, there is "Heaven." Even Beatrice would walk to its sound. I stand by this.
Much could be said about this album, for like their track "Teeth in the Fire" it evokes a sense of perpetual expression. And which member of the creative class would say 'no' to such an effect?
Dickens perhaps, but only if he had stopped getting paid by the word as the myth has it.
Blackpyramid delivers. Get it. It won't disappoint. It will inspire.
graph per myspace

What Does 'Hot' Mean?

One of the things I especially love about traveling is talking to my pop culture people who always manage to inform me about much of much.
So, here's one. It's an article on the notion of hotness and what it entails. It's also about rap music.
My parents asked me what the contextual meaning of the term of 'hot' was and all I could say was, 'well, it's something really neat and great, like if you see something you react to positively, or if you want to emulate that which you see, or if something is really aesthetically appealing, and so forth. Well, at least that's how I us it.'
'Hot' does not only apply to people or anthropomorphized things. It may apply to the weather too. Hold on. I suppose, originally, like decades ago and such, 'hot' was used quite often to refer to the weather or high temperatures for the most part, but I digress.
Cheekiness aside, the semantic extension that the word has undergone reveals much about our modern linguistic habits. I find it rather curious that one of the words we use to refer to positive, aesthetically pleasing and beautiful things and so forth is a simple three-lettered word. Hmm.
Anyway, this post is written while en route so it is bound to be full of non sequiturs. The aforementioned article had something very interesting to say about the term 'hot.' It is perhaps the 'coolest' thing I've read in days.
I simply had to include most of it and you will see why after you are done reading it. Alas, the graphs were not uploaded so I would highly recommend that you go to the source itself and see them. Here comes much of it:

'This is why "This Is Why I'm Hot" is hot: Because it's hot. There are of course other reasons the breakout single from Mims, a Washington Heights rapper who intends to carry New York hip-hop on his back and restore us to glory, is hot. It ascended to number one on Billboard's Hot 100, for example, and topped iTunes' singles chart as well. But consider these other, purer, more intangible reasons why it's hot, best explained by Mims himself over the course of the song. Where appropriate, we will back him up with visual aids.

The most amazing line in "This Is Why I'm Hot"—and, even at this early a juncture, quite possibly the most amazing line of any song to see release in 2007—is "I'm hot 'cause I'm fly/You ain't 'cause you not." Brutal and unassailable in its simplicity. Consider the reasoning, first, of just "I'm hot 'cause I'm fly":

Mims is hot because he's fly. But it raises the question: Does being hot guarantee one's being fly? "You ain't 'cause you not" would seem to clear that up:

It would appear that fly and hot are interchangable. If you are one, you are both; if you aren't at least one, you are neither.

...
The other remarkable, oft-quoted line in "This Is Why I'm Hot" is "I could sell a mil' sayin' nothin' on a track." Critics gibe that "This Is Why I'm Hot" proves precisely that; others muse on what Mims would sell if he deigned to actually say something on a track. Would he sell less than a mil'? Exactly a mil', as when he said nothing? Or a great deal more than a mil'? The song does not elaborate.

In any event, note that he can do those things, not will, which suggests he might not. As these claims and predictions are speculative, there are more possible outcomes; it seems reasonable to assert that Mims can't sell more than a mil' sayin' nothin'. Though we would love to see him try.
Sonically, the most entertaining part of "This Is Why I'm Hot" is the first verse, in which Mims underscores his hotness by touting his skill at adapting to regional styles, as the slow, minimal, eerie beat morphs beneath him, sampling both "Nuthin' But a G Thang" and "Jesus Walks." In the Dirty Dirty (South) he makes the ladies bounce. He slows it down in the Midwest per their preference. He does it the Cali way in L.A., and in Chi, in addition to adeptly moving the crowds from side to side, everyone loves his fashion sense. (If you enjoy nothing else about "This Is Why I'm Hot," acknowledge the rakish, immensely appealing way Mims says the word attire.)

Our quarrel lies with "If you need it hyphy/I take it to the Bay," an homage to the Oakland–San Francisco Bay Area's relentlessly knuckleheaded and sorta wonderful hyphy movement, with its proclivities for going dumb, making thizz faces, ghost-riding the whip, etc. (Yahdidabooboo.) But unlike Mims's other geographical shout-outs, that's all he says here—"I take it to the Bay/'Frisco to Sac-town/They do it e'y'day." First of all, no one calls it "Frisco" except rhyme-starved rappers, and the only worthwhile MCs living anywhere near Sacramento are in prison. But even worse, there's no style adjustment here—he just takes it to the Bay. This is wholly insufficient for hotness—several entities that take it to the Bay do not qualify:
The song's other two verses are a relative letdown—Mims can get chopped birds by the flock, he's got money in the bag, he coordinates his outfits, he compels you to Google the word guap, people tend to like how he records, he's into big spendin', bah. He does intimate that we will find him "with different women" that we personally have "never had," which is awfully gentlemanly of him, really. Since we're feeling charitable we'll assume all of Mims's women are hot; with regard to our own conquests, it's best to be honest with ourselves.

Though a fantastic song, "This Is Why I'm Hot" verily reeks of Skee-Lo. It's so distinctive and goofy that no follow-up could possibly do it justice. But even if Mims is not built for endurance, he has given us an invaluable gift nonetheless—reclaiming and re-energizing the word hot after years of abuse. Plumbing one's memory (with a bit of Internet aid) reveals how even reputable musicians have overused the "I'm hot like _____" construction. Behold:

Yes. Mere mortals are hot like other people or things; having ascended to a higher plane, Mims is hot like Mims. It doesn't get hotter than that.'

Hat tip to Rob Harvilla. Fantastic piece!!
graph per village voice

Conversation I Heard Out and About

She: I want that.
Other Person (OP): It's nice. Don't you have plenty of t-shirts, though?
She: That's irrelevant. Not ALL my t-shirts are 100$ organic cotton! I want to be more green, you know?
OP: True, true. But aren't you then wasting resources by buying more even though the new stuff is 'green'?
She: The color brings out my eyes, though.
OP: It's a really nice shirt, yup.

Going Green

This is a really good piece on thinking and being Green. It also tackles a most relevant topic called Green Fatigue. Let's face it, after Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, much Green-inspired discourse has been generated and, while I find much of it very useful and helpful, some can be a tad much. I try to live as green as I can. For example, today I'm wearing my 100% organic cotton 'Go Green' t-shirt.
Right.
Well, I also drive only when I absolutely have to. My people would say, 'thank goodness for that!' since I used to tend to speed a bit. But that tendency has long been attended to, naturally. And I bike everywhere. Let's see what else, I also tend to wash my dishes by hand. And I tend to put the groceries in washable cotton bags.
I do think that we can all make a difference by being more mindful of resources and being more gentle to our planet. At the same time, I also think that we tend to behave better when not constantly told what to do and how to do the things we are supposed to do.
Hence, I found the following the paragraph from the article particularly interesting:
'Eddie Stern, 38, a media strategist in Durango, Colo., said he recently “went nuts, just trying to buy a car” because of the “overload of info, from the news, from the Internet, from quote-unquote experts on the street.”

Every new tidbit of research seemed to contradict the last. Some environmentalists made the case for a new hybrid, others insisted that buying a used model with a standard engine would save the huge amounts of energy that go into manufacturing a new vehicle. Other environmentalists supported biodiesel, on the grounds that it means, essentially, growing gas. Others countered that biodiesel still pollutes.

Mr. Stern said he finally settled (after a coin flip) on what seemed like the ideal compromise, a used Ford Escape hybrid. Ideal, until his brother, who works in the solar-power industry, asked, “Where are you going to bury the battery?”'
But jokes aside, the NY Times' piece is particularly sound and relevant. I enjoyed.
graph per ny times

Intellectual Property and the Grateful Dead

I tend to use paper very little and the more I live the more I experience this. Reading information from the screen of various gadgets feels as familiar to me as turning the pages of a book. Hence, I found Paul Krugman's column today particularly relevant.
He compares the contemporary inclination to digitize everything to the new 'business model' the rock band, The Grateful Dead espoused decades ago. He notes:
"But her most compelling illustration of how you can make money by giving stuff away was that of the Grateful Dead, who encouraged people to tape live performances because “enough of the people who copy and listen to Grateful Dead tapes end up paying for hats, T-shirts and performance tickets. In the new era, the ancillary market is the market.”

Indeed, it turns out that the Dead were business pioneers. Rolling Stone recently published an article titled “Rock’s New Economy: Making Money When CDs Don’t Sell.” Downloads are steadily undermining record sales — but today’s rock bands, the magazine reports, are finding other sources of income. Even if record sales are modest, bands can convert airplay and YouTube views into financial success indirectly, making money through “publishing, touring, merchandising and licensing.
...
How will this affect the publishing business? Right now, publishers make as much from a Kindle download as they do from the sale of a physical book. But the experience of the music industry suggests that this won’t last: once digital downloads of books become standard, it will be hard for publishers to keep charging traditional prices.

Indeed, if e-books become the norm, the publishing industry as we know it may wither away. Books may end up serving mainly as promotional material for authors’ other activities, such as live readings with paid admission. Well, if it was good enough for Charles Dickens, I guess it’s good enough for me."
Good post. Read full text here.

The Psychology of the City

Especially relevant since much of my recent discourse has revolved around a 'reading' of the city. Hat tip to Richard. This will have to be the best paragraph I read today. I know it's only 7 am but I had an early start.

Great cities attract ambitious people. You can sense it when you walk around one. In a hundred subtle ways, the city sends you a message: you could do more; you should try harder ... A city speaks to you mostly by accident—in things you see through windows, in conversations you overhear. It's not something you have to seek out, but something you can't turn off.

A most fascinating piece by Paul Graham. Read more here.

I Do: I Like HoneyHoney

HoneyHoney has a unique sound. The band which is comprised of Suzanne Santo and Ben Jaffe is characterized by a happy balance of folk sounds, indie rock traces, and informed lyrics.

Suzanne Santo hails from Ohio and she's yet another example of many solid artists to come out of the state. Columbus, OH is known for things other than the little thing call Ohio State. I know it's hard to believe this especially when the Bucks are playing and beating basically every team they play. But there is also a good indie scene in town. I have explored some and intend to do more soon. But that's another post and I digress.

HoneyHoney is unlike anything I'm listening to right now. My playlists have consisted of Starsailor, Muse, Italian contemporary rock, The Pet Shop Boys (Don't ask. I don't know why!), and Mr. Bob Dylan. So, HoneyHoney is a good diversion. A most welcome one, actually. If you're interested in the kind of music professionals can actually make, well, hurry and get their stuff. They won't disappoint. Their music relaxes and informs. It might be a tad melancholy in certain places but it's all in good measure.

I tend to stay away from the what I call the 'Nora Jones effect' not because I don't particularly like Jones' music but because it fails to match my usual pace of life. De gustibus non disputandum est, after all.
If you're already a folk fan, well, needless to say you'll be HoneyHoney-fied in no time.

Lastly, what I like about HoneyHoney is the fact that they can enlighten me musically in a quiet, totally-denuded-of-pretension sort of way.
And that's the kind of music I respond to. It's the kind any Bob Dylan fan would respond to, I suppose.

Here is a video.

graph per myspace
hat tip to youtube for the vid

Weezer's New Video: Brilliant!

Pop culture as represented by Weezer and captured by, yes, YouTube.
I like. On basically every level.

Two Economists Go At It

Via Tyler Cowen over at MR. A conversation between Tyler and Bryan Kaplan, as the latter remembers it....

Tyler: People like to think they're special, but we're all pretty much the same.

Bryan: No we're not. Some people are really great; others are simply awful.

Tyler: That's just the kind of thing people say to make themselves feel special.

Bryan: You don't really believe that.

Tyler: Do too.

Bryan: What if we use the metric of your willingness-to-pay to spend an hour with a person? There are a few awesome people you would pay thousands of dollars to meet. But you'd pay hundreds of dollars to avoid an hour with most people.

Tyler: [3-second hesitation.] Well, it's not clear why that should be the relevant metric.

Bryan: But it's your metric!

Tyler: What's so special about my metric?

Bryan: What's so special about it? By definition, that metric captures everything that you think matters. And by that very metric, people are not "pretty much the same." They're incredibly different.

Hm. What say ye?

Sydney Pollack Dies: The Artist Will be Sorely Missed!

I just found out that producer, actor, director Sydney Pollack died today in his home in California. I truly enjoyed his work.
Benjamin and I just talked about him today when discussing the film Michael Clayton which he also helped produce and finding out a few minutes later that he died this very day was a shock.
His Tootsie is a film I enjoyed from day one. My folks thought I'd enjoy the premise and ever since that point in time, it's been a high-frequency film for me. Pollack's own acting in the film was one of the things I enjoyed about it.
But I truly developed an appreciation for Pollack's artistic abilities when I saw Kubrick's last oeuvre Eyes Wide Shut. Pollack's portrayal of the uber-powerful New Yorker is, according to me, one of the most believable 'texts' I have seen on film. Pollack's ever so adequate taming of the main character is a piece of incomparable skill. They simply don't come like Pollack any more.
Whether he directed, acted, or produced, Pollack left an indelible mark of excellence and adequacy.
He was a man who truly got the art form of film.
And I will miss him. A great loss, indeed. Thank you Sydney Pollack for all you gave us.
This is what the Times says about him:
"Self-critical and never quite at ease with Hollywood, Mr. Pollack voiced a constant yearning for creative prerogatives more common on the stage. Yet he dived into the fray. In 1970, “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?,” his bleak fable of love and death among marathon dancers in the Great Depression, based on a Horace McCoy novel, received nine Oscar nominations, including the one for directing. (Gig Young won the best supporting actor award for his performance.)

Two years later, Mr. Pollack made the mountain-man saga “Jeremiah Johnson,” one of three closely spaced pictures in which he directed Mr. Redford.

The second of those films, “The Way We Were,” about a pair of ill-fated lovers who meet up later in life, also starred Ms. Streisand and was an enormous hit despite critical hostility.

The next, “Three Days of the Condor,” another hit, about a bookish C.I.A. worker thrust into a mystery, did somewhat better with the critics. “Tense and involving,” said Roger Ebert in The Chicago Sun-Times.

With “Absence of Malice” in 1981, Mr. Pollack entered the realm of public debate. The film’s story of a newspaper reporter (Sally Field) who is fed a false story by federal officials trying to squeeze information from a businessman (Paul Newman) was widely viewed as a corrective to the adulation of investigative reporters that followed Alan J. Pakula’s hit movie “All the President’s Men,” with its portrayal of the Watergate scandal.
But only with “Tootsie,” in 1982, did Mr. Pollack become a fully realized Hollywood player."
Full feature here.
graphs per ny times