Will Video Games Become Better Than Life?

Video game developer David Perry discuses the future of his industry/art form:


(http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/david_perry_on_videogames.html)

Watch more TED talks here.

What Goes Up Must Come Down

More street art, this time targeting Washington Mutual, one of the financial institutions that has collapsed during the ongoing crisis:


WHAT GOES UP MUST COME DOWN from ABOVE on Vimeo.

(Via Urban Prankster.)

All The World's A Library

Wonderful news from Google:

Google was built on the principle of making the world's information more accessible and useful. Before the company was even founded, Larry and Sergey imagined a way to make it easier for anyone, anywhere, to access the information held within the world's books. Search simply isn't complete without that content, and providing more access to more books is a vision Google has never lost sight of.

Four years ago, almost to the date, we first announced Google Book Search. Since we launched the service, we've heard countless stories about Book Search helping readers all over the world find books in over 100 languages on topics as diverse as The Physics of Star Trek and the history of Wood Carvings in English Churches. We've seen millions of people click to buy books or find them in a library, and more than 20,000 publishers have joined our Partner Program to allow readers to preview the books they find before buying them.

While we've made tremendous progress with Book Search, today we've announced an agreement with a broad class of authors and publishers and with our library partners that advances Larry's and Sergey's original dream in ways Google never could have done alone.

Continue reading.

You can also check out Google's new site detailing what these developments will mean for Internet users, read more at the company's dedicated Inside Book Search blog, or just start searching for and through books.

Regardless of how amazing this news is, it's really just the beginning.

(Cross-posted at The Podium.)

Jarrett presents album reviews on the interweb: THE CLASH LIVE AT SHEA STADIUM

Paul Simonon is still the handsomest man in music - and my favorite bass player 

Welcome to the Daily Iowan Arts & Culture blog renaissance. The Clash is one of my all time favorite bands, so you could expect how excited I was to get my grubby paws on The Clash - Live at Shea Stadium today. The 1982 Shea stadium gig is infamous in Clash lore, opening for The Who on what would be The Clash's last american tour.

 

Shea stadium has hosted some very memorable musical events over the years as well as shitty baseball performances, and it's ironic that it is currently being demolished as these recordings are released. The recordings of the performance had been long sought after by die-hard fans, and fortunately were unearthed by the the late Joe Strummer while he was packing while moving. The band at times could be slightly sloppy live, which they always made up with energy. Not to mention, it didn't really matter. It was the fucking clash. However, this recording catches them at their live peak. 

One might argue that punk should never sound so polished live, but at this point in their career they had transcended any trappings of genre confinement. It's reggae, (an awesome rendition of "Armagideon Time") it's rock N roll, ("Should I Stay of Should I Go" - a song where the music video was actually filmed during the Shea Performance) it's punk (Blistering thrugh "Career Opportunities"). The space created between Simonon's bouncy dub bass lines and Mick Jones's experimental-for-its-time atmospherics are really the stuff dreams are made of. 

It makes me wish there was a band this important to see live nowadays, but it's nice to know i can throw on my headphones and be right there. If you see some kid in a bandanna walking down Market Street playing air bass to "The Guns of Brixton," throw an egg at him. 

I give this 4 out of 5 Stars! The whole set is list wonderful, so all of 'em are my picks. See, i can be positive too in reviewing stuff.

Stay warm -  Love Jarrett

Auto Shuffle.

So I went home last weekend, and it was fire. I spent an entire day alone. Ummm, when was the last time that happened? Far too long ago.

Anyway, where I'm going with this is that, well, I had to drive to get home. And besides the free food and laundry service that a trip home provides, it means I can listen to whatever I want to in the car. Driving = alone time = listening to whatever I want in the car without backseat drivers telling me what to put in my janky CD player (or telling me how to drive, holla!).

A selection of what is currently being held in my car for listening pleasure:

O and Bottoms of Barrels by Tilly and the Wall.
These are not bad selections. In fact, O is quite recent. I just can't bring myself to remove that BoB disc - you never know when you'll feel compelled to burst into a rendition of "Lost Girls." You just never know. And now some "Pot Kettle Black." Just because.


Various mix CDs.
The tracks on these CDs - made anytime during the past year and a half or so - range from the innocent ("4 Minutes to Save the World" by Madonna) to the vintage ("Stars and Sons" by Broken Social Scene) to the oh-so-killer ("Womanizer!!!!"). I try to make a new mix CD every few months or so. November 2008 is looking good. Track #1 will undoubtedly be "Shake a Fist" by Hot Chip, just for Ann.

Re-Arrange Us by Mates of State.
I think I played this too much over the summer. But it still gets regular rotation. If you hear "The Re-Arranger" being blasted throughout the streets of downtown Iowa City, just look for a red Grand Prix. I can't be too far away. My only offer (pun intended):


Under the Blacklight by Rilo Kiley/New Wave by Against Me!
I don't know why I decided to put these two on the same disc - probably because I was running low. But the cool thing is that New Wave is 10 songs long, so the Rilo album starts on track 11, which means that the first song on that album is #11, the second is #12, etc. That was the most pleasant surprise of my life. Right up there with - finally! - learning how to whistle, just so I could make "Alpha Beta Gaga" by Air interactive.

Pop-Up by Yelle.
Uhhh, can you say PERFECT driving music? Mademoiselle Yelle certainly keeps you awake, if not totally focused on the road: Evidence:


And last but not least, Rabbit Fur Coat by Jenny Lewis.
It's a classic, and yes, I know I should update it with her new album. But I will always keep this in my visor. Just a habit.

So if you ever need a ride, give me gas money and the chance to play some music for you. It'll be fun, and we'll probably stop at McDonald's.

Rock Gods!...Kinda

I'm not much of a "gamer" by traditional standards, but every now and again a video game comes along that I become completely hooked on. The only game capable of doing this in the past few years is Guitar Hero. By now, we all know of, or at least get the gist of what the game entails: using a guitar-shaped controller to dominate the electronic rock world...via five fret buttons, a strum control, and the ever-important whammy-bar.

I never anticipated this game to be so addictive. One factor that played largely into my momentary obsession was the fact that so many songs that I know and love are featured in every version of the game. Being a HUGE 80s Hair Metal fan, I practically pissed myself when the "Rocks the 80s" version was released. Yeah, it made for a very happy Rebecca.

Aaanywho. Like any video game, Guitar Hero has those players who couldn't finish the easiest song on the easiest level to save their lives, the great mass in between, and the few, the proud, the hardcore gamers who finish the game on expert and think, "That was it?" There are at least a few people in my circle of friends who fall into this category, and while they may be ridiculed for having no life (the same thing happened when DDR was unleashed), it is impossible to watch them play and not think to yourself, "How the fuck can anyone do that??". It's quite the spectacle.





The YouTube videos are equally plentiful and hilarious.

Guitar Hero: World Tour comes out on Oct. 26, and once again I will start to believe that I might have some discernible talent on the guitar. Right.

Halloween Costumes For Pets

I'm not sure how I feel about this whole concept. On one hand, these are very creative costumes; on the other hand, dressing up pets like this just seems excessive.

In any case, enjoy:









(Via Slog.)

Andrew Sullivan On Blogging

He writes:

For centuries, writers have experimented with forms that evoke the imperfection of thought, the inconstancy of human affairs, and the chastening passage of time. But as blogging evolves as a literary form, it is generating a new and quintessentially postmodern idiom that’s enabling writers to express themselves in ways that have never been seen or understood before. Its truths are provisional, and its ethos collective and messy. Yet the interaction it enables between writer and reader is unprecedented, visceral, and sometimes brutal. And make no mistake: it heralds a golden era for journalism.

Continue reading.

And, quite appropriately (thanks to this beautifully bizarre evolving world-brain that we call the Internet), we can also watch Sullivan discuss the piece in video form:


(http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1460906593/bctid1870898754)

(Cross-posted at The Podium.)

Despair

More street poster art inspired by the presidential election:


(Via Slog.)

And speaking of despair, check out Despair.com. They sell demotivational posters and other products aimed at pessimists. Here's a self-titled example:



And these two are hanging in my apartment (above my bed, actually--make of that what you will):

you played a fine guitar (and some dirty basketball)

Hey guys, Anna here. In case it's been forgotten, I and no one else am the token emo kid of the DI A/C staff (covering all Pete Wentz-related news, reminding you what an amazing album Pinkerton is, etc.), especially since Susan got to go to heaven—aka, a place where it's perpetually overcast and all the boys look like they just rolled out of bed.

Thus, it is my job to blog about today (yesterday, actually), October 21, being the 5th anniversary of Elliott Smith's death. He is an artist that I will forever regret not being able to see perform live, a songwriter without parallel, and obviously still deeply missed by those of us who listen to him.

Here's a video of Elliott performing one that a) is one of my favorites, b) is not quite in the same league of sad as many of his other great ones.

and, just for the record, check out the lovely Ben Folds tribute song from whence the title of this post comes—"Late."

XO,

Anna.