My new hero, MC SpandX

Amazing Trials Bike riding

This just totally blows my mind. I shudder to think of all the horrific face-plants and ass-bustings that come along the way to being able to do this.

The bit at about 3:08 literally made me blurt out “Oh my God!” the first time I saw it.

Kathy Griffin, Setting the tone for the year to come

When I heard that Kathy Griffin was sharing hosting duties with Anderson Cooper on CNN’s New Year’s extravaganza, this is exactly the type of entertainment I was hoping for.

Bless you Kathy Griffin, bless you!

I’m not sure why, but this still moves me.

I know this video is old-hat to the majority of my fellow netizens. But the MP3 player just shuffled up the song that the video is set to and I was moved to post this. Hopefully the one person out there who hasn’t yet seen it will, and will enjoy it as much as I do. The song, if you’ve ever wondered is “Praan” by Garry Schyman. One translation I’ve seen goes thusly:

The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.

It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth in numberless blades of grass and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.

It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth and of death, in ebb and in flow.

I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life. And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment.

If you’d like to purchase an MP3 of this magnificent tune, you can do so here: Praan.

Anyway, for whatever reason this really resonated strongly with me today, so I thought I’d pass it along.

MTV Music Site has [gasp] Music Videos!

If you remember and miss the days when MTV actually played music videos, this is great news (originally spotted at Gizmodo). MTV is making their collection of music videos available online. Right now there are a lot of videos unaccounted for, but they did just go online with this today, so hopefully it’s a work in progress.

Here’s one of my all-time favorites, “Learn to Fly” by the Foo Fighters. It’s got the Foo Fighters playing various roles (I’ll admit to being a bit disturbed by what a hot stewardess, the drummer, Taylor makes) and the boys from Tenacious D (Jack Black and Kyle Gass) appear as bumbling drug smugglers. Plus, it’s a great song. What’s not to like?

MTV Music - I want my MTV

The Internets to the Rescue

Speaking of Letterman, this week is ‘Magician Week’, which prompted me to renew my search for a comedy routine I remember from the late 80’s or early 90’s which I’ve been looking for (obviously not hard enough) for years. 5 minutes of Googling earlier tonight and I’d found it:

Greg Travis as ‘David Sleaze, Punk Magician’.

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day

You know how now they’ve got those musical greeting cards that actually sound “musical”? Well, my mother, always one to embrace our Irish heritage (she hoped I would be born on St. Pat’s day; my middle name would have been Patrick) sent me a St. Patrick’s card that plays music. Imagine my surprize when I realized that it was playing a Dropkick Murphys song.

More specifically, this one:

There’s also a really good live performance here, it’s a Live on Letterman Web Exclusive!

Still Missing Warren

Today (Jan 24, 2008) would have been Warren Zevon’s 61st birthday. It’s hard to believe that he’s been gone for over 4 years now. Anyway, in celebration of Warren’s birthday I present you with the following video from the Late Show with David Letterman.

The news of Warrens terminal cancer diagnosis had recently come out and Warren’s old pal Dave Letterman dedicated an entire show to his friend, giving him the whole hour. This was the show where when he was asked by Dave how his work now (as he worked feverishly to complete one last album with the time he had left) compared to before, when he assumed he was healthy Warren replied:

You’re reminded to enjoy every sandwich and every minute of playing with the guys, and being with the kids and…

I never get tired of seeing this, despite how heart wrenching the reality of it is.

Subterranean Homesick Blues

Since JW pointed out the Dylanesque feel of Steve Earle’s Jerusalem video, here’s its inspiration. Compare and contrast, this will be on your exam.

So many classic lines:
‘Johnny’s in the basement, mixing up the medicine.’
‘You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.’
‘The pump don’t work ’cause the vandals took the handles.’

In an effort to assuage my own cynicism, I bring you this message of Hope.

This song has become one of my favorite “not strictly a Christmas song” Holiday tunes.

It’s the title track on Steve Earle’s fantastic Jerusalem CD. Do your self (and me) a favor, click the link, buy the cd.

Uh-Oh, Here Come the Videos

The other day I was perusing the latest Bike Nashbar sale catalog when I came across:

ATC2K, the ultimate waterproof self-contained action cam!

And it’s on sale for only $109.95! I intended to go online and do a little research on this seemingly wonderful device, but kept forgetting. Finally I managed to think of it while a computer was at hand and did a little digging.

It does indeed seem perfect for capturing web-quality video on the bike, lashed under the car bumper, who knows, perhaps even strapped to the back of the cat!

Anyway, a bit more digging and I find a place that has it for $89.95 and they have a coupon code for free UPS shipping! Click-click-clickety-click, it’s ordered!

Presently I’m having some (minor) difficulties with the retailer I ordered it from, so to them I say: No link for you! Due to said difficulties, I go looking for a Plan-B, just in case. Imagine my dismay when I discover that Amazon has it for $83.99, also with free shipping. D’oh!

Naturally by the time I found this out, the problem with my order had been straightened out and it’s too late to cancel the order. Oh well, that’s how they get you, you know.

So stay tuned; videos will be forthcoming!

My New Musical Fixation

Back in October of last year I saw the band ‘Brazilian Girls‘ perform on The Late Show with David Letterman. I was really impressed with them, great music coupled with an innovative and arresting stage show (bordering on performance art), but somehow still managed to promptly forget all about them.

So anyway, this past Sunday I was watching A&E’s ‘Breakfast with the Arts’ and guess who was on? Brazilian Girls! Let me pause a moment to explain one thing, “Brazilian Girls” is just the name of the band. There is only one girl, Sabina Sciubba, who is drop-dead gorgeous, but is not Brazilian, hailing instead from Italy and Germany. The 3 guys in the band (Didi Gutman, Aaron Johnston, and Jesse Murphy) are also not Brazilian, nor are any of them girls. Anyway, they’ve become my new musical obsession and I can’t wait to get both of their CD’s.

Here’s their video for “Jique” which Sabina sings in English, Italian, French, and German (by my count). The title, “Jique”, is apparently a word of her own invention.

You can find videos, wallpapers, and lots more on their website, including the aforementioned Letterman and “Breakfast with the Arts” appearances.