Spring Is Really In

That is one of the most clever Mario references I have yet to see. We all know flowers mean spring.

Sleep Is That Important

I just heard on NPR, in a discussion about presidential candidate gaffes, that one night of sleep deprivation is the equivalent of a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent. As you may know that's the national standard which would give you a DUI. So, sleep better be the number one thing on your list of important everyday tasks.

Spring Is In

It may not feel that way just yet, but cherry blossoms are blooming in Japan and also in Washington DC. While none of us are in Japan or Washington DC, it still is beautiful in photos. Maybe in, umm, spring 2010 I can go to DC and enjoy the event.

Rave On

Fairly sure I made a post about The Raveonettes new record and specifically the song "Blush". Well, early in the month they stopped by the KCRW studios to play on Morning Becomes Eclectic. The performance is top-notch. The guy, Sune, has a Ventures special edition Jazzmaster, which is just about perfect and all the instruments sound great. To my surprise they have a drummer who plays a gigantic floor tom and a snare run through an effects rig to give the right reverb, EQ and etc. Kind of neat, but I feel sorry for anyone that has to crank out aggressive drum-machine beats. Live drums always sound better though, so the effort is appreciated. Makes me a bit upset that I missed their show on the 19th, but I imagine I wouldn't have had the time. Check their out Southern California performance below.

Better Than The Original

Oh, that never gets old.

Nostalgia

"Crash" by The Primitives came out in 1988, so I doubt I remember it from then, but it was over-dubbed with extra guitars and vocals by studio musicians and put in "Dumb & Dumber" in '94. Either way, it's a great late 80s/early 90s pop song. Takes me back to those days of $1.15 gas and intentionally torn jeans.

Miraculous

Dean Kamen, inventor of the world's funniest means of transportation, the Segway, has also invented several truly amazing medical devices. Thursday on The Colbert Report, he demonstrated a water purification system that's bound to help more lives. To add more coolness to Dean Kamen's resume, he has his own island, which he has named Westwind and he goes to and from it in a helicopter. You're living my dream Dean Kamen.

I Lust U

LA producer and musician Boom Bip and lead singer of Super Fury Animals, Gruff Rhys, teamed up to form electro-pop group Neon Neon. That tag-team lead to the single "I Lust U" featuring Cate Le Bon, who is unfortunately not related to Simon Le Bon. The track is a sleek electro-number with a dangerously catchy melody. Gruff Rhys' voice isn't 80s chic enough to really work here, but country-folk singer Le Bon is perfect. Anyways, it's a catchy song and if you feel like playing the lead melody it's B, F#, A, B, C#, A| A, F#, G, A, B, G. I left out the repeats.

Might As Well

The full text of Barack Obama's Tuesday speech on race is all over the internet, but why read the speech when you can watch it?

I guess they missed the fact that the Obama campaign posted the speech on it's Youtube channel. I think he brought the house down, but watch yourself.

What's Your Major?

Going through the NYU website, I noticed that they happen to have a Miracles major. Seems like a pretty odd major, but thankfully Professor Aaron Wasserman explains that in this video.

Cornucopia of Holidays

So, it's just two, but they are both delicious. In Japan, Korea and Taiwan it is White Day. On Valentine's Day in those countries women give men chocolate treats, so a month later men repay the gesture, typically to a greater extent. Granted there's a certain amount of reinforcement of gender roles in those reciprocal holidays, but it seems like a decent idea to let everyone have their day.

There is yet another holiday, and one that everyone can appreciate. Notice that March 14th is 3-14, and if you add a decimal you get 3.14. Of course 3.14 is a shorthand version of π(pi). Some math enthusiasts decided to make math more likable and celebrate π day by making pies. Making pies is not only easy, but delicious, something which math itself lacks. So, enjoy.

On A Fire Escape

SXSW is going to begin it's week of music tomorrow and naturally people are aflutter about all the new music. I happened to come across the London group Fanfarlo through the "All Songs Considered" NPR show and David Bowie loves them so they'll be popular soon enough. They sound nothing like David Bowie though. The sound is something like those various folk inspired multi-instrumental alternative bands out there, but if those bands were more obviously pop, more intimate and a little more joyous. "Fire Escape" is probably the most poppy/least folky song I've heard from them, but it's fantastic. It's one of those songs that's uplifting and jubilant, while also feeling melancholic. Oh, it also has whistling and I have yet to hear a song with whistling that I didn't love.

Listen to it at Hype Machine

Or download it from SXSW.

Red, White and Blue Version

It's International Women's Day?

It is, but I haven't heard anything about it. Turns out it is not a holiday in the US. Apparently it's really popular in Russia and the former Eastern Block countries. That leads to this really fantastic poster from the Soviet Union, dated 1932.

It says "8th of March is the day of the rebellion of the working women against the kitchen slavery" and "Down with the oppression and narrow-mindedness of the household work!" Say it Soviet Union, say it.

It Seems The Tables Have Turned

I can't help posting about politics, since things are at a fever pitch, but I will try some restraint.

What's that you say? Obama won more delegates in Texas than Clinton? Yes!

"Clinton won the primary with 51 percent of the popular vote to Obama's 47 percent, according to the Associated Press. Those results earned her 65 delegates to Obama's 61 delegates."

"But allocating delegates in the Lone Star State takes a 'Texas two-step.' After the polls closed, more than 1 million Texans also attended caucuses, the results of which determine how about one-third of the state's delegates get awarded.

The state Democratic Party estimates that Obama will come out ahead: 37 pledged delegated to Clinton's 30 delegates. But the official tally of the Texas caucus won't be ready for months. "

This means that Obama won Texas and makes Clinton note quite a viable as she thought.

NPR

The Kind of Experience We Need

Forget any other reasons I have given for going Obama, this picture is enough reason to put that man in the White House.

Stuff White People Like

Some genius set up a blog called "Stuff White People Like". I was worried that the blog would be some jerk talking about how awesome white are and how not awesome non-whites are, but thankfully it's not. It's really just a way to make fun of yuppies who are lefties. The list includes things like:
-Threatening to Move to Canada
-Kitchen Gadgets
-Gentrification
-Expensive Sandwiches
-Mos Def

With each of the 81 things that white people like there's a hilarious summary of why white people love these things so much. Like this excerpt about Kitchen Gadgets, "...just throw out a combination of these words: 'le Creuset, Calphalon, All Clad, Williams Sonoma, and Sur Le Table.' White people go so nuts when they hear these words, you won’t even have to finish your sentence."

It's good for a laugh and to maybe find some opportunity to make fun of yourself, because man I really want some Le Creuset cookware.*

Stuff White People Like

*To prevent a discussion of my whiteness, I am just professing my love of French cookware. I mean, Le Creuset comes in such nice colors.

Why Is This Happening?

I used to think that Republicans were the only party that took a tone like this, but I am sadly mistaken.

An Important Victory

Following the victory, albeit narrow, of Hillary Clinton in Ohio and Texas, I think it is important to consider why Barack Obama is the better choice. On the simplest level, polls show that Barack Obama would beat John McCain in a hypothetical general election. If the only goal is to have a Democrat in the White House: Barack Obama is the better choice. The choice, however, is much more significant than that. The future of our country, and it will be ours sooner than we care to think, is at stake. I could write an essay length post on why Barack Obama is a better choice regarding policy, character and diplomacy, but professor of law at Stanford, Lawrence Lessig, does a great job of making those points clear in this short film.

A Small Victory

On every other time killing attempt to surpass level 12 in Tetris, I've failed miserably, but on this day I destroyed level 12, 13, 14, and 15.

Rick Rolled?

On a typical day I'd be getting ready for school right now, but the weather had something else to say about that. In a way, this post is sponsored by the weather.

This gives space for a hilarious internet meme. It began in the game World of Warcraft, WOW from now on. WOW players would send links to their friends claiming to have found a new movie trailer or news about WOW, but after clicking the link would be greeted with a video of "Never Gonna Give You Up" by demigod Rick Astley. This practice has been called "Rick Rolling" and has spread across the internet. Now it just involves hilarious uses of "Never Gonna Give You Up". Such as this DOOM Rick Roll.