Cheese. The making of.

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Cheese/Cheese_5_gallons/CHEESE_5gal_00.htm

Who doesn't want to make cheese? Something I would need someone's help with, that's for damn sure. Looks pretty complicated, and temperature/time sensitive.. Apparently mozzarella is the training grounds for this stuff..

Top 10 songs: Joel Plaskett - Non-believer

Joel Plaskett's transcends song of the day.

Song #1 of 10, in no particular order... and there may be more than 10 at some point.

Lyrics: http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858601047/

So gorgeous. This entire album is gorgeous. I'm gonna try to over-analyze it line by line one of these days soon. For now, here is this song.

Also, album torrent: http://torrents.thepiratebay.org/4345193/joel_plaskett_-_la_de_da.4345193.TPB.torrent

Conan O'Brien - Old Time Baseball

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5RiF12hHeU

Hilarious, and definitely worth a watch! This may have been his last show at 12:30...

How to download: torrents!

Wanna download? Don't know how? Here's a quick tutorial for any version of Windows.

1. Go here and download this: http://utorrent.com/download_complete.php?os=win

Windows will ask you if you want to save the file. Click 'yes' and save the file to your desktop.

2. Double-click the file you just downloaded (utorrent.exe). The program will install on your computer. It's safe... just follow the default settings.

Once installed, you may not actually see the program, but it's on your task bar near the clock on the right, showing up as a green "U".

3. Now you're ready to actually download shit. Go to this site:

www.piratebay.org There are other download sites that I use occasionally (www.isohunt.com, www.mininova.com) when I can't find something on the piratebay, but for now let's stick with that.

Once at the download site, search for what you want. Let's look for 'Neutral Milk Hotel'. No quotes needed.

Something like this will pop up:


(click on image above to make bigger)

So, as you see there is a lot of shit here... Along the top bar near the right side of the page, you'll see "SE" and "LE". What this stands for is "SEEDS" and "LEECHERS". Seeds are the number of people sharing the file that have the entire file, while leechers are people still sharing the file, but also still downloading parts that they are missing at the same time.

Take the mouse and click on the "SE". What this does is sort the list from lowest to highest number of seeds. Basically, the more seeds and leechers present for a file, the faster it will download. If there are no seeds, you will not be able to download this file... no one is sharing currently.

ok, so you clicked on "SE".. this is about what you should see...



So now the list is organized from most shared files to least shared files. So, our desired file is the top one here... Click on the double green arrow, as indicated below.



Now, if everything goes right, you'll see a dialog box pop up, as below.



Click on "OK" to open the file up with utorrent. (Aside: if downloading other files from my site here, the dialog box will open up immediately after clicking on a torrent link... just follow from here.. )

ok, so you've click "OK", and the utorrent program should open up. It will ask you if you want to download the program. Be sure to check exactly where the file(s) are being downloaded; the default is "My Documents".

Once you've said okay to the download, it will start downloading. You can watch the progress bar..


...once it's at 100%, you have the file(s).

Once it is at 100%, you can play the file(s) from "My Documents". Also, remember to remove the torrent from the utorrent program. Go to the program, right click on the file that is at 100%, and select "Remove". And confirm. This will not delete the files you have downloaded, just stop you from sharing them. If you want to continue to share for a while after downloading, by all means do!

If all this doesn't make sense to you, look you "How to download a torrent" in google, and find something like this: http://www.wikihow.com/Download-Torrents

That's it!

Chinese Bluegrass!

Speaking of which, anyone up for Dakota brunch this weekend?

Why I have no problems uploading/downloading/sharing music

http://www.negativland.com/albini.html

Beyond that, sharing gets the music out. If I like it, I think others may too. From there, simple exposure will lead to indirect sales of the album, band paraphernalia, and perhaps most importantly, attendance at live shows, which will increase. These kinds of sales are what ultimately support the artist, not the album sales.

I don't know, maybe I'm wrong here... any differing opinions?

Re: Elvis Costello's and Bill Shatner's talk shows

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/television/2008/12/22/081222crte_television_franklin

see clips here: http://www.sundancechannel.com/series/spectacle

New M. Ward - Hold Time

It's as majestic and lonely as his previous albums (the ones I've listened to), so it's gonna be great, just giving limited listenings now cuz the sound isn't as original as it once was. If you're a first timer to M. Ward, you're gonna love it. I'd love to hear him do an old country album, or something along the lines of The Burrito Brothers, he'd kill it.

Torrent download: http://isohunt.com/download/66689481/m+ward+hold+time.torrent

Metacritic review: http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/wardm/holdtime

The New Yorker: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/reviews/recordings/2009/02/23/090223gore_GOAT_recordings_greenman

NY: ... When Ward sings “So draw back your bows, you hunters,” it’s impossible not to think of Leonard Cohen, just as when he sings “absolute beginners” it’s impossible not to think of David Bowie....

Artist asked for payments countersues.

In a pre-emptive strike, the street artist Shepard Fairey filed a lawsuit on Monday against The Associated Press, asking a federal judge to declare that he is protected from copyright infringement claims in his use of a news photograph as the basis for a now ubiquitous campaign poster image of President Obama...

..According to the suit, A.P. officials contacted Mr. Fairey’s studio late last month demanding payment for the use of the photo and a portion of any money he makes from it.

The suit asks the judge to declare that Mr. Fairey’s work is protected under fair-use exceptions to copyright law, which allow limited use of copyrighted materials for purposes like criticism or comment.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/arts/design/10fair.html?_r=1

A better look: http://www.myartspace.com/blog/2009/02/shepard-fairey-sues-associated-press.html

-- Bob Clarida, an expert in copyright and intellectual property laws, has stated that, “This would be a tough fair use argument (for Shepard Fairey) to win because the 'transformation' is purely in the look of the work, not the purpose. There's no commentary going on.

_ I disagree. I think it's quite clear that a purposeful transformation has taken place. The message of the work has changed with significant value added.

The White Stripes play Conan's final night in NYC

Article and video:
http://stereogum.com/archives/video/white-stripes-gently-rock-conans-final-late-night_054041.html

More theoretical physics..

In search for the theory of everything. I'm still on this crusade that the LHC peps are lost and know what they are looking for is wrong. Hence the buying time and lack of results. Here is an option....

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/07/21/080721fa_fact_wallacewells?currentPage=all

You may want to be high for this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xHw9zcCvRQ&fmt=18

Members of Smashing Pumpkins, Hanson, Cheap Trick, and Fountains of Wayne Form Band

I can't come up with a better title than that...

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/149251-wtf-members-of-smashing-pumpkins-hanson-cheap-trick-and-fountains-of-wayne-form-band

Heads up Neville.

oh twitter.

http://sesquipedalis.blogspot.com/2009/02/finally-use-for-twitter.html

Fantastic blog entry re: twitter and The Real Shaq.

The Boxtops

Bob Odenkirk?


From wiki: The Box Tops were a Memphis pop music group of the late 1960s. They are best known for the hits "The Letter," "Neon Rainbow", "Soul Deep" and "Cry Like A Baby," and are considered a major blue-eyed soul group of the period. (ed: legit white soul pop band)

the money maker: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD9mCp8SifM

Joe Cocker cover, 1970: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RnjWLVyMps

aside, has Cocker's voice ever changed? short answer, no. :

1986; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoW81x4j7ow
2007; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n6V2NzkXO0

http://boxtops.com/btnew.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Box_Tops

Additional songs:
(1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXeLn8zzoDk haha.. listen, not watch. It's a fucking 45 spinning. ... sounds a bit like Joe Cocker no?

(2)
meh: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrigYjpsbjY&f

(3)
great voice, but not the emotion of, yes, Joe Cocker: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHtI1Z5xWE8

http://boxtops.com/w_door_you_closed.htm

- Another Alex re-introduction band. Procol Harum next!

Moneyball

An article by Michael Lewis on bball and the redemption of Shane Battier. Mike's caught on to baseball, tackled football, now traveling to basketball...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/magazine/15Battier-t.html?pagewanted=all

Bloor business should be for bikelanes

Spacing.ca

The report: Bike Lanes, On-Street Parking and Business (pdf file)

Bells on Bloor

A lot has been written about this Bloor bike lane, so I'm not gonna repeat it here.. .not sure if it would make that much of a difference immediately, but would definitely have a longer term impact making novice riders feel safe and comfortable biking on Bloor street, enhancing business, and eventually add to a tourist-type package potential of Toronto. It's an easy concept that has obvious benefits for all. Side steets in Toronto are great for riding, but something like this would be marvelous.

I like theoretical physics.

Not necessarily the math parts, just the what could potentially happen, has happened, is happening parts. From large to small. Also, many of the physicists themselves are really interesting people, and have fun breaking down their science into layman's terms... Here's Dr. Neil Tyson on black holes and asteroids hitting earth. Hahaha.. great intro. No really, it's worth watching.

The preparation of a dead girl / bride

Article in today's Globe and Mail

Gustave Courbet's painting above, The preparation of a dead girl / wife has a wonderful story of accidental modernism behind it. Courbet, probably better know for different painting, painted the above with the ... ahh fuck it; time for more work. Here's Sarah Hampson from the Globe article above:

"

What is a wife? A dead girl.

That is the message – unintentional, mind you – of a painting by French artist Gustave Courbet that belongs to Smith College, a famously feminist all-women's institution in Northampton, Mass.

The 1850s-era work depicts a young bride surrounded by women who are helping her prepare for her wedding. But for many years, there were questions about it. Why is the bride's head slightly lopsided? Her arms limp by her side? Why is she slumped in her chair?

An X-ray provided the answer. Mr. Courbet had painted a scene of women preparing a dead body for a funeral. He left it unfinished, however, and after he died his sister asked another artist to make adjustments to create a happier scene so the work would sell. Mr. Courbet's original title, The Preparation of the Dead Girl, had been changed to The Preparation of the Bride.

The Smith College Museum of Art now uses the before-and-after to help teach students about art history and painting technique, says Louise Laplante, the school's collections manager – not as a comment on marriage.

"

Anyway, pretty cool! Another NYT article.

Icycle 2009

Bike racing on an outdoor ice rink. Studded tire and rubber tire classes. This Saturday at 9pm, Dufferin Grove Park. Anyone want to join me? I'm hoping to have the new camera in time for this...

http://www.ibiketo.ca/node/2852

Obama bringing modern transport to the USA?

Well, it's not a bike..

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/02/obama-high-speed-railroad.php

Changing the way people conceive convenient long distance modern travel?

"It’s amazing. I’m stunned,” he said in an interview Friday, hours before the bill passed Congress. “I’m glad I get the credit in Nevada, but this is Obama’s No. 1 priority. This is his legacy issue out of this bill, because we need these high-speed corridors. ... I’ll take credit but frankly didn’t have much to do with it other than carry forward with what Obama wanted.”

But it is a landmark transportation investment with regional effects in almost every corner of the nation. Just last October, former President George W. Bush signed a bill authorizing up to $1.5 billion for high-speed rail through 2013. Obama’s commitment in the same period will be eight times that. -not me.

More on high-speed rail:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/02/realizing-potential-high-speed-rail-climate-protection-business-productivity-security.php

And who doesn't like taking the train?.. Sure, it may take a bit longer, but just like the Porter experience, you'd expect bonuses... better food, higher capacity for bodies, sausage, and luggage (how you say, less dense?), get to fool around with your girlfriend, explore different cars and visit different stops, etc... definitely a different experience. It just must be as cheap as flying. In that way it can start to challenge the aviation industry in terms of both convenience and emissions.

One of my best train experiences, filming 'Where the Change is' was on a cross country millennium-timed mokumentary film trip (false millennium - 2000 - for the geeks), documented with Where the Change Is. We took VIA across to Vancouver and up to Churchill on what I seem to remember being a 15 day pass; an absolute life enhancing experience. Think free sleeper cars, open roof cars, trying to sneak into sleeping cars, waiting on the Edmonton VIA stop for only 15 minutes, learning to knit from a octogenarian, shooting a uni movie with your friends, polar bears, sled dogs, and the bore of Ontario.