From Bad to Worse

Bad:



And even worse:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOBZmNVgOz0

Do you Moosico?

Moosico is my friend Dave's music blog. It's pretty great. Sadly, I don't frequent it as much as I should. Dave listens to a ton of music and sorts through all the junk out there to give you the good stuff. Granted, you might consider some of his good stuff junk, but most of it is great.

He recently put together a top 20 songs of 2010. It's a great list. In particular is the song Simple Graces by Delorean. Apparently they are a Basque group. Who doesn't love the Basque? No one. Everyone is a fan of the Basque. Such nice people. We should all move to Bilbao.

Anyways, this Delorean song is just great. I can't get it out of my head. So fun, so smooth and so Friday.

Enjoy and be sure to thank Dave.

The Neverending Story

From Lindsey.

Just fantastic on so many levels. It's gray and cloudy. You don't really know what's happening. Suddenly things start to clear. And boom. Pure 80's goodness. Maybe the best ever start to a music video.

Please enjoy. I don't know how you couldn't.

Merry Christmas.

Guilty Music Pleasures

Three posts in three days? This is some sort of record or something. Adam sent me a link this morning to a band called Low. I guess they are mellow and somewhat depressing sounding band. Perfect for any attorney, especially one working late at night. A great way to help get you through drafting exciting discovery responses.

Hearing about his new find made me think of my most recent music enjoyment. I have sort of been out of it lately with music, which is sad because I really do enjoy music. Dave has a great music blog that I don't frequent enough. The only time I really have to listen to music is while I'm driving and I usually spend that time listening to talk radio. Sometimes I'll switch to KROQ or KCRW while I'm driving to get my music fix, but it's mostly me and my sports friends just beating sports topics to death.

However, every once in awhile, about every three months or so, I get sick of the sports friends and I get in one of those moods where I'm driving and the only thing I need is not just music, but some catchy pop/rap/crap music. Must be the eighth grade Kent taking over for a few moments. But he took over the other day and I couldn't resist the urge to head over to KIIS FM and satisfy my needs. I'm not trying to put down catchy, cheesy pop music or KIIS FM or say that I'm above it. The music and station aren't bad per se, they have their time and place, it's just that I rarely find myself in that time or that place where the music is tolerated, much less appreciated. Probably because I don't find myself on a dance floor that much anymore. And because the station overplays the songs like they are getting paid for it. And the songs aren't bad, just not timeless classics that you can listen to over and over for 10 months. Well, 13 year-old Kent probably could have, but 30 year old Kent can't.

Anyways, this is a long way of saying that I heard this song the other day on KIIS and it's pretty awesome. I guess its from the movie Step Up 3D which came out this past summer, which means this song probably came out about that long ago as well. I'm just now hearing it for the first time. I've never seen a Step Up movie. Based upon the clips from the movie in the video I'm pretty sure that I would feel the same about the movies as I do KIIS FM where I mock it and wouldn't voluntarily see it but if somehow I did, I'm sure I would secretly love it because somewhere inside of you there is a part of you saying, "this is awesome."

Enjoy:




Really quick follow up, someone needs to set the next "trend" for rap music videos. Not getting much variation. Fancy cars, throwing money all over because "I gots more than I knows what to do with", sitting in the club with people around you during the verses of the song and standing with your arms waving and people dancing during the chorus. I'm not saying every video needs to be Thriller like quality, but surely there have to be other ideas out there.

E-Books

I was going to add this to yesterday's post, but then I thought I'd blog about it on a different day and make two posts. Tis the season right?

I'm basically just posting about this because I've had a couple conversations over the past few months about the emergence of e-books and the eventual decline of paper books.

I'm a big fan of paper books. I don't own a kindle or ipad...yet. I'm sure I will someday, and that day will probably be sooner than later. I'm not making any sort of Christmas hints or anything, but just a statement about how the e-readers are taking over. Which is kind of a bummer if you are like me and you like the paper books and you always thought it would be really cool to have a library in your home filled with hardback books. That dream can still happen of course. It's not like actual physical paper books will become extinct, but if you are denying the e-book takeover, it's time to accept defeat and change your Christmas list. Why? Because Google just announced they are joining the e-book marketplace:

Google Opens E-Books Store

And what do we know about Google? Google is life. They are our life and are slowly controlling our lives. And I'd be upset about that except that this is their blog, and they generally make my life easier and I like their products. So I have a hard time complaining about their eventual world domination.

The take over of e-books does make me wonder about libraries and what will become of them. Although libraries, at least on college campuses, are just glorified study halls. Sure they are filled with books, but few students actually read the books as most just use the library as a wall and barrier to block the public from their study flirt session with their significant other. I know this because I was once a college student, but also because I held the prestigious position of library security guard. Few people are actually in the library studying. Most are just socializing and getting their flirt on. What better way to impress a girl than pretend like you are smart and care about studying and invite her with you to the library for a nice quiet evening together?

I digress. Libraries will still exist but I think they will have to take on a new role because the actual books they offer will be used less and less. At first I thought that e-books would really only be available for "newer" books published within the last 10 years and everything in the future. Of course classics would be made available electronically, but there are a lot of books in the library and surely they all wouldn't be available electronically. Most of them are hardly read as it is, so why bother to make them available electronically? Because we are dealing with Google here. The company that wasn't satisfied just providing you with a map of where you were going. They felt it necessary to drive a car covered with cameras along every single street in the world in order to let you know exactly what your destination looks like. So just making only newer or classic books available electronically doesn't really fit with Google's identity. It's all or nothing. I give it 10 years before you see a sign that says: Welcome to the BYU Libarary, powered by Google.

The other big thing will be textbooks. Again, I like the paper books and I think it's easier to read paper books, but I'm also not part of the generation the grew up with the internet and cell phones in elementary school. That generation is used to reading and watching things on a screen, at least more so than I am. Plus, books are heavy. Who wants to lug a 600 page biology book around when you can just store it on your e-reader? I don't. I hate biology.

Anyways, I'm rambling. I know that this post isn't some sort of prophetic statement as people have been predicting the emergence of e-books for quite some time. It's just interesting to see it actually unfolding. And sad to realize that the library in my home dream is dying. Well, sad on one hand. On the other hand, it's actually a good thing. Maybe some day I'll have a home with so many extra bedrooms that I have to fill one with books because I can't come up with anything else to put in it; but in the meantime and while I'm living in a two-bedroom apartment where extra space is a rare commodity, I'm fine giving up the dream.

Oil Spill Video

I'm stealing this from my friend Jonathan who had it posted on his Google G-chat status. It's bloody brilliant. Enjoy:

Skateistan

I saw this short documentary the other day on kottke.org. Soon after I saw it, I noticed that Tiffany and Karl posted in on their blogs. So it's been making it's way around the webs. I emailed a former professor and friend of mine about it and had an interesting back and forth about it. Instead of trying to summarize it, I'm just going to post the emails. It is extremely long and I don't really anticipate anyone reading all of it. I'm mainly just posting it because I find it really fascinating and haven't been able to stop thinking about it. Since this blog is about my thoughts and my thoughts seem to be consumed about things like this and whether Real Madrid will win El Clasico this weekend against Barcelona. Both equally important things.

Here is the doc:



Here is my first email. I'm rather long-winded and I tend to ramble whereas Prof. Daynes clearly provides short, succinct and thoughtful responses without being wordy.

"I think what fascinates me about this skateboarding in Afghanistan is the way that it demonstrates that teenagers seem to be the same and have the same interests all over the world. I'm making blanket statements of course, but there are certain things/hobbies/interests, like skateboarding, that interest groups of people no matter their location or countries. It may not be skateboarding per se. I saw a documentary at Sundance a few years ago about Palestinian rappers. They were part of a Palestinian subculture that was into rap music. They were inspired by some American rappers and they had started rapping. I don't remember too much of the documentary at the moment, but much like the skateboarders in Afghanistan, they were just a part of some youth minority that had an interest in something that interests a lot of American youth.

The documentary also made me think about a recent Malcolm Gladwell article about Twitter and social networking. I don't know if you read that article. Its here: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/10/04/101004fa_fact_gladwell

It was interesting and raised some interesting points. I think as a whole I mostly agree with Gladwell in that I think social networking does connect us and help spread ideas, but Twitter doesn't really connects society or people in a way that motivates them to action; or the action that it does produce isn't nearly as effective as the action that personal interaction can and does produce. I'm not entirely sure if that was his main thesis, but that's what I got out of it.

So while I don't think Twitter is really an effective tool for a revolution, I think even Gladwell admits social networking spreads ideas and connects people. With current technology, skateboarders in Afghanistan can watch Tony Hawk videos and stream things like the X Games. They can easily connect with a community of skateboarders all over the world. Much like the boys that rapped could download rap songs and listen to them as they walked to school in Palestine.

I think that I think there is more to these stories that what is presented on it's face. I think it's beyond just a small group of teenagers finding interest in American pop culture or hobbies. For starters, these are two hotly contested parts of the world that definitely have a strong anti-American sentiment in parts or throughout the entire country. Here is a group of youth that are interested in an "American" activity. Granted, they aren't waving an American flag or anything, but the gap between a 15 year old in Kabul, Afghanistan and the 15 year old in Long Beach, CA just shrunk dramatically - through skateboarding and the internet. They may have vastly different backgrounds and nothing else in common, but they have skateboarding. They may not agree on anything else in life, but having at least one common interest does wonders to break down barriers and prejudices.

I'm not pretending to think that skateboarding and rapping can and will resolve the ongoing issues between the US and Afghanistan or Israel/US and Palestine. But can't skateboarding or rapping sort of help bridge that gap? Doesn't it build common ground? Isn't there a connection now with youth in Kabul and those in the US or other parts of the world? And while I realize that peace won't happen because of skateboarding, couldn't it contribute? Doesn't most major change take place through small scale items/events? What if those small scale things were things like this skate school in Afghanistan? Couldn't someone like Tony Hawk have a greater impact on Afghanistan than Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama? What if skateboarding continues to grow and many youth adore Tony Hawk because of what they watch on facebook or youtube and some of those youth have high ranking parents who arrange for Tony to do summer camps in Kabul? Eventually skateboarding takes off and skate parks are built all over the country. At the very least you have two groups of people that are a part of two countries that are fighting, but those two small groups share an interest unrelated to the fighting. Surely that has to count for something.

Or what if Eminem arranges for a international Arabic rap contest to be held in Palestine. Seems unlikely and difficult for travel arrangements, but through facebook and twitter they could arrange some underground meeting/concert. Suddenly, teens from all over the Arab world are gathered to have a rap duel. I'm sure a lot, if not all would have different views politically or religiously, but as youth things like that aren't as important as rap music. Differences would be set aside for the music and in the end they would walk away having enjoyed their time with each other."

Prof. Daynes response:

"To me the question turns on how important politics (or revolution in the Gladwell case) are in maintaining a good society. If you think they are very important, then you need systems to create the sorts of ties that Gladwell talks about. Those same ties are important in other settings where close connections and sacrifice matter--religion, families, the military, rock bands, etc.

But I think most of our world functions pretty well on superficial connections and similarities. After all, you don't have to be close friends to shop, learn, talk, solve problems, etc. And it is true that sometimes weak ties lead to stronger ones. So in your example, if you got 20 skaters from Long Beach and 20 skaters from Afghanistan together, most would get along OK, a few wouldn't get along at all, and a couple would find that skating was just the first step to a life-long friendship. The challenge comes when those weak ties are stressed by conflict or disagreement. Then what do you rely on to solve the problem. Good will? Friendship? Law? Power?"

My Response:

"I think what fascinates me is how 20 years ago, these connections between kids in Long Beach and Afghanistan could only be realized if they were pen pals or if the groups did an exchange program or something to the other's country. In that situation though, only those that made strong ties (life-long friendship group) in their short time together would continue the interactions. Everyone else would fall by the wayside and lose connection.

Now however, these groups are not only able to be introduced to each other through short videos and documentaries on YouTube, but they can then connect through facebook and other forms of communication. Like you said, some will forget about the other group, some will maintain a mild acquaintance, and some will really pursue their connection and friendship.

I think I'm fascinated by it because this is available to so many people whereas before these connections were only available to those that actually went to the country and found out when they got there that there were people in Afghanistan that like to skateboard just like I do. I realize that I'm one of the last people to be so 'wowed' by social media. Something about this just hit me for some reason. I think it was the realization that two countries that are so far apart politically and ideologically, actually have some (and probably many) things in common, especially at the youth level. I don't think Twitter can start revolutions as argued by Gladwell. At some point you need the human interaction I think. But the social media can at least connect you initially on some levels with vastly different people and let you know that it would be worth your while to purse that human interaction.

I think I was also fascinated by it because of the point you mention at the end of where do these people with weak ties through skateboarding turn when there is conflict? Is skateboarding enough of a tie to settle future differences? Probably not unless the tie was turned into a long term friendship. What do you rely on? War and power I guess. Seems to be the answer at the moment."

His response:

"It is interesting how connections like these change people's sense of identity and the ways they communicate their identities. Twenty years ago not only would they have had to be pen pals, but also their main identities would be national--Afghani and American. Now when these kids get together their main(or at least their first) identities are as skaters. They communicate their identities differently also--through brands and skate tricks rather than through language, flags, etc. It makes me wonder what will be the bases of our identities in the future. Will they remain tied to family, state, job, country, or will they be based on some other thing entirely?"

My Response:

"How important are those identities you mention? In particular I'm wondering about the national/country identity. I agree that I think that these kids don't recognize their nationality as their main identity. I think these other identities (skating) can/will be good in breaking barriers and these identities are probably what distinguishes the younger generation from the present older generation. I don't think that a national identity is that important to an Afghani. I don't know actually. I'm just basing that off of what little I know about Iraqi's or some other middle eastern countries where national identity isn't as big of a deal as other countries, at least not as big of a deal as their family or religious identity. But the American identity, for better or worse, has been such a strong identity for Americans for so long. I wonder if there is any long term negative consequences for losing the American identity. I know that people/studies/whomever always say that the breakdown of the family or fatherless homes leads to people joining gangs; or a loss of a family identity contributes to people joining gangs. If these kids base their identity off of some other thing and it's no longer the traditional family, state, country, will that produce a good result - stronger and unique ties and understanding between people from all parts of the globe? Or a negative result - stronger ties with random people from all over, but no longer a sense of identity with your own neighbors and people community?"


I think that last sentence/question adequately sums up the thoughts on the video. That's the reward for anyone that actually read all of this. You could have found out the main thought that I had/have about this if you would have just skipped to the end. Sorry.