http://eknp.com - if you find you need a font go here. I do.

Everytime I imagine what it must be like in prison I think it would be like this.

Check out that sexy young lady!

Last April I learned of a company that was offering a media kit that would allow me to watch movies on demand. Internet companies have been trying to execute on this idea for most of this decade. Media distribution is obviously going to be the focus of the Internet over the next several years. Vudu is the first useful implementation of this idea.

There are pros and cons to this product.

The good.

Nice selection of independent/foreign movies. I was able to find both Amores Perros and City of Lost Children. Both worth checking out.

Nice, simple HDTV support, clarity is decent - but there are a fair amount of compression artifacts in the video.

Not having to drag my slag ass to the video store. Lazy points.

The Bad

Fortunately for me Vudu was generous enough to send me a free player, because $400 for a box that does nothing but allow me to spend another $10 bucks on Gigli is not a good deal. The hardware should be closer to $200; $100 would put this in nearly every home with a broadband connection.

Vudu must still be duking it out with the greedy bitches at Disney because the selection of big name family features is pretty sparse. There is no Incredibles or Spirited Away available on Vudu.

Not a lot of old movies, I wanted to watch Where Eagles Dare but vudu doesn’t have that either.

Overall I really like vudu, hopefully they will expand their selection and lower the rental fee, I want to rent Apocalypse Now for 99 cents.

One of my new favorite artists. I like a lot of the abstract hip hop coming out of LA and this guy is at the cutting edge.

Bleep

I’m impressed by that guy’s ability to say ‘butthash’ on live television without falling to the ground in a fit of laughter. Kudos Jack Miller and the FOX30 news team. What would parents do without your wisdom from the streets?

Jamie Lidell is a German musician who describes his sound as “Prince serenading Moodyman while Otis Redding and Aphex Twin watch ‘Wattstax’”.

Listen to the rest of the album on bleep.

Anyone paying attention to the music industry lately is probably noticing a lot of turmoil. The conflict is generally between labels and music consumers, with artists taking various sides. Although I don’t see many artists speaking out in favor of the big-labels atm, at least not like Dr. Dre and Metallica did during the Napster days. There have been a few artists that seem to be on the side of consumers lately. Namely Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails.Trent Reznor has announced that he was an avid user of the filesharing site OiNK saying, “it was like the world’s greatest record store”. In fact it was a vibrant community of music enthusiasts, all manner of artists, and idiots. Face it, any site with 300,000 active users will have its share of those from the shallow end of the gene-pool. Either way oink was not bad for artists, many artists would use oink to promote their own music.

Even though oink is no more I think the old members of that site have now experienced a service that they cannot live without, and other sites are lining up fill the gap. The service does not require the availability of stolen music to be viable. But a site that fosters an environment where artists and music lovers can go to expose others and be exposed to new and different types of music, freely and easily. I’ll gladly pay for music I like, but im still stinging from the days of spending $20 for albums like Vanilla Ice - To the Extreme. FYI, $20 in 1990 is worth $30.85 today.

So to sum up I think 2 things need to happen before this conflict in the world of music will calm down.

1. The album needs to be priced at $5.

2. The major labels (aka, pop labels) and pop artists they represent need to drag their substance abusing, baby producing, grandma suing carcass up from rock bottom and realize what they are doing to their business.

In the mean time, here are some good sites to get your music fix.

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com - good reviews and artist news.
http://bleep.com/ - listen to full tracks before you buy, mp3 downloads $1.35 full albums $9.99
http://boink.cd/ - oink fallout

Awww shit, are you ready for some fucking grill action? I have eaten 2 things from this book, and the shit is amazing. My two new favorite words are ‘brined pork’. Everything in here is 5 star restaurant quality. This book could totally get you laid.

cider-brined pork loin w/ herb crust

grilling book

David Lee Roth is finally back at the helm of the juggernaut of rock that is Van Halen. For the first time in 22 years the world is once again in harmony, as Van Halen totally shreds North America with their arsenal of killer licks and galloping chops.

This is for the believers…

I want to meet the man that decided Roth should ride that giant microphone like some fucked up elephantitis victim. I’d like to shake his hand and say “well done”.

Lately I’ve been branching out looking for new hiphop and finding a lot of the stuff I like has a south american or indian feel to it. This album stood out as something I can listen to pretty regularly and not get sick of.

Madlib : Beat Konducta Vol. 3-4: In India

http://www.myspace.com/madlib

Illustration by: http://www.remgeo.com/