Friday Music
“Same Tattoos (Sabzi Remix)” by Fences. It’s raining here; this fits. Looks like Sabzi knows his way around a remix.
Being a Commodity
Last year Don Norman, a design-critique hero of mine, changed the lens through which I viewed Google. Speaking at dConstruct in Brighton, he laid it out like this:
They have lots of people; lots of servers, they have Android, they have Google Docs, they just bought Motorola. Most people would say ‘we’re the users, and the product is advertising.’ But in fact, the advertisers are the users and you are the product. They say their goal is to gather all the knowledge in the world in one place, but really their goal is to gather all of the people in the world and sell them.
Paranoid? Maybe a little. But since I had been so traditionally un-paranoid about Google, taking their “don’t be evil” pledge at face value happily for years, maybe I needed to encounter strong words like that to shake me up a little bit. Norman did it. He made sense and he irrevocably changed my relationship with Google’s services from that day on.
Bento Box: Late January ‘12
My version of the venerable link post. I’m not going to have too many of these (I don’t think), but from time to time I’d like to share the best of what I’ve found and enjoyed online. Served in a couple careful bites.
Lusitano Stadium from Far Goal, Summer Morning
I shot a series of an empty Lusitano while in Ludlow this summer. Deep into the offseason and winter doldrums, it seemed like a good time to break one out.
Everything is Fine
If you go see David Lowery touring with his two well-known bands, Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker, as I did with a few hundred others Saturday night at the Middle East in Cambridge, you’ll leave happy. You won’t know why exactly, even though you’ll recognize a couple songs and a couple more hooks, and what you don’t immediately recognize will sound really worn-in and familiar. If you’re already a fan of one of the bands, you’ll be more than satisfied - although I could have stayed for another hour’s worth of Cracker b-sides.
David Lowery, onstage with Cracker at the Middle East, 1/15/11
Lowery is more than just a double rock frontman; he also teaches about the music industry at the University of Georgia, and writes very passionately about his musical life through the lens of explaining every major song he’s been involved with in an online journal.
If you’re a casual fan, imagine an evening that reminds you, in turn, of: Skynyrd, Queen, Bad Religion, Peter Gabriel, (early) Oasis, Muddy Waters, The Allmans, a really good bar band, The Band, The Cars, Zappa …but at times weirder and bluesier, sets by both bands marshaled and presided over by Lowery’s literate, southern-fried-Bono presence. (When Cracker is on stage, lead guitarist Johnny Hickman is Lowery’s perfect foil, taking over portions of the set for straight-ahead blues and incredibly tight solo work.)
Each band creates huge hooks that sometimes leave the audience, mid sing-along, to explore minor keys before sneaking back again. Embellishments like slide guitar, harmonica, accordion, Hammond, and the notorious C.V.B. violin are played with precision and love. Lyrics reference tattoos, the Cold War, dirty racetracks, waning ambition and chicken-fried steak. The blues is served up thousand different ways, and everything ends up fine. Highly recommended.
Friday Music
“4our” by MRR-ADM. Drums on a Friday. Good for the soul.
Thoughts on an Apple “Dividend”
Apple is gearing up for an announcement at the Guggenheim Museum in New York next Thursday. (I was not invited even though that’s my birthday, and don’t tell me Siri doesn’t know it, because she does). It’s been reported that the event revolves around education (the invite has a chalkboard theme) and that:
•This initiative has been in the making for years.
•The announcement will be small in size but large in scope: a big announcement in a demure space.
•…at least two large project announcements [are expected] as they relate to Apple in education.
•Steve Jobs was intimately involved with this project before his passing.
All bullet points first reported by Clayton Morris. There’s really no point in speculating on the specifics of the announcement; I’m content to wait and see what Apple has planned. But a few of the details that have been reported - “the announcement will be small in size, but big in scope”, “been in the making for years”, “Steve Jobs was intimately involved”, and “the event was originally scheduled for the fall” have been turning over in my head for a few days now. Many are speculating that digital textbooks will be a centerpiece of the announcement; this sounds right given the consensus that Apple picked New York was its importance to the publishing industry. But it only sounds partially right to me. And though I have absolutely no special insight, I thought I’d throw something out there that, at the very least, I’d like to be true.
