Samurai.Chris

The Yoshida Brothers. These guys are amazing. A friend turned me on to them yesterday, and I am TOTALLY HOOKED.

Woo hoo! Start It Over is finally out!!! (I've been waiting all summer) Here's a funky little video Reggie shot for the first track, "Know Your Name":

M-Video from Reggie Watts on Vimeo.

If you don't know Maktub, check them out here. These guys have a reputation for being even better live... I love them both live and on CD. Definitely check out Khronos and Start It Over. I also love their first album, Subtle Ways, but it ain't for everybody.

Full disclosure: their bass player, Kevin, is a friend of mine, dating back to my days at ASU. Am I biased? Maybe.

Royksopp - Remind Me

If you recognize the tune, it's used in the Geico caveman commercial at the airport. I like this version a lot better (it's a lot richer and more layered).

This was definitely amusing...

So a friend got me to give the "personal DNA" questionnaire a whirl. It was pretty accurate in describing me, although it rates my confidence as being higher than I think it is, and my creativity lower.

Here's a link to my result, including a breakdown of my personality traits.

It's kind of a fun little exercise. If you want to give it a try yourself, go here.

 

Pinched from the Celebrity Mugshots section of The Smoking Gun.
(copyright apparently held by CourtTV.com and/or its affiliate sites)

Random thought for the day: why are there no sinks in the Star Wars movies, much less rest rooms?

I understand the whole not getting mired in banal details that don't add to the story thing, but c'mon... there's got to be some plumbing somewhere! Besides, imagine the opportunities for a really entertaining bathroom scene at the Mos Eisley cantina!
 

It's almost banal to observe that we live in very complicated times, particularly with respect to how we get information. Madison postulated that in order for the American Experiment to work, an informed public was a critical dependency. Yet we live in an era where much (if not most) of what we see and hear is governed by a few corporate megaliths.

The Nation recently published an interesting "manifesto" of sorts, dubbed A Ten-Point Plan for Media Democracy. The article was written by Jeffrey Chester, Executive Director of the Center for Digital Democracy. If you care about how information is delivered to you and the shape of things to come as we forge ahead into the digital age (and you should!), I think you'll find it a worthwhile read.

Net Neutrality is still up in the air, as well. It's important to keep abreast of the issue and keep the pressure on Congress not to allow the giant telcos to create an internet fast lane for the highest bidder and a dirt road for the rest of us.