TONIGHT!

Friend of the Advocate, kind soul and incredible musician, Shawn Vreeland is having a CD release party TONIGHT at the Goose. Info above. Grooves Below! If you know what I'm saying.

Weekend Tube?

I was thinking of posting a cool You Tube video once a week to share what I've been digging on. I was going to post it on a certain day of the week and call it 'you tube tuesday ..or wed.', whatever. If I did that I would have to post on that day and you all know how I am with that.
So ladies and gents, I introduce..

Weekend Tube!

I'm starting this off with a favorite of mine. You might have come across this already. Either on your own or through the Murcof Tube link on this blog.

Here is Murcof (laptop), Erik Truffaz (trumpet) and Talvin Singh (tablas) at Montreux 2006.
Also, I have a soundboard audio copy of this show for those that are interested. It is amazing!

Guiliani & Fox News

Read about it HERE.

source: Salon

Massive Letdown

So, I was just watching some South Park and taking some um...well, anyway. My ears were MAD HAPPY when they caught the familiar sounds of some Massive Attack, which is one of my favorite bands ever! The joy was soon washed over and drowned with disapointment when I realized it was a commercial I was hearing....aaggghh! A commercial for a video game called 'Assassins'. Awful.
I know selling out is the unfortunate norm and not a lot can be expected of people and all of that, but...come the fuck on. This is Massive Attack. The infamous crew of camera shy, stage shy, studio shy musicians. If they need money why don't they tour? Or record? Shit,
put together a greatest hits mix. T-shirts? A fucking poster maybe. Please.

Say it aint so, Joe!

Yahoo settles dissidents suit

THIS is some bullshit.
If your not familiar with this story, start HERE

Free Graph and Grid Paper

I've been using this site for a while now. I mostly print graph paper for landscape designs but have recently printed some of the guitar/bass fret paper also. You can change the number of lines per sheet, size of lines and all. They have a lot of specialty papers for different design formats, accounting and more. It's free and it's great.
click HERE

George W. Bush's Presidential Advance Manual

click HERE to read it. there are some interesting parts in there as well as some silly stuff...
"The formation of “rally squads” is a common way to prepare for demonstrators by countering their message. This tactic involves utilizing small groups of volunteers to spread favorable messages using large hand held signs, placards, or perhaps a long sheet banner, and placing them in strategic areas around the site.These squads should be instructed always to look for demonstrators. The rally squad's task is to use their signs and banners as shields between the demonstrators and the main press platform. If the demonstrators are yelling, rally squads can begin and lead supportive chants to drown out the protestors (USA!,USA!,USA!). As a last resort, security should remove the demonstrators form the event site. The rally squads can include, but are not limited to, college/young republican organizations, local athletic teams, and fraternities/sororities."

source: yourleaders.org

R.I.P. Norman Mailer - A Great American Voice

(AP) - Norman Mailer, the macho prince of American letters who for decades reigned as the country's literary conscience and provocateur with such books as "The Naked and the Dead" and "The Executioner's Song" died Saturday, his literary executor said. He was 84.
Mailer died of acute renal failure at Mount Sinai Hospital.

Art of the Street

Time Magazine has a great Photo Essay on Urban Street Art available to view and read HERE

Free Directions Instantly on Your Cell Phone

SAVE THIS NUMBER!
You will need it.
It's free.
It's super simple and easy to use.
It works.

I've used it. It's great.
Try it.

check the site here

Peaceblaster

STS9 is more than my favorite band. They're good people. They've always found a way to share their success with others...artists, d.j.'s, fellow musicians. They've also consistently supported many worthwhile organizations and causes including Head Count and especially Conscious Alliance.
Now they've invested their efforts into a new site, Peaceblaster.
"Peaceblaster is a database of links, organizations, documentaries, books and ideas geared toward raising awareness and creating a platform to organize, participate in and debate the pressing issues of our day."

Austin City Limits 07-08 Season

Austin City Limits Broadcast Schedule:
10.06 Norah Jones
10.13 The Decemberists/Explosions in the Sky
10.20 Femi Kuti
10.27 Jimmy Reed Highway: Jimmie Vaughan and Friends
11.03 Wilco
11.10 Arcade Fire
11.17 Brad Paisley/Dierks Bentley
11.24 Van Morrison (Encore)
12.01 Gretchen Wilson/Miranda Lambert (Encore)
12.08 Ladysmith Black Mambazo (Encore)
12.15 John Mayer
12.22 Lucinda Williams/Old Crow Medicine Show
12.29 Bloc Party/Ghostland Observatory
01.05 Crowded House/Grupo Fantasma
01.12 Regina Spektor /Paolo Nutini
01.19 Roky Erickson/Kings of Leon
01.26 ACL PRESENTS: The Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival

Know Your Rights as a Photographer

I thought this was a cool article as well a s the follow up article.

source: cheap shooter

Where Does Our Tax Money Go?...The war on Pot.

What else could we spend $42 billion each year on? Health insurance for kids? Better paid teachers? It's our choice.

read more here

source: AlterNet

Where Does Our Tax Money Go?...Wiretaps!

"I was actually surprised that this was such a routine transaction that it would have a set fee," said Steven Aftergood, director of the Federation of American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy.

read more here

source: The Raw Story

Continent-size toxic stew of plastic trash fouling swath of Pacific Ocean

"The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a heap of debris floating in the Pacific that's twice the size of Texas, according to marine biologists.

The enormous stew of trash - which consists of 80 percent plastics and weighs some 3.5 million tons, say oceanographers - floats where few people ever travel, in a no-man's land between San Francisco and Hawaii."

read more here

source: SFGate.com

Reverse Graffiti!

check this here

"Eric @ Wired writes -
A street artist has got to have a serious bone to pick to keep on working in front of shouting, gun-waving cops. Then again, I guess Alexandre Orion had a bit of an advantage when the police tried to nab him in a São Paulo street tunnel: He wasn't painting city property, he was cleaning it. For over two weeks last year, the Brazilian artist selectively scrubbed soot from the tunnel until the white surface underneath stared through as a cemetery's worth of skulls."

Sick y'all. I love it! ART!

source: make blog

Photos of the Recent So Cal Wildfires

I just came across this photo essay of the recent wildfires. It's scary to see how close the fire came to the burbs'.

source: LAist

Blumpkin?

Hmm. Not sure about the difference between a 'Hot Carl' and a 'Cleveland Steamer'? Well, trust me, there is a difference. Learn all about it and plenty more at UrbanDictionary.com

Shitty Neighbors?

Got 'em? Wanna' avoid 'em?
Check into it at RottenNeighbor.com

Accuracy and Accountability in Politics?

Possible? Yes.

Available? Yes.

Too Me? Yes.

Where? FactCheck.org
and also, OpenSecretrets.org

Virtual Moonwalk...Seriously

Man..I fucking love Google. They've just relaunched Google Moon with "Street View" on-surface panoramic NASA photos from the astronaut's perspective. Google's Lat Long blog explains:
"This update brings higher-resolution map imagery, text search, and photos and stories from every Apollo landing. We even included Street View-style panoramas of the moon's surface, taken by the Apollo astronauts ... something you won't see anywhere else. And last but certainly not least, we tossed in scientific charts that are good enough for actual mission planning and science classrooms alike."

uh...cool

N.P.R. Launches New Music Site

We all know how cool and informative N.P.R. is. Now they've invested all their wit, knowledge and substance in a new music only site. It's FULL of news, reviews and interviews as well as live concerts and more. Dig on it HERE

Anna Thekla (Alice) Dypoldt...Peace Be With You.

As I mentioned, Stephanie's Beloved Grandmother, Alice, passed away on November 3rd.

Most of us called her Oma and that is how I will remember her. Oma was a beautiful soul and we are all blessed to have known her. She truly reflected the beauty of this world and had a great way of sharing that with those she knew. She was very close with her family, her friends and those she loved.

Again, I feel blessed to have shared times with Oma discussing life, Love and happiness. My sympathies are with Steph, her Mom, her brother, sister and uncle as well as everyone else who has lost a friend with Oma's passing.

I will never forget the lessons I learned from Oma. Thank you, Oma. I love You.

link to obituary

Second Saturday with Friends

Yep. It's already Second Saturday and this month is a special one. Friend of the Advocate, Joanna Hedrick is currently showing some of her photos at the Cool Cat Gallery and will celebrate with a reception this Saturday November 10th from 6-10 p.m.

The Exhibition will go to Saturday, December 1st and is showcasing some of Joanna's new work as well as the work of Wynshum Luke.

Everyone here at the Advocate is stoked. The offices are a'buzz and yours truly will look forward to seeing you down there.

Getting Back To It, Y'all

Wow! It's been over a month since I've posted here. I've been overwhelmed the dramas of life. Family, Business, Personal Relationships, Health, Car Accidents and the unfortunate passing of Stephanie's Grandmother who I feel blessed to have known and learned from.
I have a lot to share with everyone including plenty of web goodies, my Halloween with STS9, my truck accident and more.
Stay Tuned y'all.