Musicians Suing

 vs.

On the front page of Pitchfork today was two articles on musicians suing either corporations or labels.  Now I don’t have too strong a view on this, we are Americans and we love to sue,  but it seems that musicians are proving to be a bit more litigious than others.  The first article was about DEVO suing McDonalds over a Happy Meal toy.  This thing is being put out by McDonalds, the company littering the Earth with golden arches and it dons the American Idol logo on its orange jump suit.  Now I understand the DEVO has been promoting de-evolution and fighting the system through their pop tunes since the late 70s.  But for God’s sake, this seems a bit puny Mark.  You have a toy made out of your image!  You get a burger, fries and a drink with it too!  At least you don’t have to sell your first born to afford this toy below.

Ghostface Killah Toy:

The next article was about Prince suing Norwegian label C+C Records over the release of their 5CD, 81 track Prince Compilation titled Shockadelica.  Prince would probably sue his own child, so the label should have been more careful.  But Prince…buby…its a bunch of Vikings covering your songs, they aren’t going to front on your pool of lovers, they aren’t even going to make that great of a sale on the item seeing as C+C only printed 5,000, and the artists didn’t play the Super Bowl Half Time show.  You have enough money.  You have enough purple in your house.  Let it be man.  Laugh at the fact that the whitest people on the planet are attempting to play your music.

Here are some others after searching have have filed suit in the past year.

Romantics sue Guitar Hero.

Red Hot Chili Peppers sue Showtime.

Drummer of The Band sues Cingular.

Smashing Pumpkins sue label.

What I Like About Tarpon Springs

My new home has quite a bit to offer.  First off I love the fact that I’m a 3 minute drive the beach.  I can fish whenever I want to and I don’t have to pay an arm and a leg on gas to get there.  Though I’ve only been catching grunts , it is just nice to be fishing.  The Pinellas Trail starts in downtown Tarpon and goes all the way to St. Petersburg.  I’ve yet to bike the whole thing but I’ll get around to it.  The sponge docks, though a tourist trap, is a pretty rad place.  You get to see the huge boats and the little rigs that drag in all the sponges sold along the strip.  And the Greek food you find there is easily the best I’ve had.  The architecture of some of the homes in the area is a spactacle.  There are huge mansions next to run-down homes all in the same area and creates this truly unique atmosphere throughout the bayou.  I’ve yet to go out to all the cool shops, cafes and bars in town.  I’ll add more once I start getting out and exploring.

Things I Miss about Tallahassee

Ok to get back in stride with  the blog.  I’d like to express some of the things I miss about my previous home, Tallahassee.  I’ve been away for a month now so its setting in that I miss some things the town offered up.

1) Bird’s Aphrodisiac Oyster Shack - This little restaurant owned by some friends of mine was right down the road from my house and it was a great place to hang out.  Amazing oysters, huge burgers, cheap beer and they always had good tunes playing. 

2) Club Downunder - Free Shows!(w/ FSU ID)  What a great deal.  I saw some of the best music acts come through that little joint in the time that I spent in Tally.  The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Entrance, The Mountain Goats, Bob Log III, Dr. Dog are just some of the acts I caught over the years.

3) Doak Campbell Stadium - It never got old driving past this immaculate structure.  There is not a better place to watch a football game in my opinion.  Also was a great place to run stairs, pretty punishing.

4) Wakulla River – Not necessarily Tallahassee, but only a 20 minute drive to one of the prettiest places I’ve kayaked.  Do yourself a favor and check it out if you haven’t yet.  You might even see a manatee

5) COCA and Paradise Grill and Bar- My old places of work. Miss the work and especially my old coworkers. 

6) Decent Pizza -Best pizza in town, period.

These being the places.  But more than anything I miss the people who would join me at all these places.  I’ll add more as I think about them.

 

Getting Back In Stride

Ok, so I haven’t added to this thing in a while.  I moved a little over a month ago from Tallahassee down to Tarpon Springs and most of my effort has been spent trying to find work.  Nothing yet so if you need help, hit me up.  I’m broke!  But since I’m not working I need to at least be writing.  So I am going to attempt to get at least one post a day on here.  So keep coming back, and if you don’t see something new.  Feel free to accost me.

In The Lyons Den: Muxtape

So the mix has been a favorite of music nerds since the invention of the recordable cassette tape. It then moved to the CD format. Now a new version has been created, The Muxtape. You upload 12 MP3s to the website and send them around to friends or that new chick your crushing on. Here’s my first one. I going to try and add one of these a week with new stuff I’ve found, so keep coming back. This one is just some of my favorites that I had available. This will probably get shut down soon so take advantage of it while it is around. Only qualm, that you can’t upload iTunes songs, hopefully they’ll fix that soon. Click here to listen to mine, and hope you enjoy.

My 5 Favorite Television Characters

So I finished watching the 3rd season of The Wire yesterday and it got me thinking about my favorite television characters.  I have a few shows that I really love, and with each of those shows I love most of the characters involved.  Of course, otherwise I wouldn’t watch.  But picking a favorite character from my favorites is like picking my favorite Dylan or Beatles song.  Seems to change all the time.  Here are some that have never changed.

 Jimmy James from News Radio – God, you wanted to hate this guy from the way that acted at times.  He is the stereotypical dude who had too much moneygrowing up so it has effected his personality.  Except that he generally cared about his employees.  And he was damn hilarious.  His well timed delivery always brought a bite.  Really miss this show.

GOB from Arrested Development- If your a fan of the show, you know that every character offered something to the show.  But no character was the butt end of more jokes than GOB.  The oldest Bluth had severe daddy issues, was a womanizer, and just couldn’t make it in the world of magic.  But you have to respect him for his $10,000 suit. COME ON!

Omar from The Wire- Written on paper the people at HBO must have been shaking their heads.  Omar: a gay, gangster, stick-up-boy.  If you watch this show you know why he is one of the best characters to grace a television screen.  He’s the “Baltimore Project Robin Hood.”  I’ve always loved vigilante characters and he’s one of the best. 

Larry David/George Costanza – Yes, after watching Curb Your Enthusiasm it is clear that George Costanza is Larry David.  There is not a greater “prick” in the world.  This guy can destroy any situation he walks into.  Whether it be a baptism, movie opening, or child’s birthday party by making coments about the kids penis.  He’s self-centered, oblivious to social norms, and finds ways to piss off everyone around him.  At times I wish I was brave enough to be this much of an ass.

Tim from The Office(BBC) - Not being a snob and saying the BBC one to sound cool.  I’ve just only seen a couple episodes of the American version.  This guy was completely relatable.  At least to sad saps the world over.  He was just doing the day-to-day, and making the best of it.  Hitting on the girl he dug, mocking the jerk boss, and playing pranks on his desk neighbor. Every good show has someone your routing for, Tim was that person in one of the best TV shows ever.

Some Friendly Office Music

 

So I’m new to the office life.  Recently graduated and worked in restaurants and screen printing shops up to this point.  Anything goes in that atmosphere.  It’s been a bit more difficult finding music that gets me focused and motivated in the office without pissing off my coworkers.  As much as I’d love to listen to Lightning Bolt I just don’t think it is going over well with the others.  At the same time I can’t listen to something so quiet that it zones me out, so Magnolia Electric Co. is out of the question.  Here is a list of music that I’ve found to fit well with the office environment. 

Jim O’Rourke – this stuff could easily tilt over into the quieter territory but it has enough weird stuff going on in the background to keep you focused. 

Brightblack Morning Light – Here is perfect background music for both the office and shacking up.  Easy to ignore but helps you focus on the job at hand. 

Royksopp – These Swedes know how to lay a repetitious beat and keep it interesting. 

Burial – Can’t say enough about this stuff, good for any atmosphere, listen to it. 

Tommy Guerrero – Pro skateboarder turned musician, drops nice mellow grooves on the bass with interesting support around it.  Hip Hop and Spanish influences. 

Daedelus – This dude is a freak with how he well he constructs a song.  Nice friendly electronic music. 

(Smog) – Another one of those that are really good at any time. 

Bonobo – I guess I have a lot of electronic music on here, add another.  Bonobo is one of the best, smooth beats that aren’t too brash that they demand attention. 

The Beta Band–Tried Spiritualized but it was too spacey, The Beta Band is just right. 

Air – You should know what they do, if not look into it. 

Nightmares on Wax – Great instrumental hip-hop.  No lyrics about punching chest cavities out or head to toe licking so you keep it friendly. 

Hope this may help if you’ve found yourself struggling to find the perfect background noise to the daily office grind.