Monch Style

Enduring Voices

2009-04-22T16:02:00.000-07:00

"Every 14 days a language dies. By 2100, more than half of the more than 7,000 languages spoken on Earth - many of them not yet recorded - may disappear, taking with them a wealth of knowledge about history, culture, the natural environment, and the human brain."

Not something we think about that often. Especially in a country where so few of us speak more than language. In a country, where many folks do not even have a mastery of our official language, English. But the connection between language and culture is incredibly strong, and our ability to truly understand unique cultures is dramatically diminished should their language go extinct.

Check out the following links for more information about the challenge and some attempts to save linguistic knowledge:

Enduring Voices Project (National Geographic) -
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/mission/enduringvoices/

Living Tongues Institutes -
http://www.livingtongues.org/

Free Music: Nine Inch Nails, Jane's Addiction & Street Sweeper

2009-03-23T22:34:00.001-07:00

Yo music fans! More freebie tunage just released to coincide with the Ninja 2009 tour featuring Nine Inch Nails (NIN), Jane's Addiction and the Tom Morello and Boots Riley (from The Coup) new side project, Street Sweeper.

Just go to Ninja2009.com and get it.

Fight! Smash! Win!

Your Own Private Sovereign Island

2009-03-23T21:44:00.001-07:00

Have you ever wanted to have your own island? I certainly... and continue to dream about how to manage that coup. Apparently, I'm not the only one. And these guys make me seem almost normal.

Yes... another Wired article was the basis of this find: Live Free or Drown.

Patri Friedman is Executive Director of the Seasteading Institute. A bit on the kooky side? Maybe. But then again, folks who innovate and otherwise come up with new, cool stuff & ideas generally are a bit wacked out.

The ideas of Mr. Friedman and the Seasteading Institute should appeal to the wannabe pirate and Libertarians alike.

Laptop Graffiti

2009-03-23T21:40:00.000-07:00

Whenever I see stuff like these skins, I always want to buy some. Then I almost never do. Maybe this time I will.

Infectious has solid stuff. Although I'm not too hip to the car decals.

The Age of Agnotology

2009-03-23T21:29:00.000-07:00

Agnotology: derived from the Greek root agnosis, it is the "study of culturally constructed ignorance". In other words - if society as a whole doesn't really know something accurately, it is often because "special interests" work hard to create confusion.

Sounds like another word for propaganda.

Beware the Corpus Clock

2009-03-23T21:15:00.000-07:00

The ravenous locust has always freaked me out a bit. They just look nasty... and they are really spooky when they show up by the millions and decimate your crops.

Good thing the Corpus Clock's Chronophage is just one grasshopper. It's still damn mean nasty looking, and even more so once you realize that it's Chronophage name means "time-eater". It's a play on what is called the grasshopper escapement, apparently a major clock-making breakthrough in the 1700's.

The Wired magazine article about this caught my eye primarily due to the steampunkish design elements. They also have a cool video about the project.

The coolest part yet is that this clock can slow down, stop... and even run backwards. Now that would come in handy in these hectic days!

Kutiman - Audio / Video Mashup Wizardry

2009-03-16T12:03:00.000-07:00

I have already evangelized about Kutiman on Facebook and Twitter... so I might as well put down a sermon here about this mashup wizard.

Someone made a comparison to DJ Shadow's first album in describing the kind of music integration that Kutiman is doing, and I think it's a good comparison, both in terms of skill level and overall musical influences. Kutiman, an Israeli artist/musician/hero utilizes YouTube videos, almost all entirely containing video of musicians playing their individual instruments of choice, to mix together both the video AND audio components to create a whole new musical piece. Think of what a DJ does... but he's just combining audio and video elements to create something new and improved.

I am truly blown away by this initial body of work and have been going back to it several times a day to listen and enjoy. "The Mother of All Funk Chords", "I'm New", and "Wait For Me" are my faves thus far... but they are ALL amazing.

In addition to the Thru-You site, you can find additional info about Kutiman on his MySpace page.

Choose Your Own Adventure Movie

2009-03-16T11:29:00.000-07:00

Remember the Choose Your Own Adventure books that were around a lot during the late '70's / early '80's? As the reader, you would have to make choices for the main character throughout the story, and your choices would determine the plot and eventual outcome.

The producers of Late Fragment, a group of Canadian filmmakers, add in some viewer-driven interaction that determines how you view the movie by taking you to different scenes, providing additional backdrop, and otherwise providing each and every viewer with a possibly different movie experience.

It's only available at film fests and DVD... I already checked NetFlix ;) Yet another little tidbit that came to my attention from our good friends at Wired magazine -- January 2009 issue. Here is a link to the online version of the article.

Some Assembly Required

2009-03-16T00:48:00.000-07:00

I read about this site in the January 2009 issue of Wired magazine:

Some Assembly Required -- tape manipulations + digital deconstructions + turntable creations

I have not had a chance to really give it a solid once over, but it looks like they have a weekly radio show that could be promising on the mash-up / audio collage tip. The primary force behind the show, DJ Jonathan Nelson, also has an album called Emphasis Added that could be of interest.

Horoscope - Cancer - 09.03.15

2009-03-16T00:44:00.000-07:00

"You have lots of irons in the fire. Travel or advanced education perhaps? Saturn's presence in your charm and chat room is a handicap, but counter with that voodoo that you do so well: nurturing. As you chew on that one, enjoy a little getaway. A spiritual retreat, perhaps."

Seems like multiple indicators involving travel and/or academic studies. Hmmmm.... I prefer the idea of travel, but I could be open to finding a new area of interest to study also. Where to go for a "spiritual retreat"?

Horoscope - Cancer - 09.03.08

2009-03-10T18:28:00.000-07:00

You moon kids play the devil's advocate so well -- particularly in sensitive situations. Is it news that this is one of those times? In other news: You're ready to learn something new by going somewhere new. And someone slightly off-the-wall wants to take you.

Horoscope - Cancer - 09.03.01

2009-03-10T18:25:00.000-07:00

Capricious Venus issues a clarion call to Cancers everywhere. Sure, you're goal oriented, but does that mean you can't live a little? Time now for that voodoo that you do so well. We're talking big arena: Travel in the wide, wide world, higher education or even publishing. And that's just for starters.

Innovation Map

2009-03-06T16:13:00.000-08:00

I came across this interesting "innovation map" the other day and wanted to share it here. Its shows countries and some cities in a quadrant view that purports to show areas of innovation. Silicon Valley is the obvious powerhouse here, which is no surprise. San Francisco also shows up relatively high.

One of the frustrations you will likely have after your initial glance is -- what the hell are all of the non-named hubs? I certainly ran into this... and then I discovered this site: www.weformihm.org You can launch an interactive version of the innovation map here. Unfortunately, it requires you to think through which variables you want to include in your own version ;)

I would love to figure out what some of the up-and-comers are. Maybe it's time to change venues.

Hmmm... Beer

2009-02-10T19:17:00.000-08:00

Hmmm... beer. One of the true pleasures in life is a fresh, cold beer on a hot, dry day.

It's not hot & dry today, but it is the middle of the San Francisco Beer Week, so it's on my mind anyways. I'm hoping to make it out to one or more of the numerous events going on around town this week. Without doubt, I'll have to swing by Elixir on Thursday night for the tapping of the new barrel-aged Snake Oil. Yum.

And speaking of beer, I came across this great graphic in Fortune magazine called "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" where they provide a guide to American beer lineage. It brought back memories of all the cheap beers we used to swill in high school and college ;) Although it brought a tear to my eye to remember some of the beers that are "brewed no more". Pour some beer for your dead homies.

Horoscope - Cancer - 09.02.10

2009-02-10T17:18:00.000-08:00

A prize still eludes you, but be patient and bide your time. Ignore it for a while and it will drop in your lap.

Big Business... Scary Business

2009-01-28T23:42:00.000-08:00

I just finished watching The Corporation, a documentary about... you guessed it, corporations. Pretty depressing. Especially when I realized that I have played a role in different parts of the machine throughout my life. Perhaps more so than ever right now as I am neck deep in internet advertising.

It's worth watching... but it is not short by any means. People who are not fans of documentaries to begin with will be challenged to stay attentive, but it has some fairly powerful messages. Although not a ton of great solutions.

Then I saw this graphic in a recent issue of Fast Company (Dec. 2008 / Jan. 2009) -- Really Big Business, where the graphic compares the revenue of the global corporate top 10 vs. similar sized countries' GDP.

Are corporations the new nation? The new religion? Wal-Mart has 2.1 million employees... about the size of the population of Latvia or Namibia. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of Wal-Mart...

The Ultimate Home Library

2009-01-21T10:55:00.001-08:00

I am a book freak. Pure and simple. Boxes and boxes of them stashed everywhere - including multiple rooms in my home and two separate storage units.

I would kill to have a permanent home library like this one. In fact, I might never leave the house.

One can dream, right?

Check out the Wired article here ... and a cool video here.

Emotiv EPOC NeuroHeadset - Hands Free Gaming?

2009-01-21T10:03:00.000-08:00

Yowza! And just when we all thought Wii was the shizzee... bam! Here comes the Emotive EPOC neuroheadset. It does sort of look like mind-controlling device or perhaps a new version of a phrenology tool. And cost? Don't know... but I can guarantee major bank required for this puppy!

Update: Apparently, these units are going to be priced at roughly $300... so not too bad, assuming the functionality is as promised.

2008 Election Results & Maps

2008-11-09T21:24:00.000-08:00

I love maps. I have been called "Map Boy" more than once... and I liked it.

I came across some really cool maps of the 2008 US Presidential election results the other day on Strange Maps, a blog I check regularly. And Strange Maps provided a link to an even more comprehensive collection of maps of the election results put together by Mark Newman, Dept. of Physics and Center for the Study of Complex Systems, University of Michigan. I am including a few examples here, just because I think they are cool to look at... but you can check out the whole smorgasbord right here.

The two maps I am including here are:

1) Election results by county

2) Election results by county on a population cartogram (i.e. a map in which the sizes of counties are rescaled according to their population)

What initially looks like a lot of red counties turns out to be a lot more blue voters. Phew!

California Election Widget

2008-11-04T10:07:00.001-08:00

We might as well keep an eye on our homegrown issues here in California as well.

I Am Proud To Be A Participant In This Election

2008-11-03T23:17:00.001-08:00

I'm going to try and add this MSNBC 2008 Election widget to my blog. Let's see how it goes.

Build Your Own 3D Theater

2008-10-27T23:05:00.000-07:00

As some of you may know, I am a bit of a stereo (a.k.a. 3D) photography fanatic. One of these days I'll have to actually get around to putting together some of sort of slide show and show off some of my work.

In the meantime, however, this article on the Vizard Viewer caught my eye (yup... yet another article in the September 2008 Wired magazine - issue 16.09). Seems like a fairly inexpensive way to create a home 3d viewing experience.

If anyone else is interested in collaborating on this project sometime in early 2009... let me know.

Yo Gabba Gabba?

2008-10-27T21:01:00.000-07:00

Oh no... I'm going to be stuck singing this damn song under my breath for the forseeable future.

But yo... any show that has a Biz' Beat of the Day gets my vote any day! What the hell happened to Biz Markee's teeth though? Get some dental assistance, bro!

And who is the crazy DJ guy with the orange fro and jumpsuit? That's who I want to be for Halloween ;)

A Better Place

2008-10-27T20:34:00.000-07:00

I originally read about Shai Agassi and Better Place in the September 2008 issue of Wired. I was floored by the overall concept, to be honest, and bookmarked my magazine so that I would remember to dig deeper into the subject matter. Well, I just saw another amazing article about Better Place last week -- Australia has endorsed the concept of deploying an electronic vehicle network powered by renewable energy.

So now they have Israel, Denmark and Australia all lined up to revolutionize how people drive.

When are we getting this here in California? Come on Gavin... surely you must be drooling to get this here in San Francisco.

Seriously... this is cool stuff. Read up on it and get psyched about the Future.

In addition to the articles, go to the company website: BetterPlace.com and see how it works.

Zack de la Rocha Back in this Mutha!

2008-09-08T17:47:00.000-07:00

I had almost given up on my boy, Zack de la Rocha. Sure - he and RATM have been playing together for the last year (saw them at the 2007 "Rock the Bells" show in SF). But whatever happened to the promised solo work back after he and RATM went their separate ways back in 2000?

Well... he's back. One Day As A Lion is a collab project featuring Zack and Jon Theodore (Mars Volta drummer), with Zack taking a turn at the keyboards. 5 song EP comes out later this month on the 22nd. The only cut I've heard is "Wild International"... and it got me psyched.

Don't sleep on this one, folks.

Obama Art Report

2008-09-07T16:42:00.000-07:00

Do you ever cut out articles from the newspaper (or just keep a whole section) because some article caught your eye and you think it will come in handy down the road? Well... I do it all the time, and I end up with random piles of yellowing newspaper strewn all over my home office.

I decided from now on, I'm just going to blog about this stuff. You get to see what sort of weird, twisted stuff gives me a boner, and I have an easy reference for it down the road. Besides Evernote - which I'll write about later!

The San Francisco Chronicle had an interesting article on the amazing volume of Obama inspired art that has been coming out over the last year or so: Message of Hope Inspires Campaign of Creativity (published on 08.02.08 in the Datebook section). A great online reference, which also resided here on Blogger, is the Obama Art Report. Check it out... there is some really cool work up here.

Also check my homey Zoey's recent play off of Shephard Fairey's Obama "Progress" piece called "Hopeless". Break him off some, Z.

Hola from BA

2005-01-17T19:57:00.000-08:00

First Timer Blog Post... comin' at ya from Buenos Aires!

I am about a third of the way through my fifth visit to my home-away-from-home / second country -- Argentina. And this is my FIRST ever blog!! Whooohooo!

Although I've been here several times before, this is the first time I have come down during the month of January. I left San Francisco in the middle of the Winter (ok, so it's about as mild a Winter as they come), and arrived in BA (short for Buenos Aires) in the middle of their Summer. Not a bad trade.

I could stay in BA for the entire trip... but I always try to hit up a new spot somewhere else in Argentina when I roll down this way. This time around is no exception. I already took a short sidetrip to Rosario (the capital of Santa Fe province), a 3.5 hour bus ride up to the north. And tomorrow morning, I jump on a jet to Bariloche.

Bariloche (full name is actually San Carlos de Bariloche) is located in the provincia of Neuquen, which is considered Northern Patagonia. During the Winter months (June - August), it is one of the hotspots for ski/snowboard action, but it is also supposedly incredibly beautiful during the rest of the year as well. Think Lake Tahoe with a strong Swiss vibe.

Besides being a mountain escape for the denizens of Buenos Aires and other locales through Argentina, it offers up a ton of adventure/outdoor activities throughout the year. Whitewater rafting, fishing (especially fly fishing), canyoneering, trekking, camping, horseback riding, and moutain biking are just a few of the recreational offerings. I'm personally hoping to at least get in one solid day hike to some crazy vista.

I'm also keen to scope out the real estate opportunities in this part of Argentina. Since I already have a foot in the door with the two BA apartments, adding a phat mountain home to the quiver would be the next logical step. I'm not in buying mode this trip... but I could make a move soon depending on what my research uncovers.

Ok. Enough for post numero uno.