GRABBINGSAND

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Originally uploaded by grabbingsand.

Support your locals.

I keep meaning to make a post or two about MySpace. This one still isn’t one of them. But in the meantime, I’ve found two current artifacts from the Interwebs that capture the overall MySpace experience brilliantly.

Exhibit A:

Gym Class Heroes. “New Friend Request.” You’ve never heard of them, but they (with this track, actually) are on the Snakes On A Plane soundtrack. In fact, their lead singer is also part of Cobra Starship, Alyssa’s current number-one-with-a-bullet favorite band. And let me just add that this is one of the better music videos I’ve seen in a really long time.

Exhibit B:

Nothing need more be said.

"Loss Cat" in CounterStrike, I
Originally uploaded by grabbingsand.

In the online shoot-em’-up known as CounterStrike, players can mark their territory with images called sprays. About twenty of these sprays come standard with the CounterStrike install, mostly consisting of skulls, targets, camping tents and so on. But with very small amount of time and effort (and a little Photoshop), an enterprising player can make their own sprays in no time.

Once I saw just how easy making my very own spray could be, I knew just what I had to do.

Speckles … meet CounterStrike.

CounterStrike … bow down before your new eyebrowed feline god.

Nikki tagged me the other day. Life’s been a little busy, so I am just now getting around to accepting the challenge. Here goes nothing …

Name One Book:

1. … that changed my life? I would say Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo. Oddly enough, I sought out this book during my senior year of high school, all on my own. My reason? Metallica. “One” — from 1988’s And Justice For All — was inspired by Trumbo’s novel. The video was composed primarily of clips from the film of the same name. And what I found was the most realistic and soul-wrenching account of the intimate, personal cost of war that I’d ever read. Until then, the most subversive book in my reading history was the single copy of Stephen King’s Carrie housed in our high school library. Oh, and probably Mike Baker’s dog-eared copy of Naked Lunch, though I think we were all too young to get Burroughs back then.
2. … you have read more than once? Since college, I’ve read Alan Moore’s V for Vendetta about once every other year. I’ve owned about three copies of Good Omens for similar reasons.
3. … would you want on a desert island? I know that I am supposed to say something like the collected works of William Shakespeare or perhaps the Holy Bible, but I’ll be practical and admit the truth. I’d want the US Army Survival Manual: FM 21-76.
4. … that made me laugh? Only one? The Robert Rankin book I read a year or so ago (The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse) was incredibly funny and more than a little subversive, but there have been others since.
5. … that made you cry? Cry? How about choked up? Maybe The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman, or specifically the last chapter of the third book in that trilogy, The Golden Compass. The rest of that last book was hit-or-miss, but the visual at the end just worked so well.
6. … that you wish you had written? American Gods by Neil Gaiman. How one book can be so epic in scope and yet so personal (there’s that word again) in tone is just astounding to me.
7. … that you wish had never been written? The Mayor Of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy. I’ve some bad high school English memories about that book.
8. … that you are currently reading? I have a list of them. God’s Politics by Jim Wallis. The Poe Shadow by Matthew Pearl. The Seven Soldiers of Victory series of graphic novels by Grant Morrison.
9. … that you have been meaning to read? Possibly Neal Stephenson’s Snowcrash, as I’ve heard nothing but good. Next month sees the release of a new full-length novel from Mark Z. Danielewski and another story collection from Neil, so I’m all about both of those.
10. Tag five more people. I doubt anyone is left untagged … so if you wish to be so, consider yourself summarily tagged.

There. All done. Someone ought to do a similar meme about albums … as in music.

The Cheddar Master
Originally uploaded by grabbingsand.

Slow news day?

For lack of anything better to report, MSNBC has blown the proverbial lid off of a secret practice in the MMORPG world. Hard as it might be to believe, they’ve discovered that some male players prefer to create female avatars! Shock! Horror!

:faint:

This is so not news. If anything, it’s just old news.

The excuse I’ve heard most often (and cited in the article) is that the player, knowing that he will be spending a great deal of time gazing at the 3rd person view of their character, would rather stare at a pixellated female’s ass than a male’s. Fair enough, I suppose, though the admittance and acceptance of impending drudgery in such a statement strikes me as more than a little depressing.

“Well, if I’m going to have to play, then I might as well … :sigh:”

Me? Nah. In WoW, in City of Heroes, even back in EverQuest, I’ve stuck to playing as my own gender. Why? Easier to relate, perhaps. And as I’m not too much of a virtual role-player, I can behave pretty much online as I do off …

After all, when I throw on my yellow tights, armored boots and winged helmet, I look just like The Cheddar Master here. See?

Another week, another well-wishing spam with seasonal sentiment. Thank you, Mr Cheggendendii. I assure you (I do assure) that if I ever have need of an assortment of printed circuits, both rigid-flex and single-side, I shall contact you posthaste.

I hope everyone enjoyed your week of “Summertime.” When time allows, such themes are well worth the effort. There are a few more versions in my arsenal, but not all are so good as what you’ve heard. Just as many artists have taken the Gershwin classic and made it their own, several others have slept their way through tired renditions, one after another. Most disappointing? I’ve one picked apart by Chet Atkins and Jerry “The Snowman” Reed that should be pretty awesome, but as it was recorded sometime in the mid-80s, it just isn’t. Sounds a bit like Muzak. Another in my collection is by Courtney Pine. It’s quite good, right until the point where the jazz-handing back-up singers start in their schmooze-jazz chorus.

And then there are those that just defy description. Like this contribution from Soul Brother Number One! (dun-dun-DUN!) The Godfather of Soul! (dun-dun-DUN!) Mr Please-Please-Please-Me Himself! (dun-dun-DUN!) … Mister James Brown of Augusta, Georgia!

Brother James did wonders for modern music. Without the contributions of James Brown, Bobby Byrd, Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley, Lyn Collins and anyone else who toured with or sessioned with the J.B.s, hip-hop and modern pop (and all of the derivations thereof) just would not exist.

However, this emotion-filled version of “Summertime” — complete with two minutes of spoken introduction in which James bemoans how pollution is destroying the beauty of our world — swings wildly from being exceptionally good (particularly when James lets cohort Martha High take the microphone) to being head-shakingly sad (like when James can’t seem to get through the first verse without footnoting every other line).

But enough talking …

[audio:jbrown_summertime.mp3]
James Brown - “Summertime” - from James Brown’s Original Funky Divas, a Polygram compilation featuring all of the very talented women that shared stage or studio time with James Brown through the 60s and 70s.

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Originally uploaded by grabbingsand.

I don’t know. But they were standing outside of Chili’s on Saturday night. Their number kept growing. They made us nervous, I must confess. And as more spilled out of the restaurant, their volume diminished significantly our ability to make snarky comments about them.

Cooler today. For a moment, my coworkers and I considered eating lunch outside. But the wind that hit our faces as we stepped out of the building soon died down, allowing the parking lot to reclaim its convection oven status. Oh, well.

Remember yesterday, when I said there were two perfect renditions of “Summertime?” You got one yesterday. One of these two is the other, although both are stunners.

[audio:mdavis_summertime.mp3]
Miles Davis - “Summertime” - from Porgy & Bess, recorded in collaboration with Gil Evans in 1958. A friend of mine used to say something profound about this album. I think it was either that it was the only record to make her cry … or that if you don’t cry when you hear it, then you’re just not human. My faulty memory aside, she’s right either way.

[audio:akidjo_summertime.mp3]
Angelique Kidjo - “Summertime” - from a compilation of jazz standards recorded “as a tribute to the Free Spirit of Paris in the ’50s.” Huh. Whatever. The CD is called Jazz A Saint Germain. The first track is this one. And they could put any kind of pompous sub-title they want on the cover, because nothing can follow it. Of all the covers you’ve heard this week, this one is the most profoundly original.

Today, a break from the established method.

Two tracks. One musician. Both from Porgy & Bess.

It would be enough to give you Ella Fitzgerald’s version of this week’s seasonal tune. It is a duet featuring Louis Armstrong on vocals and trumpet. But I can’t listen to this album of mine without letting it spin just a little longer, right into the track that follows. But first …

[audio:efitzgerald_summertime.mp3]
Ella Fitzgerald - “Summertime” - from Porgy & Bess, an album recording of the complete Gershwin musical from 1957. I have it as part of a collection called The Complete Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong on Verve. There are two perfect versions of “Summertime.” This is one. But stick around for …

[audio:efitzgerald_iwantstostayhere.mp3]
Ella Fitzgerald - “I Want To Stay Here” - Get rid of your distractions, turn off your mobile phone, shut your eyes (if you can) and just soak in this one. You deserve it.

Another day, still too hot. Dog days, indeed. I really ought to put more into these introductions, but the music speaks volumes without. Besides, just look at the time …

And so, here are two goddesses from the pantheon of jazz.

[audio:svaughn_summertime.mp3]
Sarah Vaughn - “Summertime” - from Sarah Vaughn Sings George Gershwin. She had two nicknames: “Sassy” and “The Divine One.” On this recording, both are apt.

[audio:bholiday_summertime.mp3]
Billie Holiday - “Summertime” - from a collection of her earliest work called Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra: 1933-1937 (now only available as part of a 3-CD collection). This is a Holiday you don’t hear very often, with a voice as yet unravaged by time, smoke, alcohol and just too much life. I like her later work just as well, but the perspective is worth noting.