The Ferrari F40 was a special edition supercar built for Ferrari’s 40th anniversary. It’s famous in Ferrari history as the last car built under the direct supervision of Enzo Ferrari. An F40 is also a screamin’, rockin’, terrifyingly fast automobile, one of those cars that requires you to be certain of where you are going before you punch it, because you will be there before you can change your mind. That kind of fast. At auction in 2015, F40s are bringing $1.2 million, but you can have your own (scaled down) for the cost of a Lego Kit.
What a nice weekend project…
Back To The Near Future
The Hoverboard that Marty McFly used in Back to the Future could be coming soon, to a Lexus Dealership near you. Here’s the story, as reported in Bloomberg. No word yet on options or pricing, but you can count on one thing: there’ll be a waiting list (and…is this a very clever move on Lexus’ part to appeal to a younger group of consumers to offset the older-age-base of their existing core market?)
Ornette Coleman
Transitions. Ornette Coleman (March 9th, 1930-June 11th, 2014)
Fall. A Few Decades Ago.Siler City, North Carolina.
I am wandering through the record library at my dad’s radio station.
The station is small…a 1000 Watt daytimer…but the record library is massively oversized for the size of the station and the market.
It was then a real record library containing LPs and 45s and some other odd formats (tapes, transcriptions of programs, etc.). Today, of course,
all the music is on a hard drive and there are no physical recordings but…that was a different time.
The library is huge and it’s not a normal “top 40” library….there is every type of music in there from Country & Western to Dixieland.
How much of it was due to my father’s very wide taste in music and how much due to the fact that, at that time, the record companies shipped
every broadcaster with an ASCAP/BMI license (which was all of them) tons of product because that was how recording artists became known and records got sold, is unknown.
Probably a bit of both
Aside: In the current “streaming” world of internet digital music, the artists are whining because they feel they are not receiving enough royalties for the performance of their work, conveniently forgetting the fact that the internet streamers pay a lot more rights and permissions money for their streams than radio and TV stations do for their broadcasts, to play the same music, to much smaller audiences.
If you dive a little deeper, it becomes very obvious that the business model behind the current major streaming companies (Spotify and Pandora among others) is precisely the same as the one that has served the radio industry for decades: free music made available by selling advertising on the stream (or station).
The only thing different is the delivery system and more effective lobbyists for the broadcasters (the N.A.B. is extremely efficient).
But..that’s a digression.
After my shifts at the radio station, I’d always go into the library and pull some stuff to listen to.
Not just music or artists I’d heard before, but music I had not heard before…it was a great way to explore new sounds and types of music.
I would take the albums home and crank them up on the stereo system, going through two or three a night.
If I found one I really liked, I’d look to see if there others by the same artist in the library.
And that’s how I found Les McCann, Thelonious Monk, Sun Ray (and his Solar Arkestra), Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, and….
Ornette Coleman..going through the library, on the Hunt for New Music.
Ornette Coleman was one whose albums I kept bringing home. The music was adventurous, it was risky, it was discordant and yet it all tied together very neatly. He was a force and even then…in small, unsophisticated Siler City, I knew that he was special.
I got weird looks from my dad when he’d come in the room and hear Ornette on the stereo. He’d just shake his head and move on.
And once, when I dared to put up an Ornette Coleman song during one of my shifts on the radio…right in there between Bobby Rydell and Elvis…the control room phone rang and two words were said: “never again”….which was code for, you’re outta here if you put that up on the air even one more time.
So the listening remained at home, my own modest attempts to disrupt the general musical order, curtailed.
I never stopped listening to Ornette Coleman and this weekend, I think I’ll go into the LP Library and pull out one of his albums and play it through the big
system, out on the deck, looking over the lake, and again enjoy the revolution that he brought to music.
The neighbors won’t get it, of course, but
that’s ok.
Music is a very personal thing and Ornette’s music was always the most personal of all.
The Ornette Coleman ClickPak.
Ornette was one of the most interesting musicians of our era. Below, a selection of thoughts and comments on the man, his music, and impact, along with a link to some videos.
Duet: Two rembrances of Ornette Coleman. (Source: Paris Review)
The New York Times on Ornette Coleman. (Source: The New York Times)
A Tribute to Ornette Coleman. (Source: The Guardian)
NPR on Ornette Coleman. (Source: NPR.org)
Quotes on Ornette Coleman. (Source: Reuters.Com)
Ornette’s Revolution. (Source: The New Yorker)
VIDEOS
Ornette Coleman plays “What A Friend We Have In Jesus” (Source: embed via YouTube, from “Sound Museum”, posted 21 February 2014) )
Note: There are few better ways to understand a musician’s talent and perspective than to hear them play something you are familiar with. It’s always an ear-opener.
Ornette Coleman Sextext Free Jazz (Source: embed via YouTube. Uploaded by Bob Hardy on 1 July 2009, from a concert in Germany in 1978)
The title video for this post is Ornette Coleman and friends performing the soundtrack for the film “Who’s Crazy” , produced by Paul Ferkel, 1966.
All rights belong to their respective rights holders.
Weekend Concert Series: Curtis Salgado
The Hunt For New Music. You can find the blues in a lot of places and in the case of this weekend’s concert series, we find it in the form of Curtis Salgado, from Portland Oregon, playing in a Blues Festival in Gaildorger, Germany. You may not have heard for Curtis before, but like a lot of blues, rhythm and blues, and soul singers, he’s paid his dues with a lot of travel and appearance in a lot of bands. Salgado played with Robert Cray for six years and then played the under-the-radar-band Roomful of Blues. He’s toured with Steve Miller and Santana, an indication how respected he is by some of the best musicians of our time.
What you may not know about Salgado was that he was the inspiration behind the Blues Brothers, the famous blues (tribute) band created by John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd. Salgado met Belushi when Belushi was in Oregon filming Animal House (certainly one of the great comedies of all time); the combination of the two personalities created a cult classic film (The Blues Brothers) and a top selling album (Briefcase Full of Blues).
Salgado was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2005 and a series of benefits were held to help pay for his medical treatment. The guests musicians included Robert Cray, Taj Mahal, Steve Miller, Jimmie Vaughn, Everclear, and Charlie Musslewhite, among others. Salgado has survived and evolved as one of the great artists of our era. In 2010 he won the Soul Blues Musician of the Year (and won it again in 2012) and in 2013, won the B.B. King Award as Entertainer of The Year.
Curtis Salgado knows the blues, has lived the blues, and can sing the blues. But don’t take my word for it.
Here’s his concert, from 2013 at the Gaildorfer (Germany) Bluesfest. The Full concert is included, so this is not just a single clip.
As always, bump it to the big flat screen (we use Chromecast off of Mac computers ) and through a big sound system.
Turn it on, and turn it up.
Thanks for listening (and watching).
The Fine Print: Embed via YouTube, upload by Marothhel Lehhtoram . All rights reserved to respective rights holders. Thanks for sharing.
Kobi on Risk
“Sometimes you just have to make the leap and build your wings on the way down….”
Summer House
The Hunt For new Music.
First in a series of playlists for the summer. Play it loud and play it often.
[table “” not found /]
Notes on the selections.
1. Because it’s summer.
2. The right title (lots of us are at the beach) and it involves “Mr. Summer”, Jimmy Buffett.
3. Great song that can be perceived as either positive or negative, and also because Dusty Springfield blows it up with her vocals.
4. Midnight to Daylight is just a very good song.
5. From the original Boy of Summer, Brian Wilson, back in form.
6. Billy Currington is a walkin’, singin’ good time.
7. Robin Thicke probably blew up his career with this song, but it was worth it (to fans).
8. Because man does not live by pop alone and, the very best way to see the genius of a musical artist is to hear them play something you’re already familiar with.
9. Summer fluff.
10. Great song by a terrific artist. The video is above.
11. A new classic from the Beach Boys; recorded, we presume, in between court sessions.
12. Daryl Hall (alone) is very, very good.
13. There’s something about Mexican beaches.
14. Great tune from Blake Shelton that sums up a lot of relationships.
15. It was a great song a year ago and it’s still a great song.
16. Keith Harkin does a classic Beatles song very well.
17. The soul of Salgado is good for the soul.
The Fine Print: Embed courtesy of YouTube. Official video of “The Contortionist” by Garland Jeffries. Shot in New York City by Devereaux Millburn. Background Vocals by Lou Reed and Savannah Jeffries. All rights reserved by respective artists.
DRAFT:How to Watch the 24 Hours of Le Mans
Racing.This weekend is the 92nd running of The 24 Hours of Le Mans, the greatest endurance race in the world. Le Mans has been held every year since 1923; ten years the race was not held, once because of a labor strike and the other 9 times due to WWII and the recovery from that event. This year Le Mans is suspiciously absent from mainstream American media–it shows up sporadically on Fox Sports, but the transmission schedule is at deep odds with the nature of the range, so intermittent in nature versus the continuous flow of speed for 24 straight hours that is the race.
So before the start of a series of posts and updates on the race , here are some links that will give you precise and in-depth coverage of the race. You can start with the ACO’s the website for the race— one sure place where you can get up to date information. Another terrific site for information and lap by lap coverage is RadioLeMans, (always radio and now TV as well) whose commentators are informed, sharp, and very quick. For a different take on the coverage, click on over to Michelin’s Le Mans coverage. Every group in this food chain is top rate and all the coverage is highly recommended. You can have an amazing coverage experience if you dial up these sites and toss them (via Chromecast) onto a big flat screen (and always run the sound through a bit stereo system). One final note: if anyone at Le Mans is reading this blog–you are invited to send in your thoughts, posts, comments, instagrams, and photos…..thanks.
The Fine Print: Photo by Alessandro Prada. Copyright (C) 2015. Used via Creative Commons license. This photo was cropped to fit the space available. Special thanks to Alessando for sharing.
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What’s Noo?
Paying attention: Once everyone wanted to get fuzzy, dizzy and out of it. Now, the trend is to be sharper, hyperfocused, and intellectually both agile and creative. In addition to exercise (which has long been noted for the stellar intellectual enhancement a good workout produces), the new trend is to nootropic drugs: pharmaceuticals and supplements designed specifically to increase intellectual capabilities and energy.
Nootropics are a bit like steroids for your brain. They (theoretically) enhance your cognitive powers and also your ability to focus for long periods of time. Both are important additions to your intellectual skill set. If you feel like you just have too much work to do and not enough time to do it, you may find that nootropic drugs can speed up work without degrading accuracy. Also, they are reputed to be non-toxic and non-addicting, although–as with any new class of drug–there’s not enough long term research to verify the benefits or the hazards of these brain boosters.
Some of the names of nootropic supplements may be familiar to you: caffeine (who hasn’t reached for a cup of coffee when it’s late night, there’s work to do, and you’re slowing down), St. Johns Wort, ginseng. Other names may not: piracetam, Modafinal, Adrafinil, Anaracetam.
Nootropics are taken one supplement at a time or, more commonly, in “stacks”–which are different supplements in different dosages that combine to deliver the desired combination of mental boosts. (you can read more about nootropic strategies for use in the selection of articles listed below; such research is highly recommended).
The nootropic movement is popular, it’s growing (50,000 subscribers to the topic on Reddit), both scientists and regular citizens are interested in the segment (over 3,000 scientific papers published thus far), and the societal and cultural state of our society at this point in time make it easy to justify the use–or at least the testing–of nootropics.
Whether or not nootropics turn out to be the real life equivalent of a “smart pill”, only time will tell. But one thing can be agreed upon: being smarter is a good thing in the hyper-achievement world we currently exist in.
Below please find a ClickPak of articles on nootropics. Certainly, the publication of this information is not an advocation for these new substances; you should always be careful with any supplement or drug you put into your body as reckless actions can have irrevocable results. As with all such things, a lot of common sense and informed advice is recommended. But–it’s happening now, it’s growing in popularity, and you should be informed. Here’s your starting point.
A nootropic ClickPak
Best Brain Supplements (Source:medicaldaily.com)
I Tried Brain Boosting Drugs (Source: fusion.net)
Using Nootropics to Climb The Corporate Ladder (Source: observer.com)
The Limitless Drug Is Coming (soon) (Source: New York Magazine)
Getting Bulletproof with Buttered Coffee (Source: Bloomberg.com)
Smart Drug Overview (Source: Smartdrugsmarts.com)
Will Smart Drugs Save Us or Ruin Us (Source: Vice)
The Future of Biohacking (Source: Curiousmatic.com)
Are Smart Drugs Running Silicon Valley (Source: Luggageonline.com)
Getting Smart (Source: The Atlantic)
The Fine Print: Cosmos photo (above) copyright (C) 2012 by Dave Halliday. Used under a Creative Commons license. Thank you for sharing Dave. Great photo and your willingness to share says many favorable things about you.
What's Noo?
Paying attention: Once everyone wanted to get fuzzy, dizzy and out of it. Now, the trend is to be sharper, hyperfocused, and intellectually both agile and creative. In addition to exercise (which has long been noted for the stellar intellectual enhancement a good workout produces), the new trend is to nootropic drugs: pharmaceuticals and supplements designed specifically to increase intellectual capabilities and energy.
Nootropics are a bit like steroids for your brain. They (theoretically) enhance your cognitive powers and also your ability to focus for long periods of time. Both are important additions to your intellectual skill set. If you feel like you just have too much work to do and not enough time to do it, you may find that nootropic drugs can speed up work without degrading accuracy. Also, they are reputed to be non-toxic and non-addicting, although–as with any new class of drug–there’s not enough long term research to verify the benefits or the hazards of these brain boosters.
Some of the names of nootropic supplements may be familiar to you: caffeine (who hasn’t reached for a cup of coffee when it’s late night, there’s work to do, and you’re slowing down), St. Johns Wort, ginseng. Other names may not: piracetam, Modafinal, Adrafinil, Anaracetam.
Nootropics are taken one supplement at a time or, more commonly, in “stacks”–which are different supplements in different dosages that combine to deliver the desired combination of mental boosts. (you can read more about nootropic strategies for use in the selection of articles listed below; such research is highly recommended).
The nootropic movement is popular, it’s growing (50,000 subscribers to the topic on Reddit), both scientists and regular citizens are interested in the segment (over 3,000 scientific papers published thus far), and the societal and cultural state of our society at this point in time make it easy to justify the use–or at least the testing–of nootropics.
Whether or not nootropics turn out to be the real life equivalent of a “smart pill”, only time will tell. But one thing can be agreed upon: being smarter is a good thing in the hyper-achievement world we currently exist in.
Below please find a ClickPak of articles on nootropics. Certainly, the publication of this information is not an advocation for these new substances; you should always be careful with any supplement or drug you put into your body as reckless actions can have irrevocable results. As with all such things, a lot of common sense and informed advice is recommended. But–it’s happening now, it’s growing in popularity, and you should be informed. Here’s your starting point.
A nootropic ClickPak
Best Brain Supplements (Source:medicaldaily.com)
I Tried Brain Boosting Drugs (Source: fusion.net)
Using Nootropics to Climb The Corporate Ladder (Source: observer.com)
The Limitless Drug Is Coming (soon) (Source: New York Magazine)
Getting Bulletproof with Buttered Coffee (Source: Bloomberg.com)
Smart Drug Overview (Source: Smartdrugsmarts.com)
Will Smart Drugs Save Us or Ruin Us (Source: Vice)
The Future of Biohacking (Source: Curiousmatic.com)
Are Smart Drugs Running Silicon Valley (Source: Luggageonline.com)
Getting Smart (Source: The Atlantic)
The Fine Print: Cosmos photo (above) copyright (C) 2012 by Dave Halliday. Used under a Creative Commons license. Thank you for sharing Dave. Great photo and your willingness to share says many favorable things about you.
The Model for Music Videos
From Style.com comes this nice survey (complete with all the videos) on the Top 25 Music Videos that used models (super and otherwise) to the musical story. While we agree with most of the picks, we’re puzzled about why the ground-breaking Terence Donovan video of Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love” was left out of the survey. No problem…you can click on the frame above and watch it. It was one of three videos that Donovan directed (“Simply Irresistible” and “I Didn’t Mean To Turn You On” were the other two…) (and yes…this music survey is going to have to suffice for the Weekend Concert Series…at least until this coming weekend).
The Fine Print: Embed via YouTube. Video directed by Terence Donovan, (C) 1985 The Island Def Jam Music Group. All rights reserved. Thank you to Island Def Jam for sharing this classic.