one last thing before I quit

As a self-proclaimed dork, I use Google for quite a lot. Searches. Gmail. Maps. I absolutely love it. During one of my many quests of random internet searching, I found out that Google actually has a blog. I decided to skim through a bit and I found a posting by a man named Dennis Hwang. His official job is Google's International Webmaster, which as Dennis says, means that he's responsible for managing Google's international site content. But he also does these:

It all starte din 1998, before Dennis started working there. Google inventors Larry Page and Sergey Brin. They went to the Burning Man festival and decided to put up this stick figure of the Burning Man in case the site crashed and people didn't know why no one was answering the phones. Such a stupid reason.

Dennis started in 2000 and has taking over these doodles. Here's a couple of my favorites from this year. But go here if you want to see all of them. Many are made for specific countries, so chances are you haven't a lot of these.

April 27, 2009 - Samuel Morse's Birthday

June 6, 2009 - 25th Aniversary of Tetris

July 20, 2009 - 40th Anniversary of the Moon Landing

September 21, 2009 - H.G. Well's BirthdayOctober 2, 2009 - Brazil Wins 2016 Olympics

* Interlude; Them Crooked Vultures

I've been extremely busy at work these days. Not too much has inspired me lately, as I haven't spent much time freely surfing the net and looking at new things. But just last week, Them Crooked Vultures released their self-titled album and I've yet to put it down. I find that it's just an extension on Queens of the Stone Age, which works for me. Here's the second single that they released: Mind Eraser, No Chaser.



I can only wish that they'd tour closer to home.

Last Friday, my beloved Foo Fighters decided to put on a show for all of their fans via the internet. Yep. They advertised it on Facebook and Twitter merely a handful of days and they were able to get a good 440,000 people watching it.

It was a nice surprise to see that they had a laptop set up on their equipment that was constantly updating with song suggestions from fans, and in between most songs, Nate or Dave would take a peak and read some out. There was even more that made this show special. One, the fact that the advertised one hour show ended up lasting around two and a half hours. Two, they pleased the 'hardcore' fans by playing many oldies and rarely heard songs. And three, there was one fan as well as myself who requested that they play the Ghostbusters theme song. Dave said that they'd play it and when it seemed like they were just about to start the song, he ended up telling a story about how Ray Parker Jr got sued. So close.

The show was in no doubt a way for them to get out word that their greatest hits album was just about to be released, but they hardly ever mentioned it and just seemed genuinely happy to be playing a practice-style show in the comfort of their own studio. It's hard to believe that the bands' been playing for a solid 15 years already.

Here's what they played:
01 The Pretender
02 My Hero
03 Times Like These
04 All My Life
05 Cold Day In The Sun
06 Skin & Bones
07 Word Forward
08 Generator
09 Young Man Blues
10 This Is A Call
11 Learn To Fly
12 For All The Cows
13 Hey, Johnny Park!
14 Monkey Wrench
15 Big Me
16 Up In Arms
17 Long Road To Ruin
18 Enough Space
19 New Way Home
20 Stacked Actors
21 Breakout
22 Wattershed
23 Everlong
24 Low
25 Weenie Beenie
26 Aurora

It might be obvious for them to do so, but I actually really hope that they release this on DVD. It was something nice.

About a month ago, I went to a camera sale that a bunch of businesses put on. I managed to pick up a Canon FT QL for $20. It even came with two lenses. A steal. After picking up some rolls of film and a new battery, my current interest in photography continues to grow. Oh, and I even picked up a SX-70 Polaroid camera for $10.

Anyways. That should give you a good idea of what's been on my mind lately, and sets up this post quite well.

I've watched Saturday Night Live for quite a few years now and one of my most favorite things, other then the Digital Shorts, are the bumpers that they have of the hosts and musical guests. It took me quite some time, but I finally figured out who was behind all of them. Her name is Mary Ellen Matthews.

She doesn't have a website. Or even a Fan Facebook page. But I'm most certainly a supporter of hers and am very intrigued in her art. It's not like her photos are revolutionary, they're basically all just portraits. But they are quite fun and they have purpose.

Pearl Jam
"Different lighting -- you know, I’m such a fan of music across the board, but of them, for sure. I just thought this would be an interesting take, especially with Eddie Vedder. His bone structure being that it is, this would really work for them."

Tenacious D
"I saw the Simon & Garfunkel cover -- 'Bookends' -- where they’re both in the turtlenecks and they’re kinda leaning on each other, so we kind of riffed off that. [Simon & Garfunkel are] one great duo in our musical history. They're just another one [laughs]. With Jack Black, you always kind of get a show. Kyle Gass as well. They’re loose, let’s say, but amazing musicians."

Foo Fighters
"I think it just says a lot about who they are, for sure. I think it really captured them. Dave Grohl is so free-spirited, free-living, has a great time with what he’s doing. And they’re such a group, I think they really enjoy what they’re doing. And they were happy to be there that day."

Alec Baldwin

Ellen Page

Hugh Laurie

Jack Black

Jack Black, again

Justin Timberlake

Michael Phelps

Natalie Portman

Paul Giamatti

Paul Giamatti, duece

Scarlett Johansson

Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks, numero deux

Will Ferrell

Growing up and listening to many of the bigger Seattle bands, like Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Mother Love Bone, Green River and Pearl Jam. has always made me appreciate how small a world it can be for bands. Within this small community, many of the musicians have come and gone, formed new groups, collaborated, etc.

This past Tuesday, Pearl Jam was playing in L.A. and had a few special guests join them on stage. Singer-songwriter Ben Harper was there, which isn't a large surprise. Jerry Cantrell, Alice In Chains singer-guitarist, also joined them on stage. Above average surprise. But BAM! The Chris Cornell showed up! Now, I'm not a massive Cornell fan, but I was certainly on the Soundgarden train, and also the Audioslave boat. But, as I'm sure most of the world feels the same way, his solo work just doesn't reach the bar. Oh well. Doesn't matter. Temple of the Dog was officially back!

At the same time that Pearl Jam was beginning to form, Temple of the Dog was working on their first and only album. The band was made up of Eddie Vedder, Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard and Mike McCready all from Pearl Jam, Cornell from Soundgarden, and Matt Cameron who started with Soundgarden and then has since joined Pearl Jam.

Anyways, Cornell went up and they sang their most well known song, Hunger Strike. It was the first time they've played together since 2003. That would've been something to see live.



And just for kicks, here's Cantrell helping out with Alive:

T-shirts. Programs. Records. Hats. Books. All typical things I've seen at a concerts. But I've never seen this before. And I bet you haven't either. I don't know much about her but then Louise Ferguson actually goes to concerts and, rather then taking pictures of the band as majority of us do, she paint pictures. It's ridiculously neat.


Check out Louise's blog or her site for more. I wonder if this will catch on a bit more someday. I know I wish I could paint...

Sunday. September 20th. 2009. Finally.

Pearl Jam's new album Backspacer is out today. I love it. I managed to find a leaked copy maybe 10 days ago and I can't stop listening to it. It's got everything. The first four songs (Gonna See My Friend; Got Some; The Fixer; Johnny Guitar) just hits you in the face with the classic Pearl Jam rock that you'd expect. I wasn't even a huge fan of The Fixer the first few times I heard it on the radio, but I feel it's place in the album and I can't get enough now.

There's also a song called Unthought Known that is basically a tidal wave of awesome. Some critics have been describing it as almost a new Alive. Though I feel like it's a great song that continues to grow on me, I don't think it's going to be that inspirational to a generation.

There's some more tuned-down songs, much that you'd think were simply left off of the Into The Wild soundtrack but still important to Eddie. One of the best feelings I get is just driving to the whole record. It just takes a weight off of my shoulders and I just feel relaxed.

Now, I may be biased, well, I am biased, but I really love this album. I think it's a definite purchase for anyone who has or continues to enjoy Pearl Jam's music. This album isn't political, like their '06 album was. It's just the 5 guys getting back to doing what they know.

Also, if you pick up the album, you're given 2 out of 9 random live concert videos. Ya, that's cool. You should probably just buy it.

Here's a few of my current favorites:

Track 7: Unthought Known


Track 2: Got Some


Track 8: Supersonic