McCain "That One" Comment Spurs Web Entrepreneurs

From Today @ PC World:

Once again the Internet has proven its ability to quickly respond to political gaffes. Less than two hours after last night's Presidential debate ended sites began popping up to support "That One" for President.

For those who might have missed the debate (and shame on you if you did), "That One" is how Senator John McCain referred to Senator Barack Obama when talking about who voted for an energy bill. In response, the Web sites ThatOne2008.com and ThatOne08.com have sprung up to exploit McCain's rather derisive choice of terms for his opponent. Instead of regarding the term as the dismissive reference that was intended, they're embracing it.

ThatOne2008.com is a simpler site, with just a video clip of McCain saying "that one" in the debate as well as links to Obama's campaign site, an Obama iPhone app, and a link to where you can buy shirts that read "I'm voting for that one."

ThatOne08 takes it a step further, rewriting Obama's biography information by replacing his name with the words "that one." It also has its own selection of shirts, as well as a link to a Facebook page for supporters of "That one 08."

While I respect the speed and creativity of the people who made these sites, it terrifies me to think about the implications of these sites. There were a lot of intelligent and meaningful things said by both candidates in last night's debate, but gaffes like this are all most people will pay attention to.

Posted by Scott Nichols on Today @ PC World.

J*Davey "Mr. Mister" (Future Screw Remix) Official Video

I'm in a J*Davey fan group on facebook called "Beauty In Distortion: J*Davey" and earlier this evening I got a note saying that they released a video for the remix of their break out hit song "Mr. Mister." This excited me a great deal, because this particular remix was one of those rare instances in which the remix was just as good, if not better than the original joint. I clicked on the YouTube link and this is what I watched:

Don't get me wrong. I lurrrrrve me some J*Davey, but I had to give this the side eye kinda hard. And it didn't help that I needed eyedrops after watching that isht. It definitely falls under the "Great Song, Wack Video" category for me, I'm disappointed. It just seemed like they were trying *too* hard to be edgy or whatever you want to call it. Hell, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm missing something entirely that's underlying - some abstract artistic expression that went over my head completely. Or maybe I'm just not cool or enough of a hipster or an art fuck or a tweaker to find a music video shot in Predator Vision entertaining. Whatever, I guess. The video for the original version was just that - original. That's what made it so great:

Coming out the gate with that, they really set the bar high for themselves, so I guess an occasional falter is to be expected. It's okay, I still ♥ them and the "Mr. Mister" remix 4 EVAH.

Manic Music Monday @ GangstarrGirl.com

Another Monday is upon us (booooooo, hiss) but hopefully Manic Music Monday over at GangstarrGirl.com can be the spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down (bless yer 'ahrt Merry Boppins). Check out my entry for this week - and remember to check out Blaxploitation Friday on 10/10. Take it easy kids...

Like clockwork...

...SNL is on the ball with a parody of the VP debate, starring Tina Fey as Sarah Palin (no surprise there) and Queen Latifah as Gwen Ifill:

I think Tina Fey should turn down requests to appear as Sarah Palin in a parody sketch once elections are over - it's so easy to make fun of her (Sarah Palin I mean), and I can see that it could easily go into overkill and that's all she'd be known for despite all the other work she's done over the years. Unless of course John McCain wins, then she really won't have a choice but to portray Sarah Palin since she does it so well.

P.S. "And for all you Joe Sixpacks out there playin' a drinkin' game, here's one more for ya: MAVERICK" = WIN x 1000. The whole time I was thinking "People have GOT to be somewhere doing shots every time she says the word 'maverick'"...or maybe the McCain campaign has a copyright on the word and she get a royalty check every time she says it in public. If Gene Simmons can copyright the moneybags symbol and use it for his clothing line, I wouldn't put it past them to try and obtain ownership of the word "maverick" since they love it so flippin' much and insist that we love it too by ramming it down our throats every chance they get.

Religulous: Ask Questions. How Much Do You REALLY Know?

Apple Trailer

I ♥ Ranch Dressing by Cara Freie

Seemingly taking a cue from the now infamous blog Stuff White People Like, lawyer-turned-comedy writer Cara Freie has narrowed the superfluous field of study surrounding all things loved by white people to the provincial folk in the Midwest. Her book I ♥ Ranch Dressing: And Other Stuff White Midwesterners Like takes an satirical yet eerily encyclopedic look at just about everything you can think of that relates to atypical white midwestern life: white wicker furniture, novelty sweaters, Jesus, Florida, crystal meth, and of course ranch dressing. Amazingly enough, it's written in a tone that is free of snark and comes off as more of a loving recollection that could only come from someone who was "born and raised in Columbia, Missouri by two very sweet Iowa natives" - in other words, a proud white Midwesterner.

Check out excerpts from the book and more at the website: I ♥ RanchDressing.com.

Goldrush!

This past Sunday I went to the MySpace Goldrush show @ House of Blues. Santogold was the headlining act and let me tell you, that chick puts on one holy badass of a live show. The opening acts were Low Vs. Diamond, Plastic Little and Mates of State. I'd never heard of any of them prior to Sunday, but by the end of the night I was a newly recruited fan of Low Vs. Diamond and Mates of State. Plastic Little was just...yeah. They were extra random and not very good, so they messed up the vibe for a minute. They were backed by DJ Siyoung who was nice with the turntablism and a foxy mofo to boot even though he was small and elfish. I'm sorry - I'm just a sucker for azn boyz who genuinely embrace the elements of hip hop - don't hate!

Anyway, I managed to smuggle my digital camera into the venue so I could get some clear shots of Santogold in all of her wondrously tacky early-90s regalia. House of Blues doesn't play when it comes to cameras - if they find one on you when you go through security, they send you to the gift shop where they hold it and then charge you $5 to get it back after the show. I thought I'd beat the system when I managed to get past security with my camera, but the personnel they had posted by the exits were in straight hater mode for the night: they would actually come through the crowd to try and debo your camera if they caught you trying to snap a flick. I guess because the crowd wasn't dense, they could actually pay attention to what people were doing - because when I saw Nas with Kweli as his opening act on Aug. 31, it was packed. I saw mad cameras in the crowd and almost everybody around me was smoking weed - security was just trying to maintain and make sure nobody got crushed in the mass. I had to take pics with my BlackBerry and they were alright but I was determined to get my camera into the next show I attended @ H.O.B - and the night I do manage to sneak my camera in, security is being a bunch of assholes. Ironyyyyyy...

So yeah, here are my crappy BlackBerry pics from the show:

Low Vs. Diamond went first and got the crowd warmed up

Anthony Polcino, lead guitarist

DJ Siyoung getting it started for Little Plastic

Two of the 3 members of Little Plastic
Dude in the wool shawl was buggin' me out

Mates of State - they're husband and wife
Like a way cooler Captain & Tenille

Kori Gardner from Mates of State
She sings lead vocals, plays Electone and Hammond B-3 electric organs,
Casio synthesizer, and Rhodes electric piano, piano, and occasionally guitar
She was working those keyboards and synths that night

Santogold's DJ - dude was SICK
Too bad I can't remember his name :(

The Dancers
I initially called them Thing 1 & Thing 2
Shorty on the left was GETTIN' it the entire show
The other girl...not so much
Step your game up booboo!

Santogold was gettin' it too
I should have known she could dance
Don't let her demure demeanor in the videos fool you!

This is how the pics looked when she came
over on our side of the stage
The light was coming down at just the right angle
to eff up every shot I tried to take

I like to call this one "Lights Out"
I'm so clever

She did "Creator" towards the end of the show
She let a bunch of people come up on stage
and dance while she performed

I stood for 3 hours straight in 2-week old Chucks that still aren't broken in, so my feet were not happy with me when the show finally let out. I didn't care - I had a great time and I'd do it again if it meant I could recapture the awesome energy and the essence of that night.

It's been a long time...

...I shouldn'ta left you (left you) without some dope NEW ISHT to step to:

John Legend - No Other Love ft. Estelle.mp3

Q-Tip - Believe ft. D'Angelo.mp3

Well, they're new to me anyway. I wish I could stay on top of all the cool new isht when it first comes out but hey, believe it or not I *do* have a life and for the most part it doesn't involve surfing blogs 24/7 for isht to post. Whenever I come across something it's usually on accident and I get to it when I get to it. In any event, these songs piss excellence so you should definitely check them out.

Rapper Big Pooh Brings 'Delight' To The Masses

While Phonte readies himself for the release of the 2nd Foreign Exchange album on 10/7, Rapper Big Pooh has been cooking up some treats of his own:

You can cop it @ URB Magazine's blog for the super-low price of Free-99 so you really don't have an excuse NOT to. So yeah, if you could get on that soon, that would be greeeeeeat © Lumbergh from 'Office Space'. The track "Plastic Cups" is getting a lot of attention - probably because the beat is better known as "Gobstopper" on J Dilla's Donuts. Here's the video featuring fellow Hall of Justus'ers Chaundon and Joe Scudda:

Other pleasant surprises include 9th Wonder's magical goodness on the track "With You" and the magnificent West Coast-ish swag of "Regular Nigga" with Ab-Soul and "Reality Check" with Big Dho, Mykestro and D. Black. "Nobody Like Me" has a crazy loop of some classic Lauryn Hill vocals - see if you can guess where they copped it ;) Even though it's a mixtape, there's only one recycled beat and it's Lupe Fiasco's "Dumb It Down":

Rapper Big Pooh - Dumb it Down.mp3

If you're still reading this, you probably haven't started to download it yet. C'mon, Free-99, remember? Chop chop! I SAID CHOP CHOP! HAHA...no, for real. Go 'head and get on that plz, thx.

Jean Grae + Blue Sky Black Death = Dark. Angry. BRILLIANT

Despite an emotional departure from hip hop earlier this year, Jean Greezy seems to have pulled a Hov-esque pump-fake and is back on the scene (for now anyway). This time, she teamed up with the production duo Blue Sky Black Death to collaborate on an aptly named release The Evil Jeanius, due on 9/30:

http://www.ihiphop.com/jeangrae

The heavy, brooding sound of BSBD seems like an odd choice for a hip hop record, but when you couple it with Jean Grae when she's in "go hoard" (not "hard" - "hoard") mode, it's a natural fit. BSBD sounds like... music that would be playing in some kind of alternate reality in which Queen of the Damned meets Mark Ecko's Getting Up video game, if that makes ANY sense at all. It's kind of hard to describe, so just listen to this:

Blue Sky Black Death - The Era When We Sang.mp3

Yeah. Hopefully you get the gist of what I was saying - in any event, I'm looking forward to hearing more from this collabo. Hopefully it's not the last we hear from Jean Grae - I have a feeling that it isn't.