linux is growing in popularity. the pentagon appears to be particularly taken with it. this does not make microsoft happy. the follow is taken from a salon.com article:

Microsoft has lobbied the Pentagon against certain versions of open source software, claiming that government research into open source software is subsidizing its competitors.

so...if somebody is buying non-microsoft software this is "subsidizing" their competitors?

Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares

amazing stuff from the Bulgarian State Radio and Television Female Vocal Choir

from a fantastic interview with Tom Waits:

We don't know what to do with technology. We do stupid things with it. You know how sophisticated technology is, [but] we're using it for a hammer. It's just kind of depressing. But everyone is really afraid of intimacy, and most of our fear really involves fear of each other. Then you have these rabid, cartel venomous companies that are as big as countries. Sometimes I feel like we're all just getting in line ...

fact: it's extremly difficult to come up with a cool funk guitar riff (to go along with a cool didgeridoo sample) when the guitarist is hung over.

Willisau (Quartet) 1991 Studio - Anthony Braxton

i felt the need for chaos this morning.

there's a funny thing that goes on in most major network television dramas. relationships, the man/woman kind (though this applies to woman/woman and even man/man as far as i can tell), do not last....ever. it's like the writers can't find anything interesting to come up with. so the thing to do is to drag the viewers along in the stereotypical will-they-or-won't-they thing for several episodes. then, if they finally do get together, the relationship falls apart before anybody has any fun. ok, maybe they have a little fun. but then there's an argument over something incredibly stupid...and they're done. or...there's the improbably plot twist.

last night, i'm watching the finale of the west wing. the character "cj" finally gets together with her love interest. what happens? the guy is shot and killed by walking in on a convenience store holdup.

is this what happens eventually to all forms of entertainment when they're driven merely by the numbers? (ratings, this is)

there's something so right (and so funny!) about the fact that the latest sony copy-protection scheme can be "cracked" by using a felt-tip marker.

sony probably spent thousands (if not millions) of dollars to come up with this, only to be thwarted by a one dollar magic marker.

our government's stance on the embargo of cuba is kinda rediculous. outa one side of our mouth we talk about cuba becoming more democratic in both politics and economy...and outa the other side we grant china most favored nation trade status. and china deserves this for what reasons? they clearly brutalize their own citizens. and let's not even get started about tibet!

this is what hilary rosen, el presidente of the recording industry association of america (RIAA), has to say about the Kazaa proposal to pay artists directly for downloaded music, blank cd's, etc.

gee, i guess cutting out the middleman is a "dangerous" idea.

live at red rocks - Rickie Lee Jones

music from your weird aunt

those neon signs that appear
strangely
in the middle of grassy fields

have no real power

betrayal, lust, anger, death

those lights will fade
eventually

the town library in hendersonville has banned the blair witch project video.

...supposedly for foul language.

nice to see libraries sticking up for the first amendment.

this page speaks for itself

i just love vinyl. i mean, where else can you find a record like "Terry Snder - Mr. Percussion" in "Wall-To-Wall-Stereo"?

...for just two bucks?!

Blood Money - Tom Waits

new music from your weird uncle

finally, a report in the new york times about music downloading.

The report, from Jupiter Research, a market and consumer research firm, also found that people who use high-speed Internet access and CD burners to make homemade compact discs — a practice that has been criticized by the record industry as abetting piracy — are as likely to increase their spending on music as to decrease it.

well, duh!...although i'd like to know why jupiter research did this analysis. (i'm sure the riaa will say that it was some pirating oranization).

i'd also like to know why we're not seeing this news in any of the major media outlets. i found it indirectly from a music mailing list.

so this morning i'm sitting on the couch drinking a cup of coffee and listening to Radioaxiom: A Dub Transmission. this is a very, uh.. low recording. full of thumping beats, rubbery bass lines and lots of percussion. somehow the whole thing manages to sound very organic despite its electronic nature.

so somewhere during one of the tunes i hear how they've managed to mix some bird calls in there. they sound very natural and seem to form a counterpoint to where the basses are going. then i realize that the window is open behind me and it's the robins that i'm hearing!

kind of a cool way to start the morning.

i still can't believe that the old geezer has put out such a fine recording at this stage of his career.

Dwight Live - Dwight Yoakam

twang!!! plus, the cover of "Little Sister" is so choice

i wonder if anybody's done research to determine why it's so danged tough to get out of bed in the morning when it's raining outside. the raindrops were falling lightly this morning. when i wake up to this sound it's like i've been drugged.

falling back asleep would have been soooo nice.....

i was watching the pbs series Frontier House last night. during this particular episode , mail, real physical letters, is brought back from a trip to the 'local' store. everybody is very excited by this...

...which made me remember how cool it was to receive a letter from a friend. it made me wonder if anybody under the age of 40 has any experience with this...what with email, paging cell phones, instant messaging, etc.

i think i'll write a letter tonight.