Stephen Hawking Asks

How can the human race be saved? those of you with a yahoo account probably saw this. but the theoretical physicist is really asking and about 12300 people have replied so far. and looking at the answers it looks as though our sorry lot is doomed!
some of the responses:

Simple. Keep eating, keep drinking, keep defecating, keep urinating, keep breathing and keep having sex. I would say keep praying also, but I've seen our culture on an increasingly constricted diet of prayer to our God, or Lord Jesus our Christ, and somehow we keep on keepin' on. Not very good, but then quality wasn't a part of your question.

They will live under water

We exterminate all the ignorant folks who drive monsters as big or bigger than the ones back in the 70's. We educate the "selective hearing crowd" into hearing what is important. We fix city living where it is mandatory to ride public transit, bike or walk to work. We get greedy, manipulative, obnoxious, ill decision making dumb asses out of office! We make it unlawful for capitalizing fools who genetically transform, hormonally induce, and pesticide our food supply. We keep our eyes open and remember what a fascist society once was like.

By eating and drinking. Our armies will (hopefully) protect us.

by means of love only

easy just as the elders did the last 100 years survival

oh, and here's my favorite, the old rapture

Don't worry! When things get really bad the rapture will happen. Then the apocalpyse. Then moving into space and stuff won't really matter, because all the sinners will be dead.

some of his research

Three Ghosties

  

Weird Al Does the Chilis

pretty funny


okay, i'm done.
wait... one more. this seems fitting

now i'm done.
except for...
this is plain hilarious, the jamaica plain principle

done. done.

It's a John Frusciante Day!

yes, we have many of those here at ochairball.

it's a JFD just because i listened to automatic writing most of the weekend and was awed by JF's uncommon talent. automatic writing is a collaboration of john, joe lally (fugazi) and josh klinghoffer (the bicycle thief and collaborator extraordinaire), collectively known as ataxia. it was released last year, part of JF's recording spree. i'm hoping for ataxia's second cd.

automatic writing has five long songs. i never was a long song person. but these enlightened me. "the sides" is one of the best. it's a song that goes right through you and raises your flesh. john has a way of recording that makes you feel like he's sitting in your living room.

compare this video


to this one.

inspiring how much one person can grow, even though i like the first video as well as the second.

Anaheim Unwired

the city is now wi-fied

Dave Rat's Blog

i love behind-the-scenes anything. here's the chili pepper's sound engineer's blog.
he gives us "sound nerd speak" on equipment, photos of roadies and rats.
here's part of one of his posts:

Year sixteen as front of house sound engineer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. For those unfamiliar with the pro sound world, that means I control/mix the sound that the audience hears at their live concerts. A monitor engineer is the human that controls the sound that the band hears.

I also do other things. My work related passion lies with the company I started with some friends when I was 17, Rat Sound. I love to design/create things like speakers, solve problems, analyze complex systems and fix or improve them. Away from that and in conjunction with it, over the past 16 years I have joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers on nearly every show they have performed. I missed one Australian tour when I was hospitalized with spinal meningitis and another short trip when I had a 2 week overlap mixing Rage Against the Machine, I never did that again.

Over the years I have worked for many bands, 100's would be an understatement. I cannot remember how many tours or all the cities I have been to. Though I can remember mixing Blink 182 when they grew from clubs to arenas, Offspring on from Smash through Ixnay albums, tech'ing on a magical tour with Fugazi, setting PA and monitors for three Black Flag tours, two Sonic Youth album runs (Goo and Dirty), a miserable trip with Danzig/Soundgarden (Soundgarden was all good), L7 and quite a few years of traveling with Pearl Jam, whom I love like second family.

I never wanted to be a sound engineer. I learned to mix sound in order to test the speaker system designs and to operate the sound systems Rat Sound rented out. We could not afford to pay someone else anyway. By some round about way, I ended up with this this gig.

In the late 80's, Peppers were one of those bands that would always hire us Rats whenever they could. It was Mark, Robbie, Cathy and Chris Grayson. Chris was their FOH engineer from the beginning of the band. He would always hire us for sound and we would always bring too much gear, regardless of what we got paid. We referred him gigs with other bands and Rat eventually ended up hiring Chris to help with other Rat shows.



The call came from Mark Johnson that they were firing Chris and they want me to mix them, I refused. I could not take my friend Chris's job. When Mark told me that if I don't do it they were going to hire someone else, I agreed to cover for Chris till he got his life in order. Chris was having some issues as he had been a no-show on a Rat gig the week before and we were unable to reach him. After leaving a message on his machine, I reluctantly agreed. I have a PA company, I am not an engineer by trade, I will fill in and when he resurfaces, all will be patched up soon. I never spoke to Chris again.

Chris was murdered in a drug deal while I was in Hawaii with Peppers doing a show at Pink's Garage. So here I am sixteen years later and still covering the gig for him.

We are currently embarking on a world tour supporting their the 5th album since I started and to be honest, if it was any other band on earth, I would not have agreed to go. The thought of tour no longer thrills me and yet, the thought of not joining this beautiful and eccentric group of life long friends is beyond comprehension.

There are two parts to this adventure for me. First is the rock show, diving in and creating something sonically unique and special. The challenge of great sound in bad sounding venues. The sensation of being the conduit that connects the artistry of the band in the the most intense method possible to those that bask in the experience. Secondly, my life. My own passions and desire to come home with more than a secondhand experience of building someone else's dream. Something with a bit more substance than a wad o cash, some frequent flier miles, a sad heart from missing loved ones, ringing ears and the distant memory of screaming fans. The key to happiness is merging the two.

Each tour I try and do something personally new and special, something that I can look back on with a smile. Once it was learning to weld and I had a 225 amp MIG welder sent to my hotel room on By the Way tour

Chili Peppers Nascar Commercial

at youtube


photo rhcp

weekend disc: Automatic Writing, John Frusciante, Josh Klinghoffer and Joe Lally. nothing short of brilliant

Tom Petty Not Suing Chilis

of course not.
for weeks magazines and newspapers salivated over this one -- dani california and petty's mary jane's last dance had similarities.

i didn't bother to write about it because it was plain ridiculous and i didn't want to fuel the fire. the chilis wouldn't maliciously lift music and tom petty never seemed like the kind of guy that would sue. in fact, i don't think petty ever considered suing and i don't think the peppers were much worried. it was merely an example of how the media uses controversy -- true or made up -- to sell stories.

here it is in writing:

Thursday, June 29, 2006
Red Hot Chili Peppers not in trouble with Tom Petty
The Red Hot Chili Peppers can breathe a little easier. Tom Petty told Rolling Stone in an interview that hit newsstands on Wednesday, June 28th, that he has no intentions of pursuing legal action over the similarities between the Chili Peppers' current single, "Dani California," and his own 1993 hit, "Mary Jane's Last Dance." When asked if he'd heard the song, Petty replied, "Yes, I have. Everyone everywhere is stopping me. The truth is, I seriously doubt that there is any negative intent there. And a lot of rock 'n' roll songs sound alike." Petty added that the Strokes admitted to lifting from his "American Girl" for their hit "Last Nite."

As for legal options, Petty said, "If someone took my song note for note and stole it maliciously, then maybe. But I don't believe in lawsuits much. I think there are enough frivolous lawsuits in this country without people fighting over pop songs."

Earlier this month, the New York Post reported that Petty had been made aware of the controversy and was "looking into legal ramifications."

While not discussing "Dani California" directly, Chili Peppers bassist Flea said recently that lifting ideas from other artists is nothing new: "Of course, we rip off people all the time. I mean, no good artist doesn't. I mean, that's what art is for, to rip each other off. It's what you rip off and how you interpret what you rip off and in what context you rip it off."

Tell Me Baby Download

from youtube:
a silly, fun video about moving to Cali with big dreams!







photos: RHCP fan site

Alligator in Swimming Pool

this gator was found swimming in the pool at a retirement community in winter haven florida. looks to be a very large gator at that!


it's funny until somebody gets hurt :-)here he is getting removed. i've been told he's been safely sent back to the swamps.

Stardust

the stardust, one of the last old-time vegas hotels is going the way of the dunes and the sands to make room for a new property.

courtesy roadsidepeek.com

Red Hot Chili Peppers LA Times

a so-so story in the times calendar section. photo's cool, though
tell me baby
john sings sunday bloody sunday (thanks rhcp fan club). it's one of the greatest songs ever but john steals it.
don't forget me
for emily

Details Men Choose Condi

enlightened readers of details. wow, heartening. from the AP:

When Esquire asked men who they'd invite from a list of 14 notable women to a dinner party, they chose Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice — over such stars as Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston and Jessica Simpson.

Rice was followed by Oprah Winfrey and Angelina Jolie in a national survey published in the magazine's July issue. The 29-question survey, conducted by Beta Research Corp., polled 1,083 men aged 25 and older.

Asked which famous man they'd invite to dinner, 37 percent picked "Tonight" host Jay Leno. Bill Clinton placed second, trailed by George Clooney and President Bush.

Men said they most admired former Secretary of State Colin Powell (5.9 percent). Clinton and Bill Gates tied closely behind (5.8 percent) and Bush placed third (5.3 percent).

The president did, however, place first in another category: least admirable man in America. He got 14.8 percent of the vote, while Clinton came in second — again — at 7.8 percent.

According to the survey, most men do not aspire to be "American Idol" winner Taylor Hicks. Eighty-five percent said they'd rather be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company than win the Fox talent contest (15 percent).

for me, hands down, my dinner choice, musician john frusciante. i'd love to pick bill gates' brains on wealth, saving the world, philanthropy. oprah tops the list of women, author kate dicamillo. hmmmmm

Hello Kitty in Danger

cute-obsessed japan rethinking cute.
run Kitty run!

excerpt:

"Japanese women see value in youth and want to combine childishness and cuteness with sexiness and glamour," says Sakae Nonomura, a researcher with the cosmetics company Kanebo. "Cute has now grown so widespread that various types of cute coexist."

Indeed, Japanese have come up with nuances of cute such as "erotic-cute" and "grotesque-cute," and use such phrases in everyday conversations.

Thirty-eight-year-old garbage collector Hideki Kojima is such a believer in cute he patronizes a "maid cafe," one of several that have sprung up in Tokyo, where waitresses don maid outfits and greet customers by squeaking: "Welcome home, master."

Sometimes Kojima goes three times a day to the cafe, which serves food and allows customers to take photos and play games with the maids, drops as much as $90 a visit for a chance to gawk at the maids.

"They're cute," Kojima says with conviction. "It can't really be explained in words."

Nobuyoshi Kurita, sociology professor at Musashi University in Tokyo, says cute is a "magic term" that encompasses everything that's acceptable and desirable — this nation's answer to the West.

Kurita thinks it's important to watch Japan's youngsters, who see the bustling streets of downtown Tokyo — where the cute aesthetic is born — as the center of their universe.

"Where cute goes determines the future of Japan," he said, adding that Japan's cute offerings may one day command the respect of luxury goods from Europe. "If it succeeds, Japan's future will be bright. If it doesn't, then Japan may disappear."

Next John Frusciante Solo

yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
josh klinghoffer is working on the drum tracks in prep for john's next solo record, according to frusciante.net. yayayayayayayayYIPPEE! 17 tracks already written... geez.

john also is going to be on the mars volta (touring with the chili peppers) next album called Amputechture.

and.... he's also supposedly working on ataxia's follow up to "automatic writing." ataxia -- josh, of the bicycle thief, and joe lally of fugazi -- was just one of john's remarkable collaborations in the past few years.

his stint with ataxia and his solo work was completely ignored in the rolling stone's recent innocuous cover story about the chili peppers but i guess that's the way it's got to be when they're promoting their current record. as good as stadium arcadium is, i can't wait for john's next record. john's reportedly studying classical music so who knows what we're in for but you know it's going to be good.

also from frusciante.net, john's instrumental accompaniment to chicago morning train

here's bob forrest -- the bicycle thief -- with john, the dying song. bob's got his own album coming out in august. the bicycle thief's 'you come and go like a pop song' is in my top 10.

frusciante.net is a gold mine. here are some of john's paintings




total guitar, may 2006

John Frusciante Wallpaper

i had to pass this along because it was done so well -- not by me but by the creator of invisible-movement. visit her site. she has lots more to share.

Being Poor

i ran across this humbling essay by john scalzi. here's part of it. read the rest here:

Being poor is relying on people who don't give a damn about you.

Being poor is an overnight shift under florescent lights.

Being poor is finding the letter your mom wrote to your dad, begging him for the child support.

Being poor is a bathtub you have to empty into the toilet.

Being poor is stopping the car to take a lamp from a stranger's trash.

Being poor is making lunch for your kid when a cockroach skitters over the bread, and you looking over to see if your kid saw.

Being poor is believing a GED actually makes a goddamned difference.

Wicked Wahine D-Cup Results

June 6th & 7th, 2006
Currituck Skatepark & Wanchese—NC
1st Place Cressy Rice

2nd Place Mandy Esch

3rd Place Brooke Kelley

4th Place Heidi Kreis

5th Place Sue Kraus

6th Place Amelia Brodka


Hardest Slam Amelia Brodka

Most Improved Marlee Miller

visit wahineskate.com for photos

Vargas Responds to Feminists

arrgh. when will women learn they can't do it all? men can't either, of course, but they've never had to.
here's news anchor elizabeth vargas' response to the feminist uproar (she willingly stepped down as anchor to focus on parenting. feminists say she was pushed):

...As for a woman having it all, well, Vargas is the first to admit that it is hard "to be a good parent and a good employee."

Particularly when you're enduring a tough pregnancy. Vargas, who turns 44 in September, says she's had way more problems this time around than she did with Zachary, now 3.

"I feel horrible. I have debilitating nausea every day, and fatigue. I've been very honest with them [management] about the difficulties... . I didn't think it was fair to give this job less than 150 percent."

Vargas says she and her husband, songwriter Marc Cohen ("Walkin' in Memphis"), have a C-section scheduled for mid-August. She plans maternity leave of nine to 12 weeks.

Vargas understands why some feminist groups are making a call to arms, but there's no war to be fought in this case, she insists. "The answers in this case are different than their concerns."

To Paul Slavin, ABC's senior vice president, worldwide newsgathering, the groups are missing the point.

"Elizabeth is making the choice. That's what the liberation of all women means... . In my mind, they're fighting a battle with an unwilling soldier."

Red Hots Rolling Stone Cover