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Ryan & The Cardinals

Mick — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 15:40:31 +0000

The missues is big into Ryan Adams & The Cardinals. I’ve been listening to him too, but thought he was a bit too “countryish” for my tastes. So anyways we go see them live at the Orpheum last month, and they are one mean guitar band. Very good gig and well worth seeing.

Check out their tour dates at:

http://tour.cardinology.com

If your outside North American, your out of luck for this tour. But, they post a lot of live clips from their concerts on their Twitter feed:

http://twitter.com/cardinology

And some video clips at:

http://coffee.cardinology.com

Ryan also has or had a blog which he has had an on-again/off-again relationship with. He often does little videos of himself writting and singing new songs or just jamming away, but he’s deleted all the blog entries as he’s in the hate-stage of blog relationship.

But, I think he’s used to great affect to reach out to his fans and to create a relationship with his fans that he wouldn’t have otherwise. Hopefully he’ll start blogging again as it’s great to be able to see an artist at work!

Stuff I’ve read or reading …

Mick — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 03:10:19 +0000

Some links to stuff I’ve either read or plan to read which I think is interesting:

Python is not Java, tips for Java programmers starting w/ Python:
http://dirtsimple.org/2004/12/python-is-not-java.html
Python for Bioinformatics:
http://www.pasteur.fr/recherche/unites/sis/formation/python/index.html
BioPython:
http://biopython.org/DIST/docs/tutorial/Tutorial.html

I need to know Selenium better, it’s possible that I might consider using it for a project I might be working on (that sounds like it might have some UI bugs/issues/problems):
http://seleniumhq.org/

10 things every programmer should read (this will take a while to wade through):
http://blog.objectmentor.com/articles/2009/02/26/10-papers-every-programmer-should-read-at-least-twice

Xen Cluster Mgt using Ganeti for Debian Lenny:
http://www.howtoforge.com/xen-cluster-management-with-ganeti-on-debian-lenny
Ganeti admin guide and install guide:
http://ganeti-doc.googlecode.com/svn/ganeti-1.2/admin.html
http://ganeti-doc.googlecode.com/svn/ganeti-1.2/install.html

David Byrne (of Talking Heads) interviews Thom Yorke (of Radiohead):
http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/magazine/16-01/ff_yorke?currentPage=all

With a great quote, that shows how well the record companies treat their performing artists (that’s sarcasm in case you don’t have a sense of humour). First Radiohead made zip/zilch/nada from EMI sales of digitized versions of their music:

Yorke: In terms of digital income, we’ve made more money out of this record than out of all the other Radiohead albums put together, forever — in terms of anything on the Net. And that’s nuts. It’s partly due to the fact that EMI wasn’t giving us any money for digital sales. All the contracts signed in a certain era have none of that stuff …

Yorke: … It’s about whether the music affects you or not. And why would you worry about an artist or a company going after people copying their music if the music itself is not valued?

Then he talks about how the music iteself isn’t valued, but the business processes surrounding the marketing and selling of music:

Byrne: You’re valuing the delivery system as opposed to the relationship and the emotional thing…

Yorke: You’re valuing the company or the interest of the artists rather than the music itself. I don’t know. We’ve always been quite naive. We don’t have any alternative to doing this. It’s the only obvious thing to do.

John Martyn

Mick — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 18:47:07 +0000

I just found out via Jigtime that John Martyn passed away. He’s an artist I’d almost forgotten about, I had one of his albums years ago when I was in college in Dublin. Somewhere along the line I lost or misplaced it and never replaced it. I’d always meant to replace it and get to know his music better, and he was a great musician to see live. I’m annoyed at myself for not knowing his music better.

Sometimes John Martyn’s style reminds me a bit of Chris Rea, but with a more bluey bent and with the humming double-bass, other times just so ethereal. His early stuff was almost very traditional folk music (which I’m not familiar with). Here’s John live in Dublin in 1987, singing “Sweet Little Mysteries”:

And an interview with him last year, in 2008:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkcmB8a1cn8

I’m sad that I never got to see him live, and I hope he’s enjoying the sweet little mysteries where ever he is.

Friends on Last.fm

Mick — Sat, 31 May 2008 15:51:42 +0000

Some friends from my home town in Ireland are in bands! So I’ve 2 Last.fm pages to refer to you.

First Pavesi:

http://www.last.fm/music/Pavesi

And Serial Twin:

http://www.last.fm/music/Serial+Twin

If your interested in what I’ve been listening to recently, here’s my Last.fm page:

http://www.last.fm/user/bettlebrox/

Spirit of Uganda

Mick — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 16:44:19 +0000

Went to see “Spirit of Uganda” at Berklee. Very enjoyable, inspiring, and entertaining. If they’re playing in your city or part of the world I’d recommend going to see them.

Some news coverage at the following sites:
http://www.patriotledger.com
http://www.nytimes.com
http://www.villagevoice.com

New Year’s Present from RadioHead

Mick — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 18:17:29 +0000

R&B, Jazz, Motown in Toronto

Mick — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 23:35:33 +0000

Was up in Toronto for a couple of days visiting family. On Friday night a couple of us went to Zemra a bar/cafe around the corner for a drink, and there was a pretty decent band & singer playing. The singer was Errol Fisher, and he was really good and the band were very good too. If your in Toronto and get a chance to see Errol Fisher I’d recommend it!em

Cantab & Burgers

Mick — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 23:31:54 +0000

Went to The Cantab Lounge in Central Sq in Cambridge on Friday night. Frank the chef (or one of the chefs?) from Tim’s Tavern, long closed, on Columbus Ave in Boston now cooks at The Cantab. Tim’s did a really good burger and that’s what we had at the Cantab, a really good big tasty burger for $5.95. The chips (fries for all your Amerikans) were kinda lame, but the burger was really tasty and big!

Ended up staying for the music, Shirley Lewis and the Fatback Band.

Shirly is 70 and she does rock the house. She’s a good singer and really knows how to pump the audience, might go back next weekend and hear her sing again!

I think the band are a bunch of regulars who play most weekends with different singers, they’re good too. And worth hearing by themeselves. If you go, look for the mini-rubber chicken hanging off the bass drum!