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Friday, May 08, 2009

Awklord of the Rings, (via Laughing Squid)


Oh man, these guys are awesome. I'm pretty sure this photo was conceived and, in the most part, executed by the son who stands tall behind his noble parents. This is just a taste of the awkward glory that awaits you at AwkwardFamilyPhoto.com. My other favorite photo (below) includes a reference to my favorite movie, "European Vacation", which makes me love it all the more. I won't repeat the quote here, but it's pretty easy to find.


Thanks for the inspiration, Awkward Family Photos!

Monday, May 04, 2009

Exclusive: his Orchestra Rehearsal Footage

Here is some rehearsal footage that Shine On media filmed of us. Good Times.

"Exclusive SO-M Interview with his Orchestra"

Here's an interview we did with Shine On Media recently, talking about where from we come and about our new record and plans for the futchah.

Monday, April 27, 2009

I like new-age hippie books (even though they're fluffish)


Above, Below: Tough book covers for mushy books


I have a totally not-secret habit of reading new-agey hippie books with humiliating cheesebag covers. Heart-shaped rainbows, sunset skies with flocks of birds, and sandy beaches grace them all, and it kills me that something I so guiltily enjoy is so poorly presented. You CAN judge a book by it's cover, especially when it's completely gay and retarted.

This sort of thing doesn't happen with sci-fi. My "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" is an elegant black leather number, embossed with gold, which has proudly traveled with me around the world. Biographies make you smarter and more distinguished just by proximity-- Winston Churchill's "The Last Lion", for example, which features a black and white portrait of Sir Winston, above a coat of arms and atop of regal navy blue. Highbrow by default.

But if you get caught reading "Ask and it is Given" just ONCE you look like a turd-burglaring yoga instructor (or a tarot card reader, whichever is worse) and all your collegey literary cred flies straight out the window. You instantly "manifest" and "attract" whatever is the exact opposite of Bukowski, Rand, Joyce, and Thomas.

I therefore create book covers, a la high school (pictured above), for every pastel, new-agey palated cover that graces my path. This satisfies my inner snark, initiates interesting conversations, and allows guilt-free consumption of the inspiration and affirmations I so obviously need to undo the years of constant berating by my mother: "I have beautiful hair." "My arms are not too long." "I do not need to be more like Thomas Pearson in order to succeed in life" "Everything will be okay, even though I didn't go to Yale."

(*an

Monday, March 30, 2009

LA Weekly Interview: "SXSW and The Future of Media: Impromptu Core Conversation on Content Distribution at RVIP Lounge"

We got back from SXSW Interactive, Film, & Music festival in Austin, TX last week. We cruised in the RVIP Lounge all week long, saw new and familiar faces, and definitely had the best year ever. LA Weekly's Alexia Tsotsis came on-board, sang some NIN's "Closer" (our friend Rebbeca's pick), and afterwards we chatted outside of the mayhem. At which point, I got all excited talking to her editor, Erin Broadley, while she turned on her phone voice recorder, and here's what happened:

SXSW and The Future of Media: Impromptu Core Conversation on Content Distribution at RVIP lounge

Tuesday, Mar. 17 2009 @ 8:24PM
By Alexia Tsotsis in SXSW, Tech


Photo by Erin Broadley

Some of the best discussions at SXSW Interactive happen in the corridors, where visionaries in their respective fields talk shop between panels and during cigarette breaks. I had the fortuity to be a party to one such conversation between Los Angeles musician and {RV}IP Lounge Executive Producer Kestrin Pantera and our own L.A. Weekly Web Editor Erin Broadley on the future of creative content. Quickly pulling out the TapeMe app on my iPhone, I managed to capture the spontaneous late night exchange between the two media minds (as well as a really poorly executed karaoke version of Nine Inch Nails' "Closer," if you know what I mean) on an Austin street corner outside the {RV}IP "party on wheels."

Erin Broadley: Why do you think [the entertainment community] has gotten itself in a position where ignoring the tech community is doing them a disservice?


Kestrin Pantera: It's a double-edged sword and a two way street. What is happening right now is that we're opening a channel of communication and figuring out how it works. Everyone has been hiding and trying to protect their content but it's the [tech] companies that have the platforms for distribution who are giving it away.

Why has the entertainment community allowed it to get to the point where they're actually losing money?

Kestrin Pantera: I think that the "why" is that [tech] is an absolute immediate threat to their business model. Well then how do we change the business model? I think the business model change will come through embracing the platforms.

Before I came here one of my co-workers asked me, "So do the Interactive people party as hard as the music people?" Yes, they do party just as hard, so is there a danger when the tech community becomes the entertainment?

Kestrin Pantera: Yes and no. That's what this space {RV}IP is about - what we're all creating. Who are we and what are we and what do we want to do? What are our goals? How are we going to survive and create something beautiful and meaningful that elevates us as a community? At the end of the day, if we all have is a bunch of bloggers that are putting forth beautiful but unchecked content, that's a dangerous situation. But how do we work with the unions? How does it happen?

By getting people to realize that [the change in media] is not something to be fearful of. It's like the analogy of when radio came along and people were so freaked out that it was going to cripple album sales.

Kestrin Pantera: Embracing platforms is essentially what it is; embracing the right platforms and embracing the right artists and giving them the space to create, and also the resources that they need to create.

You have two options: you can sit there and be fearful [of new media] or you can open up that part of your mind that says, "What can I do to make progress? How can I merge the two trains of thought?"

Kestrin Pantera: How do we do that?

By talking - once you stop talking it's done. A lot of people stop talking and all they do is litigate.

Kestrin Pantera: So the opposite of litigating would be communicating? Let's imagine that we had a space where everyone wasn't fighting where everyone was communicating openly. I feel like the best case scenario is a space where ultimately content hits the widest range of people with the widest range of acceptance.

We have to, because at this point if someone can broadcast what they ate for breakfast and it hits the entire world, then you have to accept that your music or your band or your art is going to do the same. So what are you going to do now? That involves getting back to the merger between the tech community and entertainment. And "start communicating" -- does that mean we have to be on a bus doing shots and eating Nachos? (Cheers from inside the RV, someone is giving their all to Boston's "More Than A Feeling.")

Kestrin Pantera: It starts with intimacy and discussion.

Exactly, so stop litigating and start conversing.

"More Than A Feeling" continues in the background as Erin and Kestrin take a stab at unraveling the Gordian Knot of content distribution, Ghandi maxim, "Be the change you want to see."

Follow us on Twitter at @alexiatsotsis and @laweekly. Also, check out Village Voice Media's SXSW Festival site for more coverage.

Friday, January 16, 2009

CauseCast Holiday Party Video

I decided it was probably a good idea to drink champagne & vodka cocktails and talk about what changes I'd like to see in the world at the CauseCast holiday party. Ta-da!





Friday, January 09, 2009

Hello, 2009: Let's Rock. KCRW Show at the Roxy Jan. 24th

We all know that the international & domestic economic climate has gone to hell, the unemployment rate hit a 16 year high today, and I, for one, fret for my oldest childhood friend's saftey (she is in med school in Israel). But there is some really fantastic shit going on around the world at the moment. This is our time, and I, for one, will take it. 2009 = TwoThousandMINE!

So many musicians in Los Angeles are going through a creative renaissance right now-- I'm literally barraged with fabulous original music every time I walk out the door. I'm so grateful to be a working "creative type" during this "downturn", it is such a special time to be alive.

5 More Reasons Why 2009 is Great:

1. This year marks the most legendary presidency in American history. Who's going to D.C. for the Inauguration?

2. My friends Cary Brothers, The Brandi Carlile Band, and Sarah Carter are recording un-f-ing believable music. 2009 will be music's own reward...

3. Have you checked out IReallyLikeCats.com yet? It will make you glad to be alive in '09.

4. Love is in the Air. I, for one, am like, totally engaged (along with a ton of friends). This means we can all conspire to create the best wedding-season ever. And you're invited to the awesome party!

5. his Orchestra just mastered our new record. We're so, SO proud of the way it's turned out (we should be releasing the album in the next month or so, as soon as we finish the artwork).


We are also starting to play live again! Our first show of the year is a KCRW sponsored gig at the Roxy on Jan. 24th, with West Indian Girl. Shortly after that, we're playing Bordello on Jan. 28th. Come rock out.

Happy New Year, from TwoThousandGreat to TwoThousandMine!