Liam Hurley: Web Log

so, in a world filled with tributes to Michael Jackson at the moment, i thought i would add this one, oft-overlooked homage. This is a video of Corey Feldman on Evening at the Improv, performing (lipsynching and dancing) to a song he wrote for Dream a Little Dream (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097236/)

here's the vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsSP8a0ToGY&feature=related

notice any influences?

RIP MJ.

the bristol museum of art in banksy's hometown has created an entire exhibit of his work, but kept it secret from the city council that was accustomed to prosecuting him.

from the video, it looks like a great exhibit, with plenty of the standard ironic stencils, but with a mixture of sculptured versions of his unique work. check it!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/arts_and_culture/8094839.stm

roger federer finally won the French Open, which is great to watch the top dog become the under dog, then the top dog again.

apparently, it was quite the uphill battle, with terrible weather conditions, and an instance of a man running on to the clay to demonstrate his swiss pride:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORA2TX3fF90

Bill's Dead!

no official cause yet, but what a tragedy...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/04/david-carradine-dead-foun_n_211292.html

here's an article discussing wikipedia's decision to block Scientologist servers and members from editing articles related to scientology. this seems a little strange to me, as one of the reasons given for the ban is: 3.0) This longstanding dispute is a struggle between two rival factions: admirers of Scientology and critics of Scientology.

so why are only scientologists blocked? why not lock the article so no one can edit it?

i can't believe i'm defending scientology. this must be how the ACLU feels....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/29/wikipedia-bans-scientolog_n_208967.html

just checked out and downloaded the new google earth, and wow, it rules. this may not be news to anyone else, but it's been a minute since i used it.

http://earth.google.com/intl/en/index.html

so here i am in sunny richmond, VA, about to play at the lovely Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens, and who should be playing as well but Justin Townes Earle! you can check out some of his music here:

http://www.myspace.com/justintownesearle

then it's off to rock the cat's cradle in carrboro, NC with the Proclivities!!!

here's a cool feature of Wilco's official website.

http://beta.wilcoworld.net/loft/gigapan.php

it's a picture of their loft studio that is zoomable, panable, and freakin' sweetable!

and in more wilco awesomeness, here is a video of glenn kotche playing a solo piece for prepared drumset. i'm still scratching my head in wonderment:

http://glennkotche.com/video.php

Hello!

just got back from an exciting romp in my hometown, and checked my inbox to find a link to the Contrarian, a sweet site dedicated to all things awesome.

and what better way to get to all things awesome then by inviting Neil Cleary to dish? check out his profile and posts:

http://www.thecontrarianmedia.com/author/neil/

and be prepared to learn a little something... about yourselves.....

this is great:

ricky gervais and elmo trying to do a charity announcement. the outtakes are riotous, and the whole experience was cool enough that they have agreed to work together on a future project!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr9_5uZn6ds

hey y'all!

not much new here. coming up on finals, so i will just post a few cool vids in the usual lazy fashion.

new video from Fires of Rome, oscar's rockin' french foray:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5xAzT0duHc

speaking of french, some amazing parkour for you, from kottke.org:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1mrVGVHZWA&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kottke.org%2F&feature=player_embedded

and a london busker playing a drum kit hooked to his overturned bike:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sqrkMPnVlc

enjoy!

here's an article about the new administration's foray into closing tax loopholes for companies who are removed from american soil. i know this will be a huge uphill battle against significant lobbies, but it is a very fiscally responsible move that i would love to see happen!

http://money.cnn.com/2009/05/04/news/economy/obama_corporate_tax_proposals/index.htm?postversion=2009050411

i was just talking to kenzie the other day about how exclamation points have become more widespread. i see this as technology influencing writing. with the inundation of written communication these days, we need more expressiveness in less amount of space. hence, the need for more exclamation!!!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/apr/29/exclamation-mark-punctuation

here's a great youtube video about afghan kite-fighting. really interesting to actually see it done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYCLyNvFSDs

so this is a link to pictures of items michael jackson was gonna auction off, but then canceled.

http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2009/04/17/goodbye-brain-sorry-i-accidentally-exploded-you

my favorite was the california raisins statues...

http://ididnotknowthatyesterday.blogspot.com/

i found this site through kottke.org (a major favorite). it's just random trivia. enjoy!

i watched a LOT of cartoons as a child, and i was recently reminded of this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0BzBFWt8V8

M.A.S.K. (Mobile Armored Strike Kommand) was a blatant toy seller, taking the popularity of G.I. Joe and mixing it with vehicles similar to the Transformers.

here's the wik if you want it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.A.S.K.

while on youtube, i also found this gem: a German live action mash-up trailer with Sam Eliot in the mix!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO90Q1-uOvk&feature=related

enjoy the trip down (my) memory lane!

a nit picky little entry, but i chuckled as i read a cnn commentary post by Ed Rollins, praising obama's decision to keep Robert Gates as defense secretary. Rollins loves Gates, and details the many great things he has done during his tenure, writing such things as "He has also carefully guided the new president through a withdrawal plan for Iraq and an enhanced program to deplore more troops to Afghanistan."

i believe he meant "deploy more troops..."

here's the full article for as long as the link is good:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/14/rollins.rescue/index.html

this is a silly post, but the picture caught me by surprise. this woman hopped a fence at the berlin zoo and was subsequently attacked by polar bears.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/04/11/polar.bear.attack/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

she was rescued, but not until she sustained some heavy damage.

hello from norfolk VA!

life on the road has been wonderful, rocking with such acts as gomez, allie moss, and the inimitable mark erelli. we only have a few days left, and i'm looking forward to a little time back in nyc.

in a totally unrelated note, check out this video of some incredible sheep photography:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2FX9rviEhw

hello from the road!

for all you new yorkas out there, i thought i would pass along a link to this site for all things NYC, but specifically yoga, at Examiner.com:

http://www.examiner.com/x-2276-NY-Yoga-Examiner

full disclosure: i know the writer....

too awesome.

http://www.monpa.com/dwc/

ah, in the end all programs must let us down. i really like google mail, use it constantly, and today it seems as if spam was sent out to a lot of my friends in the form of a G Chat request. my friend Jon May pointed me to these articles:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/24/gchat-virus-information-s_n_169648.html

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/24/viddyho-phishing-scam-hits-gmail/?hp

sorry if you received any spam from me. i just changed my password, i suggest y'all do the same!

in relation to the Cryptonomicon, and Alan Turing specifically, i have noticed a large increase in the number of websites requiring a CAPTCHA form. CAPTCHA stands for Completely Automoted Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart. it is those squiggly lettered nonsense words you must enter to verify your participation in something online.

here's some more info from wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captcha

today i sat down in the new york public library and finshed part 3 of the Baroque Trilogy by Neal Stephenson.

best. books. ever.

these books are "about" a lot of things: global politics, the nature of money, physics, technology, et al. so it is pretty hard to encapsulate a particular subject.

one of my favorite aspects, however, is the historical fiction involved. Real people, world-changing people, populate these pages and add a weight to the fiction that i enjoy very much. Isaac Newton is perhaps the foremost "real" character in the book, and i learned much from this book about his life (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_newton). he was a deeply religious man, but with a critical eye, which led him to some unorthodox notions on christianity, god, and god's role in the universe.

ach. i could go on forever about my love of these books, but my best efforts would not come close to your experience of reading them. go get them from the library. or perhaps better yet, read Stephenson's Cryptonomicon, which is the single volume descendant/antecedent (written before the Baroque Trilogy/ takes place after, with many ancestors from BT characters). the should be a good indicator of your level of interest!

i hope you enjoy them like i did!