SYP Says

Best Songs of 2008: Week of 10/20-10/27: C'est la vie by Coralie Clement

"C'est la vie" by Coralie Clément

I've been dreaming of Paris lately. Fall is a great time to visit and I have the vacation days. Unfortunately, it's a long trip to Paris from Oregon and it's pricey too--15-20 hours travel time, 2 stops, and about $800-$1000 a pop. Not sure if I can swing all that this year, but I'll always have Coralie Clément to keep me in état d'esprit français. This tune is from her latest EP which seems to be the only one of her albums on iTunes.

Click here for a video of Coralie performing "C'est la vie" at Virgin.fr. Takes a bit to load, I'm afraid.

Here she is performing another fun confection of a song, "Indecise."

My Name Is Bruce premiere (finally)

Just got a note from Gary Kout, Line Producer on Bruce Campbell's latest film, My Name Is Bruce, which I blogged about last year when an early version of it screened at The Ashland Independent Film Festival. It was shot here in Southern Oregon, where Bruce lives.

My Name Is Bruce is finally premiering in a couple of days in Austin, TX. Bruce will be joined at the premiere by film geek (and Bruce Campbell fan) Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News. The premiere kicks off a 20+ U.S. city tour and Bruce will be doing a live intro and Q&A at each event.

The date for the Medford, OR screening is currently 12/15, but location is still TBD. The up-to-date calendar is on the official Bruce Campbell site.

The screening in NYC is 10/31-11/2 at one of my favorite Manhattan theatres, the Landmark Sunshine on E. Houston. Would be a fun way to spend Halloween!

For the trailer and a little bonus not available on the official movie site, visit Gary's page on My Name Is Bruce. If you ask him nicely, he might tell you the real story behind "Scary Gary". :)

Conservatives for Change

Found this on The Huffington Post and thought it was interesting. Conservatives for Change is a documentary project featuring Republicans and Conservatives who are voting for Barack Obama. These are real people, speaking in their own words.

The article is written by Eric Hirshberg who started the project and is a liberal, but felt " that the most convincing argument a conservative on the fence could hear might not come from a liberal, or even from Obama himself, but instead, from one of their own; a conservative who had crossed over. So we turned on the camera, and they did the rest." Read more about it here.

Here is one of the videos below. Powerful stuff.

To see all the videos, visit ConservativesforChange.com.

Kelley Blue Book User Experience Jobs

My Council buddy, Amy Hedrick, passed these on to me. Email her at [email protected] if you know of a qualified candidate!

Kelley Blue Book, the trusted resource for buying new and used cars, is currently recruiting for the following key leadership positions. Both positions are located in Orange County, California.

Director, User Experience: Responsible for leading the vision, strategy, and execution of the user experience and site architecture for Kelley Blue Book's website (kbb.com) and industry products and tools. This team member will work closely with a group of key senior level executives to determine and support the most effective product strategy, including identifying brand appropriate, customer centric user experience and design solutions that deliver on our business goals, ensure site-wide consistency, provide a foundation for future enhancements and ensure our continued success. This team member will be responsible for providing user experience leadership and direction, managing a team of User Experience/Interaction Designers and overseeing the execution of all user experience aspects across all KBB Products.

Director, User Research: Responsible for leading the vision, strategy and execution of user research/usability testing for Kelley Blue Book's website (kbb.com) and industry products and tools. This team member will take an active role in developing and evolving user research capabilities, bringing the customer perspective front and center in our product development process and successfully incorporating user research methodologies and best practices into KBB's culture, strategic and tactical decision making processes. This team member will be responsible for providing user research leadership and direction as well as taking a hands-on approach planning, scoping, conducting, and analyzing key findings; contributing to our ability to build products that delight our customers. 

Qualified candidates, please email Amy Hedrick, Kelley Blue Book's VP of Consumer Products & Experience.

Best Songs of 2008: Week of 10/13-10/20: Lost Coastlines by Okkervil River

"Lost Coastlines" by Okkervil River

This song about finding your way and the unexpected nature of life is my favorite on Austin-based Okkervil River's fifth and latest alt-folk/rock album. The Stand Ins is contemplative and complicated without being depressing and these days, it certainly pays emotional dividends to keep yourself a tad more upbeat.

Here's a fun acoustic version with A.C. Newman from The New Pornographers singing the lead and Okkervil River's lead singer, Will Sheff, singing the baritone part sung by former member Jonathan Meiburg on the album.

And here's the album version of the song.

Gobama! (Plus, pledge to vote & get a FREE Wilco song)

I just voted! Am very excited. I have to say I love the fact that in Oregon, you mail in your vote. It is very convenient.

I encourage you to vote early if you can and if you can't, make the time to vote on Nov. 4. No excuses (unless you are planning on voting for McCain, in which case I don't mind if you skip).

Need a little more encouragement? Right now, when you pledge online to vote in the 2008 election, the awesome band Wilco will give you a free download of the Bob Dylan song, "I Shall Be Released," performed with their friends the Fleet Foxes in Bend, Oregon earlier this year.

Pledge now and get your free Wilco tune. If you can spare it, make a donation to Feeding America too.

Best Songs of 2008: Week of 10/6-10/13: Snoopy Waves by Deerhoof

"Snoopy Waves" by Deerhoof 

As a nod to my trip to San Francisco this week, I bring you the experimental and captivating Deerhoof, a band from said city that started back in 1994. Their latest album, Offend Maggie, continues their distinctly dissonant, unconventional rock sound matched with vocalist/bassist Satomi Matsuzaki's unique crooning who often uses her voice as more of an instrument vs singing actual lyrics. The structure of their songs are often disjointed with odd melodies, but yet they are strangely catchy.

When Deerhoof performed songs from their newest album in Brooklyn this summer, the band gave away "Fresh Born" in sheet music form, hoping fans would create their own versions of the song. Pretty cool idea. To get the sheet music and/or hear the various fan versions, visit deerhoof.cashmusic.org.

No video of "Snoopy Waves," so here's another fun song by Deerhoof, "The Tears of Music and Love." Live in Tokyo, earlier this year.

Best Songs of 2008: Weeks of 9/22-10/6: Dying Is Fine by Ra Ra Riot

"Dying Is Fine" by Ra Ra Riot

I've been traveling a lot lately and am behind on my Best Song posts (egads!). So, to cover two weeks in one, I'm picking a band that has really been keeping me going while I've been on the road.

Ra Ra Riot, a two-year old indie band from Syracuse University, is a bit like a wistful Vampire Weekend with strings, but minus the reggae. As a classically-trained musician, I love that this rock/pop band has a cellist and violinist as key members. The chamber music underpinnings really add an interesting element to the music--lots of fun syncopation. John Ryan Pike, Ra Ra Riot's original drummer and writer of many of the the band's songs, drowned last year. For more about him and his memorial fund, visit the official Ra Ra Riot site or sticksman.org. Ignore all the current hype around Ra Ra Riot and listen for yourself by downloading their debut album, The Rhumb Line.

A visual representation of the debates

Thanks, Martin, for posting this link! Love it...

For you visual thinkers who couldn't be bothered to listen to the debates

Category: Humor • Politics
Posted on: October  8, 2008  7:50 AM, by PZ Myers

Perhaps this image will help fix the differences between the candidates in your minds.

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/10/for_you_visual_thinkers_who_co.php