So, it’s the twenty-first day of the twelfth month of the twelfth year of the new millennium, and the World has not even begun to end yet……what do you do?
You check out some of my favourite Apocalypse themed videos, of course!
First up is the awesome My Little Pony spoof from Robot Chicken:
Second, here are some handy tips from Mario and Fafa of Glove and Boots:
Third, how about a Robopocalypse?
Happy Apocalypse Day, everybody, until the next time… 
Actually, it’s more like “Yesterday on the Internet” because I was planning on writing this post yesterday. But didn’t. Anyway….. I wanted to share some links with all of you guys.
Dusty Smith of the "Cult of Dusty"
First up is this very emotional video by Dusty Smith, Atheism and Suicide, where he talks about a very recent tragedy. He reminds us all that life is amazing and worth living. We are all important to someone. And we shouldn’t wait too long to tell the people in our lives how important they are to us. All of a sudden it might be too late. Don’t wait until someone is dead to say nice things about them. Tell them while they are still alive to read or hear it! I think a lot of us are guilty of waiting too long, and I will certainly try to change that for myself. I hope that by sharing the video, I can help spread Dusty’s message to others, as well.
Dicken feat. Milah & Korben: "Everything Counts"
I’m a very emotional guy and the video made me really sad. Luckily, there was another video that lifted me right back up. It’s over a month since it was uploaded, but I just saw it for the first time yesterday. It’s a guy called Dicken Schrader and his two kids, Milah and Korben, performing Depeche Mode’s Everything Counts. It’s seriously one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. Usually, I’m not too keen on “cute kids being cute” videos. It’s cute once, for a while. You know, in small doses. But this video just turned my whole face into one big smile and made me all warm and fuzzy inside. I’ve now watched it close to ten times in the last 24 hours, and it still has the same effect on me. Dicken is obviously a fantastic musician, and his kids are utterly charming. I won’t bother describing the video further, I’ll just urge you to go watch it right now. Special thanks to my good friend B for showing me it in the first place.
Space Stallions
Last up is another video posted only yesterday. It’s a great little short from The Animation Workshop: Space Stallions! Reminiscent of 1980′s cartoons like He-Man and Voltron, this is a fabulous piece of animation that’s sure to bring forth feelings of nostalgia for anyone who grew up in the 80′s. I hope you enjoy it.
Take care, all. Much love. <3
Today marks the beginning of the first hearing in the case against Bradley Manning, the US Army private who is accused of leaking almost half a million documents and two videos to WikiLeaks, including the horriffic video dubbed “Collateral Murder“.
A couple of days ago, The Huffington Post published a very moving piece by Graham Nash titled Bradley Manning Is “Almost Gone”. I highly recommend it.
“Regardless of whether you think that Manning is right or wrong, innocent or guilty, hero or villain, saint or sinner, he is a human being and should be treated as such.”
What really brought tears to my eyes, though, was the song “Almost Gone” (The Ballad of Bradley Manning) that Graham Nash and James Raymond has recorded. Together with the accompanying video, it paints a very sad picture of the U.S….
Tell the truth and it shall set you free….. Yeah, right….
Please go read, watch, and listen.
And please show your support for Bradley Manning in any way you can.
As part of my Sharing is Caring initiative, I just bought the extended version of Heartbroken by One Dice. Listening to it right now and loving it! I’ve just had a quick look through the included 24-page PDF and my initial reaction is very positive. It contains some very nice photos and appear to include some notes on the songs, not just the lyrics. I will have a closer look when I have a little more time.
I also donated some money to LukHash through Jamendo.com.
I’ve pledged some money to Tryad and will probably do the actual donation tomorrow as I’m on my way to bed right now.
I’ll also be buying the latest video from Louis C.K. Through Techdirt.com I found out that he’s doing an experiment with selling downloads directly to fans. I won’t write more about it right now, because, as I just said, I’m on my way to bed. But you can check out these links:
Download and listen for free!
This week’s soundtrack is a really nice goth album called Heartbroken by One Dice. It is brand spanking new and is the band’s first full length album. If you want to support One Dice, you can buy an extended version of the album, with 13 tracks, at their bandcamp site. You can listen to all 13 songs there, and if you decide to buy the album you can pay as little as €1 or as much as you want. Included in the purchase is a 24-page booklet (PDF, I guess) with lyrics and photos. A very nice way of adding value for those who pay for the downloads.
I find the music very moving and the female singer’s voice sothing and hypnotic. I am seriously considering buying the extended version, as I really like this album.
Have you found an album at Jamendo.com that you would like to share? Please tell me!
Barry Eisler
Over at techdirt.com, best-selling author and former intellectual property lawyer Barry Eisler is talking about Copyright, Piracy And Why SOPA/PIPA Are ‘Extremely Disturbing’.
Copyright terms have grown to be over a century. No reasonable person can claim that, with a term of less than a century, artists wouldn’t be adequately incentivized to create. So current copyright terms are clearly too long from the standpoint of what’s best for society overall. Personally, I think a twenty-five year term would be more than enough. Anyone who claims he wouldn’t bother creating if he could only commercially exploit his creation for a quarter century wasn’t going to create anything worthwhile anyway.
If you are at all interested in this stuff, you really should go read it right away!
Download and listen for free!
This week’s soundtrack arrives a day late, but better late than never, eh?
Listen, by Tryad, is an album described as “a mature work of melodic electronica”, and it fits that description perfectly. The album encompasses several different styles and moods, as it is a collective effort by 20 different musicians from all around the globe.
I really love this album, and I’ve listened to it quite a bit since I discovered it. It’s difficult to explain, but it stirs my feelings. It’s a roller coaster ride of emotions. You should really check it out.
Something that is very special about this album, apart from the fantastic songs, is that you are allowed to do a lot of different things with the content. Remember how I briefly mentioned that there’s a difference between “free as in free of charge” and “free as in freedom?”
This album is really free, as in freedom, as well as free of charge. It is licensed as CC-BY-SA (Creative Commons – Attribution – Share Alike). This means you are allowed to use the music in almost any way you can imagine, even for commercial purposes, as long as you give credit to the artists and distribute all derivative works under the same license.
At http://tryad.org/ you can support the artists by buying a CD or making a donation!
Have you got any favourites at Jamendo.com?
Download and listen for free!
Monday is turning into tuesday, but here is this week’s soundtrack: Love Technology by NeXuS
It’s packed full of great trance tunes and I never get tired of listening to it. As usual, you can download and listen to it free of charge at Jamendo.com!
Have you got any favourites at Jamendo?
Once again, monday rears its ugly head… To keep you going, here’s the soundtrack of the week!
Download and listen for free!
If you love retro video game music half as much as I do, you’re going to dig Digital Memories by LukHash. It’s electronica with a definite 8-bit chip tune edge. It’s energetic and I have a hard time sitting still whenever I’m listening to this album!
As always, this is an album that you can download and listen to free of charge, so what are you waiting for? Go check it out!
If you like it, you can support the artist in several ways. I imagine a donation is always welcome, for instance. But just spreading the word will help as well. What’s an artist without an audience, right?
I encourage you to visit http://www.lukhash.com/ where you can read more about the artist, download his music and watch videos. Oh, and remember to sign his guestbook and let him know what you think!
Have you got any personal favourites at Jamendo.com? Don’t keep ‘em to yourself. Share the love!
The soundtrack for this week is The Signal by BertycoX. It’s a fantastic dance / trance album with some awesome tunes. You can download it at Jamendo.com, free of charge, so check it out!
Enjoy the music!
Is there an artist and/or album at Jamendo.com that you would recommend?