Burkardt

On Wednesday night in March 11 at Carnegie Hall in New York City the legendary alternative rock band REM were paid tribute to from a wide swath of artists from generations past and generations pending. That REM has long been a favorite of many people; from as far back as the early 1980s all the way up through 2009; should come as no surprise. REM continues to test boundaries and challenge their listeners to think and appreciate and respect and endure. This surprisingly diverse group of artists all brought their A game to the table, even when they sometimes fell short. The artists came out, one after the other, each playing a song from the REM catalog; the following is as brief as I could get.

British DJ turned folk musician Fin Greenall (aka Fink) did his number on REM's newer The Apologist. The Apologist is admittedly not one of my favorite new REM songs however Fink did his own remix of it. Fink had his acoustic guitar and he created sounds with that guitar; I have no idea what effect he was using, but it was really cool. He also took the tempo down a little bit which, in this instance, was to good effect.

Calexico has been around for almost 20 years and have been playing all over the world. With their introduction the continuity and energy had been injected into the remainder of the evening. They played REM favorite Wendell Gee, even leading the audience in the signature call and response whistle, which was a lot of fun. Calexico was the house band for most of the other musicians and the guitarist and the bass player also added their vocal backup when needed.

Fans of alternative rock all know who Bob Mould is. An integral role in voice in the alternative rock movement, Mould has played with post punk rabble-rousers Husker Du as well as the college campus favorite Sugar. Many fans though who have fallen out of touch were not aware that Mould is still recording even to this day having just released two new albums in 2008 and 2009. Regardless, the varied audience of older fans as well as younger all rocked out when Mould got behind on the mic to perform 1,000,000.

Another treat for classic rock fans was the next performer, The Feelies. Rocking all through the late 70s and early 80s, The Feelies broke up in 1991 and just recently reunited on July 4, 2008. However the real treat for the classic REM fans was listening to their interpretation of Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars) from their breakout EP Chronic Town. The Feelies did not disappoint and they have kept that intoxicating energy about them.

Out from the wings, barefoot and beautiful walked Staten Island's own jazzy favorite Ingrid Michelson. Ingrid performed one of my favorite songs of all time, Nightswimming in about as unconventional way as anyone who is familiar with the song can imagine. She had a vocal playback loop which she recorded before our eyes of herself echoing the piano lines in the song. She dubbed one line, then a second, then a third; then played the three of them through control by a foot pedal. I found this approach unconventional and thrilling; I was, though, apprehensive to see my wife's reaction. You see Nightswimming was our wedding song; the first song we danced to as a married couple; and I was a little bit anxious at this unconventional presentation of the song. Again my fears were allayed when my dear wife turned to me at the song's conclusion with tears in her eyes. Ingrid Michelson also was the whole reason we were even at this REM tribute concert. Up until a few days ago, I hadn't heard a thing about this show. I had been doing some rudimentary research about musicians and came across Michelson's MySpace page which of course announced that she would be performing at this awesome event. For that, and for her brave rendering of a favorite song, I am grateful to her.

Taking it down a notch following the creative reimagining of Nightswimming was Scottish songsmith Glen Hansard. I had never heard of this gent before, but his completely beautiful and modest rendering of Hairshirt was glorious. Glen Hansard will definitely pop up on radar screens soon. Not just his delivery of this great song, but the song itself has always scored highly with me. On the record, the song fades out; on stage, Glen Hansard hunched his shoulders and inched off the stage, all the while sparsely playing his lone mandolin. It was a beautiful move but he had every reason to bask in the spotlight a little longer.

Indie-college fave The Apples in Stereo also played. I hadn't heard much from the Apples since Tone Soul Evolution, yet here they were with their rollicking rendering of So. Central Rain. The Apples in Stereo had two guitar players, a bass player, drummer, and keyboardist. However the lead singer also had a guitar; the only thing I thought about this was that his plucking along was a little distracting and I felt, unnecessary. He ended up violently thrashing the guitar at the songs end which was also a little bit out of place.

Marshall Crenshaw has been around for a long time. He is still turning out new work with his latest record coming out June 2, 2009. However this night, rather than dwell on the past Marshall Crenshaw looked to the future with the new REM cut, Supernatural Superserious. This song felt a little garbled, probably not least of which because this is a song from an album with which I am not very familiar. I was speaking to a gentleman after the show and we were talking about our impressions of the show. Both he and I were very impressed with the depth and breadth of the REM catalog so much so that, as he says it, REM is his favorite band emeritus. That was largely the impression I got from most of the fans there that were a lot more receptive to the earlier works and the elder musicians. However Crenshaw fused the two with a powerful rendition of a newer song from the REM catalog.

Kimya Dawson entered the stage with a colorfully dressed troupe of dancers. Dawson then sat down on a wood backed chair next to her cross-legged xylophone player on the floor and admitted to the audience what probably a lot of these artists were feeling this night; she was so nervous. She said the song she was about to sing, “means the world to me. So I better not mess it up.” Dawson went on to sing World Leader Pretend, which is about as political as we got this evening. The dancers were all done up in comical dinosaur garb and authortarian police regime and faux battled with one another. Kimya Dawson is going to be one of those names that's going to be around for quite some time, much like the next artist.

One of the real treat to being able to go to this REM concert was to be able to see one of my favorite artists up close. Dar Williams has long been shaking things up in the folk music community and speaking her mind and we could not love her more for it. She came out onto the stage and made one of the only announcements before singing of the evening. “It's really great that we're able to the raise this money for the arts.” Dar Williams then dove into the very sweet, At My Most Beautiful. To know her is to love her and enough good can't be said about this folksy superstar. I've long felt as though she were an intimate friend just from her involved manner of storytelling. Her singing of the REM tune evoked much the same.

When Hootie and the Blowfish front man Darius Rucker got up and belted out “I Believe,” I thought that maybe Michael Stipe had influenced him more then he would like to admit. Darius Rucker was the only singer of the evening who did the Michael Stipe on the microphone. Fans of REM know exactly what on talking about; the gyrating and thrusting hips; his arms spread out open wide and then collapsing around and caressing the whole of the microphone; it were as though the spirit of Michael Stipe had inhabited the body of Darius Rucker. Regardless it was a beautiful rendition of this amazing song.

For fans of alternative music there are really a few names that everybody knows. David Bowie, Perry Farrell, the Pixies; however there is one name that lives in infamy in the alternative rock scene and has for such a long time. Patti Smith is about as respected a musician as any. When she came out to pay tribute to Michael Stipe and REM, she was as humble as can be. Her set closed out the night, but she stated by praising her friendship with the singer, “Michael Stipe was there for me when I was down and I haven't been down so low since.” Patti Smith came out and sang a newer REM song, and New Test Leper which really brought the whole evening to a wonderful close. Patti Smith has so much heart that even when she gets lost in the words she is still stunning.

That was when Michael, Mike, and Peter came on stage! Michael's Stipe has grown a very long, gray beard, if you can imagine that. Mike Mills and Peter Buck appear essentially the same and the three of them got up with Patti Smith to sing one last song before the evening really ended out. Patti Smith did some background vocal work on REMs New Adventures in Hi-Fi record. Hi-Fi was from where her New Test Leper was from and Hi-Fi also included the Billboard Hot 100 song E-Bow: The Letter. E-Bow is an emotional apology to River Phoenix regarding a letter and written but never sent by Michael Stipe to the actor expressing concern for his substance abuse. As always, Stipe, Mills, and Buck were amazing and the evening crested to a beautiful crescendo of applause where all the musicians came out on stage.

While sitting there in Carnegie Hall, soaking up the memories of where I was when I heard all those songs for the first time, hearing them again in a completely different way; it suddenly occurred to me why REM are such a great band. The really beautiful thing about REM and the really beautiful moment I had while sitting in Carnegie Hall was how long and deep a catalog of songs the band actually had. These are such different songs, spanning almost 30 years and they touch people in ways that are as different as can be. For the artists listed above and the other performers of the evening Rachel Yamagata, Guster, Vic Chestnutt, Rhett Miller, Kristin Hersh, Keren Ann, Jolie Holland, and The Db's; I wish I'd had more room to praise you all.

The one common thread to all these musicians and all of the crowd in Carnegie Hall is that they were influenced and inspired by this one amazing band. REM transcend boundaries and categorization and have always encouraged their fans to do as they and march to a beat all your own.

via http://Lorvero.bravejournal.com

Si la tumulte dit vrai, microsoft aura l’occasion de émettre sa Xbox 360 Slim lors du circonvoisin E3 ou à la games convention, l’été prochain. Sony recevoir ressortir sa PS3 Slim à l’automne 2009, la fréquence semble propice pour voir démissionner une Xbox 360 remodelée. attention, question à prendre avec des pique-feus : la Xbox 360 Slim serait en rue sans issues de élaboration ! Donc que nous vous en causer jà en auguste 2009, le site asiatique A9VG a prêch une pellicule de ce qui est men de même quecomme la cartel génitrice de la Xbox 360 slim. à Quoi Bon ? Tout carrément car pour la fondamental fois, la tarot stratagème le CPU et le GPU sur une ejusdem farinae puce. Un gain de métier ? visiblement, d’autant que cette réorganisation faire ferait alliancee d’un redesign pur de la machine. En issue du boudoir E3 2010 (15 - 17 juin à Los angeles), ce soir à 19 liturgies (heure française), microsoft arrangera formellement son kit de radar de fougue pour la Xbox 360. Connu jusqu’à PES 2011 étrenne sous le nom Spéculation natal, la société de redmond a devin hier son nom admis : kinect. une nom qui fait le lien avec la quantité de télécommunications errants KIN prédestiner aux neufs exquiss de chaînex sociaux. Songer que kinect fut avanc il y a tout sûr un an lors de l’e3 toutes les vidéos xbox 360.

Pour ceux qui ne connaissent pas de nouveau le germe d’un coopérer seo, c’est formidablementtrès simple. Il s’agit de triompher à régler son site, son sous-domaine ou sa page dans les grands sièges des portées des animateurs de maniérisme pour la objurgation spécifiée, ici motercalo et dans le hasard accorder par l’organisateur. Ce qui est sans cesse amusant c’est le nom de la demande choisie. Je me mandement bien à l'instar decomme motercalo est apparu dans leur esprit… Mais à l'exemple decomme d’habitude je pars hors incursion puisqu’utilisant un suranné site plus accueillant a substance agora dans les gratins pages, mais ça permet bleu d’augmenter la perception de mon annuaire! Eh Bien en attendant un élémentaire point sur l’évolution du aider motercalo, je vais en subsister là pour le moment. le étoffe : Vous avez le collection de du statuaire et de l'inox. l'intérêtde l'inxox est qu'il s'use infinimenttrès peu et est sérieusementtrès volontiers lavable. Les cérémonies en inox sont par malgré communément plus aimables que ceux en plastique. le bruit : les motercalos sont plus ou moins bruyantes. la droit (en watts) : plus la motercalo est puissante, plus elle vous permettra de comprendre vos jus rapidement. Plus elle sera malgré cela consomatrice d'electricité. la régime de alternat (tour/minute) : plus la motercalo a la puissance de pivoter vite, plus vous voler efficacité revivre un jus d'une puissante finesse. le prix : les prix fluctuer de certains dizaines d'euros à beaucoup centaines, si vous regarder conscience un usager assidu, il vaut peut essence préférable assiéger dans un régler plus cher qui aura franchement une continu de vie et un hygiène d'utilisation plus important. si vous juger appliquer votre motercalo de manière intermittentle un plier remarquable prix pourra sans irrésolution convenir. la action (en litre) : Indubitablees motercalos permettent de se réconforter le jus tout droit dans un casse manifeste (verre,bol), à ce moment-là que d'autres incluent un verre qui enrayer le jus nez que vous le prélèviez. les épaisseurs : Si vous avez peu de condition dans votre alimentation meilleur vaut élire pour un régler plus petit, si ce n'est pas le cas ce preuve n'est pas prépondérant. facilité de nettoiement/rinçage : Le nettoyage d'une motercalo est plus ou moins aisé, plus les poèmes qui sont en tact avec les biens sont de états complexes, plus le blanchissage sera difficile. Sélectionner donc pour un tripoter agiter des rations peu grand à curer et avec le minimum de états violent possible.

The Associated Press report that heiress Paris Hilton had pledged herself to helping raise the public's awareness of the plight of India's pachyderms who have fallen victim to dipsomania has been retracted by the newswire. The AP story reported that Hilton was concerned with rogue elephants with a taste for he high life who have been purloining the rice beer brewed by villagers. According to the hoax, the drunken beasts had been raising some serious hell by going on a toot with a belly full of the home-brew. The beer-maddened pachyderms, apparently as ethereal as the pink elephants on an inebriate's wall, were said to represent an injury threat not only to themselves, but to innocent villagers, spectators and random passers-by as well.

In what might seem to be a parody news item straight out of the satirical “newspaper” The Onion, but apparently wasn't until the story was retracted by AP, the heiress Paris Hilton had allegedly taken upon her svelte shoulders the burden of drawing attention to the problem of binge-drinking among the genus Elephantidae of the order Proboscidae. (This certainly gives a whole new meaning to having a “snootful”.) In a post on the Web Site of the World Entertainment News Network, a German information and photo broker, Paris has supposedly issued a passionate plea for the public's understanding of the potted pachyderm:

“The elephants get drunk all the time. It is becoming really dangerous. We need to stop making alcohol available to them.”

In the logic of the hoax, the heiress had intended to do for Indian elephants what she could not do for her dear friend Britney Spears: Help them hitch a ride on the water wagon.

Indian farmers' homemade rice beer has enticed elephants for generations, according to the “experts” quoted by the news item, and often a batch of brew proves to be the fuse that once lit (or licked up), sets off a rogue rampage. As evidence, it was said that six wild pachyderms in the Indian state of Meghalaya got properly pissed after imbibing rice wine and were electrocuted after tearing down an electricity pylon. Whether they were singing “Little Brown Jug” while engaged in their dangerous hijinx was not related.

Paris Hilton was ripe for being the subject of the hoax as she has personal experience with the deleterious effects of the consumption of alcohol, beer, wine, spirits and other forms of strong waters. In June, she was incarcerated for violating her probation in a reckless driving case in which booze was a mitigating factor.

Hilton, in Tokyo Japan in early November to serve as a judge at a beauty contest, was said to have addressed the Japanese press about the plight of the electrocuted elephants.

“There would have been more casualties if the villagers hadn't chased them away. And four elephants died in a similar way three years ago,” commiserated the great-granddaughter of Conrad Hilton, the founder of the hotel chain that bears the family name. “It is just so sad.”

Anxious not to go the way of her friend Britney and become even more of a laughing stock than she already is for her videotaped sexcapades, Hilton earlier made an ill-fated attempt to burnish her image. Her plans to do charity work in Rwanda ultimately were frustrated, though she does plan to visit the African country next year. So far, these allegations are accepted as true by the mass media.

A spokesman for a group calling itself People for Animals, Sangeeta Goswami, informed the Associated Press that she was thrilled that a celebrity has taken up the case of the benighted critters.

“I am indeed happy Hilton has taken note of recent incidents of wild elephants in northeast India going berserk after drinking homemade rice beer and getting killed,” she said about the heiress' alleged plot to help the sundry-ton toss-pots toe the line of sobriety.

In a related development, the makers of “Hello Kitty” merchandise introduced a Paris Hilton Hello Kitty doll in Japan. A plain specimen, without any clothes, retails for 5,000 yen (approximately US$45.00), but many outfits and accessories are available to be purchased separately.

The comfort girl then jetted over to Shanghai, China to attend the 2007 MTV Awards and Style Gala, which will be held on November 22, 2007 at the Shanghai Grand Stage. The heiress, the epitome of the “Filthy Rich” in her style and demeanor, did not stay at the family's hotel but took a room at the Hyatt on the Bund. MTV China reports that Hilton, who has acquired three evening dresses from Xintiandi's Shanghai Tang, might put on a mini fashion show at the Gala.

In related developments, Fox News reports that yet another Paris Hilton sex tape has arisen and is being featured on the Internet, in a cold version on YouTube and a hot version on a bespoke Web site, Paris Exposed. The footage features the hotel heiress romping starkers in a large bathtub. While Paris preens and shows off her private parts in the uncensored version, an unidentified male cameraman says in a voice-over, “If you were with us before, this is issue No. 3 of the Paris Hilton sex tape.”

The tape likely was part of Hilton's belongings held in a Los Angeles storage facility that she forfeited in November 2005, after failing to pay her bill . The heiress' property was auctioned off to anonymous buyer and the sex tape subsequently surfaced and was duly exploited by Internet entrepreneurs peddling sleaze.

In a blast from the past, former lover James McCauley, who was linked to Hilton when both were teenagers attending the Provo Canyon School in Orem, Utah in 1998, revealed that he had a cache of letters from her. The 25-year-old McCauley is peddling the epistles to magazines. The missives reportedly contain Hilton's confessions about her dysfunctional sex life and the intense psychological therapy she underwent as a child.

A new startup is launching its private beta at TechCrunch Disrupt today, aiming to index all of the web’s events, bring them together in a single place and make them searchable by time, type or category. That startup, Live Matrix, also also offers publisher tools to advertise events through widgets and RSVP tools that can be embedded anywhere on the Internet.

Live Matrix co-founder Nova Spivack calls it “the first schedule for all the different kinds of things taking place online.” While that applies to online video events — like those scheduled on live streaming sites like Livestream and Ustream — Live Matrix doesn’t stop there. In addition to audio and video webcasts, the site also tracks gaming events, shopping events and auctions, events taking place in virtual worlds, tournaments, contests and product and content launches on other websites.

Liz over at GigaOM first reported on Live Matrix in March. Since then, the startup has been busy adding events and publishing partners and now indexes about 80,000 events on the web per week. While it crawls the Internet looking for events, the startup also offers a number of tools to make sure their live events and easily accessible to users. Publisher tools include a web-based CMS to manage events, widgets that can be posted on their own websites to promote those events, as well as RSVP and reminder capabilities to make sure users show up.

The programming guide divides events into categories and subcategories, all of which can list events by time or popularity, giving users a view into how many people plan to show up. The site allows users to make schedules of events they plan to attend, and eventually plans to give personal recommendations based on events they’ve RSVP’d for.

In addition, Live Matrix captures deep analytics around the event, including an algorithm that can predict the number of attendants, which can help publishers with capacity planning and even ad sales. To determine how many users may show up at any given event, Live Matrix takes into account the number of users that have RSVP’d and the number that have shared the event with others. By tracking user activity, the site can also help predict whether or not a user will show up based on previous events, as well as being able to determine his or her influence when inviting others to join.

Live Matrix was founded by CEO Sanjay Reddy, formerly SVP of Corporate Development for Gemstar-TV Guide, as well as serial entrepreneur Spivack, who holds the title of president. The company has six employees in offices in L.A. and San Francisco, as well as an offshore engineering team. Angel investors in the startup include Lucid Ventures, Allen Morgan, Lori Taylor and Paige Craig.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user skyseeker.

If we had to choose one word to sum up this week’s essential resources, it would have to be “business.” If you own a business, work for a business, or even give money to businesses in exchange for goods and services, you’ll want to scroll on down and take a look at how even one week’s worth of social media news has shaped your industry.

Additionally, we we still have some good old fashioned mobile app reviews, some important FacebookFacebook privacy tips, and an interesting look at the way governments and agencies are using social media to better engage. So what exactly are you waiting for? Get started!

Social Media

• In Defense of Facebook
  With all the vitriol surrounding Facebook’s latest privacy gaffs, this post takes a moment to look at the people most responsible for our online privacy — ourselves.
• How Facebook Makes Edgy Concepts Mainstream
  Two years ago, the thought of sharing your location or credit card purchase history online would have seemed ridiculous. Today, it grows ever more mainstream thanks to major social networks like Facebook that make these early-adopter trends more comfortable for the average user.
• Why Twitter Needs to Do More to Save Trending Topics
  Twitter recently amended its trending topics algorithm in the hopes of producing more relevant and newsworthy results. But is this an interference in the natural development of popular topics? And is Twitter doing enough to remain a relevant source of real-time news? This post takes a hard look.
• How the U.S. Engages the World with Social Media
  You might be surprised to learn that the U.S. Department of State and many of its embassies around the world are having great success shaping America’s image abroad through social media. We spoke with some of the diplomats and officials who are making a difference through Twitter and Facebook.
• 21 Rules for Social Media Engagement
  If you’re creating a social media policy for your business, or even your personal brand, these 21 points are a surefire way to stay on track and on message in an online world full of noise.
• 5 Innovative Websites That Could Reshape the News
  While traditional journalism remains in upheaval, a handful of startups have provided a glimpse at what the future of news gathering might look like on the social web. Whether these models are sustainable remains to be seen. Check out this post for look at some of these innovators.
• 5 Essential Facebook Privacy Tips
  If you’re not cognizant of your Facebook privacy settings, you may be broadcasting things to the world (or even certain groups of friends or family) that you may not have intended. Note these important settings to ensure you stay in control of your social data.
• How Social Media is Changing Government Agencies
  Agencies around the world are finding that social media is more than a broadcast medium. Active engagement can serve the public in important ways. Here are some examples.
• EXCLUSIVE: Behind the Scenes at the “Married on MySpace” Wedding
  We got an exclusive chance to go behind the scenes at the actual wedding of winning couple Dehlia and Graeham Ford-Feliz.
• TwitPic Founder Talks About the Future of Twitter Photo Sharing
  TwitPicTwitpic has become one of the most popular ways to share photos on Twitter. With a recent facelift and a lot of attention from prospective buyers, the company has some big plans in the works. We spoke to the founder, Noah Everett, to get his take on TwitPic’s rapid growth and future.

For more social media news and resources, you can follow Mashable’sMashable social media channel on TwitterTwitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Tech & Mobile

• 8 Best Android Apps for Photo Editing
  Looking to add a few tricks to your Android’sAndroid photography bag? Check out these eight apps that will have you cropping, filtering, and snazzing up those mobile snaps in no time.
• 10 Awesome Vintage Video Games You Can Play Online
  We dare you not to kill some time with these fabulous classics from gaming’s golden yesteryears. Strap in and click through to start reliving your former 8-bit glory.
• 5 Tools For Integrating HTML5 Video in Your Website
  HTML5 is coming, and with it the coded potential to displace Flash as a viable medium for web video. These tools will get you rolling with the new format.
• Five Amazing App and Gadget Demos from Google I/O
  GoogleGoogle and its partners are rolling out some amazing new products and toys in the near future. We were on the ground at the I/O conference to get a hands-on video look at some of these developments.
• How the Next iPhone Will Improve Your Productivity
  The upcoming release of the new iPhone and its accompanying OS upgrade means a lot of important changes for power users. Here’s a breakdown of the key features.

For more tech news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s tech channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Business

• 5 Ways Small Businesses Can Use Tech to Save Money
  If you’re looking to trim a few dollars from this quarter’s budget, the resources you need may be starting back at you from you from this very screen. Check out these penny-pinching tech tips.
• How Venture Capitalists are Using Social Media for Real Results
  While you probably won’t learn the nitty-gritty details of a deal on Twitter, VCs and angels use social media extensively for research, promotion and other purposes. This post explores some of their strategies.
• Which Department Owns Social Media?
  Does a company’s social media presence belong to the marketing department? Customer service? Legal? We asked the experts how they categorize the versatile medium for business.
• 13 Essential Tips for Landing a Job on LinkedIn
  Are you effectively managing your LinkedInLinkedIn profile? Here are 13 tips for making yourself visible and presentable on the business network.
• HOW TO: Market Your Small Business With No Budget
  The social web makes it more cost-effective than ever to get the word out about your business, no matter what industry you’re in. We spoke to the experts for their cost-cutting tips.
• 4 Tips for B2B Marketing on Facebook
  Even if you sell to other businesses, Facebook can still be a great place to engage customers and drive sales. Check out these four strategies.
• Why Your Company Needs to Embrace Social CRM
  Social media is changing the rules of customer engagement. Your company needs to understand and embrace Social CRM to meet the needs of the new social customer. This post discusses how.
• 5 Surprising Social Media Business Success Stories
  When most think of social media for business, fun, consumer-facing brands come to mind. But what about B2B and niche products? These five success stories may surprise you.
• 5 More Simple Tools for a Paperless Office
  Looking for ways to reduce your small business’ carbon footprint and operating costs? Cut your paper consumption with these five web-based services.

For more business news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s business channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Image courtesy of iStockphotoiStockphoto, IlexImage

For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Hello!

dies ist mein neuer Blog! Ich freue mich wirklich, dass wir nun starten!

Eure Mareike

Lieben Gruß