70’s meets 80’s.

But don’t stop there. Watch the mashup side by side with the original and marvel at the mashupyness of it all.

[The Daily What > Nerdcore > Gizmodo > Here]

This is fantastic. Rock on violin dude!

Michael Shulman describes himself as a “neo classical shred violinist & dancer”. Whatever it is, I like it.

Last weekend Paula and I were in Space Oddity, a retro antique shop in Ballard, and I spotted a cool, old desk lamp. It reminded me a lot of the type of lamp my dad had on his desk when I was growing up. Since I have his antique desk, I thought, why not get the semi-antique lamp to go with it?

The lamp took two fluorescent bulbs (I hate fluorescent) and the switch on the lamp was broken. But, hey, it was 25 bucks, so why not?

A bit of clipping, drilling and wiring later I now have a retro lamp with some very nice xenon bulbs. The whole thing only took about an hour and a half, not bad for a Reeves project.

Wabbit basking under the clean white light of my “new” lamp.

My phone's camera has a mode where it takes a 3x3 or 2x2 grid of images by snapping pictures in series. Press the shutter button and it starts going. There's the typical camera phone lag to get started and then it takes pictures on its own schedule. I tried it on Finney and here's what I got:

Autopilot for picture taking ain't too bad. It just reinforces the same old "take lots of pictures, you'll get something you like."

What are the odds this Mini driver is a PM who attends a lot of loosely scheduled meetings?

Because I've become "one of those people" I've been taking a ton of pictures of Finney. When you take lots of pictures you often end up with something you didn't quite anticipate.

I took this while he was in the middle of playing with a rope toy. I've decided he doesn't look angry, just mildly insane... and that pleases me.

What's entertainment for a greyhound? Paula took a little video to give you a fairly clear picture:

It's been a while since I pulled down some good free music. I stopped obsessing over every Mercedes Benz Mixed tape and haven't gone on a mash-up bender for years. Yesterday, however, a couple free albums caught my attention.

Harvey Danger - Little by Little

Harvey Danger has put their third album up for a free download in the hopes that you'll try it, like it and buy it. While the album is free, the band is relying on your honesty to buy it if you like it. I personally like this model, partially because I have a huge tendency to feel guilty about intellectual copyright so I'm sure I'll pay if I like it. I do hope that enough of the public also steps up and pays because I'd be really cool to see this type of trust continue.

My take? It's catchy pop/rock with pervasive piano and harmonies giving it a decidedly Beatle-esque feel (which isn't bad in my book). And, heck, they're a Seattle band. Note: if you really like it you may want to get the CD since it has 9 more tracks.

Get it!

NIN|JA - Tour Sampler EP

Perhaps they're touring together because they have similar music, perhaps it's mutual respect between the bands... I think it's just because they realized that combining their names creates "NIN|JA". Whatever the reason, Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction (and Street Sweeper) are offering a free sampler album with two tracks from each band to help promote the tour. Unlike other "check us out, please" free albums, this one is promotional and doesn't come with the guilt of needing to donate money (other than you should go buy tickets and see them live... unless you're old like me and would probably break a hip in the mosh pit).

My take? Classic NIN and Jane's Addiction sound. Turn it up and let your ears bleed freely. I was also pleasantly surprised by Street Sweeper, a nice Industrial/Nu Metal blend with a bit of gansta' rap special sauce poured on top.

Get it!

Bonus album: At the NIN site you can get The Slip for free too.

Have you ever wondered what kind of people work at MS and what makes them tick? Hop on over to Microspotting to get the dirt. While you're there you can also really get to know Dan, a great dev who started as an intern on the Entourage team when I was a test lead there, Omar, a PM from the Entourage team (and also, coincidentally an intern there too), MC, who was on Mac office (Entourage was part of Mac Office)…. hey, this is just becoming a trip down memory lane. Clearly my friends haven't been pimping their fame (or I simply couldn't be bothered to read their blogs... of course, I blame them).

At any rate, it seems Ariel has a great knack for finding the personalities at Microsoft, and isn't shy about stalking them to get the story. Geeks and stalking? How can you pass that up?