DIY: Open Source Filmmaking

Is this an opportunity to do the cheapest music video ever?: "Stray Cinema is an open source film. Here you are able to download and re-edit the raw footage from a film we have shot in London. This will provide people from all over the world with an opportunity to create their own version of the film. Stray Cinema will navigate the film experiment out of the online digital world, into the 'real world' with a screening of the top five films in London. The footage shot in London is the first of many open source films to be provided by Stray Cinema". <http://straycinema.com/>

Digital Media: MP3tune offers unlimited personal music storage

MP3tunes provides free, unlimited audio storage through its "music locker" service. The Oboe Free music locker is advertising supported and includes unlimited music storage that can be accessed through any web browser, but individual files are limited to 10MB each. A premium service ($39.95/yr.) lets you play your music on web-capable devices as well, increases the individual file size to 50MB, backs up your DRM tracks (iTunes), accesses album cover art, includes customer support, and gets rid of the ads. <http://www.mp3tunes.com/>

DIY: Indie Insider - first online entertainment news magazine for the indie music community

With product distribution, national touring, radio airplay, music video production and the rest at their disposal, indie musicians have just about every service enjoyed bymusicians with major labels. One notable exception is coverage of news, information and promotional events on a national scale. The Indie Insider is a broadband entertainment news magazine program featuring topics for indie musician and fans.
Topics covered on the program include:
• Label launches
• CD releases
• Music video releases
• Corporate sponsored and philanthropic events
• Tours, competitions, concerts, festivals, etc.
• Performances at legendary clubs
• Educational & informational programs (legal, marketing, etc.)
• Deals
There's a video promo at <http://www.indieinsider.tv/IndieInsiderPromo.html>.
<http://www.indieinsider.tv>

Reading: The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe

Mulling over whether the depletionists are right that the exhaustion of our store of fossil fuels will end Life As We Know It and that we are destined to wind up fighting over rainwater and wild berries got me to thinking about Robinson Crusoe. Daniel Defoe's tale, actually titled Life and strange and surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, is the story of a man stranded on a desert island -- only for 28 years, while our problems loom into forever, but still, Crusoe's creation of a kingdom for himself based on salvage and taming animals, gathering fruit, growing crops and hunting is a source of hope and inspiration. And a truly great read nearly 300 years after it was written.
Robinson Crusoe on line:
Bibliomania <http://www.bibliomania.com/0/0/17/31/frameset.html>
The Literature Network: <http://www.online-literature.com/defoe/crusoe/>
Electronic Text Center (U. of Virginia.): <http://etext.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/DefCru1.html>

Bandwidth: MP3tunes offers unlimited personal music streaming

"MP3tunes is announcing free, unlimited storage music lockers for everyone. Oboe -- our music locker technology -- has been out for more than a year. We've refined the process and are ready to invite the world to come create an Oboe music locker...." The rest of the story: MP3tunes founder Michael Robertson's Blog <http://mp3tunes.com/>

Pencil Sharpening: David Caruso Parks His Car

Since his return to prime time on CSI Miami, the star of the series, David Caruso, with his ridiculously over-the-top readings of the emptily portentous dialogue offered up by the writers (in defense of my trade it needs to be asserted that the writers must be kidding), has been the uncontested victor in the annual race for the Captain Kirk Vainglorious Acting Crown:
Endless David Caruso One-Liners
David Caruso Parks His Car
And here, to clear the palette, is a little something that has nothing to do with David Caruso.

Good Eatin': Frozen Food Safety (USDA)

"Foods in the freezer -- are they safe? Every year, thousands of callers to the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline aren't sure about the safety of items stored in their own home freezers. The confusion seems to be based on the fact that few people understand how freezing protects food. Here is some information on how to freeze food safely and how long to keep it." -- from the website. USDA's Focus On Freezing fact sheet.

Esoterica: Damn Interesting dot com

DamnInteresting.com is a collection of things that are, well, damn interesting. Imagine my surprise, though, to find there the candirú, an Amazonian predator, also known as the pencil fish, an ornery little critter after which, in a pixilated moment in the 70s, I named a summer house (in a neighborhhood of "Beach Havens" and "Summer Breezes" and "Dune Dreamings," a retreat paying tribute to a parasite that swims up the urethra of its victims and digs itself in with sharp spikes before chewing into an artery was a welcome conversation-ender). Although a few of these posts could be described as "news," mostly the site's writers are interested in uncovering fascinating facts and ideas, from the past, the present, or anticipated in the future. <http://www.DamnInteresting.com/>

Music: Indie Punk Rock

Indie Punk Rock Podcast, a free service, has been launched with the goal of making it easier to find new independent punk.

“Podcasting is very significant for independent music," says DJ Indie of Indie Punk Rock Podcast. "It has fueled the rise of amateur DJs - like myself - who are helping consumers and media discover music that they might never otherwise have heard of. Podcasting also addresses a new generation of youth - 'Generation i' - who don't own radios or CD players, but who own computers and iPods. For this new generation, podcasting is what FM radio has been to past generations."

Listeners can play the podcast on the website or have new podcast episodes automatically delivered to their computer when they are posted to the site, according to a press release. <http://myspace.com/IndiePunkRockPodcast>

Caveat Emptor: Wherefore Art Thou, Romeo

"We want to help all you fabulous single women out there navigate your way through the confusing world of online dating by giving it a sense of community. Since we're all in search of that great single guy to marry, or just to date, why not help each other out by writing reviews and sharing what we know? After all, one woman's frog could be another woman's prince. It's the next best thing to a background check -- and much more fun! So go ahead...start writing ladies!" -- from the website. <http://www.WhatDoYouKnowAboutRomeo.com/>

Video: Learn to Speak Body (YouTube)

Here's an entertaining language instruction video from choreographer Mitchell Rose and the BodyVox dance company. But instead of a foreign tongue, the tape teaches the grammatical intricacies of body language. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9YTxff3pHU>

On the Road: The Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame

The Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame, co-located with the Experience Music Project in the landmark Frank Gehry building at the base of the Space Needle in Seattle, is "a nonprofit organization created to inspire new generations to reach beyond the present, imagine the future and explore the infinite possibilities of the universe," according to the website. <http://www.sfhomeworld.org/>