I thought about entitled this post OMG!BESTSHOWEVER!, but I figured that would be a bit immature. Seriously though, you need to see this show as a citizen of this here planet earth. Also, if you have an HD set it will be far and away the best picture you will ever see via HD cable. I have the first three episodes permanently stored on my HD DVR in order to show people the difference that HD can make in not only quality but telling a story. Check out the show’s website for more information.

“All I’m asking is anybody who wants to say I didn’t do enough (to stop Bin Laden), you read Richard Clarke’s book” -President Bill Clinton

That was more than enough of an endorsement for me. I picked up Clarke’s book as an audiobook and have been listening to it the past couple of days and been enthralled. While the audiobook version is abridged, and it does feel a little short, it is a fascinating inside look at the “war on terror” and steps leading up to 9/11 as well as blunder that is the Iraq war.

One of my biggest fears in reading the book was that Clarke would have an obvious bias for either the Democratic or Republican administrations, however it doesn’t appear to be the case. Seeing as Clarke worked for 3 Republican administrations and one Democrat, I’ve come to the conclusion that he was a public servant first, and political hack second. However, he clearly feels that Clinton was the only President that did anything to not only stop terrorists, but also stop the root causes of terrorism, something he felt all of the Republican Presidents missed.

His look into the more recent Bush’s White House is equally interesting as the issues have exploded onto the news. Especially in regards to Rice’s tenure as National Security Advisor and Rumsfeld/Cheney’s insistence on attacking Iraq regardless of their non-role in 9/11.

All in all it is a really great book giving a ground work for those of us who want to understand, at least on a little deeper level, how something like 9/11 happened. Check it out if you have the chance.

This is one of those rare documentaries that has a both a compelling and true narrative. It of course has the standard interviews holding it all together, but the film and the story of the people really take on a life of their own. Combined it makes for a very interesting exposé on whether or not our brand, the American brand of democracy, can and should, be applied to foreign nations and their electorates.

I don’t want to spoil the events that occur in the documentary, but I just wanted to give the film a glowing endorsement. It is definitely worth netflixing or renting. Plus it has James Carville in it, and who doesn’t love to hear him espouse his ideas on democracy.

Until next time….courage.

I (finally) picked up the new John Mayer album (Continuum) tonight on an always exciting trip to target. In addition to the album we purchased a bike rack for the car but it doesn’t fit. You think they’d put that kind of info on the box? Maybe?

Anyway…this album is fantastic. Different than everything else, including his trio work, yet still…John. Now, I wasn’t all that big of a fan of Heavier Things, a few tracks are good, but it just didn’t click with me so I didn’t ever buy it. So for me to run out to the store and give another studio album a chance I had to do some serious meta-convincing. But it was so worth it. It’s intimate, dynamic and all around…it. “It” being exactly what I look for in good music.

I relate to this album as 23-year-old Matt in the same way I related to Inside Wants Out as an 18-year-old punk college kid…it just fits with me right now. Stop this Train is my new anthem and Gravity alone forced me to pick my electric guitar and jam along. And yes the groves are big enough that the girlfriend has already reprimanded me for foot-stopping.*

*Just kidding she’s already asleep and I wouldn’t want to wake her. :) Have a great night everybody and until next time…courage!

p.s. Here are a few other good tracks to check out today: Beautiful Man (Lori McKenna), Better Than Bleeding (L’altra) and the World Spins Madly On (The Weepies).

Anyway, I caught the pilot and the show appears to be everything I hoped it would be…needless to say check it out next week at 9 p.m. (central) on your local NBC affiliate.

Check this great preview of the show on the youtube.

Update: Here is a great review from the New York Times on the show.

So when I read the news a couple of months ago that the company was up for sale I just about went into panic mode thinking that we needed to raid every store in the Lawrence (and maybe KC) that sold the notebooks and buy enough last forever (okay so at least for another year). However, it appears that the new company (a french one mind you) is serious about continuing the brand and the quality of the notebooks. Considering Société générale (the aforementioned French company) purchased the company for about $76,590,000 (around 60,000,000 euros).

Hopefully said french company realizes that the reason consumers love these notebooks is not because they are cheap, but because they are premium products. They cost anywhere from 10 to 20 bucks, but it is well worth it in that they are not only great to write in but make you feel good while writing. Maybe it is just some hipster-persona-poser thing but I feel like I write or come up with better ideas when sipping a cup of coffee and writing in such a beautiful notebook. I just can’t help it.

Here is a picture of the exterior of my small notebook as well as a sample page. The page interestingly enough was my checklist for setting up this weblog. Oh, analog and digital.

I can’t stress enough how great these notebooks are for writing, doodling, planning, scheduling or just jotting down ideas and concept for future use. So here’s to the frenchmen/women who purchased one of my favorite companies, and lets hope they understand the brand enough to not screw it up.

It’s absolutely essential that the user own the domain that their feed is hosted at, so that, in case of emergency, they can switch to a different hosting service. If they don’t own the domain, it doesn’t matter how many promises the vendor makes, or how well-intentioned they are, an act of god could result in a blackout of a huge portion of the RSS network. Or an act of government.” -Dave Winer

Here is the original post from Steve Rubel that re-spawned Dave’s comment.

Apparently the problem has been solved but that doesn’t renew my faith in someone else having control over the syndication of my content. I’m sure the feedburner people are great, and provide an interesting service…but I don’t like having a company in control of my stuff.

I can across Rhymefest after recently subscribing to a WBEZ Chicago podcast entitled Sound Opinions. It is a podcast hosted by a couple of music critics from chi-town, and they recently hosted an interview with Rhymefest discussing everything from his contribution to Kanye West’s “Jesus Walks” (which Rhymefest originally created), to the current situation in Christian/Muslim/Jewish relations. They also discussed the current scene in hip hop, and what follows is the main reason I got interested in his music.

“Someone said to me, ‘you know the problem with Rhymefest?’ I said what’s the problem with Rhymefest? He said ‘the idea of Rhymefest is too complex. From the name to the music. He said ‘it’s not cut and dry, it’s not like ‘I got rims, look, my rims. You like rims? These are rims.’ You know? ‘I got hoes. You like hoes? These are hoes, here look at my, I got the best hoes.’ The idea of Rhymefest is just listen and understand, and then twist into. But I said to him those are the people that I want. The ones that are willing to think.” -Rhymefest, from Sound Opinions

He reminds me of intelligent rappers like Tribe, J-5, De la, etc…

Back to what Rhymefest has been up to recently. So you know that Kanye guy that recently won a grammy for best rap song. Yeah, Rhymefest cowrote that. Kind of a big deal I guess? Rhymefest originally rooted out the samples in the song, and wrote a couple of verses when he sent it off to Kanye in order for the song to get out there. What is most interesting about the song is that Rhymefest is a practicing Muslim. Check another great quote from Sound Opinions discussing that topic:

Interviewer: “How did a Muslim come to write “Jesus Walks” with Kanye?”

Rhymefest: “Because the thought of God having mercy upon sinners is not one that is lost upon…the Muslims, the Jewish people, or the Christians. This is universal. All-Mighty-God having mercy upon sinners. What’s more universal than that?

And what we don’t admit is that the God that the Christians pray to, and that the Jews and the Muslims pray to is the really all the same God. We all believe in one-omnipotent creator, so its really the same God. The Jews believe that Jesus existed, the Muslims believe that Jesus existed, the Christians believe that Jesus existed, so why can’t we come together and make a song called “Jesus Walks.” And its even further more of a testament of why can’t a Palestinians and an Israelis get together and make a beautiful song? If a Muslim and a Christian can do it? You know what I mean?”

Yes I do in fact know what he means. I can’t explain how excited it makes me feel that there are intelligent musicians still out there. So far I’ve just downloaded the song I heard on Sound Opinions entitled Devil’s Pie and has become my new summer anthem. I sat at my desk compositing some green screen tests yesterday bopping my head and tapping my foot uncontrollably. Let us just say that it is good. Very good. I plan on making a trip to the Love Garden next week to pick a few new CDs…after pay day of course. At least check out Devil’s Pie if for no other reason than that Rhymefest calls out Ashcroft, Bush, Rumsfield and Rice all in one stanza. Excellent.

For more great summer hip hop be sure to check out J-5′s latest offering, Cut Chemist’s solo album (a former J-5 DJ) and relative newcomers, the Strange Fruit Project (endorsed by Harper and his pal Approach).

Anyway, back to the shoes. I’ve been sporting the New Balance for about 4 years now and gone through at least 2 pairs of 474s (which have been discontinued) and 4 pairs of 574s (slightly darker in color than the 474). Due to my wide and very flat feet the 574s are one of the few shoes that actually fit. Consequently, I am always on a quest for a grey pair in my size (11D I might ad). So, when we stumbled across a pair at the Finish Line in the Legends Shopping Center I was super excited and immediately whipped out the visa.

Thus, I bring you all…NEW SHOE DAY!