This is wild, I tell you! Instruments made from car parts, forged into what I think is one of the most innovative car commercials I’ve seen. Props to The Car Music Project!

h/t: Make Magazine

Ordinarily I would post this on the political blog, but it’s such an unusual video, and has so many musicians that are wonderful and inspiring that I’m going to share it here. No matter which candidate you are supporting, one of the messages of the video is that we, as a collective whole, can bring about change. And the other message is one that I believe in with all of my heart: VOTE. Please, if you’re living in a Super Tuesday state, get out and vote Tuesday. If you live in a state with a caucus or primary coming after Super Tuesday, VOTE. Vote for your candidate, whoever that is, Democrat or Republican. Let’s make this primary and the subsequent general election about empowering the electorate to speak and be heard.

Technorati Tags: yes we can, obama, vote, election, primary, Super Tuesday

Julie asked for us to tell about our experience with the arts in school and where they fit in education. It’s no secret that I believe the arts should be considered as essential to students’ educational experience as reading, science and math. Here are some of the benefits our family has derived from having arts opportunities during our time with the public schools:

• College Scholarship for full tuition + extra for expenses
• First semester college grade report came today. 18 Units taken, 18 completed, GPA 3.667, 8 As, 2 Bs. Total units completed via AP and class attendance: 28
• Part-time work for a local music company as a transcriber, making twice the hourly pay of other part-time jobs.
• A performance like this:

Click To Play

I don’t intend to sound braggy, because I attribute none of his success to anything I did or didn’t do. I do, however, give major credit to the opportunities he was given all the way through his public school journey with regard to music and the arts.

Long-term readers of this blog know that the subject of those bullet items is my ADHD-officially-classified-at-risk-middle-son (aka Sticks), who is a kickass drummer (at least in my motherly opinion) now attending college on a full Jazz Studies scholarship. Short, skinny and hyper, he made his mark through high school with a pair of drumsticks and graduated with honors and local recognition because he had the opportunity to learn, play, perform, and compete in the school music programs.

Studies prove that music enhances student’s learning abilities, just as physical exercise helps them to focus on their studies. But with all of the emphasis on NCLB, arts programs are dwindling, underfunded and the red-headed stepchildren of many, many school systems. By minimizing the arts we are sending a message to those kids gifted with abilities in music, drama and the fine arts that their gifts are second-class, despite the fact that kids allowed to stretch their artistic talents apply those same skills to their academic performance.

Those same musical opportunities kept me focused, connected, and successful in high school. When I went to college and left music and performance behind, I became disconnected and ultimately dropped out. I’m grateful every day that Sticks is motivated and energetic about pursuing his musical goals…I have full faith that he will succeed at it because he has experienced those early successes.

Technorati Tags: education, arts in education, performing arts, video, school, balance

If you have the time and the inclination, pay a visit to this page, where you can find about two years worth of documents related to the RIAA’s action against Marie Lindor. I am having difficulty understanding why this case still lives, given that the RIAA insists that a) Files were shared from her computer, which was not networked according to their expert, via Kazaa. They insist that the Media Sentry reports prove that music files were uploaded and/or downloaded via Kazaa; and b)There is no trace of Kazaa anywhere on her hard drive.

If you’ve ever used Kazaa, you know that the only way to really get rid of it is to reformat the hard drive and reinstall Windows and everything else. Their expert says that the drive was not reformatted.

In yet another twist, the expert now claims that an external hard drive was attached to the computer. The problem is that even if an external drive were attached, Kazaa would leave trails in the registry of the boot drive. It’s not something that can be run on an external drive without inserting registry entries.

Also, does anyone know if Western Digital made 100GB external drives in 2004? That seems big for that time frame.

Technorati Tags: RIAA, Marie Lindor, legal, Kazaa, file sharing, P2P

The Recording Industry Association of America has one mission: To drive the music industry out of business.  And to their credit, they’re succeeding, especially with their latest campaign targeting college students.  By choosing a group least likely to have the means to mount a defense, the recording industry has been able to throw their weight around with impunity and sometimes with the blessings of the universities they’ve targeted.

The latest furor concerns the ripping of legally-purchased CDs to one’s hard drive.  According to an article in yesterday’s Washington Post, they are now taking aim at something all of us have probably done at one time or another: ripping CDs to the computer in MP3 format:

In legal documents in its federal case against Jeffrey Howell, a Scottsdale, Ariz., man who kept a collection of about 2,000 music recordings on his personal computer, the industry maintains that it is illegal for someone who has legally purchased a CD to transfer that music into his computer.

The industry’s lawyer in the case, Ira Schwartz, argues in a brief filed earlier this month that the MP3 files Howell made on his computer from legally bought CDs are “unauthorized copies” of copyrighted recordings.

That’s not exactly right.  Here’s what I can piece together from the court documents online.

1. Mr. and Mrs. Howell ripped 2000 songs from their legally owned CDs to their computer.
2. The music was placed into a folder called “My Music”
3. At some point, Mr. Howell installed Kazaa on his computer. 
4. After Kazaa was installed, RIAA operatives were able to download  songs from Mr. Howell’s computer to their own, at which point they sued him for copyright infringement.
5. The court granted RIAA’s motion on the grounds that he had placed the 2000 songs from his personal folder into his Kazaa folder.
6. Mr. Howell protested and requested reconsideration on the grounds that the ripped CDs had NOT been placed into his Kazaa folder, but remained in his My Music folder.  He further asserts that access was gained to his computer when he was not at home and without his knowledge, and that access included his personal files, even though he had not placed them into the Kazaa folder.
7. The court granted Howell’s request for reconsideration.  The RIAA filed a supplemental brief arguing the following:

Defendant admitted that he converted these sound recordings from their original format to the .mp3 format for his and his wife’s use. (Howell Dep. 107:24 to 110:2; 114:1 to 116:16). The .mp3 format is a “compressed format [that] allows for rapid transmission of digital audio files from one computer to another by electronic mail or any other file transfer protocol.” Napster, 239 F.3d at 1011. Once Defendant converted Plaintiffs’ recording into the compressed .mp3 format and they are in his shared folder, they are no longer the authorized copies distributed by Plaintiffs. Moreover, Defendant had no authorization to distribute Plaintiffs’ copyrighted recordings from his KaZaA shared folder.

This argument is at the heart of today’s controversy; specifically, the last two sentences.  Unlike other RIAA assertions, this brief asserts that the mere “conversion to MP3 format” and placement in a “shared folder” is an act of unauthorized distribution.

Howell says that the ripped CDs were never in the Kazaa folder, and the RIAA supplemental brief never specifies that the files were in a Kazaa folder.  It only specifies that they were on his hard drive and could be downloaded via Kazaa.

Evidently the RIAA isn’t familiar with Kazaa’s unique and not-so-unique evils.  Although Sharman Networks, owners of the Kazaa P2P program, say otherwise, my experience and the experience of others is that installation of Kazaa opens the door to malware, back door trojans, and spyware.  Once the back door is opened, anything can happen.  Here’s a recent MIT report of malware prevalence on the  Kazaa network.  Alex Eckelberry of Sunbelt Software has reported on Kazaa malware, too, as well as 2006 reports of exploits which specifically altered and/or duplicated Kazaa directories.

In light of these reports, Mr. Howell’s assertion that he did NOT place his ripped CDs into a Kazaa shared files directory has some credibility.  I hope the court understands that as well.

The real problem here is the way the RIAA supplemental brief defines the copyright violation.  They are saying “once he ripped the CDs and placed them in the folder” he violated copyright, whether or not the folder was actually authorized to be shared publicly.  In fact, Mr. Howell is pretty emphatic about this:  The CDs were ripped to his computer and placed in his My Music folder for his and his wife’s use.

If the RIAA prevails, we are all at risk for copyright violations like this, whether or not we share our files, because they will have broadened the definition of “unauthorized distribution” (that thing the CD says we cannot do) to the ripping and storing of CDs as MP3 files. 

Personally, I’d like to see someone with some balls and some real money push back on the schoolyard bully RIAA.

Here are some other reactions:

Todd Cochrane:

From this day forward I don’t care if you company has DRM-free music or not, you will not get a penny of my money, nor my children’s money, and anyone else I can influence through my podcast and this website.

Steven Hodson wonders if 2008 will be the RIAA’s death knell.  I sure hope so.  Mathew Ingram points out that this argument is an exact reversal of the argument they made before the Supreme Court in the Grokster lawsuit, proving that they are perfectly willing to backtrack to win their pound of flesh from the defendant of the day.  Just for good measure, Robert Scoble says the RIAA is right and Thomas Hawk points out the obvious.

Whatever your opinion, this really IS a backhanded effort to force users to purchase MP3s rather than ripping CDs, and exposes the greed and avarice that runs the record companies. When they claim to represent the interests of the musicians and artists, don’t be fooled, even for a second.  Every time they sue a college student they DAMAGE the interests of the musicians and artists.  As the parent of one who aspires to the music industry, I’d love to throw the first handful of dirt into the RIAA’s grave.  May 2008 be the year it happens.

Technorati Tags: Atlantic vs. Howell, RIAA, Kazaa, file sharing, peer to peer, P2P, networks, networking

(Overexposed and flash-bounced for sure, but it’s still the real deal…)

Sticks, BD and I went to see the Herbie Hancock Quartet tonight at UCSB. It was a great venue — the theater was sold out, but small enough that there wasn’t a bad seat in the house. It was their only Southern California performance and what a performance it was…amazing.

I saw Herbie Hancock as a kid with my parents a couple of times. There were a lot of jazz concerts in those days I didn’t much care for — too avant-garde and sophisticated for a kid — but Herbie was one that I always looked forward to. During the opening number tonight I was taken back to the days of hearing him play with Miles Davis and then ultimately headlining his own shows. We had every album he made. My father always bought them the day they were released and played them reverently for about a week afterward before carefully filing it away in his huge jazz collection. It took him about a year to cycle through it, but eventually there would be a Saturday morning where Herbie was my alarm clock again.

Sticks begged and pleaded for the rather pricey tickets to this event because Vinnie Colaiuta is the drummer for this quartet. I really enjoy Vinnie’s playing too — his mastery of musical drumming really shines on “River: The Joni Letters“, Herbie’s tribute to Joni Mitchell, so it seemed like a good investment.

Think of a musician or actor or celebrity that you truly just thought was perfect. That’s how Sticks views Vinnie’s playing, and he wasn’t disappointed, nor were we. Vinnie Colaiuta is a one-of-a-kind amazing drummer. Every lick is intentional; the stick doesn’t hit anything without a purpose, and it’s done with incredible precision and timing. If Vinnie was a drummer god before tonight, afterwards he has been lifted to the highest drumming deity possible in Sticks’ mind.

Kenny Loggins made a guest appearance to rock hard on a superb rendition of U2’s “When Love Comes to Town” with Sonya Kitchell, who sang “River” in Corrine Bailey Rae’s absence. She also did a really nice version of “Court and Spark” before getting down and dirty with Kenny Loggins. What complete fun!

To round off Sticks’ night, “Chameleon” was the encore number. Last year, Sticks performed Chameleon as the final number with his combo at the jazz festivals and was roundly criticized by the adjudicators for attempting it with bass, piano and drums, as well as intentionally speeding up the final figure to add some intensity and urgency. He felt vindicated to see this quartet (Piano, drums, bass and guitar) give an inspiring performance without a sax or trumpet in sight, and especially vindicated to hear Vinnie subtly speed up the final figure, too. While he accepts the criticism saying he’s no Vinnie Colaiuta, he still felt better about making the decision to play it at all, and play it the way they did.

After the concert, Sticks grabbed me (he only loves me for my camera) and made a beeline for the stage door. His goal, of course, was to meet and possibly get a picture with the elusive Vinnie, who is not known for back door meet-and-greets. Vinnie did not make an appearance, but the incredibly gracious Herbie Hancock took the time to sign autographs, and pose for pictures taken with cell phones and all manner of cameras. What a generous soul he is — after pouring it all out on the stage he was smiling and talking and signing and posing. Unfortunately, I’d handed my camera off to BD, because I am more Vinnie-like and was somewhat reticent to be hanging out at the backstage door in the first place. (Actually, my reaction was much more to the effect of “I don’t have the balls to walk in that door but if you do…do it, but at least get a picture, wouldja?“) The camera was set for a photo much farther away like the one I got of Kenny Loggins, so the flash bounced all over the place and just about wiped Sticks out. Fortunately I was able to rehabilitate most of it with Photoshop to add to his growing collection of photos-with-famous-jazz-musicians file.

And that, friends, was our evening out. The first one in a long time and well worth it. If you’re a jazz fan and are in Tucson or Phoenix on the 14th or 15th, don’t miss what is sure to be a great concert. The 15th is the final stop on this tour — then Vinnie is off to tour with Jeff Beck in England. Sticks was right — it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I’m really glad we didn’t pass it up.

Next stop for me? Lord of the Dance on Wednesday night in Santa Barbara. I guess this is my week to be a patron of the arts. DG and I take off for regional championships on Thursday morning, and she insisted that seeing this performance (despite the fact that we’ve seen LOTD and Feet of Flames twice before) would be inspiring. I hope that’s true, because the tickets to these things are not in any way, shape or form, a bargain.

Technorati Tags: Herbie Hancock, Vinnie Colaiuta, Kenny Loggins, UCSB, concert, review

Here’s the audio of last night’s concert — there’s some nice stuff on here. Sticks plays drumset on the 1st, 5th and 6th pieces. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th pieces he’s playing congas and hand percussion.

Since my children consumed my evening with their homework (even the college child), I’m late with the NaBloPoMo post for 11/6, so this will have to substitute.

Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: jazz, music, podcast, nablopomo

We went to Sticks’ first college big band concert tonight and it was awesome. Of course we videotaped and have some nice audio and video to share when I have the time to polish it up for the web, but I just want to say that the encore was The Flintstones Theme, played waaaaaaaay fast and waaaaaaay fun. I’m sure I’ve never heard a better rendition. Congrats to the CSUN Lab Band!

Technorati Tags: CSUN, jazz, big band