The most downloaded show I’ve ever made was this one, a totally non-hiphop mixtape style thing I made about two years ago. People still ask me where the file is, how can they get it, etc., so I figured I’d make it available.
The backstory is simple– Akon, who has sold a ton of albums (3 million of his second album, according to the story) has claimed this whole time that he spent three and a half years in prison for being the leader of a notorious car theft ring that focused on Porsches, BMWs, etc. etc. Problem is, it never happened.
Now, this just got out, so I don’t know anything about the reaction either Akon himself or his publicist, record company, etc. will have (they’ve already denied to comment), but as I see it, there’s only one solution, considering he’s in danger of becoming a 21st-century Milli Vanilli: to laugh it off.
The only move to save his career (and even then, we’ll see) would be, like: “Oh, you guys just figured this out? Huh, took you long enough, suckers.” Am I right? Because anything else will seem like backpedaling, he has no choice but to man up to the accusations and call everyone in the media an idiot for taking so long. Right? I mean, what else can he do?
After being in one too many rushing taxi cabs I am beginning to think the way cab drivers’s rates are set up is a bit skewed. Don’t get me wrong - it’s a very simple system, and simplicity is a very important value. I think right now it’s 1.40$ per kilometre and 40 cents per minute of waiting time. A cab, while driving, makes more money by driving than he does by waiting, per minute, considering he can drive more than 1 km in a minute (notwithstanding the price of gas). Not only this, but the faster he completes that km, the faster he gets his money and picks up another fare to recklessly speed his way to his destination.
So you have a system in place where cab drivers speed past red lights and drive as fast as possible, occasionally despite the safety of their customers. There have got to be tests to be a cabbie, but let’s be honest - most of them involve knowledge of the city or basic driving reqs, neither of which are that stringent. What if we revamp the system to allow cab drivers who drive more carefully to make more money?
Formula (alpha stage): fare = x / y, where x is the time, in minutes, for a driver to get to his destination, and y is the speed at which he attempts to get there (average km/h, let’s say). All this because a) the longer the distance, the greater the cost, and b) the lower (greater level of caution) the speed is, the more profitable the cab ride is for the driver. The cab driver wants x to be high and y to be low, so he’ll drive slower rather than faster (in principle). If the rider wants to get somewhere faster (thus reducing the profit of the cab driver), the driver may refuse and stay at a careful speed, or the rider may attempt to tip (read: bribe) the driver to compensate for the lower base fare at which the fare will then be calculated. The result of a system like this is that cabbies who go out of their way to provide safe trips get monetarily compensated.
Ideally, we wouldn’t want y to be a simple whole number, like km/h or somesuch, but some sort of calculated denominator based on max/min speeds in an area. You get the point. Whatever, I came up with this in a speeding cab on the way home, gimme a break.
I’ll put out a review or something when I’ve fully completed setting it up. I have to say though, it is a pleasure to carry around… very light compared to my old machine.
Btw, this probably put me over the top (my roommate made it):
I took this pic at the mall where I dropped off my Macbook yesterday. The funniest thing about it was that the security guard came up to me afterwards and told me that pictures weren’t allowed because of “intellectual property.” :P
Ok, not really. But my hard drive died yesterday, and I hadn’t backed up in months. It’s at the Apple Store right now, who knows how it’ll come out.
Anyway, if you haven’t heard from me or whatever, or you need to get in contact, email is the best/only way for now, or maybe Twitter (if you DM me, it’ll get sent to my phone).
Bloggers: If you’re as annoyed as I am of typing “del.icio.us” when you’re trying to link to Delicious, remember that you can now type in http://delicious.com– they own that, too.
I hate cynicism. I wipe it from me. I don’t like cynical people. I don’t like cynical movies. Cynicism is very easy. You don’t have to justify it. You don’t have to fight for it.
I’ve seen people suggest it, but I have a hard time believing that optimism is genetic. My podcast is basically about complaining, but I remain a very optimistic person at the core, and I think it’s available to anyone. I also believe it’s gotten me most of what I have today.
I mentioned in my podcast last week that I’d been fasting for weight loss. I’m doing that again today and, let me say, the results are very interesting.
I used to be addicted to feeling full. My girlfriend can attest that, before this, I used to be unable to go to sleep without eating something in order to not feel hungry. It was probably costing me a few extra hundred calories a day which, over time, definitely helped me put on a few pounds.
This has changed a lot. This is my second fast– I haven’t eaten in almost 24 hours now, and feel totally fine with the ‘discomfort’ that occurs from being hungry. In fact, I’m more comfortable with hunger than I’ve ever been in my life. It’s almost relieving.
If you’re interested in finding out more about how I’m doing this, I recommend looking at Brad Pilon’s blog– I’m following what he wrote in his book Eat Stop Eat, which was super informative. I’ll probably blog about it a few more times too, as I adjust to it and see what effect it has on my system.
Also, for the next 3 months or so, Nokia is sponsoring the show. They sent me an N810 and I chat about it a bit in the thing. You can use the code “inoveryourhead” if you’re going to buy one, it’ll give you a 15% rebate on it (which is cheaper than Amazon).
So the plan is to do them every 10-14 days or so… feel free to harass me if I don’t (Podshow will, otherwise). :)
I just downloaded the new Stones Throw DVD, In Living the True Gods, from iTunes. I’m seriously impressed by it. Here’s a still from “Monkey Suite”, the first video on the disc:
I was expecting to pay like 20 bucks for this thing, but they have it on iTunes for $9.99 (in the US store). You can also grab it on Amazon, etc. etc. Check it out.
P.S.: I’ve actually made a new podcast. It should be up by the end of the day. :P
You look at this man, his obvious intelligence, his benevolence, his values, and not least of all, his charisma, and you just know he’s a born leader. He’s going to be the man that changes the way the world looks at America, and hopefully the way America looks at the rest of the world.
Goddamn, it’s a good thing I’m not in Toronto right now, because I’d be a 95 pound, cocaine-snorting groupie for Fritz Helder. Shit. This album is like a perfect combination of vogue, neon 80s and Grandmaster Flash or something. Anyway, whatever, go listen to it.
I don’t read him anymore, but Steve Pavlina pointed me to this guide (no longer available) a few years ago which helps me lay out my goals every year. I’m not a Tony Robbins guy otherwise (never read any of his books), but this thing works for me, so I do it at the beginning of every year.
I’ll make the file temporarily available here in case anyone wants to look at it. It just helps you outline stuff, but it’s good.
So I’m on this CBC show Test the Nation on January 20th. I’m really not sure what it’s about, but it’s with a ton of other bloggers including Amber Mac, Andy Nulman, and tons of others (there is, in fact, a whole blogger ‘team’). I imagine I’ll basically annihilate any chance of my team winning.
Anyway, it’s being filmed live, so I won’t get a chance to see it. If someone from Montreal could TiVo it or whatever, it would be awesome.
Update:Hugh McGuire would also like to inform you that he is also on the show. So there we go. So is Craig Silverman, for that matter, and we’ll probably get wasted while we’re there if he has anything to do with it. :)
Probably the best gift I got this Xmas was Phaidon’s amazing book, Sculpture Today. For anyone that doesn’t know, Phaidon books are unbelievable– well made books that discuss art and design at depth. Great stuff– get one for the art lover in your family.
I’ve been interested in sculpture for a long time. In college I pursued a brief Fine Arts career, which ended with me pussying out over the amount of sweat involved in sculpting metal. But I’ve been impressed by large-scale stone, concrete, and metal work since I don’t know when.
Last year, because of my girlfriend (who also gave me the book this Xmas), I became interested in Land Art as well. I knew then that my passion for this kind of stuff hadn’t died. I don’t know where it’s going, either, but I do feel like it’s going somewhere.
