dre in the morning

How Did Economists Get It So Wrong?
It’s hard to believe now, but not long ago economists were congratulating themselves over the success of their field. Those successes — or so they believed — were both theoretical and practical, leading to a golden era for the profession. (nyt)

The unspoken truth about managing geeks
I can sum up every article, book and column written by notable management experts about managing IT in two sentences: “Geeks are smart and creative, but they are also egocentric, antisocial, managerially and business-challenged, victim-prone, bullheaded and credit-whoring. (computerworld)

Think Vietnam Vets Were Screwed? Wait Until You See How Many Veterans of Bush’s Wars End up in Jail
As all the other justifications for the U.S. invasion of Iraq have fallen by the wayside, it is ironic that the one that remains is “freedom,” because in the name of someone else’s freedom, we train our own soldiers to behave in ways that may very well cost them their own. (alternet)

Kids Didn’t Hear Obama, But Will be Bussed for Bush
The Arlington Independent School District, which passed on airing President Barack Obama’s live classroom address, has announced that some students will be bussed off campus to hear a message from former President George W. Bush on Sept. 21. (nbc)

Army Archerd Dead: Columnist Dies At 87
Army Archerd, whose breezy column for the entertainment trade publication Daily Variety kept tabs on various Hollywood doings for more than a half-century, has died. He was 87. (huffingtonpost)

Facebook Makes You Smarter, Twitter Makes You Dumber
Of course, it’s not that simple; but if you believe Dr Tracy Alloway from the University of Stirling in Scotland, Twitter and Facebook are very different beasts when it comes to improve your “working memory“, which relates to “the structures and processes used for temporarily storing and manipulating information in short-term memory.” (mashable)

Ocean crash won’t dent yacht girl’s resolve
The family of 16-year-old sailor Jessica Watson says she is still determined to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world, despite hitting a bulk carrier after less than 24 hours at sea. (abc)

Complete roundup of everything Apple might announce tomorrow
You may have heard that Apple will be hosting a media event on September 9th (tomorrow) where it will likely make some big announcements and even launch a few new products. The event is focused around music, if its rock and roll theme is any indication. The Mac and iPhone maker usually holds an event around this time every year. (mashable)

You hit me with your Prius
Me – Bicyclist, heading to jury duty on 10th Street, Friday at 8:50am. You – Prius driver, crossing over two lanes, hitting me with your car and speeding away. (bestofcraigsllist)

Over the years, a decidedly cyberpunk gene in my physical make-up has lead me to indulge in a smattering of popular Nipponese music. I’m willing to bet you have too. I mean, everyone’s heard The 5.6.7.8′s cover of the rockabilly song Woo-hoo. I mean everyone who’s ever seen Kill Bill 1, or those Vonage commercials.

According to director Quentin Tarantino, he discovered the music of The 5.6.7.8′s after hearing it in an urban clothing store in Tokyo hours before going to the airport. Tarantino asked if he could purchase the CD from the store, as he had no time to go to a music shop. When the store clerk on duty said no, as the manager was not present at the time, Tarantino offered double the retail price of the CD and acquired it.

Any Madison Avenue creative worth his black turtleneck and torn jeans worships Tarantino’s musical taste, thus the immediate licensing of Woo-hoo for a spate of TV commercials. The rest is history.

And all you audiophiles, surely you’ve listened to more than your share of Shonen Knife. They were so big back in the late 80s/early 90′s that over 20 alt-rock bands got together and recorded an entire album of adulation for the all-girl group.

Anyway, I love the stuff, though my favorite Japanese composer is Yoko Kanno, who is famous for being the driving force behind The Seatbelts, a band created to provide both the main theme and incidental music for Cowboy Bebop. Kanno was so instrumental (nyuk, nyuk) in defining the atmosphere for the TV show that the character of Edward, the hyper-active pre-teen female hacker, was based on her.

The name of the band, according to the fictional description given in the anime series Cowboy Bebop, derives from how the performers wear seatbelts to be safe while they play hardcore jam sessions.

The band performed the whole soundtrack of the anime series Cowboy Bebop and produced a total of seven albums and one live DVD. Their style is very diverse and ranges from straightforward big band jazz, blues, acoustic ballads, hard rock, country, funk to electronic, hip-hop and experimental compositions/elements.

Since the band was focused mostly on instrumental work, The Seatbelts had no lead singer. However, Steve Conte (from The Contes and Crown Jewels) and Mai Yamane participated and sang on many of their songs. The lyrics of these songs were written mainly by Tim Jensen and Yoko Kanno herself. Singers Soichiro Otsuka and Gabriela Robin (rumored to be a pseudonym for Kanno) were responsible for the backing vocals on songs such as “Blue”.

After a few years in hibernation, The Seatbelts regrouped in 2004 to perform the soundtrack for the second Cowboy Bebop video game, which is currently available in Japan. They all disbanded once they released the last album. (wikipedia)

If Kanno hadn’t found a niche scoring anime and video games, she could have been gen-X’s answer to Andrew Lloyd Webber.

I recently stumbled onto two Nipponese bands I’d never heard of: one of which are direct descendants of The Ramones and another that has more of a NIN influence, though it might be better described as IDM.

Guitar Wolf is a self-described jet rock ‘n’ roll band, and in a move reminiscent of early New Duncan Imperials, they created comic-book-level characterizations of themselves, to the extent that they appeared in their own B-Grade sci-fi zombie flick, Wild Zero. A three-piece garage punk band, each member is named for the instrument they play; Drum Wolf, Bass Wolf and the eponymous Guitar Wolf. These guys are addicted to after-burner-speed punk; even their microphones have flame-thrower exhausts.

Sure, their music is over 10 years old, and the movie they made is pure shite, but they’re loads of fun. especially when Guitar Wolf pulls a katana out of his guitar and slices an alien spaceship in two.

Like I said, I don’t really know anything about music. I just kinda stumble across this stuff. Ever since I moved out of Hepburn House I no longer have a steady diet of new music shoved down my throat on a daily basis. But I’ll bet no one reading this (with the exception of Brent Starkey) has ever heard of Guitar Wolf.

The second Nippon band I stumbled across is more contemporary, and like The Seatbelts, has a strong connection to anime (are we seeing a pattern here?). Bespa Kumamero is so obscure, they don’t have a wikipedia page (yet). This two-piece appeared live at Anime Boston this year and performed to a packed house of over 1500 fans.

Bespa Kumamero was formed in March of 2001. The members Azumi (Vocals) and Monkichi (Programming/Guitar) call themselves a digital techno performance unit. Their unique group performs regularly in Tokyo but has toured in France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, etc. and been featured in many interviews and articles in those countries. In 2007, BESPA KUMAMERO toured and played 6 dates in the U.K., followed by 2008 appearances at Anime Matsuri (Houston, TX), Animex 2008 (Monterrey, Mexico), and Tokyo Cyber Eve (Moscow, Russia). (japanfiles)

They’ve got a seriously over-loaded myspace page where you can sample their music. Myself, I’m joining their Facebook page, cuz I dig them the most. Well, today, anyway.

Yeah, so I’m an otaku. Or a weaboo. Take your pick.

Here’s some kanji to liven things up:

主にボーカル・作詞等を担当する桑舘あずみと、主にプログラミング・作曲等を担当する入倉もん吉によるデジタルパフォーマンス系テクノユニット。
テクノ、エレクトロサウンドをベースに、日本舞踊、剣舞、自作マシーンによるパフォーマンスなど、様々な要素を取り入れたライブを繰り広げながら現在は都内デジタル系イベントなどを中心に活動中。