So my friend Sickabod Sane is performing tonight at the Sullivan Room in Greenwich Village, NYC. 10 pm, free vodka and redbull, cheap beer. He's on a bill with Yah Supreme and Brohemian and some other other DJs. If you're around, and want to see an fun hip-hop show, come check it out.
He was profiled in Underrated Magazine. They called him "One Bad Ass Nursery Rhymer." You can hear some of his tracks here: www.SickabodSane.com.
He's also on MySpace, which I wrote an article about for MSNBC. What sets MySpace apart from Friendster and Facebook, other fun social networking sites, is that MySpace has a large emphasis on music. Everyone from major artists like Weezer to unknowns like Pallas Athena have pages where fans can check out the latest releases and get info directly from band members. I realize I sound like an ad for MySpace here, but it's really done the best job of bringing big acts down to a personal level with fans, while allowing unknowns to collect a groupie base as well. Purevolume, Soundclick, and the former MP3.com all allow independent artists to present music to the masses (and they pull it off well). But MySpace is more interactive, even if they did sell out to media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
Ok, well. So that's all the selling I'll be doing today. See you at the show.
15 comments:
i'll be there stud. nice work on the MSNBC article. Brian Williams watch out
I also enjoyed the article.
So if (in some twisted universe) you had to choose between Myspace and Blogger, which do you think is a better use of time? I am curious for your answer since you seem well-acquainted with both.
Haha, great question. It depends really what you're using it for. If I personally had to give up one, I'd give up MySpace, cause I'm a writer, and I think blogger gives you better tools to post material and share it. For musicians, I think myspace works better because of the way it allows bands to network and fans to interact. But if I had to give an un-Kerry-like answer, I'd say Blogger is a better use of time. It's basically instant publication. Although I'm sure some bands have been picked up by labels due to their MySpace pages (i'd need to research that), you hear much more often about bloggers having their work printed by mainstream publishers. Like my MSNBC article, for instance.
Thanks alot for your compliments! I enjoyed what I read on your blog as well.
I am glad things are working out for you.... you deserve it.... yadda yadda.. i have to crap
Your article on msnbc.com was very compelling. It's kind of scarey to think of troubled teens connecting with each other via the internet. Thanks for bringing us adults up to speed.
since I know nothing about Blogger worlds, I felt enlightened . . . and so very proud of you. Rather than embarass you by our "relationship", I'll just sign it,
Your newest fan
You never cease to amazing me. Wow. And I'm related to this guy.
If you didn't know, "Meant To Live " is also a popular song by the band Switchfoot (www.lyricsdomain.com/19/switchfoot/meant_to_live.html)
I read your article on msnbc and was enjoying it until I reached the part about what a sick guy David Ludwig because there was a picture of him dressing a dear, including the sentence "Would they have been more aware of David's capacity for violence if they had seen the pictures on his blog?". What, you think all deer hunters are just serial killers practicing on bambi? My friend, you are too far removed from a practice that used to be commonplace in this country and society. Hunting and then dressing (what you call "gutting") a deer no more makes me Ed Gein than you when you sit down to eat a burger. In the future, remember that sportsmen (hunters and fishermen) are just guys. We're not practicing to kill anyone.
You know what? You're absolutely right. My judgment of those pictures should have stayed out of the article.
That said... there's little denying that David's pictures are a little disturbing in the context of his gruesome crime. That was more what the article was about... how these blogs and public profiles become interpreted and cast AFTER their authors become part of a major news story. Clearly, David's hunting pictures may have seemed innocent before-- as was his interests in "soft air gun wars" and "getting into trouble"-- but knowing what we know now, these things certainly provoke a different kind of reaction.
My point was simply that it may be vital, in this day and age, for parents to be aware of their child's online presence, and who their child associates with online.
Thanks for your comments.
I had never heard of MySpace.com until my niece went missing recently. Family researched the site and found out everything about her, her life and her friends. What she was doing and where she was going the day she vanished. Any stalker could do the same. After her body was found I heard Taylor Behl's mother saying the same thing on the news after her daughter was found. I'm sure lots of parents have no idea that so much information is out in cyberspace about their children. I'm sure stalkers do know and take advantage. MySpace.com should warn the young users that sign on not to put so much personal information online for strangers to view.
I had warned my kids about chat rooms but had never heard about the Facebook or Myspace to warn them about it.
I read your MSNBC article today. It's great to see bloggers making their way into the mainstream; that sets a nice precedent. I also really enjoyed your Bush's war plan article. Classic! I could see Will Farrell playing that out on SNL.
I disagreed though with the speculative elements in your article regarding the types of comments and pictures on Ludwig and Kara's profiles, and how they might have been a foreshadowing of the murders. You say that hindsight is 20/20, which suggests to me that you believe there would be value in assessing the likelihood of an individual to commit a serious crime based on such correlative evidence as the type you mention was posted on the profiles (pictures of Ludwig gutting a deer, his statement that he enjoys getting into trouble, his love of airsoft gun fights, Kara's headline 'meant to live;') of those two kids. In your response to another comment, you say "... there's little denying that David's pictures are a little disturbing in the context of his gruesome crime," and "Clearly, David's hunting pictures may have seemed innocent before-- as was his interests in "soft air gun wars" and "getting into trouble"-- but knowing what we know now, these things certainly provoke a different kind of reaction."
Certainly they do provoke a different kind of reaction now, but only in a very sensational way; because how can someone, even with the 'hindsight' you speak of, determine from such commonplace interests as the ones you point out that a person they know is capable of and likely to commit felony crimes? Such logic (Ludwig liked to hunt ----> Ludwig murdered his girlfriends parents ----> therefore, people who like to hunt will murder their girlfriends parents)would cast the shadow of suspicion on just about everyone. My point is, yes, parents should be aware of who their children associate with... period, in any day and age. Online or wherever. The internet does not create within individuals a greater capacity for evil, it is merely another outlet for the tendencies that already exist within them (that old 'guns don't kill people, people kill people' argument.) For the most part, the least that can come from making snap judegement based on someone's hobbies is unwarranted fear and paranoia. The most that can come from such assumptions, in so many more cases than not, would be something like waging war on a country, say, in the middle east, and killing thousands of innocent civilians because they know some guy who is rumored to like airsoft gun fights, oil, and weapons of mass destruction.
I enjoyed your article! I have a music space on MySpace and I have found it a great way to keep in touch with busy friends, post my own recordings, etc. I happen to know a couple of great artists who are about to break out and Myspace has been amazing. Tyrone Wells, for example, who has a couple songs this week on the tv shows Numb3rs and Ghost Whisperer. His profile rocks. (he's a friend of mine...that's all the selling I'll do either.) As for your article...I found it intriguing. I have known a couple teens with wild profiles...leading a double life really...and then they got busted by their parents. As to the relevance of the comments and stuff on David and Kara's spaces...who knows? While many people reveal very intimate details on sites like that, many people also post only what they want others to see, especially if people who's opinions matter have access to it. I think it's more interesting that the profiles line up with the common phenomenon that seems to show up when violent crimes are committed by regular Joes--no one saw it coming, the person seemed normal, well adjusted, no more problems or depression or angst than anyone else. That's the crazy thing, the thing that scares us--that the people we think we know well may not be anything like our idea of them. My neighbor recently took a shotgun and shot his wife (who was filing for divorce) and then took his own life. Most people in our neighborhood were totally floored. Just an example.
Anyway, I am intrigued by this online profile/blogging thing and how it is affecting relationships...even my own. So far i have had one friendship totally disintegrate as a direct result of a blog post(and subsequent verbal confrontation). I have also had one or two friendships flourish incredibly. Plus, I get to publish my recordings, even if they are pretty bad...:)It is an interesting dynamic. Thanks for a great read and food for thought.
-jess
I just read your msnbc article... went onto myspace... typed in Karas display name, and one profile came up. 8 friends, 3 pictures, and 0 comments. Last online: 1/15/06. Wonder if it's the same girl?
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=42150877
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