Category: Watercooler

Wednesday Watercooler

Leave a comment

We’ve been having some strange weather as of late – April Showers bringing more May showers, not flowers (shake of fists) and lots of wind; but there’s a saying that you have to put up with the rain to get the rainbow, and in LA – when we have less than 20 rainy days a year, we really need to learn to take what we can get 😉

 

The Return of Daft Punk

I was going to come up with some cheeseball headline or witticism to drop on everyone; but when it comes to Daft Punk, there’s been so many rumors and so much hoopla about their comeback that it’s best to simply cut to the chase!  In addition to the release of their next album Random Access Memories and their first single ‘Get Lucky’ – they’ll also be interviewed by Pete Tong during this week’s BBC Radio 1’s Essential Mix *mini tribal*

 If that wasn’t enough, listen to this itty bitty Tong Teaser from the man himself.  He had the opportunity to interview Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter, better known as the men behind the masks and creative genius of Daft Punk, at Coachella a few weeks  back  and seems like he couldn’t wait to share it with his fans.  So collectively, from us to you – thank you, Pete Tong!

And what the hell, here’s there last Essential Mix from ’97:

Dexter: The Final Cuts

It’s like there’s some form of entropy in the entertainment world right now – one great thing comes back and another great thing makes it’s exit.  For anyone and everyone who spent the last few years Darkly Dreaming Dexter, this is going to be a hell of a bittersweet Summer.  June 30th marks the kickoff of Season 8 – the final chapters.  When we left off in the Season 7 Finale, Deb had put an end to LaGuerta but had only just begun to feel the moral ramifications of being in Dexter’s world; Dexter, on the other hand, still has loose ends to tie up with Hannah McKay…or does he?  Either way, this is the season not to miss!

Gettin’ Catty

There are a select ways I choose to kill time and roam the interwebs while I’m on a break at work: there’s Reddit (or, for the visual types – Scrolldit), Twitter, Thought Catalog – and lately, Buzzfeed.  They all consistently have thought provoking (or, conversely – thought impairing) articles, blasts, facts, anecdotes and downright hilarious messages to get me thinking, laughing and catapulting myself through my day with expert precision.  And let’s face it, I’m a sucker for a good cat meme…so click through the picture to see a whole lot more First World Cat problems!

Wednesday Watercooler

Leave a comment

Oh man, it’s been quite a while since I’ve done a ‘Wednesday Watercooler’ piece but as they say – there’s no time like the present, and the present has some ridiculous things going down!  First things first though, since we always do an entertaining manifest destiny through these here interwebz I thought it would be a nice little change to turn things inwards and do some self exploration for a bit!

A few weeks ago, one of my good friends posted a survey on Facebook about discovering your ‘Philosophical Archetype‘ – after I breezed through the 40 or so questions, I got my answer and it’s so perfectly fitting. I scored as the ‘Absurd Hero’, a throwback to Albert Camus’ ‘Myth of Sisyphus‘ and the idea of Absurdism, which by the way I totally ascribe to: it’s the dichomatic idea that as humans we ascribe to searching for a greater meaning of life though we cannot find it.  The Absurd Hero, in turn, finds humor and happiness in the absurd situations that life throws at them.  Me in a nutshell? You best believe it!  Another fun one to get your eyes on is the Myers-Briggs Personality Test, commonly abbreviated by MBPT. I scored as an ENFP – Extrovert/iNtuitive/Feeling/Percieving, I took it again to double check and yup – still as true as ever! Some of our personality traits include, but are definitely not limited to: outgoing, easily talked into doing silly things, spontaneous, pleasure seeking, irresponsible, physically affectionate,  likely to have or want a tattoo, adventurous, unprepared,  prone to losing things, seductive, easily distracted, open, revealing, comfortable in unfamiliar situations, attracted to strange things, unconventional, energetic, impulsive, empathetic, loving. Head on over and take your Myers Briggs / Jung Personality test here; and now, on to the good stuff!

Dory Just Keeps Swimming

In case you were hiding under a rock yesterday when Mashable broke the news before my own company did, Disney and Pixar are pairing up one mo’gain to bring you the long anticipated, highly awaited sequel to Finding Nemo – Finding Dory!

Scheduled to hit theaters in November of 2015, the movie will feature role reprisals by our friends in the tank, Merlin, Nemo and how could you think of having this sequel without the lovely Ellen DeGeneres!

Sea Lions Get Down, Too

Even though some humans have two left feet, almost all of us can inherently find the rhythm; birds, too, can bob their beaks to the beat – well now there’s a new species to add to this animal party. A study out of UC Santa Cruz’s Long Marine Laboratory with a sea lion has proven for the first time that a non-human mammal can keep the rhythmic beat of a tune.  After teaching Ronan to bounce to the beat with click training, the scientists introduced new jams into the mix to test their theory and voila – welcome to the get down, Ronan! Check her out jammin’ to the Backstreet Boys and Earth, Wind and Fire!  And the final verdict – we now have proof that vocal mimicry isn’t necessary in order for one to keep the beat; comparative psychology, eat your heart out.

 

The Cell Phone is Having a Mid Life Crisis

Next time you reach into your pocket to check Instagram, or see if your best friend had a good date last night – think about this one: the mobile phone is forty years old this week!  On 4/3/73 in Motrorola’s New York division, Martin Cooper completed the first cell phone call – and it’s all been downhill for humanity from there 😉  As of 2013, there are at least 6.5 billion cell phone users – and I have to give some kudos to UK’s The Guardian for my favorite fact: By the end of 2011, there were 78 mobile phone subscriptions per 100 people in the developing world. In the developed world there were 122 subscriptions per 100. Meaning every fifth person you meet has two phones and is probably a crystal meth dealer/having an affair.

Obama Gets Mindful

Don’t get me wrong, I love science, astronomy and the spectacle that is the universe – but it’s also good to know that I’m not the only one who wants to shift the focus from our surroundings to what’s going on inside those beautiful, big brains of ours.  Yesterday in an announcement at the White House, President Obama announced a brand spankin’ new scientific campaign set at understanding and analyzing the human brain.  With a $100 million proposed budget in hand, he’ll be reaching out to some of the top research institutes in the country, as well as private labs and non-profit efforts.  The goal of the study is to discover how interactions between neurons form the human psyche; the results would have a global benefit.

 

Feeding the Black Holes

Now that my brain has been satiated with news for the day, let’s look to the galaxy and beyond – there’s something absolutely nutty happening with black holes right now.  In one universe, Galaxy NGC 4845 – a black hole is currently devouring a planet. NBD. And finally, that little antimatter detector at the International Space Station is getting some interesting data: it’s tasted its first bit of dark matter; exciting!

Stop Motion Chalk Tetris 

I’m not a huge fan of stop motion, but even I have to admit that this is rad! H/T to The Colossal:

Wednesday Watercooler

Leave a comment

 “Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.” 
Groucho Marx

We’re down to the tail end of yet another month in 2013 and it’s left me sitting here, shaking my head while staring at my computer screen while I wonder where the time effing went.  Sure, February’s the shortest month of the year but it was pretty stacked socially and, let’s be honest for a second, entirely exhausting!  I’m looking forward to a few weekends of good R&R with the kitties, catching up on a few good books and getting my life back together.  Well, until I’m threatened with a good time…and we all know how I react to fun 😉  There’s been so much exciting stuff going on in the past few weeks that I’m just going to get down to it; it’s the last Wednesday of the month – let’s go!

The Olympics Just Got A Whole Less Manly

The next Summer Olympics will be unlike any other – but primarily because one of the sports that can be traced back to the 18th Olympiad all the way back in 704 B.C. , has been eliminated: wresting; to put it in perspective, we’re now entering the 4th year of the 697th Olympiad.  It’s not that I’m a huge fan of the sport, but I’ll agree that it’s both a graceful and powerful endeavor, and to boot one I’m surely not equipped to take part in.  And the Olympics without Wrestling?  That’s like the Bulls without Jordan, the 49ers without Steve Young, McDonalds without hamburgers…you get the picture.  It’s just plain wrong – and upset fans, competitors and coaches agree; Japan’s Wresting Foundation has launched a petition to get it back into the Olympics, Las Vegas has already decided to bring the cash cow on home for some good old fashioned sports betting and some have even gone as far as returning their gold medals.  First it was Bulgarian medalist Valentin Yordanov who returned his ’96 Gold Medal from Atlanta and now it seems that Russia’s Sagid Murtazaliev has followed suit and returned his Gold from the Sydney Olympics in 2000.  Now,  in the wake of it’s untimely Olympic exile – there’s a new question on the table: what sport is set to replace it?  There are seven sports currently competing to take it’s place – baseball, karate, roller sports, sport climbing, squash, wakeboarding and wusho; if it’s not baseball or karate, I say nay.

We Want to See The Light

Even though I was just in that city of sin, I’m ready to head back – but there’s a whole new reason that I have that Las Vegas itch!  Mandalay Bay has paired up with Cirque du Soleil and host of A-List DJs.  Earlier we knew that Skrillex, that saucy minx, was in talks with the Cirque du Soleil crew but now we have confirmation that acts like Zedd, Alesso, Baauer and Sebastian Ingrosso will also be on the bill. Not that we needed it, but this elite pairing is further evidence of the staying power, and commercialization, of EDM – but knowing the caliber of the cast associated with LIGHT, there’s no doubt that this will be a top notch production.  Mark your calendars because LIGHT is scheduled to open April 26th – just in time for the pool parties!  For an all encompassing look at the talent LIGHT will boast  – check out out that stacked lineup below the video!

Pluto Gets a Friend

I don’t know about you guys, but when Pluto’s planet status was demoted I was a little sad – I grew up with the guy, he was part of my dioramas, part of my science fairs.  But then, in 2006, Pluto was downgraded to a dwarf planet.  Since then astronomers have discovered several new moons that rotate Pluto with a strange orbit in addition to Nix and Hydra, discovered in 2005, and Charon, discovered in ’78.  Until now, those moons have simply gone by P4 and P5.  Their names were put up to a vote the other week through the SETI Institute and the winning name is …drumroll, please…. Vulcan.  That’s right, Trekkies everywhere rejoice – William Shatner entered the name late in the game, but it somehow still ended up on top.  Live long and prosper!

In Russia, Moon Lands On You

To the complete shock of basically everyone, a meteorite broke through our atmosphere and decided to land itself on Mother Russia, the only country with dash cameras in every car. The meteorite broke apart over central Russia injuring approximately 1000 citizens, and the resulting shock waves rocked the infrastructure of the city and blew out windows like the big bad wolf on steroids.  Scientists have been working to trace this meteorite back in time – and it seems that the meteor (which is what you have before it enters our atmosphere), originated in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.  In turn, this has inspired NASA to team up with the Air Force to search for a way to prevent more detrimental asteroid attacks; anyone else picturing a real life Armageddon?

Welcome Back, Daft Punk!

I can’t tell you a time where there wasn’t a hot and heavy rumor about Daft Punk making a comeback – every other week we would hear something new but the sources were few and far between and we just couldn’t seem to catch a break.  Well, the other night while we were all sleeping sweetly and our computers were dreaming of electric sheep – something was a buzz over at Daft Punk HQ: the famous french DJ Duo has not only ditched Virgin Records to join Columbia, but among the rumors they’ll be releasing a new album in May it seems that they’ve updated their logo. Should we take this as a sign? I say HELL YES; it’s been too damn long!

Wednesday Watercooler: The Music Edition

1 Comment

One month down, eleven more to go – it’s crazy how this year is already picking up so much momentum! I’ve been  exponentially adding to the multiple hats I wear weekly thanks to a writing gig with the DJ List which I’m absolutely enamored with and being named the Board Liaison for the organization I volunteer for.  It’s a little overwhelming but nothing I can’t handle – I say bring it on!

Shazam x Beatnet = A Match in EDM Heaven

I don’t know about y’all, but when I Shazam  a remix that I love and it doesn’t give me any information I feel a weird mix of awesomeness that my music taste is so progressive and a little annoyed that it can’t tell me what’s playing; well have no fear EDM lovers, because this morning Beatnet and Shazam announced a partnership that will give Shazam access to over 1.5 million songs in the Beatport registry.  This is a huge step forward for EDM fans everywhere, but DJs are already lamenting that people will be glued to their phones instead of enjoying the tasty beats.

The War on EDM

Though there’s usually some uproar in the media about EDM, this week we’ve seen some considerable backlash from the likes of the LA Weekly and the LA Times.  Both had articles, published the same day mind you, written to rile up the general public and incite backlash against the wonderful community that we’ve built.  Both articles are beyond one-sided, not to mention highly inflammatory.  The good news, is that (at least with the people I know) it’s caused us to take a hard look at ourselves and the lives we live; and we’ve come together, stronger than ever, to fight against this negative stereotype that society wants us to remain under.  Kaskade, a top notch DJ and producer, delivered an eloquently written reply to the times and one of my favorite music blogs, Stoney Roads, had some great input as well.  If this has you as annoyed as it has us, take a minute to sign this petition and spread the word, you know, this one: PLUR

Skrillex pairs up with Cirque du Soleil

Skrillex is a mastermind in his own right; once upon a time, he was simply known the bassist of From First To Last but fastforward to 2013 and he’s become a household name that’s synonymous with Dubstep and the culture that surrounds it.  This past year he lent a hand to the Disney team by contributing part of the score for the hit animated flick Wreck It Ralph and was rewarded with a small cameo in the film.  Now, word on the street is he’s pairing up with the famed Cirque du Soleil  for a resident show in Las Vegas; no word yet on it’s direction, but believe me when I say you should not miss it!

Wednesday Watercooler

Leave a comment

“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.”
― Rabindranath Tagore,

There aren’t a whole lot of things in the world that can’t be remedied by a silent but seductive sunset, above the rest of Los Angeles; I don’t know if it’s the awe inspiring colors, or the fact that your perspective has been drastically shifted – but the air up there tastes sweeter, the colors up there are more vibrant and I can feel the heartbeat of the city.

A Double Helix of Data

Storing data on a monstrous hard drive is one thing, but storing data on a double helix of your DNA is quite another!  German genomicists Nick Goldman and Ewan Birney of the European Bioinformatics Institude have been researching alternative methods of data storage that can house their collection of exponentially growing information.  Further proof that the best ideas come from a good buzz, the two have been feverishly collaborating on a system that translates data to binary fashion and then encodes it within the double helix structure of our DNA.  So far, they have managed to store copies of an audio snippet of Martin Luther King Jr’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech and a complete set of Shakespearean sonnets.

Disney Animated Short: Paperman

Never mind the fact it was one of the only movies I saw in theaters in 2012 – ‘Wreck It Ralph’ was hands down one of the best movies I saw last year.  The plot was unique, the characters were equally obnoxious and lovable and simply put: it was just so goddamn fun.  Now, the irony of this is my favorite part of the movie wasn’t even part of the movie – it was the short film that played before.  It just got released onto Youtube today and I am really excited to share it with you guys; by far my favorite short they’ve ever done!

 World Meets Girl from “Girl Meets World“

I don’t know about you guys, but one of the major highlights from my childhood were the TGIF Lineups on ABC – you know: Family Matters, Step by Step, Hangin’ With Mr Cooper, Sabrina the Teenage Witch.  But my hands down, abs-fucking-lutely favorite show was Boy Meets World. Mostly, I felt a certain awkward kid camaraderie with Topanga – that awesomely awkward girl with the crazy hair, fun outfits and cute as a button personality….but I also had a pretty huge crush on Shawn, played by Rider Strong.  So believe you me, when I found out about the up and coming spinoff “Girl Meets World“ I was beyond stoked!  The show is centered around the now child of Cory and Topanga and is going to be played by Roawn Blanchard of Disney Channel fame.

At Least For Today, Blackberry is Still Relevant

The Blackberry 10 Launch event in New York City this morning made it clear that Blackberry still intends on being one of the movers and shakers of the cell phone industry, even if they have to change their name.  That’s right folks, the team that was once known as Research In Motion (or RIM) has been simply rebranded as Blackberry; and for you stock savvy folks – note that their Nasdaq ticker is set to change on Monday from RIMM to BBRY.  Along with the name change, they also announced the Blackberry 10 OS and two brand spankin’ new phones – the  Z10, which boasts a stellar full touch screen on 4.2″ with 720p resolution , and the Q10 which has the signature Blackberry QWERTY keyboard and a 3.1″ screen.

If that news wasn’t hot enough, it seems like they hope they’re soon on fire – they’ve enlisted the help of tech-savvy songstress, entrepreaneur and philanthropist Alicia Keys.  Following in the footsteps of Intel who named artist will.i.am their director of creative innovation in 2011, Blackberry has named Keys their Global Creative Director.

World’s Best Workout Trainer

Sometimes, I need a little motivation at the gym – but if I had this cat, I think I’d be set:

Wednesday Watercooler

Leave a comment

Baby, It’s Cold Outside
It’s been a frigid past few days in Southern California – Arctic Freeze 2013 is no joke; well, except to the rest of the country!  While we’re lamenting about trading in our perennial flip-flop wearing weather for a few days of finally flaunting our sexy winter coats and knee high boots, everyone else is mocking our inability to handle weather under 65 degrees.

Financial Trading Has Gone to the Cats

The early bird might very well get the worm, but apparently the early cat also gets the trade.  Last year, an adorable feline named Orlando got his little paws on an investment challenge sponsored by The Guardian.  As luck would have it, this cat wound up over $500 richer than the other participants which included a group of finance students, stock brokers and wealth managers.

A Solo Duet
Technology can be a wily minx; there’s this perpetual race to see what we can come up with next but there are only a few rare moments when I feel truly amazed.  This is one of those moments.  Equipped with a neuroheadset set to detect brainwaves, renowned Cellist Katinka Kleijn managed to perform both halves of a duet at once!  Her hands to performed one half of the duet, and the other was performed using her mind – brainwaves were interpreted by machine and translated into sounds.

Obama’s 23 Executive Actions on Gun Violence

This morning, after much anticipation and too many unfortunate events – President Obama outlined his 23 Executive Actions on Gun Violence in America.  I’m proud to report that almost a third of them pertain to Mental Health.  Keep in mind that this is a dialogue and a starting point; a means to and end but as a country – we need to actively work towards a future where all these things are possible.

Don’t Cough on Me
According to, well…basically everyone – Flu season is getting into full gear and it’s the worst it’s been in a long, long time. Thankfully, there are some social media tools at your disposal to help fight back!

My vote: Google.org‘s Google Flu Trends
First of all, I was pleased to discover the Philanthropic side of Google over at Google.org – what rocks have I been hiding under?! Secondly, with Google’s Flu Trends you can essentially monitor real time activity on a regional, national and international level.  For an all encompassing look at infection rates and outbreak areas, checkout their partner site – HealthMap.

Capture of the Week
Slowly but surely, I’ve gotten more into photography – the nuances of lighting and shadow, empty space and intricacies of shooting inanimate objects sporadically cause me to geek out.  I’m still a total noob, but with the assistance of friends (and the interwebz) I’ve gotten to hone in on my skills and perfect my craft.  Every once in a while a picture grabs me by the shoulders and screams “Aren’t I magnificent?!” The picture below  is an areal shot of New York’s Central Park, and most definitely one of those pictures.

Wednesday Watercooler: The End of The World (As We Know It)

Leave a comment

It’s been a while since I’ve done a Weds Watercooler and not gonna lie, I’ve been missing it! Between traveling to Arkansas, going back to the Bay Area for Thanksgiving and my birthday celebrations over the past week I realized that I’ve kind of been slacking and basically sleeping on the blog. Well, no more! I’m back in action and excited for the things that 2013 will bring but first – let’s end 2012 the right way and go out with some pizzaz!

What’s Your Number?

For numerologists, and just regular number freaks like myself, today marks an incredibly monumental day: it’s 12-12-12.  The number 12 is an important recurring number in human history –

12 months in the Roman calendar year, 12*2 hours in a day, 12*5 minutes in an hour and seconds in a minute; the Zodiac had 12 signs, there were 12 Gods of Olympus and the Chinese hold a 12-year time cycle called Earthly Branches. There are 12 Gods of Olympus, 12 apostles, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 Jyotirlingas in Hindu Shaivism, 12 days of Christmas, 12 cranial nerves in the human body, 12 pitch classes in an octave, 12 hues on the color wheel, etc, etc, etc….

To numerologists and the Chinese, the day represents good luck, fortune, love and fulfillment; but to me, this represents the last repeating date for several generations – in fact,  the next repeating date will be on January 1st, 2101, 89 years from now. Dubbed ‘National Sound Check’ day by some and the ‘End of the World’ by others – today’s a fairly auspicious day that everyone will recognize.  If you’re looking for a way to celebrate (and let’s get real, any excuse is a good excuse to celebrate), the folk’s over at Mashable have you covered.

Tweet Goes the Pope

Along with today being 12/12/12, today is also the day that Pope Benedict XVI, aka @Pontifex on Twitter, sent his first official tweet.  Now, his tweets aren’t exactly the most interesting things in my opinion, but the reaction to the Pope is kind of priceless…

Kim Jong-un: The Rocket Man

North Korea says it successfully launched satellite into orbit

If all the world’s countries got together to play house, I’m fairly certain that North Korea would be one of the red headed step-children.  Not to sell everyone’s “End of the World” prophecies short, North Korea decided earlier to launch a long range rocket and place a satellite in orbit.  Their closest ally in the region, China, lamented about the poor decision, citing concerns in the international community – specifically  from Great Britain, South Korea, the United States – and groups like the UN Security Council.  The cost of the rocket launch cost are estimated around $1.3 billion dollars, however it could be even greater if the United States decides to apply sanctions to both financial institutions as well as members of the North Korean government.

Not So Misérables

Anne Hathaway inadvertently pulled a Britney at the premiere of Les Misérables the other night; after deciding that underwear just wasn’t supposed to be part of her nightly ensemble, Anne picked an awkward angle to exit her ride and oops, there goes the neighborhood.

Wish Upon a Star

First things first, us Earthlings dodged a huge bullet yesterday and I didn’t even realize it! A pair of asteroids, one three miles in diameter, were headed towards us – narrowly, and thankfully, missing. Certainly brings this whole idea of the ‘End of the World’ a little closer to home.  But secondly, the Geminid Meteor Shower is going to touch down in our atmosphere on this Thursday and Friday.  According to the folks over at AccuWeather, the East Coast will have the best view as some clouds and rain are set to fall on the West coast over the next few days.

 

Geminid Meteor Shower