The Background / Join me in bed

Today I Learned

You need either a passport, birth certificate, or other legal document to show citizenship when entering a new country. Need to find my passport before next Friday!

Gotta Plug

"The Background" by Third Eye Blind. By far the best song on one of the most influential albums that I've bought in my entire life. Yes, I said it. It is absolutely powerful.

While I've always enjoyed this song, it deserves attention because it is resonating with me more than ever before. Everything except the 'hospital' references.

Join me in bed

It's a breeding pit of nostalgia.

Harold Cabalic
Interactivate, Inc -|- www.interactivate.com
San Diego, CA -|- From Online to Everywhere

Lunice / Peeing on the Mainstream

Today I Learned

You gotta score the chicken before throwin' it on the grill... or else it won't cook through.

Gotta Plug

Lunice. Kinda weird how a few neon colors and those Macho Man / Kanye West shades make a person look more like a robot, yet you've never seen an actual robot wear them? Do robots even have eyes?

Little did you know, this poppin' Canuck also busts some ill shit on the keyboards. Extra points for all the junk in the background:

Peeing on the Mainstream

For me, it's hard to discover the proverbial needle in the haystack when looking for new, unique music to add to my arsenal, particularly when its from a major artist. When I hear something that I dig from a major artist, I inevitably think, "Okay, so how long do I have before I get sick of this song?"

Because you know its eventually gonna get radio play. And you know that its gonna get played at the club, then OVER played, then played some more. Then your girlfriend will make a ringtone, have it on her Myspace profile, and will choreograph to it so her team can learn the dance, download the song, make it their ringtones, tell their significant others...

Thank God for the remix.

Harold Cabalic
Interactivate, Inc -|- www.interactivate.com
San Diego, CA -|- From Online to Everywhere

Akili Shine / Mardi Gras

Today I Learned

'The Oscars' is actually the name of the statuette. The ceremony is called 'The Academy Awards'.

Gotta Plug

Akili Shine. I've been following this cat since the Ankore days, and I'm so glad that this guy hasn't stopped making music since the bands demise. He uncannily sounds like Jay-Z. Here's his latest track, the Official Barack Obama Inauguration Song.

Buy your 'Paint the White House Black' shirts here.

Mardi Gras

I've never gone out to party on Mardi Gras. Tuesday will be my first experience... and I'm only assuming that its not far from the usual downtown antics. I'm quite tired of it. Tired of hearing the same music, spending outrageous downtown prices, whats your zodiac sign, you got a fifty dolla bill throw your hands up.

Harold Cabalic
Interactivate, Inc -|- www.interactivate.com
San Diego, CA -|- From Online to Everywhere

Beat Freaks / Valentine's Day

Today I Learned

Just read the wikipedia synopsis of "Watchmen". Now I totally want to watch it:

The story is set in an alternate 1985 where superheroes exist, Richard Nixon is still president, and tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union are at an all-time high. The vigilante Rorschach is investigating the murder of a former hero, the Comedian, and uncovers a plot to discredit and murder various heroes. Rorschach discovers a far wider-ranging conspiracy involving his colleagues' past which could completely change the course of history.

Gotta Plug

The Beat Freaks are literally taking ABDC Season 3 by storm. I had never thought that anyone could test the notoriety of the Jabbawockeez, but I feel as if these women are very well on the path of doing just that. It seems to be the mask element that puts the Jabbawockeez on a completely different level. So what is it about the Beat Freaks, besides their flawless performances? Vaginas?

I love Maryss from Paris.

Valentine's Day

I had not been looking forward to this Valentine's Day at all. It seems like such a one-sided kinda holiday; you either spend it with a person you admire, or, like me, you hide in your cave waiting for the day to expire. Whoa, that rhymed.

Fortunately, my day got a little bit brighter. Happy Valentine's Day (belated).

Harold Cabalic
Interactivate, Inc -|- www.interactivate.com
San Diego, CA -|- From Online to Everywhere

Adele / Informer

Today I Learned

Using '*html' to correct IE6 errors does not validate according to W3C standards. It's better to include an IE specific stylesheet. Fuck IE.

Gotta Plug

Adele. You can be awesome and eat anything you like at the same time.

Informer

Harold Cabalic
Interactivate, Inc -|- www.interactivate.com
San Diego, CA -|- From Online to Everywhere

Psyphy Machine / The Name Game

Today I Learned

SELECT elements in IE6 do not support the z-index property. Fuck IE.

Gotta Plug

Psyphy Machine is my #1 internet radio source for electronic music these days; well actually, for music in general. Just open up iTunes, and click on Radio > Electronic > Psyphy Machine. It has turned me on to more artists like Lazer Sword and The Glitch Mob, and many more artists who aren't.

The Name Game

I always have trouble describing this new music that I've come to love to other people. I often find myself saying, "it's what hip hop sounds like in the future." Artist genres on MySpace like "GhettoTech, Strip-Hop, Psyphy, Crunkstep, IDM, and Muffincore" fail to really indicate what you might expect to hear, and usually the genre listing isn't very consistent from artist to artist. Although 'Psyphy' seems like the most accurate term, I feel as if it is too localized. I guess that's the magic of this new sound; its so fresh and new that there really hasn't been a word formed for it.

Who knows how words are formed? - Michael Scott

Fortunately, I stumbled across this mini-documentary by Mary Anne Hobbs, who is apparently the queen of Dubstep in the UK. (I happened to catch her spinning at Low End Theory and has thus converted me into a Dubstep fan). In it, the camera man uses the phrase, the "West Coast Rocks" sound... which i thought had a nice ring to it. Localized, yes, but it seems to encompass the entire region in which this music is growing. Let's just hope soon that the West Coast Rocks sound will loosen its belt and sag a bit, so that it also includes San Diego.

Harold Cabalic
Interactivate, Inc -|- www.interactivate.com
San Diego, CA -|- From Online to Everywhere

LAZER SWORD / January Report Card

Today I Learned

CD Replication is process of molding exact copies of the master CD, while CD Duplication refers to merely burning copies of the master.

Gotta Plug

LAZER SWORD. It was not until my trip to Low End Theory in LA that I found out that there are people who can rock it just as hard as The Glitch Mob. LAZER SWORD is of this exact mold. By blending today's popular, rugged tunes with heavy, face-twisting production, LL and Lando Kal live up to the absurdity and electricity of their name. Click here to download their Blap to the Future MEGAMIX, currently on my iPod rotation. You'll need to sign up for an account that you can probably quickly forget about, but trust me, this mix is worth every bit of junk/spam mail.

January Report Card

So it's Feb 4, and according to my "Become a DJ in Four Months" schedule, I should have most of my songs selected and be well into the midsection of my debut mix.

Not exactly the case.

I've got only about 10-15 min of material that I want to use, but because of my diligence, I continue to morph my mix into something better each day, something that rocks harder than the day before. Of course I've been sifting through music like never before, a task that I had never enjoyed.

Not to mention, I've since adopted this new project to spread/share my love for this music with the rest of the San Diego community. Right now I'm just brainstorming for the perfect name and formulating my mission statement; for as we all know, Rome did not trade in their lutes for guitars in a day. I feel like the Barack Obama of music.

Thank you, God Bless you, and may God Bless the great city of San Diego.

Harold Cabalic
Interactivate, Inc -|- www.interactivate.com
San Diego, CA -|- From Online to Everywhere