Earthquake in Japan: Footage from inside the CNN offices + Live Coverage

Here's the live stream from Al Jazeera English
Al Jazeera English: Live Stream - Watch Now - Al Jazeera English

I'm going to SXSW! And Califone Video from Last Year

I'll be in Austin, Texas for South by Southwest from March 12th to March 22nd!

Last year I got to see Califone one of my favorite bands at the festival. Parts of the video below were shot at a show I attended (they played several times, I was at the one that was under a tent outdoors).

better angels from Califone on Vimeo.

This year I'm sure there will again be both old favorites and new surprises. I'll be posting a bit more here during the fest, I hope. And also blogging about both SXSW Interactive & SXSW Music at Laughingsquid.com and on my Radio Valencia blog.

What Mikl-em is doing lately (circa 2011)

Until very recently, I hadn't written much here for a while. But I've been doing a lot elsewhere. So I wanted to post a quick summary and a bunch of links...

1. Blogging regularly at Laughing Squid on topics including but not limited to TV Nostalgia; San Francisco art, people, weather, and theater events; comedy of all sorts (esp. British and internet flavors); and odd soccer-related videos.
2. Playing music on the virtual air of Radio Valencia, San Francisco's newest and best pirate radio station. My show Can Haz DJ airs every Tuesday night from 10pm-12am. You can go to my blog on the RadioValencia site to listen live, or download mp3s of the show afterward and listen any time.
   
3. Being funny myself at places like The Dark Room (goofing MST3K style for Bad Movie Night or on-stage in Caddyshack Live).
4. Writing for Hi Fructose magazine (in-print only and with several features appearing in their just released second collected edition)
5. Um, other stuff.

That's a good overview, I will write up a list of recommended Squid posts in another post here. Also keep in mind that you can subscribe to my occasional email list if you'd like to keep up on what I'm doing and other SF-local things that I recommend.

How come Charlie Sheen and Newt Gingrich don't get the same punsihment?

Bill Maher as usual does incredibly funny and intelligent commentary with no punches pulled. The Sheen-Gingrich comparison is great, but the Gingrich-Edwards one is a really interesting one to ponder. And from there it slaloms through Ensign and Vitter and Spitzer and on and on. It is a strange old world that some people live in.

More on Unions, no really, you better watch out!

This joke is making it's way around Facebook, and it really nails it (which I think 'the kids' are saying again, right?)

So, a unionized public employee, a member of the Tea Party, and a CEO are sitting at a table. In the middle of the table is a plate with a dozen cookies on it. The CEO reaches across and takes 11 cookies. He looks at the tea partier and says, "Watch out for that union guy, he wants a piece of your cookie."

Here is a very informative clip from The Rachel Maddow Show about the underlying motives and dynamics of the Wisconsin fight over public sector workers collective bargaining rights...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The unions in Wisconsin have already said that they are willing to make concessions, but the Governor's goal is not really to solve the "budget crisis" (which, per the clip above, might not have been so much a 'crisis' if he had not proactively passed a bunch of business tax cuts as his first act upon taking office). What he wants to do is to remove unions' voice, to neuter their ability to represent a large group of workers on their salary, benefits and working conditions. And in so doing to tilt the balance of power in the Republicans favor for ever more.

Wisconsin is not the easiest place for this piece of the GOP agenda to get across, it may be the toughest. And that's why they are doing it--they wanted to act quickly, sneak it in on a general positive wave of just-elected-governor vibe, and thus get it straight in as a mainstream national policy issue. But it's not. It's an attempt to radically retrench how employees are treated in this country, especially blue collar employees, and it aims directly (if much less intuitively) for the source of funding for the Democratic party. Which in a post Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission world is very dangerous for all of us.

My Radio Show and Music Blog on RadioValencia.FM

I have a show on RadioValencia.FM, San Francisco's latest & greatest independent non-commercial radio station (there are those who call us pirates, Arrr!).

My show is called Can Haz DJ, and it is on every Tuesday night from 10pm-1am. Here's a little bit of my thoughts on getting back to radio after 15 years or so (I unofficially majored in radio as an undergrad, meaning that I got no credits for it, even though I dedicated so much my time and energy to it). I started doing the show in August of last year, the same timeframe when Radio Valencia started up. You can download mp3s of my previous shows. It might help to review playlists of some of my shows to see what you are getting into--I also include videos in some of those posts.



Working in college radio was probably the most important experience that I have ever had, in terms of my personal development. It was practical experience for a real life work enviornment, and especially for one where a group of people are passionately dedicated to the task at hand. That's the way that I hope to always work, and it's something common to great startups, great small teams and awesome arts & theater groups, all of which I've been fortunate enough to find my way into ever since.

If you want to listen to Radio Valencia live, you can go to the website and click the play button, or tune in (in some parts) of San Francisco on 87.9FM.

Jazz at Club Deluxe in San Francisco Last Night

I've put up a couple videos on my Flickr stream of a great jazz performance that I went to last night at The Club Deluxe in Upper Haight (note to self, and anyone who is listening, that their WikiPedia entry needs a lot of work).

The two videos are below--one is :30, the other about 1:15. FUN. Nine-pieces, sometimes ten, including 3 trumpets, trombone, and tenor, alto & baritone (I think, iz big) saxes. Not sure if it is a regular thing or what, but it was a great time, would love to see it again.





It reminded me of the time that Danielle and I stumbled into a performance of the Harlem Renaissance Orchestra at a small Harlem joint where they do sort of a mid-week practice gig, playing to neighborhood locals with a church basement style dinner spread. That was amazing (and more than twice as many players), but there's just nothing like the vibe of

Here's the HRO in a bit more upmarket surroundings, playing at Lincoln Center: