Record Messages: Lisa Ann Schnell, I could have loved you!

I usually spend about an hour in the Record And Tape Xchange every Sunday before picking my son up from religious school.  A couple weeks ago I noticed a large number of late '60s/early '70s Rock records with Lisa Ann Schnell's address label on them.  This chick had some fine taste!  Among the large cache of records bearing her name were this John Mayall LP (one of my faves, particularly track 1) and Black Sabbath's eponymous debut (original green label).  How they made it down to Virginia we can only guess...

Man, this would have been the girl of my dreams had I been a teenager at that time!  A Blues-Rock/Sabbath fan at the dawn of the 70s?!  I would have been happy to share a 6-pack of Schlitz or Gennesee Cream Ale with her.  If I were to guess, judging by the years of the LPs and the fact that she had her own address label (useful if you are heading off to college), she was around 20 years old in 1970, which was about 23 years too late for me, being a child of '73.

Lisa Ann Schnell, I wish I would have known you back then - we could have had some good times!  I would have picked you up from Garden City High School in my Chevy Nova and then spent some quality time lying on the hood in our cut-offs (and your tube top) listening to some tunes.

Volumetrics Ad (ca. 1973)

That's David Johansen, Jobriath, and ???

MEGAUPLOAD IS DOWN!

Hey folks, thanks to aggressive US anti-piracy measures, megaupload is now down.  Will it be for good?  Only time will tell...  Until then, all the shows I had posted here are not available.  Sorry.

Reported by the LA Times:  The Department of Justice announced Thursday that it has conducted a major action to shut down MegaUpload, a popular file-sharing site widely used for free downloads of movies and television shows.

After receiving indictments from a grand jury in Virginia for racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit copyright infringement and other charges on Jan. 5, federal authorities on Thursday arrested four people and executed more than 20 search warrants in the U.S. and eight foreign countries, seizing 18 domain names and an estimated $50 million in assets, including servers run in Virginia and Washington, D.C.

MegaUpload is a "digital locker" that allows users to store files that can then be streamed or downloaded by others. Its subsidiary site MegaVideo became very popular for the unauthorized downloads of movies and TV shows. Users whose uploaded content proved particularly popular were paid for their participation.

In a joint statement, the Justice Department and FBI called the action "among the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the United States."

Ira Rothken, an attorney for MegaUpload, said in an interview that he only learned of the actions in a press release this morning and had not yet read the entire indictment. "Our initial impression is that the allegations are without merit and MegaUpload is going to vigorously contest them," he said. "We have deep concerns over due process and assets being taken without the opportunity for a hearing."
According to the indictment, the operators of MegaUpload earned more than $175 million in illegal profits and caused an estimated $500 million in harm to copyright holders.

The site is advertised as having more than 50 million daily visitors, according to federal authorities.
Four of MegaUpload's operators have been arrested in New Zealand, while three more remain at large. The seven each face a maximum of 55 years in prison.

Not listed on the indictment is rapper Swizz Beatz -- real name Kasseem Dean -- who, according to a report in the New York Post, is the CEO of MegaUpload. Beatz is married to pop singer Alicia Keys.  Rothken said that Beatz had not been running the site but that recently there had been "a transition period going on." 

The news is sure to be welcome in the entertainment industry, whose leaders have faced a recent setback in their push for the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect Intellectual Property Act. The proposed bills, if passed, would make it easier for U.S. courts to go after piracy sites that, unlike MegaUpload, operate entirely overseas.

Critics who believe the bills are heavy-handed and don't adequately protect civil liberties conducted a U.S. Internet "blackout." As many as 10,000 websites went black Wednesday, among them Wikipedia, Craigslist and Reddit. The protest helped to pressure lawmakers to oppose SOPA and PIPA.

The Obama administration announced its opposition to the bills in their current forms Saturday.

[Update, 2:55 p.m.: The websites of the Justice department and Universal Music Group, which had been involved in litigation with MegaUpload, were down on Thurday. The sites were attacked by members of the hacker group Anonymous in response to the actions against MegaUpload, according to a report on CNET News.]

Slow Day At Work (2006)

Here is another piece of "busy work" I created while it was slow at  work.  I had just started my job, and I and other newly hired colleagues  would battle for workload!  On the days when I lost a battle, I found  other ways to spend my time constructively.  Here, I charted the  creation of the Israeli Defense Forces.

Movie Review: Hunter Prey

I've never done a movie review here before (too much typing involved), so I'll make this brief.  I like Sci-Fi movies.  A lot.  I was looking for something good to watch with my 8-year old and for about 10 minutes flipped through the Netflix queues...and landed on Hunter Prey.  Long story short, I'm glad I did - a great Saturday night laser-gun and alien flick!

I'll let the trailer speak to the plot, but let me just say that you probably won't be able to guess how the movie ends.  It's well-written and even though it is definitely low-budget, the production values are very high.  I wish I could find more indie Sci-Fi movies like this!  Fuck the Hollywood blockbusters with no plot and all special effects - this is the exact opposite of that and it works like a charm.

Summary:  4 out of 5 stars (Hey, 5's are reserved for classics like Star Wars, Blade Runner, and Alien!  My 4's mean the movie is very good and everything - the writing, the characters, the costumes, the effects - clicked)

An Electronic Muscial Mind-Fuck c/o Catholic University!

"The Electronics Music Laboratory of the Catholic University of America had its beginnings in 1961 when Professor H. Emerson Meyers, assisted by one of his graduate piano students Richard Lockhart, used recording equipment of the then Department of Music to experiment with musique concrete.  From these small beginnings and following Meyers' visits to the major electronic music centers of this continent and in Europe, the laboratory has grown to be one of the finest on the East Coast [of the United States].  It received its first Moog synthesizer units in 1964 and now has over 40 of them - with more to be added soon."

Holy crap!  More than 40 Moogs?!  Well, for all of you willing to send yourself into ambient electro-musical oblivion, here is some experimental music (when "electronic" music actually was experimental) to set your mind at ease.  Originally issued by the ABC Westminster Gold label, it can now be found on Amazon.com for 99¢ per track - which is WAY too expensive if you ask me!  I found this LP for 50¢ at my local library, which is a much more reasonable price!  For those of you who partake in recreational drugs - this recording may be suitable to bring you to an even higher state.  If you are like me - this music alone will be enough to send you into some state of higher-awareness.  Prepare to be mind-fucked by moogs, electronic blips and squinks.  I think this is what an R2-D2 orgy would sound like.

Download the Creel Pone bootleg label's pressing ---> HERE.

Don't Mess With NYC's God Squad!

Today's Vinyl Purchase: Yellowman - "Live At Reggae Sunsplash"

I was at my local library today, where they usually have a dozen or so old records for sale for 50¢.  Today there were a couple reggae records - each with an audiophile anti-static inner sleeve.  I saw that and thought, buy now and ask questions later!  This one totally has me stumped...

It is a copy of Yellowman - Live At Reggae Sunsplash, but it appears to be a local Jamaican bootleg copy of the original.  The label is essentially a black & white photocopy of the label found on Sunsplash Records RS-8903, but with "Distributed by Tuff Gong Music Ltd." haphazardly placed on the label prior to photocopying. The jacket is simple with no spine and the photos/info on the back are fuzzy/blurry, as if it was a copy of a copy.

 

Interestingly, the words "Lithographed in Jamaica by Stephensons" are crisp and clear at the bottom left of the back cover, as is the black bar located just to the left of the "Lithographed..." info; the bar appears to be blocking some info from the original issue.

Download this album HERE!

What do I have here - a bootleg?  A Jamaican repress?  Both?!  Did I get my 50¢ worth?!?!  If anyone out there has any idea, please let me know!

Communications Portal From Ancient Times: The BBS

 

Before there was the Internet, before AOL, and before chat rooms, there were bulletin board services (BBS).  These were the first places where people started to type their conversations instead of talking.  Also, this is where the earliest "To Catch A Predator" stars got some practice runs in...

Most BBSs (run by SysOps, or "System Operators") were free, but for the GOOD content, you'd usually have to apply online and then send a xerox copy of your drivers license proving your age.  Most BBSs had a limited number of ports, so maybe only 10-20 people could be logged on at once.  If you just turned your computer off w/out logging out, you would block other people from logging in, and most likely get your ass banned!  When I used this service, 2400 baud was an ultra-fast speed to connect to these systems.  Actually, I remember when my dad had a 1200 baud modem.  A 2400 baud modem and my Apple IIc...like out of a Star Trek movie!

Anyways, I sent in a fudged drivers license with my birth date altered to join this BBS.  I think I sent $20 as well.  Was it worth it?  I dunno...there were some addictive games (text-based of course), like this one where you ran around between galaxies shipping freight.  I don't remember much about this BBS, but there were others in Cleveland like Firehouse BBS (1988), Cleveland FreeNet, Bill and Bob's...

Record Messages: "To Brenda..."

Found in the Record & Tape Exchange in Fairfax, VA

I wonder why Carl R. gave Brenda this copy of "The Tower," recorded by Carl Rosen.  Hmmm...could this be an autograph?   The message is certainly generic enough, but as for autographs, that signature sure doesn't look like your stereotypical musician's scribble!  

It could be Carl R. coincidentally shares the same name as Carl Rosen.  If so, Carl R. may have been breaking up with Brenda and wanted to be remembered fondly.  Alternately, it could be Carl was never able to move beyond "gay friend syndrome" and get into Brenda's pants.  

We'll never know, I guess!

Photo Of The Day: Nazi Pigs Fuck Off!

People of Eger, in the Sudetenland (now Cheb, Czech Republic), greet German soldiers in October 1938

With any luck, these animals died miserably before the end of the war. 

The Baseball Bunch Fun Book (1982)

I think this belonged to my brother, so I offered it back to him before it hit the recycling bin. The Baseball Bunch was a syndicated instructional//comedic baseball show on TV in the early 80s. I think my bro may have had a poster, too?

Anyways, Johnny called us BBB followers "Bunchers." I always thought a buncher is when your underwear sticks up your ass after a long bike ride? Come to think of it, I work with some bunchers!

Here is the whole workbook: http://www.slingfile.com/file/5OUAhYrBQf

Bootleg Time: The Ramones - "The Club, 1976"

01. Blitzkrieg Bop
02. I Remember You
03. Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment
04. I Wanna be your Boyfriend
05. 53rd and 3rd
06. Havana Affair
07. California Sun
08. Judy is a Punk
09. I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You
10. Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World
11. Beat on the Brat
12. Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue
13. Swallow My Pride
14. Glad to See You Go
15. Chainsaw
16. Listen to My Heart
17. Babysitter
18. Oh Oh, I Love Her So
19. Commando
20. Let's Dance

DOWNLOAD HERE!