Ulanism

Go Stetsa was one of my favorite songs of late 86 and Top Billin’ was without any question the biggest beat in the summer of ‘87 in NYC.

I had a great time selling ice cream from a Good Humor truck with my sidekick David (my girlfriend Leslie’s brother). We had a boom box and drove all over Brooklyn but primarily hung around the projects of Bedford-Stuyvesant and East New York. We were known as the “Hip Hop Ice Cream Truck” cuz we were always blasting this tune instead of the typical ding-dong melody that I hated.

I don’t think I drove the truck for more than a month, but it gave me a chance to see the area. Good times… Good times indeed.

 

 01 Top Billin (Acapella): Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 01 Top Billin (Instrumental): Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 01 Go Stetsa I (LP Version).mp3: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Here is a fun YouTube video of the song (audio is very poor).

Check it out
MC am I, people call me Milk
When I’m bustin up a party I feel no guilt
Gizmo’s cuttin, up for the
Suckers that’s, down with meeee!!
The One of us, that’s how I feel
To be down you must appeal
To the Two, we’re rated R
We’re gifted, and we’re going far
Down the road, to the bank
While I’m here I’d like to thank
Mom and dad, they knew the time
Gizmo’s scratching, Milk Dee’s rhyming
Milk is chillin, Giz is chillin
What more can I say? Top billin
That’s what we get, got it good
Since you understood, would you
Stop scheming, and looking hard
I got a great big bodyguard
So step up if you wanna get hurt
Milk Dee’s gonna pull the skirt
I get money, money I got
Stunts call me honey if they feel real hot
That’s how it is, you can ask Giz
I stole your girl while you were inprisoned
Jail, for MC assault
You was jealous it’s all your fault
Milk is chillin, Giz is chillin
What more can I say? Top billin
That’s what we get, got it good
And since you understood, would you
Clap your hands, your hands you clap
If your girl’s out of place it’s your girl I slap
And if you’re dumb, you’ll ask why
I am from Bed Do-or-Die
The Audio Two, the Two’s Audio
I got a brother and his name’s Gizmo
Milk is chillin, Gizmo’s chillin
What more can I say? Top billin
That’s what we get, got it good
And since you understood, would you
Bite a rhyme, if you dare
I get the paper so I don’t care
My contributions to this jam
Is confusing, because I am
Milk Dee stated all the way
The super easy mightiest MC okay
Yes I’m down, down by law
I get the girlies out on the floor
G is D, down is G
Two the “At The Top” is where he’ll be
That is us, call us Aud
Girls come in you won’t be bored
Milk is chillin, Giz is chillin
What more can I say? Top billin
That’s what we get, got it good
And since you understood, would you
Do a dance, dance the Two
If, you can dance it’s easy to do
This dance is on and on and on
Dance until your breath is gone!!

“Ok” I am convinced NOT to add the google feature to my site. Thanks for taking a look and sharing your point of view.

Not sure what you mean by… “Clicking on your icon I see that you have Activities and have joined a single site. Not bad info to give out…”

I hope that I am not your most lame client….

You are not my most lame client. You inspire me to write =)

Actually, I was rather embarrassed that you found a cool Google feature that I did not know about!!!

However, looking at the Google Friends Connect functionality, it does not look like it is geared toward increasing your professional reach. Instead, it looks like it is a way to show how “cool” you are because you have so many people following you. While this may, in fact, be a neat marketing plug, having 50 folks following you is not going to impress me. Having 20,000 will. How long will that take? And do you REALLY want 20,000 friends ;)

I have 82 friends on Facebook and it makes my skin crawl :{ I avoid loging in because someone is always saying something that I really “should” read (if I do not want to insult them). I can not imagine doing this for a business site. If my blog had 82 people following me, I do not think that would be an impressive number (not when YVOD hosts 300+ websites and consults with well over 300+ additional folks).

In short: “feeds” are supposed to make it easier for folks to get information from your site. Feedburner sends an email to everyone who is subscribed so they do not need to “visit” your site to get your latest posts. I imagine Google Friends Connect does the same thing (especially since the own Feedburner now). That being said, Feedburner shows up on your site as a single field with a “Subscribe” button next to it. Google Friends… well, it sure makes Google stand out.

PS: If you click around on your friends site, each one of the Google Friends Connect has an icon. Find yours and click on it. You will see a bit of info about you. Do you want that given out on your friends site? Not sure. But more importantly, does your >>FRIEND<< want that info given?

What if your friend helps Democrats get elected but you are a Republican lobbyist? Does your friend really want that info on his site? Does he want to be known as palling around with the opposition? What if you are his only friend? You could imagine how the trust between him and his clients could be broken. Maybe he is just a front for the Republicans…

My only point is, Google is in charge of what info gets on your site. That is, in my opine, never a good thing. Sometimes it is worth it (if you are raking in ad revenue), but try not to give someone else total rights over any part of your website.

DVD Jon strikes again!!

I am very happy to see the direction DVD Jon is taking. I heard tell that he offered this software up to Apple. They rejected it (I believe because of legal issues surrounding DeCSS and copyright). Glad he is pushing forward. This is exactly the type of thing we need.

Universal access to all our media should be a right. It is ours. We should be able to do with it as we like. This is a great step in the right direction.

Good luck doubleTwist =)

I have been in love with Carnival photos for years now. I could look at them all day =)

rio-carnival.net has a nice slideshow of a all 13 schools along with two extra galleries.

I am stunned at the quality of this product. A few things that stand out for me:

1) The depth of field

I love that the background is present but not in focus. This makes you feel like you are in the White House with him – not in a staged studio. Backdrops should imply where you are without being loud and distracting. Your eye is led to focus on what is important, President Obama, while still presenting enough visual data to keep you interested. Backdrops are meant to entice you deeper into the video and this out-of-focus background accomplishes the task nicely.

2) The staging

The background is formal yet comfortable. You see an empty chair next to a small round table all of which is in front of a fireplace and obscured by a corner. The chair is facing towards the corner hinting that another chair is hidden by the flag. Two people (you and the President) could be sitting together working out the details of government. The room is big enough to hold many while still allowing for an intimate chat. And of course there are the ever-present symbols of patriotism – our flags.

3) The lighting

The lighting contributes to the focus on President Obama’s face. The lighting is darker with an almost fireplace orange glow on the chair. The wall behind the President is lighter but still quite soft. The Presidents face is brighter on the left yet there is no shadow on the right. All of this contrast helps to bring the focus forward on the words he is delivering. It is almost like a cartoon where the only thing moving are the lips. There are no distractions.

4) The sound

I really like how President Obama has been recorded. His voice is extremely present yet it has depth. I feel like his is speaking in a room that matches the size of the video (instead of in a flat post-processed studio). There is the hint of an echo. His highs are just below clipping and the lows do not sound muddy. While the audio is not completely natural, the processing does not seem overdone or jarring.

5) Captions

YEAH!!! I simply love this feature!!! It is great to see them use it.

6) HD option

Everything shot should be high definition. It is great that YouTube has enabled videos to use it (along with captions).

7) Downloadable MP4 podcast

YES!!! All media should have the ability to be used on any compatible device. In addition to downloading video, they should also allow (straight from YouTube) audio-only downloading. But hey, I am happy they are finally allowing straight video downloads instead of forcing folks to steal the Flash file and convert it. YouTube should enable this by default for all videos.

—-

Given who made this and the fact that government is traditionally clueless when it comes to marketing and branding issues, I find this to be just about the best podcast I have ever seen. I will work hard to emulate this result in the assets I produce. I find it amazing that the Obama Team has been able to produce something of this quality so quickly after taking office. These guys really do get the power of the internet.

The next 4 years are going to be full of surprises. My task is to help others take advantage of the good changes. This is an example of a good one.

Wordpress has this nice feature where you can automatically upgrade your plugins from within the Administration area. Unfortunately, this feature was broken on a site I recently upgraded. I found this cool work around. Simply put the following two lines in the wp-config.php file:

//Automatic Upgrade fix – http://wordpress.org/support/topic/238738
putenv(‘TMPDIR=’ . ini_get(‘upload_tmp_dir’));

I really enjoy finding stuff like this. Thank you Dan for sharing the link.

This statement speaks volumes to the fundamental nature of change. If we want to make a better world, we must begin by altering our course.

This video is a localized version of a excellent Argentinean political advertisement The Truth.

—-

Lost Generation by Jonathan Reed

I am part of a lost generation
and I refuse to believe that
I can change the world
I realize this may be a shock but
“Happiness comes from within.”
is a lie, and
“Money will make me happy.”
So in 30 years I will tell my children
they are not the most important thing in my life
My employer will know that
I have my priorities straight because
work
is more important than
family
I tell you this
Once upon a time
Families stayed together
but this will not be true in my era
This is a quick fix society
Experts tell me
30 years from now, I will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of my divorce
I do not concede that
I will live in a country of my own making
In the future
Environmental destruction will be the norm
No longer can it be said that
My peers and I care about this earth
It will be evident that
My generation is apathetic and lethargic
It is foolish to presume that
There is hope.

And all of this will come true unless we choose to reverse it .

Cleighton, Stella and Max are learning to create a song using Garage Band at the Apple Store. They are having loads of fun.