Musical Holocron

Film composer John Williams has been nominated for an astonishing 49 Academy Awards. He’s won five. His second was for Jaws and his third was for the original Star Wars—and bingo! Right there you have arguably the two most recognizable scores in Hollywood history. Williams has since written the music for all the Star Wars sequels and prequels, along with nearly all of Steven Spielberg’s films, the first three Harry Potter pictures, and—a few more titles chosen not quite at random—Superman, The Witches of Eastwick, Home Alone, JFK, and The Book Thief.

Learn more: John Williams on Star Wars: The Force Awakens | Vanity Fair

Labels: articles, Delicious, interviews, movies, music, music/artists, music/artists/john-williams, people, people/george-lucas, people/j-j-abrams, people/john-williams, star-wars, star-wars/episodevii

# posted by ArcoJedi : 10:49  0 comments

I'm writing this post today because I truly believe that you haven't had enough facepalm moments in your life yet.

I follow Cracked.com on twitter and jumped to the link immediately when I saw the tweet about 7 Inventors You Didn't Know You Wanted to Punch In the Face. I expected to see a list of gadgets or technology that end up being annoyances or death traps. But starting with #7 it seems the first winner was really just a jerk with some legal tricks. But since the jerk in question was Mitch Bainwol, CEO of the RIAA, a group I've written about before and follow with some modicum of enmity, I took careful notice.

The article gives a bit of detail and some links about the history of the RIAA's legal campaign against individuals file sharing, the history of one of it's most important cases and Mitch's role in it. In regards to Cracked's article, it occurs to me momentarily that this does not make him an "inventor" but just a "suit". Still, the suggestion that someone (maybe me) would like to punch him in the face still stands.

Mitch Bainwol RIAA
Originally uploaded by SAITOR

I won't regurgitate the whole article here. I only suggest reading it and also catching up with the relevant Wikipedia page on the case referenced. In summary, before Mitch stepped up the plate, the RIAA's legal tactics against ISPs were barely making a dent in the so-called problem, so they took their fight down to the individual. What heinous criminal did they bring charges against? An organized crime boss? A street vendor selling pirated CDs? A Russian hacker?

No. They brought suit against a mother of four in her late twenties named Jammie Thomas, a Native American descendant from the great state of Minnesota. A classic David-and-Goliath story unfolds from there, of course, with retrials still lingering as recently as July 2009. Unfortunately, as it stands right now, the jury last sided with the plaintiff (wait,... what?!) finding her liable for damages totaling ... <drum roll here>

$80,000 Per Song?! That Adds Up to $1.92 Million?!!

Though the record companies alleged that the total number of shared files was 1,702 songs, they mercifully sought relief for only 24 of these. None of these numbers can be proven very well via evidence, but that's still nearly 2 million dollars that as of right now she legally owes. There are still motions, counter-motions and so forth flying around right now and the evidence seems mighty flimsy from my vantage point.

The point I want to especially highlight from the Cracked.com article was this witty snippet that I appreciated.

...she was found guilty of sharing the most embarrassing 24 song playlist imaginable with countless Internet users.

Isn't that just awesome? The actual list of all 24 songs is outlined for all of history in bold-faced type on Wikipedia. Just savor what Jammie must feel to know that the whole world gets a peak at her private music tastes. There's a smattering of classic rock, 90's era chick-rock alternative and some gooey pop. The artists included are Aerosmith, Bryan Adams, Def Leppard, Green Day, Janet Jackson, No Doubt, Richard Marx and Vanessa Williams among others.

It's pretty safe for the Cracked writers to point their fingers and laugh at the list, especially when they are clearly taking her side. It includes many songs that are good, but many of us wouldn't admit to liking publicly. And at the same time, I can't help feel some pity and solidarity with this mom that the RIAA has chosen to pick on. So in support of her and in empathy for her situation, I've created the following playlist with all 24 songs! So here they are, Jammie's Playlist, in no particular order. I dare you to listen to it and not sing along at some point.

More Information

• Wired.com - RIAA Trial Produces Playlist of the Century
• Free Jammie Forum
• StarTribune.com - Judge in Internet music sharing case may grant new trial
• arstechnica - File-sharing on the docket
• Copycense - Two Years Later, We Still Cannot "Free Jammie"

Found via Twitter / Cracked.com.

Update

I found this today (2010/09/26) on Reddit.

Labels: articles, copyright, funny, history, music, music/artists, news, reference, RIAA, stupid, technology, via:playlist.com

# posted by ArcoJedi : 00:36  0 comments

My old school friends and I were big Guns N' Roses fans from 6^th grade on. I probably head-banged for the first time to Appetite for Destruction on a boy scout camp out. Later would come Helloween, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith and many others. But first and foremost for several years was GN'R.

You probably know the story. The band has been in and out of the limelight's edge for the last fifteen years. Only one of the original band members --the very personable and friendly Axl Rose-- is still active. But it's been long years since the release of a new album of original material. There has been one in the works the whole time, but it has been many times delayed from being released. Until yesterday.

All that you probably knew. What you might not have known was that the senior marketing team at Dr. Pepper made a promise that they'd give a free can of their soda to every American if GN'R released their album before the end of 2008. And I don't think they honestly thought it would happen. But it has! You can learn more information at the article on MTV Newsroom. However, if you want to sign up for your coupon you only have a few hours left. Originally, the coupon sign-up form was only going to be available for 24 hours. But they've extended it until 6PM EST today. Go!

Found via my friend Nikomas.

Labels: articles, free, friends, genre/classic-rock, genre/rock, history, music, music/artists, music/artists/guns-n-roses

# posted by ArcoJedi : 14:34  0 comments

Steve Albini is a maverick pioneer in the music world. His early background as a musician in punk rock bands led into writing as a pundit in music journalism.

Below is an excerpt of an article that prompted my introduction to him and his ire at the recording industry. I think that it is important for any fan of music, any aspiring musician --especially those about to make their big break-- and anyone who wonders why the rock stars they love have no money to read the following.

Whenever I talk to a band who are about to sign with a major label, I always end up thinking of them in a particular context. I imagine a trench, about four feet wide and five feet deep, maybe sixty yards long, filled with runny, decaying shit. I imagine these people, some of them good friends, some of them barely acquaintances, at one end of this trench. I also imagine a faceless industry lackey at the other end holding a fountain pen and a contract waiting to be signed. Nobody can see what's printed on the contract. It's too far away, and besides, the shit stench is making everybody's eyes water. The lackey shouts to everybody that the first one to swim the trench gets to sign the contract. Everybody dives in the trench and they struggle furiously to get to the other end. Two people arrive simultaneously and begin wrestling furiously, clawing each other and dunking each other under the shit. Eventually, one of them capitulates, and there's only one contestant left. He reaches for the pen, but the Lackey says Actually, I think you need a little more development. Swim again, please. Backstroke. And he does of course.

It is truly scathing. Read the full opinion article at negativland.com.

Labels: articles, business, music, news

# posted by ArcoJedi : 23:11  0 comments