nicefishfilms

Opera - The Final Frontier?

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 11:21:30 -0700

Mention Opera to me and I respond like a puppy hearing a strange sound- tilt of the head and a puzzled look. I know there is something magnificent there, the staging, the story the complete artistry. Recently our long-time friend, former radio diva, Lori Lewis approached us with a series idea revolving around Opera. I love a mystery and we decided to take it to the next level by shooting a teaser. The idea is to bring Opera to everyone in an environment that is welcoming and friendly. Lori had a vision to bring together friends, interesting people gathered around the dinner table. Our goal is to celebrate the BIG idea behind living life full voice.

Welcome to the journey.

everyday Opera Follow the updates on Twitter

Teaser:

The response is exciting, a gathering of the most respected names in Opera, Science and fans of great food coming together to make everyday Opera happen.

msw

140conf Video Showdown - News and Social Media

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:02:33 -0700

Robert Scoble moderates this excellent panel on the changing 'pace' of news gathering and distribution in a Social Media World.

Ann Curry (@AnnCurry) - News Anchor on NBC's Today Show and host of Dateline NBC Rick Sanchez (@ricksanchezcnn) - Host of the 3PM weekday edition of CNN Newsroom Robert Scoble (@Scobleizer) Ryan Osborn (@todayshow) - Producer, NBC Today Show

The event held last week in New York was organized by Jeff Pulver.

Prt. 2:

msw

- Special Note - Scoble will be the special guest tonight on Peter Himmelman's Furious World tonight at 7pm PDT - watch live

Thinking Out Loud - Iran techRising

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 18:53:52 -0700

Along our curious path we have the occasion to converse with some really BIG thinkers. Thinking Out Loud is the raw stream from some of these encounters.

On this SPECIAL edition: Part Two of our ongoing coverage of the rising in Iran. Technology is empowering the global voices striving for change. We're joined by Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins and Kyle Brady to discuss tech's impact on this emerging and developing situation.

Rizzn has an excellent piece on The Inquisitr "The Diminishing Role of Government in the Social Media Age."

You can track the Iran Elections on Twazzup.

Play Show

msw

A Bright Spark - Jazz and Poetry at The White House - Video

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:30:03 -0700

We know that music has the power to heal, stimulate our imaginations and bring us closer together. Recently President Obama and The First Lady invited Poets and Jazz Artists to fill the room with BIG ideas. I could not be more encouraged that they invited the world to witness the power of Jazz.

The President quoted Louis Armstrong: "What we play is life."

More video of The First Lady on Jazz:

Washington Post has the details.

msw

Thinking Out Loud - When CNN Fails Twazzup Rises

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 19:54:26 -0700

Along our curious path we have the occasion to converse with some really BIG thinkers. Thinking Out Loud is the raw stream from some of these encounters.

On this SPECIAL edition: The trending issue today on Twitter is #CNN Fails. We're joined by Robert Scoble of Building43, Cyril Mutran co-founder of Twazzup and Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins to discuss the rise of real-time news. The lack of coverage by the US News Networks regarding the Iranian election and fall-out was just stunning and showed the complete failure of old media to cover breaking events like the real-time web.

You can track the Iran Elections on Twazzup or wait a lifetime for tv news networks to catch up.

Play Show

More resources: Huffington Post Live Blog, "Real-Time Criticism Over CNN Coverage" - NYT,

Twitter Streams Break Iran News Dam

Rizzn has a report that their seems to be an attempt to censor YouTube videos as well - read here

Monday UPDATE: We sent a Twitter message to @ricksanchezcnn and he responded on the air that they did the best they could but news is now a 'collective pursuit.' Rick seems to understand the uproar but I wonder if he realizes that CNN had a real opportunity to mine the 'collective' voices demanding news as it was breaking. To his credit, Sanchez covered the story fully, even showing the grim images coming out of Iran. He even focused on the importance of the SocialNet in getting the story out.

msw

A Day To Speak Out Against Hate

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:17:36 -0700

My heart grieves today. The act of hate today at the U.S. Holocaust Museum in DC... [story]

Most days i try to diminish the twisted evil voices spreading terrorism of ignorance and hate. As writers we strive to bring works that provide an antidote to destruction. As artists we try to paint stories that give voice to the ones who others try to silence. As technologists we develop the code that is to bring us closer to one another.

It is hard for me to find the understanding that a man could spend a life filled with hate. He wrote in the open of his belief that his race was supreme. How do we find a way to love through hate? How do we bring light to those who dwell in darkness? WE stand together, say enough- act as a unit of love or we sink.

Tonight the U.S. Holocaust Museum was to hold the premier of Anne and Emmet written by Janet Langhart Cohen. The play is an imagined conversation between two teenagers who were cut down by hate - Anne Frank and Emmett Till. The Cohens were there at the time of the shooting, they interacted with Stephen Tyrone Johns, the security guard killed today. They spoke in depth of their feelings about what happened with Wolf Blitzer on CNN. Mrs. Langhart Cohen said something that i will never forget - "Years from now there will be those who say that this shooting never happened." She spoke of those who deny the tragic realities of the violence of hate.

What are we to do?

We are to Love. Love when it doesn't seem to matter. It always matters. We write, we sing, we gather and find what makes us human - each other.

We are to write and expose darkness. We are to remember those who suffer when we ignore their cry for help.

We are to educate our young ones that the result of hate is death.

Years ago we did a song that spoke of the great loss of Medgar Evans. The song is called 'The Longest Day in Mrs. Evans' Life' It took 30 years to bring the person who cut him down to justice.

Play

I encourage you to listen to a first hand account of hate from Peter Himmelman - Untitled

We are the change we want to be.

"When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it- always." Gandhi

"We must remain vigilant against all forms of prejudice" President Obama

msw

Dark Root of the Dream - The Gypsy Glam Rock Musical

Fri, 5 Jun 2009 19:11:05 -0700

For about a month now I've been engaged with an exciting collaboration. The words 'musical and theater' aren't part of my everyday life but hang around artists long enough and it's bound to happen. Some backstory- our Music Director, Lanny Cordola and I have walked down a wide creative path for nearly 15 years. Back in my 'label' days, Lanny would propose project after project. One week it would be an all-star Bluegrass album, the next, an ambient world sound-scape collection. I would feign mild protest but knew that once Lanny had a sound swirling around his noggin' there was only one option- express. We very rarely lost money on these ideas and occasionally actually made a little something. I'm aware that the journey begins with a yes.

As I evolved into tv and film, Lanny came with- scoring the picture. I could throw out a cue description like 'we have a scene with a grizzled custom chopper builder from a swampy part of country,' he would create a sonic extravaganza that had me tasting gator on a stick. His notes caused me to re-think and the end result grander that what I could have imagined.

Now he's turned the table on me, writing the scene and widening the circle with a very talented group of dreamers. His mind heard a musical about a rock star obsessed with poetry, art and theology. Knowing Lanny as a brother, it seemed natural that he would write about Oscar Wilde, Edgar Allen Poe, Yeates, Virginia Woolf, Frederich Nietzche and a dozen other wild pen wielders. The vision of pulling it all together was a journey he started with writer Shawn Perry for a project called 'The Road.' He wanted to show a world of confusion and discovery of a globe traveling musician searching for wonder and answers. Cut to Lanny meeting Donovan Leitch, the son of the Hurdy Gurdy Sunshine Superman iconoclast. Donovan's approach to music is as wild as Lanny's- there are no limits to what will be done. It's an abandonment and a soul embrace of symphonic ideas. Donovan has pulled off some of the wildest shows in town including starring as Hedwig in Hedwig and the Angry Itch during its four month residency at legendary Los Angeles venue The Roxy. The two re-worked the material, brought in the cross-pollinated Gyspy sounds of Fishtank Ensemble and attracted veteran stage Director Ken Roht. After months of pre-pre-pre production the seeds of Dark Root of the Dream had bloomed.

Tomorrow night at the Largo at the Coronet Theatre in Los Angeles, the first unveiling of Dark Root of the Dream happens. I've been documenting the joining of divergent worlds, hearing strange sounds, witnessing the birth of something special. I've been able to have a front row of these creative realities. There's talk of a tv show, a tour, multiple extensions of Dark Root of the Dream. What I know right now is that I want to celebrate the accomplishments of artistic bravery. To acknowledge the experience, mark the occasion here and share it with you.

When you have a chance to draw near to creative energies expressing everything they have without fear of failure - do it. Take a moment to breathe in the awe of art- in all of its forms. We are surrounded by the providence of life.

Google Search for Dark Root of the Dream
myspace
facebook
twitter of Mr. E

msw

Are You Really Experienced? - Empire of Grace

Tue, 26 May 2009 08:40:33 -0700

The weekly streamcast of music + tech. Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins and myself, break-down the latest news including the release of Pandora One, Hulu's live streaming plans and much more.

After the show we were joined by the immensely talented Lanny Cordola (our Music Director) and saxaphonist Ryan Zoidis for some free flowing Jazz wonder.

'Are You Really Experienced?' continues to grow each week and we're dedicated to improving every aspect of the experience. Adding live music and video to the show is a natural - we hope you will continue to tune-in, give feedback and join us each week as we explore the ways Music + Tech are changing OUR world.

The raw stories we covered and the ones we didn't get to this week can be found here.

We want to thank Mosso - The Rackspace Cloud - for their support.

LIVE video streamcast powered by Wirecast

Special thanks to Peter Himmelman for being a leader in using tech. to build stronger connections with community. Experience Peter Himmelman's Furious World LIVE every Tuesday at 7 pm PDT - here

Play Show

To subscribe via iTunes - click here
Want the show via RSS? click here

Music intro: Set the Music Free By Geoff Smith from the album Ones and 0s

Thinking Out Loud - Open Calais Audio Interview Extracting Concepts From the Net

Tue, 19 May 2009 15:29:25 -0700

Along our curious path we have the occasion to converse with some really BIG thinkers. Thinking Out Loud is the raw stream from some of these encounters.

On this edition: Extracting concepts from the real-time net with Open Calais. A conversation with Thomas Tague, Thomson Reuters Calais Initiative Lead and Krista Thomas, Vice President, Marketing and Communications, Open Calais.

You may have noticed that there's a lot of data streaming around the intertubes these days about 'smart data sets.' Google, Yahoo, newcomer Wolfram and other teams are trying to figure out what that web page of yours really means to other humans.

Trying to teach machines how to read concepts was once only fantasy. How do we code understanding of large ideas in a way that IT becomes relevant to the rest of us? One theory is to embed smart data into the headers of each blog post or news articles. This is 'bottom-up' approach is just not going to be widely adopted by bloggers or the general public. One of the barriers beyond the tech-x-pertise is financial. You need a dedicated team inputting rich meta-data into each post - simply out of reach for the rest of us. This leaves the 'top-down' approach of scanning the data and pulling out the 'meaning.' This is exactly what Open Calais is doing- today.

Play Show

Recently Robert Scoble mentioned Jimmy Wales on FriendFeed which prompted me to search Jimmy. What came back was Jimmy's Wikipedia page (seems fitting since he's the Co-Founder.) What really got my brain excited was the Feedly data overlay powered by Open Calais. As you can see in the picture, Feedly/ Calais was smart enough to read real-time data from Scoble's FriendFeed stream and alert me that Robert was conducting a live interview. I jumped on the phone with Robert and got to engage Mr. Wales with a few questions. Ponder this for a second- I was able to connect with Robert Scoble and Jimmy Wales because Feedly and Calais extracted real-time data from various sources and served up rich information while I was reading the Wikipedia page.

Richard MacManus of Read Write Web has an excellent series of articles on Calais and "Understanding the New Web Era: Web 3.0, Linked Data, Semantic Web". Worth reading if you want to glimpse into OUR future.

To subscribe via iTunes - click here
Want the show via RSS? click here

msw

musicmonday Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse Go Blank

Mon, 18 May 2009 15:33:02 -0700

So you're a big artist on a major label, team up with David Lynch and the have a new project that your fans have been waiting for- releasing said project should be a no brainer - right? In the ever bizarre world of big co's and music, EMI and Danger Mouse just can't come to terms with regards to releasing "Dark Night of the Soul" a collaboration with Sparklehorse and David Lynch. Not one to be stopped by sheer short-sightedness, DM has decided to take to the torrents for relief. He's selling DKNOTS as a poster book complete with a blank CDR that you can use for (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) anything you want.

From the website:

This limited edition art book contains 100+ pages of original photographs by celebrated film director David Lynch. Only 5000 copies have been printed and each one is hand numbered. The book will also come with a 24" X 36" poster as well as a custom designed CD-R (poster comes folded).

Please note: Due to an ongoing dispute with EMI, Danger Mouse is unable to include music on the CD without fear of legal entanglement. Therefore, he has included a blank CD-R as an artifact to use however you see fit.

DNOTS should have been one of the BIG summer releases, the project features James Mercer of The Shins, The Flaming Lips, Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals, Jason Lytle of Grandaddy, Julian Casablancas of The Strokes, Frank Black of the Pixies, Iggy Pop, Nina Persson of The Cardigans, Suzanne Vega, Vic Chesnutt, David Lynch, and Scott Spillane of Neutral Milk Hotel and The Gerbils. (source: NPR)

Thankfully, we can enjoy the full stream of the project via NPR Music

In the words of the great Casey Kasem - "Ponderous man, _______ ponderous." [most def. nsfw]

msw

Are You Really Experienced? Visually Enhanced

Fri, 15 May 2009 18:39:08 -0700

The weekly streamcast of music + tech. Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins, Steven Hodson of Shooting At Bubbles and myself celebrate a milestone for the show. We are now live every Wednesday Night at 7pm PDT from The Garden in Dana Point (formally known as The Wicked Garden- a reference to the Stone Temple Pilots song.) Our first week went great with a few bandwidth issues that are being cleared for the next show which will feature a HD video feed as well.

We're joined by the immensely talented Lanny Cordola (our Music Director) and Sandra Stephens. Sandra's vocals have graced many records and is much loved throughout the artist community. She has just now released her first stunning solo project. Sandra's melodies inspires us daily.

'Are You Really Experienced?' continues to grow each week and we're dedicated to improving every aspect of the experience. Adding live music and video to the show is a natural - we hope you will continue to tune-in, give feedback and join us each week as we explore the ways Music + Tech are changing OUR world.

We're pleased to offer this HD video of Sandra and Lanny's intimate performance-

Please visit Sandra's Myspace page for more music!

The raw stories we covered and the ones we didn't get to this week can be found here.

We want to thank Mosso - The Rackspace Cloud - for their support.

LIVE video streamcast powered by Wirecast

Special thanks to Peter Himmelman for being a leader in using tech. to build stronger connections with community. Experience Peter Himmelman's Furious World LIVE every Tuesday at 7 pm PDT - here

Play Show

To subscribe via iTunes - click here
Want the show via RSS? click here

Music intro: Set the Music Free By Geoff Smith from the album Ones and 0s

The Sound LA - Perfecting IT!

Tue, 12 May 2009 02:55:02 -0700

I had all but giving up on terrestrial radio in the City of Angels until 100.3 - The Sound - started beaming around town. The number two market in the country is just a morass of piffle stingers and hits for the masses. Even the once mighty cutting edge stations long ago abandoned the notion of being different and truly breaking new sonic ground. The national congloms swooped into LA and took the local flavor out- programming from afar and strangling the fun right out of the airwaves. A market this big is an expensive proposition and taking risks are costly but for the love of X- we are supposed to be taste makers!

One magical day I was zooming up the 405 and came across a station playing Elvis Costello's '(The Angels Wanna Wear) My Red Shoes' followed by Mark Knopfler's 'Sailing to Philadelphia.' Was this a mirage? Could it be that sanity had returned to the dial? Turns out that my radio had landed on a village of passionate music lovers armed with a huge record collection. I locked it into my presets - actually assigned several buttons so as to not fumble around with lesser stations. The more I dug into The Sound, the richer the layers became. Soon I was hooked into their brilliant Sunday Night programming of letting artists have "my turn" by becoming the M.D. for a shift. Who they select for this role speaks loudly of a grand musical ethos. Tom Chaplin of Keane turned me onto some sonic Brit wonders. Michael Franti spun us around the globe and Brian Wilson danced with Power Pop. Other guest maestros include Kevin Nealon, Beck, The Pretenders and even B.B. King!

Each week as I drove to Santa Monica to Direct Peter Himmelman's Furious World, I would use The Sound's giant electronic billboard in Lawndale as my 'event horizon.' They light up the sign with the song currently being played and it would often give me inspiration for that weeks show. The diverse artists being played gave me hope that quality still mattered here. We even received a Skype call from one of their hosts during the show saying she was a fan. The interaction lifted me and I know the call encouraged Peter as well.

If deep radio is to survive, it must connect, build a fierce and loyal tribe and (gasp) empower music discovery. Last Sunday (May 10th) at about 9:10pm I heard a band that reminded me of The Talking Heads but they were singing about tech. The on-air host said the name of the artist and gave the album title but I was distracted by a phone call and missed the exact details. The song stuck in my head and I went hunting for title. To my shock - The Sound has a listing of all the songs played on the station by time and date. I clicked on the appropriate details and came up with- 9:11 - The Great Defector by Bell X1. Pleased by this discovery, I blip'd it out and added Bell X1 to my iTunes.

I started looking under the hood of their site and smiled. The just get 'IT.' You can subscribe to their RSS feed of recently played artists. Follow their updates on Twitter, become a fan on FaceBook or friend them on Myspace. Observant surfers will notice that each SocialNet Silo is treated unique by The Sound - they know to speak in the tone appropriate for each particular 'space.'

Their own site is complete with layers of nifty jquery, clever css and plenty of rich media. Of course there is a live stream option for those who live outside SoCal. The site has an interesting layout that doesn't copy the standard blather, clutter of other radio station sites. I don't think it's a coincidence that most stations sport the worst sites on the net - it's just cookie cutting laziness. But The Sound proves that when you care enough to find your own voice - people sit up and take notice, become evangelists and champion the cause of quality.

Now go forth and fill your ears with The Good Sound!

msw

LA Music History - The Mayor of Sunset Strip - Rodney on the ROQ

Thu, 7 May 2009 11:48:43 -0700

Thanks to Hulu, we can now enjoy the excellent documentary 'The Mayor of Sunset Strip.' He never set out to be a mogul of music, just a connector of music and community.

You just have to love a life filled with musical passion.

msw

Are You Really Experienced? - Check Your Condition

Wed, 6 May 2009 06:00:00 -0700

The weekly talkcast of music + tech. This week, Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins and I are joined by Jeff 'The Dude' Dowd. Calling all little achievers: Lebowski Fest LA is Thursday and Friday. Stay tuned for details on a live stream of the Friday events.

The Dude reminds us of the great film Standing in the Shadows of Motown - If you are a Motown fan, you really should see this documentary!

The raw stories we covered and the ones we didn't get to this week can be found here.

We want to thank Mosso - The Rackspace Cloud - for their support.

Special thanks to Peter Himmelman for being a leader in using tech. to build stronger connections with community. Experience Peter Himmelman's Furious World LIVE every Tuesday at 7 pm PDT - here

Play Show

To subscribe via iTunes - click here
Want the show via RSS? click here

We record the show live every Monday at 7 pm PDT. You can join the live stream/ chat here

Music intro: Set the Music Free By Geoff Smith from the album Ones and 0s

Comic Book Love - Stan Lee on Writing

Mon, 4 May 2009 14:37:21 -0700

Growing up my mind saw an endless Universe of BIG ideas. Super Heroes who were human swooped into my imagination and set fire to possibility. I was drawn to the Marvel Universe - the depth of story, drawn out characters, wonders and emotion not bound by any dimension.

This past weekend I visited my local Comic Book Shop - Nuclear Comics in Laguna Niguel, CA to catch up on the new books and celebrate 'Free Comic Book Day'. Inside your local shop is a deep space to let your mind play, dream - fly.

As a writer, I count Stan Lee as a heavy voice in my head. A few years ago I had the opportunity to spend some time with Mr. Lee and we un-compressed some mighty thoughts about writing. Enjoy this little video homage to Comic Books.

Please support your local Comic Book Shop - find one near you.

Raw Film Monday

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 10:31:26 -0700

We are traveling today but wanted to share a couple of raw clips from this weekend. LA Weekly's 'Fest' was a great gathering of ideas, music and film. The event was capped off Saturday Night with the premier of 'The Heart is a Drum Machine' and live concert - Matt Sorum + Friends.

The line-up was fantastic - Perry Ferell, Macy Gray, Juliette Lewis and our Music Director, Lanny Cordola (guitarist with hat) -

Here's the raw, unedited clip of Juliette rockin 'Dirty Deeds.' We will be posting additional clips and the edited recap of the evening next week.

[don't forget to hit the HQ option - much better]

Bonus interview with Rock Journalist - Lonn Friend "The Salvationistic Nature of Live Music"