Did you hear about the guy who got a visit from the FBI for posting unreleased Guns n’ Roses tracks from their “when the hell are they ever going to come out with it” album, Chinese Democracy?

Kevin Skwerl was confronted by the FBI last week after posting the mp3’s up on his blog. Now, he claimed he received the files from an anonymous source, as he’s a simple web designer that runs a blog. But seeing that he used to work in the distribution department at Universal Music, parent label of Geffen, maybe that source wasn’t so anonymous after all?

Although the songs are down off his site, the damage is done, and the files are freely swimming through the binary wonderland we call the internet. Wonder if legal action will follow from the GnR camp. Well, either way, GnR fans are rejoicing at this man’s philanthropy to their ears and hearts.

Went out to the Whiskey A Go Go Monday night… kinda random eh? Haven’t been there for maybe a year… I almost forgot that it sucks… and that it’s good. Confused yet?

I’ve ranted about the Sunset Strip before, but my rants have been refreshed. I don’t want to make this whole blog a rant so I’ll whine about one thing; it’s expensive. You always gotta pay a shitload to park because it’s impossible to find street parking, you gotta pay a door fee, drinks are expensive (albeit standard for LA), and now you gotta pay to take any video footage. I was there to shoot another band for a video project and I agreed to the fee ($25). What I didn’t know till later was that the fee was only for ONE camera, to shoot ONE band, only when the band was actually ON stage. SO~ if the band is standing around ready to get on stage, you can’t shoot them. You can’t even shoot another band performing with a small digital camera.

So while I waited for my band to perform, turned off camera in hand, I started to think about their policy. Maybe they only granted video recordings to those who were given permission by the bands performing? Maybe that’s why I could only shoot the band I was there to capture…
And maybe tons of kids were taping bands with poor cameras with bad audio, giving the impression that the Whiskey has bad sound.. maybe they decided to charge to discourage amateurs? Maybe these are true, but maybe it all makes the Sunset Strip a lot more boring then it used to be. I thought the Whiskey was supposed to be a Rock venue. It feels more like Disney Land.

Anyways, one thing that can never be denied is the great sound. Almost all the venues on the strip have the best sound. The lights gave the place a nice effect as well.

Enough of my geek speak, The West caught me by surprise and put on a hell of a show. They sound like what their band name would imply. Great Rock N’ Roll - the band members have long, unkempt hair to prove it.

Here’s a clip:

The battle of epic proportions: WALE VS WALL•E VS a WHALE. I’m going to size up each of them with several different categories

Latest Release:

Wale - New Mixtape that is out for free download at “Mixtape About Nothing”.
Wall•E - New Pixar Movie that is being released this Friday. However it costs whatever your local cinema is charging.
Whale - Swims in the ocean

Point to Wale - A free downloadable mix tape by one of the freshest emcees on the block wins the point.

Promotional Material:

Wale - Just got picked up to do Rock the Bells Tour. Will be on most of the country wide dates. Also is featured on the single for The Roots’ latest CD- a song called “Rising Down.”
Wall•E - Had interesting robot playing basketball promotions during the NBA Finals. Eventual happy meal toy at Mc Donalds. Has own stuffed animal.
Whale - Promotes it self by eating lots of fish

Point to Wall•E- Nothing spells out pimp like having your own stuffed animal.

Life Span:

Wale - Will probably die off around his late 70’s, early 80’s
Wall•E - Doesn’t have the life span boundaries that humans have. Can live years upon years
Whale - Depending on the whale, 40-85 years.

Point to Wall•E - Although having an unfair advantage of not really being alive, Wall-E lives longer.

Fashion:

Wale - Nike Boots, Common Wealth threads, and D.C.’s finest designers
Wall•E - Rusty metal
Whale - The Nude

Point to Wale - The kid is fresh. Although the whale was a close second.

Survival underwater:

Wale - Can hold breath for a little over a minute
Wall•E - Will sink to bottom of any body of water
Whale - Can survive 40-85 years.

Point to Whale - Nothing spells pimp like being able to survive under the water 40-85 years.

ADDING UP ALL POINTS:

It’s a tie between Wale and Wall•E (although the whale was a close second).
I know it’s a cop out, but i love Wale’s new Mix Tape and Pixar animation on the same level. Pixar and Wale should team up to do an animated hip hop flick. (do it Pixar!)

Wale x Justice - “W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E.”

26-year old Michelle Maykin was originally diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia, a cancer of the blood, on February 27, 2007. After undergoing 5 rounds of chemotherapy, Michelle reached a state of remission and slowly began to reclaim her life. She also dedicated herself to helping others by creating Project Michelle, a campaign focused on recruiting people to become potential bone marrow donors.

In April of 2008, two months after returning to work, Michelle began to feel symptoms similar to those she had felt prior to her original diagnosis. Michelle’s fears became true on May 7, 2008 when her oncologist confirmed that she had relapsed. She was also blindsided by the results of an MRI that revealed a mass on her brain.

For Michelle to be cured of her leukemia, her treatment plan will include even more intensive chemotherapy, radiation, and a bone marrow transplant. Unfortunately, Michelle does not currently have a bone marrow match and will not be able to undergo a transplant without one. Michelle is determined to win her battle with leukemia, but she now needs the generosity of others to succeed.

Are You Ready to be a Hero?

Help Michelle fight this battle! She urgently needs your help. Please learn more about the process and register to be bone marrow donor. Your choice could save her life.

Project Michelle Website: http://www.projectmichelle.com/

SharePod is a free program that allows you to easily and quickly share your Ipod music with friends!

And whats more, SharePod is completely free! SharePod was designed from the start to be lightweight, quick and responsive, it has all of the features you need and none of the features you dont.

SharePod reads your iPod database and allows you to extract music files to your hard drive individually or by playlist.

You can also create Winamp playlists from the music on your iPod so you can listen to it without needing to copy the mp3 files to your computer.

If you are on a network, (e.g. at work/university) and you share the iPod drive on the network, other users can run your copy of SharePod from their own computers, and download music directly from your iPod! This allows P2P type music sharing just by plugging in your iPod!

Since the first version was released 3 years ago, SharePod has been under constant revision and enhancement to keep up with Apple’s changes and user requests. SharePod has been downloaded over a million times and won a Best Windows iPod Software (2005) award.

Download SharePod Free at http://www.getsharepod.com/
YouTube SharePod Tutorial (lame, yet helpful): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GBf5rznxbw

Recently, dancing has been a phenomenon in United States.

But 2 years ago, Matt Harding took it to another level.
He took a 6 month trip through 39 countries on all 7 continents,
since becoming “That guy who dances on the internet around the world”.

Where the Hell was Matt? (2006)

Since then, no one really know what happened to Matt.

Well, Matt is back.
Documenting for 14 months from 42 different countries.

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008)

About 10 months ago, FRA interviewed Persian hip-hop’s most promising newcomer, Erfan.

Since then, he’s been producing, hosting tv programs, while touring in US, Middle East and Europe — quickly becoming one of Iran’s most influential emcee.

Check out Erfan’s latest video, Az Khaaneh Ta Goor.

Poet Erfan - Az Khaaneh Ta Goor