Just for kicks, here’s the poster for the Ramoniacs’ gig last Saturday at the Middle East nightclub in Cambridge, Massachusetts (click it to see a larger version on Flickr). For more on this gig, see my entry, Bouncing with the Ramoniacs.
Click the image above to see the video.
My friend Lisa Goldman, who blogs from Tel Aviv at On The Face, was interviewed on the morning news show Canada AM about blogging with respect to the current situation in Lebanon and Israel [link to site using Windows Media]. In the interview, she talks about how blogging has helped Lebanese and Israeli civilians communicate and recognize each other’s humanity and the strange and surreal situations that arise during war. It’s a short interview, and makes a good introduction to the sort of stuff you’ll find on her blog, which I find to be a much better read than the shouting going on at Little Green Footballs and Daily Kos.
Lisa’s a regular poster to Global Voices Online, a project started by my friends Ethan Zuckerman and Rebecca MacKinnon. Here’s a link to the last posting she made, which covers what the Israeli blogosphere is saying.
You should aslo check out her post titled Putting Things in Perspective, which debunks some of the propaganda surrounding a photo that’s been inflaming the Arab blogosphere.
On Kottke, there’s an infographic from The Independent which shows quite graphically which countries support an immediate ceasefire and which don’t.
Over at Slate, there’s a Flash-based interactive “Buddy List” which lets you see who in the Middle East is pals with whom, who are mortal enemies and who are in “it’s complicated” relationships.
Strife and Power in the New Middle East. A New York Times infographic that documents the relationships between various groups in the Middle East.
Not only did I play Dungeons and Dragons when I was a teenager, I was also a Dungeon Master. It’s been years — and at least two editions’ worth of rules — since I played the game, but even now, this collection of inspirational posters for people who enjoy role-playing games still makes me snicker. Here’s a quick sampling:
It’s almost that time again! The next “Ask Tucows” chat will take place next Tuesday, August 1st, 2006 between 12:00 noon and 3:00 p.m. Eastern (that’s 9:00 a.m. through 12:00 noon Pacific, or 16:00 – 19:00 UTC). Just point your browser at chat.tucows.com then and you’ll be able to join in the chat — no plug-ins or downloads necessary.
This will be the third of four “Ask Tucows” chats scheduled for this year. They’re an opportunity for you to talk directly with various people who work at Tucows, from me (the developer relations guy) to product managers, support people, sales engineers, developers and even our CEO, who’s participated in both previous chats. It’s one of a number of initiatives we’re taking this year to ensure that the lines of communication between us and our customers are open.
I’ll post more details about the chat as the date gets closer.
My brother-in-law Andy Ramoniac, the bassist for the Boston-based Ramones tribute band, the Ramoniacs, invited me to be the Pinhead for the song of the same name during last Saturday’s show downstairs at the Middle East club. They were opening for Bebe Buell (Liv Tyler’s mom and the person whom “Penny Lane”, Kate Hudson’s character in the movie Almost Famous, was modelled).
Pinhead, for those of you not familiar with it, is the song from which the Ramones’ catch-phrase “Gabba Gabba Hey” originates. In turn, the Ramones borrowed it from the 1932 movie Freaks, where the freaks in the movie chant “We accept you, one of us! Gobble Gobble!”.
The Pinhead dance involves a “pinhead” (someone with microcephaly, like Schlitzie the Pinhead from Freaks — usually a roadie in with a pinhead mask — who bounces about the stage during the song waving a sign with the words “Gabba Gabba Hey”. If you’re interested, you can rent the Roger Corman teen movie classic, Rock and Roll High School (a cult favourite that got a mark of 81% on Rotten Tomatoes) or see this video on YouTube.
Here’s the video [4.2MB QuickTime] that Wendy shot of Pinhead, featuring Yours Truly as the pinhead. In the audience, but not shown, were Wendy’s parents and aunt and uncle, all of whom are used to this sort of goofiness from me.
Click the image to see the video.
I had a blast. My thanks to Andy and the Ramoniacs for inviting me to be the pinhead!
As for the show itself — it was excellent. These guys play and sound just like the Ramones, from the non-stop energy to Andy’s perfect imitation of Dee Dee’s “One Two Three Four!” count-offs. Remember how I posted that “One does not simply ROCK into Mordor?” Well, the Ramoniacs could.
I’ll post more videos from the show later.
Don’t forget, Toronto’s monthly show-and-tell event for techies, DemoCamp, takes place tomorrow night! It takes place at No Regrets (42 Mowat Avenue, not far from King and Dufferin) with the first presentation taking place at 6:30 p.m.. There’s be a follow-up social at the same location once presentations end, which should be about 8-ish.
The scheduled presentations are:
We had an even-crappier-than-usual experience flying to Boston on American Eagle, but I’m too busy to write it up right now. Luckily for me, Wendy’s written up her impressions of the whole thing.
