Ground Control to Major Tom (Coming Home) [Music]

Consider this the first post of the non-LOST summer blogging season.

To get my feet wet to real posts, I’m going to sidestep the following major topics for now:

• Ron Paul’s son, apparently named after Ayn Rand, wins a primary, Arlen Specter loses
• Democrats came up with some sort of climate bill, which, surprise, mega-environmentalists dislike
• BP’s Big Oil Mess is creeping up on Florida, threatening seniors who enjoy wading
• The Supreme Court decides life without parole is too strict for minors
• Some racist white chick believes the Miss USA winner is connected to Hezbollah, because she’s Muslim American
• The Thai army has forcibly entered a protester camp in the government’s continuing struggle with the tragically named “Redshirts”

No, instead I’m going to talk about Lincoln cars and David Bowie songs.

Source.

Okay, so you know how when you first heard the Goldfinger version of “99 Red Balloons,” you couldn’t help but feel like you’ve heard the song before?

I had that same feeling when this Lincoln MKZ commercial came on:

The song in the video is “Major Tom (Coming Home),” a cover by Shiny Toy Guns. I didn’t know this until I was at Jack the Ripper’s Final Festivity and was coerced into downloading it by ChinChin. As soon as I played it, I realized I’d heard it before and it wasn’t long after that Lincoln commercial came on, probably during Lost or something.

This version of the song has become so synonymous with the car that the “official music video” features the car’s name in the background.

Okay, so Shiny Toy Guns isn’t afraid of a little selling out.

First sidenote, car commercials, along with Apple commercials, always have the catchiest songs. It’s a direct correlation with how expensive and generally douchey the product is, I suppose.

But the song had sounded familiar from the very beginning, so when I dug a little deeper, I found out that “Major Tom” is actually an 80’s song by Peter Schilling. Like all good 80’s songs, it was originally in German.

The song is about an astronaut named Major Tom on a mission to space. In the English version of the song (and thus the Shiny Toy Guns version), Tom’s ship malfunctions in space, resulting in communication being lost. Then something mysterious, perhaps literal, perhaps metaphorical, happens to Major Tom as he “comes home.”

But, of course, the song was changed up for the English version from the German lyrics. In that version, there’s a couple of interesting deviations. For one, it isn’t Ground Control with the reservations about the mission, it’s the crew – it’s Ground Control who forces them to go along with the mission anyway. In the German version, Tom has the same crisis of purpose on his mission, but one line (woll’n Sie das Projekt denn so zerstören?) makes it clear that the accident was no malfunction – it was sabotage on Tom’s part. In both versions, Tom seems to experience some sort of environment, but in the German version it ends on the ominous line “I become cold” more heavily implying some type of death.

The pregnancy of meaning in what seems like a fun 80’s song makes more sense when you consider that the Major Tom character was created by David Bowie.

Ever since his debut in Bowie’s 1969 hit “Space Oddity,” Major Tom has cameoed in enough songs to earn him a Wikipedia entry (making him more notable than the word Malamanteau, according to Wikipedia editors).

“Space Oddity,” which was Bowie’s breakthrough hit in the UK, is pretty much the same story as Schilling’s song. Tom goes to space and is affected by the mysteries of space, eventually disappearing with a message for his wife. Bowie followed up with Major Tom in “Ashes to Ashes” and “Hallo Spaceboy.”

So that’s your first blog post in months about something not dealing with the Island. Why write about covers of songs from the 80’s that appear Lincoln car commercials? Can’t really say. It was on my mind and it’s too late to tackle the national and political issues of the day.

But while we’re on the topic, can’t we reflect on the story of Major Tom? Here was a man thrust out of his element by an outside force, despite warnings to the contrary. When he went out into space, he found perspective, making his current mission seem, frankly, unimportant. He changes courses, losing communication with his past, becoming something else, quite possibly dying.

Recently I’ve been thinking that, while we could all use more perspective, too much of it might be dangerous. That’s the first lesson I take away from it.

The second is….

Advertisers will strip cool songs of all their meaning and attach them to slick product-pushing.

That cover of “Space Oddity” is by Cat Power and if the Internet is to be believed, she never recorded a full version. She only recorded a “fragment” for the Lincoln MKZ commercial.

Doch was nützen die am Ende, indeed.

Reviews on the penultimate episodes of Lost as well as a metric ton of Lost retrospectives on the horizon. And once I get back to Blacksburg, I’ll hopefully be tweaking the blog’s theme to focus on local topics. Until then, happy space exploring.

JK Wedding video proves RIAA are idiots

Fridays are supposed to be lighthearted.

So I’ll link to two videos that may be old news, but give you a glimmer of faith into love, humanity, and people’s ability to make certian moments their own, even if they can’t dance.

You may have already seen Jill and Kevin’s wedding video. It’s always worth watching again:

But the “bigger” story here is why the RIAA hasn’t come down on this video and stripped it of its audio (which some of us have had happen to our videos). The answer is….

STEP 1: Make a viral video with a pop song as its soundtrack
STEP 2: ????
STEP 3: Music industry PROFITS!!!

And Google tells us what that Step 2 is.

At YouTube, we have sophisticated content management tools in place to help rights holders control their content on our site. The rights holders for “Forever” used these tools to claim and monetize the song, as well as to start running Click-to-Buy links over the video, giving viewers the opportunity to purchase the music track on Amazon and iTunes. As a result, the rights holders were able to capitalize on the massive wave of popularity generated by “JK Wedding Entrance Dance” — in the last week, searches for “Chris Brown Forever” on YouTube have skyrocketed, making it one of the most popular queries on the site:

So, what does all of this mean? Despite compelling data and studies around consumer purchasing habits, many still question the promotional and bottom-line business value sites like YouTube provide artists. But in the last week, over a year after its release, Chris Brown’s “Forever” has again rocketed up the charts, reaching as high as #4 on the iTunes singles chart and #3 on Amazon’s best selling MP3 list.

Hmm, music industry, perhaps letting people use your music to make things people find cool and then associate the song with is a good marketing strategy?

Anyway, for now, “Forever” is allowed to remain on the video, making Jill and Kevin the darlings of white people who know they can’t dance everywhere. But a wedding is one thing. It takes a truly Leet couple to turn their divorce into something awesome:

Yes, it’s only a parody.

That piece of old, tired news is all I have for you readers on Friday, but you’ll have to forgive me….I have a craving for grapefruit juice.

P.S. If anyone wants to make some sort of Chris Brown “Forever” parody video which doesn’t sidestep the fact that he’s an abusive prick, contact me.

The Best 4th of July YouTube Videos

Wow, the blog kind of collapsed this week, didn’t it? Well, PtP faithful, you can be content in knowing that I passed my final and got an A in comparative government, a class which pretty much tanked my GPA in 2007 and contributed to my uphill battle with academics in college. Now that I’ve proved to a certain professor that an introductory level course doesn’t require graduate level analysis in order to learn something, I can set my sights on the future with more clarity.

And hey, it’s Independence Day.

There’s many ways I could celebrate Independence Day on this blog. I could join the media ranks in commentating on Sarah Palin’s resignation and what this means for America. Or, I could actually talk about something important and pay more attention to North Korea’s missile testing. Perhaps looking into some humanitarian crises abroad. Unfortunately, my ancestral home of Colombia is currently mired in a cash-for-non-guerilla-corpses scandal. We could talk about the integrity of journalism, now that the Washington Post has attempted to sell access to the President, legislators, etc. in order to save its declining newspaper industry.

Unfortunately for anyone seeking substance, my mind is definitely on holiday. So, instead, I will bring you the best videos to watch on Independence Day. Some you may find appropriately reverent. Some not.

We will, hopefully, return to our regular scheduled media watching and issue discussion by next week.

Happy Fourth.

Because we all could use a geography refresher.

Because Latinos ARE America.

Combining two of the most American things: Captain American and jingoism.

Hey, don’t be upset. I never made a blog post for Canada Day.

In honor of the U.S.A. soccer team’s good show at the FIFA confederation cup, Landon Donovan: a true American hero.

Also American as Apple Pie: Top Gear.

That’s all I have for right now. Heading to Salem and Roanoke to celebrate the 4th with Fox (formerly Pocahontas).

Happy Independence Day!

YouTube Video Volunteers + PtP readers discuss healthcare, financial industry

On a personal note…

I find it a tough time to be blogging.

Chaos seems rampant. I guess I don’t know what I was expecting out of Iran, but the fact that the death of an innocent woman is serving as a unifier unsettles me. On the one hand, it’s encouraging and inspiring to see a people that won’t back down. On the other hand, it just seems like things will get more violent before they get settled. And I find that aspect of human nature unfortunate.

Meanwhile, the rest of the world is snarling, bickering, fear, and sobering problems. Is it just that I wasn’t paying attention before? Has my hobby heightened my awareness of the world’s problems? And what’s my responsibility in all of this? I’m no expert on wars, economics, or social issues. I have access to what everyone else has access to. So what can I offer?

North Korea threatens Hawaii with a missile. Expensive legislation after expensive legislation keeps getting proposed and passed, which makes it difficult to assuage fiscally conservative friends. News in general is just…a bummer.

Maybe it’s just a troublesome couple of weeks in the world. Maybe this week will end on a better note.
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Comments from the PtP community

Speaking of better notes, Obama says an agreement with the pharmaceutical industry will make prescription drugs for people on Medicare more affordable. The drug companies’ investment supposedly covers some of the cost of the proposed health plan.

In that vein, I recently polled readers to get different opinions on topics as complex as healthcare. Here is an excerpt from a response by my old friend “Regina Mancard”, as posted on Phil the Pill’s Facebook fan page.

As a lifelong user of the military plan I’m in favor of adopting that model to the country. You may recognize this plan under it’s more common name of “Socialized Health Care”. The majority of the bill is footed by the government, with dental and other specialized care treated in system, or by civilian specialists with a low co-pay.
The website is: http://www.tricare.mil/

I’ve been on this system my whole life as a military dependent, and it’s worked very well. I can often get same day appointments, or short-notice appointments when I need care immediately, and the system for bigger issues is reasonably efficient. Certainly as good as any other HMO plan. Of course, I also live in the DC-Metropolitan area, so when my local Fairfax clinic is unable to solve my medical issue of the moment (i.e. allergies, mysterious pains from an unknown injury, cancer) I have access to Walter Reed Army Hospital, Bethesda Naval Hospital, or any other facility in the DeWitt system. It’s been a great help on overseas travel to countries with bases (Italy, Germany) if only for the peace of mind….

….To me, insurance is primarily for those regular check-ups, inoculations, and minor illness or injury moments. Everyone does need emergency coverage of some kind, but those routine checks are the biggest thing to worry about at the moment. People can talk all they want about not getting in car accidents never being mauled by a jungle cat, but ignoring those annual/biennial/triennial check ups (woman’s wellness, prostate, even a physical) is what will lead to the surprise cancer or other crisis.

…As for the soundbites about “socialist” health care, the kind they use in those awful countries like the UK and France– I don’t see the complaints coming from out there. It’s not a perfect system by any means; there can be long lines, paperwork and miscommunications, but those happen in all hospitals. Yes, it will cost trillions, and some years before the system is set up and functioning, but consider then the cost that taxpayers aren’t paying annually or monthly to employers or insurance companies.

You want to argue that the average tax payer shouldn’t have to pay for others? Fine, play the selfish tax payer card. Except that this is your health care too.

I think she raises several good points, even if the situation is unbearably complex.

I just want a situation where I can have access to a doctor without paying out the nose for being a certain demographic or for my genetics being a certain way. It’s not that private industry is hopeless. But I believe assuming that private industry by itself will offer that is naïve.

I also asked about these latest financial regulation proposals. The man I trust the most on this topic is Peirce and he gave a great response on a post that was mostly about Keyboard Cat.

The effectiveness or the ineptitude of the new financial regulation proposed under Obama depends entirely on the details. Many of the proposals such as requiring hedge fund managers to register with the SEC or marrying economic interests between lenders and borrowers can fall in the range of constructive to dangerous.

For example, President Obama suggested regulating lenders so that they must hold on to all or part of the loans and mortgages they distribute. While its true that this will contain one of the catalysts for the recent financial collapse, reckless lending, it will on the other hand limit a company’s lending abilities to size of the its capital giving an astronomical advantage to large banks over smaller regional banks. This trend could create more companies “too big to fail” with time at the cost of permanently stabilizing the asset-backed financial industry.

In summary, the effectiveness of Obama’s new regulation is limited to the wisdom and foresight in the regulatory bodies’ overseers. Overall, Obama was mature in his description of the financial collapse and where responsibilities lie – refreshingly uncharacteristic of politicians and media of late.

Well said, but this idea of the industry retracting into a few major banks is the stuff of dystopian nightmares. I hope the regulation does not result in concentrated resources in a few hands, but in a healthy market with several competitors. Here’s a few bullets on the Obama plan from the WSJ article linked above:

• –Creates a new bank agency, the National Bank Supervisor, and kills the Office of Thrift Supervision. The new agency will look over national banks, including federal branches and agencies of foreign banks.
• –Requires hedge funds, private-equity funds and venture-capital funds to register with the SEC, allowing the agency to collect data from the firms.
• –Subjects hedge funds to new requirements in areas such as record keeping, disclosure and reporting. The oversight would include assets under management, borrowings, off-balance sheet exposures.
• –Brings the markets for over-the-counter derivatives and asset-backed securities into a regulatory framework, strengthens regulation of derivatives dealers and forces trades to be executed through public counterparties, such as exchanges.
• –Toughens the regulatory regime, including more conservative capital requirements and tougher rules on counterparty credit exposure.
• –Creates Financial Services Oversight Council, which would coordinate activities among regulators, replacing the President’s Working Group.
• –Ensures that any financial firm big enough to pose a risk to the financial system would be heavily regulated by the Federal Reserve, including regular stress tests.

• –Creates a new agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, with broad authority over consumer-oriented financial products, such as mortgages and credit cards. The new agency would work with state regulators.
• –Gives the new agency power to write rules and levy fines based on a wide range of existing statutes.
• –Strengthens SEC’s framework for investor protection by expanding the agency’s powers to beef up disclosures to investors, establish a fiduciary duty for broker-dealers who offer advice and expand protection for whistleblowers, including a fund that would pay for certain information.
• –Creates a mechanism that allows the government to take over and unwind large, failing financial institutions.
• –Creates a formal process for deciding when to invoke this power, which could be initiated by the Treasury, Fed, FDIC or SEC.
• –Gives authority to make the final decision to the Treasury, with the backing of other regulators.
• –Gives the Treasury the authority to decide how to fix such a failing firm, whether through a conservatorship, receivership or some other method.
• –Taps the FDIC to act as conservator or receiver, except in the case of broker dealers or securities firms, in which case the SEC would take over.
• –Recommends that various international bodies implement the Group of 20 recommendations, including requiring banks to hold more capital.
• –Urges that national authorities standardize oversight of credit derivatives and markets.
• –Urges other countries to follow the U.S. lead and: subject systemically significant companies to stricter oversights

Keep the comments coming, guys. Best points get props in the posts.
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Magnanimous Monday

YouTube is launching an initiative called YouTube volunteers, which, in theory, could get Tay Zonday and Dramatic Chipmunk to join forces and make videos to help NPOs and good causes. Here’s the intro video starring the vlogbrothers:

Pretty cool. I’d do it myself, but [Excuse 1] and [Excuse 2], etc. Basically, I’m not 100% confident in my video editing abilities and I’m in such dire straits, if I’m not getting paid, I’d be practically a charity case myself.

But if YOU’VE got the time and ability to help out, it seems like a really good opportunity. Hey, tell you what, comment with a link to a video you made for Video Volunteers and I will shout it out in a post.
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Results of the Bee-in-the-Urinal Poll

What do you do with a bee sticker on a urinal?

Aim for it 64% (9 votes)

Avoid it 7% (1 votes)
Find another urinal 14% (2 votes)
Other: 14% (2 votes)
Picture (Thumbnail?) of the Day

Quote of the Day
“The World Sucks. Help it suck less.” – vlogbrothers
								

			

The Specter of Political Gridlock

It’s Tuesday, but it feels like I’m 35.

Ponder that one.
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Here’s your Swine Flu update:

The number of confirmed swine flu cases in the United States has jumped to 64, federal officials said Tuesday, and states reported at least four more….

…The CDC said there were 17 new cases in New York City, four more in Texas and three additional cases in California. That brings the total numbers of cases confirmed by federal officials to 45 in New York City, 10 in California, six in Texas, two in Kansas and one in Ohio.

News buzz says that the World Health Organization has now risen us the Phase 4, the FIRST TIME EVAR that pandemic levels have risen so high. BUT keep in mind that the 6-phase system was only instituted in…2004. So, yes, this is the first time this four-year-old system has gotten to this point. But this is post-SARS and Bird Flu.

And to put it in perspective from this article:

Flu deaths are nothing new in the United States or elsewhere. The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 36,000 people died of flu-related causes each year, on average, during the 1990s in the United States.

So…it’s good that the CDC and other responsible organizations be watchful and ready. Our government seems to have taken the right steps. But should the people panic? I don’t think so. I still think the media is blowing this out of proportion. Wash your hands. Live your life. Don’t panic and don’t make any voting or economic decisions based on Swine Flu. Just avoid traveling to the hot spots. And don’t listen to Fox News during this time.

Primarily, we should be thinking about the crisis in Mexico, which is being compounded by this disease. People there are scared shitless. What can we do to help them? Let’s think about that.
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In other news, Arlen Specter.

Blah. I usually don’t like to talk about politicians, but this seems like a pretty rare ocurrence.

Frankly, the whole thing reminds me of how stupid our party system is. The fact that a guy has to declare himself a part of a new Band of Corrupt Assholes to accomplish anything in politics is upsetting. So you don’t agree with the Republicans, but your constituents might be a touch conservative? Be a freakin’ Independent…oh, but wait, our system doesn’t really like independents…does it?

Are you straying from the party line? No? That's a good Specter...No sudden movements.

I don’t see how this helps the Democrats much in the long-term. Yes, they get closer to that fillibuster-proof majority, huzzah. Let’s keep trying to game the system and work the numbers so that we don’t have to have any real discussion, just govern on the whims of the party in power. That sounds like America.

In my view, the Republicans now get to claim the coveted persecuted minority status in government. They’ll portray Specter as a corrupt official out for his own interests and seeking political power at the expense of his ideals and those of his constituents. This clearly paints the Democrats as a looming majority bent on squashing discussion. If the Dems don’t play the PR right, they’re going to face a midterm election similar to Clinton in the 90’s…and then we get to get nothing done during a time when we need things done the most.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Reform or abolish the party system. It’s a joke and it’s a joke that’s ruining us. I don’t give a shit what party Specter belongs to. What is he doing for US?!
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And finally, The Internet reminds us what life is really about.

80’s Anthems.

There will be a Gubernatorial Debate tomorrow at the Lyric in Blacksburg from 7 to 9 and I’ll be there covering it, which means: 1) reactions that night and 2) I’ll be missing the beginning of Lost :(. But if you’re in the area, you should come and listen to Creigh Deeds, Brian Moran, and Terry McAuliffe duke it out.

Fake Assassins and Real Assholes – Facebook, YouTube, and Hugo Chavez

So, the MC has started Assassins for 2009.

For the uninitiated, Assassins is a game where you are assigned targets from the pool of participants to “kill” with an extended spoon or a projectile sock and our dorm gets pretty intense about it. Last year, I was killed in the first round. This year, my assignment was my roommate, Heathcliff. Figuring I had this in the bag, I waited for the perfect moment to strike…he had to go to the bathroom sometime.

Before the game officially started, but after our assignments were doled out, I jokingly talked about making an alliance with one of the freshmen. Let’s call him Angus. Angus initially refused but came back later asking for help in killing my good friend Chin Chin. Figuring I’d play both sides, I gave him some info on her schedule with the intention of alerting Chin Chin to the identity of her assassin. Then, I moved on with my plan to kill Heathcliff.

When Heathcliff asked me who my target was, I had to think fast and blurted out Angus. I figured Angus had gone to bed, so this would be a safe bet. Then, I tried to coax my unsuspecting roommate to go out and try to kill his target. I figured I’d be nice and let him get a kill in before I socked him. We enlisted the help of two girls across the hall to lure Heath’s target out with cookie dough.

When we opened the door, we found Angus standing there and eyeing the cookie dough. I froze. I didn’t know what to do. Heathcliff leaned in and whispered, “Kill him.” Damn it. If I didn’t approach Angus now, Heathcliff would know something was up.

Figuring I’d make it seem as sinister as possible, I walked toward Angus about to throw my arm over his shoulder to talk to him somewhere secluded. I hadn’t raised my arm an inch when he stabbed me in the chest with his spoon.

He’d been lying about Chin Chin.

Cursing up a storm at my stupidity, I made a spectacle in the hallway. I told Heathcliff that he’d been my target and he laughed, stepping out into the hallway and out of the immunity of our room. So I whispered into Angus’ ear who my target had been.

And that’s how Heathcliff died. And that’s how we both lasted about 15 minutes into this year’s Assassins.
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In other news, I’m never submitting any video or particularly exhausting work to Facebook again. And neither should you.

What the hell does Facebook want with our content anyway? This is ridiculous.

I’m starting to think it’s time to migrate from Facebook. If you are creating/know of/want to participate in the creation of a new social networking site that respects people’s privacy, relinquishes holds on user content, and doesn’t clutter up their design every few months, let me know, ASAP.

Congratulations, Mark Zuckerberg. You win today’s People Who Deserve a Special Place in Hell.

"I'd like to thank Microsoft, my advertisers, and Satan."

But the Massive Dickery hasn’t ended yet.

These are me and my friends putting on a show for last year’s good-clean-fun coffeehouse event:

This is part two. But you can’t hear our awful medley of songs. Why? Because Warner Music Grop decided that our 15-second use of Flossin’ by Mike Jones was an infrigement of copyright.

So that’s two of Generation Web’s darlings that are currently shitting on me and my projects.

Vimeo, anyone?
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In other other news, Hugo Chavez is one step closer to complete totalitarian rule by doing away with term limits so that he can rig elections as long as he wants. In related news, Fuck that Guy. I understand that people have temporarily benefited from his oil tactics, but oil won’t last forever. The system he’s establishing is no more sustainable than it was in the Soviet Union. And if he truly belives he’s doing some good that the people can get behind, why can’t somebody else carry out his vision? He’s a power-hungry tool and one day he’s going to get it.

40 more years! 40 more years!

I assume he doesn’t read this blog, otherwise I’d be marked.

That’s just so much douchebaggery that I have to leave something nice to get the bad taste out of my mouth.

Unfortunately, it comes from YouTube.

Tech Wins a Bowl Game – Nerd Rejoices

Just a celebratory update to say WHOOOOOO! VT ORANGE BOWL CHAMPS!

Photo taken by Michael Shroyer, SPPS.

Disclaimer: I’m not qualified to write about football or any sport, BUT….

 

It was a damn good game. Cincinnati shocked us with the 1-minute touchdown and then there was that missed field goal, but then we got our asses into gear. Second half BELONGED to us, it was such a good feeling. Tyrod played his game well, getting us several rushing yards and making some sweet passes. Darren Evans, though stopped often throughout the game, also made some key plays. Boone, as usual, was unstoppbale. I think it was Dustin Keys who made that 44-yard field goal. But my personal favorite player of the 2009 Orange Bowl would have to be…

 

Kam Chancellor. Playing Beamerball the way it was meant to be played.

 

I was in the same spot last year when I saw us go down against Kansas and it wasn’t even graceful. This season opened wth the loss against ECU and the novice factor of our heavily-freshmen team was apparent. When we were beaten by Boston College and then came back for revenge at the ACC championship, it was deja vu and it didn’t mean we’d win this Bowl. It’s just immensely satisfying to see a young team that had a rough start get its act together and make it farther than their experienced predecessors. Our game wasn’t perfect, but it was tightened and it made for very good football indeed.

 

Afterwards, we caught December’s Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show as recorded by our old friend, codenamed Jolly Roger. Now in it second year, it is officially a tradition.

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There’s a lot to be said about the importance schools like Virginia Tech place on their athletic programs and not all of it is good.

 

But tonight, it was great to feel that solidarity. It was hilarious to invoke manliness to appease the football gods. I’m not an athlete. I don’t even know jack about sports, really. I tend to roll my eyes at guys who know more football stats than presidents. But tonight was one of those nights where I was a Hokie like the rest of ’em. And I was proud of it.

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I leave you with a video of a German guy playing a flute with his butt. Brought to my attention courtesy of Pokecapn.