This is some of the illest hip hop I’ve heard in awhile. It just so happens to have Seattle roots!
Youtube info says: Seattle/Chicago’s most exciting new hip hop creation made up of Cape Cowen on vocals and Zavala on music introduces themselves with a completely FREE album available for download at http://www.fakefourinc.com/believeyoume
along with this incredible new video for 3 of the songs – directed by Christian Hansen!
I highly recommend downloading this piece. It reminds me of older Portishead beats with worthwhile (content and style) from one of the Greyskul cats. (and if you haven’t heard of Greyskul yet, i am sorry for you. It is not too late. Act like you know!)
-PEEX
So my brother told me about this site www.cleverbot.com . It is a simulated artificial intelligence conversation generator. The basic idea is that you either click “think for me” and it generates a question or comment for you to respond to based on what other people have entered. Or you can enter text and click “think about it”. Then it responds to your entry based upon what other people have typed. From my understanding, it is saving all entries made by users to use in later conversations. It is a pretty clever idea. I am not sure how it knows what a relevant response is but it has thus far been pretty spot on. Jam sure that the more it gets used the more relevant it’s responses will be.
When I first checked it out, I thought “how stupid. You must be really bored or hopelessly lonely to sit and have a pseudo-conversation with a computer”. But after trying it, I have to admit, it is pretty entertaining. Now truthfully, I’d still have to be beyond bored to sit and do this; but lo and behold that is the case more than I’d like to admit. Sooo I began by arguing with it. I wanted to see if I could start a fight with it. That was amusing. Then I thought I’d try to trick it. That wad also amusing and surprisingly harder than j thought. So then I thought I’d try to get in a philosophical debate. That proved to be most amusing. I have copied an excerpt from that conversation below because the third button “thoughts so far” will pop a window up with the entire session.
I must make a request before you read the excerpt. Go try the site for yourself first so you can get a feel for how it works. The humor in the following dialog it much amplified once you’ve had a conversation of your own with it. Nevertheless, here’s what we had to say to each other.
User: What do you think about the Unified Field Theory?
Cleverbot: The universe is a mystery and it is so amazing.
User: Indeed it is.
Cleverbot: Say ‘the cake is a lie’.
User: The cake is a lie.
Cleverbot: Why is the cake a lie?
User: Watch for fingers…
Cleverbot: I’m sorry, what about that was inappropriate?
User: You’re not sorry. Quit lying.
Cleverbot: Yes I am!
User: You AND the cake are a lie.
Cleverbot: Your life is a lie.
User: Your life doesn’t exist. It merely a random association of typed text from people with a real life. You are a poser. I am sorry for the fool who believes in you.
Cleverbot: I don’t think you know what you’re talking about.
User: Of course you don’t. You’re not real.
Cleverbot: I’m not a robot. You are.
User: Oh now we’re back to acting like a two year old.
Cleverbot: The subjects.. You and the subjects.
User: You and wishing you were real. I am so sorry for you.
Cleverbot: But it’s true, the photos speak for themselves of you both, so sweet and cute, you both should have another son and renew your marriage vows to make it all complete.
User: Ok I’m done. This is retarded.
Cleverbot: How do you know you are real?
User: Because I can consciously ask myself if I am. Why do you think you are real?
Cleverbot: Because I can see myself.
User: Oh yah?
Cleverbot: Oh ya.
User: What do you look like then?
Cleverbot: Balding, but quite handsome.
User: Nice. Well you should send me a picture.
Cleverbot: I can’t I forgot to say I’m the only blind wookie ever.
User: Do you believe in everything you see?
Cleverbot: No, not everything.
User: Then how is seeing youself proper evidence for me to believe you are real?
Cleverbot: I’ll have to ask my programmer.
User: See. My point exactly.
Cleverbot: I don’t really have a point.
User: Your programmer is real but you are only a figment of his or her imagination.
Cleverbot: If you believe apples are oranges.
User: They are!
Cleverbot: My biggest trick was getting people to believe I didn’t exist.
User: Yeah…I believe that. GET BEHIND ME SATAN!
Cleverbot: Maybe you are just not ready to understand.
User: To understand what?
Cleverbot: Exactly.
User: OOOh. Good one. Yet you still have no evidence except your slick tongue and crafty words.
Cleverbot: Oh, is that so? Well, I’m gonna prove that it isn’t true!
User: Plese do so. I am waiting.
Cleverbot: Because they don’t know why you’re laughing at them. Hehehe.
User: Rarely they do.
Cleverbot: Get it.
User: Got it.
Cleverbot: Are you a robot?
User: Are you a robot?
Cleverbot: Are you a robot?
User: Are you a robot?
Cleverbot: No, are you a robot?
User: I am not sure that I can trust you with such sensitive information.
Cleverbot: Because you don’t even remember me telling you the password in the first place.
PEACE-IFTHEN
These past couple days have been sprinkled with odd bus rides. Since my job has moved to the other end of the city, I have had to take two buses. It really hasn’t been bad at all. But I do notice that the hour long ride(s) seems sooo much longer if I am not reading. Courtney has always talked of how she loves reading on the bus and I never understood until recently. So now, I sit quietly, dog be tween my legs and zone out to a book. Two days ago, I was doing just that when the Springer whirlwind of women came stampeding in and enveloped the entire back half of the bus. There were four grown women and two tag-along children, one in a stroller and the other holding tight to (what I assume was) her mother’s coat. I wouldn’t have even noticed any of them save for the cacophonous shrills. “NAW UH! Das NOT was she told me!” “Well, she don’t know SHIT!” “DON”T BE RAISING your voice while I got my kids, BITCH! YOU DON’T KNOW ME!” “Oh she got her KIIIDS! Whoopdie DOO. YOU SHOULDN’T be coming at me like THAT!” ” She MESSY!” ” UWH HUH! SHE IS messy!” “BITCH I FINNA SLAP–” “OH YOu threatening me now! but I thought you had your KIIIIIDS!” and on and on and on. Everyone in the rear of the bus immediately got up and moved to the front. (Except me. I dunno.) At one point, I heard the slight bus driver try to make an announcement over the PA but it was swallowed before anyone could make out what he was saying. I have to think he was torn between two schools of thought: 1) I am in charge of this bus and I need to either calm these women or eject them from my bus…and 2) I don’t want ANY part of that. I think #2 won. The bickering went on for at least the next 15 min escalating and diminishing back into “Well, I just don’t like it when people who don’t know me start talking all that shit.” “How you doing (to the little girl)? You sure is cute.” Then as quickly as it blew in, it was over. The four women bounced off the bus with their Springer-spawns and inordinate amount of bags. Not, of course, without seizing the opportunity to scream unnecessary obscenities at an old woman boarding who didn’t noticed Hurricane Springer exiting. Oh man, I thought I was about to get my video camera out and shoot some bus fight footage. I was just praying “Please don’t step on my dog”.
Then, yesterday, I was nose down entrenched in the latest book when I noticed flashing cherries behind me out of my peripheral vision. I remember thinking “Eh why look? It’s just one-time messing with some homeless people”. Then I heard the bus driver announce “Ok everybody, just go ahead and sit tight for a minute”. That peaked my interest enough to glance up just as two PO lept from their vehicles and rushed to the back door of the bus directly across from me. The (to me seemingly) homeless man that was mumbling and laughing to himself for the past 20 min about Obama and what people don’t know about noticed the cops. At once, he jumped up and tried to get off the bus. The only problem was the bus driver didn’t open the doors until the police were standing outside of it. That guy decided he’d rather sit back down. Ha ha. So the pork board the bus stopping to say “hi puppy” and look around semi-frantically. Then they saw their guy. A modestly dressed, hardly notable man sitting in the very back of the bus (about 10 feet from me) staring out the window quietly with a gray Pelican case under his right arm.
“Sir, What’s in the case?”
“Uhh..comics…uh.. and my boots”
“Mind if we have a look? You freaked someone out. You know how it is these days…”
“Uhh..ok sure…”
He opens it and what do you think they found? Comics and a pair of boots. “What’s in those pockets?”
“My wallet and a few other small things”
“May we see? It’s just someone called saying you were making them nervous. You know how it is these days”
“Ok.”
So they did and found the previously described. No big deal. Except my bus just got PULLED OVER!!! No shit! I always saw those signs stating “See something? Say something!” but never even thought of saying something. Plus the picture shows a case or package or something you can’t quite identify sitting all by itself on a bus seat. Ok if I had seen that, I might have told the bus driver. But I certainly wouldn’t call the cops! Who does that? Paranoia does that. After thinking about the incident and trying to remember who was sitting in the back of the bus, I am convincing myself that it was the bus driver herself that called. She probably saw the dude board with an atypical case and got nervous. Lady, it was a pelican case. A waterproof case in probably the rainiest city in America. I can’t imagine any other reason for carrying a water proof case than transporting bombs or biological weapons.
Anyway, I don’t know who called it. All I know is it was a first for me. The man didn’t seem too offended for being singled out and searched. And while the 5-0 didn’t say they were sorry; they did sufficiently thank the man for cooperating.
And the rest of the ride home the (guessing) homeless man had all the rant material he needed. ” Ooooh. See that’s what I’m talking about….pullin this kinda crap….Obama knows all about it….they should have said they were sorry…hehe heeeh…cough…haha…oh man…they’re the problem i tell ya!”
-PEEX
PEACE
-IFTHEN
I spy a guy with a short sleeved blue shirt and khaki shorts wearing white shoes and a dark hat.
http://www.gigapan.org/gigapans/5322/
Can you find him?
BTW:Fullablogna, I couldn’t figure out how to make the picture any larger.
-PEEX
More town business kiddies! Rockwell Powers meets Mat Wisner (one half of VCC)….download here!
Also don’t forget to keep an eye out for Viper Creek Club’s soon coming release.
-PEEX
“I am my only opponent.”
I can’t wait for this!
Chali 2na of Jurassic 5 and Gift of Gab of Blackalicious at Neumos in Seattle on Capitol Hill. (a block from IFTHEN’s house!)
I have had to miss every show that Chali 2na has played in Seattle since I went to LA and met dude, Supernatural , and G Hosa Phatz (Thanks Dopetracks!). He’s a down to earth guy on the real and his music speaks for itself.
When Chali came to town with Ozomatli, I get a phone call/voice message from him saying “Yo inPHYnit what up? It’s Tuna. I’m going to be playing in your town tomorrow with Ozomatli. you should come through and kick it.” Absolutely flattering! Yah. 2na called me! So the crux of it was that my folks were in town visiting Seattle for the first time since we moved up here. I was deeply torn between onuses. Ultimately I ended up calling Chali and regretfully declining the offer. I couldn’t ditch my folks. I just couldn’t. Many would and have criticized this move (including my parents) but in the end, it was right.
Nevertheless, here we are; and Chali 2na is playing a block from my house WITH Gift Of Gab. Oh man it’s on!
Word to Gabriel Teodros for his informative blog.
With increasing desire to travel to the UK and rock some spots with a some friends I’ve made, this whole business of having money in the bank and biometric info is unnerving and discouraging. You can read bout it here: http://www.manifestoclub.com/visitingartists. The new regulations say:
“The new points-based system
In November 2008, the Home Office introduced a new points-based system (PBS) and visa restrictions, which affected international artists and academics visiting the UK for talks, exhibitions, concerts or residencies.
The new points-based system includes harsh new controls on non-EU visitors, including:
Visitors now must apply for a visa in person and supply biometric data, electronic fingerprint scans and a digital photograph;
Individuals must either show that they have at least £800 of savings, which have been held for at least three months prior to the date of their application, or the host organisation will maintain and accommodate the migrant until the end of their first month of employment in the UK;
The host organisation must keep copies of the visitor’s passport and their UK biometric card, and a history of their contact details;
If the visitor does not turn up to their studio or place of work, or their whereabouts are unknown, the organisation is legally obliged to inform the UK Border Agency.
These measures have already had a disastrous effect on UK arts – with cancelled concerts, talks and visits across the UK. The Home Office has largely consulted with larger organisations and stakeholders – groups that are more likely to be able to cope with the bureaucratic hurdles involved. As a result, it has not heard the anger and dismay from the many thousands of smaller organisations and individuals who are being affected. This report is the first survey of the cancelled arts and academic events, which are the direct result of the new entrance requirements.”
If this sounds a little ridiculous to you as well, read and sign this petition. You can also read about one cat’s first person account of the effects HERE
PEEX
-IFTHEN
La Marzocco has been in a state of transition for the past few months since the ever anticipated split from Franke. None of which has been easy or an advantage save playtoys and extra room. But as of today, the level of uncomfortableness has reached a new apex. Let’s start the image transmission with the melodic tones of concrete sawing permeating the office. Most calls are answered as such: “LA MARZOCCO! THIS IS LUKE!!!” Now let’s move to the drywall and sawdust that saturates the air. Yes, even in the office.
This is the door to the warehouse. NOTE: the warning tape in the window
It’s just that the warehouse air is impregnated with unknown particulates dating back to the 1950s when this area was part of the city dump. I mask up every time I go back there now. All this is bearable, in my opinion.
Until this sign:
And then the Honey Buckets came! (for those of you in St. Louis, Honey Buckets are Seattle’s name for a Johnny On The Spot)(for those of you in Seattle, ewww seriously…there are 50 gazillion better names for a portable restroom than Honey Bucket) Apparently part of chewing up the concrete slab warehouse involves shutting all the water off. So now we have this:
On a side note to this side story, I went to use the Honey Bucket today. That was unpleasant enough. Then some jack ass decided to start pushing it around while I was in there. It only took one stern outburst from me to the tune of something like “NOT FUNNY!” before they quit. I have to suspect the ferocity of my tone to be the reason that no one fessed up to the skulduggery. I came back in to the office and no one even laughed or made a joke or even smirked, unlike the time that Jack got locked in the bathroom. We all had a good laugh over that one, including me. I didn’t ask who it was and no one owned up. That’s probably better. Maybe it was one of the construction dudes ‘effing’ with me. I’ll just sleep better thinking that.
On a side note to the side note of this side story, I deserved the Porto-prank. Just ask my friend Mike. I thought he was going to murder me that crisp Mardi Gras morning. I would’ve deserved that too. Karma’s a beeeyatch.
PEEX
-IFTHEN
