Joaquin Phoenix returns back to Letterman later this month

Movies, News, Television, , , , ,

Way back on February 11, 2009 actor-turned-rapper Joaquin Phoenix made his memorable visit to the Late Show with David Letterman.  Next Wednesday (Sept. 22) Phoenix is set to return to the late night show and will not be reprising his role as a crazy rude bearded freak show.  Instead he will be there promoting his new (mock?)-umentary film I’m Still Here.  Relive the craziness here and anticipate an explanation for all this next week.

In related news, director Casey Affleck told The New York Times that Phoenix’s two-year stint as a retired actor-turned-rapper riddled with drug abuse was “a terrific performance.”  In other words, it was all an act.  “I never intended to trick anybody,” said Affleck.  Well there’s goes all the hype leading up to the movie.  Now that we know almost everything was fake, are you still interested in seeing the movie?

[Via IGN; NYT]

Snoop’s “Gin and Juice” undergoes the soothing spoken word treatment (NSFW)

Audio, Download link, Hilarity, Music, , , , ,

You all remember the track “Gin and Juice” from Snoop Dogg’s 1994 album Doggystyle, right?  Well the song was recently given the spoken word treatment and I can’t stop listening to it.  Dim the lights, close your eyes, and click play to immerse yourself in a soothing experience featuring splashing ocean waves, light piano keys, and a deep, reassuring voice.  Like what you hear?  Click the download link for keeps, and head over to YouTube to hear The Gourds’ country version of the track.

Download: Snoop Dogg – “Gin and Juice” (soothing spoken word)

[audio: Snoop Dogg – Gin and Juice (soothing spoken word).mp3]

[Via @feliciaday; Bridgingtheverse]

Kid Cudi acknowledges his dark past and promises a brighter future in Complex cover story

Images, Music, News, Print Media, , , , , ,

In the October issue of Complex Magazine Kid Cudi opens up to his fans by journeying back to his not-so-distant dark past.  Beyond opening up about his heavy drug use, his night in jail, and the big reveal that he has a daughter, Cudder talks about his competition (or lack thereof), the meaning behind the tracks “REVOFEV”, “Wylin’ ‘Cause I’m Young”, “Erase Me”, and “Mr. Rager”, and the encompassing theme behind his upcoming second studio album Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager (11/9).

On why he opted to create another dark album, instead of making a fun collab: “When I started making records like “Erase Me.” I wanted this album to be fun, but the dark sh– was my life at that time. I was fighting not to write that sh–. It got frustrating writing a collab album—I just lost interest, and it became more of a task, rather than something I wanted to do. That’s not how it’s supposed to feel. The day it becomes work, you need to retire.”

On MOTM2: “I want my sh– to be like you’re reading a novel, not a Dr. Seuss book. I felt like the last album was too short. This one is a little bit longer, it’s 18 tracks and counting. It’s just ten times better on all levels. The story’s deeper, darker, with no holding back. It’s beautiful, man. It’s an emotional album.”

Head over to Complex to read the explicit three page interview.  Look in the gallery below for some stills from the photoshoot and after the break to find a behind-the-scenes video.

[Via DatNewCudi; Complex]

Continue reading Kid Cudi acknowledges his dark past and promises a brighter future in Complex cover story →

Kanye West covers XXL magazine, sheds light on Swift incident

Music, News, Print Media, , , , , ,

Kanye West is featured in the October issue of XXL magazine.  In addition to gracing the cover wearing his signature heavy chain, Kanye penned his very first article for the magazine and was the creative director of a 40 page section of the special collector’s issue.  In his article “The Exclusive Story by the Man Himself” Kanye sheds light on the publicisized and highly critisized Taylor Swift incident from last year’s MTV VMAs.  Popeater managed to pluck out some choice quotes from the article.

“I stress that the incident wasn’t about Taylor personally. And it definitely wasn’t about race. Where I messed up is, at the end of the day, it’s your show, Taylor. It’s your show, MTV.”

“The relationship with the public and with your fans is like the relationship with your girlfriend. How could I not, at a certain point, be like, ‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been at the awards show. I’m sorry.’ Not that I don’t deserve to get beat up or change who I am inside, to make sure that that doesn’t happen again.”

“I knew I wasn’t in a great spot publicly after the incident, but I would just block it out and work as hard as possible and let my work be my saving grace. In a way, I had thrown a Molotov cocktail at my own career, and it gave me an opportunity, for the first time, to go away and find out who I was. Because I felt very alone.”

Ohh, dark stuff huh?  You can pick up the October issue of XXL on September 28.  The zine also includes stoires on Kid Cudi, Kanye’s G.O.O.D. Music label, and the top 10 producers-turned-rappers of all time.

[Via Popeater; XXL]

G.O.O.D. Music Day did not happen; now what?

Music, News, , , , , , , , ,

September 14 came and went without big record releases from the likes of Kanye West and his G.O.O.D. Music label crew.  So where do the album releases stand now?  Kanye’s hotly anticipated album (still yet-to-be-titled) will drop November 16.  The two singles out now are “Power” & “Runaway.”  Kid Cudi’s Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager will release a week earlier on November 9.  The lone single from Cudder’s album is “Erase Me.”  The Roots-produced John Legend record Wake Up! is due on September 21; listen to the first single “Wake Up Everybody” (Featuring Common and Melanie Fiona) for a taste.  Consequence’s ConsTV, Tony Williams’ King or The Fool, and Big Sean’s Finally Famous are unfortunately stamped with TBD.  In the interim, however, you can download Big Sean’s latest mixtape Finally Famous Vol. 3: BIG.  And finally, rapper GLC’s Love, Life & Loyalty is expected to release this fall.  In related G.O.O.D. Music news, Pusha T of the Clipse has formally announced his integration with the label.

Human Pac-Man in stop motion makes me happy

EXPERIENCE, Video, , ,

111 human bodies over the course of four hours reenacted a game of Pac-Man moving around from seat to seat inside an auditorium.  Watch it because it will make you happy.  If the home-brewed sound effects don’t make you giggle like a little kid, there is something seriously wrong with you.  Now smash play!

Note: This video is one of five performance of the GAME OVER Project from the French-Swiss artist Guillaume Reymond.  Head over to the NotSoNoisy YouTube channel to watch more video game-inspired stop motion masterpieces.  Human Tetris, Space Invaders, and Pong await.

[Via likecool]

HDR video results in ultra realism for aspiring videographers

photography, Technology, Video, , , , ,

The fellas at Soviet Montage Productions have managed to implement the HDR process in video using two professional DSLRs.  HDR stands for High Dynamic Range, and it involves the process of taking multiple photographs (one underexposed, the other overexposed) and combining the best qualities from each to create the best image possible.  Sounds familiar?  I explained this process recently when Steve Jobs announced that iOS 4.1 would include HDR support in the iPhone’s camera software.  What Soviet Montage has so impressively done is implement the HDR photography technique with video.  Using two Canon 5D MarkIIs and beam splitter, they captured video under different exposure values and used “HDR processing tools” in post to create the visually spectacular video you see above.  The production team find HDR video extremely useful; they say it can “allow for even exposure where artificial lighting is unavailable or impractical.”  The level of detail and realism is mind-boggling, isn’t it?  I look forward to the day Jobs takes the stage to announce HDR video in iPhones; this tech must come to the masses!

[Via Engadget]

Happy 15th Anniversary, PlayStation (part deux)

Images, News, Technology, , , , ,

Remember way back on December 4, 2009 when we celebrated the 15th anniversary of PlayStation.  Well apparently that was celebrating the birth of the brand in Japan.  The original PlayStation console wasn’t introduced in North America until September 9, 1994.  So now we must celebrate the birth of PS in the US.  Do it by reading all these PlayStation fun facts (like did you know that seven percent of PS gamers won’t date non-gamers?) and browsing the PlayStation timeline that spans from the original console to the PlayStation Move in the gallery below.

[Via Gizmodo]

Boxee Box: Internet video on your TV coming this November for $199

Images, Technology, Video, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Today Boxee CEO Avner Ronen announced that the Boxee Box by D-Link will cost $199 when it releases this November.  But what is the Boxee Box, you ask?  Let me tell you.

The Internet is packed with tons of video.  There’s YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, and so on.  All of these portals host all kinds of video ranging from movies, TV shows, and user-generated content.  Some of these sites feature video in high definition (up to 1080p) and they look great on our desktop monitors and laptop displays.  Boxee’s aim is to bring the abundance of video found all over the Internet from your small computer screen to your large HDTV.  For years the Boxee software has been available to download for free on the PC, Mac, and Linux and for those who own Boxee-compatible hardware (ie. Apple TV).  After years of development, Boxee is almost ready to release the Boxee Box into the wild.  The hardware is collabortively made by Boxee and D-Link and the software is developed in-house by the Boxee team.  With the Boxee Box, the company is going to bring the ultimate Boxee experience to the living room–they are going to tailor the Internet for the TV 1080p, 5.1 surround sound style (where available).

In essence, the Boxee software aggregates video content from all over the Internet into one place, making it extremely simple to find a TV show, movie, or really any kind of streaming video that is available on the web.  The Boxee Box will feature a streamlined user interface to make accessing any streaming video on the ‘Net a snap.  For example, let’s say you want to watch an episode of ABC’s Modern Family.  You can search the keyboard “Modern Family” and Boxee will scour the Internet for all legal outlets that are streaming episodes from that show.  Thanks to the Boxee Box’s built-in Mozilla-based Webkit browser with Flash & HTML5 support, you will have access to so much content you won’t know where to start.  And the best part is that the Boxee service is f-r-e-e free!  Once you pay for the hardware, there are no additional costs, no subscription fees, no nothing.  Stream free video content from the Internet to your TV.  That’s it.  (Keep in mind that you can also stream Netflix, Hulu Plus, MLB.tv, and other paid content as long as you are a paying subscriber.)

Besides streaming video content from the Internet to your TV, the Boxee Box will also support social networking and all kinds of apps.  You can attach your Facebook and Twitter accounts to the Box to keep a tab on what your friends are watching and give recommendations.  (Boxee calls this the “first “social” media center”, get it?)  In the app center, you can download Internet-streaming applications like Pandora and MLB.tv and run them straight from Boxee.  You can take things one step further by wirelessly connecting the Boxee Box to your home network, enabling you to access “virtually any file type” from your computer (think pictures, music, video) to view on your HDTV.  If you can view it on your computer, chances are you can view it on your TV if you have the Boxee Box–get it?

Let’s talk products specs. Continue reading Boxee Box: Internet video on your TV coming this November for $199 →

YouTube live streaming tested today and tomorrow, don’t miss it!

News, Technology, , , , , , , ,

You’ve heard of UStream?  Well Google is looking to add similar functionality to their popular video site.  Today and tomorrow YouTube will be testing a live streaming platform with four content partners: Howcast, Next New Networks, Rocketboom and Young Hollywood.  The platform seemlessly integrates live streaming into a YouTube channel page.  All they require of selected broadcasters is a webcam or external USB/FireWire camera.  Easy peesy, right?  A “Live Comments” module sits to the right of the live video stream; this gives viewers and broadcasters the ability to communicate with one another.  Remember this is only a two-day trial only for the specified content partners; Google promises to “evaluate rolling out the platform more broadly to our partners worldwide” at an undisclosed date.  So don’t think you can broadcast live your own keyboard cat doing his thing for the world to see…yet.  Click the links provided above (or scrub through the interactive embedded YouTube TV-mabob) to catch live content before time runs out.

[Via YouTubeBlog; Engadget]