UPDATE: Free (Legal) Music on the Web

Here's some more music to enjoy:

Kyler England - Flash Jukebox

Rachel Yamagata - Flash Jukebox

Damien Rice - Streaming Video

Matt Nathanson - Flash Jukebox

The Animators - MP3s

Noe Venable - MP3s
(Noe's latest album only has samples, but the other albums have full-length MP3s)

Death Cab For Cutie - MP3s

Blu Sanders - MP3s

Jen Chapin - Flash Jukebox
(click on the 'Music' link at the bottom - when you get to the music page, click on 'listen' beside any song, at the bottom of the page you will be asked which media player you would like to use)

Emily Curtis - M3Us

Greg Tannen - MP3s

Corrinne May - Flash Jukebox
(after entering the site, click on the flash player in the upper right-hand corner)

I Lack the Physical Ability to Be in the NFL but I More Than Make Up for It With My Innovation in the Area of Touchdown Celebrations.

by Peter Haas
(courtesy of McSweeney's)

Run to local church, convert to Catholicism, then run back to end zone and make the sign of the cross.

Write "paragon of athletic achievement" in the air with my hand.

Shimmy up goalpost, refuse to come back down.

Jog victory laps around referee.

Calmly pull football apart at the seams.

Dump cooler of Gatorade on myself.

Enter press box, write article praising my performance.

Take out cell phone hidden in padding on goalpost, call up fire department, and tell them there's a man on fire at the stadium. Add, "It's me! Get it? Get it?!"

Break dance in attempt to outdo celebrating member of other team.

Free (Legal) Music on the Web

There is such a massive variety of free, legal music available on the internet, that I thought I might create a list here for those of you not in the know. Typically, there are two types of downloads available, 1) tracks from albums, or 2) live recorded shows. I will provide links and details about both types listed here. There is a third type of resource referred to as the "Flash jukebox". This is usually a Flash based web page that lists all the tracks from a particular album. You can listen to the album in its entirety. The only problem is that you usually have to manually select the song you want played. In other words, you can't let it play the whole album on its own. When one song ends, you have to click "Next" or click on another song name to get it going again. I've left out most sites that rely heavily on RealMedia just because I'm not a big fan of the RealPlayer and you can't play RealMedia files on any other media player. Also, feel free to comment about other resources/artists I'm sure that I've missed. Hopefully, there's enough variety here for everyone. So, here they are (in no particular order)...enjoy!

NOTE: I've put a link to the artist's website, plus an additional link to the location of the media, if there is one and if possible. Otherwise an explanation is given.

NOTE: For those unfamiliar with online media, when you get a link to a .M3U file, that just means it's a streaming version of an MP3. If Windows Media Player is your default player, just choose 'File' -> 'Save As...' and it will ask you where you want to save the MP3 file. For iTunes users it's a little more complicated. iTunes will ask you if you want to save the file or open it from its current location. If you choose to save, you're only saving the .M3U file. If you choose to open, you're opening the MP3, but not saving it to your hard drive. You know what, if any of the three people that read this blog can't figure it out, you know how to reach me.

DISCLAIMER: I make no guarantees as to the following:
1) the quality or availability of the media files mentioned; or
2) my ability to read your mind as to what you consider good music - the point here is to provide free, legal music resources - if you don't like the artists I've posted, just check the websites of your favorite artists


Artist websites:

Kings of Convenience - Flash Jukebox

Turin Brakes - Flash Jukebox

David Wilcox - Flash Jukebox & 1 MP3
(click on "listen" in the top menu to access the Flash Jukebox)

Stephen Fearing - MP3s
(there are more downloads from Stephen Fearing at Live Tour Artists below)

Kelly Joe Phelps - M3Us
(click on any album besides the newest one then click on the word "PLAY" next to the track listings)

David Hopkins - MP3s
(the "listen" links will take you to CDBaby.com for samples - the "mp3" links are the ones you want)

Mindy Smith - M3Us

Vienna Teng - MP3s
(the files you download here are ZIP files, again contact me if you three need help with this)

Willy Porter - MP3s
(this is Flash website, so a direct link to the media is not possible - from the main page, click "the music" on the menu and you'll see a listing of MP3s)

Glen Phillips - MP3s

They Might Be Giants - MP3s
(another Flash site, so a direct link to the media is not possible - from the first page, click "Enter", then at the bottom right click "Free MP3s, Huzzah!" - they'll ask you for your e-mail address and will mail you a link to free MP3s)

Rob Seals - M3Us
(all of the M3U files from the Wishlisting album are full songs - the only other full song is from the Revolution of One album called "Count the Ways")

Phil Roy - MP3s

David Wilcox - MP3
(from the same link, click "listen" from the top menu and a Flash jukebox will come up with the ability to listen to two of his albums in their entirety)

Dave Potts - MP3s
(at the bottom of the page there are links to the full versions of two previously unreleased tracks - the rest of the links on the page are just samples)

Brooks Williams - MP3s


Non-artist websites:
(the next 6 listings will take some leg work to get to the good stuff that lies therein)

Download.com
(good place to start: David Hopkins)

MySpace.com - Flash Jukeboxes
(good place to start: Dave Barnes)

Epitonic
(good place to start: Boxharp)

Live Tour Artists
(good place to start: Stephen Fearing)

Archive.org - Live Audio (varying media types)
(good place to start: Glen Phillips)

WRLT Lightning 100 - Nashville Sunday Nights Live MP3s
(good place to start: Turin Brakes)

Grassroots Music - MP3s
(good place to start: Carolyn Arends)

iTunes - Every Tuesday/Wednesday a free download


Fan websites:

Dave Barnes - Live MP3s
(four live shows in their entirety - this is the only site where I haven't checked the quality of the files - in other words, these MP3s may be from a guy sitting in the audience holding a tape recorder - check 'em out, let me know)

Kings Of Convenience - Live MP3s
(seven live shows in their entirety, 5 tracks from previous band "Skog", plus 4 rare MP3s)

No More Wrappers for McDonald's?

So... would you like fries with that?

Rat Brains and Virtual Planes

I've never been very good at flight simulators, but apparently handmade rat brains in petri dishes don't have much of a problem with them.

Aftermath

I was recently thinking about the consequences of my actions and how, for the most part, I don't take the time to consider the possible aftermath. And I thought to myself, "Self, what kind of word is 'Aftermath' anyway?" So, I looked it up on Wikipedia and found the following definition:

The word "aftermath" is used more generally to refer to the effects that follow catastrophic events, both man-made and natural. It is almost always used in a negative sense—that is, the deaths from exposure to radiation in Hiroshima are seen as a part of the aftermath, but the liberation of the prisoner of war camps in Japan following World War II would likely not be referred to as "aftermath."

So, that got me thinking, "Is there such a thing as 'Beforemath' or 'Duringmath'?" I decided to come up with my own definitions:

The word "beforemath" is a technical term, used commonly by programmers, when they think, for just a brief moment, that they can solve a difficult equation without the use of mathematics. That "brief moment" could possibly include, but is not limited to, working for 2 or more hours on hundreds of lines of code before admitting defeat. Stupid math.*

The word "duringmath" is also a technical term, used commonly by IT managers, that describes the foreshadowing of the rage and destruction that will occur as a result of a programmer having to delve too deeply into mathematics to solve a difficult equation. See "beforemath".

*"Stupid math" comment is editorial, not part of the definition.

Hitler's Women

I've been sick on and off during the last couple of weeks, and as a result, I was home watching television more than normal. I ran across a show on the History Channel called "Hitler's Women". This was apparently a mini-series of some sort detailing Hitler's dealings and relationships with various women during his career. From watching a bit of these documentaries I can tell you a couple of things...

1) Hitler had some relationships with some pretty influential women

2) A portion of those women looked like men

Really Boring Books for Children

By Melissa Bell
(courtesy of McSweeney's)

Springtime? Taxtime!
The New Drapes
Let's All Have a Bottle of Water!
The Two Weeks After Christmas
Staring at Your Shoes and Other Games
The Big Book of Paper Clips
One Wall, Two Walls, Three Walls, Four!
Mom Folds the Towels and Then Puts Them Away
B Is for Beige
The Long Drive to the Small Town to Visit Childless Relatives
Sally Finds a Stick