we’re gettin’ a calculatah
Larry Eats the Nativity
A great Christmas moment from Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Larry David.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Yule Log cinematographer Kenneth Van Sickle
For a lot of folks, the annual TV presentation of the Yule Log is part of the holiday tradition. If you’re not familiar, the Yule Log is a film loop of logs burning in a fireplace with a soundtrack of fire crackle and classic Christmas music. Yesterday, Within Earshot caught up with Ken Van Sickle, the cinematographer for the original Yule Log filming in 1966. Enjoy, and happy holidays!
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Howard Cosell’s Little Drummer Boy
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Howard Cosell’s Little Drummer Boy
Top 10s of 2008 from Earshot Presents
Please check out the new Top 10s of 2008 from Earshot Presents.
Top 10 YouTubes of 2008 from Earshot Presents
Welcome to the Top 10 YouTubes of 2008 from Earshot Presents, as compiled on one Saturday afternoon late in December. The following videos are in no particular order.
787 Cliparts by Oliver Laric
Christian the Lion – Whitney Houston never sounded so tolerable.
Clapton Shreds – the Shreds series is brilliant. The videos were created by Santeri Ojala (aka St. Sanders) and banned from YouTube, but were reposted everywhere. The re-poster in this case seems to have missed the subtle humor of this video and thinks Clapton’s jazzing out. What a tool.
Cloverfield Monster Revealed Apology – This is the final installment of Norman Coady’s posts regarding the film Cloverfield. In late 2007, Norman (aka Rockwell) grew concerned that the premise of the upcoming film Cloverfield was dangerously parallel to the premise of his rock-opera, Deposession. The following is his brilliantly produced apology for having been somewhat mistaken. The music is Rockwell’s own. Look out for Deposession in 2009, and check out the vids in the meantime.
iPhone Customers Strike Back at KTLA Reporter Eric Spillman – This video is also followed up with an apology.
Professor Brothers: Late Date – Another classic from the brilliant mind of Brad Neely, whose Babycakes and Professor Brothers videos blew up in 2007 and 2008. Bob Odenkirk’s SuperDeluxe.com, the host site for Neely’s work, was recently acquired by Adult Swim, and Neely’s videos are frustratingly hard to find for the moment. Shame on Adult Swim. Most of Neely’s vids have disappeared from YouTube, too, so here’s an embed from AOL.
My Name is Lisa – A 13 year old girl deals with her mother’s Alzheimer’s. If you don’t have the patience to watch a 6:30 video right now, bookmark/save this one for later.
I Will – Dig it. The young and gifted and prolific Sungha Jung (now 12 years old).
Highlights from Tom Waits’ Glitter and Doom Tour Press Conference – Be sure to watch until its end.
Fuck It. We”ll do it live! – This is a brilliant parody of the raw tape that came to light earlier in the year, in which an enraged Bill O’Reilly (then the host of Inside Edition) has a major fucking problem problem with the show’s production team! “Fucking thing sucks!” hhahahha. You suck, Bill O’Reilly! What makes this video so great is that this guy is eloquently speaking all our minds to the biggest blowhard on television.
BONUS VID FOR SCROLLING DOWN HERE!
Santa Claus School Workshop – a fun holiday slideshow from Getty Images. Getty’s multimedia YouTube channel is one worth subscribing to.
Please share this top 10 with others and join the Earshot Presents mailing list to stay in touch.
Got a list of your own? Become an Earshot Presents contributor and post it!
If you have some more time to kill, you may also be interested in checking out the Top 10 Comedy .mp3s of 2008 from Earshot Presents or the Top 10 Songs of 2008 from Earshot Presents.
Top 10 Comedy .mp3s of 2008 from Earshot Presents
Bowie – Flight Of The Conchords
The Flight of the Conchords CD might not be a thru-player for any occasion, but hitting up a track every now and again sure is a pleasure. This one’s particularly fun (if you know your Bowie).
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Sarkozy calls Palin – The Masked Avengers
Sarah Palin’s office apparently vets her phone calls like John McCain vets his running mates. Montreal comedy duo Marc-Antoine Audette and Sebastien Trudel pretend to be French President Nicolas Sarkozy in what was only one of Palin’s most embarrassing moments of 2008. A train-wreck personified, this idiot was one breath away… ugh. Don’t get me started. The Masekd Avengers: “We have the equivalent of Joe the Plumber in France. It’s called Marcel, the guy with bread under his armpit.” Man, they nailed this one.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
It’s Just Like Good Music – Sammy Stephens
Sammy Stephens, the king of the Flea Market Montgomery (and YouTube mega-viral sensation with over 5 million cumulative vid hits and countless mash-ups and re-mixes) was more than willing to spend ten minutes on the phone with Earshot Presents last August. He laid down some grooves (on the spot – no rehearsing!) that would appear on Within Earshot Vol. VI, which was named It’s Just Like Good Music in Sammy’s honor.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Bill’s Bad Day – the Howard Stern show
Howard was obviously really psyched to share this audio with his listeners. It’s extracted from the viral of Bill O’Reilly losing his shit on the set of Inside Edition in the late 90s, when Bill had a little more hair. He certainly wasn’t any less of an asshole. Something about Stern’s snarky laughter in the background makes the audio almost as entertaining as the video.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
A Little 12oz Roll of Sausage – Randy Taylor
Texan-man Randy Taylor is ripshit about the Jimmy Dean sausage company rebranding their 16oz sausages in a new 12oz size. This message was apparently left on the Jimmy Dean customer service hotline. It’s mixed here by Earshot Presents with Moondog’s Bird’s Lament, as it appeared on Within Earshot Vol. V, Windows: Opens, EP’s 2008 spring jams . “Fuck, I wanna eat goddamn it.”
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
The Phone Calls of Earles and Jensen
The Jerky Boys made prank calls. These calls are something else. Something better. Something Farr wittier. Something so outrageously funny it hurts. With two exceptional volumes of phone calls to pick from, the work of Earles and Jensen was far too good to choose just one track for a Top 10, and the following five tracks are just the tip of the funny iceberg. The duo’s pop culture references, characterizations, writing, and improvisation are astounding.
Signed to Matador records before the company was served with a lawsuit, you can now keep tabs on Earles & Jensen on their MySpace page. A quote from the Matador website: “The rich, fully formed universe they’ve created with their mind-blowing phone calls has to this listener’s ears, transcended the mere comedy / spoken schtick bin and puts the duo in much more rarified territory.” Wouldn’t you agree?
A Man With A Confusing Array of Things for Sale
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Incident In The Wave Pool
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
I Ate An Entire Sheet Of Acid
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Room-Silencing Religious Call
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
The Yogurt Machine
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Please share this top 10 with others and join the Earshot Presents mailing list to stay in touch.
Got a list of your own? Become an Earshot Presents contributor and post it!
If you have some more time to kill, you may also be interested in checking out the Top 10 Videos of 2008 from Earshot Presents or the
Top 10 Songs of 2008 from Earshot Presents
The Top 10 Songs of 2008 from Earshot Presents are not downloadable from this page, but are hyperlinked either to the iTunes Music Store or their source.
Little Kingdom – Citay
Little Kingdom the song is representative of Little Kingdom the album is representative of Citay, a bitchin’ psych-rock outfit from San Francisco.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
You Can’t Hurry Love – The Concretes
With the charge of Spector-on-speed energy of this song, it’s amazing that the album could also include what is the most heart-wrenchingly depressing song of the year, The Concrete’s New Friend.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Ashamed – Deer Tick
I quote my brother when I say that “this guy is going places”. Sounds like something my father might say over lunch about a one-man band we just passed on Church Street, but it’s true. Chances are good that 2009 will be the Year of the Deer Tick. These Daytrotter tracks are as stunning as the rest of the tracks off of War Elephant, the studio re-release.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
100 Years – Dr. Dog
Dr. Dog’s Fate, which is coincidentally playing in the coffee shop from which I write, might not make my Top 10 albums, but this track is stunning. Timeless, soulful, and vaguely reminiscent of an old traditional tune that Dr. Dog could have never written themselves. But it’s theirs. Respect.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Womanizer – Britney Spears
When I’m in the kitchen, I listen to some pretty random radio on my trusty ‘ol PAL radio (PAL=great gift, btw). This dance track with incredible momentum played once in November and I had it in my head for over a week without knowing anything about it. I guess I wasn’t surprised to later hear that it was Britney’s come-back song, released in advance of her come-back album . Womanizer made an unprecedented jump from #96 to #1 on the Bilboard Hot 100 on October 15th and broke single-day download records online upon its release.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Most of the Time – Bob Dylan
Tell Tale Signs, the 8th volume in Dylan’s Bootleg Series, is the best yet. That’s if you’re a fan of Dylan’s more recent work. Which a good number of haters are not. The fact is – and we’re reminded with this album – that some o Dylan’s best work is also some of his most recent. Note: this track isn’t so recent – it’s an outtake from 1989′s Oh, Mercy.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Mykonos – Fleet Foxes
…because what Best of 2008 would be complete without the Fleet Foxes?
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Fire in your Belly – Liam Finn
Liam Finn’s album I’ll Be Lightning was by far my favorite album of 2008. Liam Finn’s September performance at Webster Hall was by far my favorite live performance of 2008. Liam wrote, recorded, and produced this album almost entirely by himself, a feat that would be completely understandable if you ever got the privilege of seeing him live.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Make the Road by Walking – Menahan Street Band
I wish I knew what was going on over on Menahan Street when I lived in Bushwick. The smooth soul sounds here are created by (+/-) the musicians of Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings. Made the Road by Walking is as beautiful and inspiring as its title.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
M79 – Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend were all the rage in 2008. Their Stroke-ish power-packed-indie-pop-cum-Ivy-League-charm made critics and Brooklyn WNYC tote-baggers cream themselves for good reason. Hopefully there’s more where it came from.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Please share this top 10 with others and join the Earshot Presents mailing list to stay in touch.
Got a list of your own? Become an Earshot Presents contributor and post it!
If you have some more time to kill, you may also be interested in checking out the Top 10 Videos of 2008 from Earshot Presents or the Top 10 Comedy mp3s of 2008 from Earshot Presents.
787 Cliparts by Oliver Laric
Iraqi journalist throws shoes at President Bush
BAGHDAD – A man threw his shoes at President George W. Bush and was dragged away by security officials during the president’s farewell trip to Iraq.
The incident occurred as Bush was appearing Sunday with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Bush ducked and wasn’t hit by either shoe. Bush joked, saying that all he can report was that it was a size 10 shoe. Then calmly took questions.
AP report from Yahoo!News
more in news:
New York Times: http://tinyurl.com/6gzmd4
Bloomberg: http://tinyurl.com/5no5e8
Al Jezeera: http://tinyurl.com/6yxz8e
Bottle Do Your Thing
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
David Rogers had 37 hits on the country charts, and two that made the top ten. Was “Bottle Do Your Thing” one of them? Not sure, but it’s a damn good country song. This digital recording was made from a 45rpm found among the mountain of bullshit at The Thing in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
CC and the arcane BCC
* Let’s help protect the privacy of our email addresses. Share this with others and bookmark this page for the next time you need it *
Intro
Email’s been around a while. Users should know that addressing large groups of people in the To: or CC: fields of an email is inappropriate and disrespectful to all the email’s recipients. Many emailers either don’t understand how to use the BCC: field of their email clients or simply have no regard for it. This post explains how the BCC field works and why it is of such importance when emailing large groups.
Background
CC and BCC are abbreviations for two obsolete devices known as “carbon copy” and “blind carbon copy”. In the days before email and photocopying, typists or letter writers used what was called “carbon paper” to duplicate their letters. 
As a letter was created, the pressure from the pen or typeface deposited ink from an inky “carbon paper” onto a blank sheet behind it, thus creating a “carbon copy” of the original document. Blind carbon copies were used to ensure that multiple recipients of a document didn’t see the names of other recipients. CC and BCC would follow the writer’s salutation and signature at the bottom of the document, as illustrated on the right.
Why the BCC is important
If I send you a must-read joke about the leprechaun, genie, and nun in Burger King, and I leave 100 other undisclosed email addresses either in the To: field or the Cc: field, those email addresses will be visible if those 100 recipients forward the email. If each of those people forward my hilarious joke in the same wreckeless way as I did, your email address is already in the inboxes of 10,000 people you probably don’t know. If they do the same (entirely unlikely and I don’t doubt your understanding of exponential growth, but humor me), your email is in one million inboxes. To have your email address in the hands of so many strangers — or any strangers at all — is less than ideal, and the easiest invitation there is for more spam.
In some cases, such as event planning and local activism, it makes sense to create a dialog between a group of people by using the CC. What’s dangerous is that if someone is peripherally involved in the conversation, they will still be receiving every email that’s sent with the inconsiderate “Reply All”. For instance, an old acquaintance I met at a wedding two years ago (haven’t spoke since) recently sent an email with 200 of his closest friends in the CC (four of whom I knew). What I was afraid would happen happened. For the next hours and days, I was inundated with back and forth “reply all” emails regarding where we should all do New Years. “How about Madagascar!” “I think we should stay right here in Philly!”, etc… Then, inevitably, there was the backlash of emails from strangers that said things like “TAKE ME OFF THIS DAMN THREAD” and “Unsubscribe”. All this can be avoided with the BCC.
Belaboring the Point
I’ve had the same personal email address for ten years. It’s a cool address at a cool domain and I actually pay $30/year to own it. I’m very protective of my email address and would hate for it to suffer the fate of so many other people’s email accounts that get bombed out to the point of uselessness with spam about penis pills, watches, hot stock picks, Russian mail order brides, Nigerian princes that want to share their wealth with me, etc… I take every measure to maintain the privacy of my email address because it is as valuable to me as the privacy of my phone number. This is why I get upset — and I am not alone — when my address is among a slew of other addresses in an email I know is bound to be forwarded on by other people ignorant of the basic rules of netiquette. Don’t send forwards. It’s lame. If you do, strip them of the email addresses that precede the content and use the BCC!
In all desktop email clients (like Outlook, Outlook Express, Entourage, Mac Mail, or Thunderbird) as well as all web-based email services (like Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo, or AOL), you should have the following fields available when you create an email: To, Cc:, Bcc:, and Subject. If you don’t see the BCC: field in your Compose view, click on the name of your client above to find out how to access it.
By addressing the email to yourself and inserting your recipient’s email addresses or your mailing list name into the BCC: field, your email will be sent to each of your recipients without them being able to see the other recipients. In some cases, they may see that the email was sent to a list of “undisclosed recipients”, but most of the time, it appears that the email has been sent from you — to you.
Minimizing unwanted email
Please do your part to protect the privacy of the email addresses of your friends, family, and co-workers. Understand that many chain letters, warnings about computer viruses, threats about the do-not-call list and other popular forwards are the mythical work of spammers trying to snowball email addresses. You can debunk many of the questionable email forwards you get by a simple Google search of the email’s subject line, and sites like Snopes are at your disposal to dispel what smells too fishy to be true.
If your friend, family member or co-worker continually sends you email where your address is disclosed and you’re uncomfortable with it, link them here by using the ShareThis button below. Alternatively, figure out a polite way of telling them to either use the BCC or to remove you from their address book. If handled respectfully, the offending sender will be appreciative that you’ve taught them something new. For your convenience, a few different sample emails are available here for you to copy and paste into your email.
Thanks for reading this post about email etiquette. Keep this reference guide handy by bookmarking the page so that you can refer others here when necessary. If you think this post can be improved, feel free to leave your comments below.
More resources:
Break the Chain
13 Things Every Net User Should Know
Snopes, the Urban Myth Buster
Thanks to the following resources, which were useful in the creation of the above:
Wikipedia
University of Idaho Information Technology Services
Writing for Design Professionals by Stephen A. Kliment
Get Behind This:
