entombed in the shrine of zeroes and ones

I remember reading, as a kid, a dramatization of the British Antarctic Expedition, which was effectively a race to reach the South Pole for the first time between Robert Falcon Scott and Norway's Roald Amundsen.  The story was told from Scott's perspective and it was somewhat tragic.  Thinking upon it now, it seems like the heroic tragedy of the failure of Scott's expedition outshines Amundsen's accomplishment, which might be a result of better British PR, or perhaps just the cultural proximity of our nations (i recall also the story of Robert Peary being the first to reach the North Pole, and of course Peary was American, except it turned out upon later determination that he missed).

I discovered I Like Trains (né iLiKETRAiNS) on Pandora (although i can't pinpoint on what station; easy guess would be Sigur Rós), and i happened to come across a video one particular song of theirs, "Terra Nova", and it was only upon viewing the video that i realized that it is a reference to the Scott expedition, which turns the song from merely gloomy into harrowing.  I didn't expect that the video, which starts out with an almost cheap feeling with obvious models, would provoke such feeling.

How could I have led these men
To their demise and they just follow?
Exploration's last great prize
It wasn't mine

And more's the shame
You will remember my name

Great God, this is an awful place
I do not think that we can hope
For any better things now

Oh, the end, cannot be far
It cannot be far, I cannot wait
Exploration's last great prize
A saving grace, it wasn't mine

And more's the shame
You will remember my name

And more's the shame
You will remember my name

Leave Me from Daros Films on Vimeo.

Thanks to en_ki.

I've been meaning to post this for over a year.  I think i have issues, but never mind that now.

My Brightest Diamond is a band that's mainly formed by Shara Worden, who produces music that's anchored by her gorgeous voice, which is then surrounded by haunting notes, even in the half of her tracks which are more straightforward pop songs.  Her second album is streamed on her site, in addition to some off-album tracks (i love her rendition of Kurt Weill's "Youkali").  I first heard her on XM (back then it was still XM), and Kim and i went to see her play at Villa Montalvo.  She likes to play baritone guitar, which i love, and she does crazy things with her hair.

Below you can see her playing one of my favorite songs of hers, "Apples", followed by "The Gentlest Gentleman", an off-album track.

It's usually a bad sign when a contrarian reverses position, right?

Dave Grohl (Nirvana & Foo Fighters) got Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) and John Paul fuckin' Jones (do i need to say it?) together in a new band, Them Crooked Vultures. They're touring now (sadly, only east of the Mississippi and Europe).

Thanks to syringavulgaris for the heads-up.

Am i the only person who sees these commercials and thinks 'goatse'?

I love the Visa Debit commercial with the guy tossing the pizza dough.  But what's his story?  Turns out the dude is on the United States Pizza Team (and the commercial is behind the link, in case you haven't seen it, plus there's more of him on YouTube).  They'll make a team out of anything these days, it seems... but watching him work is pretty damn cool.

This is over five years old now, but it's amazingly entertaining.  Bernie Sanders pummels Alan Greenspan for being, well, Alan Greenspan.

The first 40 seconds are disorienting, like listening to a musician warm up.  Thanks to schwa242.

wacky_hijinx shared this YouTube clip of a Little Nemo animation that, despite being nearly 100 years old, is pretty damn awesome.