The LoveTech peeps challenged me to bring my A-game to this one, so I’ll be delivering a a crafty selection of my latest productions, and serving it to you on a silver platter. And by that i mean “in full live-PA trim.” Seven channels of all-original material, mixed live, straight from my heart to yours…

If you catch one Swami set this year, this should be the one. Not only do you get an earful of whatever i got going, you get to experience Pance Party, Ample Mammal and Rich DDT (and celebrate Rich’s birthday!), enjoy some of Il Pirata’s great eats, and experience the LearnTech PlayShops … a chance to interact and discuss music  technology with the musicians and tech-artisans themselves.

Full Details are as follows:

$8, 21+

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Our easily accessible Potrero location features both indoor and outdoor areas, yummy pizza and a full service bar. Close to 16th St BART and less than 1 block from the 9, 22, 33, and 53 bus stop (16th St & Potrero Ave)

From this gentleman, (actually he wasn’t that gentle. he was like a bull in a china shop wearing orthopedic shoes) i learned that media buys work like this:

• Companies pay the show a set dollar amount for simply mentioning or referencing their product.
• There is a bonus payout if you speak positively about the product or use it in a way that is clearly of benefit to the character.

Lately however, I’ve been noticing a whole lot of negative-mentions on tv and movies… leading me to believe that a lot of these producers have their hands tied by their parent companies, and if they must include a product placement, they’re going to do it as sarcastically as possible.

Some examples:

SouthPark:

Doctor: Well, there’s no doubt in my mind, Mr. Marsh. Youuu arrre constipated. [walks over to a table]
Randy: [quite aware] Thanks for the news flash! I haven’t taken a crap in over three weeks! The question is why?!
Doctor: Well, what food have you been eating?
Randy: P.F. Chang’s, mostly. [rubs his belly] Good stuff.

Weeds:

Nancy: You bought a Prius?
U-Turn: I bought seven of ‘em! I got my whole crew drivin’ em. They’re real quiet. Good for sneakin’ up on motherfuckers!

video clip

Also from Weeds (and one of my all-time favorites)

Doug:    Why aren’t you eating?
Nancy:    I told you I ate already.
Doug:    Where?
Nancy:    The Olive Garden
Doug:    I wouldn’t take a dump in the Olive Garden.
Nancy:    I like the hot artichoke spinach dip.
Doug:    I can’t even look at you.

The bottom line for me is… i think media-buys are in the “ultimate evil” category and i’m glad that artists aren’t taking this shit sitting down. There are plenty of examples out there of shameless product placement (like the McDonalds date on Sex and the City) but at least when they do it tongue-in-cheek, it’s a bit more tolerable.

In closing, i offer you these clips from 30 rock:

30 Rock Snapple Placement
30 Rock Verizon Placement

30 Rock consistently turns their product placements into commentaries about the whole situation. They never speak negatively of their contributors or their products, but they do manage to come off as snarky as possible while being complete whores about it. Alec Baldwin’s character even goes so far as to say “like it or not, product integration is here to stay” or something to that effect. I don’t know if i approve. But i do appreciate the wit.

It covers everything from the education system to video games to virtual operations in the military. If you are in the mood for something ominous, hopeful and thought-provoking this evening, i highly recommend giving this one a shot.

(6 parts… total running time 1h 26m 13s)

Link to Frontline Website

The Production:

First things first, how bad was that firefight scene in the beginning? One of the first things i liked about this show was the attention to detail in the fight choreography. The first episode showed Ballard in a genuinely engaging fistfight… i can 0nly assume they were rushed for time on this one because it felt like another show altogether. The quality was more on par with a B-movie on the sci fi channel. If you need to cut corners, fine… but it also dragged ON and ON, ending in Ballard getting killed. Which brings me to…

The Plot:

They killed Ballard. Didn’t they JUST use that plot device on us a few episodes ago? What, is he like Kenny on South Park now? “They killed Ballard! You bastards!” Well O.K., he didn’t exactly DIE last time, but Alpha fried his brain in that chair. Then they re-imprinted him with his own (older) personality on his new active architecture and for what? Just to kill him again in the beginning of the last episode? In arch-typical terms, Ballard was “The Hero” but they gunned him down like a stormtrooper. No it’s not enough that his imprint gets to live in Echo’s skull now. The hero never gets to complete his evolution to the sage.

SO many charcter-arcs were left unresolved. For as much time as they spent building up these character’s individual dramas and getting us to care, they sure hung us out to dry on reaching closure with any of them. The most glaring of which was the Victor/Sierra conclusion.

Do you REALLY expect us to believe that Victor would leave Sierra and their child for ANY reason whatsoever? You could argue that the new state of the world was a huge deal and caused Victor’s priorities to change, but they spent the entire duration of the show proving to us that they need to be with each other on some level that transcends their personalities. They were in love, no matter what or who they were imprinted with, and even when they were UN imprinted. One time Victor stood in the same spot all day because she told him to wait there for her.

So why would he leave her and their BABY to run off with his new cyberpunk homies (who drive around in Goliath from Knight Rider) just to have them turn on him in the same episode they’re introduced? Victor and Sierra’s arch-type “The Lovers” is sacrificed for some completely disposable plot-device, just like Ballard’s. Enver Gjokaj (Victor) has shown over and over again that he is a virtual chameleon of an actor, able to impersonate other characters in shocking detail! (his performance as Topher deserves recognition) Why not do something impressive with THAT instead?

Topher’s ending, on the other hand, probably disappointed me the most. He was my favorite character on the show. He cracked me up on every episode, and to see him so demolished in part 1 of this debacle (Epitaph 1) made me really sad. I was hoping that they would rectify some of that in Epitaph 2 but nope… they killed him off too. He figured out how to undo all this mess and heal the world, right? Isn’t that a good-enough reason for Topher to live happily ever after?

Oh that’s right he can’t… because the device can’t be triggered remotely. Why? Are you telling me that TOPHER: SUPER ULTRA MEGA GENIUS can wire up an electrical device to cause some kind of never-before-heard-of explosion that emits gamma rays or some shit that heals the whole planet in a matter of seconds but CAN’T FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE A REMOTE TRIGGER? What could POSSIBLY be the obstacle here? Does it take a living soul to run it? Or hot human blood and you can’t find a thermos? What the FUCK? How about stupid string hanging from the switch and down the stairs or something? Or out Adelle’s window? He even had time to sit there and ponder that shit on the wall when he could’ve been running.

Don’t tell me Topher had PTSD and just WANTED to die. That’s no excuse for writing him that way. Killing off your main characters for reasons that can be avoided is the hallmark of bad storytelling. So is the Deus Ex Machina which is what Topher’s magic fix totally was.

Adelle: “You can fix all this?”

Topher: “Sure i just need to watch this video of Bennett real quick and BAM… solder right there. Done. Let’s push the button and save the world”

Adelle: “Where does the device need to be?”

Topher: “High up. The higher the better.”

Adelle: “How about the top of this building we’re in?”

Topher: “That’ll work!”

Adelle: “How can our friends here avoid being affected?”

Topher: “They need to be deep underground. The deeper the better.”

Adelle: “How about the bottom of this building we’re in?”

Topher: “That’ll work!”

So effing convenient. Zero thought was put into creating believable reasons for anything. Like how suddenly all was forgiven with Alpha. They never really explained that one. He’s just mysteriously nice now… which is plausible in the Dollhouse universe i guess but why is everyone all hugging him? “Aw hey, I’m sorry about cutting up your face and all…” HE should’ve been leading that cyberpunk crew instead of Victor and gone back to the dollhouse to raid the collection of imprints with them.

I feel like I have a head full of unreleased sneezes. If the show had always been this bad, it wouldn’t bother me so much. Because i would not have been watching it. But on the bright side, at least this time they were given a chance to wrap it up. We won’t be left hanging for years like we were with Firefly… although a well-written Dollhouse movie on a Serenity scale would have been worth the wait.

From everything I’ve seen, I am pretty sure that the show could have done a lot better if it had been marketed by people who understood it’s complexity and knew how to pitch it, but the ever-narrowing minds of the networks and their complete lack of patience has resulted in yet another knee-jerk reaction and another Whedon production taken down before it had a chance to really blossom… and a rushed last-episode that totally damaged the integrity of the entire vision.

Help me make this a reality.

Heads up, Sacramento! It pleases me to announce that i am joining the opening night lineup for the Sacramento Electronica Muisc Festival! The festival stretches from Thursday the 28th – Saturday the 30th and will be held at the Townhouse  (1517 21st St. Sacramento, CA.)

Show some Sacramento love and come check out an IN-FREAKING-CREDIBLE lineup of  electronic musicians. I will be starting things off on Thursday night along with Mochipet and DJ Whores!

On top of all this… i will be celebrating my 33rd birthday! (that’s 23 in DJ years) so get your tickets (only $10 for a 3 day pass!) and head on down to help me celebrate good and proper-like. In return i will gift your ears and other body parts with new musak!

Artists throughout the week include:
Tycho
Dusty Brown
Mochi Pet
Tha Fruitbat
CityState
The New Humans
Sister Crayon
Paper Pistols
Night Night
Melee Beats
MothSpyEros
Homo Erectus
Vacant Persons
Lifeliner
Thriftcar
More TBA

More Info | Buy Tickets

THIS, however… is troubling to me:
http://gothamist.com/2010/01/06/philip_k_dick_daughter_threatens_la.php

I mean… i DO see her point. Even though the word nexus has been used for other products in the past… this phone runs on “android” and that may indicate some intentional reference to the Nexus 6. But i think we’re entering dangerous territory here… How long will it be until every phrase imaginable is copyrighted?

I hate to think that the heir to the estate of my hero is now joining the ranks of AutoZone (who sued Brittney Spears, claiming ownership of the phrase “in the zone“) … or AOL/Time/Warner (who can sue you if you don’t ask their permission before singing “Happy Birthday to You.”)

I wonder why she’s never considered suing Cisco over their “Nexus 7000″ line of switches.  A switch is a decision-making device… not exactly a true-to-form “android” but then again neither is a smart phone. The name is Nexus and it has a number right after it. Same list of offenses.

Come on Isa… do your homework. You could be suing WAY more people than this. There’s a “Valis” Rock Band… and a “Valis III” video game… why not THEM? Start googling every meme your father ever put on paper and see what comes up.

Or better yet… DON’T contribute to the commoditazation of the english language. That would make me much happier.

So this morning i get to work and open my email to find yet another message from my deceased friend… or so the bot would like me to believe. Last summer my friend passed away and his facebook page was left online as a memorial to him. Yet in a sad and strangely foreboding way, his profile was hacked and this bot has been sending spam to everyone on his friend list. This time the bot scanned his profile and used the name of a friend or relative in the text of the message, in an ironic attempt to be more convincing…

Subject: Hi
“Abigail mentioned you might be interested in this BINSSERVICESSITE .INFO”

The first time this happened i was pretty disgusted and i made a big stink about it. This time i happened to be listening to a podcast about bots when it happened, and it struck me in a more profound way…

Today it dawned on me that an artificial intelligence has assimilated my friend like some kind of techno-doppelganger and is using his image/identity to fulfill it’s own agenda. If Skynet (in the terminator-sense) was really coming, why wouldn’t it use the face/identity of our friends/family like the aliens from Contact? Or could this be more like the biblical end-of-times in which the dead appear to rise from the grave as we get ever-closer to the next cosmic singularity-event?

I think if my friend were still here, he would be amused and fascinated at the ramifications… if not greatly annoyed.

That podcast:

Daniel Suarez (aka author Leinad Zeraus)
Daemon: Bot-mediated Reality
http://download.fora.tv/rss/Long_Now_Podcasts/podcast-2008-08-08-suarez.mp3
Friday, August 08, 2008 4:00 PM

Download:  SeventhSwami – Winter Solstice Mix 2009

Playlist:

Dierdre – knights in white satin

Mochipet – Tinker

Ras G – penny’s connfession

Kilowatts – Nightshade

Spoonbill – How it Goes

Tom Burbank – Tha Chop

Jellybass – Liquid Metal

Motionfield – Childhood Playground

BT – 1.618

Bil Bless – Cursed

Bjork – One Day (Endorphin Mix)

Bancio de Gaia – Not in My Name

Machine Drum – Offs No Koffs (Mesak Remix)

Vent – Bear crunk

Mark Adamo – Sublow Spasm

Opiuo – Slip

Miles Tilmann – Particle

Various Production – Sir

Porn Sword Tobacco – Old Booze, New Friends

The Fancy Camp Bird Orchestra

Amiina – Fjarskanistan

Mauxaum – After

Son of the Electric Ghost – Seven of Scheva

Lorn – Dresden

Eskmo – Harmony

Benga – Crunked Up

Thomas Newman – Drive Away

Sade – Soldier of Love (edit)