Get Your June On

It's almost mid-June and I haven't posted a mixtape in well over a month. Here's some stuff I'm listening to:

 

Bikinians - Rhinocirrhosis
Dreamboat Money - I Can't Wait To Come Home
Fanfarlo - The Walls Are Coming Down
Here We Go Magic - Collector
The Middle East - Blood
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - Fiya Wata (live)
Foster the People - Pumped Up Kicks
Love Connection - Lost City Of Gold
Badly Drawn Boy - Everybody's Stalking
Cults - Go Outside
Elastic Band - The Best
Fanfarlo - Drowning Man (live)
Florence and the Machine - Dog Days Are Over
Freelance Whales - Generator 1st Floor (live at sxsw '10)
I'm From Barcelona - Anywhere You Looked
Miike Snow - Burial
Mos Def - Quiet Dog Bite Hard
Murder By Death - Foxglove
Fanfarlo - Comets
Man/Miracle - Hot Sprawl
Brazilian Girls - Nouveau Americain
Locksley - The Whip
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs (link to their MySpace page)
Love Is All - Never Now
Bearfoot Beware - The Love of Trevor Bennett (link to their MySpace page)
Plants and Animals - Feedback In The Field
Wolf Parade - Ghost Pressure
Arcade Fire - Month of May (link to their MySpace page)
Junip - Rope And Summit
Mesita - Living/Breathing
Sally Seltmann - On The Borderline
Caddywhompus - ...But Not Before A Show
Hey Hey My My - Oh Lord!
Neutral Milk Hotel - The King Carrot Flowers (Part 1)
Arcade Fire - Lenin
The Mountain Goats - Romans 10:9

Sorry there are a couple of missing links, but I just skipped them if it was took me more than a few seconds to find on Youtube or Google. I'm sure you'll find them on the webs somewhere though.

Interview with Garrett Camp (Calgarian who invented StumbleUpon)

Watch live streaming video from internetweekny at livestream.com


Garrett Camp is from Calgary. He is the guy who invented StumbleUpon. I love StumbleUpon & I live in Calgary... therefore he's a bit of a hero to me.

You may or may not be interested in this interview, but there are a couple of reasons why I enjoyed it. First, his laid back attitude is something I can identify with - maybe it's a bit of the Canadian effect, but he doesn't come across like a lot of the hyper-active, self-absorbed, 22 year old assholes that you commonly come across in this industry. He's a guy you could have a beer with.

Secondly, he talks a bit about getting angel investment and start-ups (something which directly pertains to me). It's not mind-blowing advice, but reinforcement always is valuable.

Finally, I found it entertaining to watch Melanie Wells. She seems completely out of place in this interview, she was maybe going for some friendly sarcastic ribbing but Camp's affable personality just made her look a little like a condescending bitch. I'm a little unsure what Forbes would even be doing here, she seems like she would be more comfortable interviewing a dying 90 year old CEO of a dying publishing empire. She seemed genuinely shocked that someone wouldn't have a boss (someone should tell her it is fairly commonplace in the Internet industry).

Posting this because I like Snoop Dogg.

Adidas generally has great ads, and viral videos. I think we can expect a lot more expensive, celebrity-laden and entertaining advertising from these guys (as well as from Reebok and Nike) over the summer.

Side note: anyone notice how much David Beckham is looking like Wolverine these days?

Cool short film about World of Warcraft (for real)


Here's a confession for those that don't already know - I played World of Warcraft. A fair bit for a while.

I've happily separated myself from the game for a couple of years now, and even when I did play I understood that there were a lot more productive things that I could do with my time.

This is a beautifully shot short film that shows people who play World of Warcraft in their daily lives, except that they are represented by their game characters. The players talk about their 'avatars' and explain why they play the game. It's a pretty neutral look at those who play the game, but depending on your thoughts on WoW it could probably be seen as either inspiring or sad. Either way, it is oddly compelling.

Ego Stroking/Killing Made Easy

I love web stats and am a bit of a Google Analytics junkie. With that said, the iPhone app 'Ego' is really all you need for a quick dashboard view of your traffic. It only gives you the website visits and pageviews, but that's all you really need at a glance. It also hooks in to your Twitter followers and feedburner accounts.

Also - you gotta love the name of the app.

Nature

In Banff today for a TEDx conference, listening to a bunch of people that are way smarter than me. Ran in to some nature along the way. Good day.