Isaac Hayes Was A Bad Mother...

As you've probably heard, soul legend Isaac Hayes passed away yesterday. I got to see him live once in Memphis and it was a badasssss show. It's kind of a shame that he is probably most well known now for being a voice on South Park, because as funny as Chef is, Hayes was an incredible songwriter, piano player, producer and performer.

I couldn't find any live clips from Hot Buttered Soul quickly, so here's a nice version of "Shaft." But make sure to track down HBS for probably the best example of his talent. His 18 minute cover of "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" is amazing and "Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic" may be the funkiest song ever. Just ask Chuck D. or the Bomb Squad or whoever had the idea to sample the piano riff for "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos."



RIP.

Happy Birthday Joe Tex

Yesterday was the anniversary of the birth of 60s/ 70s soul singer Joe Tex. He is somewhat underrated, but lays down a mean groove. Check out this video of his hit "Show Me" for evidence.



Somebody show Joe. If you're a fan of fairly down home soul, he is definitely worth seeking out.

2008 West Coast Tour

Here's a full list of my upcoming presentations for the Fall. They're all in California, but West Coast Tour sounds more impressive than California Tour. Anyone want to make t-shirts?

September 25, 2008: Practical Podcasting and Videocasting (Infopeople Workshop). Alameda County Library, Fremont, CA.

October 19, 2008: Podcasting and Videocasting Bootcamp (Preconference Workshop w/ David Lee King). Internet Librarian 2008.

October 24, 2008: Practical Podcasting and Videocasting (Infopeople Workshop). California State Library, Sacramento, CA.

November 6, 2008: Practical Podcasting and Videocasting (Infopeople Workshop). Buena Park Library District, Buena Park, CA.

November 7, 2008: Practical Podcasting and Videocasting (Infopeople Workshop). San Diego County Library Headquarters, San Diego, CA.

December 3, 2008: Practical Podcasting and Videocasting (Infopeople Workshop). Mountain View Public Library, Mountain View, CA

December 5, 2008: Practical Podcasting and Videocasting (Infopeople Workshop). Monterey Park Brugemeister Library, Monterey Park, CA.

I'm pretty excited about the Infopeople podcasting workshops. They'll be very hands-on, all day affairs. So if you are in any of the above areas of California and would like to learn about podcasting and videocasting, head over to the Infopeople website and register. They're remarkably affordable as well.

Also, if you have any tips for food/ drink in any of the above areas, please let me know.

New Lessig Book!

Sweet! Lawrence Lessig has a new book called Remix coming out on October 16 (according to Amazon). Just in time for the IL+ leg of my Fall West Coast Tour. Description from the man:

Dedicated to Lyman Ray Patterson and Jack Valenti, it pushes three ideas -- (1) that this war on our kids has got to stop, (2) that we need to celebrate (and support) the rebirth of a remix culture, and (3) that a new form of business (what I call the "hybrid") will flourish as we better enable this remix creativity.

Lessig is one of my heroes and probably the best speaker I've ever had the honor of seeing.

Internet Librarian Props

Hello again. I've been meaning to kick the proverbial blog tires lately and see if it'll still start. I was incredibly overwhelmed by work in the time leading up to Annual and it has taken me a little bit of time (and a few well earned vacation days) to get back to semi-normal. And honestly, my interest in blogging, and most online social activity really, has waned in the past few months. Although it is starting to return. But more on that another time.

I do have another round of presentations coming up, including another edition of the Podcasting and Videocasting Bootcamp that Mr. David Lee King and I have done for the last few Internet Librarian and Computers in Libraries conferences. Sam over at infodoodads talked about our session at the last IL the other day, saying it was the inspiration for his One Minute Critic videoblog. Very cool! I'm always excited to hear about new podcasts and videocasts that come out of our sessions. The post also gives some great reasons to use blip.tv, aside from it being Dave and Dave Show approved. Thanks very much for the nice words, Sam, and great job on the videoblog!

I'll have several more West Coast Fall Tour dates available in the near future when they are officially online.