<div><a href='http://www.evolvehappy.com'><img src='http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3239/3074949461_ea7e7f7fcc_o.jpg'/></a> </div>

Monday, November 09, 2009

Wake Up of the Week: "It’s a Dirty Business — The New Gold Rush That Is Blackening Canada’s Name"

"A giant mechanical digger gouges out a chunk of topsoil, grass and tree stumps, extending a neat furrow that stretches into the distance. Dozens of similar furrows run parallel with the regularity of a ploughed field.

[Syncrude's Fort McMurray tar sands (Times/UK)]Syncrude's Fort McMurray tar sands (Times/UK)
Yet no crop could grow in the pitch-black surface exposed by the machine working 1,000ft below our helicopter. This is the edge of a fast-expanding open-cast mine in the Canadian tar sands, one of the world's most polluting sources of oil.

It takes only a few minutes to fly across the 200 sq miles (520 sq km) of mines, processing plants and man-made lakes of toxic water. But Canada has so far extracted only 2 per cent of a resource that it hopes will turn it into a global energy superpower.

BP and Shell are among dozens of oil companies preparing to raise production from 1.3 million barrels a day at present to 2.5 million by 2015 and 6 million by 2030." read article in its entirety...by Ben Webster at CommonDreams.org

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Audio Treat of the Week:
More Seamless Mixes

Apparently, today is mix day. Or, maybe it should be at Evolve Happy. This morning, I got the idea to include two mixes for this week's post. Halloween was this past Saturday, and these are late, of course. Here are two mixes associated with Halloween, although neither one really feels like it. They are good anytime mixes, in my opinion. The first was made by Tobacco of Black Moth Super Rainbow and the second is from my 2002-03 radio show, Hooray For Life. They were both made for and on Halloween. Since it's my favorite "holiday," and many others' on this site, I feel this is still appropriate. I mean, people leave their X-mas lights up way after the fact, right?

I can't find any documentation on what Tobacco's mix contains, but it's really good. The mix I made has no track list, either, but it has songs from Sonic Youth, Liars, Bob Dylan, Them, Donovan, The Zombies, DJ Shadow, derek_ (as noise [sound collage]), and more.

Download:
Tobacco podcast - Devil's Night 2009
.mp3
Hooray For Life - Kentucky Nightmare Hour (10.31.02)
.mp3
Right-click to save Tobacco's podcast. Click just to listen. Mac users can suck it, because I don't know how to use them.
'Hooray For Life' download expires on November 9, 2009. Click to download.


If you haven't done it yet, check out Roberto's EHMIX005, below. It is really good, and I hope this means he's back in the saddle and feeling better.

November 11, 2009: I wanted to say, without posting above the newest post, that this will be my final Audio Treat of the Week until the future of the website is decided. We all hope that Roberto is recovering, and we all miss him. Evolve Happy just isn't the same without him. Get well soon.

EHMIX005: The End of Music

I made this mix to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Nirvana's first album, Bleach. On November 3rd 1989, the dirt-covered classic was released by the immaculate Sub Pop.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Bleach turns 20 this year (feel old yet?), and Sub Pop is planning a deluxe reissue on CD and 180 gram white vinyl. (The first run of Bleach was also on white vinyl, appropriately enough.) The 20th anniversary edition is due November 3. Jack Endino, the album's original producer, oversaw the remastering, which was done from the original tapes.

This edition will also include a complete recording of a never-before-released 1990 live show at Portland's Pine Street Theatre, remixed by Endino from original tapes. And there's a booklet: 48 pages on CD and 16 on LP, featuring previously unseen photos." - Pitchfork
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I pieced together my favorite Nirvana rarities, covers and the original songs they've covered. The albums are obviously brilliant but I didn't want to include any of the songs from the albums. These rarities always make me wonder what could have been.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
click here to download (MediaFire)
-----------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Songs Nirvana Covered:
Leadbelly - Where Did You Sleep Last Night? (In the Pines)
Shocking Blue - Love Buzz
David Bowie - Man Who Sold the World
Fang - The Money Will Roll Right In
The Vaselines - Son of a Gun

My Favorite Rarities:

Even in His Youth
Sappy (Verse, Chorus, Verse) <<< href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana_%28band%29">Nirvana song.
Curmudgeon
Marigold
Oh, The Guilt
Moist Vagina
I Hate Myself and I Want to Die


You Know You're Right
Gallons of Rubbing Alcohol Flow Through the Strip (This song is included on non-US pressings of In Utero. The back cover on these releases notes this track as "Devalued American Dollar Purchase Incentive Track")
Territorial Pissing (LehtMoJoe Remix)

Nirvana Covers:

Dee Dee Ramone - Negative Creep
Sonic Youth - Moist Vagina
Winter Gloves - Smells Like Teen Spirit
_+_ - Dumb
The Polyphonic Spree - Lithium
Ben Gibbard - All Apologies
-----------------------------------------------------------------
purchase Bleach: Deluxe Edition (Sup Pop)

Monday, November 02, 2009

Wake Up of the Week: "Toxic Contaminants: The Other Scourge"

"As the world focuses on the impact of climate change, little attention is being paid to yet another environmental bane: increasing contamination of air, water and soil.

[A rusty radiator and other debris are found at low tide along the Duwamish River in Seattle. Sediments (mud and sand on the river bottom) in and along the river contain a wide range of pollution from years of industrial activity and stormwater runoff. Contaminants include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), mercury and other metals, and phthalates. (flickr photo: usepagov/Creative Commons)]A rusty radiator and other debris are found at low tide along the Duwamish River in Seattle. Sediments (mud and sand on the river bottom) in and along the river contain a wide range of pollution from years of industrial activity and stormwater runoff. Contaminants include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), mercury and other metals, and phthalates. (flickr photo: usepagov/Creative Commons)
The combined effects of this environmental scourge have contributed to global epidemics of cancers, lung and other degenerative diseases, and costing health systems across the world millions of dollars, experts say.

Forty-two years after she was exposed to asbestos in the Pambula beach hamlet, 470 kilometres south of Sydney, Jeanette Hennessy Wright, 51, was diagnosed with mesothelioma in July 2008.

"Asbestos was used in the construction of my neighbour's house while I helped my parents make additions to our own home with fibro sheets that contained asbestos too," explains Wright.

Two years ago, she began to "feel breathlessness while walking uphill and couldn't keep up with friends," she says. After X-rays, a needle biopsy followed by a surgical biopsy, I was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer associated with breathing in asbestos dust and fibres. Being afflicted with the disease is seen as an immediate death sentence, as victims die within 12 to 24 months.

"My tumour was too far advanced for surgery, but was growing, stifling my breathing and sapping energy levels. I underwent chemotherapy for nine months and one year on, I am in much better health. However, I have had to quit a regular public service job as pain comes with a vengeance anytime, and the side effects of chemotherapy have led to hearing loss and numbness in my feet," Wright further recounts.

She reckons that, unknowingly, builders and many people like her have been exposed to asbestos, which was widely used in construction during the 1960s and 1970s. "Many holiday homes on Australia's beaches were built using Fibrous Asbestos Cement, and owners renovating them now could be exposed to deadly particles. It is a time-bomb ticking for young families as the disease can take 30 to 40 years to surface," she says." read article in its entirety...by Neena Bhandari for CommonDreams.org

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Audio Treat of the Week:
new Mountain Husband tracks

I also posted these tracks on my blog, 'Compound Fractures from Black Fontanelle'. These are three new songs I've been working on the last five months. I've been enjoying my new surroundings and not absorbing much new music, hence the slim pickings of my last few Audio Treats. Plus, I really like this site, Soundcloud. I finally started using my account there and it's awesome for posting straight to blogs, etc. You can download these tracks by clicking the arrow on the side on each player.

Mountain Husband - California King & Queen by Black Fontanelle

Mountain Husband - Caught In It by Black Fontanelle

Mountain Husband - You're In My Dream by Black Fontanelle

Mountain Husband on myspace

Monday, October 26, 2009

Wake Up of The Week: "Battle at Coal River Mountain explodes"

"The Battle at Coal River Mountain has officially begun.

At the same time President Obama invoked the “legacy of daring men and women” in our nation’s quest for renewable energy initiatives, and as millions of concerned citizens rallied in support of 350.org climate change events around the world this weekend, Big Coal bulldozers reportedly clear cut a swath of lush deciduous forests in the carbon sink of Appalachia and fired the opening salvos in the mountaintop removal mining process to destroy the historic range slated for the Coal River Mountain Wind Projectthe most symbolic clean energy project in the nation.

But not without a fight.

Just as Appalachian mountaineers single-handedly turned the tide of the American Revolution, in the words of Thomas Jefferson, in defeating the British loyalists who threatened to lay waste to mountain communities at the Battle of Kings Mountain in 1780; just as mountaineers and union coal miners marched to liberate mountain communities at the Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921 against Big Coal and its armed thugs, an extremely organized and growing coalfield uprising movement against mountaintop removal has marked a line in the sand on Coal River Mountain as the ultimate battleground to stop mountaintop removal and launch President Obama’s clean energy jobs program." read entire article posted by Jeff Biggers @ Grist...also read this related article...

Sunday, October 25, 2009

A Roberto C. Madruga Update

Three weeks ago, Roberto went to the emergency room because of a severe headache and high fever (103 degrees F). After a week in the hospital, a whole bunch of antibiotics and careful observation, he was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis. The doctors concluded that a cerebrospinal fluid leak had caused this infection. This meningitis was not the contagious kind, but one that originated internally. It hasn't been confirmed, but the doctors believe it might be connected to some head trauma that happened very early in his life.

For the past two weeks, he's been taking it easy and has been taking more IV antibiotics through a PICC line. On Thursday, the PICC line was taken out and he was given a clean bill of health. Besides being a little tired at times, he's feeling better. He just celebrated his 35th birthday yesterday in style by dining on some sea urchin (stay tuned for more on this).

The next step is meeting with a neurologist, as well as an ear, nose and throat doctor on November 2nd, in regards to a surgery to fix the problem so it is not reoccurring. Apparently, Roberto's condition is a textbook cause for this surgery. We've been told that it would be ideal to have this surgery before the end of the year, so we're expecting to start this process as soon as possible.

Roberto has a couple ideas for upcoming posts and has really been contemplating the future of Evolve Happy. While in the hospital, he started to really use Twitter to update everyone on his progress (since it was a bit easier to use on his iPhone than Blogger). If you'd like to be kept in the loop on Twitter, you should follow him @evolvehappy.

Evolve Happy has become its own little community and we wanted to share the development of this situation with everyone. I think it's nice to know what's going on in fellow members' lives, despite distance, schedules and availability. As we find out more about what will be going on the rest of this year, we will definitely let you know. All of your positivity and empathy are much appreciated. Keep evolving happy.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Evogulution: Creepy is Cute!

Are you ready for Halloween? Because Tim Burton is. Just in time for the horrific holiday, here are some ghastly get-ups from a Burton photo shoot with Harper's Bazaar Magazine. Both the drama and the storytelling aspects are so Burton-esque. My favorites are the shots with the Chanel dress and hat and also the one with the Givenchy dress/shoes and Alexander McQueen headpiece, shown below. These outfits juxtaposed with the natural and soft setting turns up the volume even more. They're BOO-tiful! (Did you like how I snuck that in? Ah, so elegant.) I could have looked at like a hundred more.

thanks cinematical

Related: Tim Burton Retrospective at the MoMA, November 22, 2009–April 26, 2010

HBO Documentary Films:
By The People:
The Election of Barack Obama


This looks really interesting. November 3 on HBO. 9pm (east) / 8pm (central)

hbo.com/docs/programs/bythepeople/

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Audio Treat of the Week:
WHERE IS EVERYONE?

I'm still in the process of moving into my new house, so I don't have anything in mind for an Audio Treat. Also, I'm kind of wondering why I'm one of the only people posting new material, that wasn't scheduled in advance. I feel like the only sad sack updating their Friendster profile, at this point.

In the meantime, check out some fresh music at some of my favorite blogs:
Unpiano (I don't think I've downloaded anything from there I didn't like.)
Arthur (This used to be a free magazine, but now is online only.)
Big Eats (Bill Porter of Richmond, VA has some great new music posted. Check out Bloodbanks and the quiet live set by Bermuda Triangles from The Lighthouse, in DC.)
WFMU's Beware of the Blog (I have found so many good things here. Check out my current favorite entry, 'Songs The Fall Taught Us.')
Silver Currant (Ethan Miller of Comets On Fire & Howlin' Rain has a blog and it's got a lot of good music on it.)
Tuff Rock (Full of music that makes me want to drive a Trans Am on mushrooms.)

I'm-not-that-lazy bonus tracks:
I have been listening to The Flaming Lips' new album, Embryonic, for the last week. It's a double album full of stripped down, amazing songs. Here are the first and the last song. Imagine what the rest are like. Now find them.

The Flaming Lips - Convinced of the Hex .mp3
The Flaming Lips - Watching the Planets .mp3
Downloads will expire on October 27, 2009.


Let's see:

The Flaming Lips - Watching the Planets live in Hollywood, Oct 15, 2009.