Random 'I'm With You'

This Summer brings with it more new gifts...



Thank You Summer!

(from RollingStone)
Exclusive: Inside the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Comeback Album
"There is no question – this is a beginning," Anthony Kiedis, singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, says in his first interview about the band's new album, I'm With You, which is released by Warner Bros. on August 30th. "Yeah, the sun is just coming up here." Produced by Rick Rubin, I'm With You is the Los Angeles quartet's first studio album since the 2006 double-disk set, Stadium Arcadium. The 14-song record also marks the debut of the Chili Peppers' new guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, who joined in the fall of 2009 following the departure of John Frusciante. The latter guitarist had been a crucial writer as well as player on the Chili Peppers' biggest albums, including 1991's Blood Sugar Sex Magik and 1999's Californication. But after he quit, Kiedis and bassist Flea "had this intuitive feeling," the singer says. "We're not really done. We wanted to maintain the Red Hot Chili Peppers if we could do it in a way that upheld historically what we had accomplished. The album's first single, "The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie," is a hard-pop spin on classic Chili Peppers funk, with a creeping bass line and a marching-disco rhythm in the chorus reminiscent of the late-Seventies Rolling Stones. In fact, Flea likens the rich propulsive interplay on I'm With You – the mix of jamming exploration, textural guitar details and savvy hooks in songs such as "The Monarchy of Roses," "Factory of Faith" and "Goodbye Hooray" – to the classic Stones albums like Exile on Main Street and Tattoo You that he listened to religiously as the Chili Peppers wrote and improvised on new material in 2009 and 2010. "It's about a feeling and a song." Flea says of the connection, "about everyone embracing the moment of the song, not always about the riff." READ MORE

Spotted @ TheBook

Random Shaq

Shaq was and always will be the man...



And regardless of what anyone says, I take Shaq over Kobe any day.

(from ESPN)
Shaquille O'Neal eager for next chapter
Shaquille O'Neal walked up the stairs to the makeshift stage in his home gymnasium, pulled out a few index cards with some notes and said the words he never thought were coming. Good-bye. O'Neal, 39, made his retirement official Friday, reiterating what he revealed in a video posted online two days earlier that his NBA playing days are over. Saying those words made his pro career full-circle, since it all ended at his home in a suburb of Orlando, the city where his pro days began when the Magic made him the No. 1 pick in 1992. "Never thought this day would come," O'Neal said. "Father Time has finally caught up with Shaquille O'Neal." He insisted he will not return, either, nor will he coach anyone but his three sons. His career ends with 28,596 points, 13,099 rebounds, 15 All-Star selections, four championships and three NBA Finals MVP awards. READ MORE

Random California Adventure

Operation San Fran to Los Angeles was a success...











The California coast is as beautiful as you assumed it was and I highly recommend taking the drive if you can spare the time.

Thanks to Rachie (co-pilot)!

Random Jackson Pit

Sleepyhead + I Want You Back = the soundtrack of my vacation...



Picture me smiling with the sun on my face.

Back in a week

Random Peanut Butter & Swelly

Rap World Record: Check; Peanut Butter & Swelly Mixtape: Next...

Chiddy Bang - Peanut Butter & Swelly [Trailer] from illRoots.com on Vimeo.

YES!

(from illroots)
It’s actually coming folks, the brand new mixtape from Chiddy Bang awesomely titled Peanut Butter & Swelly. Check out the trailer we shot a few days ago that previews a song off the project. You also get to see Chiddy and Xaphoon making some killer sandwiches. More information and music coming soon but lookout for the full project to drop May 27th, right here on ILLROOTS of course. Swag.

Random Great Depression

Television made me believe that the world before 1960 was actually black and white...







Thanks to these picture released by the Library Of Congress (and of course the ineveitable realization that I was probably a silly child) a little bit of color has been shed on the historic world.

(From DailyMail)
In the bleak light of the Depression: Rare colour photographs of the era that defined a generation
It was an era that defined a generation. The Great Depression marked the bitter and abrupt end to the post-World War 1 bubble that left America giddy with promise in the 1920s. Near the end of the 1930s the country was beginning to recover from the crash, but many in small towns and rural areas were still poverty-stricken. These rare photographs are some of the few documenting those iconic years in colour. The photographs and captions are the property of the Library of Congress and were included in a 2006 exhibit Bound for Glory: America in Color. The images, by photographers of the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information, shed a bleak new light on a world now gone with the wind. READ MORE

Spotted @ Drudge

Random ROME

Danger Mouse, Jack White & Norah Jones?! What's not to like...





So money!... Makes me wanna encounter all of my enemies in a desolate western town shootout.

(from Wiki)
ROME is an album written by the American music producer Danger Mouse and the Italian composer Daniele Luppi and was released on 16 May 2011. The album has taken five years to make and is inspired by the music from spaghetti westerns. The album was recorded using vintage equipment and as well as featuring musicians who recorded spaghetti western soundtracks, it also features a reunited Cantori Moderni – the choir put together by Alessandro Alessandroni and which features on the soundtrack to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The album also features vocals by the American singers Jack White on the tracks "The Rose with the Broken Neck", "Two Against One" and "The World", and Norah Jones on the tracks "Season's Trees", "Black" and "Problem Queen". READ MORE

Random Beard Shaving

Will Ferrell must be sneaking into my brain...



Two nights ago (while watching Keira Knightley on the Daily Show) I thought about how boring it is that celebs make appearances on talk shows to promote their new projects. It's clearly the whole point of the show, but I feel like I'm being mocked on some level when I have to sit thru some boring ass staged interview with pre-answered questions... At this point, I give the guest more credit when they don't focus on promoting themselves... enter Will Ferrell.

Glad to see Conan is a cool guy when the camera turns off too...

Random Osama Take Down

"I found you!"...



While everyone was busy looking for his birth certificate, President Barack Obama rounded up some of the nation's finest men and women and went looking for Osama Bin Laden

(from Politico)
Getting Osama bin Laden: How the mission went down
The helicopter carrying Navy SEALs malfunctioned as it approached Osama bin Laden’s compound at about 3:30 p.m. ET Sunday, stalling as it hovered. The pilot set it down gently inside the walls, then couldn’t get it going again. It was a heart-stopping moment for President Barack Obama, who had been monitoring the raid in the White House Situation Room, surrounded by members of his war cabinet. “Obviously, everyone was thinking about Black Hawk Down and Desert One,” a senior administration official recalled. The SEALs disembarked. “The assault team went ahead and raided the compound, even though they didn’t know if they would have a ride home,” an official said. The special forces put bombs on the crippled chopper and blew it up, then lifted off in a reinforcement craft just before 4:15 p.m., capping an astounding 40 minutes that gave the United States a tectonic victory in the 10-year war on terror touched off by 9/11. “The world is safer. It is a better place because of the death of Osama bin Laden,” Obama said at the White House Monday. READ MORE

UPDATE: The Look That Says It All

Random Latitude 48 IPA

I'm a big fan of Sam Adams...



Latitude 48 IPA is delicious and you need to go get some ASAP.

(from Boston.com)
Sam Adams releases Latitude 48 IPA Deconstructed, a new single-hop series
Boston Beer Co. is about to do something very cool for people who love India pale ales. The brewery based in Jamaica Plain will release a 12-pack called Samuel Adams Latitude 48 IPA Deconstructed next month. It's basically a single-hop series in a box. Let me explain. Following on the heels of San Adams' popular Latitude 48 IPA, Sam Adams has decided to take apart the beer's hops formula and show us exactly what it's made of. Latitude 48 contains five varieties of hops -- Hallertau Mittelfrueh from Germany; East Kent Goldings from England; and Ahtanum, Simcoe, and Zeus, all from Washington state's Yakima Valley. (The beer's name refers to the 48th latitude line, where all these hops are grown.) READ MORE

Random Moon Trip

Great! Now all I gotta do is get $150 million...



(from Yahoo)
Next Giant Leap for Space Tourism: A Trip Around the Moon
Space tourism has already reached low-Earth orbit, and now the industry is shooting for the moon. After helping to send seven private citizens on eight trips to the International Space Station -- starting with Dennis Tito, who became the world's first space tourist on April 28, 2001 -- the Virginia-based company Space Adventures is mapping out a tourist trip around the moon. Despite a nine-figure ticket price, the firm has already signed up a passenger for a maiden moon journey. And if it inks a second customer soon, the mission could launch within three to five years, company officials say. READ MORE

Spotted @ Drudge

Random Book

I've been toying with the idea of writing a book...



The lack of video production in recent months (years?) has created a back log of hateful dialog between my ears!

Suggestions?

Random Milky Way

Earth is an amazing place...

The Mountain from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.

(from HuffingtonPost)
Time-Lapse Milky Way Video Captures Nature From A Unique Perspective (HD VIDEO)
This time-lapse video of the Milky Way will blow your mind. Terje Sorgjerd is on a roll. After capturing some amazing footage of the Aurora Borealis recently (though not the famous footage out of the plane window) he's back with this incredible video that looks like something out of Planet Earth. His time-lapse shots of the Milky Way show a stunning sky, backlit with an incredible aura. It really makes you feel small, and in awe of the universe. The time-lapse footage was captured between April 4th and 11th, 2011, from atop El Teide, Spain's highest mountain. At one point a sandstorm blows across, which rendered Sorgjerd unable to see the sky, but left his camera with some stunning images.

Random Many Rivers

Heard this song walking to work today...



I had nothing to stress about in the first place, but this song might have wiped out all future stresses too. Thanks Jimmy!

(from wiki)
The Right Honourable Jimmy Cliff, OM is a Jamaican ska and reggae singer, musician, and actor. He is the only currently living musician to hold the Order of Merit, the highest honour that can be granted by the Jamaican government for achievement in the arts and sciences. He is best known among mainstream audiences for songs such as "Sitting in Limbo," "You Can Get It If You Really Want," and "Many Rivers to Cross" from the soundtrack to The Harder They Come, which helped popularize reggae across the world; and his covers of Cat Stevens' "Wild World" and Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now" from the film Cool Runnings. Outside of the reggae world, he is probably best known for his film appearance in The Harder They Come. Jimmy Cliff was one of five performers inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. READ MORE

Random Trash Talking

It started for me last November, but this is about right...



and no, we don't consider Philadelphia to be a legitimate sports town!

(from Wiki)
The New Era Cap Company (or just New Era),located in Buffalo, New York, is a headwear manufacturer. It was founded in 1920 by German immigrant Ehrhardt Koch. New Era is the exclusive manufacturer and marketer of the official on-field cap worn by every Major League Baseball team and their minor league affiliates, as well as select teams in the KBO and NPB, and maintains agreements with other licensed entities including NHL, NBA and over 200 colleges and universities in the United States. New Era will also become the official on-field cap provider for the National Football League in April 2012. READ MORE

Random Idiot's Bucket list

An Idiot Abroad series 2 is coming...



and I couldn't be happier!

(from Wiki)
Announcements have apparently been made that a second series--tentatively titled An Idiot Abroad 2: The Bucket List--will be made and released in late 2011. This is taken mainly from a phone interview with Pilkington on The Richard Bacon Show on BBC Radio 5 Live on 1 February 2011. The new series will apparently feature Karl travelling the globe to take part in activities that are considered "things you should do before you die" or "kick the bucket", hence a Bucket List. According to Gervais' online blog filming is already underway and will be released later this year. It was revealed on Gervais' online blog that the first episode has been completed, it involves Karl going whale watching in Alaska on board an industrial fishing boat. READ MORE

Random Life + Times

This is a feature from Jay-Z's new lifestyle website...




If Jay's folks keep it up, this site could be pretty amazing. Check it out HERE

(from ESPN)
Renken the next big thing for U.S. soccer

He still makes the lopsided soccer balls out of plastic bags. And almost every day Charles Renken grabs one of them off his dresser, shifting it around in his hands, before dropping it to his feet for a few touches. Charles Renken is viewed in some quarters as a player with more potential than Freddy Adu. These clumpy balls, made out of the same type of plastic an item of clothing is shipped in, serve as a reminder of where Renken comes from. Everyone seems to know where he's going. Charles Renken, only 14, is U.S. soccer's next rising star, and the mega-hype has already begun. READ MORE

Thanks to LP for the link!

Random Hungover

Finally the full on trailer...



Enjoy!

(from Wiki)
The Hangover Part II, previously titled The Hangover 2, is an upcoming 2011 American comedy film and sequel to 2009's The Hangover. The film stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha and Ken Jeong with Todd Phillips directing a script written by himself, Craig Mazin and Scot Armstrong. The film is being produced by Legendary Pictures and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Production began in October 2010 and is scheduled for release in the United States on the May 26, 2011 Memorial Day weekend. READ MORE

Random 'Cook It Down'

Pusha T will always be one of the crispist (is that a word?) rappers ever...

Pusha T - Cook It Down from Illusive Media on Vimeo.

This dude's lyrics always cut like daggers. Gotta love it!

(from MTV)
Pusha T Signs With Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music
After performing with Kanye at the VMAs, the Clipse MC confirms to MTV's RapFix that he's officially signed with West's label.
There have been a few murmurings and rumors around about whether or not Pusha T, one-half of hip-hop duo the Clipse, has in fact signed with Kanye West. And if folks weren't caught up in trying to figure out all the nuances in West's tongue-in-cheek, seemingly self-deprecating Video Music Awards performance, hip-hop blogs might have gone haywire when Pusha T came out and dropped a verse on the debut of West's single at Sunday night's show. After his performance, Pusha T did confirm to MTV News in the RapFix post-show that he has officially signed with West's label, G.O.O.D. Music. READ MORE <-- Great News!

Random Television Madness

Looks like the NCAA's gamble is paying off...



by showing all of the games on 4 different networks they've grabbed their best ratings in decades.

(from Deadline)
NCAA Basketball Scores Best Combined Overnight Rating In 20 Years
With NCAA men's basketball coverage expanding to four networks this year, CBS’ and Turner’s second-round coverage of the 2011 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship on TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV last night combined to deliver the highest rating for the first Thursday of the NCAA Tournament since 1991. Switching to all-live coverage on TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV in four windows, the games drew a combined 5.7/13 overnight household rating, up 24% from the 4.6/11 for CBS Sports’ 2010 coverage, in which the network switched back and forth between games. READ MORE

Spotted @ Newzjunky