Can you see my heartbeat?

If you're a newborn goldfish in Japan, expect to live a privacy-less life. Japanese scientists have officially bred see-through fishies, intended to serve as a humane alternative to dissection. (I want one for a pet myself.)

The new transparent breed of fish, whose heart, brain and other organs are visible through its scales and skin, is the first of its kind.

Here's more info from the New York Post:

"You can see a live heart and other organs because the scales and skin have no pigments," Yutaka Tamaru, an associate professor at Mie University, who along with researchers at Nagoya University succeeded in making the fish, known as "ryukin."

So how'd they do it? The scientists picked pale-skinned mutant hatchery goldfish and bred them together. The fish can live up to 20 years and be as heavy as 5 pounds.


Meanwhile, another group of researchers that produced the famous see-through frog is going mass-market.

"[The frogs] are likely to be put on the market next year," said Masayuki Sumida, professor at the Institute for Amphibian Biology of Hiroshima University, adding they will likely fetch below 10,000 yen or around $140 each.

Remember when?

The very first iPod was released in January of 2000, nearly 10 years ago. The clunky chap included the classic game "brick" (originally designed by Steve Wozniak himself!) and held just 1 GB's worth of music. iPod usership didn't really take off until 2005, by which time the classic had 4GB of memory and a shuffle and mini were also on the market.


I remember owning my first iPod, although I'm not sure who gave it to me or where I got it from. Failures in reliability and durability are innate to these iconic mp3 players, and I'm sure we've all seen a form of iPod crash on us and abandoned in favor of a new model. I reckon that someday the original generations will be prized relics for thrift store treasure-hunters. Heck, I wouldn't mind having an oldie.

For comparison's sake, here's the "iPod Family" (Charles Manson reference, anyone?) we have now:

Douchebags of the year (whose music I love)

Just LOOK at that picture. With all the scruffy hair, beach boy neon tanks and oh so low-rise pantalones, you nearly miss the squeeky rap these boys sputter through their microphones. Nearly.

Iglu & Hartly - "Violent and Young"

Bitching aside, I must admit, I like Iglu & Hartly. Even the three hundred pound drunkard that crunched my toe bones repeatedly during their concert couldn't keep me from listening to these dudes on repeat. Why? It's the music, pure and simple. Their spunky keyboards blend so smoothly with shoe-gazy guitar rifts and snare-rific 80's drumming. It's a hipster remix of Miami Vice, and I dig it.

Eliminating a winter choice

What's better - snowboarding or skiing? A new craze for extreme riders eliminates the need to choose. Splitboards are snowboards that split into touring skis and thus help adventurers explore broader terrain. Companies now manufacture these special snowboards that separate into mountain wide powder skis that glide high on the snow, making it easier to travel long distances in the backcountry. Many riders also bring along collapsible poles and climbing skins help provide traction when ascending steep slopes.

Splitboarding has been around since the mid-1980s. But few companies were manufacturing models, so early participants made their own by cutting old snowboards in half.


Above: A mounting kit allows standard bindings to switch from a sideways snowboard stance to a forward-facing, free-heeled touring-ski operation.

Broken Social Scene - "Our faces split the coast in half"

Etsy Snowball

I love this girl's work! Reminds me of Emiliana Torrini.

6 songs I played the most in 2009

I played this one over and over and over...The first half of my year fed off its feel-goodiness. ( I know yours did too. Don't you go denying it now!)

Matt & Kim - "Daylight"



My favorite song on the album was "Brother Sport," but somehow this one still sifted its way to the top. Must be for a reason, eh?

Animal Collective - "My Girls"



The duo proves that all you need is a unique voice and a simple but catchy intro.

Beach House - "Used to Be"


Even an indie-emo kid like me couldn't deny it. This song's got soul!

Erykah Badu - "The Healer"


At Popscene earlier this year, their music was cacophonous and onstage presence mediocre. Still doesn't take anything away from this bitchin song:

Funeral Party - "Carwars"



Before Youth Novels, I wanted to be Swedish. Now, I really really want to be Swedish.

Lykke Li - "I'm Good, I'm Gone"

Can you guess where I'm going...?

* Its country's largest city until a gold rush struck

* Discovered by colonists on April 6 (my birthday), 1652.


* Famous for it's "floral kingdom"

* A sister-city of London, Buenos Aires, Nice and...Galveston, TX (woof!)

Can you guess?

The View from my office

Well, a romantic version of it. (In reality a giant pastel yellow column blocks the window)

Zonks! Two legged dog!

Faith walks just like a person:

Stanford Monsters

Monsters of Folk recently announced a contest asking fans to create their own music videos for the song "Dear God (sincerely M.O.F.)." Some kids from Stanford gathered together to film one. Check it out (I like the end best):

Taxi Drivers

Today, my most meaningful conversation was my last. I don't say this because the rest of my day lacked value. Indeed, I spent the whole afternoon and evening with close (and very amusing) friends. But it seems that the most memorable conversations always happen with strangers. Nothing can really top connecting with someone you've never met before.

Tonight, the exceptional stranger was my cab driver. After sipping a beer with friends at Rosewood bar (plopped in the midst of the ambiguous transition from Chinatown to North Beach), I decided to wander home. BART (public transportation) was closed and I resorted to the bus. The 14 never came, so I began flapping my wing streetside for taxis to see. A mini van pulled over and I hopped in.

"Valencia and 16th, please."

Note the polite tone. I love talking to cab drivers. They are such mysterious people - men (and very occasionally women) of the night. Plus, your life is in their hands. Might as well make friends, eh?


Tonight my driver had dark, dark skin and a noticeable accent. After some initial questions, I ask where he is from.

"Sudan," he says. "Ever been there."

(Of course I haven't).

He is driving the cab to save money for school. He will get a bachelors from Berkeley in political science, then a masters in international relations.

He left Sudan because otherwise he would have been killed by the Sudanese government, or the Egyptians, whichever got to him first.

I, on the other hand, grew up one hour away. I just had a night of drinking with my buddies. My work does nothing to save any lives or land.

"Thanks for the nice chat," he tells me as I pay him $10. God no, thank you!

We all ultimately live a life defined by our own thoughts, our own heads. It keeps us from completely understanding others and what the rest of the people on this Earth are doing or fighting for. I suppose that it is a sign of hope, however, that chance meetings with people we do not know and will likely never see again can evoke awareness of issues and stir us towards action. With the slightest effort, we can find camaraderie and inspiration from one another. Even from the back of a taxi cab in San Francisco.

Let her dance!

The Dancing House (Czech: Tančící dům) is the nickname given to an office building in downtown Prague, Czech Republic. It was designed by Croatian-born Czech architect Vlado Milunić in co-operation with Canadian architect Frank Gehry.

In honor of the house, here's a song recently featured in some triumphant scenes in Fantastic Mr. Fox:

Bobby Fuller Four - "Let her dance"

shhh.....

The Beatles - "Octopus' Garden"

What I learned from KZSU

My first year of DJing and record reviewing at KZSU has taught me a few things. Here are some of the musical the highlights:


1) Sufjan Stevens' dark disciple has arrived.

His name is DM Stith. His album "Curtain Speech" is a mix between the flurrying, layered symphonies of Sufjan Stevens (they share the same label & apparently Sufjan contributed to the album) and the unobtrusive, intimate softness of Bon Iver. The EP combines mostly guitar & strings with electronics, choir, quirky percussion and pennywhistles (you’ll know it when you hear it).

DM Stith - "Abraham's Song (Firebird)"

2) Perfectionists make indie music.

Aren't indie chaps supposed to be footloose, in touch with their emotions, impulsive? Leave the perfectionism to the symphony (or the halls of Stanford University) is what I always say.

These three brothers from Alberta proved me wrong. Aptly described as “ambient yet driving,” Faunts makes exacting electronic/indie/shoegaze music a la School of Seven Bells and M83.

Faunts - "Feel.Love.Thinking.Of"

Little Bribes

Death Cab for Cutie - Little Bribes from Ross Ching on Vimeo.

Spin Magazine put together a list of the top 20 music videos from the last year and I decided to take the videos for a spin myself (knuck knuck knuck). How good are the videos? Well, Lady Gaga's Bad Romance could only crack the list at number 20. And this video for Death Cab for Cutie's Little Bribes was just number 19. It stopped me in my tracks though, so here it is. Apparently, the footage of words from the lyrics was all recorded by a fan. Keep your eye open for the melting cheese scene when the word "Time" burns away into a frying pan. That's my favorite.

Desaparecidos, remembered

1975
Omar Darío Amestoy
Mario Alfredo Amestoy

1975
*
Mario Alfredo Amestoy

Up to 30,000 people disappeared during the period of dictatorship in Argentina, lasting from 1976 to 1983. The desaparecidos, as they are commonly called (the dictator General Videla infamously said they were "neither alive or dead, but disappeared"), are still a tense and emotional topic in Argentina.

After the dictatorship fell out of power, the new democratic government introduced what they called the Ley de Punto Final, which impeded any attempts of legally pursuing the lower-level executioners of the Dirty War - thus, granting them impunity. The law of the Punto Final was voided by the Supreme Court of Argentina in 2005.

The majority of the desaparecidos still remain missing. The photographic project Ausencias ("Absences", 2007) by Gustavo Germano explores the impact of those who went missing. The people who vanish from one photo to the next are true desaparecidos. Those left behind become the documentation of their absence.

1973

Andrés Servín
Raúl María Caire
Luisa Inés Rodríguez

1973

Andrés Servín
*
Luisa Inés Rodríguez

Himno a la bandera Argentina - "Aurora"

Is there a darker national anthem in this world? Something haunting and suffocating lurks in Aurora. Have a listen.

Lady Gaga - bringing high to the masses

The photo above records Lady Gaga and acclaimed Italian video artist Francesco Vezzoli's performance at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Gaga is playing a Steinway grand piano painted bright pink with shimmering blue butterflies by Damien Hirst, the richest and arguably most famous contemporary artist on the planet. Her hat was designed by architect Frank Gehry who designed the Guggenheim in Bilbao. She and Vezzoli donned masks created by filmmaker Baz Luhrmann and his production designer wife, Catherine Martin. And if that wasn't enough high art/fashion on one stage, Gaga also had a dozen dancers from the Bolshoi Ballet, who wore costumes created by Vezzoli and Miuccia Prada, head of the famous fashion house.


Lady Gaga - "Bad Romance"
Lady Gaga - "Poker Face"

There is no question about it, Gaga is a kook! But hey, I never saw Britney Spears in a Frank Gehry hat. As far as pop music goes, Gaga is the best I've seen yet - an elaborate and unpredictable entertainer rich with talent.

z piggies z piggies!

Have you heard about the new "teacup" pigs on the market? They are all the rage in England. They weigh just a half pound at birth and grow to only 12-16 inches in height. So mini, so cute (and also, apparently very clean. Surprise!).


Too bad they cost about $2,000 each....

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Little Dragon - "Blinking Pigs"

(Just because of the title, not the tone. I imagine the piggies would be much more spastic than this downplayed percussion.)

I've got the fever!

I love Fever Ray.

Born Karin Dreijer Andersson, "Fever Ray" began making hits with her brother for the band "The Knife" (crafters of one of the greatest songs of all time).

Her shrill, heavily accented nordic voice combines with quirky lyrics and daunting percussion for some great muzak. Check out "Seven" below

Lyrics:

I've got a friend who I've known since I was seven
We used to talk on the phone, if we have time, if it's the right time

Accompany me by the kitchen sink
We'll talk about love, we talk about dishwasher tablets, illness
And we dream about heaven

Fever Ray - "Seven"

Gooseifying the airlines

Stanford researchers suggest that planes flying in formation akin to the "flying v" of the goose (the crankiest animal out there) can reduce emissions and fuel consumption by double digits. Can't wait to see the 747s clumped together in the sky...

The bicycle master

Olli Erkkila, a unique bike and motorcycle designer, has a pretty cool eye for innovation. Here are some of his designs:

the “Forkless – Cruiser”. He built it for his graduation project at the Institute of Design in Lahti, Finland.

Rossin Ghibli Custom Pursuit

The SUV winter fixie.

The funky elephant chopper

Allo, Nonja

This photo was taken (and uploaded to facebook) by Nonja, an orangutan living in an Austrian zoo. The hairy one uses a digital camera (that dispenses raisins! hah!) to take often blurry photos of her surroundings. The pictures are then wirelessly uploaded to her facebook profile.

Nonja isn't just a photographer. She's also known for her paintings. Check it out! It's enough to make me want to fly to Austria.

To round out the post, here's a song I imagine Nonja bumps in a set of big ass bose headphones. Chillin.

Q-Tip - "Vivrant Thing"

Cy Twombley must have lived in SF

rain rain rain

Reason reason reason....is anybody listening?

The True America: learning to write like Sarah Palin

Slate Magazine (possibly the best online magazine around) held a 'write like Sarah Palin' contest. Here are some of the winning entries

"Here's a little news flash for your Department of Media: Superman's parents chose life and he was adopted in small-town USA by real Americans who run our factories, harvest our meat-bearing animals, and wave Old Glory down at the courthouse and the churches, not in Washington D.C. by cynical power-brokers and liberal scientists."—Steve Aydt

"It was only then, after I had removed the saddle from the moose, that I noticed the sweet sound of the warblers singing while perched on the fence post reminding me that unlike New York, Wasilla would always have my heart which not only pumps red, but also white and blue."—Brian Breighner

"The campaign path once led me into the homey kitchen of June Asbel, where the aroma of toasted almonds and nutmeg mixed with a sense of American perseverance and optimism."—Edward Dixon