Now with more awesome!

1001 Rules For My Unborn Son is my favorite blog find of the day.

Take a McDonalds double cheeseburger and put a McChicken in the middle and you’ve got yourself a McGangBang.

RichmondWiki is neat.  I like the idea of creating an encyclopedia of Richmond and others being able to give their takes and bits of info they know as well.  I’m not sure how successful it’ll be in the long run of providing a good history of Richmond, but it’s already shaping up to be a nice directory of individuals, businesses and blogs in Richmond.

But maybe I’m biased.  You see, right now the entry for J’s Notes is the most popular blog on the site and the seventh most popular entry overall:

BOOYAH!

Part of that is self induced, having announced my personally created entry here on J’s Notes and also on Twitter and inviting others to not only view it but take part in telling the epic tale that is the history of J’s Notes and it’s super awesome author.  But I’m going to ignore that.

YOU LIKE ME!  Aw, shucks.  I love you, too, Richmond.  And to show my love I’m going to pass along Style Weekly’s offer to win free tickets to New Kids On The Block!  You’re welcome, Richmond.

So feel free to visit RichmondWiki and help flesh out the story of Richmond.  And J’s Notes, too.  Have at with that editing and let’s see what happens…

Who Pacs The Pacmen? by James Lillis

A Simple Plan by Neil Gregory

This Tuesday, February 24th is IHOP National Pancake Day! Get yourself some free pancakges!

Anything in the hands of Shaq has the potential of becoming awesome. Including Twitter.

One guy got a phone call from Shaq after questioning whether or not his Twitter account THE_REAL_SHAQ was indeed real:

After the conversation, Shaq tweeted “I just talk to my good friend lord b, hes cool, im a invite him to a game , him and his family.” Of course, all of this was simply amazing to Blount, who tweeted, “@THE_REAL_SHAQ Big ups to shaq for making my life with that call. you can see why the big fella needs so many nicknames–he’s mad cool.”

Another couple guys were discussing whether or not the account was real when Shaq tweeted that he was at the 5 & Diner, a restaurant in Pheonix.  The two gents went to check this out:

We went in, and to my surprise the MDE(Most Dominant Ever) was sitting in the corner booth by himself. We gave the man a nod and “Hey” as we walked to our table and were soon whispering back and forth like 12 year old girls at the 7th grade dance.

…

Given another 2-3 years, I’m sure we would have worked up the nerve to go talk to him, but before that could happen Sean’s iPhone buzzed with a “tweet” from Shaq.

I feel twitterers around me, r there any twitterers in 5 n diner wit me, say somethin

“Hey” Sean said, with a slight bit of confidence.

Returning to our hushed whispers I asked Sean, “Should we go talk to him now?”

“I don’t know, should we?”

“Yes, you should” a very deep voice entered our conversation from 2 booths over.

A lot of folks use Twitter for meet-ups and “hey, this is what I’m doing” posts, but how many big name folks actually use it to physically engage fans and followers?  These events, five minutes on the phone, thirty minutes at a diner, these make Shaq not only more real but also do a lot to boost his brand and people’s perception of him.  Many other users could learn a lesson from this.

Josh Freese, the former drummer for NiN, has an interesting promotion up for his album.  Pay what you will, but each level has higher rewards:

$1,000 (limited edition of 10)

* Signed CD/DVD and digital download
* T-shirt
* Signed cymbal, drum head and drumsticks
* Josh washes your car OR does your laundry … or you can wash his car
* Have dinner with Josh aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, Calif.
* Get drunk and cut each other’s hair in the parking lot of the Long Beach courthouse (filmed and posted on YouTube, of course)

At some point he takes you to Disneyland and you can drive away in his Volvo.  One of the things you get for $20,000:

* Maynard James Keenan, Mark Mothersbaugh from Devo and Josh take you miniature golfing and then drop you off on the side of the freeway (all filmed and posted on YouTube)

Brilliant, really, and hilarious.

If a stranger invited himself to your house for dinner and offered to give $200 to the charity of your choice in payment, would you accept?  Franke James did.

The idea is brilliant and in the beautifully illustrated post James points out how this could have great applications to help non-profits.  Well worth a read on a Saturday morning.

For $500, Purchase Brothers made the first two episodes of a Half-Life 2 miniseries.  $500.  Who knows how much stuff they had ahead of time, but $500 for something of this quality is a hell of a good deal.

Makes me wanna go make a movie. Not that it’d be this good, but still.

UPDATE: Looking at their other work on their YouTube channel these guys are definitely pros, but that doesn’t change the well done aspect of the Half-Life video above.. Does make $500 a big misleading (computers, cameras, other equipment already owned) but still.

D-Pad Hero – It’s Guitar Hero for the NES and it is awesome.

This Feb. 13th marks the return of LayerTennis:

Two competitors will swap a file back and forth in real-time, adding to and embellishing the work. Each artist gets fifteen minutes to complete a “volley” and then we post it to the site live. A third participant, a writer, provides play-by-play commentary on the action, as it happens. A match lasts for ten volleys and when it’s complete, Season Ticket Holders tell us what they think and we’ll declare a winner, so sign up today.

It really is some pretty brilliant stuff.

About a month ago I thought this list would be easy. Heck, it might only have been five albums. My musical experience in 2008 was pretty limited for the most part. It wasn’t that I didn’t find new music, it’s just that so much of it came out before 2008. But then I went scouring and started finding stuff I had no clue was out there and hearing songs I’d heard all year and finding the albums that went with them and, hey, they weren’t bad at all. But, since so many hit me so late, it was hard to figure out just where in the top ten they would go. The top three was pretty set early on, but the back seven really could fall in any order. Every one of these albums are pretty damn good and would make an excellent addition to your collection. So, without further ado:

10. The Stand Ins – Okkervil River (Jagjaguwar)

With a varied sound Okkervil River almost sounds like they’re in search of a theme. But the album holds up, from the fun opening with “Lost Coastlines” to the beautiflly put together but fun named “Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed On The Roof Of The Chelsea Hotel, 1979″.

9. With Blasphemy So Heartfelt – Jessica Lee Mayfield (Thirdy Tigers)

Light country based fare, Jessica Lee Mayfield’s voice holds you on this one. Some sad numbers make this another album that might not bring sunshine into your life. What can I say, I like the dreary stuff sometimes.

8. Mudcrutch – Mudcrutch (Warner Bros.)

Mudcrutch was formed in 1970 and spent about four years grinding through Gainsville, Florida before being signed to Shelter Records and releasing one single before breaking up in 1975. That might have been the end of it since the band members moved on to other projects, the most popular being the one formed by Mudcrutch’s front, guitarist and keyboardist: Tom Petty and the Heartbrakers. Maybe you’ve heard of them. Over thirty years later Mudcrutch has gotten back together and finally released a full length album, some parts old, some parts new, all parts pretty good. A must for Petty fans and anyone that likes good stuff.

7. Only The Night – Kings Of Leon (RCA)

Hey, now we’re getting more upbeat! A lot of folks say the fouth album form this lo-fi group is a bit too produced and polished, but personally I like the sound. They clean up nicely with a good southern rock sound.

6. You & Me – The Walkmen (Gigantic)

There’s something about distant vocals sounding genuinely sad as they work through an album.

5. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend (Xl Recordings)

A liberal use of Afrobeat kinda gives these guys a bit of an early 80s Paul Simon sound but they use it well, creating a fun, upbeat album unlike anything else you’ll come across this year.

4. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes (Sub Pop)

Last year Sub Pop had four albums in the top ten. This year they pull only one, but not for lack of trying. I can only blame myself.

I came to Fleet Foxes thanks to hearing their single “Your Protector” on KEXP. But even if I hadn’t I probably would have found them based on other purchases made by folks who bought half the albums on this list. I’m unique and original like everyone else. That said, we mellow out again this this first offering from Fleet Foxes. A light folksy sound that even got Pitchfork to give it 9 out of 10.

3. Hold On Now, Youngster – Los Campesinos (Arts & Crafts)

I don’t think I’ve heard an album this fun in a long time. There’s a lot of noise, there’s a lot of shouting, there’s a lot of good music.

2. Heart On – Eagles Of Death Metal (Downtown)

Starts rockin’, ends rockin’, but they are neither eagles nor death metal. I’m not a big fan of Josh Homme’s work with Queens of the Stone Age but I dig his two man group work with Eagles Of Death Metal.

1. Attack & Release - Black Keys (Nonesuch)

Ike Turner would have had one hell of a come back if he’d lived long enough. Instead, the Black Keys had to take the album they wrote for him and make it themselves, teaming up with Danger Mouse to churn out what is the best album to come out in 2008. Danger Mouse’s work here is less influental on the sound than it was in Beck’s “Modern Guilt”, instead merely polishing up and helping flesh out the Black Keys while still allowing them to keep a blusey, rockin’ sound.

For the first time in J’s Notes long life (I think it’s the second or third longest running blog in Virginia), the site has cracked Blog Net News’s Most Influential List, ranking in at an awesome 19th place:

Probably due to my answering a slew of questions last Wednesday.  Who knew I’d be so influential?