Testing Testing.

Mic check. Does this place still work?

Problem with ears?

I have noticed that a lot of people on the internet have a problem with hearing... well how do I know this?

Mainly because they have no sense for music and or talent.

I will make this short.



If you dont think there is an ounce of talent in this song... well then you are clearly a pompous pretentious idiot.... or just a close minded.

I know we all think differently and never see eye to eye. But realize this is mainstream music.. not because its over produced and record label flooded... but because the artist are amazing. Commons last album blew loads, but is still on of the best rappers out there. He does not have the best track records but has a few of the best songs. Kanyes last was his best, all of him albums "sound like the best of".

Thats is.

"The Water"

"The Water", directed by Kevin Drew (of "Broken Social Scene"), stars Leslie Feist (Feist) & Cillian Murphy (Sunshine, The Dark Knight, 28 Days Later). Drew says “The song has so much real, honest and raw age to it" we will see if he can follow that up. The short airs on Pitchfork.com Friday April 10th.
See Full Article at Pastemagazine.com

"Steel Life" by Mathieu Gérard

I have taken no part in the creation of this... but I honestly think this is some of the most incredible, inspiring, and most of all gorgeous pieces of art... I have seen possibly ever.. From the visuals to the composing... brilliant.


Steel Life from Mathieu Gérard on Vimeo.

My Master Thesis graduation film.

Music by Mathieu Alvado, interpreted by the Star Pop Orchestra at Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris.

Contractor : Christophe Elliot.

Editing and mixing by Thibaut Maillart, Etienne Graindorge.

Sound recording by Etienne Oury, Benoit Navarret, Thibaut Maillart, Etienne Graindorge.



More details on :

www.mathieugerard.com/steellife

www.mathieualvado.com

www.myspace.com/starpoporchestra

J.J. Abrahms is my Hero...

I watched this video a little after it was release (Jan 2008) and would now be considered old... but I feel will always be essential. If you are a film maker watch this...

VW *Banned Commercial

This is why VW is legit... This commercial was banned in the UK for fear that children might try and copy. If my kids could do this... I would be proud.

Lost Zombies - A Documentary

The premise of "Lost Zombies" starts with its network. The network/group/collective is producing a documentary on the fictional rise of zombies in 2007. Instead of going out and shooting it them self's they are accepting user submitted content. They have a criteria/shot list of sorts, a Grid, that needs to be filled piece by piece. Its a project that will be completed by the audience and for the audience. Very ambitious, I absolutely adore & admire this.

Check out the Timeline: [LINK]

Facebook the new Wal-Mart?

Is Facebook the new Walmart? This question recently posed by MSN Money. [Article is worth the read] MSN says Facebook is taking out other popular Internet services like, MySpace, Classmates.com, Google (messenger), Yahoo (messenger), Microsoft's MSN (messenger) and even goes as far as taking out services such as Evite.com. With the ability to email, instant message, read news, create invites and connect with people with common interest who needs anything else?

"The idea of linking people with common interests into online communities is as old as the Internet. But lately, social networking has exploded. Ratings company Nielsen recently reported that time spent on social networks and blogging sites had grown by 63% last December compared with a year before. Three of four adults in the U.S. now participate."

This article hit really close to home with... mainly because I was bashing Facebook as a service a few hours before I read this. The problem I have with face book is its audience. When I join a social network I don't want to join a network with the "most users". I want to join a network with users that share common interest with me. From what I have experienced Facebook users are heavily college based... and as the article reads "is attracting and older audience".

This forced me to take a step back and ponder on "what is my audience".
My audience is the youthful, the creative, the inspired, and the talented. Facebook does not offer something for these personalities. A hefty reason why I appreciate MySpace more than Facebook is the customization... the ability to make "your space" your own. Having, an individual look, and visual presence is important to me as an artist. Facebook strips you of the ability to express you self visually. As a film maker and graphic designer I want to share my image, my visuals, and my ocular presence with my, audience, piers and with my self. Facebook does not offer what I want as an ARTIST.

I recently had a conversation with a friend about people that consider them self's "Artist". He had stated that persons considering them self's "Artist" are pretentious. I had to agree with him to a certain extent. To consider your art more important or meaningful than something of a lesser caliber, i.e. a carpenter or painter, is pretentious. I do respond with this tho. Isn't that the point of art? To push the envelope to raise the bar to depart from the norm? To create something new, a renaissance?

I fell that in order to progress as an artist you need to be pushed... you must be shown that you are not the best, you have to see multiple forms of art, you need to be constantly inspired by other forms, let it be a painting lending to a film or a film lending to music... and the list and combination go on. You need a muse and Facebook is clearly not for me.

Facebook is NOT for ARTIST

Facebook is for the PUBLIC

My thoughts... I promised never to go personal but... this just rubbed me the wrong way... FACEBOOK IS WALMART...

NIN - "Strobelight"

Off the track listing: "Everybody's Doing It" (featuring chris martin, jay-z AND bono)

"To download NIN's new full-length album Strobe Light, PRODUCED BY TIMBALAND, enter a valid email address in the fields below. A download link will be sent to you immediately. Your credit card will be charged $18.98 plus a $10 digital delivery convenience fee. Your files will arrive as windows media files playable on quite a few players with your name embedded all over them just in case you lose them. You will also receive an exclusive photo and a free email account with our partner Google's Gmail service.

Your email will be kept confidential and will not be used for spam, unless we can make some money selling it." - NIN

Best April Fools joke I saw all day...
Funny that its "Produced by Timbaland"... ohh Cornell "watch out"! [LINK]

Digg Dialogg with Reznor

"You have questions, we’ll get you answers!
Digg Dialogg lets you submit your questions to notable leaders and luminaries. Rather than editors or journalists, the Digg community decides the most popular questions to be posed in the interview, so submit a question for Trent Reznor!" - Digg.com

If you have ever had questions for Trent Reznor now is the time to voice them. If you happen to be crazy about Trent... like I may be... you can follow him on Twitter.

"If I Had a Heart" - Fever Ray

by: Fever Ray
off of:"Fever Ray"

"If I had a Heart" is the most remarkable video I have seen in quite sometime. The unsettling mood, mostly driven by the composition of shots & subject, surges the video beyond what you would expect. The fluid motion of the camera and subtle movements of the subjects build upon the musical elegance. The album is without a doubt worth a listen. Catch an ear full at the official site.

"1901"

Phoenix's new Album "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix" is set to be available May 25th. They are offering a free download of the song "1901". The track has been one to circulate my most recent playlist... its worth the listen. Also worth a listen is "It's Never Been Like That", "Alphabetical" & "Untitled". Catch Phoenix on SNL April 4th.. I hear Seth Rogan is hosting..!

"Where The Wild Things Are" - Trailer

"Where The Wild Things Are"
Directed by: Spike Jonze
Presented by: Warner Bro. & Legendary Pictures

I had heard this was going to be multi-medium... aka claymation, CGI, hand drawn, live action, ect... As far as I can see it looks live action. Its shot with a very indie touch, aka Spike Jonze director of: Adaption & Being John Malkovich. With out a doubt one of few film I have been looking forward to for a long while.

"<3" is all I can say...

"Bananaz"

I read/watched a little of this a while back, but facebook chose to throw it in my face again today.

"Delve into the extraordinary minds of Gorillaz creators Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett with the forthcoming offbeat documentary, Bananaz, shot by director Ceri Levy. Witness the high-waisted trousers, flute-tooting and bottom-flashing antics from the duo, plus the other musical entrepreneurs who have helped launch the Gorillaz phenomenon, shot behind the scenes over six years. Contains strong language."

Sounds like my kind of documentary...The way that the Gorillaz collective/organism works is quite inspiring and a good portion of my hopes, wants, and needs. I pray this documentary answers a few/all of my questions. "Bananaz" is premiering April 20th on the Babelgum website.

Skype coming to an iPhone near you!

Being that iPhone are always near... Skype is coming in a big way. The popular VOIP service is legitimately coming to the iPhone. Over the past few months we have seen various applications that call on the service. Problem is none have ever been so sweet. Third party apps usually effected with terrorizing echos. The release date of this official app is Tue, March 31st... tomorrow. BlackBerry version to follow in May.

The main reason for this post is because I cant seam to get over how awesome and... somewhat cute the picture is. Now all I need is a pair of those glasses... Kurt T I envy you...

Mimo Displays... so hot...

I saw these little monitors a while back... and needless to say I fell in love. Mimo just released an updated version. They are 7-inches, 800 x 480, with a LED-backlit screen. The picture above does not like, but they have models with built in cams. The basic use in my case for this little bundle of sexy joy would be for any messaging client... possibly watch something while working on your main display? The uses for this are ever expanding... the fact that you can just pack it in your bag and take it with you is incredible. I find my self wishing I had more screen realestate with my laptop, and even desktop at times (Running 2x 24"). Would I ever be kin on the idea of getting a bigger laptop... most likely not... 15" is perfect. I find my self at times wishing that I had a smaller/ lighter laptop just for convince sake.

Chris Cornell - "Scream"

Background:
I have followed Chris Cornell (Audioslave, Sound Garden, Temple of the Dog) for quite some time now. I may not be nearly as devote as a "die hard" fan but I pull my weight. My ears were made aware of Cornell's existence in late 2002 - early 2003. The songs "Cochise" and "Like a Stone", by Audioslave, were showering the radio waves. The self titled album, was the 1st true rock album that I had ever fully invested my self into. They were not the alternative rock that that I had been accustom to but a real Rock band with real Rock roots. Every song on the album holds a place in my heart and is one of few albums I consider perfect. I quickly fell in love with Cornell's voice and proceeded to look up his older work. I discovered I had a love for his music long before Audioslave. "Can't Change Me", "Black Hole Sun", and "Fell On Black Days" were three songs I had loved from my childhood but had never bothered to aquire. Cornell had taken my "Number One Vocalist" position. Audoslaves following were never as sweet as the first taste. I had forgotten about Cornell in the following years, still listening to the "Classics" but never venturing into his new works.

Thoughts:
A few months before it was announced I was informed about a collaboration between Cornell and Timberland. At first I was put off by the idea but the more and more I thought about it the more I enjoyed it. The first glimpse of the album was through a Verizon commercial, the song sounded amazing. The styling of Timberland mashed up with the Vocals of Cornell... I could not wait. When the singles dropped I snatched them up. Was not impressed. In an interview with Cornell and Timberland, Timberland had stated that to really enjoy the album that you would have to listen to it as a whole. I waited it out... a few days before the release I was able to get a hold of the album. The moment I had been waiting for! I skipped through almost all of the tracks... I threw the album aside and did not bother to listen to it for about a week. I found my self stuck working on a project that would most likely take me all day... it was time to listen... and I did... and I enjoyed. I listened to the album from start to finish... it was good. Not great, not memorable but good. Cornell had swapped genres, Rock for RnB...

Review:
The album starts off strong with "Part of Me", a mainstream club sound with the vocals of a Rock legend. It drew me into the album, I had to look past the repetitive catch choruses. The next song to really catch my ear was "Ground Zero". Filled with remnants of Justin Timberlake, the beat pushes you forward, the lyrics a little less than stellar, melodies interesting. The transitions throughout the album are amazing, one after another almost perfectly blending into each other. My problem as of now was this album felt like a JT album... but vocally replaced with Cornell. "Long Gone" threw me on the bandwagon. The transition into the song incredible, easily best on the album. "Enemy", possibly the best beat on the album has good lyrics but a terrible chorus. The final song on the album "Two Drink Minimum" is the truest song to Cornell's past. Produced by John Mayer, the song is filled with strong blues influences and shines light onto Cornell's soulful vocal abilities.

Worth a Listen:
Part of Me
Ground Zero
Long Gone
Two Drink Minimum

So to get this started...

This is my 1st blog post.. I am not much on "Blogging" per say... but I do read some blogs. (that u can check out on my side bar) My grammar is terrible and along with that so is my spelling... but bare with me I have a lot to say and a lot of time to say it.

This "blog" will house all of my options, thoughts but not feelings... that's for MYSPACE... some/most maybe/will be pretentious and some/all of you may/will hate/love me for them... but hey... you probably already have something against me anyways!

Thanks,
Damian Estrada

WARNING I will be promoting the shit out of things that FRIENDS and my SELF work on. So get ready to read a lot of fluff about Film, Music, Art, and Fashion.

DISCLAIMER: If you follow my lead you will most likely be close to being as brilliant as me and the person I chose to associate my self with.