Wolfgang's Vault

Sounds a little creepy, huh ... yup, I thought so too, especially when one of my chain-letter addicted friends sent it to me ... so, with an entry begging to be made, I sucked in my belly (it wasn't difficult), held my breath (part of the belly-sucking thing), clenched my teeth, and opened the link.

Cool link. Veddy veddy cool. Wolfgang’s Vault is where live music lives, that's the spiel, and so, I checked it out for truth, and yes, Jimi's 1968 live concert at Winterland is up for the listenin'. I guess it's where all the Bill Graham Archives, the King Biscuit Flower Hour, and the Record Plant (among a dozen other archives) are stored, and the good soul that Wolfgang is, allows you to relive all your cherished (and some that never were) rock moments again. Within the Concert Vault are thousands of carefully restored, legendary concert recordings of the past and the present, yours to stream for free, with hundreds available for download. Concert Vault is also available as a free app on iPhone. Taking the musical fandom experience even further, you can read record reviews and in-depth articles about the greatest performers of yesterday and today in the almighty Crawdaddy!, in its second year as an online webzine. Concert tour info for your favorite performeris available on the site's very own comprehensive show listings site, Mojam.

Since when did rockers become philanthropists? They're not here, and it's okay. The $$ aspect comes with the encouragement to peruse Wolfgang’s Vault to consider and purchase the greatest collection of concert posters, rock photography, vintage t-shirts, retro t-shirts, and treasure trove of extraordinary concert related memorabilia. Okay, NP (no problem).

Improv Everywhere

My Facebook friend, Myrna, posted a link to a YouTube vid by these guys, and ... Yes, "I love mindless, amusing entertainment, and proud of it!" Okay, this is where my son sez, "Calm down, calm down..."

Improv Everywhere's logo is, "We Cause Scenes," and they do! In spectacular fashion - loaded with gentle wit - the group causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places. Created in August of 2001 by Charlie Todd, Improv Everywhere has executed over 80 missions involving thousands of undercover agents. The group is based in New York City.

Go! Take a break, lighten up, check out this site!!! ... and thank you, Myrna!

The Oscars

On February 22, 2009, the 81st Academy Awards honoring the best in film for 2008, and awarding the famous little gold statue, Oscar, will be held at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. Handsome hunk, actor Hugh Jackman will host the ceremony for the first time!
To prepare for the festivities, and get ready for your own Oscar party, check out ABC.com’s 'Road To The Oscars' which covers all Oscar-related events, including the parties and after-parties supporting this event. Road To The Oscars is a daily show featuring daily news and updates, interviews, behind-the-scenes and prep footage. You'll get an insider’s look at what it takes to produce the biggest event in Hollywood, as well as intimate interviews with this year’s nominees, host and producers...and now to the actual nominees and awards...
Can you predict a winner? If you think you can, I challenge you to prove it! Take The Oscars Challenge - Predict the Winners! Voilà, here are the nominees:

• Leading Actor - Richard Jenkins in The Visitor, Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon, Sean Penn in Milk, Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler;
• Leading Actress - Angelina Jolie in ChangelingAnne Hathaway in Rachel Getting Married, Melissa Leo in Frozen River, Meryl Streep in Doubt, and Kate Winslet in The Reader;
• Supporting Actor - Josh Brolin in Milk, Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder, Philip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt, Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight, and Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road;
• Supporting Actress - Amy Adams in Doubt, Penélope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Viola Davis in Doubt, Taraji P. Henson in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Marisa Tomei in The Wrestler;
• Animated feature film - Bolt, Kung Fu Panda, and WALL-E;
• Art direction - Changeling, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, The Duchess, and Revolutionary Road;
• Cinematography - Changeling, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, The Reader, and Slumdog Millionaire;
• Costume design - Australia, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Duchess, Milk, and Revolutionary Road;
  
• Directing - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Reader, and Slumdog Millionaire;
• Documentary, feature - The Betrayal, Encounters at the End of the World, The Garden, Man on Wire, and Trouble the Water;
• Documentary, short - The Conscience of Nhem En, The Final Inch, Smile Pinki, and The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306;
• Film editing - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, Frost/Nixon, Milk, and Slumdog Millionaire;
• Foreign language film - The Baader Meinhof Complex, The Class, Departures, Revanche, and Waltz With Bashir;
• Makeup - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, and Hellboy II: The Golden Army;
• Original musical score - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Defiance, Milk, Slumdog Millionaire, and WALL-E;
• Original song - 'Down to Earth' from WALL-E, 'Jai Ho' from Slumdog Millionaire, and 'O Saya' from Slumdog Millionaire;
• Best Picture - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Reader, and Slumdog Millionaire;
• Animated short film - La Maison en Petits Cubes, Lavatory - Lovestory, Oktapodi, Presto, and This Way Up;
• Live action short film - Auf der Strecke (On the Line), Manon on the Asphalt, New Boy, The Pig, and Spielzeugland (Toyland);
• Sound editing - The Dark Knight, Iron Man, Slumdog Millionaire, WALL-E, and Wanted;
• Sound mixing - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, Slumdog Millionaire, WALL-E, and Wanted;
• Visual effects - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, and Iron Man;
• Adapted screenplay - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Doubt, Frost/Nixon, The Reader, and Slumdog Millionaire;
• Original screenplay - Frozen River, Happy-Go-Lucky, In Bruges, Milk, and WALL-E.

To get all the dirt on the nominations, have a look at the Oscar site (click here). Now ... are you up to this?!

Mighty Optical Illusions

Do you know the feeling that perception turns against you? Mighty Optical Illusions is a website dedicated to optical illusions, magic tricks and puzzles. Since I'm a highly visually oriented person (like a bird, you know, they look at everything, that's me ...), I love the cool visuals on this site. I have to tell you, I really admire how they state that 'all photos, pictures, videos and other shapes of art placed on this web site were submitted by individuals not connected with moillusions.com. Most of the submission are made by the original artists, but some were probably just collected from internet. If you hold copyrights to any of the illusions posted to this website, and would like us to remove them immediately, email us and we'll be glad to do so.' So, this is the place to hang out if you want a mini-visual vacation. One of my favorites is Black Hole Sun, and the Dancing Woman.