Playlist: Crazy

Today’s playlist theme is crazy.

Craziness can be confusing, but I think we all need a little bit of it every now and then.

First, something from the best band in the universe, U2. This song is actually one of the staples on my running playlist. I think it has something to do with the cartoons running in this video.

So, when was the last time you thought to yourself, I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight.

Next, a song from the most handsome man in the world. This person not only proposed inside a decked out igloo in the Canadian rocky mountains via helicopter, but he's also married to Heidi Klum—and they have 4 kids now. So, who’s got game?

Heidi probably wouldn’t have gone for Seal if she wasn’t a bit crazy. And Seal wouldn’t have probably gotten the eye of Heidi if he wasn’t a bit crazy himself. Looks like he took a page out of his own body of work. We’re never gonna survive unless we get a little crazy.

This is Seal with Crazy.

What’s the most awesome way to announce to the world that you have an 18-year old daughter? Feature her half-naked in your music video. Add to that the Clueless 90’s heartthrob Alicia Silverstone and you've got gold.

Featuring Liv Tyler's grand reveal to the world, Aerosmith's Crazy.

At this point, I want to introduce something that this isn’t a video and isn’t even remotely connected to music, but I just want to share. Do you have your Joe with cream and sugar? Well, Meet Joe Black. It’s hard to fall in love with the angel of death, but that’s the kind of stuff that leads to true love apparently. You think Claire Forlani would have her doubts right? She did. But these are her dying father's words of wisdom:

Love is passion, obsession, someone you can't live without. If you don't start with that, what are you going to end up with? Fall head over heels. I say find someone you can love like crazy and who'll love you the same way back. And how do you find that person? Forget your head and listen to your heart. I'm not hearing any heart. Run the risk, if you get hurt, you'll come back. Because, the truth is there is no sense living your life without this. To make the journey and not fall deeply in love - well, you haven't lived a life at all. You have to try. Because if you haven't tried, you haven't lived.

Yes, I think I’ve lost it. But I think you’re crazy, just like me. Who do you think you are?

And after all of these videos and—err—quotes, just remember that you always have to draw the line somewhere. We all get a little crazy sometimes and it's good, but let's not go overboard and become sociopaths. Don't go blowing up buildings—or minds for that matter.

I don't want to have an anti-climactic, disclaimer infused ending to this playlist.

Sometimes, we're on the verge of going out of our minds, but we muster up enough sanity to accompany the crazy. Hopefully, it's for a worthwhile cause.

Let's end this list with a classic, U2's With Or Without You

Playlist:

1. U2 - I'm Gonna Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight
2. Seal - Crazy
3. Aerosmith - Crazy
4. Gnarls Barkley - Crazy
5. Musiq - Halfcrazy
6. U2 - With or Without You

New Music Weekend

It's a crazy mix this week.

First, a great new find, Two Door Cinema Club.

I'm a big fan of Phoenix and I was very happily surprised to somehow have come across this band. I think I like all their songs in their album. Their album, Tourist History, which I got hold of has 10 tracks and I love all of them. I think their current single is Undercover Martyn (shown above).

Interestingly enough, the band's Facebook page has their genre listed as "alteronica". That's super awesome. Haha!

Next we have something for the more mature music lovers out there.

Seal's Soul and Harry Connick, Jr's Your Songs. Here are two of my favorite songs from the two albums. (These aren't music videos, but it's the easiest way I can put the songs here)

And for some strange reason, I've been singing this song since Sunday morning.

Okay, time to change the mood. Something more current. This next one is from the OST of Step Up 3 (yes, that 3D dance movie). Trey Lorenz with Already Taken.

Interestingly enough, this video also features dance with chalk. In Justin Beiber's Somebody To Love, they also have dancing with chalk. Is this a new trend?

Cathay Pacific bringing 50Mbps WiFi, live TV and in-flight calling to fleet -- Engadget

Cathay Pacific will offer really fast WIFI and pay-per-view across their entire fleet by early 2012. They will also have voice services and live TV, but who cares about those.

I wonder how long it will take other airlines to follow suite. This is reason enough for me to pick Cathay for my next trans-pacific flight (at least starting 2012). Pay-per-view means that you can watch live sports events miles in the air--LIVE. You no longer have to miss anything while flying.

This better be a standard by 2015.

Cathay Pacific bringing 50Mbps WiFi, live TV and in-flight calling to fleet -- Engadget

Logitech MX Air Rechargeable Cordless Air Mouse

We all get crazy over seemingly useless gadgets once in a while--and we all should. My current guilty pleasure lies in the Logitech MX Air Rechargeable Cordless Air Mouse.

It’s a mouse. It’s wireless. But the unique thing about this fancy little rodent is that it doesn’t use a laser to track movement. Instead, motion is detected via an accelerometer and gyroscope combination.

So you can use it the way you would use a magic wand (come on, you've waved an imaginary wand at least once in the past 3 months). You don’t need a flat surface too. You can be on your back, in bed, with your eyes half closed, and still control your mouse by just waving it around in the air.

Why in the world would this be particularly useful?

Well, I came across this peripheral while I was trying to put together my home entertainment system. I needed something to control my computer which was all the way across the room. Naturally, I checked out wireless mice but the common drawback was that they all needed a flat, solid surface to work. And then came this wonderful gem from Logitech.

The mouse also features a touch scroll pad (not a clickity wheel) for scrolling through whatever you may be reading as well as dedicated buttons for back, pause/play, and volume. The volume button is pretty interesting as if you hold it and wave your mouse to the right the volume actually increases, and vice versa. I could spend all day doing that.

Battery life is supposedly very good (comes with a dock) and range reaches about 30 feet—just in case you’d ever be that far from your computer.
And did I mention that it looks real cool as well?

People, this is a must have!

But why doesn’t everyone have one? It retails for about $90 on Amazon or Php 5,750 on PCX. Ouch! But hey, you’re sure to impress whoever is lucky enough to pass by your room.

New Music Weekend (favorite albums)

This week, I'm going with 2 of my current favorite albums.

First we have The Bird and The Bee's Interpreting the Masters Vol. 1 - A Tribute to Daryll Hall & John Oates.

This album is just great. Combine The Bird and The Bee's mild synthpop, mellow vocals, and classic Hall & Oates songs and you get an album that will definitely get you into the groove.

Best tracks for me are I Can't Go For That, Kiss Is On My List, One On One, and Maneater. I'm sure you know all those songs, and you probably like them, but The Bird And The Bee bring a different feel to it. They don't change it out too much, but they apply their style to the classics very effectively.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Here's a clip from The Bird And The Bee's guest appearance on Ellen:

Next is the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist.

I know nothing about indie music. I just like it. That's what was first apparent to me when I got a copy of this album. Of the 15 artists in this compilation, I only knew 2.

I loved the movie, but it took an HBO screening to make me wonder why I never got the album. So I did, and I was really impressed.

Of the 15 tracks in the album, I loved 13 of them.

It's hard to pick a favorite track, but notable are The Real Tuesday Weld's Last Words, Vampire Weekend with Ottoman, Riot Radio by The Dead 60's, Fever by Takka Takka, Xavia by The Submarines, and Paul Tiernan's How To Say Goodbye. Again, it's really hard to pick a favorite track.

Here's a sample of one of my favorite tracks, The Real Tuesday Weld with Last Words:

It's a very laid back album that sounds very indie. Indie is now a genre right? If you can remember filler scenes from the movie where they show New York at 4 in the morning, the album feels like that.

Again, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Iphone 4 vs EVO 4G

One of the things I hate most about the iphone (and Apple) are its users.

*before you start hating me, I own an iphone too. But I'm not stupid.

Another thing I hate about Apple, is its closed systems. It limits its users. It's like a cult. You get into it for one reason, then everything else you need can only be sourced through them. No freedom.

Freedom as a consumer is to be able to have more options.

And on the flip side, here's one laying out the potential problems of an EVO 4G:

But again, just to be fair, the iphone isn't exactly the most stable phone out there. Mine (as well as those my friends use) hangs about once a month. The home key also gets stubborn after about 9 months (and why wouldn't it, it's the only fricking button). Since I upgraded to iOS4, some of the apps are buggier than usual. And as you all should know by now, the iphone4 has that stupid antenna problem.

It's Alive! Lenovo U1 Hybrid Out by End of 2010

News reports from the interweb say that the U1 hybrid will be out by the end of the year.

In an interview with Lenovo President and COO, Rory Read, ChannelWeb reports that the U1 hybrid (and the Skylight smartbook) were not discontinued, only modified and delayed.

Both laptops will supposedly now run neither on the planned Skylight OS nor Windows 7. I'm expecting either Chrome or a hybrid Android OS. Tricky for the U1 is how it will behave once you detach the tablet. Because in laptop mode, Windows 7 will work, but in tablet mode, that proposed Android-based OS will probably work best. I think though, that is actually the plan.

Also, a post from Engadget reports a change with the processor, shifting to a Qualcomm dual-core.

If this will be released, it may be one of the first (if not the first) laptop or tablet to run on an Android OS. Might be a bit buggy, especially with the shifting between Windows 7.

Is it worth it to be an early adopter?