Not Drugs – Art, Graffiti, Music and Culture for the Almost Grown-Up

And then the internet at Ithaca College kicked me off.

So, I’ve been working/studying/floundering/hustling in the recent weeks.  I’ve also huffed a significant amount of paint due to the Not Drugs party that happened this past weekend.  However, throughout all of this, I’ve been thinking about getting a tattoo.  I know that I’ve wanted one for a few years now, but I’ve just failed to find something I’d like to put on me…forever.  Like this:

This is LeBron James.  On his back, he depicts his destiny; For all-intensive purposes, LBJ is the “chosen one.”  He is, arguably, the most dominant player at his position…or any position, for that matter, in the NBA today.

But he won’t always be 24-years-old.  He won’t always be dropping between 30-40 points a game.  He will get older and start to play poorer basketball, effectively ending is reign as the “chosen one.”  And then he’ll just have a massive tattoo on his back that is meaningless.

Yeah, so, not for me.

I’ll post a couple more ideas I’ve seen(and shot down) later on today.

One.

The painting stops (I think some people got a little lopsided) but the fun continues.

Look at what happened:

Not Drugs Presents: Paint & Fun from notdrugs on Vimeo.

High Five.

NotDrugs.

This is DJ equipment.

Really?

These guys from Original Hamster have created some really cool technology that to be honest, I don’t understand. They’re called “The Beat Blender” and the “Mixmaster 1200.”

Within the Mixmaster, there are laser powered plasma emitters that heat the airwaves creating aural explosions. What? And the Beat Blender somehow picks up signals/samples from felt fruit piece replicas. The typical settings on a blender manipulate the sound samples in similar styles that a Dj can chop on a turntable. Supposedly.

Check it out:

Mixed Up – Beat Blender and Mixmaster 1200 from Matti Niinimäki on Vimeo.

Last week there were rumors about Google buying Twitter. Twitter CEO Evan Williams reportedly turned down a cool billion. Their self-valuation was, I guess well over Google’s offer. But the last time I heard about Twitter acquiring funding, they landed a whole bunch of money and had no idea what to do with it.

I think I would hold off on selling Twitter if I happened to be those guys, too. There’s a whole bunch of people making cool apps for tweeting. I’m finding it a task to find a place where I can’t tweet.

Maybe when I’m asleep. But what if I captured my brain wave readings and translated them into an RSS? I could set up a twitterfeed to tweet when I go into REM, my dream patterns, when I roll over. I bet it would be great research of sleep.

But seriously. There’s even an app out now to integrate Twitter into Gmail, kind of like gchat.

It’s really cool. Just like how Twitter is growing tremendously. Some people say it’s kind of like the next email revolution.

Buuuuttt has anybody noticed this guy creeping around a lot lately?

He’s kind of a nuisance. It seems that with this access to tweeting, combined with all the new tweeple, there’s a twampede. Yeah, a (twitter+stampede) causing Twitter to burst at the seems.

That’s also pretty cool I think. It’s kind of like middle school: full of growing pains in the knees, right?

It’s a good thing Twitter is run by a bunch of grown ups who have experience dealing with Google. Otherwise they might have taken the quick cash from the big kids when they were vulnerable.

The cynical if-I-was-still-twelve-years-old-he’d-be-hilarious Eminem is back. The video for We Made You was released today.  He’s still quick flowing and boisterous. Still going with the Scary Movie style satire of the obvious pop culture pariahs. Kim Kardashian’s got a big ass? Who knew.

It took him and Dre five years to come out with this typecast release?

Single 1: Slim Shady takes all his easy cheap shots
Single 2: Eminem reminds us that he actually is a decent rapper
Single 3: Knock it off. All right, the album is OK

I was hoping for a little progression in his career. Hopefully Dre’s release will be better.

Enjoy “We Made You” from Interscope & Aftermath, directed by Joseph Kahn:

Good God.

The shit’s done. After all of that. After all the talk. All the bull. All the hardwork. All the mess.

The jump off’s FINALLY jumpin off.

Not Drugs Presents: “Can’t Win. Won’t Lose.” The OFFICIAL NOT DRUGS MIXTAPE.

The internet is a funny place…it’s supposed to make things easier. But all it did was make my life mad complicated….ALL DAY.

Shouts to Lindsey Nadolski, who inspired one of the final tracks on the mix. Shouts to Dave Newberg and Matt Portman for listening to a majority of the mix with me. And mad love to Matt Duelka, Jared Riviere, Andrew Brown, and Bri Murray…for various other reasons, without which “Can’t Win. Won’t Lose.” would not be a possible thing.

This isn’t meant to be sentimental…it’s just that this whole process really became just that….A PROCESS. And now it’s done. Not Drugs can get some sleep.

CLICK THIS PICTURE TO DOWNLOAD THE MIX FOR FREE.

One.

“If you want to persuade me, first make me believe I am very very smart. Then make me believe I am very very smart for agreeing with you. That is how you make people believe you.”

I was just taught this 45 seconds ago by one of my favorite film professors.

Not Drugs is attempting to do what the quote above is saying. Dig.

MIXTAPE. 04.03.2009. That’s tomorrow if you don’t know what’s going on.

If the mixtape had a cover…I would imagine we would make it look like this. If you can do better(and I know you can) send us a new one.

I love innovation. I don’t believe in sitting with the status-quo because there’s usually an angle that can be cut, a better implement used, etc.

Some people look at the cause of innovation as an economic exercise. There’s some incongruity when analyzing the supply and demand. The deviation of norms is too skewed.

I don’t know how to look at things that way; I drank vodka in economics.

How I do look at things? Usually with a sweeping, subtle & supercilious  eye. Damn that’s arrogant. Anyway! let’s take a look at some monumental revelations from the past decade or so:

Problem: Baseball players can’t break records!
Solution: Start taking steroids.

Problem: This party sucks!
Solution: Turn the damn music up.

Problem: The planet is dieing!
Solution: Stop filling its lungs with cow farts and charred dinosaur guts.

In celebration of its 30th anniversary, Inc. Magazine is highlighting the best revolutionary moments in each of the last 30 years. It’s cool to look back on how things have changed and how they used to be, even just in the 90′s.

Oh and that ND mixtape, “Can’t Win. Won’t Lose”?

One Caroline Lee spoke of it like this: “It’s like one of those cds that you make for your girlfriend, right?”

If our readers are our collective girlfriend, maybe, Caroline.

So we made a big huff and puff about it. Then we dropped it because of time constraints. Then we decided it was too damn hot to drop.

So, now it’s time to blow up. Everything.

That’s called: evolution. Look it up.

This Friday…Not Drugs is releasing a mixtape. If you don’t know what a mixtape is, then you shouldn’t be on this site. Not to be mean.

04.03.2009.

Not Drugs Presents: “Can’t Win. Won’t Lose.” Our first mix CD for FREE DOWNLOAD on our site.

Also, if you go to school Ithaca College, you may be able to find one on a chair, as we plan to RELEASE 150 FREE COPIES OF THE CD AT RANDOM SPOTS ON ITHACA COLLEGE’S MAIN CAMPUS.

More on this throughout the day.

OK. Return to normality.

One.