can gorilla has iphone?

no. can not has.

Television? Come on, let's be real.

Talks about establishing an "a la carte" model for cable television have come back up to the surface recently, and i find myself wondering if it's too late for everyone to even bicker over such a model.

I mean, does everyone still really watch television on television?

I know that there are still plenty of folks out there that like their TV the traditional way: by appointment only, no timeshifting, no on-demand. But, everyone that i personally know gets their television in different ways -- mostly online. And i don't roll with a necessarily tech-savvy crowd, either.

My mentee is 17, and he and his friends access their shows through sites like www.tv-links.co.uk. It's kind of like a library of links to streaming videos hosted all over the web. And almost every show you could want is on the list: sitcoms, dramas, anime, cartoons... They even have full-length movies (watch out itunes, netflix, movielink, etc.!) all neatly alphabetized, eagerly awaiting your mouse's click.

And these aren't links to shows created specifically for the web. No, these are genuine network shows, created by and for network television.

Not every show is available all the time, of course. Those DMCA takedown notices can cause the links to break occasionally. But check back in a couple days, and you'll find that the links have been updated.

Can sites like this be sued? Maybe. Napster got sued for hosting a centralized server that allowed people to trade files containing copyrighted content. So, sites like tv-links could be found guilty for essentially doing a very similar thing: hosting a centralized location that allows people to link to copyrighted content.

But even if sites like tv-links are sued, I don't think it really matters. Suing napster didn't do much to revive the music industry, so i don't think it'll do much for the television industry, either. The fact is that the world of content delivery is changing, and networks need to find a way to ride this new tech wave, rather than push against it and angering everyone in the process.

I own a television, but i rarely even turn it on. I watch all of my shows online. In fact, i'm just about to "tv-link" an episode of Planet Earth while I catch up on my RSS feeds.

So, bicker about "a la carte" all you want, cable network people. And get mad all you want, major network people. I don't know if it'll really matter for that much longer.

*UPDATE*: Here come the lawsuits.

import market gum

i went to the import market today and found gum with some funny names.

*UPDATE*: i recently tried the green candy. see the photos on my flickr account here.

"by youth, for youth" conference 2007.

today, i attended the 2007 "by youth, for youth" conference at the mar vista family center in los angeles.

i got to meet a lot of really cool youth organizations based in the los angeles area, and i got to participate in some really fun and informative workshops.

check out the flickr account for photos of the day's events.

also, check out the people at http://youthradio.org. they're doing some awesome things with youth in the media world!

the coolest house in the neighborhood.

i had a two-hour block of free time on monday, so i decided to explore my neighborhood. i found a house that had these huge dinosaur sculptures in the front yard. there was a giraffe there, too.

it's definitely the coolest house in the neighborhood.

The Monsters on the Road

It was a late Saturday afternoon in October. I was seven, and my parents were driving my sister and me home from our respective music lessons -- a weekly event that I had come to dread. When you're seven, music lessons are weekly bits of scheduled torture. I'm sure that my sister would have agreed with me, if I ever would have asked her.

Each week, we would be robbed of our Saturday and instead be reimbursed with a creaking metronome and an old lady yelling, "Play that passage again, but this time more slowly!" But, as much as we hated it, we would mysteriously find ourselves complying. And at the end of each hour, we would leave the lesson feeling dejected and completely betrayed by our own actions.

Metronomes were the real enemy. When you're a kid, being forced to divide time into equal amounts of musical measure is like going to the beach and only being allowed to count out individual grains of sand during your “playtime”. Every cracking click from the evil box only further reminded us of the one thought that gave us kids true pain: we're missing Saturday morning cartoons.

But after some time, the clicking box would drown out any thoughts at all, and the concept of Saturday morning cartoons would fade away. Eventually, we learned to become tolerant of our weekly lessons, and we passively accepted them into our regular cycle of living.

Besides my sister, my only friend that I could depend on each Saturday was the road. From traveling on it so often, I felt like the road and I had come to share a very special bond. Each week, he would have something new to show me: a shredded tire, a renegade box that had escaped off a freight truck, or (if I was really lucky) an old, abandoned car. No matter how unbearable the lessons became, the road would always deliver something amazing for me to see.

This particular day in October wasn’t very different from any other day in October – or any day at all, for that matter. But, I will never forget it because of what happened next during the car ride home.

We were passing through El Monte, when suddenly my dad cried out, "Yuki! Paul! Close your eyes! There's something really scary coming up on the side of the road!"

My mom immediately joined in, "Oh no! Your father is right. It's horrible!"

Upon hearing the sheer terror in their voices, my sister and I quickly covered our eyes and buried our heads in our laps, hoping that it would be enough to save us from the evils on the side of the road.

My father continued, “Don’t worry, kids. We’re not afraid of these monsters. We’ll protect you!”

As I sat there with my hands tightly cupped over my eyes, I began to think of my friend the road. Why he would suddenly want to show me such horrible things that my parents would have to protect me from? I felt betrayed and ashamed that I had ever built any trust in our friendship. From the darkness of my mind, I cursed the road and put him on my mental “ex-friends” list. And with my magical psychic abilities, I sent a silent message of gratitude to my brave parents for boldly protecting us.

After what seemed like enough time to have another music lesson, my mom sent out the safe signal: “It’s okay. You can open your eyes now. The monsters are gone."

I couldn't help myself. I had to see what the horrible monsters which my parents had so courageously battled looked like. I carefully turned my head ever so slowly towards the car’s rear window. My heart began to beat faster as I thought of the unspeakable horrors I could potentially see.

I fearfully looked out the window, only to find my old friend the road blankly staring back at me. Then, I noticed it: the faint blinking of carnival lights waving goodbye to me from a distance.

Paul Dateh & Inka One featured on JETSET!

JETSET is this awesome weekly video podcast that the great people at Smashface put together, and this week DJ Inka One and I were able to join in! Point your browsers over to http://jetsetshow.com or just click the play button below to watch it here now.

Don't forget to check out MIX, the show's companion site! It's THE place to hang out online.

See you all tonight at the Pixelodeon Revver party!

will YOU be at Pixelodeon?

I will!



If you want to see what’s happening online and meet the people who are making it happen, this is the place to be. It all goes down this weekend at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles!

After watching all the great videos at Pixelodeon during the day, make sure to come say what up to me @ the Revver party on Saturday night. I'll be performing a special set with DJ Inka One.

Party starts at 7pm @ Blu Monkey Lounge.
Don't lose your festival program. You'll need it to get into the party.

See you there!
pd

CONTROL.

i like to go back sometimes and revisit songs i've written in the past. they're like journal entries, almost. i remember being particularly frustrated on the day i wrote this. but after the last line was angrily scratched into my book, i remember feeling so much better.

i feel so lucky to have music in my life to help release all the thoughts building up in my brain. without it, i don't know what i would do! :)

(you can hear this track on the music player on my music page.)

[Control]
[Paul Dateh 2007]

(Verse 1)
In the morning when I wake up
I try to think what's best for me to do
But even when the morning's over
I still find that I have yet to choose

What method am I to use?
I know I'm wasting time
My future's on the line

(Chorus)
I'm still searching for control
'Cause round and round I go
and I can't seem to take any more
Though I try my best to fight it
My life's intertwined with
Things I just can't seem to resolve

(Verse 2)
In the afternoon I try
To find a new design
Through which I'll have myself defined
But when I look at what I've refined
I see that everything's just misaligned
Maybe I'll just resign

(Bridge)
I don't care what you've been told before
Sometimes life just ain't no fun, no
It's a lesson that will hurt if left ignored
You could fight it, but what for?