DJ Shadow‘s ENDTRODUCING is probably one of my favorite albums of all time. Generally speaking, I’m not much of a hip-hop man, nor of much of DJ culture — I have a hard enough time keeping track of the more traditional rock ‘n roll stuff I listen to — so it’s hard for me to talk about albums like that with any kind of authority or knowledge beyond “wow, that sounds really cool”. But there’s something about the grainy, subtle soundscapes of ENDTRODUCING that I really respond to, something undefinable that kind of sucks you in and gets you nodding your head as these weird syncopated beats and ethereal samples swirl around you.

It’s generally considered “groundbreaking” and is revered among the music crit/snob crowd: for example, here’s Rolling Stone’s glowing take (reviewed at the same time as Aphex Twin’s RICHARD D. JAMES, another of these hybrid soundscape/ DJ/ electronic/ mishmash albums from the late 90s.) The important thing to remember, though, is that it’s DJ music, created by one guy, alone in a studio for months on end, layering sample over sample and tweaking the whole thing with computers and synthesizers and God only knows what other kinds of equipment he had in there. Not instruments. Samples.

Haivng said that, here’s the real interesting thing: a video of a high school percussion group performing two tracks from ENDTRODUCING, live, using real instruments — and duplicating the sound so closely that it’s scary. This is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. (Here’s clips from both pieces performed as heard on the album, from Amazon: “Building Steam With a Grain of Salt” and “Changeling“.)

So as many of you know, for the last five years or so I’ve been in pursuit of a pig. Not just any pig, but a pig just like the one in my Grandma Pope’s cupboard. She has a little pig and a little lamb made in the same style. When we were little she’d let us play with them even though our moms said we’d break them. She’d say, “Aw, they’ll be careful” or something along those lines and because she trusted us with them we loved them like we loved her.

So on one fateful Mom’s Weekend shop-a-thon we found an identical little lamb. I had never even considered we could buy another pig and a lamb, but upon consideration, we couldn’t just LEAVE IT THERE, alone in the store, with no pig friend, and no loving family! (This logic comes into play a lot with antique junkies, so Gus is especially glad Mom’s Weekend is only once a year) So we bought the lamb, and so began the search for the elusive pig.

I have, in fact, begun to go into antique shops I’d never venture into ordinarily just to find this little devil. Berkley Springs, Boca Raton, Logan, San Antonio, Shipshewanna, Wheeling, Lebannon, Waynesville, Holmes County, Brown County, near and far, big ones and small ones, all for the pig. (well officially anyways) Along the way we’ve been taunted by other figurines in the same style and have accumulated (under the same philosophy of being morally bound to reunite their little animal family) two horses, one small and one large, a bunny, and a duck.

And then it happened, I was in Springfield today, at a sprawling antique mall I’ve been to over and over, speed-shopping for something else entirely. (but with the pig always in the back of my mind, of course) I rounded the corner and there it was… the PIG! He was hanging out with two other horses of his style, a cat with an inexplicable hole in the top of its head, and a cat lamp all by the same manufacturer. Then my mom called. She was in the parking lot with Carl and I had to leave it. I jottted down the booth number, like I wouldn’t remember finding my “holy pig grail”, and I ran out to meet her.

Out of breath I told her about the pig. THE PIG! Dad wanted to have lunch, (LUNCH?!? did I mention the PIG!) But Dad and Carl were oblivious, they were busy playing with the tractor Dad got him at the Farm Science Review (did I mention we’re in a weird business) and eating hot dogs. The second Dad left we shot back to the pig and considered its likeness to Grandma’s pig. Cheeks not quite as rosy as Grandma’s pig, and were the eyes blue or black? Doesn’t Grandma’s face the other way? We couldn’t remember, but it was close. Close enough to add to the group for sure. Certainly a success. The speed-shopping was a bust, but no one cared.

The pig has been secured.

For those of you who might be interested: CARTOON PLANET is once again scheduled to run on Cartoon Network. — 5:30 a.m. daily, looks like, at least for next week.

Fire up the TiVos!

After a years-long obsession, my pal xtop finally gets to see former Beach Boy loony/mastermind Brian Wilson perform his previously lost and now-resurrected pop opus SMiLE.

A small detail in a popular online videogame unintentionally spawned a “plague” that’s killing off many of its players. From 1Up.com:

Often the best parts of a videogame are moments you don’t see coming, and sometimes the developers can’t even anticipate them! The number of variables in the online realm means that whenever a company like Blizzard makes a change to their game, its true effects might not be seen right away or during internal beta testing.

Such is the case with one of the latest updates to World of Warcraft. Blizzard recently added the Zul’Gurub instance to the game, where Hakkar, the god of blood, uses a devastating disease attack on anyone who dares fight him. Seeing as how it’s a disease and most diseases are contagious, it shouldn’t be shocking when some players come back and haven’t been cured.

And that’s exactly what’s happened. Players are returning from this instance to towns with the diseases, spreading it, and Blizzard’s in a panic to keep things under control. GM’s have started to quarantine players in an effort to control the spreading, but players keep leaving the quarantine areas. Unless you’re above level 50, you more or less immediately fall over dead from the disease.

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