I'm giving Tumblr a little test. If you wanna check out what I post, come take a look. If I can find a way to make it all I want it to be, then I might move the whole shebag over here.

blog.steveisaacs.com

Hi there. I've (as you might know) pretty much stopped posting here, now I find myself at a crossroads. I used to post once a day, when the band was in full swing, but now as I go about my life in New York, I wonder about what to do with this blog. I have grown to really dislike Movable Type, and am bummed that it offers no good mobile blogging functions. I find myself wanting to take pics with the iPhone and do mobile postings, but my "state of the art" blog software wont let me.

Looked into tumblr.com, and while I LOVE the interface, the options are way too limited for my blog needs. Soooo. I still want to broadcast, but am not sure what and how. Brett just wrote me an exasperated comment, and I don't blame him for giving up on me. Guess I'm gonna do a bit more soul searching on what to do with this page - if anyone wants to chime in with a vote - please lemme know.

Favorite Stuff lately:
iwantsandy.com
My MacBook Air
Muse's Black Holes and Revelations
Top Chef

Gawker now hosting the video...

Happy Holidays to everyone. As I was packing me and my fiancé’s bags side-watching the I Love New York 2 season finale (full disclosure) amid the constant sonic annoyance of standard commercials… all of a sudden - silence. Then this. Well done, Converse. Actually stopped me in my tracks.

Hope you all are happy now, with the people you love most doing things that you will all remember years from now. That is what this time of year is about - connections with those people who make you happy to be alive, and those that helped you live in the first place.

Bless all of you and goodnight.

Because playing air drums to Rush is actually a very worthwhile thing to do.

I linked this a while back, but it's worth checking out again; a n amazing holographic Kate Moss effect closing designer Alexander McQueen's 2006 fashion show.

Today. Britney Spears' new album "Blackout" will debut at the top of the Billboard top 200 albums chart, further cementing my fear that the human race is irrevocably fucked. If you live in a trailer and Cheetos are considered a food group, then today friend, start celabratin'.

Although you can see why her mediocre music sells, because she is clearly HOT LIKE FIRE.

Update: Brit was only supposed to debut at the top spot because The Eagles' new album (which outsold hers) was only available at Walmart. Billboard has some kinmd of policy ignoring exclusive sales of this kind in their charts, but have changed their rules, so now Brit is number two, Which is fitting, cuase she LOOKS LIKE SHIT. HAHAHAHAHAHA.

I just made that up.

I first got hooked on Project Runway while on an NYC to LA JetBlue fight, which was also my first introduction to in-flight TVs. Bravo was doing a marathon, and I found myself glued to the seatback screen. While living with Larissa, (who was nuts about it) I had avoided it, thinking that it was just a queeny fashion bitchfest. Now, I realize that it Equals Awesome because it is a queeny fashion bitchfest.

Add to that Tim Gunn's sharp and witty mentoring role on the show, and the challenges which really made me view the fashion world in a whole new way. It's really cool to watch a show where each episode is based on a creative challenge, not on standing on a log for 5 hours or out-slutting other whores for the affections of a has-been rock star. (Full Disclosure, I do watch Survivor and did enjoy Rock of Love).

I'm all about Project Runway and I hope that season 4 is as good as the other seasons. It's make it happen time now, people.

Oh yeah, and if you like PR, don't miss the recaps on four four - they're hilarious.

I have no idea what The Peter Serafinowicz Show is, but apparently it's complete fucking genius. That's what's behind this amazing Darth Vader in love video. Get ready for some Helmet Wax people.

update: This just in from reader davidmotion:

The Peter Serafinowicz has only been on British TV for about 3 weeks or so. I haven't actually been watching because it's on against something else I watch.

But the guy's been knocking about in supporting roles for ages. He actually did the voice for Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace, he was the pompous flatmate in Shaun Of The Dead and was Duane Benzie in Spaced among others.

The day is upon us, it's Halloween. This is my first real Halloween in New York City (I used to live here, but didn't really do it up that Halloween). I had no idea what I was doing until last night; my friends Karen and Patrick have sold me on walking in the annual New York Halloween Parade. It's a crazy mess of tens of thousands of people, costumes, floats, music and this year, us! My fiance and some other friends are all meeting up in an hour, then we get in the lineup, and the parade starts at 7.

Decided to go as Andy Warhol. Stopped off at Ricky's, a local wig/costume chain, and got a white wig, some black hair spray, some white mascara (for my eyebrows), and some black horn-rimmed glasses. At lunch a bought a striped turtleneck, and now I think the costume is complete. I'm working on wandering around and stammering a running loop of "wow", "fabulous", and "Bianca Jagger" to archive full-Factory perfection.

We just had a costume party here, and surprise! I got first runner up. Ah yeah, a 75 buck gift certie for a local spa. Hello Anal Bleaching!

I'm gonna take a load of pics tonight, and possibly resurrect my flickr page and dump 'em all in there in a day or so. Hope you are all on your way to a memorable Halloween. If you feel like it, let me know what you chose to dress up as and what you have planned in the comments...

Here's some random Halloween Links:

Trendhunter Halloween Trends

Greenpoint Spooky House

Internet Giants Compete For The Ugliest Halloween Logo

from BuzzFeed:

Every year around Halloween, there's a new story on the classic Wilhelm scream sound effect. "I'll just fill my pipe...Aiiiyeeeaa!" So began the career of one of the most-used sound effects in movie history. Since appearing in 1953's The Charge At Feather River - Wilhelm gets an arrow through the leg after delivering his line - it's been in nearly 200 movies and TV shows, including all the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films, and has long been something of an inside joke to sound editors.

Here's the story behind it:

From the Reactable website:

The reactable is a collaborative electronic music instrument with a tabletop tangible multi-touch interface. Several simultaneous performers share complete control over the instrument by moving and rotating physical objects on a luminous round table surface. By moving and relating these objects, representing components of a classic modular synthesizer, users can create complex and dynamic sonic topologies, with generators, filters and modulators, in a kind of tangible modular synthesizer or graspable flow-controlled programming language...

The reactable hardware is based on a translucent, round multi-touch surface. A camera situated beneath the table, continuously analyzes the surface, tracking the player's finger tips and the nature, position and orientation of physical objects that are distributed on its surface. These objects represent the components of a classic modular synthesizer, the players interact by moving these objects, changing their distance, orientation and the relation to each other. These actions directly control the topological structure and parameters of the sound synthesizer. A projector, also from underneath the table, draws dynamic animations on its surface, providing a visual feedback of the state, the activity and the main characteristics of the sounds produced by the audio synthesizer.

Bjork is collaborating with the Reactable team onstage on her current Volta tour. Here are some more demos of this wonderful creation.

Japanese media artist Toshio Iwai has created this awesome little 16x16 box, the "Tenori-on" that is some kind of tech-toy cross breed of musical instrument, digital sequencer, and a lite-brite. I love this thing. Apparently its not really available yet, although the Yamaha UK site says it's available for £599.00, which amounts to about $1200.00. ...Which can blow me. When it is available though, for a non-crazy price I'ma gonna be gettin' me one.

Here it is in action:

Site note: I know for some reason comments are all screwed up and not showing, but I have the crack team here at Media Temple™ on it and we should have it fixed "soon to very soon". Or ..."later to very later."

A system for controlling your character in Second Life using only the thoughts of the user has been developed by the Keio University Biomedical Engineering Laboratory. The user wears an electrode-equipped head piece that transfers signals from the brain's motor cortex, to an EEG machine, then to the movements of the in-game avatar. Basically, you think about moving your character's arm, and it moves. No keyboard, no controllers.

This is some amazing, ground breaking stuff right here. William Gibson, in his visionary Neuromancer imagined a future when we interacted in a virtual world of information, a merging of the current internet and virtual reality space. The user uses a headband of "trodes" that did just what this new device does - transfer thought to virtual action.

A device like this was inevitable, and the implications on the near and far future are astounding. In the short term, beside the obvious game play possibilities, the physically impaired can operate computers and characters in an entirely new way, and it can also can be used for wheelchairs and thought-controlled interfaces at work and at home. In the far future, as I have thought since I first read Neuromancer that Gibson was right and his vision of cyberspace will come to pass.

via Gizmodo > Pink Tentacle > Nikkei Net

Led Zeppelin, one of the biggest not-available-online bands (along with The Beatles) will make its entire catalog available for download starting November 13th.
News From The Associated Press - York Daily Record/Sunday News

Easily the funniest sketch from Saturday Night Live in a really long time. Sadly, I can't embed it here for you, but they are showing over at Gawker for your enjoyment.