Words in lines

I have a confession to make. Despite not really listening to music much, there is one variety of music that I enjoy intensely, and that is acoustic covers of hip-hop/pop songs. It has all the catchiness of a real pop-song, with none of the tasteless synthesised sound or 'urban beats.' While I realise the level of artisanship that goes into making one of those three minute synth-spam songs, I also think that that level of electric sophistication removes the emotion, the heart, the reality from the song. It's made up big, then simplified to the lowest possible denominator. Also, I just really don't like urban beats in general. About 10 years ago, a statement like that would be considered standard. Today I am not so sure.

Which is why I blew another hole in my shoestring bandwidth budget, and watched another Youtube video. I now post for you all so as to reclaim my good position and standing.



(Incidentally, this was the first time I had heard "Single Ladies" in any form. Based on this awesome version however, I will make an unfounded value judgement on the original: terrible.)

I would link to others, but they are on Youtube, and even momentary access with destroy my internet. So look up Lady Gaga Poker Face Acoustic. Its the one with her with a pimp hat on. That song made me respect her as an artist, even though I detest her actual songs. My internet, however. To quote my facebook status:

"I leave my internet on while I go on a very ill-advised lecture on the day before my exams. When I get back, 100 MB had been burned up. Utorrent has turned itself on, and started downloading SOMETHING, that DOESN'T EVEN SHOW UP. MORE; MORE OF THIS. PRITHEE MORE."

Which leads me to the lecture: it was interesting. Especially the first half, before I fell asleep.Did you know that the main reason that we can never cure the common cold, the flu, AIDS, dengue fever, yellow fever, etc. is because those viruses evolve at a rate approximately a million times faster than mammals? Their genes are written in RNA, not DNA, and they have no mechanism for detecting or fixing errors in their sequence. This means that EVERY generation of the virus has at least one genetic difference from its parents, and that most individuals die out. The survivors are really survivors, however, and because of this ultra-rapid rate of evolution, we can never actually stop them. They will be several hundred steps ahead of any science we inflict on them.

Moving on: I used to be quite interested in stock exchanges and investing. I liked the idea of interpreting trends to make money. So did this guy. At the same time as working 16 hour days as a neurosurgeon, he invested money and explained his decisions on a blog. People read his blog. People gave him a million dollars and said 'spend it.' He doubled it, so they gave him more. He is now a billionaire. This is his story. It makes me wish that there was a simple guide to the basics of investment, that is readable for someone with a minimal education in business. I understand that interpreting trends takes a lifetime, but hey.

ALSO: to settle a debate about the value of Internet Piracy, Tim, would you kindly share your thoughts.

They say that it is a good marketing ploy, and said that they have downloaded one album by an artist only to buy all their others. I say that many hard-working musicians go poor because they can't get recompense for their efforts. They say that good artists do concerts and make money that way. I say that a musician can be good at writing and playing music in their rooms and studios while not necessarily being good live. They say that it should be about their art and ideals instead of the money anyway, and that musicians all have nine to five jobs if they aren't mega big.

SO, as a multi-band musician with a direct claim to this debate, could you weigh in with an opinion?