Happy 4th of July

© Joel Thomason

It's been a good day. No better way to finish it off than to listen to my all time favorite 4th of July song, Ray Charles' rendition of "America the Beautiful".

- Joel

Ray Charles - "America The Beautiful"

New Desk

I need a new desk. If I had $375 to blow and lived in Chicago, I'd buy this old science table from Agent Gallery Chicago. I wonder if any stores in Kansas City have anything like this for a little bit less money.

- Joel

Jerry Bywaters

Where The Mountains Meet the Plains, 1939 © Jerry Bywaters

I've thought a lot about Jerry Bywaters lately. Maybe it's because every time I watch a Western film I think of Bywaters' paintings. When I lived in Dallas, the very first event I ran for the O'Donnell Foundation was at the Meadows Museum on the SMU campus. The Meadows happened to be featuring an exhibit from the Bywaters collection at the time. I spent an entire week running hundreds of students through an exhibition entitled "Coming of Age". However, I spent my spare time that week wandering through the Bywaters exhibition over and over again. I love his interpretations of the Southwestern landscape.

- Joel

Rain Storm, Colorado, 1940 © Jerry Bywaters

Ranch Near Tucumcari, 1946 © Jerry Bywaters

Carnival © Jerry Bywaters

Song of the Day

Check out this simple remix. It's Jay-Z rapping "99 Problems" backed by The Dap Kings (of Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings). It's been 7 years since The Black Album dropped. Do you think Hova still has 99 problems?

- Joel

Jay-Z - "99 Problems (Dap Kings remix)"

Morning Benders - "Stitches"

What do you get when you put 75 California hipsters in a room? Apparently you get some pretty cool music. Yours Truly recently posted this video from a session recorded last December. If you'd like to download the audio version of the live session, I've put that below as well. Enjoy.

- Joel

The Morning Benders – "Stitches (Yours Truly Session)"

Get Off My Lawn

Thanks to AVS and Trey Kazee for the heads up on this photo zine. Get Off My Lawn features photographers 34 years of age or older. As the Sad Kids blog points out, too often photographers must be younger than 34 to be considered emerging artists. But sometimes people are late bloomers, or their greatness just isn't recognized until a later age. So why not have a zine devoted to the older and wiser photographers? This is the very first zine in this collection, so I made sure to snag it. Now I can collect the whole set if more are to come. I'm still frustrated that I didn't know Allison when her first zine came out. I've got 3 of 4 but wasn't around in time to purchase the first one. I won't let that happen again.

- Joel

Outside of photographs in history books, my experience with the Sistine Chapel has been limited. Then I stumbled upon this interactive website created by the Vatican and now I really know what the fuss is about.

Michelangelo killed it (as if you didn't already know).

- Joel

Interactive Sistine Chapel

Song of the Day

A little remix from Janelle Monae featuring B.o.B. and Lupe Fiasco. Enjoy the video (and the hairdo) and download the "Wondamix" below.

- Joel

Janelle Monae featuring B.o.B. and Lupe Fiasco - "Tightrope (Wondamix)

Mike Huckabee

I found the article on Mike Huckabee in this week's edition of the New Yorker incredibly interesting. Though the magazine and the politician lean in different directions, the author does a good job of toeing the line between the two. Check it out at the link below.

- Joel

"Prodigal Son" by Ariel Levy

Lissie - Pursuit of Happiness

After hearing this song and watching the video, I have a semi-crush on Lissie Maurus. Not really but you gotta love a girl who digs hip hop and can sing like she can. Here she covers the Kid Cudi track "Pursuit of Happiness". I think I like it better than the original version. You can watch the performance and download the live recording below. As with any hip hop, beware of a bit of language.

- Joel

Lissie - "Pursuit of Happiness (Kid Cudi Cover)"

Some people have loved Notorious B.I.G. since back in the day. Other people claimed they had always liked him after hearing Girl Talk layer "Juicy" on top of Elton John's "Tiny Dancer". People in both camps will appreciate this mixtape. San Francisco DJ wait what has put Biggie on top of last year's indie darlings The xx. Biggie spitting on top of indie minimalism makes for a good match. Watch a music video of one of the tracks below and go here to download the album.

- Joel

Kilian Martin

Part of me secretly wishes I was a skateboarder. Videos like this explain why.

- Joel

Song of the Day

This is a modern take on an old hit by the 1960's soul group The Spinners. Take a listen to Raphael Saadiq's version of "It's a Shame" recorded as part of Levi's Pioneer Sessions. It will get you toe to tapping and put a smile on your face.

- Joel

Raphael Saadiq - "It's A Shame"

Best Coast

I'm still digging Best Coast and their 1960's sound. Their debut album, Crazy For You, drops next month. Check out the first track from the album below and watch a little Converse clip about the band.

- Joel

Best Coast - "Boyfriend"

Kris Kristofferson

I stumbled onto an NPR show over the weekend which happened to be featuring a recently released album of demos written by Kris Kristofferson. The demos, which were actually written in the 1960's and 1970's, became recordings by a variety of other artists including Janis Joplin, Willy Nelson, and Johnny Cash. However, this album, titled Please Don't Tell Me How The Story Ends: The Publishing Demos 1968-1972 (a long title I know), showcases the songs in their original form before other artists got hold of them. Kristofferson demonstrates the power of a good song in the hands of a man and his guitar. I wasn't able to find any mp3s from the album, but I did find a YouTube video of the title track.

- Joel

Song of the Day

I think the mandolin was made for summertime music. You've got to love, or at lease appreciate, vintage 1970's bluegrass that features intense mandolin picking. Check out the song by Roland White below. I'd listen to it for no other reason than the title. This is the Nickel Creek sound 20 years before there was a Nickel Creek.

- Joel

Roland White - "Kansas City Blues"

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada

Having just watched the death of U.S. World Cup hopes, I decided to cheer myself up yesterday afternoon with a Netflix movie - The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. The film, not nearly as morbid as the title suggests, stars Tommy Lee Jones and marks his debut as a director. Opening on the desert of southwest Texas, local authorities discover the body of an illegal immigrant and local cowhand, Meliquiades Estrada. The ranch foreman, and Estrada's best friend, Pete Perkins (played by Jones), kidnaps the Border Patrol agent guilty of accidentally killing Estrada who is being protected from the law by a gentleman's agreement between the local authorities and the Border Patrol. Perkins and his captive embark on a journey through the desert to bury Estrada in his native land of Mexico. This story is one of friendship, loyalty, justice, and redemption.

After his performance in this film, it's no wonder that Tommy Lee Jones was chosen to star in No Country for Old Men, which shares many similarities with The Three Burials, including the border setting. I was pleasantly surprised to see January Jones, of Mad Men fame, playing the wife of the guilty Border Patrol Agent in the film. You'll have a hard time finding this movie at a RedBox or your local video store, but it's worth you're time if you are a Netflix subscriber.

- Joel

Letterhead

The website Letterheady.com highlights interesting letterhead from around the world. The site makes me want to design my own personal letterhead. I'd probably go with something simple, like those used by Rube Goldberg or Babe Ruth. You can look at some of my favorites below. Click on the images to get a closer look.

- Joel

Photographer of the Day

The Good Doctor © Orson Oblowitz

Orson Oblowitz. These remind me of the trip my family took around the Southwest last summer, though we never had an RV.

- Joel

They All End Up In the Same Place © Orson Oblowitz

Tennis

When a band names themself Tennis, it's pretty tricky to find them on Google. Try searching "Tennis", "Tennis music", or "Tennis band" and you'll see what I mean. Or even trying searching "Tennis marathon" and you'll find quite a few articles about yesterday's epic tennis match (which after 10 hours hasn't even finished) at Wimbledon. But the Tennis I was looking for is a husband/wife duo from Denver. Their sound, like many new indie acts, has a vintage 1960's feel. I like it. Listen to a few songs below.

- Joel

Tennis - "Marathon"
Tennis - "Baltimore"