With three tenor and two alto saxophonists, two trumpeters, two double bassists, a pianist and a drummer, John Coltrane and his big band got their freak on. Ascension, the forty-minute free jazz recorded in 1965, was Coltrane’s experimentation with dissonant tones and intensified textures.

Häagen-Dazs launched helpthehoneybees.com, a gorgeous, interactive web site to raise awareness of honey bee crisis:

Honey bees are responsible for pollinating more than 100 different crops, $15 billion worth annually in the U.S., and are a key factor in the agricultural industry’s ability to provide food products to the rest of the world. But honey bees are dying at an alarming rate. Over the last several winters, more than 25 percent of the honey bee population in the United States has vanished, many under mysterious circumstances. Early reports from beekeepers show this phenomenon is continuing in 2008.

Check out the dancing bees video too.

University of Portland sports huge photos on the homepage, but manages to keep layout clean and simple.

Upon hearing country singer Willie Nelson performing with jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis makes me wish I could have been at Jazz at Lincoln Center to fully experience the one-of-a-kind collaboration. Nelson’s charming baritone breathes some fresh country air into the 12-bar blues driven by Marsalis and his excellent sidemen: Walter Blanding Jr. on saxophones, Dan Nimmer on piano, Carlos Henriquez on bass and Ali Jackson on drums.

With his relaxed phrasing and impeccable timing, Nelson could maneuver his way around the slow, heartfelt blues as well as the fast, jumping swing. On the splendid opening “Bright Light Big City,” you can’t tell what city it is because the harmonica from Mickey Raphael suggests Nashville while the horns and keyboard lick suggest New York City. But it is this marvelous blend that gives the concert its distinctiveness. “Coldonia” is another perfect example. You could either do the honky-tonky or the hillbilly hoedown or even both if you have the skills.

Marsalis is a brilliant soloist and you could hear the influence of Louis Armstrong all over his big, bold blowing, particularly on “Basin Street Blues” and “My Bucket’s Got a Hole In It.” Yet his most lustrous, indelible solo is on the fantastic closing “That’s All,” in which he wails a long, breathless riff on the high register. He is amazingly in control of the trumpet.

What make Two Men With the Blues a phenomenon is that both men from two different styles had found a common ground in the blues and that they were having a good old time playing together. So big up to Willie and Wynton for this rare gem and big props to Blue Note for capturing the special occasion on tape for those of us who missed the live sessions.

Reader’s Digest covers an inspiring article about Carly Zalenski who set out to build in Viet Nam for children when she was twelve, and she accomplished it in two years. Here is how she did it:

She put together a PowerPoint presentation on the people and culture of Vietnam. At 12, barely able to see over the podium, she gave her first fund-raising pitch. Though her new braces made it hard to enunciate, she spoke with enthusiasm. “The kids in rural Vietnam don’t have decent schools,” she told a room of 200 Rotarians. “That’s not fair. I want to give them a place to make their lives better.”

Thanks Carly for such a kind heart.

I’m been jamming to Hong Nhung’s live performance of Trinh Cong Son’s “Bong Khong La Bong.” The funk vibe and Hong Nhung’s rejuvenating delivery moved me. Cue in at 7:50 mark and enjoy the show. Hong Nhung still looks hot for her age.

Sarah Vaughan on Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz in a 1986 program. Check out the part she sings the male vocals.

This video, not safe for work or lunch, leaves me speechless. By the way, if you come to this site and expect only clean content, then you have come to the wrong place.

Update: The cakefart.com server is down due to heavy traffic. But here is another video for your amusement. This one reminds me of a bus trip I took in Viet Nam from the south to north when an European chick requested the bus driver to pull over for a bathroom break. She ran quickly off the bus and ran right back asking the driver where is the bathroom. He pointed to the field. She looked in disbelieve, went back to her seat, but decided to went down to do what she had to do. It was dark out so no one could see her anyway.

Alright, enough pollution for Friday.

Three days passed, I still could not recover my Maxtor OneTouch 4 external hard drive, which housed backup of my works and my entire MP3 collection. The hard drive was working fine until I started to backing up my laptop using Time Machine. Instead of backing up my work, Time Machine fucked up my work. Now my 500 GB hard drive doesn’t mount anymore. Time Machine sucks. Does anyone know how to solve this problem? Your help will deeply appreciate it.

Last week, I bought a license of SoThink SWF Decompiler for Mac. I tried it out first before I ordered it. It converted a SWF file to FLA fine with the exception of ActionScript. Only the full version would decompile ActionScript. I went ahead and bought the full version and the damn software didn’t do the job it has claimed to do. I tried the web site and no U.S. number available. I emailed the company for support and it said that my email would get reply within 24 hours. Well, it’s been a week and I heard nothing. I emailed the customer department yesterday to ask them for money back, and guess what? No answer yet. So fuck SoThink.

Dealing with all these shit is so stressful, but now that I could write them down and get them out of my system I am feeling a bit better. I can’t wait to just relax over the weekend.

A clean, organized layout that gets down to business.