While I will be doing a better bit of coverage over at We Own This Town it would be wrong for me not to mention that Next Big Nashville 2009 starts today. The four day festival was started in 2006 as a means of bringing attention to the Nashville music scene outside of the stereotypical role of country music / singer-songwriters. In that time it has expanded itself rather well - taking over just about every worthwhile venue in the city for the better part of a week, legit panels and, of course, loads of bands playing (including nationally recognized acts.. not just local yokels).

If you are in the Nashville area, I suggest taking a look at the schedule and making it out to a few shows. My quick list of recommendations would be:

• Wed, Oct 7th
  The End with Caitlin Rose and Phosphorescent.
• Thur, Oct 8th
  Mercy Lounge party sponsored by Nashville Cream and Lake Fever Sessions showcasing the goodness of Tristen, The Non-Commissioned Officers and How I Became the Bomb.
• Fri, Oct 9th
  Exit/In showcase sponsored by WOXY featuring Bear in Heaven, Cortney Tidwell and The Black Angels.
• Sat, Oct 10th
  5 Spot Nashville has And The Relatives and Hands Down Eugene. Sold.

That's just a quick schedule - if you adhered to this you'd be missing out on a whole lot of great bands so really, check the schedule, make your picks and support the area music scene.

Videos like Terrible Decisions with Ben Schwartz would best be saved for a Friday Video compilation but sometimes it's best not to hoard these things too tightly. Thanks to Chris for the heads up.. I would enjoy seeing a long running series of these.

I imagine that a good number of readers of this site are established fans of Self and wonder from time to time what it is that Matt Mahaffey is up to these days. In this new interview he reveals that he's doing about what you'd think he was doing - producing bands, slowly working on a new album for release at some point in the future, and doing his best to finalize an official website for himself. He also provides a top ten list of his favorite Self songs.

There's a lot of great design and collage work in the portfolio of Able Parris but I am particularly fond of this Cardinal piece. Be sure to browse through the rest for more goodness.

If you are a fan of the vinyl then you should head over to Analog Apartment and have a nice, in-depth, browse through their blog. They've managed to rummage up a lot of great items that you may consider for your home that accentuate your vinyl collection, interviews with vinyl heavy record stores and even a catalog application to help you keep track of vinyl that you personally own.

Via Paige.

There, I Fixed It is a repository of "Epic Kludges and Jury Rigs." One could argue that there is some level of ingenuity at work here but it's usually done in such a terrible and/or lazy way that it's kind of unbelievable. Seriously, this should not be acceptable to anyone. Regretsy is a repository of unbelievable goods found on Etsy. Be warned that a good majority of the items are rather inappropriate (such as the dinosaur pictured) but that makes it all the more enjoyable that someone thought it would be a great idea to make them. And when they aren't wildly inappropriate they are usually somewhat terrifying.. so heads up before you dive head first into this one.

Cat Artwork, as a meme, is pretty overdone but there's something about the work of Susan Herbert that is so ridiculous that it can't help but be enjoyed. She apparently takes classic pieces of art, movie posters, themes, etc. etc. and reworks them as cats - pretty simple. Pieces like Gandalf, The Grey and White or Napoleon III are just too absurd not to be appreciated.

The latest edition of the We Own This Town podcast has been released. Volume 27 is comprised entirely of performances from the Lake Fever Sessions.. so there is, obviously, a much more live feel to all the music contained within but it's a good energy throughout. Plus there's some great cover songs in there so even if you're not familiar with the Nashville band you can enjoy their take on a classic.

If you are in the Nashville area please be sure to mark your calendar for this Thursday at Mercy Lounge for the Nashville Cream / Lake Fever Sessions sponsored showcase.

Download the Podcast.

Apparently the next version of Flash will include additions to the Actionscript platform that will enable a developer to export directly as an iPhone application. This article has a quick video breakdown of how it works, some examples and a mini FAQ. Part of me is excited by the idea of development for the iPhone being opened up to such a broader audience but I've also seen a lot of really bad Flash sites..and I'd prefer not to experience that on my phone.

Regardless, it's something to start thinking about and could provide some nice innovations in the not-to-distant future. Time will tell.

I subscribe to very few podcasts but Podington Bear has been in my aggregation cycle for some time. The previous season consisted entirely of instrumental compositions; no talking, no context for the songs.. just quality music. The third Season recently started and the format has changed. While I would typically assume I would not be comfortable with the narration now included in each broadcast I actually find it very refreshing.. it's great to get some insight into the background of each piece, the influences and just to hear the thoughts of the musician who creates the music that I've been enjoying for some time now.

I suggest you subscribe and catch up on previous downloads.

Last night Them Crooked Vultures played here in Nashville and I was in attendance... mostly due to extreme curiosity if the trio of 'stars' could put together something equally as compelling as their main gigs. While it's really a bit too early to judge the merits of the affair I think I can safely say that they break the trend of less than stellar supergroups (see: Tinted Windows, Chickenfoot).

I recommend checking out their Youtube offerings to get an idea of what they sound like but keep in mind that, live, their songs were mostly incredibly long; and if they weren't all such established rock stars you'd call it "jamming."

It was pointed out to me yesterday by multiple parties that Keith Davis Young has a Flickr photostream and, word on the street is, it's filled with incredible images. With just a quick glance I can confidently agree.

I wasn't sold on this Digital Short until the cellphone segment and then I was entirely on board.

And if you haven't seen The Date - take a moment to watch it, as it is probably the weirdest one they've done.

I've been enjoying the photography offerings of Keith Davis Young. I love the huge format of presentation and the diversity in subject matter but do find myself particularly drawn to the pieces featuring wildly busy environments. Walls plastered with posters, photos, flags and random ephemera just have a certain draw to them that I find undeniable.

All and all, there are a ton of great photos to be seen. Unfortunately there aren't direct links to them so you'll just have to browse through and discover them yourself... a worthwhile experience I promise.

Reminder to myself.. take time to read / watch these things thoroughly:

• Stegan Sagmeister: The power of time off - a recommended TED talk.
• Debugging PHP - not a foreign concept but also a topic that's worth researching in depth.

Young Monster have posted a bunch of tee's and posters up in their portfolio site.. as well as a store to purchase what they've got available. I think I might have to start stealing from their blog too..

In summation, visit Young Monster - click every link. Enjoy.

Madrid just recently informed me of the existence of Tumblupon - the Tumblr randomizer. How I did not come across this before is beyond me but it's a great distraction for those times when you just want to have content served right to you.

Related: Popular Stream - maybe a bit too automated.. turn away for a moment and you miss it.

Super slammed at work this week so here's the playlist and the breakdown:

• Big Bird Agenda - Michelle Obama gets a mouthful on Sesame Street. If / when this gets ganked from Youtube - watch it here.
• 100 Greatest YouTube Hits - in watching this I think I can safely say I recognized 95% of the clips. This is not a boast but the sad reality of the situation.
• English Problems - apparently this is from a 2005 sketch comedy show called Kelsey Grammer Presents: The Sketch Show. The cast looks pretty solid; particularly Paul F. Thompkins, Kaitlin Olson and Mary Lynn Rajskub but I imagine the fact that I've never heard of it means it was terrible.
• Crying Number - I love that this is a 1-900 number.
• Winkers - I just want everyone to know that this exists. Via Lauren.
• Charlie Brookers Gameswipe - not the typical Friday Videos material but rather just an interesting show from Charlie Brooker about videogames and the culture around them. Pretty great stuff.

Have a great weekend.

The before and after tour of this home in Utah for a great contemporary remodeling is pretty impressive. Obviously the quality level of photography plays a factor but there are a lot of substantial changes going on throughout - well worth doing a compare and contrast.

I assume this is incredibly old news to most people but I am just now stumbling upon Google Labs Similar Images - a visual search engine that (surprise, surprise) finds similar images from a specified starting point. I imagine it's just refining the search terms for the particular image rather than indexing the content of the actual pic but it's still potentially very handy. Glad to have been shown it.. better late than never I suppose.