Collage Music: Girl Talk, Osymyso

Courtesy of Sound Opinions

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Gregg Gillis, known to his fans as Girl Talk took the underground music world by storm last year with his album Night Ripper. Gillis composes avant-pop collages of hundreds of different songs—everything from Aerosmith to the Ying Yang Twins to Neutral Milk Hotel. The result is a new piece of original art stamped with the Girl Talk name, and it’s putting hipsters in a frenzy at clubs and festivals all over the world. None of the samples on Night Ripper have been approved by the original artists, but so far Gillis hasn’t been hassled. He represents a new generation of free culture proponents that will hopefully be embraced by the music industry, if not copyright lawyers.

There has been a long tradition of collage music, and one of the artists taking it to the “nth degree” is Osymyso. The UK DJ created a mind-blowing, 12-minute composition called “Intro-Inspection,” which is completely full of unauthorized samples. The song isn’t available for sale anywhere, but you can check it out on the web and on the Desert Island Jukebox.

Culture, Theater and Sport: The New Zealand All Blacks Haka

Courtesy of Wikipedia

The All Blacks, the international rugby union team of New Zealand, perform a haka, a Māori traditional dance, immediately prior to international matches. Over the years, they have commonly performed the "Ka Mate" haka. In 2005, the All Blacks performed a new haka, "Kapa O Pango".

The origin of the "Ka Mate" haka dates to 1810 when chief Te Rauparaha of the Ngāti Toa iwi (clan or tribe) was being chased by enemies. In a cunning stratagem, he hid in a food-storage pit under the skirt of a woman. Because this was an unthinkable thing for a chief to do, Te Rauparaha thought he would be safe. He climbed out to find someone standing over him, who, instead of killing Te Rauparaha, turned out to be another chief friendly to Te Rauparaha. In relief Te Rauparaha performed a haka with the words (translated from Māori):

"It is death, it is death: it is life, it is life; this is the man who enabled me to live as I climb up step by step toward sunlight."

These words are still used today. Te Rauparaha's escape from death is commemorated in the haka, which can be interpreted as 'a celebration of life over death'.

The following video is the "Ka Mate" haka performed prior to the New Zealand vs. France match in November of 2004:

The debut of the "Kapa O Pango" haka in 2005:

Showdown In Chinatown

Courtesy of Wikipedia


Showdown in Chinatown was a charity soccer match played on June 25, 2008, organized by Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash and New York Red Bulls footballer Claudio Reyna to benefit their respective charity foundations. The nine-a-side match was played at Nike Field in Sara D. Roosevelt Park on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City, and the two teams included many National Basketball Association and international soccer players.

The Showdown in Chinatown is worth noting from the perspective of the G.3 since it displayed the football talents of NBA stars Steve Nash, Baron Davis, Jason Kidd, Raja Bell and Leandro Barbosa, as well as the talents of Marc Stein, senior NBA writer for ESPN.com. Their participation illustrated the promise and potential for specific sports and endeavors, however disparate, to be blended/transitioned into other sports and endeavors in the G.3.

Video update: 2009 Showdown in Chinatown (part 1 of 9)

The A-11 Offense

Courtesy of A11offense.com and Wikipedia

The A-11 offense was developed by Kurt Bryan, coach of the Piedmont High School Highlanders in Piedmont, CA, and Steve Humphries, the school's director of football operations, who initially uncertain of its legality, submitted the concept of the offense to the National Federation of State High School Associations and the California Interscholastic Federation and had it approved. Piedmont High School then implemented it during the 2007 football season-losing their first two games before winning seven straight to finish with a 7-3 record.

The A-11 Offense (All Eleven Players Potentially Eligible) is an innovative new offense that blends aspects of almost every type of offense in the history of football such as the West Coast, Spread Option, Run and Shoot, Shotgun Zone Fly, Wing-T, Single Wing, Notre Dame Box, Triple Option and Veer just to name a few. Teams can use the A-11 as a “package” to supplement their own offense & feature up to eleven players as potential threats, and even two quarterbacks in the shotgun!

HOW IT WORKS

The A-11 features up to all eleven players wearing an eligible receiver jersey number, either 1-49 or 80- 99, with two quarterbacks (1 and 2) in the shotgun formation at 7 yards, and with nobody under center -thereby meeting the criteria for a scrimmage kick formation. In “base” sets, the A-11 Offense has a center, and a tight end on each side (U and Y), and three wide receivers to the right, and left respectively. By spreading the potentially eligible receivers across the entire field, it forces the defense to account for every possible receiver on each play. Of course, on any given play, only six of those players can go downfield to catch a pass, and the five “covered” players remain ineligible to catch a downfield pass on that particular play.

Here's the A-11 in action:

Reggie Bush and David Beckham Demonstrate a "Transitional" GAME Moment

Football and American football are different sports requiring different skill sets and strategies for success. The premise for transitional GAME types is that there are multiple activities going on simultaneously. The primary purpose of this GAME type is to allow a smooth flow from one activity to another (to another, to another, etc.), therefore making THE GAME scalable and watchable. A prime example of how football and American football can transition and blend into each other in THE GAME can be found in the following videos featuring David Beckham and Reggie Bush, showing each participating in their opposite sport…

Calcio Fiorentino: The Most Brutal Sport On Earth

Courtesy of SI.com and Jeremy Kaufman of Bleacher Report

Part soccer, part rugby, part mixed martial arts, calcio fiorentino is a popular no-holds-barred game that is popular in Florence, Italy. First played in the 16th century, the sport has few rules and matches take place on a 100-by-50-meter sand pitch with goals running the width of the end zone. There are no timeouts or substitutions. It just might be the toughest and most brutal sport in the world.

There are 27 players on each side at any given time, and the objective is to score a goal; either by kicking or throwing the ball through the designated goal area. In addition, kicks to the face are forbidden. This is pretty much where the rules end.

Of the 27 players on each side, as many as ten of them are often considered brawlers. These players usually come from boxing, wrestling, and MMA backgrounds, and it is their job to essentially knock out the opponent. The brawlers from each side will usually ignore the whereabouts of the ball, and instead engage in combat with one another throughout the duration of the match.

The skill players on a calico fiorentino team generally consist of rugby and soccer players. The rugby players are typically utilized to carry the ball past the opposition, while the soccer players are there for tactical kicking and goal scoring. However, these players must avoid life-threatening attacks from the brawlers of the opposing team.

THE GAME Types and Levels (Circa 2000): The Essence of G.3

In 1999, as THE GAME started to take shape, we wanted to incorporate, quite literally, an endless number ideas into THE GAME Types and THE GAME Levels. So, in the summer of 2000, we finally sat down and thought, "OK. We've got this idea that is too big to really pin down and explain, but we've got to come up with something as a starting point". What we came up with was a framework of what we wanted THE GAME to be and the direction or directions we wanted THE GAME to take (the following entry, btw, is from that founders meeting in the summer of 2000). As you will see from the examples (to help explain THE GAME Types and THE GAME Levels) given below, the context is clearly circa 2000.

THE GAME, in general, has five TYPES:

1. specific

2. transitional

3. grouped (style)

4. mixed: blended (hybrid) & linked

5. jacks

1. SPECIFIC. This type refers to a specific established/existing activity. The main criteria to be GAME specific is to have specialization. Automaking, restauranteuring, computer programming, acting, farming, and dentistry are all considered GAME specific activities and its participants are considered to be GAME specific participants. Activities in the other four types could eventually become established as GAME specific as long as there is a participant in those activities.

2. TRANSITIONAL (Updated 5/15/10). The main function of transitional GAME types is to connect multiple simultaneous activities. The transitional GAME type is a standalone node or type that facilitates the smooth flow from one activity to another (to another, to another, etc.), therefore making THE GAME scalable. Some of the many examples include:

triathalon --> track & field ( e.g. a relay event incorporating a triathlete relaying to a waiting transitional athlete who will in turn relay to a track athlete)

baseball --> football (e.g. a hitter hits a baseball into the outfield and into a transitional zone where a hybrid WR waiting to receive the baseball is opposed by a hybrid OF. These hybrid players are standalone transitional node players affiliated sports—baseball and football)

basketball --> football (e.g. a transitional wing player can catch a long bomb on an inbounds pass from a PF or C while being defended by a transitional defensive wingback player; the goal of the transitional wing player is to fight through the defense and eventually get the ball to the skill players on the offensive side of the football).

free e-tail hosting service --> consulting (see add-a-shop.com)

3. GROUPED (STYLE). This GAME type refers to similarly related activities grouped and/or blended together by primary and/or broad objectives. Some of the many examples include:

goal: ice hockey/in-line hockey/floor hockey/broomball/soccer/team handball/floor hockey/water polo

basket: basketball/korfball/streetball

use of a bat: baseball/softball/cricket/pesapallo

use of a racquet: tennis/badminton/racquetball/squash

endzone: rugby/American football/Australian rules football/arena football

medium of the activity: air/water/land

sports marketing agreement between YankeeNets and Manchester United.

computing Micrsoft's presence in, for example, software, WebTV, and Expedia.com

internet programming/web design/web project management.

politics: election campaigning/military/lawmaking.

electronics: SONY's presence in, for example, CD players, video, radios, DVD players, and game consoles.

4. MIXED: BLENDED (HYBRID) & LINKED (Updated 5/15/10). This GAME type is made up of one or more existing (related or unrelated) activities that are:

a. blended (a hybrid) together and/or

b. linked together (no blending or hybridization of the constituent activities; the constituent activities are preserved in their original forms and linked together in various ways). A transitional type and linked type share many similarities, however the transitional type is a standalone type or node (that facilitates the transition of one node into another) while the linked type is an entirely new node combining two or more existing activities (while preserving the integrity of the constituent nodes).

By doing so, new GAMEs are created. An example of this is THE GAME itself.

5. JACKS. The name alludes to a "jack of all trades". As the name would indicate, this GAME type consists of most or all of the possible activities brought together (including all the activities from the aforementioned GAME types). THE GAME would be a good example of this GAME type, whereas an example of a participant in this particular GAME type would be a corporate conglomerate like VIRGIN.

LEVELS

Currently, each type in THE GAME has the following levels of participation (note: participants in each level may participate against participants in other levels):

pick-up:

show up and play!

recreational:

generally, more organization is involved in this level.

fraternity/sorority:

its members are in the Greek system, but as explained above, they may participate against others in their level or others in other levels.

intramural:

typically organized at the collegiate or university level

(Inter)National Graduate Athletic Association:

intercollegiate athletics for alumni and graduate students

amateur:

e.g. NCAA, University Games

semi-professional

professional

pro-am-rec:

participants can compete against others from the other levels

glory:

for those participants who would love a chance to relive their past glory.