Anthony Augustine

Winnipeg Free Press - September 22nd

Eastbound & Down: Season 3 Trailer

Nearly washed-up former pro baseball pitcher Kenny Powers (Danny McBride) is back for a third season of Eastbound & Down, after rebooting his struggling career in the Mexican league. Kenny is heading back to the U.S. with a contract for a minor-league affiliate in Myrtle Beach, in the hopes he still has what it takes. Powers also found out that he was a father at the end of the Season 2.

Eastbound & Down was originally only intended to last one season, but the network has continued to order episodes after Kenny and his self-destructive ways and over-the-top ego quickly gained a cult following. The show returns to HBO in January 2012.

Internet of Yesterday & Today: 1996 vs. 2011

THE web has evolved rapidly over the last 15 years. Mashable.com takes a look at some of the key changes over the past decade and a half. From slow, chunky browsers to slick web apps, the evolution is dramatic when compared side by side. Destinations on the web have changed too, with early web giant AOL.com capturing most of the traffic in the mid ’90s, with Larry Page and Sergey Brin’s Google dominating the web these days.

Show Me Nonstop

KITTENS, crashes, crazy viral videos and anything else you can think of gets served up in this ultimate Internet time-waster that pulls clips from YouTube and dishes them back out in a non-stop video onslaught.

Avoid this site if you’re already addicted to YouTube — it will only feed your video-consumption habit and make it nearly impossible to pull yourself away and get anything done.

My Parents Joined Facebook

WITH over 500 million members, Facebook has quickly become the most popular social network. While Google+ is filled with tech-geeks and every athlete and actor is on Twitter, Facebook is home to everyone from your high school, relatives you never see, your kid sister and probably your parents too.

 Privacy is always mentioned when people talk about Facebook, but most of the time, the attention is focused on the company for opening up more of your profile, rather than the fact that Facebook has probably jumped the social-media shark once it spills over into the mainstream and everyone you’ve ever known or met starts to add you.

Do you really want to accept that invitation from your parents? Probably not, but if you do, you might think about sending some of their awkward posts and weird status updates to My Parents Joined Facebook. Remember the site’s motto: “Can’t Facebook with ‘em, can’t unFriend ‘em.”

Test Your Grunge Knowledge

SICK of hearing about grunge yet? If you’re not, take a few minutes and answer this 20-question quiz and test your knowledge of fuzzed-out guitar bands, flannel and all things Seattle.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 22, 2011 

Uptown Magazine - September 8th

Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge
on.fb.me/everybody_loves — Released Sept. 6, former Blender editor Mark Yarm’s Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge is a detailed look at the Seattle music scene in the ’90s. After “liking” the book’s Facebook page, you can preview a chapter about Nirvana’s Nevermind taken from interviews with Kathleen Hanna (Bikini Kill), Butch Vig, Krist Novoselic, Dave Grohl, Samuel Bayer (Smells Like Teen Spirit video director) and a whole cast of players from the era. Essential reading for any ’90s music fan. Check out grungebook.tumblr.com for other excerpts, outtakes, interviews, music, pictures, posters and other Seattle-related content.

Fuck You Yelper
fuckyouyelper.tumblr.com — If Uhpinions, the site that collects ridiculous reviews from around the web, wasn’t enough for you, Fuck You Yelper is a fledgling Tumblr blog that explores “the douchebaggery idiots commit when enabled with an Internet connection, enough money for a meal and a sense of entitlement.”

MP3 of the Week: 
Tim Hoover – More Napkins (Beauchamp’s Bootleg)
bit.ly/Tim_Hoover_remix — More Napkins is the new hybrid instrumental album/DJ mix from producer/promoter/pinball wizard/party rocker Tim Hoover, aka DJ Co-op. (There’s a techno duo out of Toronto on Thoughtless Records using a similar alias so Hoover is releasing the album under his own name.) A bunch of producers has taken a crack at remixing the album and Planet SHHH’s Beauchamp (also known as Mike B.) offers up his own interpretation that focuses in on some sounds used by Hoover but adds his own playful, laidback vibe. Other remixes previewed so far by Woven Records include a darkstep stormer from Montreal’s D’Eon, a tech-house cut from local newcomer Ohmophobe and some weird warehouse techno from Edmonton’s Cadence Weapon. More Napkins release party is Saturday, Sept. 10 at the Planetarium. Your $15 admission gets you a digital download of the album, a gift bag and admission to an after party. Dub Ditch Picnic Records is also doing a limited run of tapes, if cassettes are your thing.

Video of the Week: Greg MacPherson – Ukrainians
bit.ly/gmac_live — Local blue-collar rocker Greg MacPherson took some time on his recent tour out East to record a session for Balcony.tv. GMac performs Ukrainians from his new album Disintegration Blues.