Beats - Bass - Beakers
Music and more from funky49
Dirty Apes Discover Science
0Download Dirty Apes Discover Science!
[Bandcamp]
http://funky49.bandcamp.com/album/dirty-apes-discover-science
[Zip file]
http://funky49.com/tracks/albums/DADS/funky49_DirtyApesDiscoverScience.zip
4 JANUARY 2012 – Tampa, FL, USA
BEATS, BASS AND BEAKERS! Rapbassador, the album funky49 created to promote Tampa’s Museum of Science and Industry now has a sequel: Dirty Apes Discover Science. This release is aimed at the nerds, geeks, scientists and engineers who need some hip-hop in their life. It is also for rap fans who have had their fill of songs about cars and jewelery.
Dirty Apes Discover Science is a genre-spanning work with influences from dubstep, electro-house, R&B to old school hip-hop. In the lead track “Science Like Us”, the scientific method (observation, hypothesis, prediction, experimentation, conclusion) is amazingly distilled into 8 bars of rap. “Gene Swap” humorously delves into the under-represented biological side of sex. There is praise for the humble particle in “My Electron” as well as jabs at the willful ignorance by the Insane Clown Posse. Kudos are given to everyone’s favorite internet company with “Google That”. Personal to funky49, there is mad love for the scientist/inventor in “Ben Franklin is my BFF”. The track “Particle Business” highlights the quest to discover how the universe evolved and the David and Goliath-like competition of discovery that existed between CERN in Europe, and Fermilab, outside of Chicago, IL. A music video for “Particle Business” was shot at various locations at Fermilab and was created by Dan Lamoureux of Nerdcore for Life acclaim.
Dirty Apes Discover Science cover art
Sample lyrics:
My Electron
“He’s a particle, he’s a wave, beta decay his birthday
Positron handshakes annihilates and that creates gamma rays”
Gene Swap
“Wanna do it like Mendel? In the garden like so well?
Let’s stop this gamin’ you’re cravin’ to see my stamen”
Ben Franklin is my BFF
“Didn’t go to college but he started one / Didn’t have a smile til he farted one”
funky49 is Steven Rush, a rapper and science enthusiast living in Tampa, FL. He has presented at TEDx, BarCamp Tampa, Fermilab and the National Academy of Sciences. He was named a “Nerdcore Hip-Hop All Star” by Wired magazine and performs at geek-friendly concerts such as Nerdapalooza. He is looking forward to his performance at the 2012 USA Science and Engineering Festival. Steven Rush has also been selected by NASA to participate in Tweetups at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and Space Camp in Alabama. His album Starblazer is available on iTunes, Amazon and CDBaby.
Particle Business music video:
Mars Curiosity / NASA Tweetup / I GOT TO MEET BILL NYE!
0Saturday we (meaning NASA and JPL) successfully launched a new Mars rover named Curiosity. It’s about the size of a Mini Cooper. This ton sized mini-monster truck of science will look for building blocks of life on our neighborly red planet. I got to watch this bad boy go up in an Atlas V rocket. How? I was invited by NASA to be a part of their Tweetup. Me and 149 other Twitter followers of the space program from around the world met up at the Kennedy Space Center. We inhabited a huge tent on the press site right by the iconic Countdown Clock. It was awesome. I could mention a ton of people but I tried to keep the shoutouts to a minimum. I don’t feel it would be fair to leave so many cool people out! (and there were so many cool people)
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friday
Early in the morning I drove over from Tampa, Florida and checked in, got my #NASATweetup badge, some sweet swag and drove to press site. Coming around a corner I saw the Vehicle Assembly Building rising up from the Florida landscape. It was very much like how I was in Batavia, Illinois and drove around a corner to see Fermilab’s Wilson Hall rising from the prairie! I wondered what the Kennedy Space Center would look like if Robert Wilson worked in huge rockets instead of tiny particles and put his sculptor’s eyes into design like he did at Fermilab. I had to stop in a parking lot across from the VAB to get a picture or two before continuing to the press site. I unpack my car, set up some free funky49 Starblazer CDs to give to my fellow tweeps, set down some water that was part of this years hurricane supplies and go visit the Countdown Clock. This is where I meet my first new space friend, Margaret aka mlm101! We talk for a bit and take each others pictures and exchange swag. I can’t wait to see the pic she took of me jumping in the air in front of the clock! Back in the tent I introduced myself to my tablemates (after discovering our first table had no power to it!) and we had a few presenters, introduced ourselves to the entire group and had a break. I think it was on this break were I went to some bleachers and ran into Tom Tomorrow (I call him the print version of Jon Stewart!) and Halfastro Rob (who was once at Fermilab!). After the break we had more presenters. This section was actually recorded on the NASA UStream channel. We had a lunch break where I didn’t know I was hungry until I started making myself eat. I could have just survived on the science! After lunch, we got onto Kennedy Space Center buses and went to… the VEHICLE ASSEMBLY BUILDING! It was amazing. Read up on it. After being amazed by the shear volume of this building it had one extra surprise. The Space Shuttle ENDEAVOUR was parked inside being prepped for the California Science Center! MADNESS! One of the NASA reps actually had to remind me to get on the bus because I was taking pictures of some signage just inside the VAB.
EDIT: Speaking of the VAB, check out this PhotoSynth of being inside the VAB with the Endeavour visible. Can you spot me taking pictures?
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We took off for our next destination. What would it be? Launch pads? The Saturn V center? We drove by Launch Complex 39A which still has the Space Shuttle tower on it. Did you know the upper portion of the Saturn V umbilical tower was removed from the Apollo Mobile Launchers and serve as the “Fixed Service Structure” for the Space Shuttle? We drove past Launch Complex 41 which held our girl… boy? the Atlas V with the Mars Curiosity inside! The bus driver didn’t slow down so it was gone pretty quickly. Disappointing. We drove by Launch Complex 40 which is being used by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Launch Complex 37A which is used for Delta IV launches. The bus turned around and we headed back… or were we? We pulled into Launch Complex 40 and got to see the Atlas V up close just outside the fence perimeter! AMAZING! SEXY! BEAUTIFUL! This was NOT disappointing! This was a great treat. This Atlas V had 4 solid rocket boosters on it. I noticed that they were attached in an off-axis formation around the rocket. I got to ask Doug Ellison why. It’s because the center of gravity. Doug explained it like balancing a pencil on the tip of your finger.
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We had to get back on our bus, got to idle by LC39A and drove to the final destination, the Apollo / Saturn V Center. Since I saw this the last time I was at KSC I did some gift shopping. I still took a few pictures of the Saturn V they have floating in the big part of the building. It never gets old looking at the rear end of a Saturn V rocket! I always remember being at KSC (I think as a Boy Scout) and riding the bus. I rememember looking out the window and seeing the Saturn V… the bus would drive on… you’d look out the window again… more Saturn V…. the bus keeps driving… you look again… MORE SATURN V rocket! It is a beast! Back then they had it outside and I wondered “Why don’t they bring it inside?”. Hey! Thanks for bringing this monster inside and giving it a good home.
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From there I used social media to find where dinner plans are (I choose a local seafood restaurant over a chain), made a motel reservation near the dinner spot and had fun conversing with a different set of NASA Tweetup folks. After some necessary food and beer (some IPA from Hawaii, maybe I like certain IPAs now?) I dipped for the motel on Cocoa Beach. If I had more time/energy I would have hit the beach but I was beat. We were due for a group photo at 6:45am the next day!
saturday
I start the day like I did before. Oatmeal, parfait and McMuffin from McDonald’s. I try to contain my frustration at the family in front of me ordering 20 McMuffins because I just wanted to race towards KSC! Driving onto NASA property I crank up the dubstep. What else would a Mars bound roving robot listen to but DUBSTEP?!? I plug back into the NASA Tweetup matrix and my sub-group heads towards towards the Press Briefing Room where my favorite, cheeky presenter Doug Ellison talks about Eyes on the Solar System. It gives visualization of unmanned spacecraft’s mission data. I’m partial to the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 probes because of their gold records. I imagine they are two disc jockey ambassadors for planet Earth. We also get to hear a really nice astronaut speak (Doug Wheelock) in addition to BILL NYE THE SCIENCE GUY!
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The groups come together and we listen to NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden speak followed by another astronaut (Leland Melvin) and Deputy Directory Lori Garver. Who’s after that? Oh, just will.i.am of rapper/producer/Black Eyed Peas fame. No bigs. NO BIGS? Yes bigs! After will.i.am spoke about wanting to make STEM cool for kids he had to take off for photos and his own tour of KSC. Here was my chance! I had put a demo of the Dirty Apes Discover Science album on a thumbdrive, had a Starblazer CD and funky49 business card at the ready. While I surveyed the scene looking for a respectful opening I was told by a NASA rep (who I won’t name because they were very nice and I don’t want you to have a bad impression of them) “Leave him alone”. The NASA rep was trying to sheepdog a few people walking towards will.i.am and more were inbound! They were slightly exasperated and just doing their job. I wasn’t disappointed. If there wasn’t a shot to talk to him, there wasn’t a shot. I did give my thumbdrive/cd/card for the nice NASA rep to possibly give will.i.am. I’m sure he gets music pressed in his hand all the time. I DID get to shake hands with and have my picture taken with Bill Nye the Science Guy. He also got a copy of Starblazer. I was so nervous, I forgot to say that we were both presenting at the 2012 USA Science and Engineering Festival in Washington, DC! I’ll try to talk to him in DC next year and say hey, remember me from the NASA Tweetup?
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Why were we all here again? Not for astronauts, scientists or rappers. We were here for the MARS CURIOSITY! It was closer and closer to launch time and it was cool being by the Countdown Clock. Speaking of, somehow I am the Foursquare Mayor of the FREAKING ICONIC Countdown Clock. I just started using 4sq and I’ll have to stop now because that can’t be topped. It was suggested that if this was your first rocket launch, to not bother with a camera and just take it in. I did that but not before setting my humble Canon SD800 to continuous shot. (Everyone had sweet Canon or Nikon DSLRs or point and shoots with phat glass). Everyone either stood or went to the bleachers. I did something different. I laid down in the grass. I test fired the camera a few times and waited for the countdown. I heard cheers before I saw the rocket. Like THAT it had kissed the sky and was in the clouds. Then a wave of sound overtook the area. It was crazy, disorienting and wonderful. I went back to the tent and caught the NASA video feed. One of the things I did before leaving the Tweetup tent was set my laptop to record video. It was pointed to where some NASA folks were and I want to hear what it caught.
The rocket flame was SO BRIGHT. It’s like we harnessed a solar flare. I wish I had my sunglasses on me because I wasn’t prepared for how brilliant it was! After the launch things wound down. I took some peeps over to the KSC Visitor Center. I walked around for a bit, chilled while regarding the Rocket Garden and built an Atlas V inspired Lego rocket at the Lego event at KSC. Who came up and talked with me while I was building with Lego but Margaret? She hipped me to a full scale model of the Curiosity next to a Spirit/Opportunity and the Sojourner rover. Sojourner is about the size of a oversized microwave. Spirit/Opportunity look the size of what I thought a Mars probe would be. Curiosity is a Mars rover on BEAST MODE. Clearly the scientific heavyweight champ is inbound to Mars right now. I can’t wait for August. I’m popping some cheap champagne. I leave my new friend Margaret who was also the first person I met on this journey and head towards Orlando to join some friends I rarely see in a non-performance setting for dinner.
I shall close with one of my tweets: “NASA was the BEST host. The rocket went up like a BEAUTY. I’m humbled by the GREAT people surrounding me”
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2011-November-NASA Tweetup gallery
2011 November 30 – Astronomy Picture of the Day - This photo of the Atlas V/Mars Curiosity is beautiful!
The Half-Astrophysicist Blog – Rob’s account of the Tweetup. We gave each other shout outs!
Wrapup – National Academies Communications Fair
0What an awesome and exhausting time!
AM – Reel Science
Let me explain some drama that morning. I had crafted this OpenOffice Presentation to run from my Macbook Pro 15. Well the Mac failed to display to their house projector system with two separate mini-display port adapters! My bacon was only saved via the quick thinking of Lauren Aguiree. She suggested I export as a PDF to run on the ‘house’ laptop. This worked with a bare 30 seconds to spare!
EDIT: I went to the Genius Bar in the Apple Store. They duplicated the issue and will be replacing my logic board. Because of my wifi trouble at home, they will also be replacing the Airport card. Sucks that the hardware crapped out but I’m thankful for AppleCare and having a physical store to go to for technical help.
The panel was titled “Reel Science: Communicating Science Through Visual Media”. It had Lauren Aguirre from PBS/Nova, John Hoffman from HBO Documentary Films, Beth Nissen from NBC Learn and myself. I think we were very well received by the audience. Chris Palmer was a great ring master. I loved how he introduced us with our normal credentials, would slap the table and say “AND HERE IS WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW!” . My “Reel Science” speech is available on Rapbassador.com!
A memorable part of the panel was when Nissen gave a quote from a poet “The universe is made of stories, not atoms.”
Post-panel - Lauren Aguirre, Beth Nissen, Chris Palmer, Steven Rush
PM – TEDx
In the afternoon I was part of some TED Tryouts. Technically it was TEDx Tryouts because it wasn’t officially part of TED but ran in the exact TED format. We also had Kelly Stoetzel, the Content Director at TED. All of the speakers were excellent! I had fun performing Particle Business in which I had a cardboard cutout of Albert Einstein rap the hook and was slapping hands with people in the crowd (who were apparently important bosses and stuff!). I had totally forgotten that I actually mention the city in Particle Business “ballot box for better decisions in DC” until I actually said them on stage! That reminds me of when I rapped at Fermilab and while performing Starblazer it came to me that I was rapping about “shooting protons” and “I’m the rhymer super-collider”. I’m so dumb sometimes.
DC was great. I got to hang with my mom. See the International Spy Museum. Stay at a fancy-pants hotel (with a goldfish named Ana). Hang with friends, Winn & Chuq, who live in the area. Lose my cellphone (VERZION! WHERE IS MY INCREDIBLE?) in Winn’s truck. Talk World Cup with some cabbies. Eat some fine tapas. Drink some beer. Meet a BUNCH of cool people. Share some science. The ~36 hours of DC were certainly good times!
funky49 rapping with Albert Einstein
WRAPUP – Nerdapalooza 2010
0Holy Monkey what a good time. I’ll try to give my perspective in a serial fashion, as best my brain has recorded it.
Friday: Got off of work, did some last minute prep and packed up the car for the drive to the hotel. The gf was working on something and didn’t let me see it. Saw Devo Spice & Schaffer at the hotel. It’s starting! Stopped for a big gulp for the gf and a quart for myself. The big gulp was flasked with some goodness and we continued to A Comic Shop. WOW THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE. Handshakes and hugs from old and new friends online. An amazing milling of people. The star was Lars, aka Snipeyhead’s husband who climbed into my trunk for the ride to the Pre-Party After-Party at the “EPP House”. That was a smaller milling of nerdcore’s finest. Dr. Awkward had some music video filmed there, some of Scrub Club rapped and EPP had a set. We bounced after that for some Taco Bell and sleep.
Saturday: Participated in a very intimate meetup of fans of Hipster Please. Checked in as an artist and was rewarded with walking around with all 6 artist badges around my neck. Grabbed my HD Ninja red headgear and rocked out for the first song of their set. I got really jumpy and moshy and fist pumpy for Carformer. I hope me being a fan of that jam made others get more excited and into their set. It’s tough being the first guys on deck. The audience isn’t into any kind of groove but these guys are business, serious. Got some food. Met up with our friend Louie (the kind of friend you get intoxicated with and watch the season finale of Battlestar Galactica) and his ladyfriend he tricked into coming to nerd-ville. Listened to a few other acts but didn’t really get in the crowd until MegaRan rocked it. Dreammaster=great. Freestyling=win. Since he was another guy who has been around since the 2007 Nerdapalooza in Florida, we spoke about how the event has grown. Ah snap, Don Myers with tshirtbordello.com was so awesome with his zombie makeup and tricked out merch truck. We made sure to buy from him in support (and because the shirts were awesome). Was having lots of fun with the Schaffer & Killer Robots sets. Crashed too fast to catch the Epic Win Burlesque Show to much, much sadness. Hopefully next year they will be back!
Sunday: Let the gf sleep while I surfed some web at 7am downstairs. I bumped into Rappy who had not slept yet. We went to his room and brainstormed for some silly lyrics when I tucked himself into bed and went to sleep. I went downstairs and hung out with some peeps (including bbear) and wrote more lyrics. Checked out of the hotel, packed up the car. Got dressed in robes. Walked into the crowd as the rest of EPP covered a Pixies song and thanked them for being there. Actually we had Domino’s pizza delivered to the stage and we gave out a pizza communion. I was saying to people “Pizza be with you”. We rapped. We did okay I guess. 
The secret my gf didn’t let me see on Friday? She had made signs! One said “I <heart> U FUNK49″ and the other one said “YOU MAKE ME SHINE”. She held up the second one during EPP’s song “Shine” and it made me tear and choke up on stage!
Afterwards I tried to help with the mic situation for The HT and Kabuto because I know it was an issue last year. I felt I needed to be on stage for the Scrub Club set so I got up there and hopefully helped hype the crowd. That Dr. Awkward has lots of energy. I was following his lead by jumping around so much. After the SCR set I was dead. Exhausted. Dehydrated. Out of commish. I think I never properly re-hydrated from the drinking the night before. We got some Cracker Barrel but I was still tapped out. Came back and hung out with our people. Checked out of the merch area and left for home (we had work the next morning!). There is TOO MUCH to do at Nerdapalooza and I guess that’s a good thing. You feel bad when you need to withdraw and take a knee but there is always action ready when you are… or a friend to hug when you turn around. It’s amazing!
Good times. Save now to make it out to next year’s Nerdapalooza, if the amazing Hex will allow it.
August 20 update – Dirty Apes Discover Science
0Dirty Apes Discover Science
Science Like Us Particle Business My Electron (feat. Karl Olson) Ben Franklin is my BFF Gene Swap (feat. Songb3rd) Google That (feat. Dale Chase) Star Trek Interlude Nerd Rage (feat. mCRT) Triumph (feat. AlpineKat) What's Crackin Google That (feat. Dale Chase) [funky49 mix] Particle Business [Untested Methods remix] Dr Lederman Breakdown Uncle George's Outro
Total running time 49:49
Rolling Stones Worst Songs of the 90s
0I’m compelled to comment on Rolling Stone’s Worst Songs of the 1990s
1. ‘Barbie Girl’ – Aqua
I didn’t listen to this in the 90′s. It seems fine. What’s wrong with this song? Fun and catchy and I understand what’s going on. It’s perfectly fine 90′s music. Don’t be cruel. It’s bubble-gummy pop house (ugh) with girl vocals. Totally okay cute song. KEEP
2. ‘Macarena’ – Los Del Rio
STABBY! I’ll admit. I hate this song. Hate. It’s a strong word but it fits. I’ve left multiple wedding receptions while this song was playing as a statement to how much I hated the song and the accompanying dance. It’s all just a stupid mess of stupid that I can’t even articulate. DIAF please. TRASH
3.’Achy Breaky Heart’ – Billy Ray Cyrus
I don’t like nor dislike this song any more then when I first heard it. It could be peoples gateway to country music and that’s grreat! Mine was “Babygirl” by Sugarland and a girl with the initials JW. What’s wrong with this song? Nothing. Leave this guy alone and learn the necessary line dancing moves. KEEP
4. ‘Ice Ice Baby’ – Vanilla Ice
I danced to this. I memorized the lyrics. It’s got a nice beat. I don’t even care if a riff was stolen from Queen. The song doesn’t lean on those notes anyway. They should have just paid the licensing or interpolated or something. Ya know whut? This sounds like roller skating music. I would be the kid too interested in playing Spyhunter and Gauntlet to bother skating. I can still hear it in the skate rink. I would drop this song on any party, any time. KEEP
5. ‘Tubthumping’ – Chumbawumba
After re-listening to this song, I still don’t care about it. It doesn’t say anything and the hook (pick one) is lethargic. It was popular but I don’t know why. Maybe its the the “I get knocked down” hook. Apparently these people did better songs but I never found out because this one is so… unappealing. It’s got horns and that classes up the joint, otherwise, MEH! TRASH
6. ‘MmmBop’ – Hanson
She’s flat chested but that middle sister is still cute. Too bad she’s a dude. A kid drummer draws you in. Nice solid groove to this song. Why hate? It was produced by the Dust Brothers. The hook is great. It’s got some scratching for no real point but catchy stuff. How is this a ‘worst song’? It’s pretty timeless. Also: Dust Brothers! KEEP
7. ‘My Heart Will Go On’ – Celine Dion
This has hate because people hated Titantic. Forget all that. Think about the music. I didn’t see the movie until years later anyway. I’m not even sure if I saw all of it actually. It’s fine Celine Dion stuff. Not my bag but this is fine, just fine. How is this a worst song? Just give Celine a burger, stop the Dicaprio hate and you’ll be hearing this on your oldies station with a smile. KEEP
8. ‘Who Lets the Dogs Out?’ – Baha Men
Pretty pointless lyrics. Most def hook driven in addition to that Miami bass sound. Did they make this for Disney? I don’t know why this song exists but I’m glad these guys got some jack from the sporting events this was played at. This isn’t a worst song. I don’t want to listen to it though because vocally its so stupid but I like some of the music going on. I guess since the verses are flat dumb and don’t mate well with the hook/bridge, lets burn this one. TRASH
9. ‘I’m Too Sexy’ – Right Said Fred
In high school drama class I was too shy to be on the stage so instead I ran the sound. This was one of the songs that was played for one of the skits. It’s got a house beat so that makes me dislike it… but it works and has a point. It’s a song about modeling. I get it. Ridiculous but necessary to influence guys like The Money Boys (look’em up). What I don’t get is how this is a WORST song. KEEP
10. ‘What’s Up?’ – 4 Non Blondes
It’s a grungie, weirdo chick slow jam. What’s wrong with it? Musically its nice, unique singer, strong hook. What’s not to like about this song? You’re dumb Rolling Stone readers. KEEP
I didn't win a million bucks, but I have friends like you!
0Hi!
Unfortunately I didn’t win but I TRULY appreciate your support and views during the contest! Thank you!! Presented on Youtube in HD for the first time is the contest entry.
Beastie Boys / Family Ties mashup
0People love my Beastie Boys remix with the Trading Spaces theme song. Because of a tweet by @DJTightyWhitey I was inspired to make a song with the Family Ties theme. It’s short. It just uses verses from Adrock. It’s awesome.
It’s also dedicated to @DJTightyWhitey and @krebstar and everyone else having a birthday (MegaRan, Rappy, etc). Adults sure like to crank down in January. Must be the cold weather in most of the northern hemisphere, right?
http://funky49.com/tracks/bbremixes/funky49vsBeastieBoys_CheckItOut.mp3
Help me win a million bucks!
0Lovers of all things funky49:
Gain detergent is running a huge video contest where the grand prize is a million dollars! Some friends and I have teamed to win it! We first have to make the Top 25. To get there, our entries need to get as many views as possible. (We shot 3 entries to improve our chances.)
Could you please help us out by watching our submissions? To the view the videos, you’ll need to log into teh Facebooks and approve the Gain app when it comes up. The app is approved by Facebook and it is totally harmless. It’s a way of keeping the cheaters from cheating. Click here to allow the Gain app: http://goo.gl/Hs588
Here are our 3 entries. Only one view per facebook account per day will count. But if you want to watch these once a day between now and July 12th that’d be a huge help to us!!
funky49′s Entry: http://t.co/hYc3VlQ - The Gain rap video where boy meets girl!
Dan’s Entry: http://t.co/zm3GzeY - Hardworking construction team gets sweaty for worthy cause!
Stella’s Entry: http://t.co/0EsunMG - Laundry day turns into fun time with your friends!
If those links won’t work in an e-mail, just click here to see our entries: https://www.facebook.com/
My Gain rap video (worth a MILLION bucks!)
0So I have a contest entry for the Gain “Smell Like A Million Bucks” contest. You can help me by clicking and viewing my video. What would be great if you did this EVERY DAY. The more views I have, the better. I made it easy for you to SHARE with others, just give them the link http://vote4.funky49.com and it will get them to the video!
What’s awesome about this video? A lot! I’m rapping. I’m doing laundry. I’m greeting a cute girl at the front door. I’m wearing the Gain colors (lime green and orange). I even made a cute and positive instrumental. The beat even uses some samples of my washing machine!
5
Gain - Smell like a million bucks video
Before all the fun stuff happened, Dan and I did some thinking of what the song could be about and follow the video from there. Using Gain before a date seemed like a winner! Telling a story could look really interesting. The song and lyrics came together nicely. If you’re a fan of funky49, you’ll recognize the chord progression used on another song! I-ii-iii-IV-V-IV in C Major I think. You tell me!
The weekend after Father’s Day weekend, I took a cheap AirTran flight to Chicagoland. I got to work with my friend Dan again! You know us from the Particle Business music video, n’est pas? He said that was the last video he shot on his old camera. We were going to shoot with his Canon T2i DSLR in high definition. YES!
Shooting the video was pretty fun! The first video shot was me going through my clothes (actually his clothes) to find I didn’t have any clean ones, the lawn mowing, and meeting the cute blonde at the door (let’s call her Cheryl!). This was all at her house… so yes, Cheryl rang her own doorbell to meet me at her own front door! Cheryl’s dad has this wicked awesome wood bar he built himself! After the house, we shot in a grocery store where in the video you can see Dan had turned the other product labels AWAY from the camera. After that, we gathered up Cheryl and Rod (another part of Dan’s crew!) and headed off to Millennium Park in Chicago’s Loop area. Here we shot the water fall over brick rapping shot. It’s on the corner of East Monroe Street and South Michigan Avenue. Research shows that this art installment called Crown Fountain. The water falling was loud! So loud, I couldn’t hear the beat to properly rap over it. Also, little kids were enjoying the water around us who were each sure to splash us!
I really wanted to see/shoot at Cloud Gate, aka the Magic Bean but mean old Dan said no! We then had a break to take in the Taste of Chicago. DELICIOUS! I had four different kinds of perogies! I love them… and before this Chicago trip I’ve only ever had FROZEN PEROGIES!
We actually shot some of me rapping at Buckingham Fountain but it was not used in the video. Buckingham Fountain is the fountain used in Married… with Children. The next day we shot in a laundromat and I had to fly home, leaving Chicago again. I used to have a grudge against Chicago for a very personal reason. After my Fermilab and Gain video trips, that grudge has been erased. I LOVE YOU CHICAGO!
Here is the lyrics used in the Gain rap vid:
sooo… I
get a text message from this nice girlie and
she’d like to see me in an hour or three
check my dresser and I say OH NO
I don’t have any clean clothes! (spoken)
away to the grocery store I flee to
pickup some Gain on aisle three!
I use Gain because my nose knows
plus its a party for all my clothes
Gain beats stains, is about the win
Hot or cold, take Gain for a spin
smell so fresh i love to get dressed
especially for this girl I’m trying to impress
(break)
my head is spinning like the laundry then I
get dressed fresh for my lady
<ding dong> goes the bell and I froze
hope she loves the smell of my clothes
open the door and give her a hug
realize, I had no reason to bug so
trust me fellas, I know what’s up
I use Gain and I smell like a million bucks
Back to DC for 2012
0Guess who’s booked for the 2012 USA Science and Engineering Festival?
THIS GUY!
USA Science Engineering Festival
It’s going to be April 27-29, 2012. Saturday and Sunday will be a FREE event and open to the general public. There will be kids from over 150 schools there. Time to craft a 30 minute set exclusively for kids, right? I also have a new idea for a song.
Who else will be there? Bill Nye the Science Guy and Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage of the MythBusters! They are also going to recruit people from the Big Bang Theory and NCIS! SWEET!
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