Danger Express

I always feel like I’m watching True Blood any time I see the Dead Weather play. It’s creepy, moody, funky tennessee blues smokin’ rock. But Charles Aaron at Spin describes them with far more flavor:

During the band’s encore, “Hang You From the Heavens,” singer Alison Mosshart (also of the Kills) — a wraith-thin tangle of bird’s-nest black hair, cigarette smoke, leather, and lipstick — spat the sacrilegiously nasty come-on: “I wanna grab you by the hair, and drag you to the devil,” as the trio in black behind her sounded like a late-’60s/early-’70s gang of white afro’d skeeves (plus a ringer Latin percussionist) in bell-bottoms, tiny tight t-shirts, mustaches, and unlicensed handguns, working out a four-minute version of rock, blues, funk, and soul, that would later be issued on a limited-edition compilation by DJ Shadow (and called something like “Mr. Chicken Shit”).

I’ve seen this gang three times now, and this is the tightest I’ve heard them play. Jack White was the most animated I’ve seen him in a long time. He’s always out there on the edge, but last night was his “Detroit Badass” character night. Dropping Mother Fuckin’ this and that. It was like seeing a nun drinking Redbull Vodka’s for the first time.

Anyway, I tried in vain to snap off some photos from my phone, and here’s what I was able to salvage:

I’m annoyed by twitter’s latest (if only their second) official @Earlybird deal of the day. It’s not that offering people $40 bucks off a $430 TV is a bad deal. It’s not. It’s an OK deal. But it is a bad idea that damaged Twitter’s chance of succeeding with Earlybird.

Why? Because it doesn’t fit with Twitter’s core values. Twitter is at its best when they push people to interact with each other. Millions of microposts a day push ideas around the internet. Users reach news organizations. They organize #WorldCup meetups, donate to haitian relief and, basically, SHARE their excitement about something.

Now twitter wants to use that excitement to fuel their financial ends. And I’m all for that! Old Spice just pulled that feat off in a spectacular way. People were ecstatic to be part of a two way marketing dialogue.  To a lesser extent, I think people were excited over @Earlybird’s first offering too: When twitter users bought a ticket to The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, they got a second one free. Take a date! Organize with your friends, get out and DO something. I like that.

Even if the movie was lame, the idea was good. It was active. And the barrier to entry was low, so people could actually take a chance on it.

But 9% off a $400 TV? Excuse me for not jumping out of my seat. Where’s the community spirit here? Did I somehow land on Overstock.com? Twitter has a brief moment to prove that @earlybird is a cool new aspect of the twitter community, or else they are going to end up as the first official Twitter spam bot, with a quick #UnfollowFriday doom to follow.

After these last few days, I’m on a strict “No more awesome mountain photos” ban. But that’s a good problem to have, I guess! Enjoy the pictures! Flickr! Or check them out in the bar to the right (there’s even a nifty full screen button)