The Brilliance!

HTTP://WWW.THEBRILLIANCE.COM

We’re really internet and we’re really back. A website about things Benjamin , Chuck , Virgil , and various friends & guests think are interesting. Little-to-no specific focus, a bit odd, speling errors, and incredibly culturally relevant.

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Woodchuck, tonight!

I think Chuck posted on this before, but I wanted to follow-up on this. It’s tonight! And I’m totally not going to be there, kind of sucks. But the opening is going to be wild, so be there. Woodchuck is Eric Quebral & Chuck Anderson doing a joint show juxtaposing the organic wood working of Eric with Chuck’s overtly colorful aesthetic. Both Eric and my main man Chuck will be there…be sure to mess with Chuck since I can’t do it…cause, again, I couldn’t go. Yeah, check the link attached for all the official info. Shout to Clarence from DopeFiend.ca.

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Kiplinger’s ‘How to Make a Million’...

I was at Borders last night because, well, I always go to Borders…but also because they finally reopened their new cafe as a Seattle’s Best Coffee, which I might add is very nicely designed and the cafe has very nice chairs and tables. Anyways, I’m looking through my usual stack of magazines, KING, Ebony, Hackers Quarterly, High Times, Pen World, and Kiplingers. Kiplinger’s had a great article on “How to Make a Million.” But it wasn’t about investing in stocks or winning it big in Vegas…actually, the headline for the article says ” You could marry rich, win the lottery, or, like these 12 people, have a goal and a plan for getting there.” I like that. The ‘Get Rich Quick’ thing is not a realistic perspective for 99.9% of people. The realistic perspective would be, like they said, having a plan and carrying out a dream or a vision for something. One of the most fascinating parts of the article is about the guys who started College Humor. 4 college kids with a good idea and now they’re expected to make, get this, $9 MILLION in profit in 2006. That’s unbelievable…very inspiring. Not trying to tell you to start a site that has fart jokes and girls gone wild videos all over it, but really, these guys just had a good idea and made it happen. Someone on del.icio.us linked THE BRILLIANCE one time and said we were a cool blog, but we were “wealth obsessed.” I thought that was kind of funny, kind of cool…but not true - it’s not about being wealth obsessed, it’s about being passionate about success and reaching dreams. I know that sounds cheesy, but it’s the truth. I love seeing other people be successful if it’s been done in a way that they wanted, not what others wanted for them. Or someone who brings themselves from nothing to something. That’s what this is about. Anyways, check the article linked below or go buy the magazine. GIVE ME THE GOLD, I WANT THE GOLD.

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Viceland Rap!

Gimme-da-gimme-da-gimme-da-gimme-da-gimme-da-gold. I honestly like that ‘track’, anybody got it on the MP3? This little write-up here, which I had never read before, is perfect. I mean, I listen to hip-hop/rap and all that, but it pretty much all sucks. It’s not dead, it just sucks. That’s why I like all that ignorant screwed & chopped stuff by like Lil Keke and Slim Thug…it just is what it is. Talk about driving a nice car to the club, that’s it. Ehh…maybe that’s not entirely how I feel, but honestly who cares. So continuing…this dude ‘Macho’ is a funny, clever, and an on-point dewdski. Tell ‘em why you’re mad son, tell’em! Talks on everything from this whole Gnarls Barkley thing, making fun of Pharrell (I kind of liked the track), makes fun of Cam a little, and talks about how the south seems to be the only place to keep it punk-rock with the hip-hop. Bia bia!! This post wasn’t very good…but the article linked is, ch-ch-ch-check it out hip-hoppers.

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VW, safe happens!

Had to do a quick post on this. 2 reasons why. One, I made a ‘snap’ post on the new Jetta when it first came out. While I’m not 100% into the design, the interior is fantastic even on the base models and the overall execution is great. Two, this new ‘Safe Happens’ commercial is great. I literally just saw it, jumped on my computer to make this post. Jetta is perfect at this whole ‘regular life’ commercial atheistic..honestly, its almost hard to describe, but they get it perfect in each commercial. I just loved the commercial. I wish I had a link to the video…couldn’t find it on their site or on youtube, so if you got a link to it hit us up. Just in case, the one I am referencing is the one where the two guys are driving and yakking about using the word ‘like’ too much….and then bam! That accident is wild how you see the airbags pop real quick…and the guys gets out like ‘holy…’ Simple thing, but I’m into it! That’s my post…time for dinner. ***New ink directly to the YouTube of the video…many thanks to Craig.

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NYC Auto Show and me getting mad about it!

Cars, cars, cars…smog, fog, hog…the brilliance is a blog. What? Some fresh cars this year, as there is every year. Blah, blah… On problem with all the cars. The technology they use is ridiculously old. I’m going to get a little ‘weird’ and pop a few snaps about a situation that bothers both Chuck and I quite a bit. How is it, after all these years and the technology revolution…that cars still have pistons and use diesel or gas? Honeslty. Like…honestly! My cell phone can do everything a computer could do 4-5 years ago. But cars are, for the most part, the same. And oh snap, let me get all ‘MTV Rock The Vote’ on this…from articles I have read, we are spending $400 Billion to go to Mars??!?! You could buy everyone in the country a hybrid car for that much. Or at least distinctly change our direction as a country in terms of oil dependence and pollution. Our auto-makers here in the states suck, they lose money and create poverty when they close plants in small towns and out source over seas. Listen to me getting all mad here…ha. Honestly though…I’m not even trying to rely on our government to help us pursue a new direction for cars/transportation here in the states. It’s going to be a foreign company or some tiny ‘started-in-my-garage’ company that takes over the auto industry and helps us head in a new direction. But whatever, I’m uneducated on this stuff. So yeah…um, the NYC Auto Show. Check the slide show at the link below. That Saab Aero-X (bio-fuel) is still one of the more amazing cars out. So is the diesel E-Class. This post was weird; I can’t believe you read it.

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Google, killing them softly!

My quick commentary on this. Google is killing them slowly. It’s so innocent how they do it, right? Just a simple search engine, then we’ll do this simple email thing with a bunch of storage, then we’ll do the best mapping/yellow-page type software you can imagine, then we’ll upgrade the email to work even better (AJAX), then we’ll launch a little calendar application…then the rumors about the ‘G Drive’ thing. So if they had all that and a simple word processing piece…what would the average computer user need Microsoft for? Honestly. Don’t come out with a whole new operating system…just grab the ‘low hanging fruit’ as they say. So yeah, this new calendar piece is pretty serious stuff. The ability to share your calendar is what makes it a killer. I know for a fact that we’ll see small companies start using this…and then they’ll grow, and still use it…that is what makes it so serious. Check the calendar thing…it’s simple and straight forward. But again, a very serious move by Google. Didn’t those dudes buy a 767 as their private jet? Amongst the other jets they already own?

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Nothing to post!

I did like 3 post in one day last week. Where is all the ‘cool’ stuff to post about today? I don’t know. Somebody email us something cool to post about. No t-shirt companies, or art gallery shows or anything like that…something wild…like how you have fresh green grass growing all throughout your house instead of carpet or something. That would be nuts. Or just something really, really interesting. Maybe if you own/work for a private jet charter company or something you could email us and setup some free travel time to where ever we want and in exchange we’ll give you a ‘glowing’ review. Or maybe we could do something like a ‘Win a date with Benjamin from THE BRILLIANCE!’ Ha…how funny would that be? Or depressing if no girls entered…ha. Wow, this is a weird post. I’ll try and come up with something interesting to post in the next couple hours, or maybe not. Email us, hello@thebrilliance.com!

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Triple5Soul VS. The KDU! NYC!

This should be good. The VS. Project - Triple 5 Soul VS The KDU. The opening reception is April 27th, 7PM-10PM, Triple 5 Soul Brooklyn (Full details at link below). I (NoPattern) will be there a few days early doing an art installation at the T5S store along with Nigel from ElectricHeat. Also will have a nice big feature from Kareem Black and featuer a slew of other incredible artists. Get there and come say hi to me! I don’t think Ben will be there though. Damn. Anyways, definitely come out for this if you’re in NYC on April 27th… I just wanna know, where da gold is.

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‘Terrifying’ new Radiohead?!

So there’s been some talk on the internet about the new Radiohead…which I’m very excited to hear whenever it comes out…Greenplastic.com reported that “Thom Yorke has compared writing for Radiohead’s new album to that on ‘OK Computer’ - but has declared the lyrics will be even more terrifying!” That, to me, is good to hear. OK Computer stands as one of my favorite albums of all time, and I’m sure a lot of people will say the same. It’s certainly, without question, one of the most interesting bodies of work ever recorded by a band in the last few decades…the artwork, the lyrics, the sound, but most of all the mood that album gives off when you listen to it. Anyways, enough reviewing an album that came out years ago…Thom Yorke denied that the new material would have an overly political theme to it and said “It’s about that anonymous fear thing, sitting in traffic, thinking, ‘I’m sure I’m supposed to be doing something else’.” Hard to put your finger on what he means exactly but that’s a good description of the feeling you get a bit when you listen to songs like ‘Paranoid Android’...this paranoid/frantic feeling almost. Check out the new issue of NME for the full interview with Yorke. Can’t wait. Also, check out Radiohead.com and the ‘Dead air space’ blog…interesting to read straight from the band and see photos from the studio…anyways… “Who all seen the leprechaun say yeah!”

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PayPal Mobile & corner dice games!

Cell phones, cell phones, cell phones! So PayPal launches their Mobile service. And like a corny McDonalds commercial actor, I’m lovin’ it! Here is how it works… You send a text message to 729725 (PAYPAL) saying ‘send 100 to 6165551234’. In doing that you just sent $100 dollar form your account to whoever’s phone number is 616-555-1234 provided they have a mobile account. C-Lo games will never be the same, right?! The C-Lo and dice game stuff aside, this truly is a next level thing they have launched…the simplicity is what makes this key. Who is to say this couldn’t replace the use of credit cards? It works well in places where credit cards don’t work…where someone doesn’t have a merchant account. I don’t know, I’m thinking it will take a while to catch on, but it is certainly a cool leap forward for PayPal. ‘Clickity-clack!! You just rolled the triple pimples kid! Get that cell phone out and text me my money!!!’