The Reverie Five: Enjoy the Internet while it lasts

Google Wave - As part of their continuing bid to be the only thing you need in life, Google announced that it would be releasing a product later this year that would essentially render the Internet obsolete. Combining elements of everything you do online, Wave is, according to one of its developers, “what email would look like if it were invented today.” Needless to say, because we’re all nerds, the Rev staff completely freaked out. Our only concern is that Google seems to have completely disregarded the very real possibility that they are, in fact, becoming Skynet. but frankly if that’s what it takes to get Wave into our hands, well, we’ve had a good run. You can go to their website and sign up to be notified when it’s released (everybody here has).

Dark Night of the Soul - We’ve been streaming the mystery-shrouded collaboration between Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse’s Mark Linkous for some time, and it’s as great as you’d expect, so news that it was being blocked from release was disheartening. Luckily, the ever-sneaky artists have found a way around it: the intended album artwork (by professional iconoclast David Lynch) will be published as a book, packaged with — wait for it — a blank CD which you can use “however you see fit.” Clever!

The Lost Rewatch - As you may have gathered, there are more than a couple fans of Lost around the Rev offices. One of our favorite Lost resources, DocArtz, has initiated The Lost Rewatch to fill the time leading up to, and prepare for, the show’s final season. The Rewatch begins June 1, so start getting pumped! Pull out your DVD sets or, if you’re more tech-savvy, head over to ABC.com, which has the entire series streaming in HD.

Playing For Change - An incredible project spearheaded by Grammy-winning producer Mark Johnson. He and his team spent a decade traveling the world, getting street musicians to collaborate on a set of songs by recording them right where they sat. Check out the amazing video for “Stand By Me” and then proceed immediately to their website to buy the album (proceeds benefit the Playing For Change Foundation). Thanks to Jon Bellinger for bringing this to our attention.

Converse Jack Purcells - They’re like Chuck Taylors, but for grown-ups! Unfortunately, they’re priced as such. But ever since the post at the taken-as-gospel-around-here blog Magnificent Bastard, we can’t get them out of our heads. And soon, off our feets.

Our bad

It seems, in the excitement of getting the blog up and running, we never got a chance to post a Reverie Five this week. While it would probably be too much to assume anyone has gotten addicted just yet, we’re big on consistency here and we didn’t want to leave you hanging.

Since most of last week was spent (by me, anyway) obsessing over the swine flu and whether or not I had it, I figured these three links would pretty much sum up that time and we could move on. Oh, well, alright, if that’s too much panic for you, here’s a bonus link I think you’ll find pleasant. (via)

Hope you’re all having a bang-up weekend. See you Monday!

The Reverie Five – What Lies In the Shadow of the Magazine Aisle

Wired Magazine - This month’s issue of Wired is guest-edited by mad genius J.J. Abrams, a force so awesome he made us ignore the fact that Tom Cruise was in a movie while we were watching it. The issue deals with mysteries (Abrams’s specialty), and in addition to a ton of great articles, it contains a series of puzzles and riddles (some which are marked as such, others that are not so much). We have been pouring over it for days and have yet to be able to figure out what Page 508 means, so we have some work ahead of us.

This American Life Live - A couple of us attended the live broadcast of This American Life last night, and it was excellent. With appearances by regular contributors Mike Birbiglia, Dan Savage, and Starlee Kine, and a musical performance by Joss Whedon (you heard right), the show was everything a TAL fanatic (such as many of us here are) could hope for. As if that weren’t enough, Ira Glass made an entertaining appearance on the Colbert Report on Wednesday to promote the event. Be still our hearts.

Oprah on Twitter - The Queen of Almost Everything takes up microblogging. Aside from generally feeling really 21st century, we learned this week that The O knows how to party after a job well done, is unsure about airtweets, and apparently spends all weekend turning her computer on and off. So, is this the moment we’ve all been fearing? Has Twitter gone mainstream? And, possibly more importantly, can the servers handle Oprah’s legions of fans who will surely follow her to the site? Doesn’t she know about the whale?

Yonkers - Fernando and Harith were returning to New York by train this week, and the Yonkers stop raised some debate. What is Yonkers’s deal? Do most of the people who live there work in the City? Are there any attractions? As New Yorkers, Yonkers is something of a mystery. Any Yonkersites out there who can help us out?

London - Our very own Fernando Rizo has pulled up stakes this week and moved across the pond to England in pursuit of, you know, greener pastures, that brass ring, whatever you like. You know what this means, don’t you? The Rev is now an international organization. Good luck brother!

The Reverie Five – A Good Week For Our Friends

What’s gripping the psyches of the Rev staff for the week of 13 April, 2009.

Albany Word Fest - April is National Poetry Month, and as anyone in Albany knows, that means it’s time for Word Fest. The annual event is put on by our brothers-in-arms Albany Poets Inc., and is a celebration of local poetry, music, and art. The weekend starts with the traditional cocktail party meet’n'greet, then moves on to the highly anticipated 12 hour open mic, and as always closes with the Psycho Clusterf*#k. 

Scamper Reunion – When power-pop power-house (and The Rev friends) Scamper, a fixture on the Boston music scene for over seven years, called it quits last February, music collectively let out a desperate whimper. So when they announced that they were reuniting for one show (albeit for the sad occasion of Harris’s last hurrah), we chirped audibly and bought our Bolt Bus tickets. Tomorrow night at the Middle East: come for the rock, stay for the synchronized jumps.

Brooklyn Botanic Garden – Last weekend, a fair number of the Rev staff took a field trip to check out the BBG, and we must report that it was an amazing experience. In addition to the beautiful foliage and immensely relaxing atmosphere, we saw a bunch of koi attempt to eat a duck, which is not something everyone can say (the duck escaped unharmed), and invented a game called Team Flora Vs. Team Fauna. Peak visiting time is hitting, so round up the kids and make the trek. We highly recommend checking out the CherryWatch Blossom Map when planning your visit.

Baseball! – We thought winter would never end, but lo and behold it is once again the happiest time of the year. Whether your team has recently moved into new digs, weathered a few scandals, or had to delay opening day at the risk of mass rioting, everyone can agree that when the national pastime is in full effect, the air tastes just that much sweeter.

Blogging - Much of this week has been devoted to getting this puppy up and running, and we just want to say that we are happy to be here and happy you are too! Let the bloggings commence.

Special thanks to Alex Richards, from whom we completely ripped off this feature.