Nudge, nudge - reminders made easy

Remember the Eric Idle character in "Monty Python" who keeps saying, "Nudge, nudge?" Well now there's a email service that delivers digital versions of elbows in the side to keep you from forgetting what to do or where to be.

I know cell phones have alarms and reminders and all that but I'm fascinated by NudgeMail's ability to accept crude directions via email then deliver timely reminders back.

Here's how it works: Let's say it's Wednesday morning and you have an important meeting the next day -- but your suit at the dry cleaners won't be ready until 5 p.m. Wednesday, an hour before close. With NudgeMail, you address an email to 500pm@nudgemail.com, then put "Get dry cleaning" in the subject line or text.

That's it. You'll get an email reminder at 5:00. If you're busy at 5, you can email "snoozetime@NudgeMail.com with your new time (let's say 5:30) in the subject line. 

There are a ton of other alert options for day, specific date, snooze alarms, recurring events and more.

NudgeMail is free during its beta phase, so give it a try. 

Lady GaGa, Blondie as history teachers? Yep and it works

Who ever said history isn't fun never checked out the historyteachers.

GOOD magazine turned me on to these wonderful videos that mash world history with popular music. The videos are produced by three teachers in Hawaii who go by the YouTube handle "historyteachers".

The video above explains the life of Martin Luther set to The Bangles' "Manic Monday" and it's surprising 1) how effective the teachers are at rewriting Prince's lyrics without altering the music and 2) how accurate the history lesson remains throughout the song.

There are dozens of other video lessons, including the history of the French Revolution set to Lada GaGa's "Bad Romance," the Plague set to No Doubt's "Hollaback Girl" and Gutenberg set to Blondie's "Sunday Girl."

It'll be interesting to see whether these videos actually translate to increased knowledge of history -- I think they will -- but in the meantime I'm just going to enjoy them for what they are: Fun and thought provoking.

X-rated musical excellence

X - The Unheard Music (musical out takes) - wideo
Musical outtakes from the movie

I stumbled across another gem on Netflix: "X: The Unheard Music," a 1985 documentary about the legendary LA country punkers. I listened to X quite a bit in my college days and the decade after -- and thankfully saw the original band live -- but their work had sadly fallen off my playlist. So, it was a thrill to go back in time with this documentary, which mixes live performances and music videos with interviews and other background on the band. Even a quarter century later, X's sound remains fresh and unique. 

It's a travesty X isn't in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame because their first four albums rival any in rock history (that's Elvis Costello territory). Exene and John Doe weren't the greatest of singers but their syncopated interplay and intense lyrics were magical, grounded by blistering riffs from stylin' guitarist Billy Zoom and tom-heavy beatwork from D.J. Bonebrake. 

In addition to documentary's fine live performances, there are some great scenes with Zoom showing his chops on a clarinet and Bonebrake laying down some Lionel Hampton breaks on the vibraphone. X were fresh faced back in 1985 but very skilled for punkers of the day. 

Note for Bakersfield readers: X bassist/vocalist John Doe (known only to a few as John Nommensen Duchac) lives in Lockwood Valley, just south of Frazier Park. And if any of the songs in the attached video pique your interest, the band will be invading Buck Owen's Crystal Palace on Dec. 27. 

Update on Thursday, December 23, 2010 at 10:29 AM by Logan Molen

Found out today -- reading a story from The Californian's Matt Munoz -- that John Doe has moved to Oildale.

Very unexpected but cool. Imagine running into him on the streets?