Mammoth Blog

Troublemaker Video Premieres Today

People, today is the day of the long awaited "Troublemaker" video premiere! The video is up NOW on Yahoo! Music, so go check it out! The video's exclusive 24-hour online premiere will be available on Yahoo! Music beginning 9:00 PM PDT Monday, October 6.

PRE-ORDER KEEPS GETTIN' BETTER - A DECADE OF HITS
Only At Target

Christina Aguilera's first career retrospective, Keeps Gettin' Better - A Decade of Hits, featuring TEN of her smash hits, two new songs, and two reinvented hits, will be available exclusively through Target stores on Tuesday, November 11, but you can pre-order your copy at christinaaguilera.com/target/ RIGHT NOW!

Once there, you can order the digital album for $9.98 now and collect a free download of the "Keeps Gettin' Better" single instantly; then download the remaining 13 tracks on November 11, 2008.

OR

Order the physical CD for $9.98 now and receive it in the convenience of your home on November 11, 2008.

iTunes customers can also download the "Keeps Gettin' Better" single for $0.99 now.

Saliva will team up with Drowning Pool for a new U.S. tour beginning on October 17 in St. Petersburg, Florida. Also appearing on the bill are TANTRIC and JET BLACK STARE.

The dates are as follows:

Oct. 17 - St. Petersburg, FL - Jannus Landing
Oct. 18 - Dayton Beach, FL - Destination Daytona
Oct. 20 - Columbia, SC - Headliners
Oct. 21 - Goose Creek, SC - The Dive
Oct. 22 - Jacksonville, NC - Hooligans
Oct. 24 - Providence, RI - Dunkin' Donuts Center
Oct. 26 - Lorrain, OH - Black River Landing
Oct. 28 - Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall
Oct. 29 - Flint, MI - The Machine Shop
Oct. 30 - Springfield, IL - Illinois State Fairgrounds
Nov. 01 - Detroit, MI - The Fillmore
Nov. 02 - Traverse City, MI - Streeters
Nov. 05 - San Antonio, TX - Scout Bar
Nov. 06 - Pharr, TX - Graham Central Station
Nov. 07 - Beaumont, TX - Scout Bar
Nov. 08 - Houston, TX - Scout Bar
Nov. 09 - Corpus Christi, TX - The Pavilion at Concrete Street
Nov. 11 - Lubbock, TX - Wild West
Nov. 22 - Galamis Beach, CA - Galamis Beach

Country in the Rockies 2008,

November 14th - 16th,

starring

2008, 5-time CCMA Award Winners,

Doc Walker,

with special guests,

2008 CCMA Award Winners for

New Group of the Year, Hey Romeo!

Packages go on sale to the public on Tuesday, October 14th but opportunity to get tickets early with the pre-buy starts Wednesday, October 8th @ 9am.

Just call 1-800-563-8764, ask for Operator 105 and use the password 'Doc' and you be able to get your package before anyone else!

For just $244 per person you will receive transportation to and from Banff on the Country in the Rockies Coach, $25 to the Keg, 2 nights at the Banff Caribou Lodge & Spa, free admission to the Jaydee Bixby autograph signing at Wild Bill's on Friday night, exclusive dinner party at Wild Bill's Saloon on Saturday night, and private performances by Doc Walker and Hey Romeo!

John Schlitt Inks Deal With Go Global Entertainment

Legendary recording artist John Schlitt--solo artist, lead singer for GRAMMY Award-winning Christian band Petra and former lead singer for mainstream rock band Head East--recently inked an international distribution deal for his latest CD, The Grafting, with Go Global Entertainment, LLC, a Nashville, Tenn.-based company specializing in sales, marketing, licensing and distribution of quality Christian products worldwide.

New Releases for Week of October 6th, 2008

October 7, 2008
- Various - Wow Hits 2009 - Word Records - Word
- Relient K - Let It Snow Baby...Let It Reindeer Re-release - Gotee - Word
- Casting Crowns - Peace On Earth - Beach Street Records - Provident
- Third Day - Christmas Offerings DVD - Essential Records - Provident
- Point Of Grace - How You Live Expanded Edition - Word Records - Word
- Annie Moses Band - The Glorious Christmas - Essential Records
- Lara Landon - Beloved - Advocate Records - Word

The Risks Involved With Link Buying

By Peter Da Vanzo

There is a post over at Search Engine Land by Danny Sullivan entitled "Conversation With An Idiot Link Broker".

To cut a long story short, some guy tries to broker a link deal with Danny, seemingly not knowing who Danny is, and Danny plays him along. Danny reports him to the Google spam team.

For the sake of furthering discussion, I'll play devils advocate :)

Regardless of anyone's views on link buying, it is wrong to mislead people. Danny clearly felt this guy was being misleading, and gave him a number of chances to clarify his position. But is buying and selling links really as "risky" a behavior as is being made out?

It might be considered a risky behavior if you spend a lot of time obsessing about Google, as SEOs tend to do. However, links are the glue that binds the web. Link buying and selling started long before Google existed. It will always happen.

It's called advertising.

But it would be disingenuous not to see what Danny is really talking about here. He's talking about buying links for the sole purpose of gaining link juice. I can understand why Google takes a dim view of this practice. . Paid links compromises Google's business model.

Fair enough. If I worked for Google, I'd take the same stance.

For Danny Sullivan, given the level of exposure of his site in the search world, the risks presented by link trading would be significant. Regardless of Danny's personal opinion on such practices, such a deal would clearly be a non-starter. The link seller is a fool for, above all else, failing to identify his customer.

However, for most sites, the reality is that the risk of link buying and selling is probably negligible.

Google taking out the occasional site amidst a storm of publicity doesn't mean much when there are tens of thousands of sites that clearly do not receive the exact same treatment. If one site in two got hammered, it would be a different story, but it is likely the figures run into one site in thousands. It then becomes a matter of weighing one's chances of being detected and punished by Google against the potential rewards on offer.

For example, there are credible, Fortune 500 companies engaged in buying and selling links. The risk of big names being taken out for any longer than a day or two is near zero. If you run the sort of big name site searchers expect to see in the results, Google probably aren't going to leave you out on a technicality. This would compromise their business model, because Google must deliver relevant results.

Is it up to the link seller to outline all the potential risks involved? Apart from the comical farce of a link seller failing to identify Danny Sullivan, how big a moral crime has the guy really committed? Do Google outline all the risks associated with using their products and services? Or is Danny cunningly implying that Google's algorithm cannot determine which links are paid, and in fact relies on people filing reports? ;)

A moral tone runs through such discussions, and I'm not sure it is entirely consistent.

Google are a business and their pronouncements must be considered in this context. They will act in their own interest, and those interest may or may not align with your own. Are we at risk of ceding the assumption of moral superiority to Google when they may not deserve it? Google, like you, are trying to earn a crust, and any organization may not be entirely transparent and morally consistent in all they do. Who do you call out, and who gets a free pass?

Google certainly holds the power, and if being in the SERPs matters a lot to you, then you should stay within Google's guidelines. It's also fair to say that, these days, even this approach offers no guarantees.

Tread wisely :)

About the Author:
Peter Da Vanzo is the founder of Search Engine Blog.com, a news resource for the search engine marketing industry. He is also a regular contributer on SEO Book

For a limited time, Tunelab music is streaming the ENTIRE new Godhead album, "At the Edge of the World" on their website.

GO HERE TO LISTEN:

Also don't forget, "At the Edge of the World" is being released TOMORROW in North America in STORES and on itunes, Rhapsody and many other MP3 sites! Help Godhead have a great week and buy it tomorrow!

In College Football, the 'Big' Games Are Played by the Smaller Programs
By John Feinstein
Special to washingtonpost.com
Monday, October 6, 2008; 4:16 PM

There really is nothing quite like college football.

Let's forget for a moment the pox that is the BCS. There are reasons why
thousands and thousands of people deal with the headaches of getting into
and out of stadium parking lots each Saturday; why so many of them sit on
benches without chair-backs in the heat of September and the cold of
November; why they plan their tailgates so elaborately and feel as if a
place they go to six times a year is something akin to a vacaation home.

Some of it has to do with enjoying seeing their team win. But there's a lot
more to it. While television focuses on the big-money, big-stadium programs,
it is actually the teams playing the sport at the non-BCS levels that make
it fun. In that sense, it isn't all that different than college basketball.
What makes college basketball unique are the two weeks before the power
schools line up for the sweet sixteen: first the conference championship
tournaments in the one-bid leagues, where winning means everything; then the
opening week of the NCAA tournament, when the little guys get their chance
to shine. George Mason is a once-in-a-lifetime story; Davidson not as rare
though highly unlikely. But San Diego, Siena and Winthrop are stories that
happen every March.

College football ¿ sadly -- doesn't have that. But it does have Appalachian
State going to Michigan and winning, and it does have playoffs well worth
watching at every level below division I-A. A national college football
writer recently wrote after LSU routed Appalachian State to start the
season, "now Appalachian State can return to the obscurity of division
1-AA."

He misses the entire point. The "obscure" games played by non-power programs
matter to those involved every bit as much as the big-money games do. Maybe
more, since NFL futures aren't at stake, only the competition that day and
that year is at stake.

Read More

Bear Creek Music Festival, Nov.14-15, at the magnificent Spirit of Suwannee Music Park, and we hope to see you there! This year's festival features many of our favorite artists, from the soulful sounds of JJ Grey and MOFRO to the New Orleans flavor of bands like Dumpstaphunk and Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Atlanta favorites Deep Blue Sun and Donna Hopkins will be there, as well as perennial HTN favorite Tommy Talton, playing a rare festival set!

The lineup is nothing if not superbly diverse, with red-hot newgrass stars Yonder Mountain String Band sharing the bill with electro-jam powerhouse Perpetual Groove and blues-rockers Tishamingo. Several bands will play multiple sets, giving you more than one chance to catch them. Don't miss the Bear Creek Super Jam, which should be a unique event! And of course, all of this will take place in the woodsy, natural splendor of the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park. HTN readers will be thrilled to hear that the multi-talented Kofi Burbridge will be "Artist in Residence" for Bear Creek! Look for Kofi to be sitting in with various artists all weekend, adding flute, keyboards and his own special vibe. Who could ask for more? We'll see you there! For more info and to purchase tickets please click here.

Ron Paul: Bailout Unconstitutional, Special Interests Forced Bill Through Congress
Congressman warns enhanced bill worse than original

Texas Congressman Ron Paul has warned that the amended bailout legislation that passed Congress on Friday is not only far worse than the original bill but is also unconstitutional.

Paul speaking just minutes after leaving the floor of the House on Friday, explained that the tax portion of the bill was written by the Senate, when under the Constitution only the House can originate tax bills.

"That in itself was unconstitutional but it's been done before and it will be done again." The Congressman said.

Paul highlighted that the passage of the bill defied logic because it was even worse than the original rejected version:

"It's amazing, you take a very very bad bill, appropriating $700 billion, you can't get enough votes to pass it so you take it back out, you make it much worse and take it up to over $800 billion." Paul commented.

"Today is an even sadder day that on Monday," Paul stated, "Here today when the special interests got their two cents in, or their $10 million worth of lobbying in, the members switched their vote."

The Congressman decried the fact that 57 members, mostly so called conservatives, switched their votes on Friday. He urged that those who have destroyed the economy and our freedoms not be allowed to dictate how the system is rebuilt in America.

Paul also compared the economic situation to that of the Soviet Union in 1989, urging that the current economic meltdown stems from empire building foreign policy, and that we are now dealing with the bankruptcy of the United States.

Watch Ron Paul's reaction to the passage of the bailout:

Earlier in the day Ron Paul had taken the floor in the House to express his opposition to the bailout, stating that it represents an evasion of the real problem and more of the same inflationary practices that have caused the crisis in the first instance. Source>>>

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Your exclusive window of opportunity to order additional tickets to the big game begins next Tuesday, October 7th at 10 am. Ordering instructions are listed below. Plan ahead now so you can take advantage of this benefit before the tickets are offered to other Bruin fans.

Go here to purchase tickets and enter password : UCLASTH

The Oklahoma City Thunder announced today that single-game tickets for the first half of the 2008-09 regular season Thunder home games and the preseason game at the Ford Center will go on sale Tuesday, Oct. 7 beginning at 10:00 a.m.

Tickets may be purchased online at thunder.nba.com, by phone at 1-800-4NBA-TIX or at the Ford Center box office. There is a limit of four tickets per transaction.

Single-game tickets start as low as $10. The Thunder will offer up to 1,500 tickets for each game, including Opening Night on October 29. Approximately 200 tickets will be held back for game day walkup sales.

Tickets will go on sale for 23 regular season games up to and including the Jan. 18 game against the Miami Heat. Highlights of the early home schedule include historic Opening Night against the Milwaukee Bucks on Oct. 29, the reigning NBA Champion Boston Celtics on Nov. 5, the New Orleans Hornets on Nov. 21, the Cleveland Cavaliers on Dec. 21, and two visits by the Phoenix Suns on Nov. 25 and Dec. 29.

Thunder season tickets are no longer available. In only five days, the Thunder sold out its 13,000 available season tickets in advance of the 2008-09 season. Groups interested in purchasing 15 or more tickets to a single game can call (405) 208-4600 for information on special packages.

Presale is today go to Ticketmaster and use password: THUNDER

Once a year they come to Las Vegas. Not to party. Not to compete. Not even to play Street Fighter.

Perhaps they don't even realize it, but these few, these champions of a dying bit of pop culture, come to Las Vegas to scream into the approaching long night of arcade gaming.

Each year EVO gathers the best among fighting gamers to celebrate arcade culture, to stave off, at least for one week, the creeping death that has turned arcades into family fun centers, filled 7-Elevens with console games and not cabinets, swept public gaming from the face of America.

"Arcades have gone away but the culture is not gone," said Seth Killian, one of the group's founders. " It was such a great experience that we're not willing to say it's gone."

It's no surprise that a shared passion for fighting games is what sparked the EVO Championship Series.

In the early 90s games like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter replaced pool as a viable way to shark for money. Most college arcades had its own Street Fighter muscle, Mortal Kombat expert.

In 1995 a group of top arcade fighters, sick of arguing over a newsnet who the player was, decided to gather at an arcade on Broadway in New York City to finally decide it.

"We all came from the street fighter arcades," said Seth Killian, director of EVO and community manager at Capcom. "Everyone coming to that thing was like the kingpin of their local arcades."

There were 40 people at that first throw down. It was played on Super Street Fighter II Turbo.

But turns out that didn't settle things permanently. The one-off gathering of cabinet gamers turned into an annual pilgrimage. They met in Boston, they met in California and finally the settled on Las Vegas as venue best suited for the match-up and inevitable side bets.

As the meet-ups grew each year it coalesced into something more formalized. Now the the group is run mostly by the community that gathers each year to play. Though a few like Joey Cuellar (administrator of the fighting mecca at shoryuken.com and former manager of famous Southern Hills Golfland arcade), Vik Steyaert (founder of Tekken-zaibatsu.com and elite French chef), Tom and Tony Cannon (aka "the Cannon twins," shoryuken.com cofounders, and Tony created the amazing GGPO.net), and Killian help keep things in order.

"It was all completely organic," Killian said. "The structure was born out of "Shit we have way too many people showing up to these things."

So they started introducing more traditional tournament rules, finally settling on double elimination, to help determine who the best Street Fighter was. The annual gathering also grew in reputation, soon attracting gamers from around the world looking to cut their teeth on a tournament known for it's skilled players.

With the growth, the group of gamers behind EVO have had to make some tough decisions. Because they run tournaments that require more cabinets than exist on the whole continent the group decided to start using consoles for game play four years ago.

"It was an extremely hard decision," Killian said.

The tournament, which used to hold four qualifiers a year in the U.S., last year held qualifiers in Chicago, Los Angeles, Sao Palo, Brazil and London. Its from these tournaments that famous moments, like the Daigo full-parry video, are born.

And the meet up each year in Las Vegas isn't just about competitive fighting games, it's also a chance for gamers to hang out, have fun and celebrate quarter on the cabinet arcade console.

"We've recreated this experience," Killian said. "The arcade experience is so awesome. People become friends. That's part of why we started throwing this tournament.

"Its about fighting games and competitions, but arcades are the crucible that sparked the awesomeness. I don't know what awesome is made up of, I don't know the physics behind awesome, but I know it when I see it."

Fighting games, in particular, are about direct confrontation, Killian points out, and playing in person magnifies that feeling, gives it more personality.

"If Street Fighter only came out on consoles and never were in arcades I don't think it would have been as popular," Killian said. "EVO isn't about bringing back arcades, but preserving this fire, this passion, this connection.

"The arcade machine is such a ziggurat, you have to engage with it. It's not disposable, it's a statement. Source>>>